The Core of the Magic Tower (2)
"Huh……"
Now that he mentioned it, it really was a bit of a shame.
If the zombie outbreak had never happened, the area within several kilometers of the Magic Tower would have leapfrogged past any transit hub and become the next-generation city center. The government would have been falling over itself to build a subway station that went straight to the tower, and corporate headquarters and research labs would have been lining up to relocate here……
Okay, that might be getting a little carried away.
Still, without the zombie apocalypse, I really could have retired from life altogether.
Then again, if I wasn't careful, I might have just ended up making the building's landlord a very happy man.
Was that from Tier 3 of the Magic Tower? Or Tier 4?
I'd even asked about it after reading that post. Apparently there was a function that let you fold distant locations into the Influence Zone as well.
Ah, if the zombie apocalypse hadn't hit, I could have sold this authority and the magic starter pack and gotten filthy rich.
I suddenly understood, with crystal clarity, why every Tower Master ended up as a pope or a king or some other big shot in their dimension.
But that wasn't an option right now.
I just brushed past it with a vague answer.
By the time that became relevant, there might be better places to drop an Influence Zone than that bunker. I didn't want to give a firm commitment and then feel bad about taking it back later.
Anyway.
The most insane part is that this is just a bonus feature attached to the school of magic.
The real deal was the Magic Creation system. The Influence Zone was basically just a buff that came with it.
I closed the still-frantic group chat window and opened the Free Archive, hoping someone might have a good idea—only to be greeted by a wall of pure garbage posts.
Nobody else is gonna show us this stuff but you
I gave up and decided to just start by checking the outline of the system.
"Magic Creation."
I barked the command, and what appeared in front of my eyes was a complex window that looked like the dizzying option buttons on a music composition program—or the control panel of a spaceship cockpit.
"Eek."
The moment that window appeared, I instinctively stepped backward and, with the pure reflex of a former community shut-in, slapped a post onto the Free Archive in an instant.
But a moment later—
Currently Created Magic: 0 / 5
You may cancel Magic Creation at any time before all steps are complete.
1. Please describe the outline of the magic you wish to create.
—what appeared over that control panel were familiar translucent message windows and guidance text so friendly it was almost absurd.
I got spooked for nothing.
Apparently all I had to do was decide what magic to make. The system would handle the rough design on its own, and if I wanted changes, I could just re-explain things or tweak those options.
So what should I make? It'll probably only work with the magic schools I picked as my specialties.
"A badass spell that drops a swarm of meteors from the sky and flattens an entire area."
Just in case, I tried describing a spell completely unrelated to my schools.
The magic you described falls significantly outside the range of your selected schools.
Constraints, principles, backlash, and power may deteriorate dramatically.
The magic may not function as intended.
Proceed anyway?
[ Yes / No ]
It didn't say no……?
It was basically a no, though.
Is that so.
So what should I make?
Thinking about it, golems could already be strengthened plenty just by swapping materials or adding other auxiliary runes. The first golem I'd made had been the type that had to dodge zombies. Now they used magic, healed, burned zombies with something close to holy power, and got even stronger inside the Influence Zone—all under the same Golem Crafting spell.
So… other enhancement runes or equipment I could graft onto golems?
Something about that felt off. Using up a Magic Creation slot for that didn't seem worth it.
After a moment of thought—
Right. Instead of magic engineering, I should start with alchemy or remote support magic first.
I decided it was better to make the things I'd originally wanted rather than force more golem-upgrade ideas. Those spells would end up feeding into the golems' combat power and operational capability anyway.
Let's start with remote support magic.
Attach something like a communicator to the golems so I could talk and share video with them in real time even from a distance. Then use that as a medium to fire support magic remotely. Wouldn't that be incredibly convenient?
You know how, in some idle games, your character farms on its own most of the time—but if you personally hit the skill button, a stronger skill comes out? That kind of feel.
While the golems were out fighting, I could watch from inside the Magic Tower and help them clean up annoying zombies. Or throw up a barrier. Being able to do that would be great.
Hearing my explanation, Taeho fretted that his job was about to become obsolete.
Knowing his personality, he wasn't the type to celebrate being told he didn't have to work. He'd probably get depressed about losing his excuse to go out and fight zombies. So I quickly reassured him.
At that, Taeho waved his hands wildly, insisting he hadn't been telling me not to make it—he'd just been talking.
No matter how much absolute authority I held as Tower Master within this group, I wanted to explain things to my disciples as much as I could, and live alongside them through conversation.
After finishing a detailed explanation of the magic I was designing for my disciples—
—and after getting some solid, usable advice from our research-oriented members—
"……is the kind of magic I want. Ah. And it can't require rare magical materials to make."
I explained the magic to the system.
Applied principles from the Magic Engineering and Pure Mana schools.
Magic range is significantly increased.
The described magic falls slightly outside the range of your selected schools.
The magic's principles may become more complex.
Casting may become more demanding.
Is it because it weirdly resembles teleportation magic?
It said it was a little outside the school range, so it might be difficult. But we had excellent researchers. And if the hard part was the execution itself, I could figure something out.
Besides, if I didn't like the result, I still had one more chance to cancel right before completion.
"Proceed as is."
The moment I pressed Yes, the system began crunching calculations on its own for a long while.
2. Performing base calculations for magic design.
Sliders and knobs on the complex control panel spun on their own, and magic circles and mechanical blueprints scrawled themselves chaotically across the translucent windows.
"Oh……"
A few minutes later, the system's proposal was a radio-shaped piece of equipment the golems could carry—and a large, military-radio-like machine I could set on my desk and use.
Looking at it, though, a thought struck me.
That's… lamer than I expected.
The principles and magic circles were needlessly complicated, and because of that, the hardware was needlessly bulky. I even started to worry that golems lugging this thing around in a fight would be more hindered than helped.
Hmm…… There has to be a better way than this.
And then, a fun idea suddenly occurred to me.
Can I use modern technology like this? Will the system just handle it?
What caught my eye was my phone, lying carelessly by the head of the bed.
I immediately canceled Magic Creation and started explaining everything from the beginning all over again.