Chapter 582: Inside

The “Spine,” constructed from a blend of special alloys and rune stones, stretched out from the base of the Sentinel Tower like some enormous root—or perhaps a massive conduit—extending all the way from Thunderhill to the plains beyond. Years of magical erosion in the wasteland had left their mark on this relic of civilization: the once-smooth alloy shell was now rough and pitted, and the rune stones—blessed by elemental magic and once unyieldingly strong—were mottled and worn.

But these surface damages were only skin-deep. Inside the Spine, ancient magical mechanisms still operated faithfully, maintaining the Sentinel Tower’s core functions. Though the Silver Empire had long since declined, the creations of the elves remained far more reliable than those of humans.

A squad of elite Steel Rangers, led by Solderin, arrived at the northern section of Spine Number Three. Gawain, Amber, Sonia, and an elven mage named Banner stepped ahead of the group. They tilted their heads upward, gazing at the bulging artificial structure. On the side of the Spine, an ancient gate stood quietly closed. Faded inscriptions were still legible: Maintenance Access—III.

“Since the Sentinel Tower was completed and the civilized borders retreated, this gate hasn’t been opened once…” Sonia stepped forward, her fingers tracing the elven-style reliefs carved into the gate’s surface with a hint of nostalgia. “There are dozens of Sentinel Towers along the wasteland’s edge, but in the past seven centuries, only about a third have received proper upkeep and repairs. Some towers lie far beyond the Silver Empire’s reach; others are buried deep within heavily corrupted zones. Those that can’t be maintained rely solely on their original self-repair systems to keep running.”

“Fortunately, elven craftsmanship tends to be sturdy and durable,” Gawain nodded, turning to Banner. “Master Banner, it’s your turn now.”

Banner, tall and slender with fine eyebrows, nodded in acknowledgment. He approached the gate and pulled from his belt a strangely shaped metal plate, fashioned like a maple leaf. Slotting it into a gap within the floral and arboreal elven reliefs, he began channeling magic into the carvings.

A shimmering glow flickered across the gate’s surface. Deep within, ancient machinery stirred to life. Around the gate, locks clicked and creaked as they disengaged one by one—but the gate itself remained immovable.

Banner shrugged and casually pulled a curved wrench from his tool pouch. With a firm strike, he hammered one of the locks beside the gate. “Sometimes… these things just need a little help.”

After several more strikes, a clear “click” echoed from within. The elaborately carved magical door finally swung open smoothly, revealing a dark passage beyond.

Amber’s eyes widened. “Hey, I gotta say… this isn’t exactly what I imagined when I thought of elven elegance.”

“If you look closely, you’ll see the arc of my wrench swing is a perfect quarter circle—that’s elegance, if you ask me,” the elven mage replied with a smirk as he put away his tools and glanced at Amber. “People have a lot of misconceptions about elves, pigeonholing us with stereotypes. As a half-elf, you shouldn’t let those false impressions cloud your judgment, young lady.”

Amber rolled her eyes, while Gawain didn’t bother debating whether elves were truly elegant or not. He stepped forward toward the gate, reminding everyone, “Stay alert—no living soul has been inside here for seven centuries.”

The soldiers crossed the threshold and entered the main corridor within the Spine. The moment they stepped inside, the oppressive aura of the wasteland was cut off.

Amber immediately sensed the subtle shift. She glanced back toward the entrance, where the corrupted, twisted magical storm wasteland stretched out. Yet an invisible barrier seemed to block the oppressive magical energy from entering the Spine’s interior.

“The entire Sentinel Tower is protected by a complex filtration and defense system,” Sonia noticed Amber’s surprise and patiently explained, “It prevents the magical storm’s energy from infiltrating the tower’s core and disrupting critical spells. This area houses the tower’s primary sensors and material circulation conduits. Though on the periphery, its protection level is second only to the core.”

“Impressive…” Amber murmured, raising her eyebrows as she looked down the corridor.

After a brief delay, the ancient sensors finally responded. Magical lamps flickered on along the hallway, illuminating the path ahead. The passage, unopened for seven centuries, still retained the appearance it had when first completed.

The gray-white floor and walls stretched into the distance, simple yet adorned with subtle elven motifs and symbols. The gently arched ceiling was embedded with magical lamps and several massive, semi-embedded translucent pipes. Inside these pipes, something seemed to flow continuously, transporting unknown substances.

Amber’s curiosity was piqued again. “What’s inside those pipes?”

“Coolant,” Banner answered. “To control this massive and complex magical tower, a powerful spirit intelligence was installed in the base. It generates a lot of heat during operation. To prevent the core from melting down, we designed a highly efficient cooling system. These coolants are just part of it—there are more complex structures ahead.”

“Wow—” Amber stretched the word out in exaggerated admiration, sneaking a glance at Gawain.

Gawain was pulling his gaze away from the flowing coolant pipes, his face calm but his mind racing with the same thought as Amber:

The biggest problem with the Prism Generator was heat.

This cooling system could be put to use.

“To be honest, I’m very interested in much of the technology here,” Gawain said casually. “Although this tower was a joint effort between human nations and the elves, we didn’t really get involved in the technical side back then… If possible, could you show me the heat exchange and cooling core later?”

Hearing this, Banner and Sonia exchanged a quick glance. Sonia smiled and said, “The Sentinel Towers were built and shared by all races. Of course, that’s no problem.”

Banner added a cautionary note: “But elven and human magical techniques differ greatly, and so do our rune structures. That’s why almost all the tower’s technology remained in the Silver Empire’s hands. It’s not that we’re unwilling to share, but humans can only imitate elven runes to a limited extent. You understand that, right?”

“Of course, I do. I just want to take a look,” Gawain smiled. “Besides, we’ve made good progress in rune studies. Humans still can’t cast elven spells, but we’ve grasped some methods of rune translation. The technology in this tower could be a valuable reference.”

“Then by all means,” Banner nodded. “You were one of the tower’s builders back then. We have no reason to stop you. But to protect the Silver Empire’s property and prevent excessive leaks, please don’t make any blueprints.”

“Thank you, that’s more than enough—I just want to study and learn from your design ideas.”

Gawain expressed his gratitude and led the team onward. Beneath his calm exterior, a flicker of excitement stirred deep within.

This was the pinnacle of Silver Empire technology. Everything here was a treasure beyond price.

Of course, Gawain hadn’t lied about his reason for entering the tower—he genuinely wanted to understand what had gone wrong with the Sentinel Towers. That was part of his mission in organizing this grand project. But beyond that official purpose, he was deeply fascinated by the elven technology inside.

Since the fall of the Gondor Empire, the elves had held the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence, the finest high-density rune technology, and the most powerful anti-gravity tech.

Granted, due to the historical “Great Elven Schism,” the elves themselves still had many unresolved mysteries in these technologies. For centuries, their magical arts had been almost incomprehensible to humans. The two races had never seriously considered technological exchange. But that didn’t matter.

Mathematics could explain every rune’s power and its optimal placement.

Sonia and Banner walked quietly beside him. Gawain could read little emotion on their faces.

They didn’t mind Gawain examining the tower’s core structures, nor did they object to their technology falling into human hands.

Was it simply the camaraderie forged seven centuries ago when the races built the Sentinel Towers together? Or was it their friendship with Gawain Cecil himself? Or perhaps… they hadn’t yet realized that the Cecils had fully mastered the use of rune logic to reconstruct elven runes—that humans could now completely control elven magic, not just bless cannonballs with wind elements?

Honestly, their willingness to grant his request surprised Gawain. He had even prepared to study the tower in secret. But now that they had agreed, he had no reason to miss this opportunity.

Seven centuries ago, Gawain Cecil was learned but primarily a military man. When building the Sentinel Towers, he hadn’t delved deeply into their technology. Humanity was in decline and faced a chasm of “alien magic incomprehensibility.” Though involved in construction, they had no access to core elven tech. So this chance was especially precious.

The team pressed deeper into the tower’s base core. Every so often, Sonia or Banner would call for a pause to inspect key devices.

“This is the central sensor hub of Spine Number Three,” Banner said as they reached the midpoint of the corridor. He approached a square pillar, gray-white with faint golden patterns running from floor to ceiling. Pulling out his tools, he explained, “All sensor hubs are interconnected. In theory, if any of the six Spines has a problem, it should show up in any sensor hub.”

As he spoke, Banner removed a panel from the pillar. Beneath the protective cover lay layers of overlapping metal plates, etched with intricate magical runes, resembling stacked leaves.

Banner’s face grew serious. He waved his hand near the plates, and some immediately detached, fluttering into the air. Using telekinesis, he controlled the plates as they floated past him, carefully examining each one. After a thorough inspection, he infused magic into the remaining plates, sensing their operational status.

“All sensor hubs are functioning normally. The sensors on all six Spines are intact,” Banner frowned. “The signal from the wasteland side is clear as well.”

Sophia asked from the side, “How’s the communication with the spirit mind going?”

“Communication is solid, with almost no delay. The spirit mind seems to be functioning normally,” Banner replied, using magic to return the metal blades to their original positions. Then he looked up toward the end of the corridor. “Up ahead is the control hub at the base of the Sentinel Tower. Maybe we should head straight there and check its ‘brain’ ourselves.”

(End of chapter)