A unique puzzle can be found in the Converted Tower and the Converted Fringe Tower in Elden Ring. Both located in the Liurnia of the Lakes region, there’s a statue that hints at the solution.
The statue states, “May Erudition Light the Way!” in the Converted Tower. While the variant in Converted Fringe Tower says, “Erudition Guide Thee!” There’s no further clue or explanation as to what that exactly means.
When it comes to opening Oridys’s Rise and other towers in the game, the solution is often within the vicinity. Typically, you’ll search for cleverly hidden spirit turtles to break the seal blocking the entrance.
But in this case, the key to opening the Converted Tower and Converted Fringe Tower is attached at the end of an NPCs questline. In this guide, I’ll show you how to complete Thops’s quest in order to learn the erudition gesture Elden Ring.
Thops’s Questline
To solve the statue’s puzzle found in Converted Tower and Converted Fringe Tower, you’ll need to learn the erudition gesture in Elden Ring.
First, find Thops at the Church of Irith between the border of Stormveil Castle and Liurnia of the Lakes. The Lake-Facing Cliffs is the closest Site of Grace.
You can reach the Lake-Facing Cliffs by either passing through Stormveil Castle after defeating Godrick or taking the shortcut on the side of the castle to entirely skip that legacy dungeon.
From that Site of Grace, follow the main road west, and you’ll find the abandoned church. Thops is the man dressed in a sorcerer’s attire sitting on the bench, near the statue.
You can donate a small number of runes to purchase a few sorceries from him. But, he can’t learn from any scrolls. Go to either Sorceress Sellen or Miriel for that.
Talk to him and exhaust his dialogue. He says that he wishes to return to the Raya Lucaria Academy, but a magic seal is blocking the way. He mentions that the Academy Glintstone Key can unlock the seal.
If you accidentally hit Thops and can’t proceed with his questline, there’s no need to worry. You could always use a Celestial Dew at the Church of Vows to atone for your sins and reset NPCs back to a neutral state. This process is called absolution in Elden Ring.
You’ll find a sorcerer’s corpse in front of the southern gate of the Raya Lucaria Academy. There’s a note there where you can find the Academy Glintstone Key.
Follow the map to the west of the academy and north of the Temple Quarter to find the Academy Glintstone Key. The fight with Glintstone Dragon Smarag is optional, as you can loot the key without having to defeat it.
If you return to Thops at the Church of Irith, he won’t accept the Academy Glintstone Key. He refuses it because you only have one, and he doesn’t want to take it from you. But, if you find an extra copy, he’ll be more than happy to accept. Therefore, you can’t learn the erudition gesture just yet.
Now, we have to find another Academy Glintstone Key to unlock the Converted Tower.
Proceed to Raya Lucaria Academy and progress through the legacy dungeon as you wish. Eventually, you’ll come across and defeat the Red Wolf of Radagon boss. It’s a mandatory boss to reach the end of the academy.
After defeating it, you’ll have access to the Debate Hall Site of Grace. From here, head to the courtyard and climb the rubble on the left.
Jump across the railings on the balcony with the two sorcerers. You can turn back to unlock a shortcut leading to this area from the courtyard. Proceed through the site and jump unto the rooftops.
After fighting your way through the narrow bridge, jump down two rooves below. Before descending, make the leap of faith across the next roof. Make sure you’re sprinting, or else you’ll fall short.
Then, take a detour to the left to get the Full Moon Crossbow.
The Full Moon Crossbow is an enchanted weapon that scales off intelligence. It has a unique interaction when using magic bolts, contrary to the holy bolts the description suggests.
After the detour, you’ll be back at the roof before you executed the leap of faith. Guess what; you’ll have to do it again. This time, take the right route and carefully descend the tower.
Kill the crystal crab on the scaffold to receive the Lazuli Glintstone Crown. You’ll need a crystal crown to open the Converted Fringe Tower.
Strictly speaking, you don’t necessarily require this specific crown to activate its hidden effect. Instead, you may equip any glintstone crowns you’ve found, like the one tucked behind the courtyard or hidden behind the illusory wall leading to the item above Thops’s location in the Raya Lucaria Academy.
Once you’re at the roof semi-circular roof with multiple windows, you’re near the second Academy Glintstone Key.
Carefully enter through these windows and land on the wooden planks. Look for the chandelier with a corpse holding a purple item. Drop down and pick up the second Academy Glintstone Key.
After concluding your business at Raya Lucaria Academy, return to the Church of Irith. Give the Academy Glintstone Key to him and exhaust his dialogue.
Finally, you’ll learn the erudition gesture, which you can use to unlock the Converted Tower. He’ll bid you goodbye and wishes that you visit him soon.
When you reload the area, he’ll leave the church. In his place, a Teardrop Scarab spawns containing the Thop’s Barrier Ash of War, a shield skill that allows you to deflect oncoming spells.
Alternatively, the Ash of War also drops from the Teardrop Scarab north of the Temple Quarter. You’ll receive another reward if you previously found it there.
To conclude Thops’s short and tragic questline, teleport to the Schoolhouse Classroom Site of Grace inside Raya Lucaria Academy.
Once there, take the exit leading to the rotating water wheel, then look to the right.
You can find Thops slumped on the table before entering the classroom. Loot his body to receive the Academy Glintstone Staff, Thops’s Bell Bearing, and the Thops’s Barrier spell.
The Thops’s Barrier spell sounds excellent on paper. Using it deploys a magical force shield that deflects attacks. But, in execution, it only slides it to the ground near you, and you’ll often get hit by spells that splash or deal damage in an area.
Perhaps it was intentionally weak because the spell’s description reads, “The lifelong pursuit of Thops the Bluntstone. Future generations will learn. They will know the foolishness of the sneering sorcerers who ridiculed this theory, little realizing that it was in fact a discovery worthy of a new conspectus of the academy.”
The item description gives a small taste of the tragedy of Thops’s life. He could have been a great sorcerer (a pioneer of a new school of thought as well) if only the higher ranking sorcerers of the academy recognized his potential and mentored him properly.
Unlocking the Converted Tower
Now travel to either the Converted Tower or the Converted Fringe Tower.
The Converted Tower is located in the southwest portion of the Liurnia of the Lakes region. It’s near the Minor Erdtress, below the Revenger’s Shack.
Stand in front of the statue and let erudition light your way. Then, equip and use the gesture and wait for the hidden ladder to appear.
The erudition gesture takes some time to perform, so don’t prematurely cancel the action. There’s a treasure chest at the top of the tower with a precious memory stone.
Next, the Converted Fringe Tower is located in the northeast section of the lake. It’s to the east of the Frenzy-Flaming Tower and Frenzied Flame Village.
For this one, you have to equip a Glintstone crown to unlock the tower’s puzzle. Wear a Glintstone Crown and perform the erudition gesture. Eventually, your crown will glow a bright blue light and break the magic seal.
The treasure inside this tower are two potent sorceries. You can find the Gavel of Haima and Cannon of Haima spells here.
The Gavel of Haima is a personal favorite of mine. It creates a magical greathammer before slamming it down on the ground. Likewise, the Cannon of Haima lobs a large and explosive magical projectile.
After you learn the erudition gesture, you’ll have access to these two powerful and fun spells.
