Out of nowhere, a golem pops me a quick jab and declares it’s gonna serve me now that the trial is over.
The little guy then clams up and starts stomping in one direction.
– Thud! Thud!
Its size is like that of a building, and each step sends mighty vibrations rushing through the air.
Feeling the tremors reverberate through my feet, I leisurely scanned the surroundings.
Earlier, I was only gathering intel for battle, letting everything else slide, but now that the fight’s done, I could explore the floating island in peace.
The outer walls that stretch across the island have functions to block access and detection.
Their performance rivals that of Shio-ram’s walls, making it difficult to penetrate even with my observational powers.
‘…Is calling it an island even accurate?’
Floating island.
As the name suggests, it means floating, but it doesn’t really look like an island at all.
For one, it’s not surrounded by water, and when I split the island horizontally…
The upper surface appears to be a dizzying array of special alloys upon analysis with my observatory.
That ties back to the golem’s material and is also the source of its real-time magical production.
The bottom side isn’t ordinary either.
Honestly, I’m not sure what to define as the underside of an island, but no common sense would suggest that the bottom looks like an inverted square pyramid.
The underside of the island consists of a square pyramid made of jewels.
It seems this pyramid is what keeps the island afloat.
Especially, this area is densely packed with advanced floating magic.
‘…It’s terrifying how nonchalant I’m becoming about all this astronomical wealth.’
Just selling one decent artifact from the inventory in Shio-ram could fund a comfortable lifestyle for three generations!
Feels like my economic sense has been completely shattered.
– Thud! Thud!
The vibrations from the golem ahead are still echoing, but compared to before, my ears feel much safer.
I’m no longer bombarded by the cacophony of thousands upon thousands of golems stomping around.
The golems that were hot on my tail just moments ago have long dispersed.
They spread out, adjusting their distances perfectly to stand guard.
‘Looks like a game of Go.’
This floating island resembles a Go board.
There’s hardly any dirt or grass underfoot; only uniformly metallic ground greets me.
Upon this board-like surface, golems stand perfectly spaced apart in a defensive formation.
The white golems looked just like the white stones placed on the board.
They formed ranks and strategically forced me into fleeing, much like a game of Go.
‘……’
The sheer power of this floating island is staggering.
Though many functionalities are limited, just operating the golems as I have could easily wipe any normal dungeon off the map.
But wait, there’s more!
This huge army of golems will be especially powerful on the battlefield.
They don’t need to eat like humans.
They don’t require sleep or rest, nor do they need mental stimulation.
As long as they’re supplied with the materials and mana to form their bodies, they fight infinitely.
And on top of that, each golem’s power is immense, making such an army invaluable in battle.
Original work?
From the first to the twelfth run…
I’ve never seen this kind of power.
In the memories of a man who handled the triplet magic, the tower of knowledge revealed itself without presenting a single hair.
The golems, without any trials or illusions…
Simply repeated their monotonous warning of restricted access in certain areas.
‘…ugh.’
There’s a lot on my mind.
Thinking about meeting the tower’s master soon has me all tense with thoughts running wild.
My tongue keeps feeling parched as I subconsciously move my right arm.
‘If I leave it be, it’ll recover on its own.’
My arm was hurt while channeling my circuits.
I didn’t take any special measures.
Just putting back together the broken bones and torn muscles and gently coaxing the circuits to enhance recovery.
But even that simple action already showed signs of healing.
My body, which was already peculiar, has grown even stranger since starting training in this world, and its recovery is remarkable.
‘If I were torn or severed, I’d have to mimic Elia’s healing melody to regenerate… I miss Elia.’
Thanks to being all jumbled up inside, I didn’t need special healing.
I rolled with the teachings of my mentor to cultivate my body’s recovery without relying on the various regenerators scattered nearby.
Believing in my mentor’s words, I managed to build this much recovery power.
‘My mentor’s words are indeed the truth… I miss my mentor.’
Nodding, I pulled out a heavenly pouch from my spatial pocket.
I took out a green healing pill and popped it into my mouth.
– Crunch crunch
I chewed, letting it break apart, swirling the gooey insides as if spreading it around with my tongue.
As my tongue tingled from the sensation, I kept moving it around.
[……?]
The golem glanced back at me.
Its azure eye flickered between my mouth where I’m chewing and the heavenly pouch in my hand, and then over to my purple-stained right arm.
[May I inquire what that is?]
Its helmet creaked as it inquired.
Just to note, this golem had previously tried to turn me into a pancake with its thick gloves.
Despite its appearance, I found the tone rather polite and shrugged.
I swallowed the contents then popped the healing pill back into my mouth.
[It’s poison from the Black Snake.]
[Ah, I see. Poison made from the Black Snake’s venom… crunch crunch…]
The golem seemed to glitch momentarily, making a clashing noise as it stared at me.
[Crunch crunch?]
Was it just me, or did its azure magical eye shake like an earthquake?
[W-Why are you consuming that…?]
[…?]
[It’s for poison resistance training.]
I shrugged at the strange reaction.
As I placed the healing pill back into my mouth, the golem flinched.
Seeing something that massive flinch was enough to make me take a step back.
[Poison resistance… training? And you’re using such a foolish method?]
[It may be foolish, but it’s effective.]
That’s how resistance works.
You get whacked, and eventually, your threshold goes up.
Same goes for damage resistance, slice resistance, or pain resistance.
Poison resistance follows the same principle.
If you keep injecting poison into your body, it’ll eventually build up a resistance.
[Poison is something that should be handled with care, but to ingest it in such a dangerous manner…? Even considering the effectiveness, it’s far too risky.]
[It’s fine.]
I nodded at the golem’s concern.
It’s true, poison should be handled carefully.
There’s a fine line between medicine and poison.
Drugs that can save a life can also cause death if used differently.
So, I’m being careful.
[Even so…](edited)
[It’s seriously fine; I’m taking it safely.]
[After dealing with the venom of the Two-headed Poison Dragon, ordinary poisons don’t faze me.]
The Two-headed Poison Dragon.
Even though it was unstable and had sunk in rank back then, the sheer toxicity was still enough to scare anyone.
If I hadn’t gone through that transformation, I might have kicked the bucket without a trace.
Thanks to that, my average poison resistance skyrocketed.
A silver lining in the misery.
[…,]
The golem, who was about to express some concern, fell silent at my trivial complaint.
‘Hmph.’
I snickered softly as I continued to pop the healing pill into my mouth.
.
.
.
The floating island is filled with spells.
The spells, which I suspect the tower’s master engraved herself, are all complex and advanced, vastly beyond my understanding.
But I could grasp the general layout enough to see that most spells lead towards the center of the floating island.
And all of the gathered spells converge into a single construction.
A gigantic white tower.
The Tower of Knowledge.
[We have arrived.]
The leading golem turned around, bowed slightly, and stepped aside.
Behind it stood the entrance to an even larger tower.
I sensed the somber aura radiating from the dark entrance, but I redirected my observations to inspect the tower’s appearance.
The size is similar to the Tower of Growth.
The exterior is different.
While the Tower of Growth boasts a yellowish ivory hue, simulating an ancient relic, the Tower of Knowledge shines a bluish white.
The surface is spotless, like a static water surface, embellished with deep blue geometric lines—adding an aura of mystery.
‘The Tower of Knowledge…’
Standing before it, beads of sweat formed out of sheer tension.
I couldn’t shake off the doubt creeping in.
‘Worrying about this now is pointless.’
I shook off my head roughly to toss the doubts away.
I need to go in regardless of the situation.
If anything happens… I’ll just have to overcome it somehow.
If I hesitate now, when things are safe and sound, I’ll never accomplish anything going forward.
Whatever comes my way, I must prevail.
Steeling my resolve, I stepped toward the entrance of the tower.
I squeezed myself through the dark opening.
And my consciousness began to sink.
.
.
.
‘?’
As my momentarily floating consciousness regained its place, my observation expanded in all directions.
“Ugh…”
My observations burst forth, cramming a deluge of information into my head.
Even accustomed to pain, the sheer headache brought on by this top-tier flood of knowledge was enough to freeze me in place.
Did I ever feel like I had gathered all the world’s books back in that mansion’s study?
Nope, now it’s different.
Back then, it felt like a metaphor—but here, it truly feels like there are ‘all’ the books stacked up endlessly.
Books everywhere.
The inside of the tower literally resembles a tower.
I stand on the first floor, and above me, it’s wide open.
I feel no ceiling.
Like a glitched game map, it towers endlessly upward.
The insides of this infinite tower are lined with wall shelves.
They’re stuffed to the brim with countless books, and the words squeezed on the pages are densely packed.
From light reads to brief encyclopedias, unknown picture books, painfully scrawled journals, diaries, and advanced knowledge tomes that are near impossible for me to decipher…
Observational Record of Oddities, Volume 1…
“Powers are abilities with particularly severe side effects.”
Suddenly, a chilling touch met my forehead.
A slender finger, gently pushing past my hair, pressed onto my forehead, and in an instant, the throbbing headache cleared up.
“If used appropriately, they can be extremely useful, but not everything in this world can be used appropriately, can they? In those cases, external rights that don’t belong to the user can burden them greatly.”
‘Huh?’
In that moment, my eyes widened.
The headache vanished.
Not only that, the poison that had been coursing through my body also faded away.
The strain intended for growth suppressed on my body was lifted.
The purple-stained skin returned to its original fair complexion.
Amidst the crushing information that had enveloped me, I hadn’t noticed the approach of what I was missing.
I was startled and blinked in a daze.
Unbeknownst to me, I found myself standing before a woman seated in a chair.
The woman was white.
Her skin reminiscent of polished porcelain, smooth and luminous, and her flowing attire was simplically a single shade of unblemished white.
Her long hair fell straight down to her ample backside, cascading forward to rest gently atop her generous bosom.
Even her eyes appeared completely white.
They fixed upon me, gazing deeply, as if they contained the entirety of a snow-covered world.
[……]
As I stood there, vacant-eyed, the woman gently rose from her chair.
The delicate chair she sat upon rose without a creak.
As she stood, her shadow loomed over me.
Suddenly realizing her stature far surpassing mine, I stepped back, shuddering a bit.
The woman, who had been observing me, softly closed her eyes and placed her hands neatly upon her abdomen.
“With what little I hold as the Tower Master of Knowledge, I, Ariel Segnis Ternovia, greet the savior.”
Then, she bowed deeply, as if addressing someone of the highest status.
Her head seemed to nearly touch the ground, and I blinked, utterly stunned.
‘?’
Having come in with the worst-case scenarios in mind, I found myself gripped by a solid welcome beyond my imagination.
This was a meeting with the Master of the Tower of Knowledge.
*
[Player Calibration System: Development Level]
[Quest “Entry into the Tower of Knowledge” Achieved]
[You gain a large amount of points.]
…
[You are face to face with “Tower Master”.]
[Conditions Met.]
…
[Player Calibration System: Favorability]
Lee Ha-yul → Tower Master (?)
●●●○○○○○○○ (30▷31/100)
“Complex,” “Confusion,” “Question,” “Miscommunication,” “Gratitude,” “Pout,” “Weirdo?”
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