Chapter 310: Tower Spirit, Arena

Startled by Wang Yu’s sudden turn, the camera recoiled with a sharp jerk, then wobbled in the air.

This peculiar machine, naturally, did not respond to Wang Yu’s challenge with a retort; instead, after being discovered, it stared at him for a few seconds before speaking in the voice of a young man.

"I am merely curious as to who would actually take this book out to read. After all, the scholars and alchemists of the Sky Mechanical City can usually confirm that this book is nothing but fabrication and swindling just by looking at the title."

"You are the first person to seriously consider the title and still intend to read on. Honestly, such behavior strikes me as rather foolish."

Wang Yu narrowed his eyes. The power of the Chariot surged forth, probing the internal structure of this "transforming flowerpot" until he found the alchemical module connected to the camera lens, at which point he promptly severed the connection.

"Oh, my! I can’t see. What have you done?"

The flowerpot’s camera began to twist and turn frantically, much like a person clutching their eyes and rolling about, emitting strange, garbled noises as it writhed.

"I didn't say anything when you were spying on me, but you start insulting me before we've even exchanged two sentences? Is that how you carry on a conversation?"

Wang Yu crossed his arms, watching the wildly gyrating pot. He had only been reading to kill time, and to be insulted by a piece of pottery was simply unacceptable. If that was the case, he decided, he would use this strange flowerpot to kill time instead.

"Honestly, you’ve broken this device, and now I’ll have to come and repair it. Was that really necessary?"

The flowerpot muttered, its damaged lens retracting back into the body of the pot.

The cracked ceramic segments shifted and locked into place, once again becoming a potted plant that appeared perfectly ordinary.

"Fine, I’ll switch to a different interface to talk to you. Don't go breaking my eyes again, you hear?"

Wang Yu raised an eyebrow, intending to ignore this inexplicable object and return to his book, when the magic crystal lamp on the table in front of him began to speak.

Under Wang Yu’s gaze, a glowing bulb emerged from the lamp base on a flexible cable, waving what was clearly an eye at him.

"Wait, who are you? If the Sky Mechanical City knew you existed, wouldn't they just destroy you?"

Wang Yu spoke casually, though he realized that this talking lamp was likely no simple entity. To exist in this form within the Sky Mechanical City, it probably had at least some connection to the Central Council.

"I am the Tower Spirit of the Central Spire. I have many titles; the apprentices of my creator like to call me the Machine Soul, though I prefer the name my creator gave me: Astartes."

Astartes bobbed its bulb, introducing itself. The entity truly had a formidable background—it was the spirit of this very tower. Moreover, unlike the dull-witted spirit of the Spellbinder’s Wizard Tower, this one clearly possessed a much higher level of sentience.

"As a Tower Spirit, shouldn't you have plenty of matters to attend to? How do you have the time to concern yourself with what a passerby is reading?"

Wang Yu was genuinely intrigued. Since he had nothing better to do, chatting with an artificial intelligence from another world seemed like a pleasant diversion.

"Taking a moment to observe a book is hardly an energy-consuming task. I only need a thousandth of my consciousness to communicate with you; the rest is more than enough to handle my duties."

"Besides, I used to have many things to handle, but now my creator’s disciples take care of the problems. I am quite idle every day, so what is wrong with finding something interesting to do?"

Astartes answered while swaying, looking quite content.

"You’re something else. I’m not reading this book to learn anything; I’m purely killing time. I want to see just how bizarre the author must be to write about these completely unrelated existences in one place."

Wang Yu gestured with the book in his hand toward the lamp, speaking nonchalantly.

"Are you not calling me bizarre, then?"

Astartes’ tone turned displeased; it was clearly unhappy with Wang Yu’s assessment of the book’s author.

Wang Yu chuckled. He had suspected earlier that the author was this Tower Spirit named Astartes, and it seemed his jab had hit the mark.

"Mutual, isn't it? Didn't you call me a fool? Let’s leave it at that. I want to see what this book actually says. If you have nothing else to do, don't disturb my reading. It’s quite strange being stared at by something so inexplicable."

Wang Yu waved a hand at Astartes, signaling it to stop watching him so he could read.

"You really are something. Fine, fine. Because I figured the title would make people think the contents were useless, I actually stuffed quite a bit of valuable information inside. You’re quite lucky, you know."

Astartes complained about the book, noting Wang Yu’s good fortune, before the bulb retracted into the base and the lamp returned to its original, inanimate state.

"Is that so?"

Wang Yu was noncommittal. He opened the book, and after reading the first page, his attention was completely captured. He pulled the Endless Pages from the void and began transcribing the contents with lightning-fast speed.

Ten seconds later, having finished a page, Wang Yu thought of something as he turned to the next. He expanded the power of the Chariot, sweeping it in all directions to inspect the internal structures of objects that appeared normal. Sure enough, he soon made discoveries.

The chandelier overhead, the water-dispenser-like object on the table behind him, the wastebasket beside the desk, and even a thick tome tucked into the bookshelf—

This series of items, which showed no issues from the outside, all contained complex mechanical structures, identical to the lamp and the flowerpot.

At that moment, the surface of the chandelier above cracked open, and an "eyeball" peered through the gap, staring directly at Wang Yu.

Sighing, Wang Yu spent a few seconds locating the observation components of these objects and, without a word, used the Chariot’s power to sever every single connection.

"Damn it..."

A voice of frustration echoed in his ears, coming from the chandelier above.

"Tch, this Tower Spirit is interesting, but when you think about it, having its eyes everywhere is a bad feeling. If there are this many 'eyes' hidden here, how much of the entire Sky Mechanical City is under surveillance?"

Wang Yu curled his lip, his thoughts wandering for a moment before he refocused on the book.

Just as Astartes had said, the book contained a wealth of useful information, recounting biographies of many famous figures—most of whom Wang Yu had never heard of, such as the story of Merlin, known as the greatest alchemist.

Books here could not be taken away. He could read the whole thing in time, but he didn't have the ability to memorize everything at a glance. Thus, he used the unnatural speed of a Grand Knight to transcribe the entire book onto the Endless Pages, intending to take it back and read it at his leisure.

It took about two hours for Wang Yu to copy the entire contents, after which he shoved the book back onto the shelf.

As soon as the book was replaced, the transforming potted plant stirred. It grew four claws, crawled over to the book, pulled it out, dragged it off the shelf, and, under Wang Yu’s watchful eye, scurried deep into the lounge and vanished.

"So, you don't want others to see it?"

Wang Yu muttered to himself, but he didn't care. He took out the Endless Pages and began to read what he had copied, focusing on the new path pioneered by the alchemical school founded by Merlin.

...

An hour later, his identity card received a message: Avia and Zig’s academic assessment had concluded. Zig had successfully obtained the status of Scholar, while Avia, having passed the academic portion perfectly, still needed to complete the spellcaster combat simulation test.

Leaving the lounge, Wang Yu accompanied the two to the arena on the seventeenth floor of the Seeker’s Tower, where Avia’s simulation test would take place.

On the way, Wang Yu told them about his encounter with Astartes.

"A Tower Spirit named Astartes? That identity is not simple, especially since you mentioned others call it a 'Machine Soul.' Do you know what a Machine Soul signifies?"

Zig listened with great interest, asking after a moment of thought.

"Machine Soul? No idea."

Wang Yu shook his head. To him, it sounded like a concept similar to artificial intelligence, but judging by the professor’s expression, it was likely something else entirely.

"A mechanical soul—one of the highest achievements in alchemy: bestowing a soul upon an alchemical construct."

"It is not merely having intelligence; some wizard tower spirits have basic intelligence, but they lack souls. A true Machine Soul is a physical soul born from pure machinery."

As Zig explained the concept, Wang Yu realized that Astartes’ identity was even more extraordinary than he had guessed—assuming the entity’s self-introduction was true.

"To this day, there are only confirmed records of two people who successfully created a Machine Soul: the alchemist Merlin and his disciple, Malfurion. This means the creator of the Tower Spirit you met is likely one of these two. I must say, Wang Yu, just as the spirit said, you are quite lucky."

Avia added, her deep love and profound knowledge of alchemy making her understand the significance of Astartes far better than Wang Yu.

"Fair enough. Speaking of which, how prepared are you for the upcoming combat simulation test?"

As the three chatted, they arrived at the simulation arena on the seventeenth floor. It was a vast, open space covered by a large-scale magic suppression array, designed to reduce the power of all spells released within to prevent casualties during testing.

Personnel entering the internal test would be fitted with a

A dual-layered magical barrier; once the outer shell shatters, the trial is concluded.

"Of course, that will be no problem at all."

The girl flashed a confident smile, drawing a solid metal staff from her mage's robe—it was, indeed, heavy and unyielding.