Discovery

After a few hours, William had replenished all of his qi. He stood up and looked at the little wolf. His lazy face made William want to punch him.

Smiling, he said, "I'm going to explore the tower. Will you wait for me?" William was worried about the return journey. Without the wolves, he suspected he wouldn't even be able to find his way back. Since they had been aiming for the fruits of this tree from the beginning, they had a way of not getting lost.

The little wolf pricked up his ears and looked lazily up at William. Then, muttering something, he pointed at the big wolf.

The big wolf was still resting, far from healing. A blow from a creature in the middle of the bronze level might be difficult for it at the beginning of the bronze level. William was in no hurry to ask for its blood. Because it had lost enough blood already. He thought about taking it the next day when it felt better.

What the little wolf meant was, “The big sister is already injured, you go, we are here.”

"Thank you!" He said and started walking towards the gate of the tower.

The tower resembled medieval architecture. It had a pointed roof and a curved, towering structure. All the windows on the walls of the tower looked like classic French windows. The gate, on the other hand, was so simple that it could be called completely classical. Only the two large doors were decorated with a simple round knocker.

William came to the simple door. Thinking that no one was inside, he naturally tried to open the door without knocking.

The sense of danger from inside was less than the Skrecwee they had killed. That's where his confidence came from.

He had his sword at his hip, just in case. He could strike at any moment. He wore the beautiful red armor he had taken from the skeleton. There were two strengthens on the armor, but both were broken. William wore it because of its own sturdy build. It could at least withstand a claw strike. For creatures below bronze, of course.

At first, he thought he could open the door easily. He tried to push it gently, but the door remained firmly in place. It hadn't moved an inch.

He rolled up his sleeves for a second try. He placed both of his arms on both handles of the door. He pushed with all his might.

"AAARRGGGHHH!!" He pushed, using every muscle in his body.

Then suddenly a feeling of emptiness enveloped him and he fell forward through two huge doors. He immediately raised his head and looked inside. There was no danger. He stood up and brushed the dust off him. Then he turned and looked at the door. Completely intact, it had fallen in two pieces. Where it broke was where the hinges were attached to the walls.

His face darkened as he saw the hinges. "Why would a person make the door open to the outside?"

He was glad that no one had seen him now. It was an absolute shame.

"Ahem!" He coughed slightly and straightened his clothes. Then, with a serious face, he walked slowly inside.

It was like a big hall. There were a few long, dusty tables and a few dusty chairs. It was a perfect waiting room with a huge golden crystal above it.

There was a small table next to the stairs on the floor he was on. It was like a hotel lobby. There was a shelf in the back, but it was empty. There was almost nothing to see.

He turned to the stairs. He had two options. He could go down to the basement or he could go up. William went up without hesitation.

Because all bad things happened in dirty, dark places like the basement. That's why he avoided it.

When he got to the second floor, he encountered dozens of rooms, just like the hotel. Most of the rooms were empty. The interior was just like a hotel room. It consisted of a desk, a bed, and a bookshelf. There wasn't even a bathroom.

The first few rooms were empty. He looked all the way under the beds. There was nothing but a thick layer of dust. A hell for asthmatics!" he thought.

When he reached the fifth room, he was in for a surprise. The room was the same again, but this time there was an arm on the table. Its flesh had completely rotted, turning it into a skeleton.

There was a notebook as if it had been cut while writing. The quill, with a dried inkwell on the side, had succumbed to the force of time. There were five books in the library in the room. It was too small for such a large library. These books were not considered to be very thick. They were about three inches thick. William approached and picked up one of the books for fear that it would trigger something.

The book was called "Encyclopedia of Spiritual Plants" in the language of sorcerers. William was familiar with such a book. When he read the contents, he realized how wrong he was. There were many plants in this book that were not in the book he was reading at the academy. These plants were not included in the new books, probably because most of them had become extinct. However, he took it with him for later. It was the same with other books. They were about plants and ores in nature, and one of his special interests was about magical creatures.

The book on magical creatures was more detailed than he had expected. It even wrote about concepts like bloodline power. Of course, it wasn't about the bloodline power of humans, but the bloodline power of creatures. He quickly flipped through the pages and found the Silver Moon Wolf's page.

Its bloodline power was written in detail. A quick read confirmed that his previous information was correct. After reading for a while, he discovered that there was more interesting information, but for now, he put the book in his bag. Now was not the time for reading. He had to explore this tower first.

The feeling of uneasiness grew inside him, though it was extremely difficult to detect.

Finally, the only thing in the room he wasn't looking at was the book under the hand.

He approached it cautiously and took the dagger out of his dimensional bag. He carefully poked it with the tip of the dagger, then quickly pulled it back. Realizing that nothing was wrong, he pushed the hand with the dagger away.

He carefully picked up the notebook from underneath and took a quick look at it. Indeed, the writer had left it unfinished.

The notebook was like a diary. William just glanced at it. Its owner was an advanced apprentice named "Derec". He was proficient in fire spells. It contained some magic terms that William didn't understand. But even Derec wrote them because he didn't understand them anyway. He added it as a note to himself.

The last page was very sad. It was almost bloodstained and hard to read.

"A week ago, the mage Levenoth arrived. He asked us if we would stay. The Tower was preparing for a great war. The mage Levenoth said he believed the master would win. That's why I decided to stay."

"Damned mage Levenoth! Master lost! He was trying to heal his wounds. He said the tower defense would hold until he was healed. We have no life-threatening danger for now!"

While reading the book, William's mood kept changing. Because what was written was getting funnier and funnier, and sometimes it felt sad.

"Damn son of a bitch Levenoth! He betrayed us! He betrayed the Tower! He betrayed the Master! He took the tower's defense crystal and fled! That son of a bitch! Other mages have been searching for him for days, but it seems that the ground has cracked and he has gone in!"

“My friends and I are fighting in turns. At this rate, we won't be able to hold on much longer."

“Only three of the mages chasing Levenoth have returned! One is seriously injured. I think these are the last sentences of my diary."

"Ashlyn! Damn bitch! I trusted her. I gave her my only Advanced Apprentice treasure! She said she would die with me! She betrayed the Tower, the Master, and most importantly, me. Fortunately, I was able to kill her before she escaped! The stupid bitch thought she could escape from me with being a mid-level apprentice and two spells she knew. I destroyed her heart with my right hand."

From here on, the writing had changed. It was as if he was holding the pen with his untrained hand.

"Slut! A total bitch! She already had poison in her body! I had to cut off my arm because there weren't enough healing potions in the tower! I will not forgive her even in the afterlife!"

The next part was written like a man dying of exhaustion or old age. The letters were enlarged and the lines were wobbly.

"I am in a bad condition. Tomorrow is the last battle. The Pignose Valley has been chosen as the battlefield. The mages of the entire tower must go. There is no other way out. The Master said that if they win this war, he will open the treasure to everyone, but I am almost certain that we will not win. I'm going to leave my cut-off hand and this diary in case we win. Even if we win, I'm sure I'll die. I hope Master will take good care of my family as he promised..."

William was very confused. There had been a war between the mages, and the losing side was obviously the tower he was in now. It was a war full of treachery and intrigue. Derec explained the situation very clearly.

As he read, he sometimes laughed and sometimes was sad. If he could talk to Derec beforehand, he would say, "Brother, don't trust anyone! Not even your father," His age was not written in the notebook, but he could guess that he was young. Based on what he had read, he thought Derec was a teenager in his early twenties.

He sighed slightly and tossed the notebook into his dimensional bag.

He wanted to take his hand and bury it properly, but then he was disgusted and gave up. After all, he had pierced the heart of his beloved with this hand. He could say that he would leave it as a souvenir.

He left the room and began to tour the rest of the rooms. He found several books that he thought would be useful, but most of them were about where they lived. There were even some that were identical to the book Derec found in his room, but they all had different handwriting. It was as if the students had copied them themselves.

After he finished exploring the rooms, he found himself on the stairs to the next floor.

Here, the moment he stepped onto the ladder, his sense of danger rose within him. It was as if a voice told him not to go.

But this feeling was minor compared to the creature outside. Against all odds, William took the step and began to climb. He had seen the ruined wall of this place from the outside. He had to jump two meters over the broken ground to reach it.

As he threw his foot onto the third floor, he heard a faint, frightened scream. 'Damn it,' he cursed himself. One of the things he feared most was a screaming ghost or zombie.

This time it probably would be one of the two.

There were rooms here too, but first, he had to look for the sound of crying. The sound came from the eighth room from the left. He proceeded carefully. The leather shoes on his feet didn't even make the sound of rubbing against the dust. That was how careful he was.

The door of the eighth room was open. The interior had a different design than the one below, but William didn't have time to examine it. His eyes found the long-haired, female-looking creature crying, crouched in the corner of the room with her back to him. If he didn't know about such things, he would definitely fall for it!

He had seen it too many times to remember how many movies he had seen this scene in.

He had already pulled out his sword as soon as he stepped onto the stairs, so as not to make a sound. He grabbed it with both hands and got as close as he could. He could sense that the creature had a power that was at the peak of the iron level.

He was ready to unleash all of his power at once. William wouldn't use the sword's strengthens because the creature wasn't bronze level.

He bent slightly and took an attacking stance. Then he suddenly lunged forward with 'Like a Volcano'. As he raised his sword, the Execution Sword worked with him. With his sword, he slashed at the creature from above.

The only sound he made while performing these moves was the muffled explosion when he used 'Like a Volcano'. It wasn't very loud, but it was enough for the creature to hear.

The creature quickly turned and screamed. It was like it was trying to scare the audience in a horror movie.

"RAAAAAAAGGGHH----!!!"

Then her voice suddenly stopped. Because William's sword had sliced through her. The creature had an ugly, sickly face and an extremely disturbing voice. Fortunately, William had cut it off.

The creature fell to the ground in two pieces and began to burn like Skrecwee from the heat of the execution sword. A crystal fell from where its heart had been. William picked it up and examined it.

[Crying Zombie Crystal (Iron Advanced) x1]

'Ugly! Luckily, this brother has seen a lot of people like you,' he thought.

William happily tossed the crystal into his dimensional bag and began to examine his surroundings. These rooms certainly did not belong to students. They were more like the personal rooms and research stations of real mages. In addition to the bed, desk, and bookshelves, there was also an experimental table.

On the experiment table in the room he was in, there were glass tubes of various shapes, but it was completely empty. Time had dried them up. There was almost nothing in this room, and William's sense of danger was completely gone. So he relaxed a bit. He began to wander through the other rooms one by one.

Real(Official) mages were obviously more stingy than apprentices. Their rooms were empty. Frustrated, he went up the stairs to the fourth floor.

There was still no sense of danger in him, so he went up with some caution.

There was only one room on this floor. Its door was closed.

William tried to open it, but when he touched it, a blue, almost transparent light appeared and pushed his hand away. He strained a little, but no matter what he did, his hand couldn't reach the door handle.

He took out his sword and decided to open it with brute force.

He kept cutting with the execution sword. The seal on the door had obviously weakened over time. As William began to sweat, his sword hit the wooden door.

Then he drew his sword and took it in his left hand. With his right hand, he grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door. He felt like the luckiest person in the world when he entered. There was no danger. His only fear was the skeleton sitting at the table in front of him. He was wearing a gold-embroidered mage robe. The forehead band had fallen around his neck. It was also gold and had a beautiful harmony with its red stripes.

He cautiously approached the skeleton, his sword in front of him. He would cut its neck at the slightest movement, as he had done to the other, but it was not expected. The skeleton was still, even as William approached. William even poked him in the forehead. Getting no response, he relaxed and dropped his sword.

He felt his bladder filling up, but he held on. For this room felt like it was full of treasures. He could see the books lined up on the shelves, the soul stones in the far corners, and the various weapons. There were even two armors. He liked the shapes of these armors and weapons. They shone with a golden light. He approached them and examined them. It's all a complete set. From the ankles to the shoes, everything was intact, and they even had two second-level strengthens on their chest pads.

These were good things! The second-level equipment was invaluable to him for now! He would advance to the bronze rank, and such armor would suit him well. He could already feel the girls staring at him with admiration. Without hesitation, he threw it into his dimensional bag.

Then he turned and focused on the books on the shelves. He understood at first glance that these books were different from the previous ones.

He picked one at random and read the cover. "Introduction to the Fire Element."

William was intrigued. He wanted to put the book on his cheek(face) and love it. He didn't because it was dusty. After a quick glance inside, he immediately threw it into his dimensional bag. There was no one to bother him now, but just in case, he should be careful and quick.

He examined other books and added more to his surprise.

"Introduction to Potions", "Introduction to Basic Potions", "History of Potions", "Basic Potion Recipes", "Introduction to the Water Element", "Introduction to the Element Earth..Plant..Metal". It was packed with many introductory and basic-level books.

Finally, he found dozens of scrolls. These scrolls were spells!

There were various spells spread across not just one element, but five elements!

Sadly, there was no meditation technique. William let out a long sigh. "I'd be surprised if there was!"

He collected the Soul Stones in the room. In total, he found six hundred and forty-five low-level soul stones and three mid-level soul stones. This journey made him rich!

To this day, he wondered why people were afraid to come here, but he could not find the answer.

Finally, there was only one skeleton left in the room that he hadn't checked. He approached it and carefully removed the headband from its neck.

...