Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 812 - 77: The Unique Top Level

Chapter 812: Chapter 77: The Unique Top Level

If this were the Starshine Tower in the City of Knowledge, upon entering the high tower, one would be greeted by a spacious reception hall. Though the hall was usually quiet, there were always a few staff members seated at the reception desk, waiting to assist and serve the guild members who entered the Starshine Tower. However, this was not the City of Knowledge, but the Mage Country of Butt, nor was this the Starshine Tower, but rather the private Mage Tower of Lord Philarx. Hence, the reception hall was completely empty, lacking any staff. Naturally, this was easy to understand; those who had access here were Philarx’s own mages, who were obviously very familiar with the place and did not need staff to receive them. Anyone who needed reception would not be able to enter the inner mage areas without being accompanied by a mage from within the tower. Therefore, at such times, the Mage Tower’s reception hall was utterly deserted.

"This is my teacher’s Magic Tower. I will take everyone directly upstairs via the Teleportation Array," said Felic, under the bone pile of the Bone Dragon. He had no intention of touring the Mage Tower with the few members of the adventure team, although, by custom, he should have led the visitors of Pannis’s status around. But, as Vivian had said earlier, it seemed that Felic was slightly displeased with the group, yet found it inappropriate to refuse their request. Therefore, he opted for simplicity, hoping they would leave sooner. Obviously, the members of the adventure team harbored no such expectations either, feeling uncomfortable within themselves and lacking any interest in a tour. Thus, after Felic spoke, the seven of them silently followed him, walking around to the rear of the reception hall and into the room housing the Teleportation Array that provided swift access to different floors for the mages.

Being inside the high tower, the room’s size was always smaller than those built on flat ground. Like this teleportation room, it had barely more than ten square meters of space. At first glance, it seemed very empty, but looking down, one could notice that the floor was almost completely covered by a softly glowing Teleportation Array. Mysterious and bizarre magic symbols were engraved on the mithril base of the floor, but they carried a peculiar three-dimensional aspect that made it seem as though the symbols were actively leaping about on the mithril base.

Once everyone had traversed the magic array again, it seemed as if they were in the same room, showing almost no signs of change. If it weren’t for the magic fluctuations they had felt, and the brief glimpse through the narrow window that they had moved far away from the Floating Island’s surface in an instant, it would have been hard to confirm they had moved at all. However, when the door opened, their doubts evaporated, for they were no longer facing an empty hall but a circular room, presumably at the very center of the Magic Tower’s layout, surrounded by many similar doors.

"This is the central hub of the tower," Felic said, maintaining official decorum despite his reluctance to give a full tour of the Mage Tower. "It’s perfectly centered within the high tower, both vertically and horizontally. From here, one can directly teleport to various floors of the tower—it’s quite convenient."

The situation here was different from the deserted hall. The twenty or so doors on the circular room’s sidewalls were constantly opening and closing. Mages in various colored robes were briskly entering and exiting the doors, their paths criss-crossing without much interaction, merely nodding at each other in greeting. It was time for lunch, but these mages showed no intention of eating, having fully immersed themselves in their research, completely forgetting the need to eat.

"The Starshine Tower in the Holy City is also like this," Vivian commented, seemingly very satisfied with her surroundings, a slight smile at the corner of her mouth as she nodded. "Only by maintaining this state of focus can magic experiments be carried out accurately and efficiently. This is what it takes to be a qualified mage."

Catherine shook her head, out of courtesy she did not voice any critiques, but gently pressed on the soft hat atop the young mage girl’s head to signal her disagreement with the comment, especially since the girl’s health had only just recovered. During the recent rehabilitation period, Catherine had always encouraged her to maintain a regular lifestyle to hasten her recovery.

"Yes, they are all the best, having collaborated on numerous challenging projects," Felic said proudly. "Unlike your Dome School, our Tower School is accustomed to collectively researching major projects, breaking them down into many smaller subjects assigned to different mages, which are then integrated by the person in charge into the final results."

"It can’t be denied that your approach is more efficient, and the Starshine Tower is also learning from you," Vivian remarked. "However, I’m sorry to say, most of us from the Dome School think that, although your method enhances efficiency, it inevitably causes each mage to lose their independence. It also suppresses their imagination and creativity, which are the soul of a mage, as Virogula had said. ’Use imagination as the soul, creativity as the skeleton, knowledge and experience as the flesh, and cover it all with the skin of technique and power’—that is what makes a fine mage. Therefore, personally, I don’t fully agree with your methods, though it can serve as a reference."

"Indeed, your ideas also have their own reasons," Felic said, discussing the topic of Mages, his words increasing significantly, his expression serious. "We too have discovered this flaw. Compared to the many brilliant ideas of the Dome Mages and Forest Mages, we Tower Mages are indeed a bit rigid. Therefore, we are also adjusting our research methods and systems to highlight each Mage’s individuality. However, I personally hold reservations. I believe that maintaining this orderly, accurate, and efficient foundation while also exercising imagination and creativity is the best way."

"Ahem," Pannis coughed lightly, interrupting the two Mages who were about to become lost in passionate debate. Felic paused, a rare blush creeping across his composed, serious face as he said awkwardly, "I’m sorry, when I speak of such topics, I tend to get a little too absorbed and almost forgot our purpose here. I truly apologize and hope to be forgiven by everyone."

"It’s alright, having lived with Vivian for so long, we’ve gotten used to it," Catherine said, her hand still resting on Vivian’s head, her smile gentle. "We all understand your scholarly thirst for knowledge and dedication to magic. Everyone should learn from this focused attitude. So, don’t worry, Felic, no one will mind, but we still had to interrupt you as we also don’t want to linger here too long."

"Of course, this way, please." Felic seemed pleased by Catherine’s final remark, but it did not show on his face; he maintained his respectful demeanor and led everyone into another Teleportation Room. "The teacher has a private dining room on the topmost floor. He used to enjoy dining there because it overlooks the surroundings. The teacher liked dining while looking into the distance and contemplating issues. Even though he no longer gazes into the distance, his habit of dining there remains, so our destination is the top floor of the Tower, which is essentially his private floor."

The ladies felt puzzled by Felic’s words, as their experience ascending the Magic Tower had shown that even through the narrow windows, the view outside was restricted to a narrow area and hardly extensive. This confusion persisted until they stepped out of the Teleportation Room, fully dispelling it.

The uppermost floor was different from the floors below. The outer walls of the topmost level of the Tower were made entirely of special, nearly transparent crystal. Inside the room, you could clearly see everything outside through the crystal walls. If you approached the crystal wall, it could even create an illusion as if you were suspended in the air. Located hundreds of meters high, below were faint white clouds and farther below was a bustling city. Looking into the distance, one could see vast green highland meadows and neatly arranged large fields amongst the grass, and even further, the dim outlines of mountain ranges could be made out. Occasionally, a few birds would fly past the clouds outside the wall, glancing curiously at the humans inside, as if astonished why these peculiar creatures could also ascend to the sky, but these free beings did not stop their journeys for these humans and flew away towards the distance without looking back.

"The teacher’s dining room is just ahead, and the walls there are also transparent. You can see him from outside," Felic hesitated and then said in a low voice, "I didn’t get the teacher’s permission to bring everyone here, but I felt it necessary to do so. So, please help me cover it up a bit later to prevent angering the teacher."

"We understand," Pannis nodded and followed behind Felic through the top level, composed of alternating transparent crystal and solid walls. The transparent walls provided clear views of the interior rooms, which mostly contained libraries and laboratories, lined with rows of antique bookshelves and many unfamiliar devices neatly arranged within.

Following this strange corridor, when the leading Felic stopped, everyone, through the crystal walls, finally saw Master Philarx, often only mentioned in legends. The slender Master Philarx, clad in a black robe, unaware of his old friend’s visit, was dining at the table. Yet, as Pannis looked at this scene, he suddenly felt a lump in his throat, and his emotions became even more complex. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to zidian.com to vote your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my strongest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.zidian.com.)