Good Afternoon, Archmage

As they neared the Wizard Tower, Tingen slowed his steps.

He could sense that someone had triggered the magical traps he had left inside. The intruder knew nothing about magic and had no idea how to avoid setting them off.

Tingen entered his mage tower at just the right moment. The first thing he saw was the wreckage of its first floor.

In the past, he would have flown into a rage. Now, he felt a strange delight.

Instead of getting angry, he smiled and began to assess the damage.

"Five of the seven magical traps were triggered. Judging by the route, the intruder made a wide circuit of this floor. Was he looking for something?"

Tingen chuckled. "He doesn't seem to have found anything, but he wasn't hurt, either. Impressive. No wonder he dared break into my Wizard Tower. He's not a complete fool."

Tingen pondered. In the end, the traps on the first floor were too weak. They're all minor spells, like Lesser Orbs of Cold and Lesser Orbs of Sound. Next time, I should put the strongest traps on the first floor instead of imitating those bardic tales where the hero faces increasingly powerful challenges. Then I might find a corpse down here.

Tingen strolled up to the second floor of the Wizard Tower as though he were on a leisurely outing.

It was in far worse shape than the first. Objects lay scattered everywhere, the floor was pitted with marks left by discharged spells, and a boulder half a man's height sat among the wreckage.

Again, Tingen saw no sign that the intruder had been hurt. Curiosity stirred. "He triggered twelve magical traps in a row without shedding a drop of blood. Is he from some tough-skinned barbarian race, or a knight in full steel armor?"

He walked up to the boulder and pointed. A disintegration spell reduced it to nothing. "The stone was moved. This trap cast a Conjuration rockfall spell on the intruder, but he knocked the boulder aside when it fell on him."

"The intruder is quite strong. If he's a knight, he must be a high-ranking one. If he belongs to a barbarian race known for its strength, I'd put him one rank lower."

"I hope he's a knight. He'd make a fine specimen."

Tingen swept up to the third floor of the Wizard Tower.

It was in much worse shape than the second. Powerful spells released by the traps had wreaked havoc across the floor, destroying nearly all the experimental materials he had stored there.

If he had not reinforced the Wizard Tower with a small amount of star essence when he built it, he suspected his own spells would have blown this floor apart.

He made a circuit of the floor, and his smile stiffened. "Every trap on this floor was triggered. He couldn't have done it on purpose, could he?"

His face twitched at the loss. "You destroyed all my magical materials. You weren't looking for something—you were looking to die. When I catch you, you'd better pray your wealth covers my losses. Otherwise, you'll learn why people say mages make the finest torturers."

Tingen climbed to the fourth floor, his brow furrowing.

One of the traps here cast Dimensional Banishment, sending its target to a pocket dimension he had created with magic.

But he could find no trace of the intruder there. The spell had struck him without banishing him.

"Is his magic resistance exceptionally high? Is he a dragon in human form, or does he carry an item that counters spatial spells? Perhaps one enchanted with anti-spatial magic."

Tingen kept walking.

Dragons were wise. Even the greediest dragon would not break into an archmage's Wizard Tower. If the intruder was one, Tingen would not mind adding a dragon to his collection of specimens, though doing so would be troublesome and carry serious consequences.

And if the intruder carried an item that countered spatial spells, it would soon belong to Tingen.

Unless the intruder was a Legendary knight or wielded a Divine Artifact, Tingen saw no way he could defeat an archmage inside his own Wizard Tower.

"That means I'll have to fight, though. And I do prefer peace!"

The fifth floor... the sixth... the seventh...

As Tingen climbed, his smile vanished. The intruder had passed through so many floors without injury. His strength was beyond anything Tingen had expected.

This was becoming troublesome.

"If he hasn't left, he must be on the eighth floor, at the top of the Wizard Tower."

He stopped outside the eighth-floor door of the Wizard Tower and gave his robe a shake. Elemental surges, wards against dimensional banishment and instant death, an anti-flight field, protection against detection magic... defensive spells rose around him one after another.

He drew a staff from another dimension. Magic surged through it, and the gem at its tip lit up. He summoned an Invisible Servant that countered invisibility, then elemental beings, celestial beings, void abominations, shadow creatures, and abyssal demons. One summoning spell after another called forth creatures he had contracted from across the outer planes, until a small menagerie of extraplanar beings surrounded him.

With his preparations complete, Tingen ordered an abyssal demon to push open the eighth-floor door.

As it opened, Tingen saw a young man with short golden hair, a high-bridged nose, and blue eyes—the distinctive features of a Violet Kingdom Ang-Saxon. He sat in Tingen's favorite black-dragon-leather swivel chair, smiling at him.

Tingen quietly cast a detection spell on himself—True Sight.

Through True Sight, he saw an illusory golden radiance filling the entire eighth floor of the Wizard Tower.

Within it floated a black-and-red sun. It cast a dark crimson glow, and every ray bore a divine essence.

Countless faint whispers surrounded the sun, their voices chaotic yet distinct as they prayed.

They said, "Praise be to you!

"Great Sun God:

"Source of all life:

"Ruler of all things!"

This was a demigod.

His detection spell told him so.

Meeting Tingen's True Sight, Jiang Hao nodded politely. "Good afternoon, Mr. Tingen, archmage and guardian of Ganzros City. Sorry to intrude without warning. I came to visit your library, but unfortunately, I couldn't find it in your Wizard Tower. Would you take me there to see your collection?"