Ghostlands

Alleria promptly agreed to Patrick's request. Zeb'Watha was remote, and it had once been Troll territory, so most Elves disliked the place. Once it was developed, it would therefore be somewhere he could control completely.

Patrick returned to his study and opened the scroll containing the Mage Tower's specifications. The first page was a sheet of parchment covered in inscriptions and runes. The arcane runes began to flicker, and Patrick felt them drawing away his mana.

The arcane nodes on the parchment shone, forming an arcane image of a Mage Tower. Patrick slowly brought his finger closer and gently touched the virtual arcane image. He could even adjust the viewing angle as he pleased.

The Sun Temple had six floors aboveground and four underground, using a traditional, non-floating Mage Tower structure. The fourth basement level housed the tower's foundations, along with its energy transmission system and arcane spell matrix. Some of the Mage Tower's basic magic circles, such as the Solidification Spell and Thermal Regulation Spell, were all located here. The third basement level was the power center, drawing on ley-line energy and arcane energy to power the entire Mage Tower. These two levels were therefore sealed off and controlled by the tower's chief mage.

The second basement level was a warehouse used to store ordinary materials. Above that, the first basement level was a workshop for preliminary material processing. Its proximity to the warehouse facilitated the workshop's daily operations. The first aboveground floor was the reception hall, just like the one in Thas'wether's Tower, used to receive guests, relay the chief mage's orders, and so on. The second floor housed the dormitories for the Mage Tower's members and apprentices.

The third floor contained communal magic laboratories and item-crafting rooms, which all members could freely use. The fourth floor was the library, with accompanying transcription rooms and quiet rooms, serving as the tower's repository of knowledge.

The fifth floor housed Patrick's office as chief mage, along with his private magic laboratory, crafting room, and transcription room. The sixth floor was the chief mage's residence, fully equipped with a sitting room, bedroom, and everything else, including a dedicated detection platform and stargazing platform.

The internal layout of every floor was perfectly clear. Arcane circuits filled the Mage Tower, connecting to the underground power center like blood flowing through the vessels of a body.

The Mage Tower's exterior followed the standard for Elven architecture, with a predominantly white structure and red roof, two golden stone pillars at the entrance, and a golden disc bearing a sun emblem above them. Patrick had little desire to change its appearance. Elven aesthetic standards suited his tastes very well. The only change he made was to turn the two golden stone pillars at the entrance into Divine Dragon Totems, giving the Sun Temple a distinctive mark of its own.

There were few changes to the interior design. Patrick only altered his own residence, repartitioning it to include a small sitting room, dining room, and similar spaces, while leaving the overall layout unchanged. In his previous life, he could watch television in the living room and browse his phone over Wi-Fi. Now, Patrick rather missed television and his phone. He also added a small staircase between the sixth and fifth floors, giving the residence a strong sense of his former home.

"It looks good, but the exterior and interior walls seem to be missing something. The Sun Temple in the game was an absolute eyesore. It looks much better now."

[You could add some Elven paintings and decorations. Those artworks would be pleasing to the eye and make life in the tower more enjoyable,] Ellen suggested.

Indeed, art was the creation of symbolic forms of emotion. The Elves' exquisite patterns and paintings were truly beautiful, far better than the so-called abstract art of Stars and Stripes Country in his previous life. How many people could understand those abstract works from his previous life? Who could understand those ten famous abstract paintings from Stars and Stripes Country, each worth over a hundred million? I certainly couldn't.

Patrick decorated the Sun Temple using High Elf patterns as a reference.

The next day.

Patrick called Alleria over to look at his masterpiece.

"It's beautiful. This must have taken you a lot of time." Alleria pointed at the magical patterns on the tower.

What Alleria actually thought was: Mages really are all the same,

obsessed with the arcane and fond of their so-called arcane aesthetics. How is this any different from the carved patterns on our Farstriders' battle banners? Of course, Alleria only grumbled inwardly. The arcane-obsessed mages in Silvermoon City were essentially all alike, and the female Elves had long since grown accustomed to them.

The plans were sent back to the Council, and Patrick would soon leave for the Ghostlands himself. As soon as the Council's funding arrived, the entire Sun Temple renovation project would begin.

The Council notified Patrick that the budget was eight hundred gold coins. It would dispatch a team of Scholars to modify and refurbish the Sun Temple according to Patrick's requirements.

Eight hundred gold coins-the Council's funding was quite generous. Patrick even wondered why the Council had suddenly become so openhanded. After all, copper coins were the basic unit normally used, and eight hundred gold coins was an enormous amount. Of course, this was a common means by which the Council demonstrated its closeness to the people and its concern for them.

After discussing Zeb'Watha's development plan with Alleria, the two finalized their plans for its future. When the Council's team of Scholars passed through the East Sanctum, Patrick set off with them for the Sun Temple in the Ghostlands.

Patrick had long since decided on his future course. Developing elsewhere was far better than idling his days away in Silvermoon City. After all, fighting out in the world would greatly improve his abilities. Patrick also needed to gain strength quickly, both for Alleria and to survive the upheavals to come. How could a flower raised in a greenhouse withstand the tempering of wind and rain?

They followed the Thalassian Pass, stopped briefly in Tranquillien to resupply, then continued to Andilien Estate, after which they would reach the Sun Temple.

After passing Andilien Estate, Patrick's party encountered Quelrintis. Quelrintis was a Fifth Ring mage. As the mage stationed at the Sun Temple, he handled most of the tower's affairs, overseeing its daily operations, the Mage Tower's maintenance, and so on.

Patrick handed Quelrintis his credentials and letter of appointment from the Silvermoon Council, then asked him to take him straight to the Sun Temple. As for the Council's team of Scholars, they could simply follow along. Patrick paid them little further attention.

Quelrintis briefed Patrick on the Sun Temple's operations, their contact with the Ranger troops stationed on the front lines, and the movements of the Troll Sebunwa. His explanation was very detailed; he knew the Sun Temple's current daily arrangements inside out.

The group walked toward the Temple. Although Patrick had visited many times in his previous life, seeing it with his own eyes still made his eyes light up-no, it left him dumbstruck. The Sun Temple in the game had been utterly dilapidated, short, and crude, but seeing it in person now was truly astounding.