Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 486 The Prototype of the Mage Tower
This time, it wasn't just Zhang Yuan who became suspicious; even Tyrantir was somewhat taken aback. Clearly, this situation was not within the Grand Mage's expectations.

However, the minor accident did not bother the latter much, and soon another arcane spell was woven into his hands.

It was yet another unfamiliar spell. Zhang Yuan only knew that this high-level spell belonged to the spellcasting system, which was beyond his control. However, the obvious shadow energy disturbance it caused gave him some clues.

At this moment, the image seen through the crystal ball changed; the blurry image became clearer, while the overall light tone shifted to a dark purple.

"This is?"

Old Master Zhang leaned forward and examined the crystal ball for a while, occasionally looking up at the mountain in front of him, and stated his conjecture:

"A perspective image of the inside of the mountain?"

"Perspective landforms, to be precise, are perspective landforms woven from shadows."

The Grand Master manipulated the crystal ball he held in his hand, scanning the mountain peaks before him. What was displayed on the ball was no longer the blurry outline of the mountain, but rather the internal structure of the mountain dissected before them like a anatomical diagram.

Although he had never seen such magic before, Zhang Yuan, who had seen plenty of X-ray images in his previous life, could easily guess its meaning.

Within the thick, deep black cross-section, a thin, lighter-colored line originates from the edge of the mountainside, sloping downwards to connect with a lighter-colored cavity.

This should be the location of the passageway and ruins inside the mountain. Since the goal is to integrate the castle and ruins into one place inside the mountain, it is necessary to take a holistic view of the overall structure and construct the shape of the mage tower as a whole.

Even if this mage tower is just an empty shell, it should at least have a reliable shell, right?
Firstly, the mountain that forms the body of the mage tower must remain stable. Even if it is reinforced with protective spells and material enchantments in the future, its foundation must never be placed on a precarious building, especially given that enchanting the entire tower body in the short term is not feasible.

Another aspect is the preservation of the internal remains.

The cavity inside the mountain occupied by the ancient ruins was far from enough to contain the entire site, whose volume was expanded by at least three times by the spatial expansion spell.

If it's just moving a hollow inside an ordinary mountain, it's not troublesome, at least not for a spellcaster at the level of a Grand Mage. But if it involves large-scale spatial folding and distortion, that's another matter.

Compared to the thick rock layers of a mountain, the spatial structure that is constrained and changed by magic is like an egg in a pile of pebbles. If you accidentally bump into it, you know the consequences of hitting a rock with an egg.

Unfortunately, this egg is incredibly valuable...

After all, the entire mountain, including the Reflection Castle, is not worth a single hair of the Arcane Ruins. If any equipment or instrument were damaged or destroyed, the master and apprentice would have nowhere to turn.

"I've never seen a spell that can see through the internal structure of a mountain before."

"Seeing through the terrain isn't a particularly profound arcane art; it's just that it's not often used, making it relatively uncommon."

The Venerable Master was generous in teaching his disciples who were curious:

“Especially when casting this spell in the shadow sub-plane, even I have never done it. As a result, I was interfered with by the anomaly of the magic network and could not detect the terrain structure at all.”

"So the second spell is a shadow spell, using the power of the Shadow Fiend Network to mimic and see through the terrain?"

Zhang Yuan, quick to react, immediately deduced the true nature of the high-level arcane spell by drawing inferences from the example.

The Shadow Spell is quite strange compared to other spells of the same level, as its effect is to simulate other arcane spells of no more than the fifth level.

Trading a seventh-tier spell for a fifth-tier or even lower-tier spell seems like a loss, but sometimes the flexibility and adaptability of spellcasting cannot be measured solely by the tier number, especially for spellcasters who need to memorize and prepare spell slots in advance. A mid-to-low-tier spell in a crucial moment may not be inferior to a single Death Finger.

Furthermore, in special circumstances like the current one, where the power of the magic network is hindered, although this is not common, preparing shadow spells or higher-level shadow spells is the most practical and always a safe choice when exploring the shadow plane.

"Indeed, fortunately, the mountain where the ruins are located has a simple structure and no hidden dangers such as geological fissures, otherwise..."

The Grand Master first confirmed his disciple's conjecture, then his tone became somewhat relaxed:

"Otherwise, you don't need to think too much. Just use the ruins as an underground factory."

The renovation plan has been set, but the design is nowhere to be found, and there isn't even a single blueprint yet.

When it came to the blueprints for the mage tower, Master Zhang naturally had no say and could only let his teacher guide him through the design, echoing his words like a yes-man.

Having been stationed at Gaolibao for many years and having visited many like-minded old friends, the great masters have a deep understanding of the various indicators and structural characteristics of the Master's Tower, and their vision is extraordinary.

Building a standard mage tower from scratch would be incredibly complex, requiring a lot of time and effort, and it's not something that can be accomplished overnight or by cramming at the last minute.

But the good thing is that this guy isn't picky about food; a rough outer shell is enough for him.

That would be easy.

After working for several hours and sketching and writing on the parchment for half a day, the great sorcerer finally finalized the draft and handed the blueprint to the client who was standing beside him, barely daring to breathe.

Zhang, the client with no influence, hurriedly took the scroll and saw that the castle and the surrounding peaks were vividly engraved on the paper scroll, and the reflections of the castle and the mountain appearance were almost unchanged.

The change occurred internally. The originally somewhat slanted passageway that started from the mountainside was transformed on the drawings into a vertical spiral line extending downwards, connecting the Reflection Castle underground palace with the ruins directly below, near the bottom of the mountain.

The spiral passage, twisted from the tunnel, branches off into several smaller branches, each leading to a different cavity.

This should be the space and passageway reserved for future functional rooms.

Mm, oh, oh, yes, yes, yes.

The Grand Master pointed out the drawings while explaining and reminding Zhang Yuan, who listened attentively while keeping an eye on the changing and moving graphics on the paper.

Yes, the patterns on the seemingly simple parchment are actually three-dimensional, and the perspective changes accordingly as the archmage moves his fingertips.

"Review it yourself and see if there are any changes needed."

Zhang Yuan reached out and took the scroll, then used a reading mark taught to him by the Grand Mage to skillfully browse the scroll.

This scene was not surprising to him, given his experience studying at Gaolibao. Some special scrolls and books cannot be read simply by acquiring them. One reason is that they are encrypted with magic, and another is the kind of scrolls and books in front of him. They can be read from multiple perspectives through special means, especially in analyzing the structure of certain spells. Whether or not one has this ability makes a world of difference in difficulty.

This is why it's difficult for unorthodox sorcerers to succeed. Without the corresponding secret techniques and passwords, even if they obtain a treasure book, they can hardly grasp the whole picture. How many people can compare to Einstein, who could see through the connections and distortions of space and time in the ordinary three-dimensional world?

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(End of this chapter)