After observing the entrance to the floating island, I activated my spatial power.
A spatial tremor, indescribable in words, swept from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
The familiar nausea of space leap echoed violently through my body, and my feet left the ground.
An unpleasant sound rang in my mind.
It wasn’t a noise physically penetrating my ears, but rather the dissonance of space naturally registered by my senses.
How much time passed?
The tips of my feet gently touched the ground.
I had just arrived at the floating island, which moments ago had been a distant height above.
And just then, as if it had been waiting for that exact moment, I faced a huge fist falling from above.
I had expected it.
Without panicking, I casually dove sideways.
A massive impact filled my ears.
My eardrums ached painfully.
Avoiding the gusts of wind and the dust hitting my skin, I slammed my feet back into the ground.
As the large dust cloud slowly settled, the identity of the attacker became visible.
[Open gate... Intruder...]
A giant humanoid figure, the size of a building.
Bipedal, with a pair of arms and legs.
Thick white armor that encased its entire body.
‘Hmm.’
Quite a stylish appearance.
The golem’s body itself was simply a smooth mannequin, but the armor it wore enhanced its appeal.
It wasn’t overly ornate, but it emphasized a rough, practical style, making it stand out in a functional way.
[Intruder... Intruder...]
A voice echoed from inside the white helmet.
Clank! The giant fist, which had just crashed into the ground, was retracted, and the golem turned its head toward me.
The magical energy shining through the helmet's gaps focused directly on me.
‘A golem... A summoned beast.’
I had already figured out its identity.
Golems exist as monsters, but they are also commonly used by wizards as summoned beasts, made from earth or metal.
The uses for summoned beasts are varied.
If they have no special abilities, they are used as errand runners, or, like this golem, as combatants.
There are exceptions, but magic generally requires time to manifest.
A wizard without a forward scout, who needs a little time and attention, would typically create a durable summoned beast to act as the vanguard.
‘Creating such a summoned beast is a difficult task, and it comes with significant costs, but...’
‘Neither skill nor cost should matter to the owner of the Tower of Knowledge.’
The ground trembled beneath me.
Countless magical energies slammed against me, making me shrug my shoulders.
[Intruder... Intruder...]
[Summon order, Open gate...]
[Repulsion order, Intruder... Intruder...]
The one who attacked me was especially wearing heavy gloves.
But the other golems rushing toward me each had their own gear.
The golems were equipped with swords, spears, maces, and shields, each matching their size perfectly.
Holding these weapons, the golems arranged themselves into a semicircular formation, surrounding me.
The back was a cliff... there was no escape on two feet.
‘Hmm...’
I briefly nodded.
In the original story, there were two main ways to enter the Tower of Knowledge... the floating island.
One method was during my time in Siyoram, where the vice-captain would deliver me directly to the Tower of Knowledge.
In this case, I would be teleported directly to the entrance of the Tower of Knowledge, and there would be no need to deal with golems.
Even if I wandered around the floating island, the golems wouldn’t interfere unless provoked.
The other method was simply barging in.
There had been many attempts, but the most successful run was the 11th playthrough.
Breaking through the powerful barrier surrounding the floating island,
I entered, destroyed all the golems,
and knocked on the Tower of Knowledge, which was impenetrable, for several days...
Ironically, despite all that trouble, I couldn’t meet the master of the Tower of Knowledge...
‘Even with the key, is this still considered an intrusion?’
I thought this as the giant fist came crashing down.
But then...
[Authorization check, Repulsion command revised, Trial command]
I adjusted my thoughts after hearing the voice from the golem who had thrown the first punch at me.
Immediately, the fierce momentum directed toward me from the golem began to subside.
Could it be that the golem was bluffing? I began to doubt.
But surely the summoned beasts of the Tower of Knowledge’s master weren’t made with the purpose of turning me into a pancake...
‘Wait a minute, now you’re revising your orders? Did the first strike really intend to kill me?’
A narrowing suspicion crossed my mind.
Thinking back, the first punch definitely didn’t feel like it was controlled...
‘The Master of Growth’s tower... even the head of the tower made sure there were safety measures when they were trying to control me. Could the Master of Knowledge be an even bigger lunatic?’
As my rational doubt settled in, the golem slammed its massive body toward me.
At its size, just the body alone was a significant threat.
The force of the approaching wind was ominous.
‘It’s fast.’
The golem, moving swiftly despite its large body, rushed toward me with a gust of wind.
The fist brushed past my hair.
Tat-tat! I quickly kicked the ground to create distance.
This time, the golem didn’t stop its offensive.
I swiftly dodged the heavy punches that came pouring down.
My powers of observation detected the magical signs.
Crash! Magic energy erupted from the seams in the armor.
Perfectly calculated, the energy released from the right spots pushed the golem’s body backward.
With the acceleration, the golem closed the distance in an instant and threw its punch roughly.
My hair flew back.
As the punch rushed toward me with a burst of air, I extended my hand.
‘Magical Slash.’
The punch that had been charging toward me was blocked by the white slash.
Clink! The protective magic on the armor gradually wore away.
The battle of strength was shifting. The punching fist was pushed back.
In the end, the golem’s fist was thrown behind it.
The slash lost its strength and scattered, but the golem’s fist, which blocked the magical strike, cracked.
Thud! The golem was forced back several steps before it raised its fist again.
The golem was an artificial summoned beast.
It felt neither pain nor fatigue, so it quickly resumed the battle.
Knowing this, I naturally didn’t give it a chance to recover.
I followed the golem’s retreat and lunged toward it.
I gathered magic in my hand and placed it on the golem’s waist, dividing its upper and lower body.
Before my hand touched the armor, the defensive magic reflexively blocked my touch.
Immediately, I felt the surge of magic.
A counterattack spell would be triggered.
‘Magic Bullet.’
Before that, I cast my spell.
A fast casting without an incantation, a field where I excel, as a magic affinity user.
I placed my hand on the defense spell and cast my magic first.
‘Magic Bullet, Shotgun.’
The magic energy gathered in my palm shot out in countless pellets.
The defensive barrier that had blocked my hand shattered instantly.
The shotgun blast hit the golem’s armor repeatedly.
The golem’s body shook violently, as though it had swallowed a bomb.
The golem, shaking violently, groaned.
Despite being a summoned beast, it was still trying to continue the fight, twisting its body.
But its waist was already riddled with holes, making it impossible to continue fighting.
‘Hmm...’
Magical Slashes and Magic Bullets.
These two spells had their magical properties refined, greatly increasing their potency.
By modifying the formulas, I could easily turn even such a sturdy golem into scrap metal.
Of course, the formulas became more complicated, and if not properly cast, the magic circuits could backfire or explode, but... I could avoid failure.
I brushed my hands and turned to the collapsed golem lying on the ground.
...Even a golem looks impressive when it’s fallen.
But now, it was nothing but scrap.
The golem, now scrap, rose from the ground.
It planted its feet on the ground and straightened its bent back.
The heavily damaged waist was revealed.
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...The damaged parts were restoring themselves.
As if time were reversing, the torn armor slowly returned to its original form.
Along with that, the golem’s damaged body was also restored.
‘Restoration function.’
This was not surprising.
Even the wings in the sky have a restoration function.
Though not an artifact, a summoned beast like that is easier to repair.
The restoration of the armor was no surprise either.
What caught my attention was not that.
‘The spell also restored.’
Soon, the armor, now fully restored, shimmered with light.
Clank! The golem, now back in its original form, raised its fists high.
The surrounding golems, previously just surrounding me, now armed themselves.
‘Hmm...’
I briefly nodded and then extended my hand into the void.
The golem was strong.
It was designed to protect the floating island, created by the Master of Knowledge himself.
It couldn’t possibly be weak.
A half-grown Aeirus from Sifnaha would be treated like a walk in the park.
But right now, I wasn’t going to be crushed by a golem.
Even if there were hundreds of them forming formations, it wouldn’t change anything.
I could easily melt through their formations with my magic alone.
If I used all my other tricks, it would be a breeze.
In fact, it wasn’t even necessary.
I could just use a space leap to jump to the entrance of the Tower of Knowledge.
‘But I came here to train my magic.’
I came here to uncover some truths.
And at the same time, to learn magic that would aid me in the future.
It wouldn’t do to rely on anything but magic, especially from the very doorstep of the floating island.
Of course, my strength lies in using all sorts of methods.
But here, on the floating island, I needed to focus primarily on magic.
I pulled my hand out of the void and revealed a thick brown wooden staff.
Its end was bent, with a blue gem the size of my head embedded inside— a typical magic staff.
It was not an artifact.
Just an average magic staff that I had come across by chance.
‘Hah...’
I held it horizontally and gently sat down.
Soon, the staff I had infused with magic floated up.
The flight magic engraved on it activated.
At that moment, magic was unleashed from the ground.
A trick to stop me from floating.
Since it was a spell directly engraved by the Master of Knowledge, it was going to be difficult to break it with my current magical abilities.
The magic that had been activated surged to force me back down.
‘Not happening.’
A sharp surge of magic cut through the magic attempting to bring me down.
Using my magic affinity, I manipulated the energy from my entire body to cut through the spell.
...It wasn’t really magic but more like magic manipulation, but that’s fine.
‘I may not be a traditional magician, but... let’s fight like one this time.’
So far, I had relied too much on auxiliary magic.
It’s not necessarily bad, but practicing magic purely is better in the long run.
Slowly, I faced the advancing golems, preparing to fight like a mage.
After a few hours, I came to a resolution.
[Trial participant, retreating southwest, pursuit command]
[Strike down command... Priority suppression]
I was currently implementing the strategic retreat tactic of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, specifically the "Retreat is the best strategy" move.
To put it simply, it was a tactical retreat.
[Player correction system: Development]
[Quest "Arrived at the Floating Island" completed]
[Points awarded]
...
[Player correction system: Affinity]
Lee Hayul → Master of Growth (?)
●●●○○○○○○○(30/100)
“Complicated” “Confused” “Doubt” “Disconnected” “Gratitude” “Irritation”
...
Lee Hayul → Master of Knowledge (?)
●●●○○○○○○○(30/100)
“Complicated” “Confused” “Doubt” “Disconnected” “Gratitude” “Irritation” “Crazy?”
...
[The Master of Growth flinches]
[The Master of Knowledge flinches]
[The Master of Calibration taunts]