The True Magic Tower

The building shook violently. "Wait, why all of a sudden—ugh!"

Along with the tower upgrade, every pillar and wall in the entire structure—except for the floor I was on—twisted and reconfigured itself.

The hundreds of kilograms of iron and stone I'd prepared began seeping into the gaps between the building's framework, forming a massive magical construct.

Mana-infused Iron solidified the skeleton, while the mana within the Mana Stones filled the old walls and pillars, making them look brand new.

'Maybe the "danger" warning wasn't about the tower collapsing and killing me after all?'

And so, my home transformed from an old rundown apartment into something straight out of a fantasy novel—an ancient, towering spire.

'The landlord would probably faint if he saw this.'

Not that I knew whether that guy was alive or dead. Still, calling it a Magic Tower when it was just a single room on one floor had never made sense to begin with.

"Now it actually feels like a tower."

At this point, the hundreds of kilograms of backbreaking labor didn't seem like much at all. To think that amount of material could completely overhaul an entire building. Just what was this system, anyway?

But before I could even fully process my shock, the changes reached the space I was in as well. The crude hole Unit 1 had punched in the wall vanished without a trace.

The entire third floor merged into one clean, spacious area. And somehow, the building remained perfectly stable.

"Ugh..."

Dayeon clutched her head, dizzy from the sudden vibrations. As the Tower Master, I didn't feel any discomfort. If anything, it felt like the space was gradually optimizing itself to suit me perfectly. The expanded area and denser mana seemed to be adjusting entirely for my benefit.

And then there was the attribute. All that mana carried a warm, pure white light—like sunlight on a spring afternoon.

'This is...'

The attribute of white magic. Every time I took a deep breath, tiny traces of that mana circulated through my body. I couldn't pinpoint the exact effects yet, but I had a feeling it would subtly influence all my magic from now on.

"Whoa, what is this..."

"Congratulations."

"It was louder than expected. Should we head out to stop the zombies?"

As the voices spoke beside me, the messages appeared.

'Everything else looks the same as last time.'

The things I needed to check were the attribute perk, the defense system, and the school system. But the defense system seemed like the most urgent.

"Just as I thought..."

The loud rumbling of the building warping had naturally drawn the zombies over. Hiding a transformation of this scale with something like a Veil of Silence would've been impossible. Thanks to the golems cleaning up the area last night, there weren't that many, but still.

"I-isn't this a big problem?"

"It'll be fine."

My panicked disciple looked at me as I sat down on the bed to reassure her. Even if the Magic Tower Defense System turned out to be nothing special, I still had my golems.

In the past, I'd always worried the building might collapse while they were fighting. That concern was gone now.

From the machine room to the rooftop, the entire building had been designated as part of the tower's domain and reinforced.

Even in a world where full-body cyborgs ran around swinging monomolecular blades, destroying a proper magic tower wasn't easy. So I figured I could trust it.

The defense system was essentially a turret. The tower would automatically intercept attacks aimed at it.

I immediately registered Mana Absorption and activated the tower's defenses. A low hum began vibrating through the building's walls.

"What is this?" Unit 1 asked, already poised to leap out the window. But before I could answer, the tower began operating on its own.

The zombies were spreading out and approaching from multiple directions. For a bunch of rotting brains, they were surprisingly tactical.

But the moment warm, pure white light spilled out from the windows, they began collapsing one by one—regardless of how or where they attacked. Their mana was being drained away.

Thanks to the added attribute, it almost looked like they were burning in the light or being purified. And in front of the tower, Mana Cores began piling up.

'As expected, using Mana Absorption gives better Mana Core drops.'

"We'll head down," the golems said, leaping to the ground. They fought using their elemental magic and Mana Absorption to hold back the zombies.

The slightly glowing effects suggested that the attribute had been added to their water and steel magic as well.

'The energy consumption is heavier than I expected.'

After the light swept through the area a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠few times, the defense system's energy was nearly depleted. But by then, almost all the approaching zombies had been dealt with. There were no more black mages controlling them, so the remaining ones were just regular zombies.

Even if they were "regular," they still had the strength to smash through steel doors and the intelligence to navigate inside buildings.

But with the second-level upgrade, the pillars and walls had been reinforced. The zombies' punches that could once break steel doors now did nothing.

All that was left was to leave the remaining zombies to the golems.

With a heavy thud and a sharp crack, Unit 2—wearing steel gauntlets—and Unit 1—carrying a massive water cannon on his shoulder—fought smartly using the walls and pillars as cover.

Despite their numerical advantage, the zombies were crushed without being able to put up a proper fight.

"All enemies have been eliminated."

The short siege ended just like that. The golems thoughtfully gathered the Mana Cores that had fallen to the ground and brought them over.

The Mana Core box that had been emptied during the tower's growth filled up again with a satisfying clatter.

"W-what is all this..."

My disciple stared at the scene, looking completely dazed. Honestly, even I was surprised.

'I won't even need to set the golems on night watch anymore. I can just leave this thing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on while I sleep.'

If I kept some emergency energy in reserve, I could probably rest easy even if something unexpected happened.

Just like I'd seen, the perk provided extra damage against black magic targets and increased efficiency for white magic.

Things like Mana Absorption's increased Mana Core extraction efficiency, or crowd control effects like stun or body part destruction.

No wonder I'd been getting so many cores. And seeing that it applied to the golems' weapons too, it seemed their attack magic had received the same benefits.

Since the only enemies we faced were zombies, the extra damage against black mana targets was incredibly useful. I should learn some white magic while I was at it.

Most of the new magic modifications were probably related to white magic anyway.

The number of spells I could hold had more than doubled. The number of spells I could pass on to my disciple had also increased to five total.

And finally, the school system.

It wasn't just a flat "impossible" like before, but there were a lot of conditions. My own magic achievement, the number and level of disciples—everything mattered.

Once the school system opened, I'd be able to create custom spells based on the magic I'd learned so far.

Even setting that aside, creating a school was both the requirement and the foundation for advancing to the next stage.

'Where am I supposed to find five people?'

The one survivor we had right now had only been found by pure chance. Still, I had to look. There might be people somewhere out there, hiding and holding on.

There were plenty of things I could try.

Between the upgrade, using new functions, alchemy, and teaching my disciple, I'd somehow accumulated a suspicious amount of experience. Especially since trying something for the first time gave a lot of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠experience.

'What should I do first?'

I should head into the magic archive and check out the newly unlocked insight spells. Things like increasing the golem limit, general detection magic instead of just mana sensing, and mostly white magic.

To gather ten Ether Crystals, I'd probably need to dive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠deep into alchemy or go on expeditions to hunt special zombies in other areas. I'd have to think about how to handle that too.