Chapter 493 - 463: Magic Tower and Mage Tower
——Steel Puppet, small mechanical creature, Attack 6, Defense 11, Damage 5-7, HP 24, Attack Speed 7, Move Speed 7, Magic Resistance 75%, special skill: mechanical creature
This was the Steel Puppet, a level 3 unit available for players to use at the Mage Academy. Its high defense and high magic resistance were its highlights. It was also the only unit at the level 3 stage with magic resistance attribute, and it had 75% total magic resistance, making it undoubtedly the strongest low-level tank!
In the early stage, if players could get their hands on a certain number of Steel Puppets, they could easily defeat magic-attack type bosses that would otherwise be impossible to beat. Its only special skill, "mechanical creature," was also deceptively simple, making it immune to various curses, diseases, slowing effects, etc. In this regard, mechanical creatures had many similarities with undead creatures, the difference being that undead creatures were severely restrained by light magic. Additionally, by pairing Steel Puppets with the Academy’s level 1 Repair Elf units, they could fight while repairing, making them an anomaly strategy to exhaust bosses to death.
Now, these tall Steel Puppets assembling in the square clearly weren’t ordinary exports; at the very least, they had the "production and transport" special skill, which meant these puppets were highly intelligent. And such high-end units were being deployed by such a low-level clerk, one had to wonder what kind of units the upper-level mages used. The Mage Academy sure knew how to show off!
Now Da Fei started to carefully review this batch of orders:
——Shipper: Seven Cities Alliance Sacred Crown City Alchemy Guild.
——Shipped goods: 10 sets of Magic Red Crystal Watch Towers (processed goods), unit price 2 million Gold Coins. Blue Crystal Drive Core Mage Tower (processed goods), price 10 million Gold Coins.
——Total price: 30 million Gold Coins.
Magic Red Crystal Watch Tower: Additional defense building, building defense 200, Durability 5000. It could release a beam dealing 20-30 magic damage. The beam, upon hitting the target area, would cause a large area of explosive damage. The enemy army could not share the magic damage of the beam with the whole tactical position. Each shot consumed 30 points of Crystal Mana. Current crystal reserve mana was 300 points, Crystal Mana could restore itself.
Blue Crystal Drive Core Mage Tower: Level 1 defense building, level 1 function building. Defense 200, Durability 20000. Increases city security rating by 5 points, increases city culture rating by 5 points, can research Magic Specialization (limited to Advanced Skill Magic, magic above Expert Level cannot be researched). This building could not be upgraded. Blue crystal could release a beam dealing 50-60 magic damage... Current crystal reserve mana was 600 points...
——Handled by: Sacred Crown City Alchemy Guild level 4 mage, level 1 researcher, level 4 clerk Sain. (signed in handwriting)
——Payment method: Six-month term payment, resource exchange.
——Receiver: Lord of Radiant City, Farolan Kingdom, Da Fei. (signed)
...
Looking at the attributes of these two batches of goods on the order, Da Fei couldn’t help but sigh.
This was the Mage Academy’s featured Arrow Tower "Ray Cannon," the ray attack was a laser-like beam sweeping through, and wherever it went, everything turned to ashes!
But the 20-30 magic damage hardly had the momentum to turn to ashes, especially compared to Da Fei’s Master-level Crossbow Cannon’s thousand-point terrifying damage, it was not up to par. The good thing was that its magic damage would not be shared by the entire tactical position of the enemy army, nor would it be reduced by the defense attribute, making it truly effective damage. Regular level 1-3 units had about 10 to 30 HP, and with these cannons forming a crossfire, the cannon fodder really fell in batches, making them the undisputed cannon fodder killers, really more efficient than ordinary single-shot Arrow Towers!
Huh? Wait, Da Fei then noticed that the crystal only had 300 points of reserve mana!
Damn! One shot consumed 30 points, after 10 shots it’s depleted? What’s the point then! The Demon Race’s cannon fodder was like a sea, wasn’t it!
Da Fei hurriedly asked, "Mr. Sain, why do these Crystal Towers only have 300 points of mana? It completely doesn’t meet my combat needs!"
Sain shook his head and sighed, "Lord, I told you, this is expired equipment. Within the shelf life, crystals can store over a thousand mana points, and the speed of mana recovery is also much faster. However, Watchtower Guilds would not easily sell ones within the shelf life, and if sold, not at this price!"
Da Fei’s jaw dropped! Damn it, although I knew this batch was a trap, it still felt uncomfortable when I found out exactly where it was a trap!
Sain continued, "But you don’t have to worry, sir, even though they are expired, they can still perform normally when paired with the charging crystals you purchased. This is why I recommended this batch to you. In fact, if you hadn’t bought charging crystals first, I wouldn’t have pushed to sell this batch to you, as it would affect the reputation of our Sacred Crown City —— moreover, these towers are additional defenses, meaning you don’t have to replace the Arrow Towers on the city walls. You can directly upgrade the existing ones, and Magic Watchtowers can be added on top of the Arrow Towers!"
Da Fei’s eyebrows raised, additional buildings meant this? He promptly confirmed, "You mean, my Arrow Tower turns into two layers, the lower level is an ordinary Arrow Tower, and the upper level is a Magic Cannon?"
Sain laughed, "Exactly! This is an effective combination of physical and magical defensive structures. Does the Lord think it’s worth the price?"
At last, Da Fei saw the light! Who said the Seven Cities Alliance was hard to deal with? Look at this clerk, with sharp business acumen! He couldn’t help but laugh, "Great! It’s worth it, I like it! Oh, wait——" Da Fei then asked, "This ’researchable Magic Specialization’ in the Mage Tower, what does it mean?"
Sain chuckled, "Lord, if two mages have the same magic power, same skills, same equipment, would they deal the same damage using the same Lightning Skill?"
Da Fei nodded, "Of course, data speaks."
Sain proudly smiled, "But, with a Mage Tower research it would be different. For example, if you research Lightning Skill specialization in the Magic Tower, for every level increase in specialization, Lightning Skill damage would increase by an additional 5%! Research it to level 10, and the difference would grow to 50%. The research process is long, which is why so many mages stay in the Mage Tower and don’t come out!"
So, the mages’ research was about studying these things!
Da Fei realized, "Oh, that’s what it is! But our tower can only research spells with Advanced Skills? Not those above Expert Level?"
Sain sighed, "I am sorry, this tower’s core crystal has issues, it cannot be upgraded, only able to research spells with Advanced Skills and below. That is why our guild is disposing of it at a discount. But in regular warfare, commonly used spells like Lightning Skill, Ice Arrow Skill, Fireball Technique, and Ice Ring Skill all are Advanced Destruction Magic spells that can be used, so only studying these spells can meet warfare needs, right?"
Da Fei was stunned! "Right?" my ass! I want to research Anlicia’s God-level arcane, don’t I? Mages only saw Destruction Magic?
However, anyway, this tower increased his city’s score by 10 points, and reaching the level where God-level Skills could be researched was clearly not something he could currently achieve. As a transitional item, it was worthwhile!
Da Fei’s thoughts were entirely clarified: "Great! Thank you for taking care of me, Mr. Sain! Be sure to prioritize me next time you have good goods!"
Sain shook his head and sighed, "Lord, see the six-month payment deadline on the bill? The guild’s max credit term is half a year, and it’s based on my personal property for collateral guarantee. The Lord must pay off this debt to have a new transaction, and I need this to advance, to help look for more items for you, so the faster, the better!"
Da Fei was instantly shocked, "Did you mortgage for me?" Damn! We’re not even familiar, and you’re from the arrogant Lamp God race, why would you mortgage for a player with even basic goodwill?
Sain replied seriously, "It’s a gamble! The Great Duke of the Human Kingdom trusts you so much, so I’m just following his gamble! Even if I don’t know you well, the Great Duke’s judgment shouldn’t be wrong!"
Da Fei was enlightened! It was a bet with the house! Meaning, this was indirectly triggered due to Makar’s influence, huh?
I always said, a random sweep of the Mage City characters set their sights highly, not even acknowledging players, how could a fairly decent level 4 mage, level 4 clerk so easily establish a trading relationship with me? Turns out it wasn’t simply about money! This Makar was worthy of his big-shot status, anything he does creates wide-reaching impact!
Da Fei replied seriously, "Don’t worry, Mr. Sain, I have the Great Duke behind me, I won’t fall down!"
Sain nodded, "That’s my thought too!"
One had to say, you had a sharp mind and insight!
Sain continued, "Alright, my Steel Puppets are ready. Please instruct me where to build the Watch Towers and Mage Towers."
Such things really couldn’t be easily decided, so might as well go with the flow. Da Fei said, "Six Watch Towers on the outer wall, four on the inner wall’s fortress, symmetry is aesthetic. The Mage Tower should be placed at the center of the city!"
Sain smiled, "That’s what I thought too! I’ll start construction then!"
Da Fei laughed, "Sorry for the trouble, sir!"
Now, the busy construction site became even busier due to the arrival of the Steel Puppets. The second Dual Core Giant Slime Monster had successfully launched, the Flying attempted to install the first charging crystal, and magic species like Flower Demon Beldam began queuing to charge the charging crystals. The defense and purification of Radiant City had begun comprehensively and orderly.
Da Fei’s tense mind gradually relaxed, starting to think about longer-term strategies.
Sain’s appearance opened a door to trade for Da Fei. Although he claimed his batch was a trap, clearly, it was. At the very least, they didn’t sell the blueprints to me!
Without blueprints, once these towers are destroyed, they are permanently lost, with 2 million gone down the drain, having to be bought anew, and not even guaranteed to be available next time. However, if there were blueprints, like sewers or the Death Bell Tower, even if the city were destroyed, with blueprints, one could always rebuild.
In summary, everything now was makeshift; trading with the Mage City wasn’t much different from trading with Demons, the key was moderation and avoiding dependence. What crucial issues should I solve using him next?
In an instant, Da Fei thought of the Mercury Mine in the Black Forest! Yes, Steel Puppets were the best workers for collecting mercury, but I still needed mercury collection equipment! More importantly, the good days of the Black Forest Mercury Mine might not last long; I had to collect quickly! Before that, I had to find a way to quickly clear this debt of 30 million, where to find it?
Buy from a workshop? Damn it! I’m a professional player, not a tycoon! I could easily sell one of my Artifacts for Gold Coins!
Damn! Let’s not be hasty, the Eight-Headed Snake is still around! If the mining equipment couldn’t be carried, everything would be futile, after all. In short, stay calm, keep steady, and then move forward! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)