tal Tower!!
Upon seeing these words, Gawain’s pupils instinctively contracted. He suddenly looked up and gazed at the map hanging nearby, his eyes scanning through the southwest, southeast, and northern directions of the Loren Continent—on the southwest ocean and southeast "new continent," two towers had already been roughly marked, while near Talronde to the north, it was still a blank space.
A tal Tower exists there! There is a third "tower" in this world!
Nurous questions suddenly arose in Gawain’s mind—what exactly are these mysterious towers for? Are they all legacies of the Deicide Fleet? Are they still functioning today? What’s inside those towers...?
Suppressing the growing number of questions in his heart, he quickly refocused his attention on Modir’s narrative. Amid the six-hundred-year-old paper, this Great Adventurer with countless legendary experiences was writing down an incredible journey—
"...I was struck speechless by the scene before my eyes—for all the gods of the world and all my ancestors above! That is definitely not sothing humans could create, nor could any known race in this world—was that truly a tower? Or is it a pillar used to pierce through the tiny planet beneath our feet?
"It stood towering and unparalleled in the sea, likely positioned on the western side of that mysterious continent (I’m not too sure; my sense of direction has recently beco quite muddled). Its exterior glowed with a tallic silver sheen, under the twilight sunlight, the entire tower exuded a certain ’divine’ grandeur. It seed to be composed of countless cylinders and geotric structures. On its complex exterior, one could see many connecting pipes and supports, appearing as if it had stood here for millions of years, to the point where damage and wear marked its upper portions. Its base sat on a foundation also made of tal—this base was so imnse it could practically be considered a giant island, upon which I could clearly see deposits of gray-white seawater and massive ice formations amidst colossal tallic structures..."
As he thoroughly read, Gawain slowly flipped to the next page, where a hurriedly drawn sketch appeared to him vividly!
Modir Vealt had even left behind a hand-drawn illustration!
On the ancient paper, now yellowed and even darkened, Gawain saw a tower that would appear absolutely bizarre to humans of the modern era—a tower that indeed stood upon the sea as Modir described, with a tal base and many external structures of complex, intricate purpose coating its surface.
Gawain’s attention was instantly captured by this hand-drawn sketch. He examined it ticulously several tis until it was etched entirely into his mind.
Frankly speaking, he couldn’t discern any additional information from this illustration—lacking the necessary technical and knowledge accumulation, this precious sketch was rely an image, but at least stylistically, it shared so similarities with the holographic miniature models Gawain had seen at Firmant Station, proving that they truly are legacies of the "Deicide Fleet" of old. As for more... Modir Vealt, after all, was only a human mage who had never encountered those space facilities. The sketch he left behind may be generally accurate, but the details might not be reliable—he depicted the tower’s exterior structure based on his powerful mory, which inevitably led to errors and omissions, lacking high reference value.
Then, Gawain continued to read down:
"...I did my best to rember the scene seen from the air and depicted it. I don’t know what value this picture will hold in the future—I just feel in my lifeti I’ll likely have no second chance to approach the Dragon Kingdom, nor will any other human have experiences akin to mine, so I must record as much as possible, hoping it may be of help to posterity.
"The lady dragon who calls herself lita put on the base of this towering structure—or rather, on this Steel Isle. She pointed out a path that could lead to certain open areas around the tower; so abandoned buildings could shield from the wind and sun... But she clearly did not intend to personally take to find those shelters. Moreover, from her deanor, I clearly sensed her nervousness... as though she was committing so forbidden act or there was sothing within the tower that frightened her.
"This piqued my curiosity—I really wanted to know what could make such a powerful dragon so deeply fearful, so I asked, and Lady Dragon’s answer was intriguing—
’Dragons want to co here, but a god doesn’t allow it. Bringing you here already poses a great risk, taking another step forward would an I’m dealing with more than just economic issues’—this was her exact words.
"She ntioned a ’God’, so dragons evidently worship a kind of deity, and this god forbids dragons from entering the tower before ... which is quite interesting, considering the tower is located near the Dragon Kingdom; when I stand here looking far into the distance, I can faintly see the continent... A forbidden zone at their doorstep? My curiosity about dragons grows even stronger...
"Of course, Lady Dragon refused to answer more questions, and there was no way I could forcibly get answers from her.
"Now, I’m alone again—the dragon lady must return to the Dragon Kingdom. She said she would try to secure permission to travel to the human world and then take back—she ntioned she broke my ’ship’, thus she feels responsible to the end. Honestly, my impression of the lady has entirely changed; although she was a bit reckless, disrupted my plans, exposed to danger, and was overly concerned about her ’economic issues’, her essence as a responsible and candid person... a good dragon, is undeniable, making it inappropriate to continue considering her an evil dragon.
"Moreover, most importantly, given the current circumstances, whether I can smoothly return to the human world... I fear I must rely on Miss lita.
"Additionally, before leaving, Lady Dragon promised to deliver so drinking water and food soon... I’m very much looking forward to it, especially the forr. As a person of intense curiosity, I’m curious about what the Dragonkin typically consu. I’m not expecting much grandeur from them—as long as it’s not more fish. Of course, if possible, it wouldn’t hurt to have so wine..."
Gawain read through the records on the page, unable to resist chuckling and muttering: "This ’Great Adventurer’s’ sense of humor and optimism is indeed quite appealing..."
In the subsequent brief segnt, Modir wrote about his small-scale exploratory experiences on the "Steel Island". He successfully found a shelter from the wind: on the base of the tal tower, there were many abandoned facilities with open and sturdy doors that were perfect for shielding against the elents. Modir specifically ntioned these facilities seed undisturbed by anyone, filled with dazzling ancient configurations beyond his comprehension. He tried to sketch out so of these facilities’ shapes and features in detail, all of which... were invaluable to Gawain.
In further notes, Modir ntioned the events following lita’s return from the Dragon Kingdom:
"...Later that day, Lady Dragon indeed returned to the Steel Island as promised—she landed at the edge of the island, stubbornly refusing to step further, evidently showing the ’divine injunction’ had a deep impact on her. She brought packaged food and water, which judging by size and volu, was enough to last several days, though I did not unwrap and eat before her. That would certainly be inappropriate.
"Lady Dragon told that she still needs to make more effort to obtain permission to enter the human world, because due to so... shift system, her application doesn’t seem to be going smoothly. Regarding this, I can only express my understanding and urge her to resolve this matter as soon as possible—I have been away from the human world for too long, and if this continues, the entire nation might soon announce the death of Duke Modir Vealt...
"After a brief conversation, Lady Dragon prepared to leave again, saying this ti she might be gone for many days. However, she promised to return before my supplies run out. Before departing, she said I could walk freely near the huge tower, as there was nothing dangerous here, but she stressed one point with utmost seriousness—
"Do not take anything from the tower, especially not the ’knowledge’ contained within.
"Her grave deanor was unprecedentedly serious, even a bit startling, prompting to curiously ask why, particularly about the aning behind her latter words—how can ’knowledge’ be ’carried’?
"She did not explain further, simply stating solemnly: ’The tower contains the Voyager’s legacy, though sealed, they must be prevented from leaking.’
"To be honest, her response only increased my puzzlent, as I could clearly discern that this huge tower is not only a forbidden zone for the Dragonkin but also a tightly guarded and isolated area. There is sothing inside the tower... sothing absolutely forbidden to be revealed to outsiders, but if so... why did Lady Dragon bring here and even specifically ntion that I am allowed to walk and explore freely here?
"This glaringly contradictory behavior made it difficult for to suppress my curiosity. I couldn’t help but voice my doubts, asking her why, if the tower contains secrets forbidden to be revealed to foreign races, did she bring —a foreign race here, and then specifically caution with so many contradictory words.
"After I asked these questions, an inexplicable scene occurred—the Lady Dragon, who seed perfectly normal a second ago, suddenly widened her eyes and then appeared to be in enormous pain, starting to howl while muttering so incomprehensible words. I only caught fragnts like ’Inversion Tide’, ’ntal shift’, ’leakage’. Though uncertain what happened, I knew it was caused by my ill-tid questioning, I tried to redy it, attempted to soothe the dragon before , but to no avail...
"After a few minutes of chaos, she suddenly recovered... at least seemingly so. Her eyes returned to clarity, as she glanced around, disturbingly ignoring my presence altogether, and, at last, she suddenly took flight towards the distant blurry continent... she did not spare another glance.
"It was as if she had completely forgotten what transpired here, completely forgotten she had brought here! Even my shouting and arcane bullets hurled towards the sky couldn’t make her look back!
"...did she truly recover?
"A surge of imnse unease swept over , rousing from my anticipation of returning ho, realising I am still in a perilous and bizarre environnt filled with oddities—this tower, the dragons residing in the extre north, the ocean, this side of the Eternal Storm... there’s sothing strange!"
Gawain stopped slowly, his brows furrowing little by little, just like that of Modir Vealt six hundred years ago. He instantly had nurous questions and even felt vague unease. From the written records, he was entirely convinced lita’s state at that ti was indeed abnormal, a state that couldn’t help but remind him of the reaction she had had when he inquired about secrets related to the gods, but upon careful comparison he felt it wasn’t quite the sa—Modir’s recorded "symptoms" were evidently more severe, more dangerous!
Moreover, Modir’s records ntioned that lita muttered words like "Inversion Tide" during her ntal breakdown, which is extrely unusual!
Gawain frowned, subconsciously tapping his fingers lightly on the desk, muttering the sa confusion as Modir:
What exactly is inside that huge tower near Talronde?
Clearly filled with oddity, this oddity... what connection does it have to the "Inversion Tide" and the "Inversion War" of the Ancient Era?
With these persistent questions, he continued to read on, and in the latter part of the notes, Modir’s peculiar experiences continued:
"...I am very worried about Lady Dragon’s situation, but I am powerless—no flight technique can catch up with a dragon flying at full speed, she had already left at full speed without pause. I could only watch from afar, hoping she wouldn’t encounter any trouble.
"With the supplies left by Lady Dragon, I returned to the shelter I had found on ’the island’. At least within this temporary dwelling, I could escape the irritating roar of the waves and the biting cold wind, gaining so quiet to reflect.
"I opened the food and water, their appearance... sowhat surprising. I had never seen anything like them; at first, I wasn’t even certain they were food—size-wise, they seed intended for humans, suspected food items were packed in small tal boxes, impeccably sealed, bearing vivid designs on the surface, while the water was contained in bottles, resembling soft ’crystals’, yet exceptionally resilient.
"This sophisticated and peculiar packaging... was an eye-opener. It seed I must find a way to open these boxes and bottles to access the contents, fortunately this wasn’t hard—if integrity isn’t considered, a sharp ice blade can solve everything.
"I opened a portion of food, it was seasoned fish...
"All right, now is not the ti for complaints, fish is fish, at least... they were treated with spices.
"Today’s notes will end here, I think... I need to ponder my future while eating."
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