Oliver wasn't entirely sure what to make of his new life. He was a crow now, or at least until he died for a second time. Tim, the seemingly all-mighty sorcerer had suggested that Oliver give up his mana so that Tim could shape his body, but it was his belief that the soul only existed through it's mana.
It might be an irrational fear based on a belief with little evidence, but Oliver wasn't interested in giving up his soul, body and mind to a delirious invisible man. So he was left with a choice. Either he could leave the tower and live life as an intelligent sorcerer crow, or he could remain in the tower, and help Tim with building it, until he died again. Maybe Oliver could convince Tim to leave the tower in search of Oliver's wife and children some day, and they could enjoy life as a happy family... or as crows under the control of one of the most powerful sorcerers Oliver had ever come across. But hey, it was better than the death Tim had ripped Oliver away from.
For now though, Oliver wanted to help Tim with his dream. Oliver was determined to design a language of runes that could be used to accurately describe any single possible effect imaginable, all the while being the guiding light between the humans, and the sorcerer of the tower, teaching them how to use the runes, and guiding them through the tower with as few casualties as possible.
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For the past hour, I had been designing various magical artefacts. Items, tools and weapons that could have mana pushed through them, to achieve multiple various effects. An aluminum goblet that used a water and ice rune connected to a button, that would fill with cool refreshing water. A wooden rod that would become harder to move, and more durable when mana was pushed through its runes. A high carbon steel sword that would become nearly indestructible with its runes. And those were the simple ones. A few simple runes connected to a button rune.
The more complex items came with one of Oliver's other brilliant ideas. He mentioned how it would be useful to be able to store the mana so that the object could use it at a later date. So I made that idea come true. A single rune that symbolized a battery, and when mana was pushed through it, and donated to me, I would very slowly move it to the other runes. That would allow things like NOT gates.
Connect the storage rune with a sensory rune that detects collision, and the storage and sensory rune to an AND gate with thick lines, and you get an automatic system that does something whenever it detects collisions to the object. I made a single strike hammer with it. Charge it with mana every now and then, and it will give extra force to anything you hit with it. With the same method, I made a few other things, like a razor axe.
By the end of the hour, I had dozens of various proper magic items of increasing complexity spread throughout the floors of my tower. Next step would be to come up with magic effects different materials could have, and after that, I could start on intelligent and conscious weapons.
Unfortunately, or fortunately—I wasn't completely sure—I was distracted by more than a dozen people entering my tower. All of them bursting with mana. I prepared my tower for their visit. There were almost 5 times more people than the norm, so I would need to increase the amount of obstacles they'd face by the same count. Maybe by a bit more. It was the first time in what felt like a long time, that I got some new visitors.
I would have to give it my all, make them want to not go on the unfinished fourth floor, so that they would keep on imagining that there was more to come if they only climbed higher. The prospect of more power higher up would work as a good motivation for them to train outside of the tower so they could climb higher the next time.
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Good food was the best motivator Evelyn had ever faced. It made her actually want to become rich enough to feast every day, or maybe she could find some magic symbols in the tower that created food. Either way, she had tasted greatness, and even if Valeria would allow her in the city once again, Evelyn wouldn't feel the meager sludge she could get for free as enough to fill her hunger. Or at least that's what she felt like while eating the first steak she had ever had.
"You sure that it's a good idea to eat these raw?" Audrey asked Michelle. "And is the blood really necessary?" Evelyn blanched at that. Though the seasoned fresh steak was bliss, and some of the raw vegetables were nice, she really didn't care for the cow's blood.
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"Yes, I'm sure. Breathing, eating and drinking mana rich things is one of the most efficient and fastest ways to refresh and increase your mana supply. Some people know how to grab mana into themselves with their own mana, and that's even faster, but none of us know how to do that. So for now, we will eat food that has a lot of mana, and that means fresh, still living food. And Blood counts as living food. Haven't you ever wondered why Valeria takes blood as a sacrifice?" Michelle answered, mostly for Evelyn's benefit.
"And Thomas calls the tower evil. It does exactly what Valeria does, but without blood and more benefits." Evelyn mentioned.
"Yup, and now you understand exactly why I'm so frustrated with him."
"We'll get him to understand eventually, don't worry too much about him." Evelyn said with a mouth full with red beef, "But I feel like I'm bursting with mana, and my plate's empty, so is it time to practice?"
"Good. This cow was old, and had huge lungs. Each breath it took, and bite of fresh grass increased it's mana supply. And cows aren't intelligent enough to use their mana in the least. Just the steak you ate should have had a dozen times more mana than you had when we entered the tower, and now it's all yours. But next time we could search for wolf meat. They eat food almost as mana rich as this daily." Michelle said, before moving outside.
"Alright, here's the plan. For the next week, every day after I'm done with my lessons, or pretty much whenever you feel like it, we'll practice using multiple runes simultaneously. All of us saw what the crow could do, it made snow, and threw it around. And from what I could feel, it was using the coldness rune and water rune simultaneously, before throwing the resulting product with its own mana control." Audrey said, before taking a small booklet from his pocket and continuing to talk. "So far, we have found quite a few different runes, and while I'm not sure what each of them does, I've been writing down what we know of each one. And from what I understand, there are a whole lot of amazing things we can do with even just these few runes."
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The dozen people in my tower had become a slight problem, on that I had vastly underestimated them. While not as skilled as the people who almost had killed me, all of the twelve people currently exploring the second floor of my tower were highly experienced, at least compared to Testy's group.
They had quickly traveled through the first floor, and the moment they found the water rune on the second floor, they started using it as if they'd been doing so their whole lives. They clearly knew how to use the runes before they even entered the tower, or they could speak English, but the result was the same either way. They created small amounts of water, and using their own mana, they shaped and moved the water according to their will. They cut through the second floor insects like butter, moving the water through them with immense pressure.
I was sure the only reason they even used the water was because they just thought it was cool, since each one did have some weapons with them. Sharpened flat pieces of steel, like two blades stuck together with no handle in between. It wasn't until they reached the third floor, by when they had already found the fire rune and a few simple magic items like the water goblet, that I saw the steel blades in action.
They were exploring the biosphere of a third floor, as a giant mole covered in barbed spikes and steel teeth erupted from the ground underneath them, injuring two of the dozen members. Out of panic and surprise, or so I think, the person who I was pretty sure was the leader grabbed their double blade with their mana. Spinning the blade at honestly insane speeds, they then threw it through the mole's abdomen slicing cleanly through it. It didn't seem to be enough, as the leader then pulled the blade back through the mole, before pushing it through the mole again and again. The mole was definitely dead by the end of it, and so I took it's slowly detaching mind, and gave it a new body elsewhere in the third floor.
The group proceeded to help their two injured, removing the barbed spikes from their flesh, splinting a broken leg and bandaging their wounds. Having taken care of the injured, and enjoyed a short break, the group continued exploring the third floor. As time passed on, they found new runes and some of the more complex magic items, all the while killing more and more of the third floor population, they started to become a problem.
They clearly were determined to get to the fourth floor. Nothing I did would deter them from getting higher. But I still hadn't finished the fourth floor, or even the staircase that'd lead up from the third. If I didn't do something soon, the group might start to think that there's nothing above the third floor. If they ended up thinking that, they might lose interest in climbing any higher. I decided to ask Oliver for help.
He didn't exactly appreciate that I hadn't informed him of the visitors, but together we came up with an idea. I'd make a simple puzzle that spanned throughout the entire floor, that opens a stairwell up to the fourth floor. Oliver would keep the group interested in climbing higher, and help them figure out the puzzle. That'd give me more time to finish the fourth floor. And if I didn't finish in time, well then it would be time to improvise.