Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Chapter 227: Chapter 226 Welcome to White Stone Tower Chapter 227: Chapter 226 Welcome to White Stone Tower On the Mann Continent, near the endless stretch of the Endless Ocean on the eastern side, a long, narrow region was formed due to the barrier of continuous mountain ranges. Some say this region looks like a boot, others say it resembles a broken shinbone, but more people see it as an irregular ribbon, which is the East Coast.

The entire East Coast is not small; although the widest part is just over one thousand kilometers, the sinuous length is more than six thousand kilometers, making its area nearly ten million square kilometers.

Within it, there are hundreds of ordinary small countries and some Wizard Countries.

Many highly-regarded Wizard Organizations are also distributed throughout, with the most famous being over a dozen, and White Stone Tower is one of them.

In fact, it’s not quite accurate to directly refer to White Stone Tower; the most standard way should be to call it the White Stone Tower Wizard Association.

The reason for this is that White Stone Tower and White Stone Tower aren’t entirely the same; there are three different meanings. In most cases, these three meanings overlap, but in a few instances, it is necessary to distinguish them for those who are unfamiliar.

The first meaning—a name of a Wizard Organization—among the ten or so famous Wizard Organizations on the East Coast, White Stone Tower ranks as a fairly powerful presence with a substantial foundation. That’s why it has developed two additional meanings. Thus, White Stone Tower Wizard Association is recognized as the true representation of White Stone Tower.

The second meaning—for newcomers just touching the world of wizards, a place for learning Spells—this refers specifically to a part of the White Stone Tower organization, that is, the internal White Stone Tower Academy.

It is semi-closed, allowing free access to those who are qualified, but generally does not permit unqualified outsiders to enter. The majority of those living there are students, and of course, there are wizard teachers—some are full-time, while others have their own full-time affairs within the organization and only occasionally teach when they are bored.

Like Macbeth, for instance, aside from killing on missions, he would run some Shape-shifting Water Element courses as a form of relaxation, diversion, or to earn some extra money.

The third meaning—geographically, a gathering place—in the real world, White Stone Tower is a city founded by a Wizard Organization at its core, ruled by powerful wizards, with tens of thousands of Wizard Apprentices, ordinary people, all making up a large city.

Within the city, there exist all kinds of people with all sorts of pursuits, where desire and reason, chaos and Order, dirt and purity are all mixed together. In practical terms, it would be more appropriate to call it White Stone City.

In the first two meanings, whether it’s the internal White Stone Tower Academy or the entire White Stone Tower Wizard Association, both are situated within it—in the midst of this White Stone City.

White Stone City is located in the White Stone Mountain Range of the East Coast, and because it produces plenty of hard white boulders used as building material, the majority of the city’s buildings are constructed of this type of stone, hence the origin of names like White Stone City and White Stone Tower.

In summary, the White Stone Tower, embodying all three meanings, is not along the coast of the East Coast but deeper inland.

Those aboard the giant ship only learned this after they set foot on the continent. Initially filled with excitement, thinking they could immediately start learning Spells, their exhilaration was mercilessly shattered.

Indeed, this proved not to be the first time, nor would it be the last, that harsh reality awaited them, coming in incident after incident—the White Stone Tower was clearly not some kind of amusement park but a brutal arena where only a few with talent and ability could get what they wanted, with the majority being eliminated. Compared to the elimination aboard the giant ship, this type of elimination might not lead to death, but it was not much better.

The world was never gentle— in every corner, it was invariably cruel…

…

In the blink of an eye, it was several days after the people of the giant ship had landed on the continent.

Following their disembarkation, they heeded instructions and boarded carriages headed for the White Stone Mountain Range. Jostled along the way, they finally saw the outline of White Stone City.

Peering through the carriage window, they saw in the distance, just beyond a long and wide stone bridge, a huge city built against the mountains. From mountain peak to base, many buildings were arranged in concentric circles, orderly split into layers.

At the very top, six connected white towers, dozens of meters high, stood towering and magnificent.

“Look over there!”

“How impressive!”

“So tall!”

Pandemonium broke loose among the passengers in the moving carriage as they pointed at the towering structure, uttering exclamations and bubbling with excitement—anticipating the impact.

As the clamor continued, a dozen four-wheeled carriages, drawn by horses, sped forward. Soon enough, the carriages crossed a wide cobblestone bridge and entered White Stone City, allowing those seated within to observe the city up close.

The passengers’ eyes sparkled as they took in the white stone and wooden structures, the neat and clean streets, the stores selling peculiar goods along the way, and the bustling plaza populated with statues and fountains. They discussed fervently amongst themselves.

In one of the carriages, Richard squinted through the window, observing with more detail and comprehensiveness than the others. While studying the materials used in construction, he also scrutinized the architectural methods and styles employed.

It was evident that a recurring core element of the city’s numerous buildings was the arch—arches over doorways, arches topping windows, arches upon arcades—arches were omnipresent.

Moreover, many of the tall structures featured domes made of stone rather than flat wooden roofs, which gave the buildings a more complete and stable appearance. The advantage of being fire-resistant was also not to be understated.

However, due to the weight of the stone domes, they exerted massive downward and outward pressure. To overcome this, buildings with stone domes were constructed with massive beams, columns, and thick support walls.

Thus, walking through White Stone City, one could feel a perceptible sense of solidity, followed by an aura of depth and mystery. It was as if a potent and otherworldly force lingered in the air, perfectly befitting the atmosphere expected of White Stone Tower, the abode of wizards.

“A slight variation of Roman style, huh,” Richard mumbled, his eyes glinting.

Gro, who was sitting in the carriage, heard the remark but did not catch it clearly and asked with curiosity, “Eh? Lord Richard, what did you say?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Richard responded, too lazy to elaborate.

“Oh, well,” Gro did not persist with his inquiry, thoroughly captivated by the view outside the carriage. In his eyes, Cuijin City, where he had spent over a dozen years, seemed like a backwater village compared to the scenes he was now witnessing in White Stone City—or rather, a stinking sewer, a mire of mud. He had made the right choice coming to White Stone Tower, for only here could he hope for a brighter future.

“It’s really beautiful,” Gro whispered to himself, gazing out the window and clenching his fists, “I must stay here for a long time.”

“What a daydreamer!” Nancy bluntly chastised Gro. Despite her words, her gaze remained fixed outside the window, never wavering.

Richard, however, did not indulge further in the “beauty” of this typical medieval-style city. After a brief survey to gather the information he wanted, he withdrew his gaze. He looked down at Pandora, who was sound asleep in his arms, and couldn’t help but shake his head. He gently shook her, leaned in close, and called out, “Wake up a moment, we’re almost there, time to get off the carriage.”

“Hm?” Pandora opened her eyes, revealing a pair of somewhat groggy purple irises, her face filled with displeasure. Irritated at being roused from sleep, she looked ready to explode in anger. Seeing this, Richard immediately began to soothe her by rubbing her head.

After a considerable head-petting session, Pandora’s mood finally calmed down. By then, the carriage had traversed most of White Stone City and entered the Core Area, home of White Stone Tower Academy.

After passing through a massive white stone archway, the carriage came to a halt on a small plaza. Dempsey’s voice rang out from outside, “Disembark!”

With a rustling sound, everyone hurried out of the carriages, assembling on the ground.

A thirty-something-year-old witch in a black gauze robe appeared, her voluptuous figure and towering bust threatening to burst from beneath her garment, drawing the eye inescapably.

Curiously, faced with this witch, Dempsey kept a respectful distance, and Macbeth, upon glimpsing her, didn’t utter a word before turning and striding toward the depths of the academy—as if not just walking, but fleeing.

The crowd was puzzled.

Yet, the witch greeted them with a smile, saying, “New students, hello. My name is Modesti, and I am your orientation guide. First off, let me say, welcome to White Stone Tower!”

Ah, welcome to White Stone Tower!