Four Split Personalities

Having a history of at least several hundred years means that tens of thousands of years are also possible. After all, on the Innocent Continent, there exist various extraordinary powers such as magic and divine arts, so as long as the builders have the will, the strength, or the money, it is entirely possible to make any building immortal for a thousand years, looking as if it was just refurbished after several centuries. Among the more representative types of architecture are "Mage Towers" and "churches," because with the many innate advantages such as controlling elemental forces and communicating with divine power, the quality of those built with the involvement of spellcasters or clergy tends to be very solid.

According to what Motan knew, all the buildings in the inner city of the City of Light have nearly ten thousand years of history, and the Anka Market, as well as the Mages’ Guild of Sālāmù’ēn, also have an ’advanced age’ of at least ten centuries.

Because he had done some investigations while under his other two personas, Motan, after briefly scanning his surroundings, was almost one hundred percent certain that this dreary space was a Mage Tower—or more precisely, a part of a Mage Tower.

"Dried-up Mana Pool, large-scale techniques carved throughout the room as medium, mana crystals with no attributes lying around..."

Motan muttered to himself, bent down to pick up half a piece of irregular grey-white crystal, and gently crushed it into powder that felt like subpar plastic, shrugging as he said, "The magic power within has completely dissipated, but this place should indeed be a Mage Tower. As far as I know, Sky Pillar Mountain doesn’t have such things."

"Mor, you know a lot," said the winged beauty with pitch-black eyes. She clapped her small hands, her expression full of surprise, "Aren’t you a knight? Why do you know so much about the Mage Tower? Did you find it on the internet?"

"Uh, partly..."

Motan’s face stiffened, then he awkwardly changed the subject: "But speaking of which, it is fortunate that both of us belong to races with decent dark vision. If it were ordinary humans who came here, they would definitely have a hard time in this nearly lightless environment. Watch your step."

’The fact that I had collected a huge amount of information because I wanted to find an opportunity to blow up the Mages’ Guild branch in Sālāmù’ēn’ was something he found rather difficult to speak of.

"Ah, thank you, what is this?"

Ji Xiaoge instinctively looked down and quickly flapped her wings to fly back half a meter, exclaiming, "A trap?"

Before her was a twenty-centimeter square piece of ground, covered in dense spikes.

"Not quite..."

Motan squinted and took a careful look, cautiously walked to Ji Xiaoge’s side, leaned over to pick up the pile of spikes, and turned it 180 degrees towards her, saying softly, "It’s a book."

He was right. What Ji Xiaoge had mistaken for a trap on the ’ground’ was actually a thick book with a dark green cover, and scrawled across it the phrase - All I wanted was to turn the cover into an animated picture, why is it desperately poking my butt?

"It looks like a failed magical or alchemical creation."

Motan carefully placed the book on a table covered in fine dust behind him and noticed that the floor where the strange book had lain had half a circle of an array carved into it, the complexity of which was mind-boggling; yet, it was not complete, as if the carving was abandoned halfway through the work.

[But even if it was abandoned suddenly, why leave this ’book’ that could stab one’s foot if stepped on lying on the ground?]

Motan frowned, a conjecture forming in his mind, then took out two tree resin torches worth half a copper coin from his pocket, handing one to Ji Xiaoge: "In any case, until the cooldown of your beacon ends, let’s do a quick search of this place first, but for safety’s sake, it’s better to light up the environment. I see a torch holder on the opposite wall."

His calm and mild voice seemed to carry a certain power, helping the slightly panicked girl quickly regain her composure.

"Okay, I got it~"

Ji Xiaoge took a deep breath, accepted the torch from Motan, and then curiously tilted her head, "But, Mor, do you know how to light a fire? I certainly don’t."

Motan grinned, extending his flat hand towards the girl, "Do you still have buns or flatbreads? Can I borrow one, please?"

"I do have some, but what do you want..."

Ji Xiaoge muttered as she rummaged through her belongings, then suddenly widened her eyes, "Wait! You’re not going to..."

Two minutes later...

Boom!

"Perfect."

Motan put down the bun and flatbread he was holding, pleased with himself for having lit the first torch with the already burning one, and handed the second one to Ji Xiaoge, speaking with special admiration, "Although I don’t know why there are metal elements in this, it’s really convenient!"

Ji Xiaoge, with her self-esteem deeply hurt, waved her hand despondently, taking the torch handed to her and gritted her teeth in resentment, "I beg you to shut up..."

"Cough cough, calcium, iron, zinc, selenium, they are good stuff. If there’s a way to ensure no sparks are generated upon collision, their nutritional value must be high," said Motan with a chuckle, trying to comfort her, and then he proceeded to walk around the space, about fifty meters square, collecting information as efficiently as possible.