Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 492 Shadowfang Keep

The civil engineering work took longer than yesterday. By the time the magic hourglass had turned seven times, the elemental giant, resembling a giant pangolin, finally emerged from the tower and walked towards the master and apprentice.

"How about we add some protective spells to the tower? In its current state, it's too easy for certain special kinds of monsters to break in."

Zhang Yuan muttered something to his teacher, who didn't even lift his eyelids, clearly seeing through his disciple's ulterior motive of taking advantage of his labor.

"That's easy to say. Anyway, you'll have plenty of time to learn about and study Nether's rune enchanting system. How much you learn depends on your ability, and how much you can reinforce this empty shell is also up to you."

Just as the master and apprentice were at a juncture where one was calm and collected while the other remained silent, the elemental giant appeared before them.

"Mortal wizard, your request has been fulfilled. The deal is done. Farewell."

Suede Borden didn't offer many polite words; after completing the mission, the Elemental Prince vanished from their sight.

"Let's go. Ed Boden did his best to preserve the outer walls of the underground palace while modifying the mountain, hoping it won't affect the interior structure."

The two walked side by side toward Tower Mountain, climbing up the newly built steps from the foot of the mountain. The newly completed mage tower has two entrances. One is the Shadow Gate located at the top of the original castle dungeon, which maintains the connection between High Cliff Fortress in the Prime Plane and the Shadow Mage Tower.

The other place is the main entrance in front of the master and apprentice, about fifteen meters vertically from the foot of the mountain. In front of the main entrance of the tower is a platform, with steps on both sides leading down to the foot of the mountain.

Having memorized the tower's internal structure, the two did not pause at all. They entered through the main gate and went straight into the spacious circular hall, which was specially reserved by Master Zhang as the future council hall. It was one of the few suggestions he made when confirming the internal structure.

Master Tyrantir neither agreed nor disagreed with this, and with a few minor modifications, he left a large hall directly behind the main entrance.

After passing through a secret door at the back of the hall, the two entered the spiral passageway that connected the entire main body of the tower.

Incidentally, the secret door was something the archmage made on a whim. The original ordinary stone door was transformed by Tyrantir's transformation spell, so that unless the incantation was spoken, it looked like an ordinary wall and there was no way to tell that anything was amiss.

After walking for a while along the winding passageway, the master and apprentice were illuminated by a familiar azure glow, and finally arrived at the underground palace ruins that had been moved to the very bottom of the tower.

The original mountain peak had an absolute height of nearly 300 meters from its summit to its base, but now the mage tower's vertical height above the ground is only slightly more than 100 meters. Apart from the slight compression caused by adjusting the mountain's shape, the rest of the tower has sunk into the ground.

The underground palace of the ruins, which was originally located inside the mountain and was almost level with the flat ground at the foot of the mountain, has now sunk into the earth along with the mountain. The vertical distance from the surface is nearly fifty meters, which is equivalent to sixteen underground levels.

The reason for this is twofold: firstly, for safety reasons; and secondly, the mage tower is a tower building, not the small hill it was before. While it might be impressive to be too tall and imposing, it is unnecessary.

It should be noted that even a tower over a hundred meters high is equivalent to a high-rise building of more than forty stories in the previous life, but the residents are just a certain monk with a few cats and kittens. Although the usable area ratio is pitifully small, it is still spacious and almost luxurious.

The following days were hectic and rushed. Zhang Yuan felt as if he had returned to the time when he studied and worked part-time as a tutor's assistant in Gaolibao. The only difference was that the research topics he was studying were far more difficult and complex than before. He himself was no longer the carefree, solitary traveler he once was. Although he had never given up his quest for the mysteries of the Tao, the accumulation of his family fortune had also made him more preoccupied with worldly affairs.

Fortunately, as the affairs of the territory got back on track, and a sound administrative system had already been established, Lord Zhang, who was busy with his mentor day and night, squeezed out a little time every day to review the important matters in the territory. Under the policy of focusing on the important and delegating power decisively, he managed to get through it.

The monarchical offline system is an introduction of advanced systems from the previous era.

Master Tyrantir spent nearly three months in Shadowfang Keep before finally concluding his research project.

Oh, by the way, Shadowfang Keep is the name that Master Zhang gave to his newly acquired empty mage tower. He originally wanted to call it Shadow Cliff Keep, meaning the high cliff of the Shadow Realm, but in the end he settled on the name Shadowfang.

The fact that Tyrantir stayed here for several months was certainly not just for the golem-making process; the main purpose was to investigate the Nether rune alchemy system and its supporting facilities.

The Grand Master's learning and research abilities are naturally beyond Zhang Yuan's current reach. Even with the inheritance left by his predecessors, he can barely keep up with the pace.

After all, information transmission is merely recording in the mind, not truly understanding it. In fact, with his current memory, he can also remember everything he reads, even documents, it just takes a little time.

Zhang Yuan knew from his time at Highhold that Tyrande was not the kind of mentor who acted like a doting mother. After only a few days of giving a general overview of the rune system, she began to carry out an in-depth and systematic analysis project.

The rune alchemy system comprises a total of 122 basic runes. The diverse textual structures and energy flow guidance circuits during activation alone constitute an enormous undertaking. As for the intricate combinations and arrangements built upon these runes, as complex as the Milky Way in the sky, that is something that cannot be mastered in a short period of time.

Tyrantir was not in a hurry to achieve results, because this was not something that could be accomplished overnight. A single basic rune was easy to handle, but if more complex combinations of runes were not verified in practice and were only deduced theoretically, it would be nothing more than empty talk.

Therefore, after completing his understanding and verification of the basic runes, the Archmage did not try to do too much. Instead, he focused his research and experiments on rune combinations used in golem construction and metallurgical enchanting.

The restoration and creation of the Shadowsteel Golem was the final practical project. The previously acquired knowledge and theories, along with the refined alchemical skills, were transformed into tangible results with the support of specialized instruments and equipment.

All of this was not accomplished overnight. The combination of the three runes used to smelt the Shadow Steel ingots alone took Zhang Yuan a long time to complete. He wasted enough refined steel raw materials, which could be counted in tons, and the corresponding Shadow Liquid before he could finish repairing the golem's body.

Disassembling a Gundam is fun for a moment, but repairing it will leave you with a lot of problems...

Fortunately, Tyranitar is wealthy and powerful, and scrapped steel can be recycled and refurbished. It's just a matter of energy consumption, but with the element pool supporting it, this is not a problem.

Thank you to Eup霸气侧漏灬 and 书即吾命2 for your monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)