Chapter 3455 Steady Development (Part 2) "Much better." Solus nodded. "It doesn't look magical but it sure has dignity now. Come on, follow me. We'll start from the basement, as usual." The Crucible and the Mines had changed only in size and mana flow. After the breakthrough, the development of the magical resources was even faster and the two floors could hold larger quantities of metals and crystals. The first of the new floors was located right above the mines. "This the Cannon Vault." Solus opened a solid wooden door leading to an empty room split between seven displays along the wall. Six were empty while one contained a sphere of highly compressed energy the size of a person and it was still growing. "What's the purpose of that thing?" Lith pointed at the energy mass. "It's similar to the arm cannon of the Mechatron." Solus explained. "That's the first of seven bullets the tower is currently loading with world energy" "And it needs a whole floor? Just for this?" Lith asked in surprise. Menadion tried to step in but Solus stopped her. "Yes, Lith. An entire floor 'just for this'. With 'this' being the ability to store and use seven spells of our choice at a moment's notice, no matter if Tower Spells, Tower Blade spells, Anti-Guardian spells, or even Extinction." "I still don't follow." Lith noticed her anger and opted for a softer approach. "How is this different from the Heart?" "It's completely different, Lith." Solus sighed, shaking her head. "The Heart's function is to store powerful and complex arrays and unleash them instantly. Yet they still drain the energy reserves of the tower core and, in Extinction's case, the Blade Spell component needs to be cast and takes time. "The spells contained in the Cannon Vault, instead, are always ready to be shot at any time and consume no power because the tower conjured them already. You can see this floor as a giant magic storing with no limit to the tier of spells it can contain and seven of them at that." "Are you telling me I can use an Annihilation and a Bastion from the Cannon Vault while conjuring two more from the Heart?" Lith's eyes narrowed as he considered all the possibilities. "No, it's better." Solus replied. "I'm saying you can shoot seven Silverwing's Annihilations at the same time or six Annihilations and one Extinction while doing whatever you need with the rest of the tower." "That's amazing!" Lith's eves lit up with glee. "Let me guess. You mentioned only one Extinction instead of seven of them because not even the Cannon Vault can make up for the energy consumed by our equipment." "Correct." Solus nodded. "We could store seven Extinctions, but after three of them, our equipment's power cores would be depleted and completely useless. Which includes the weapons stored in the Armory and the Menadion Set of the tower. "We would lose half or more of our combat prowess so I don't recommend using more than two Extinction." "Three of your Anti-Guardian spell?" Leegaain, Tyris, and Salaark didn't like hearing that at all. "It's much more powerful than Lochra's Annihilation and if it strikes an unprepared Guardian without their equipment, they might die on the spot. "An unprepared white core would die in one blow even if they wore their best equipment 24/7" "That was the idea." Lith shrugged. "I'm tired of people like Thrud, the Golden Griffon, or the lost cities kicking my ass because they are functionally immortal. What spells are you storing right now, Solus?" "Extinction, obviously!" She pointed at the glowing sphere. "I picked it first because it takes a while to charge it while maintaining the tower's full functionality. I wanted to decide the rest with you." "I'd say two Extinctions, two Annihilations, and three Bastions." Lith replied. "We can always cast the third Extinction on our own with the Mouth while buying time with the Bastions. A good defense can give us the time to plan our offense." "That's just three defensive spells against three offensive spells. Shouldn't we switch their numbers?" Solus asked. "No, if you consider that each offensive spell also reduces the number of enemies, if used properly. Offense is often the best defense." Lith said. "Point taken." She nodded. "The seven spells should be ready by tomorrow so we have plenty of time to make changes to the final roster." "A whole day?" Aran was flabbergasted. "Can't you make the Cannon Vault work faster?" "Sure we can." Solus replied. "I have just to shut down the Mines, the Crucible, the Spark, the Greenhouse, the Thievery, and the Grimoire. Those floors draw a lot of power at all times. "Without them, the spells would be ready in a couple of hours. Do you want me to focus the tower's full power into the Vault, Lith?" "No way" Lith crossed his arms in front of his chest. "There is no emergency and we are under Grandma's roof. We couldn't be safer." The other floors had remained about the same, just larger and with more complex equipment. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖 The Factory could now mass produce artifacts that required up to the deep violet core while the Workshop could replicate double the amount of the resources stored in the tower. The second new floor was located between the living quarters and the Forge, right below the ground level. "This is the Mana Injector." Solus explained. "Just like the name suggests, it increases the amount of energy in the area surrounding the tower, speeding up the formation of natural resources." The room was circular, with walls covered in holographic screens that showed the absorption rate of world energy of the various plants, crystals, and metals in the tower's surroundings. The screens also displayed the estimated time before they became viable and allowed to select between spreading the world energy to the entire area or focusing it on specific targets. "What's the purpose of this floor? I mean, you already have the Greenhouse. This seems much worse." Raaz said. "Mom, since I know how much work you put into this floor, I'll let you do the honors." Solus stepped aside, leaving the stage to Menadion. "Thank you, dear." Ripha nodded. "This is the other half of the Greenhouse, Raaz. The top floor of the tower indeed accelerates the growth rate of everything you plant in there, but it requires you to already know variables like temperature, humidity, and so on. "Also, you always need to get your hands on a natural treasure to cultivate it in the Greenhouse and the sellers will tell you where you can find natural resources on your own rarely. "I gave the tower the ability to travel not only to run away from or chase after my enemies, but also to explore Mogar and what it has to offer." She pointed at the screens. "By staying long enough over a mana geyser, the Mana Injector allows me to discover what kind of natural resources are available to each area and even those that local Awakened keep for themselves or auction to the highest bidder. "Once I find something I want or might want, I let the Mana Injector accelerate the growth of the specimen and collect data about how to cultivate it in the Greenhouse."