Allanther

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 10

While yesterday I had thoroughly enjoyed the time walking by myself, today I felt even better. The thick wooden tunnel with its spots of sunlight and the green wisps of nature spirits was a bit chilly, but I ignored that. Instead, my mind was turning the matter of the witch over and over. Even the pending adoption of responsible child and a childish necromancer couldn’t put a damper on my mood.

The witch represented a whole host of possibilities. Two of them more prominent than others. The first, was a distant hope that she was like me. A half-elf with a long life hidden under the guise of an illusion. The chance that I could meet a life-long partner was almost too much to hold on to. I knew better than to become overly optimistic about it.

I knew better, and yet I did it anyway. What was she like? Was she beautiful or plain? Generous or selfish? Tall or short? My mind spun with the possibilities, things I hadn’t considered for ages.

Then, the more rational part of myself urged that I forgo those thoughts. Instead, it focused on her age. If she were human and lived that long, then she must have some spellcraft that effected longevity. Something that I could study and adapt to my own spellwork. What if it was better than mine? What if she already solved the puzzle?

Then again, this was a rumor from townsfolk told to me by a man who isn’t well know for his consideration of deeper matters. This could be a rumor used to ostracize a widow, and I could be getting all my hopes up for naught. Time would tell.

The mild euphoria of hope lasted the whole walk back to my tower, and only the sight of my apprentices at the doorway dampened it. The two men, one tall and the other short stood immediately inside the entrance to my tower.

On the right, the shorter one, Jax, bowed in greeting while giving his brother a concerned look. The taller one, Philipe, gave a delayed bow, with a dumbfounded expression on his face. His body was covered in pollen, and his eyes glazed over.  It almost looked as though he had yellow freckles atop his red ones. I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Master, I warned him, but—” Jax began.

I waved it away, “I know, I know. When did this occur?”

“He visited them yesterday morning for the first time, if he didn’t lie to me about it,” Jax answered, still giving his brother a worried look.

“I—I’m fine. I promise! Really, don’t worry,” Philip answered, speaking slowly.

“Philip, cast analyze on yourself,” I ordered.

The young man did as ordered, and then confusion spread across his face, “Infected?”

I turned my gaze to Jax, “This isn’t uncommon. The dryads of the Tervan jungles infect foolish men with a root that grows within them until it burst forth to cover their bodies in vines. I lost several comrades to those things. The vine-men they become are tough monsters to defeat, at least third-tier.”

Jax’s face paled, and he gulped, “Is that what’s going to happen to Philipe?”

I shook my head, “No.”

Jax sighed in relief.

“He’s likely to turn into a flowery version of that, though.”

Jax’s eyes opened wide. I couldn’t help it, that had been fun.

“Look through my study. You have until tomorrow night to develop a spell to rid him of the infection. If I must do it, you’ll spend a week in the kitchens with Ms. Chelsea,” I threatened with a raised finger.

“Yes, master!” he bowed and scrambled up the stairs in a hurry.

Philipe watched him go, not a single expression on his face. I turned to him and pointed to one of my uncomfortable bench seats, “And you, go sit over there and don’t get up until I tell you.”

His eyes followed my fingers to the bench ever so slowly. It took a few moments, and then he answered with a simple, “Okay.”

I wasn’t thrilled with this development. I needed my attendants in satisfactory condition so that I could leave the tower in their hands. I had several experiments I needed to travel for, and a witch to visit.

The next morning, after a delicious breakfast of eggs and rolls, I went out to do what I should have done before I took my trip to Lark. Outside my tower, I found the ivy nature elemental directing a crowd of the aldruane as they attempted to use harps and reed pipes to create music. It was an interesting melody that didn’t sound like anything I had heard before.

It would have been pleasant to listen to as I sat and drank a glass of wine, but I was in no mood to do so. Instead, I approached the elemental with an angry countenance, one that would not leave any room to mistake my purpose. My manner of approach, though, didn’t seem to affect the elemental at all.

Greetings mortal. Do you seek indulgence as well?

She arched her back in a provocative manner. Though she now wore what appeared to be clothes, it was only several long leaves of a handspan’s width that hung across her body horizontally. It left about a two fingers width between each that allowed her form to be seen underneath. On her brow, she had grown a garland of ivy as well.

“No, you know why I am here,” I growled.

The lesser mortal who indulged. I warned him, yet he persisted.

I frowned. She would place the blame back on Philipe? Before I could answer her, she spoke again.

Shall I punish the one who angered you so?

That halted my wrath, if only for a moment. While I wanted to burn a piece of each, I was also curious as to how they would punish one another. It wasn’t something I had any records on, and a treatise on the subject may do well in the magical community.

“Proceed,” I answer, and crossed my arms.

With a noise that sounded like the hissing of snakes and the cries of birds, the elemental screamed. In a flurry of motion, all the flower people turned towards a single female atop her giant lily. With a ferocity I wouldn’t have believed had I not seen it, they tore her and the lily to pieces in less than three breaths’ time.

Afterward, not a leaf remained, though I could see the rest chewing and swallowing. I replayed the scene in my mind, noting how quickly they turned on one another and how violently they reacted. Indeed, the infection of my assistant seemed almost innocent in comparison.

Are you pleased?

“No,” I answered with a frown. It was not enough. I could see by the expressions on the faces that the rest of these things were happy about the outcome. That would not do. I needed them all to learn. So with a use of my [Fire Manipulation], I drew forth flames from the fire elementals scurrying around on their pillars and molded it into arrows that hung in the air.

Beside me, the nature elemental still, her body seeming to shrink in on itself. The people on the lilies all paused and stared at the arrows with fear on their faces. I let those arrows hang there in the air for a few moments, a clear threat and danger, before I willed each one to stick and burn away a petal from each of the giant lilies. The creatures screamed in pain, or at least that’s what it seemed like. The sound was more again to the buzzing of insects.

When I finished, I turned to the nature elemental beside me.  She had mostly disappeared into the ivy, leaving only a set of eyes to watch, “Do not fail me again.”

With those words I turned to leave, but stopped only a step away. Over my shoulder, I called, “And remove that crown. I am the master here.”

That afternoon turned out to be a rather busy one. Lunch was a thick stew of beef and onions with a side of mashed potatoes. Rolf, who must have eaten it before, mushed his potatoes into a circle and poured the soup into the center. I thought that was a rather novel idea, and did so myself. Seeing my do it, inspired all the others, and soon the meal was being eaten all around the same way.

After lunch, I met with Jax on the first floor. Philipe had sat in his chair the entire night, and Meathead joined him this morning. While Meathead wasn’t infected like my assistant, they seemed to be discussing something in a very slow manner that I couldn’t quite parse.

Regardless, Jax indicated he thought he had perfected the spell needed, and showed me his work. While it wasn’t elegant, and contained a single error I fixed for him, I approved. I didn’t hold the error against him either, because his drooping eyes showed me that he had spent all night and morning working on it.

Once cast, the pollen fell off his brother, and he hacked out several small flowers with stem and root attached. The disgusting things squirmed around on the floor until Meathead cheerfully stomped them to stillness.  A small healing potion was given to Philipe who only had the wherewithal to down it before falling asleep on the table.

Meathead had taken Philipe to his room to rest, and Jax and I were cleaning up when Tond entered from the front door.

“Sir, there’s a merchant here ta see ya,” he said gruffly.

I nodded, “Very well, send for Chelsea.”

“Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but he requested to see you,” Tond said instead of heading downstairs.

“Hmm,” I answer. It was curious, but I would prefer to be doing other things. Still, perhaps it was Honest Brom returning with the elven tome.

The merchant outside was a slender man with long arms and legs. His face was thing but covered by a well-groomed light brown beard that matched an equally well-cut head of hair. Unlike other merchants, he wore only a simple tunic and trousers with a straw hat on his head.

His mule-drawn wagon seemed to be of a smaller, well-worn make. In it, I could see several crates and barrels, as well as bolts of cloth. Tond walked ahead of me to open the gates, and Eni was leaning against the doorway to his kennel appearing at ease even though his eyes were sharp. The merchant, upon seeing us approach, hopped down from the front of his wagon, and headed towards the rear of it. There, he began unloading crates from the back and setting them off to the side.

It was a tad odd, in my mind, that this merchant was already unloading goods, that combined with his silent demeanor and the fact that there were no guards for his wagon immediately raised my suspicions. When he was done unloading his cargo, he hopped back on the wagon and offered a parody of a military salute, “The mistress sends her regards.”

Then he began the slow process of turning the wagon around and heading down the road away from my tower. I admit that I was curious, but I was no fool either. I checked all the boxes for magic, and then had Eni send his wolves sniffing around them. I kicked a few to see if I heard a hiss or movement that would signal a snake or scorpion inside.

When nothing happened, I ordered Tond to open the first crate. As he did, light reflected off the gemstones inside, illuminating a rainbow of colors speckled across his face. His wide smile and look of wonder were enough for me to tell what was inside. Still, I had Eni and Tond check all seven crates, even to go so far as reach their hands inside to ensure nothing was hidden.

Baroness Nix had sent me crates full of gems, and I had reason to suspect they were all stolen.

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 9

The walk towards Woodhoot was surprisingly pleasant. Without the urgency of required work or the needs of others to consider, I felt a joyful exuberance that carried me. I explored a few swards surrounded by wild blueberry bushes to pick fresh blueberries. I took an afternoon nap on a bed of thick moss. I may have even cast a charm spell on a Forest Beetle and made it dance for me. Just because I had too much dignity to permit myself a romp, didn’t mean that I couldn’t amuse myself with by forcing monsters to frolic.

I knew what awaited me at my tower. The burdens of responsibility were once again heavy on my conscience. I also knew it was the height of hubris to believe that I alone would hold the keys to unlock humanities survival against the Pestilence. Responsibility and hubris or not, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for not making the attempt to try and slow or stop it.

Yet, now that I was alone, I realized I had spent nearly every day of the past two years single-mindedly pursuing that goal. I didn’t stop to enjoy myself. I didn’t allow for a moment of rest. So, when this opportunity presented itself, how could I not feel my load lightened? Two day of travel alone would be a welcome reprieve before I returned to my own agenda.

So, it should come as no surprise that I was not pleased with what I saw when I arrived in Woodhoot. It was early evening, and the sun had set a few hours ago. I had hoped to find a sleeping village with empty inn to welcome me. Instead, I found a bonfire lit, and numerous cavalry resting around it. Wounds, battered armor, and heavy drinking told the tale of a hard-fought battle.

The villagers were out and about, seeing to the needs of the soldiers with fresh cloth for wounds or cooked meals for coin. I didn’t wish to infringe on their opportunity to lighten the soldiers’ purses, so I silently walked by them and make my way to the inn.

Inside, the inn was busier than I had ever seen, filled with rough men with tough looking eyes. The innkeeper Miles and his staff were rushing about the place as if they were bunnies chased by wolves. In the center of all the rambunctious excitement, Baron Llal sat singing a war song while crowded by soldiers. The armor and the way they carried themselves led me to believe the handful of men closest to the noble were the officers within the troop.

“Wizard Fargus!” He yelled midsong, over the busy chatter of the inn, and most of the other conversations died to a low whisper. The baron had green eyes, and a plain face. Not the most inspiring countenance for a noble, yet his wide grin and eagerness to find battle seemed almost a perfect match for the military.

I nodded my head, “Baron Llal, what a pleasant surprise.”

“Indeed, this is a fortuitous encounter! I had feared I would need to travel to your tower to speak with you, yet here you are!” His voice was still loud, despite the others’ conversation giving way to ours.

As the soldier around him broke away from the group, I noticed that the man was missing an entire arm beneath the shoulder. A recent injury, too, by the blood stains on the tied sleeve. That would no doubt be a severe hardship for the warrior. I hope he didn’t intend to ask me to heal it. I was a wizard not a priest.

“Come, come. Sit and join me!” he jovially waved his good hand as he motioned with his head to a seat in the rear corner of the tavern. His breastplate looked beaten despite its heavy polish, and the cloak he wore over it shown numerous tears and holes.

I gave him a smile, and followed. When we reached the very end of the long benches and tables, the two soldiers there saluted the baron and departed, standing five feet away as if to keep others from coming to close to us.

“Wizard Fargus, I would ask you a favor,” Baron Llal said plainly.

I’m generally uncomfortable with favors to begin with, as they nearly always seem to benefit others more than me. Glancing at his arm, I saw that it was shortened more towards the elbow than the shoulder.

He must have seen my look, because he waved it about as he spoke, “No, not this. We’re on our way to Eiston, to see a priest there to heal it. Got this from some bald, fat-nosed cur with a metal gauntlet. The pointed fingers on it went right through my shield. Took my ax to my arm before the poison could get me and then took his head.”

He showed me a menacing grin that turned into a grimace, “Though my men pulled me away after. Cost us the battle, it did.”

That surprised me. The gauntlet he was speaking of likely didn’t contain poison at all. The slave-priests of Mirktal used the things to enslave high-level enemies mid-battle. He was lucky he thought it poisoned or he may have been turned against his own men and be marching on Sena even now.

But that didn’t answer what he wanted, so I nodded and spoke, “I see.”

The Baron let out a hearty laugh, before his face turned more serious, “Wizard, I have a little friend, a necromancer that visited you a time or two.”

“Hmmm,” I answered. Hey must be speaking of Pyl.  Pyl had impressed me with his enthusiasm for his craft. Such devotion should be admired, if only a little.

“My locals don’t trust him on account of his class. Without me present, I’m worried they might… or he might… I’m worried the tension might escalate, even if he would be a stalwart defender of my barony.”

I had heard of such things before. Necromancers generally had a bad reputation, as no one likes to consider the bones of their past loved ones being used as tools.

“I implore you to take him in. I could send a messenger on the morrow should you agree.”

I considered the matter. The man would certainly due well under my tutelage. Necromancer was also a third-tier class, and I wasn’t certain what the fourth-tier version of it was. Most records on the subject were more often than not adventurer quests to kill one.  It took a certain specific mentality to focus on the subject without slowly growing a willful disregard to the living.

On the other hand, I already had three apprentices to look after. That wasn’t considering the guards and servants. More residents in my tower would mean more time taken up with their matters. I also wasn’t certain how they would react to a mage of that class. I wasn’t even certain how the symbol of Bi would react.

My hesitancy must have been evident in either my manner or the length of time taken to answer, because the Baron interrupted my thoughts.

“There is also something that might interest you,” he said in a whisper.

“Oh?”

“In my lands, there are tales among the locals of a witch. The Witch of the Western Woods, they call her. They claim she’s been around for more than a hundred and fifty years or more,” he said and took a sip of his mead.

That… that was interesting, “Go on.”

“I wasn’t sure if she was a threat to my domain, so I went to see. Planned to strike her down if she was,” He explained his planned murder with a degree of nonchalance. “But I merely saw an old woman skinning a rabbit. Waved at the lady and she waved back.”

That was a mildly disappointing tale. Still, I used illusions to appear older in the eyes of humans. It assuredly caught my interest.  I would need to think about that some more.

“And,” the baron began again, “I’ll have one of my men forego their rooms tonight. As you can see, the inn is full, and they have no more beds. A man of your age shouldn’t sleep on the ground.”

That sealed the deal for me. It was more the story of witch than the offer of the bed that swayed, but I wouldn’t turn down his generosity. I could always make a second tower elsewhere in the bog for the necromancer if he were too much trouble. Or have one of my apprentices do it.

“Very well,” I answered, though I feared I would regret it.

In the morning, I awoke to the noise of a company of soldiers readying themselves for travel. It wasn’t even truly morning, as dawn was still an hour or more away. In the tavern below, they served a thin porridge with chunks of eggs mixed in to the soldiers. Baron Llal, myself, and a few officers sat around the fireplace eating a hearty meal of ham and biscuits.  The biscuits weren’t anywhere as well made as Chelsea’s, but tasty all the same.

Baron Llal and his men were involved in their own discussion, an accounting of supplies. I overheard numbers for horse, sword, boots and more. I didn’t interrupt the conversation either, content to eat by myself. Unfortunately, my meal was soon interrupted.

As I was eating, I was approached by the stable boy. The child had the hawkish nose, as well as the brown eyes and hair that was common among the villagers of Woodhoot.

“Master Wizard, milord, lord… um… great one?” the nervous lad hopped from foot to foot without looking up at me.

“Yes?” I asked.

“My name is Fin, and I were wonderin’ if’n you be… um… if…” The kid’s voice trailed off.

I didn’t feel the need to humor the lad, but I wasn’t going to scold him either. I simply waited patiently while nibbling on a biscuit until he gathered his wits.

“Mister Wizard, I wanted to ask if you had need of a stableboy at your tower?” He stilled as he looked at me waiting for an answer.

Had he been older, I would have made him wait longer for my response, “Child, what of your parents?”

“My pa was taken by a harpy two years back ‘n’ me ma she took off to Lark fer a new husband, but I hadn’t seen her since,” He said, though tears welled up in his eyes. I suspected they might be forced, but wasn’t certain enough to speak to it.

“Brothers and sisters?”

“Oh, I got plenty o’ ‘em, but they don’t care about me. Too worried ‘bout their own families,” he said, a little less melancholy on the subject.

I glanced around and noticed that the innkeeper Miles wasn’t too far away. Close enough to have heard the conversation. When my eyes met his, he gave me a small nod as if to confirm the truth of the lad’s words.

I sighed. At this rate, I would need to sponsor another orphanage. “Timb, was it?” I began.

“Fin, sir,” He corrected.

I answered, “Fimb, I have two attendants that will travel through here in a few days’ time.  If you can get the approval from all your brothers and sisters—and I mean all of them—by that time, then you may travel with them. Can you do that?”

The kid quivered in excitement as he stood there, “Sir, lord, mister—yes I can!” He barely got those words out before he took off running out the door.

“That’s a mighty fine thing ya done there, sir,” Miles said as he approached.

I raised my eyebrows, and gave him a look that said I didn’t want to discuss the matter. The man simple nodded once and left me to my breakfast of lukewarm ham.

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 8

After the meeting with Guildmaster Tim, I set about the last of the two tasks I wanted to accomplish today. I had brought a bottle of fifty-year-old grape wine, a tart and bitter vintage that’s taste didn’t match its price. Still, I was hesitant to bestow such a bottle on Baroness Lark. Not because it was that kind of thorny gift wasn’t warranted, but because I assumed a better opportunity to gift the foul thing would arise in the future.

So, I once more went back to the market. It was even more crowded than the morning, and the late afternoon sun did nothing for the odor. Merchants yelled out about their goods and townsfolk bartered with abandon. Children ran about between legs unsupervised. If I had to live in the town, no doubt I would have commissioned several bathhouses to solve the problem already. Instead, I made do with a scented handkerchief and a minor wind spell.

I’d passed the stall for dresses and jewelry and was searching for a merchant that sold glassware. My idea was to enchant a mirror to mesmerize the viewer for a day. Something that wouldn’t do any lasting harm, and would likely end up in whatever family vault she had, if she had one. Something that would send a message. I was not pleased with having such short notice to prepare.

The idle gossip among the townsfolk as I walked was every bit as mundane as I expected. Most were wild guesses on whom the groom would be. Evidently, Songmaster Tek and the Baroness had a falling out two seasons ago, and he’d departed to attempt to make a name elsewhere.  While I didn’t have an opinion of the matter, it did make shopping for a gift for the new couple more difficult.

I stopped at a food stand that presented a ground sausage and garlic baked in rolled cabbage. While the food looked disgusting, it smelled heavenly. There were only a few woodworkers in line before me, but they moved out of my way on their own accord. I didn’t mind the polite gesture, and I feared they might unintentionally spread sawdust among the remaining food if I turned them down.

The merchant, a robust woman in a long gown with a faded blue apron, was also polite enough to offer it to me for free. Though it seemed a bit unusual, who was I to turn down the offer? It was only after I’d taken the first bite and stepped away that I heard her screaming, “Finest cabbage rolls in Lark! Approved by the grand wizard himself!”

I stopped and turned around, as I chewed on the roll, giving the lady an accusatory glare. For her part, she noticed, but shrugged and winked at me. It normally would have bothered me, I’d imagine, but the rolls were very tasty. In fact, I did approve. Still, it would have been nicer if she asked before declaring such. Rather than argue, I shook my finger at her and took another bite.

Afterwards, I wandered through the market, trying to come up with the best idea for a gift. A cradle? It would suggest that she was already with child and that was the reason for the wedding. No, that wasn’t an obvious enough thorn. A jar of perfume to suggest she smells poorly? No, the townsfolk here needed it much more than she. A fine belt one or two sizes too large? Hmm… that would be better if I knew her size.

The afternoon turned to dusk, and the merchants began packing their wares away. In the end, I purchased a simple copper bracelet.  A part of me wanted to return her behavior with an appropriate response. Another more forgiving part of me pushed to overlook the matter.  There could be various legitimate reasons for a short notice invitation, even if most came two seasons out. It would be proof to myself that I could still grow as a person, and learn to be more understanding.

Inside my room at the inn, I did a quick test of the ring to make sure it worked, and then took to working on the bracelet.  I added four tiny emeralds, each with an elemental summon that took the shape of a stone boar.  Then I added spiral and runic patterns that would allow the wearer to call on the earth elementals once a day.  They were only first-tier, but given the enchantment, it shouldn't fade over time unless someone deliberately broke the bracelet. Afterward, I went to sleep.  Tomorrow would be an exhausting day.

In the morning, I dressed in an elaborate red and white ceremonial robe, with flowing sleeves and a belt made from a golden chain.  With my white slippers, white bowl-shaped cap and the golden staff topped with a fist-sized diamond, I hoped I might upstage the baroness and groom themselves. That would be perfect, like fresh blackberries in my wine.

The streets were already filled with merry-making townsfolk, drinking from huge casks of ale set upon the backs of wagons. It was almost a river of people headed towards the cobbled town square, though thankfully they kept a fair distance from me. As I arrived, an [Administrator] that I didn’t even have to bribe came to greet me.

“Alderman Fargus, good morning to you!” The woman seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place her face, so I nodded in return. “This way, if it pleases you. We would like you to sit at the Baroness’s right, a place of honor right between her and her heirs.”

I stroked my beard trying to imagine why I would be given such a seat, but couldn’t for the life of me think of a good one. Still, I followed her to the grand long table set upon the wooden stage in front of her manor. Already, crowds had gathered on the cobblestone before it, chattering away. When I was shown my seat, a chair that left my back to the manor, I noticed that I was the last to join the table besides the Baroness and her groom.

Around the rest of the table, prominent merchants and political figures from across the barony sat and chatted about their holdings. Or at least, that’s who I assumed they were based upon their conversations. They politely introduced themselves and their holdings one by one, and I returned the politeness by pretending to be impressed.

The heirs of the baroness, a teenage girl and a boy that looked eight years old sat to my right, the girl in the closer seat. They both favored their father, with black hair and green eyes, though the daughter a little less so. She definitely had the mannerisms of her mother copied completely considering the way she sat and held herself. The boy, though, played with a small wooden toy under the table. Not that I expected much in the way of behavior from a lad that young.

It was only an hour later when most of the town had gathered that the Baroness and groom came forth from their manor. A few trumpets announced their attendance, though I didn’t bother to turn around to watch.  It took a few minutes before they stately walked out around the table to stand between it and the crowd, a priest of Bi joining them as they did.

The baroness woman wore a dark red silken gown with frills and lace all over it. The red clothes were contrasted by a necklace and bracelets of bright yellow beads.  The skirt was layer upon layer of thin and sheer fabric with additional yellow beads woven into the hem. The groom wore a matching ensemble, of shirt, vest, and trousers, but his grin irritated me to no end.   I struggled to keep the discontent from my face.

The baroness was marrying Mirm Fenn! A [Bandit Lord], and a failed one at that. A man with one hand, that I turned over for her to ransom or execute. A man whose sole reason for marriage was to save his own skin! The baroness was smiling about it! As if this was some kind of blessing.  If he said one word to me about his title compared to mine, I’m not certain I could remain polite.

I decided right then and there that they were getting the wine.

The ceremony, thankfully, was short, and soon Lady Olivine Lark sat next to me with her new husband on her other side. I didn’t say a word, but I gave her a look that anyone would have been able to understand.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” she said and playfully slapped my shoulder, “All women need a good man that can satisfy them.”

Before I could answer, her daughter spoke, “And when you have a good one, you toss him aside for a bad one. This one would not marry you if he didn’t fear for his head.”

“Olivia,” the Baroness hissed, “Now is not the time for this. Please be pleasant for one day.”

“Or what? Will you kick me out like father? You gift a criminal your hand while you exile a good man. How is that justice?” Her face reddened and her lip quivered, though her voice carried enough that all the other conversations at the table stopped. 

I immediately understood why I was seated in the chair I sat, and I was not pleased about it at all. I wasn’t certain the wine was enough to return the favor of being inserted into this family squabble.  Could she not see I was trying to grow as a person?

The baroness waved to a servant to begin serving the meal, “I will not have this conversation on this day, daughter. Please you all, enjoy the bounty of Lark.”

In a husky voice, Baron Mirm Fenn whispered in the lady’s ear, “I sure will.” He’d taken a tone that made it clear that he wasn’t speaking of the feast, and I was, unfortunately, close enough to hear it.

I heard Olivia Lark’s intake of breath as she prepared more words for her mother. It was clear the young lady was more than willing to make a scene. Perhaps, she even planned on doing so. I leaned back, both to allow her to vent without my body in between them and to allow the servant to dish food onto my plate. The meal was a side of peas, a honeyed ham, two types of rolls, and a soft, crumbly cheese.

They had finished serving me when the Baroness’s daughter leaned forward over her plate and screamed, “Mother! I hate you! I just hate you!”

Tears streamed down her face, and she nearly knocked over a waiter as she pushed herself back from the table. With two hands, she lifted the front of her skirt high enough for her to take off in a wailing run back into the manor. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table, one that spread across the crowd like dye in water.

The Baroness watched her daughter go, and then turned back to look right at me with an imploring, almost begging expression. I met gaze and lifted an eyebrow.

“Please?” Baroness Lark asked in a whisper that could only be heard between me and her.

“Of course, I’ll try them,” I feigned a misunderstanding and took a bite of the peas. They were salted and buttered to perfection. They tasted almost as good as seeing her expression felt.

It was the fourth course into the meal when I decided it was time. The townsfolk were properly inebriated and celebratory. Garlands of wildflowers were handed about and worn by many, and those too drunk to stand were victims of children who marked faces with charcoal. I rose to my feet, and took my staff in hand, which first drew the attention of those around the table.  A quick spell as I tapped the end of my staff on the ground caused the diamond to flashed with a light that drew the eyes and ears of the disorderly crowd.

“My Baroness,” I began, my voice carrying over everyone around me, “As congratulations for your marriage, I would like to present to you this bottle of wine. The Contile Grapes Vineyard is no longer around today, but when it was, the wine was one of the most expensive. Nearly a hundred gold a bottle,” I paused, both to pull the bottle from my bag of holding and to allow the townsfolk to whisper to each other about the price.

“Today, should it be sold, I imagine it would garner a price no less than twice that. But wine is meant to drink, is it not?” I smiled, first to the baroness and then to the crowd. With a dramatic flourish, I opened the bottle and filled their cups, honoring them by serving them in public.

Once full, I raised my own glass of the strawberry wine they served and called for a toast. I watched them with my own cup held to my lips to hide my smile. While everyone else around them cheered and drank, the two stood frozen with their cups to their lips. Mirm, showed his courage when he downed his drink swiftly and displayed a quickly flashed grimace. The Baroness drank hers in small sips as her face struggled to maintain the smile.

I could barely contain my own mirth. I slowly poured them another glass each, grinning the whole time. They smiled back, of course, but what else could they do other than smile and glare? When their glasses were full, I sat the bottle between their cups and gave a small bow.

“Well, I am afraid that you young folks are too lively for me. Thank you for the invitation.  Such a wonderful, wonderful ceremony,” I said, clearly enough for all to hear. Sometimes, the illusion spell I maintained of advanced age was delightfully useful.

With that, I nodded my head to those gathered nearby and departed to my room at the inn. After four courses, I was more than ready for a mid-afternoon nap.  I couldn't have asked for a better meal.

The morning after, while I awaited Leslie and Mena’s arrival, I was approached by a guard. I had dressed in a bright yellow robe that opened in the front but was held in place by a dark blue silk sash tied to the side. The guard wore the standard brigandine armor of plated leather that all the guards of Lark wore but walked with a steady gate that indicated more professionalism than most.

The man, who looked somewhat familiar, bowed and greeted me, “Wizard Fargus, if you would follow me.”

“What do you want of me?” I asked. If the Baroness had set the guard against me for yesterday’s trick, I would turn her skin blue for a month!

“Sir, we are holding two women who claim to be your attendants. We would like your confirmation,” He said before he bowed again, and lead me away.

I followed him, though I couldn’t help but think this through. Two attendants? What could Mena and Leslie have done to involve the guard? This was completely unsatisfactory. Or perhaps the guards apprehended the wrong ladies, and the two were confused for some other criminals? Certainly, they both should know not to embarrass me.

Mayhap this is an assassination attempt? I hadn’t had many recently, I would be due for one any week now. That seemed unlikely, given the crowd. Maybe some drunken lout tried to fondle Leslie and Mena broke a few bones? That seemed much more likely. If that’s the case, then good for her. I would arrange a reward if she displayed that kind of protectiveness.

Lark called its Town Hall a City Center for whatever idiotic reason that humans failed to name things properly. The wooden building faced the town square opposite from the Baroness’s manor. The cobbled same town square from yesterday’s festivities, though only trampled garlands and puddles of drying vomit remained. Even the raised platform I had dined upon was being taken apart by lethargic and hungover workers.

Inside the City Center was a long hallway with doors that opened to the administrative parts of the city on the left, and the guard and jailhouse on the right. As I followed this guard to the right, I was astonished to see that the jail covered the length of the room, with floor-to-ceiling iron bars half a foot apart all along the back wall. It wasn’t all one cell, though. There looked to be about ten cells, and most of them full of drunkards who forayed into fisticuffs yesterday.

There, in one cell, set both Leslie and Mena.  Mena with burn marks on her hair and clothes, and Leslie with a black eye. Both of them were glaring at each other in a manner that I didn’t care for. What I had hoped to be a nurturing event for the two of them had turned into something else. I glanced at the guard beside me for an explanation.

“Sir, we picked them up a few days ago by the gate brawling over a gold coin,” he answered my unasked question with perfunctory ease. Those words seemed to attract the attention of the two ladies and they each stood to greet me.

“Boss!” Mena said with a salute.

“Master,” Leslie said with a bow, though a swollen lip gave her a lisp.

I didn’t acknowledge their greeting, instead, I turned to the guard, “Yes, unfortunately, these are my attendants.”

Four more town guards had shown up around the first, though whether that was due to the spectacle or for moral support, I wasn’t certain. The guard who led me here seemed unsure of what to say until a higher-ranking guard stepped forward. This woman was the size of Meathead in stature, and her well-muscled physique put the other guards to shame. She carried herself with a degree of competence that I wished my own guards possessed.

“Sir, the normal response is a week in the cells and a fifty-silver fine. On account of your distinguished reputation, we could release them to your care and waive the fee,” her raspy voice echoed through the room, though she had attempted a whisper.

I shook my head, “I cannot in good conscience allow such privilege to occur. What kind of example would that set?” I turned my gaze back to the two women, “I will say this aloud for the benefit of all to hear. I. Am. Disappointed.”

Both Leslie and Mena showed the good grace to look ashamed of themselves. A susurration streamed among the guards and prisoners alike.  I turned to leave, but called back to them over my shoulder, “I expect you to return to your duties as early as possible. Do not disappoint me further.”

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 7

I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. By how nervous Miles had acted, I had assumed everything from bandits to the Baroness to the king’s guard. Nothing I couldn’t handle, certainly, but I’d fully prepared myself to return the rudeness of an interrupted meal with advanced spellwork of my own. Instead, I found what I could only imagine as the entirety of the population of Woodhoot standing around the door of the inn. Nearly two hundred people, far more than I would have guessed lived here.

Upon my exit, I heard a man yell, “One! Two! Three!”

“Thank you!” The crowd of peasants yelled. Loudly. Some even bowed or clasped their hands together. It was all so unnecessary. If they had the time to gather and plan this, then they could have at least waited for me to finish eating.

Also, I wasn’t entirely certain what exactly they were thanking me for. I hadn’t prepared a speech or any words to address them with. I glanced to my side as Miles had come to stand next to me, and he whispered loudly to answer my unspoken questions, “Milord, we wanted to thank ya fer sendin’ yer mages and guards against the beast wave a few years back. We’d have gone down there ta do it, but Walker said you didn’t want no one visitin’ less it were important.”

Ah. I nodded that I understood and turned back to the crowd, many of which were burly loggers or their homely wives. They were chattering about excitedly, until I raised a hand to signal that I wanted them quiet.

I gave them a simple smile as I said my next words, “You’re welcome.”

Then I turned back through the doorway into the inn to finish my meal. That turkey went very well with the apple cider.

The inn had replaced its beds with better ones, but it was still lacking compared to my own. I dozed for a few hours of the night before we pack back up to travel again. The road to Lark was in better condition than I recalled, but the spring rains still left standing puddles of water on it. Some parts were also too low and allowed muddy pools to spill over. I used this as an opportunity to instruct Leslie on [Earth Manipulation] and have her do the repair work needed.

It was a casual walk that day, with only sparse conversation and the occasional monster attack. The first tier Forest Beetles and monsterized snakes posed no threat, and Mena made her own game of seeing how far she could kick them when they scurried out from the underbrush.

We made it to Lark in a day’s time, even at the slowed pace. The roadway made all the difference in travel time, and seemed to have been straightened at some point in the recent past. I suspected Kine’s hand was involved, given the few times I allowed him a month’s leave to work for the Baroness.

The late afternoon sun was touching our backs as we arrived at the new gatehouse for the town. All along the wooden palisade I could see where workers were tearing down the wall to replace it with stone. The streets and walkways that had once been simple dirt where now covered by a pink and grey gravel that crunched underfoot. It didn’t help the smell much, and I wished the town would have invested in a sewer first.

I turned to Mena and Leslie as we went inside, “You two may go as you will and meet me here in three days so long as you remain together.”

I knew that the two ladies didn’t get along so well, and pairing them up might seem more a punishment than a reward. But between Leslie’s desire for control and Mena’s rebellious attitude, I hoped that one would soften the other.

“Excuse me, boss, but I don’t have any coin,” Mena said before I could get away from the pair.

I felt slightly ashamed of that. Of course, she wouldn’t have any coin, its not as if I paid her. From within my pouch, I drew a single gold piece, more than enough for the two of them. I showed it to Mena before handing it to Leslie.

“Together,” I said again, and walked away. I could hear the curse words and argument beginning before I had even made it ten steps. That didn’t mean I stopped. I had several places I wanted to visit tomorrow and the Baroness’s wedding was the day after.

The town had changed remarkably in the last two years. The gravel itself made a huge difference in reducing the dirt and mud that had clung to the townsfolk. Men and women moved energetically about their business, and it didn’t seem as if there were anyone unemployed. Children played with well-carved toys, and I passed one warehouse that looked to be constructing new wagons of good quality. For a town that could have boasted a population of up to forty thousand residents, the number of humans I saw out and about made it seem that number had increased half again. Of course, I couldn’t tell if that was due to visitors for the upcoming wedding or simple growth, but it was interesting nonetheless.

The first place I stopped at, on the other end of town, was the inn I had stayed at during my last visit. Now, two more inns stood beside it competing for customers. While I could have gone to either one of them, and in truth was tempted to do so because they looked nicer, I stuck with the inn I knew.

Likely, I could have even roomed at the Baroness’s manor as I was here at her invitation, but then I would need to spend time with the woman. Between the travel and the wedding, I fully believed that I’d already met whatever obligation I’d had. I almost regretted accepting the invitation to begin with.  Yet, I couldn't allow such a slip of propriety to occur.  I would be cross if anyone ever accused me of not being cordial.

The inn was much the same as I remembered it. The main building was circular with a firepit in the center and tables circling it. This time, dozens of plump pheasants were speared and roasted above a grill that held onions and potatoes. The juices from the birds dripped down onto the vegetables that created a very pleasant smell.  A servant in a smock approached me shortly after I entered, and I ordered a meal and a bed for two days.

The next day was the day before the Baroness’s wedding, and the townsfolk were full of excited motion. I ate a quick breakfast of spired porridge before setting out about my business. The marketplace was much the same as I remembered, though more crowded. Stalls and booths were set up hosting a wide array of random clothes and tools, many now including intricately carved toys. I shopped for a few hours in the morning, finding only a new pair of slippers, before the heat of the day convinced me to go about my other business.

I approached the Adventurer’s Guild with confidence. The building was unaffecting by the influx of stone, and stood resolutely humble. A two-story wooden structure that did nothing to try to compare to the ostentatious arrogance of the capital’s Adventurer’s guild. Even the flagpole that was outside its double doors only stood half the height of the building.

Inside the entrance was a small wooden stairwell that led down several feet directly into a tavern. To the left, an open doorway led to a room packed books and monster parts. Two clerks stood behind a counter looking as busy as I’d ever seen a clerk look, though the line of impatient adventurers waiting on them seemed to tell a different story. The back wall opened to a stairwell that led upstairs. On the right, a doorway centered along the wall led to a chapel.

It seemed to me that a Paladin guildmaster likely had his office inside the chapel, so I set off in that direction only to find the room empty and the two doors at the rear closed. The chapel itself was clean enough, with wooden chairs and a platform supporting a four-foot-tall copper bull idol of the god Bi. I could see the simplistic beauty in the sculpture, even if most of the copper had turned green.

“Can I help you, sir?” A man’s reedy voice called from the doorway.

I turned my head to take in the speaker. An honest-looking, middle-aged man with tanned skin and blonde hair that hinted that he held some Eistoni heritage. His body was small and lithe as he walked slowly in my direction.

“I seek Paladin Adam, the guildmaster,” I answered, and regretted that I didn’t bring my staff. My grey robe was of fine make, but the staff was the symbolic symbol a mage would carry to announce his profession.

“My apologies, sir. Paladin Adam was recalled by his order to take up arms in the East not three weeks ago. I am Tim, the new guildmaster,” The man said with a smile and a small bow.

“Nemon Fargus,” I answered, though I simply nodded my head instead of bowing in return.

He tapped his finger on his chin, and looked away, “Nemon Fargus… Nemon… Fargus… Oh!” His eyes snapped back to me, “The Alderman Wizard. I know about you. Come right this way, and have a seat. I’ll have one of my scribes bring your records.”

He moved towards the closed on the right, opening it with a sweeping gesture of invitation, though he moved a little more slowly than I would have imagined a man of his age. Then again, his movements were also extremely precise, the signs of a [Rogue] class. I entered the room on his offer, finding a seat in one of two worn wooden chairs.

The room seemed a haphazard collection of scrolls and parchment, some stacked in piles in the corner, others strewn across a large table. On the other side of the table, the guildmaster’s chair was of similar make to the one I sat in. I idly glanced at the papers on the desk, noticing expense reports, quests and quest results, and death notices all jumbled about. The man needed to get one of his clerks in here to organize it, his recordkeeping was atrocious. Was this a holdover from Adam? Perhaps.  Adam didn’t seem the type to be overly concerned with records.

It was a few minutes time, long enough for me to consider leaving, when he returned with his arms full carrying a stack of scrolls.

“Here we are, thirty-seven quests and their current status,” He said as he carefully sat the scrolls down so they didn’t roll off the table.

“Hmm,” I answered. I wasn’t really expecting this. I had expected to see the [Paladin] and task him with a thing or two. I also wanted to stop the recurring quests for road patrols and prospecting. With the kingdom headed to war, the last thing I wanted to see is some young fool try to use my quests to forgo conscription.

Tim sat down in the chair across from me, and steepled his fingers, “My, um,” he began, and paused as if looking for the right word, “Mistress, Baroness Nix, has ordered me to see to any of your needs. I have already set aside any other duties for the day.”

I withheld my sigh. Baroness Nix, again? And this guildmaster was her pawn? He had to be at least a third-tier rogue to hold this position. Was this her way of telling me something? I placed a hand on the table and tapped my fingers in thought. Well, more to show the man I was thinking than out of any habit. Was she trying to push a favor on me to obtain one in return? If so, she had much in common with that Scout Commander, whatever his blasted name might be.

The guildmaster reached into his sleeve slowly, and withdrew a small sealed scrollcase, “She also had this prepared for you, sir.”

“Read it to me,” I ordered the man and stopped tapping. While I had magical protections against poisons in place, I wanted to keep them at the ready for the Baroness’s wedding. I didn’t think that either this scroll or her wedding feast would be poisoned, but I wasn’t about to take the risk.

He glanced at me uncertainly, before breaking the wax and opening the case. He unrolled the scroll on the table and held the letter as if were worth many gold coins.  In a soft voice, he read, “Dear Wizard Nemon Fargus, first of his class. I have heard the warning from Alred and know what is at stake. Should you need anything at all, me or my associates are at your service. Cordially, Baroness Nix.”

I started to tap my fingers again. While it certainly didn’t seem as if she was offering an obligation disguised as a gift, I still wasn’t entirely certain.  That said, the times for prudence were close to an end.

“Very well,” I answered, and watched as the man shuffled through papers on his desk in search of a quill. When he finished, he looked up at me ready to write.

Rather than returning her letter, I simply listed off things that I thought I desired, “Magical Artifacts, Gemstones—particularly diamonds, emeralds, topaz, and rubies, plum wine, scales or teeth from the Pestilance, building crystals, dungeon cores, high-tier metals such as mithril, any bestiary tomes from dwarves or dark elves, and mana crystals. Any of those things in as great a number.”

He scribbled for a few long moments more, before he finished the list. He wrote as slowly and carefully as he walked. When he did finish, he looked up at me with a question in his eyes, “Sir, will plum wine stop the Pestilence?”

I scoffed, “No, but you don’t expect me to drink ale while I work, do you?”

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 6

It was the day of our departure to Lark for the Baroness’s wedding, and I was doing a few last minute spellworks in my laboratory. While I was confident that the containment fields that I established for my multiple tests would hold, I saw no reason not to enchant additional protections and illusions to keep them safe.

My primary concern at the moment was the variant of parasitic mushroom I  adapted to consume the Pestilence scales I managed to procure. Or, rather, as the tower identified them under analysis the ‘greater armored hydra’ scales. I hadn’t the feintest idea what a hydra was, and what made the difference between a greater and a lesser version of the beast. None of the tomes I owned or remembered reading hinted at such a being.

Still, if my experiment was successful, then infecting the monsters with a parasitic mushroom should reduce their defenses enough for fire magic to kill them off. The mushroom was doing well at the moment, and only a sliver of one scale remained. My bigger concern now was how fast it would spread. Too fast, and I might unintentionally replace one problem with another. Too slow, and all my work would be for naught.

Regardless, with the new enchantments, the experiment would keep until I returned. I snatched another experiment of mine from its own compartment, I ring that would be perfect to test on the journey. Upstairs, Guard Mena and Assistant Leslie were waiting for me. Of the three new assistants, I found that Leslie seemed to take great pleasure in holding an authority over the two young men.

I knew she had come from the orphanage through my sponsorship to the Arcanum, and that the life of an orphan wasn’t an easy one. It left a person feeling broken in a way that was difficult for even me to describe. Her desire for authority likely stemmed from some history of feeling a lack of control in her own life.

That didn’t mean that I would tolerate arrogance from the young lady. I’d ordered her to come for more than one reason. I would evaluate her personality more closely along the trip, and formulate a plan to ensure she would grow. It would also allow for the two brothers, Philipe and Zax, to perform their duties without her oversight. I would be able to more accurately ascertain their level of competence without her influence.

The other reason, a more practical one, was that the brothers would be taking over the duties related to the dungeon underneath my tower while I was gone. I strongly felt that placing the young lady with delusions of authority in a position where mushroom people worshipped her would lead to disaster. Though, it would make for an interesting experiment on the human psyche.

Mena, on the other hand, was the only guard interested in coming. Tond enjoyed his time with Chelsea, Eni with his beasts, and Meathead… he was just not the best suited for a formal occasion. After bidding goodbye to the others, the three of us departed at a walk out the gates of my tower in the early morning.

It was late spring, and the gnarled trees and other plant life of the bog were well in bloom. The pathway had been reinforced over the two years that Kine and Walker had lived here. It rested several feet above the bog covered in stones molded to look like giant cobblestones. Every quarter mile or so, we passed under grand wide arches of shining quartz crystal, the otherwise useless stone turned into a structure I approved of.

Kine had claimed that the archways helped to defend against aerial beasts while on patrol, but I knew well enough that he and Walker had their own competition. Still, the spring rains had washed them clean and the way the sun sparkled through smoky crystal made the walk much more pleasant.

As a group we made it to the forested section of path by midafternoon, though conversation had been notably absent. Mena was walking ahead to deal with any monsters that might attack, though I hadn’t seen a single one. Leslie walked to my right, still in her Arcanum uniform.  Other than infrequent nervous glances in my direction, she seemed satisfied to walk in silence.

As the pathway approached the forest, Mena seemed to relax her guard. I suppose that meant the forest path was clear of potential threats. I hadn’t been this way in nearly two years, so she would likely know better than I.

I was impressed with the way the foliage had grown together into a tight wall of wood and leaves. The branches of the trees to either side wove together overhead casting us into a near complete darkness. Only occasional openings that allowed beams of sunlight down showed that we hadn’t entered some type of cavern.

Leslie lifted her hand and cast an illumination spell, but Mena waved at her, “No, no, can we please not do that? If there’s light, we’ll miss them. I think it’s beautiful.”

Leslie looked to me for confirmation, but I wasn’t certain what Mena was speaking about either. I wasn’t about to tell her that, though, so I gave her a knowing smile. That seemed to be enough of an answer, and she dropped her spell.

As we walked through the forest, small green lights started to glow in the dark places between stray sunbeams. They hovered and danced around in a delightfully mysterious way, like so many fireflies . I recognized the nature wisps immediately, and began to suspect that perhaps my elemental hadn’t been entirely truthful with how many of her ‘children’ she sought to help.

That didn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the ambiance. I enjoyed it greatly, and the look of wonder on Leslie and Mena’s faces didn’t detract from the experience at all. While we were walking, I decided to strike up a conversation, “Leslie, tell me more about yourself.”

She looked surprised I asked, but began speaking nonetheless. First, she began with her studies at the Arcanum, detailing how well she did and how she learned the spells much quicker than others. I would have been proud to have such a dedicated student, if I were her teacher. It was towards the end of her monologue when Mena cut in with a bout of laughter.

“What are you laughing at?” Leslie demanded.

“It’s-it’s so funny is all,” Mena got out between chuckles.

“And what’s that?” Leslie was clearly not happy with the guard.

“That you think any of your fancy education is important. All that time and effort you spent—it only qualified you to do boss’s chores,” Mena’s vicious words were spoken with a sweet smile.

“Mena,” I said as I watched Leslie’s face purple in anger.

“Yeah boss?” Mena asked.

“That’s enough of that,” I said in a tone that would brook no argument.

Mena sighed melodramatically, “Sure thing boss.”

In the meanwhile, Leslie had deflated and was staring off into the branches overhead as we walked.

“Leslie, please continue,”

“Yes, master,” she answered a touch despondently, “I suppose that I, um, I am an expert in the study of magic. I’ve learned all the spells available at the academy and am up to date with all the current theorems. Not like my colleagues. Those boys only care about their experiment.”

“Oh?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she continued, though she hadn’t looked my way yet, “Some nonsense about reducing the familiar contract spell to animal friend or something. They want anyone to be able to magically bond to an animal. Can you imagine that? Even if they get it right, they’d be spending all their time casting the spell for only coppers for every peasant—”

Leslie continued to express her complaints about the subject, but I had already tuned her out. Lowering the tier of a familiar contract to bond others to animals? That would be similar to the animal companion ability that [Ranger] and [Druid] classes obtain. It was a worthwhile course of study and experimentation in my mind.

“—and that Walker picked them out just because of this makes it even worse! There were at least twelve better graduates that begged, just begged, for a chance to work for you. He didn’t even give them but the briefest of glances! I don’t—”

Walker chose them specifically out of a group? He hadn’t sent a message back with them to explain that. That actually boded very well for the brothers’ future as assistants at my tower. I would need to discuss their experiment with them to see how feasible it is. Documenting the process would be their responsibility of course, but it made sense if they were already doing my recording keeping as well.

“Master?”

“Hmm?” I came away from my thoughts to glance at Leslie.

“Thank you for listening. I’m sorry my mouth ran away for so long. I fear I got carried away. It won’t happen again,” Leslie said with an apologetic face.

“Certainly, child. You have much to learn, and what kind of teacher would I be if I held this against you? Just be more cautious in the future,” I answered charitably. I hadn’t been listening to her complaints, so why would I be troubled that she complained in the first place?

By the time we made it to the village of Woodhoot, it was dusk had fallen. Woodhoot had changed significantly since when I first traveled through. When I last came through, the village was little more than a handful of houses and an inn that functioned as a general store. Both were of poor make and general disrepair.

Now, stone walls surrounded more than twenty different buildings, and three paved roads converged on a newly built two-story inn. There was even a sign for Lark that pointed south, a sign for Iron Yard that pointed northwest, and a sign for Owl’s Fall and Fort Lark that pointed to the west. I wasn’t even aware that the barony had its own fort, but suspected it wasn’t much of one.

A scout tower stood in the center of the village, across from the inn. It was a wooden structure barely taller than the nearby trees and occupied with two archers. They paid no attention to us, seemingly intent on signs of monster attack. A copper bell hung beneath the tower, ready to toll on such an occasion.

The homes, the newer ones, all were built on stone foundations. The new inn was a beautiful building with the first floor constructed from granite blocks and the second floor with thick timbers. The door was a solid-looking wood with iron banding. There was even a stone chimney on the right side of it, evidence of more improvement.

Inside the inn, Miles waved us a friendly greeting. The chubby man was in his late fifties and his laugh lines and jowls now cracked with full-blown wrinkles. He still had his head full of brown hair, though parts were greying. With the hawkish nose and brown eyes, there was no disputing his was born and raised here in Woodhoot. He wore a clean leather apron over a faded yellow shirt and a matching leather cap that he’d tucked halfway into his trousers.

The inn itself had improved, the first floor now sported flattened stone and a warm fireplace. He’d kept the long benches and tables but added a few finer ones on a fur rug closer to the fireplace. Gone was the random bits and pieces of the general goods store that previously crowded his inn, and in place was a single long wooden counter and several casks of drink. A doorway behind him let to the kitchens, and at the far end of the room an unstained wooden staircase led upstairs.

“Milord Fergus! Always a pleasure! Welcome ta the Walker’s Rest,” He said with a great smile.

The room was mostly empty, with only a few traders seated around the fireplace supping on stew and mead.

I returned the smile, “Good evening to you, do you have room for three this evening?”

He gave me an awkward look before asking in a hushed voice, “Will that be one room for three or three rooms for one?”

I rolled my eyes at the man, “The latter, of course.” As if I would be interested in these children.

“Certainly, milord, we’ll have ‘em ready right quick.  Please have a seat and we’ll have some food right out while ya wait,” he said with a big smile, and ducked through the doorway to the kitchens.

The three of us sat at the table, sliding our traveling packs under the bench and waited. It wasn’t a few minutes later that a waitress came with three big tankards of honeyed apple cider and a large, steaming platter of sliced turkey. It looked almost as appetizing as what Chelsea cooked, which was a compliment. The cider paired well with the meat, almost as if they were meant for each other.

It was almost halfway through our meal when Miles approached again. He held his leather cap in his hand, twisting it nervously, “Pardon fer interruptin’, milord, but there be some folks outside looking to have a word with ya.”

I had a thick slice of turkey handing from my wooden fork that I was about to bite when he said it, “Is it important?” I asked, and then took the bite.

He nodded twice, and twisted his cap, “I reckon they think it is.”

I finished chewing and dabbed my mouth clean with a handkerchief, before I stood, “Ladies, wait here for a moment, if you would.”

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 5

It had been a week since Kine’s departure. Two weeks past when my new assistants arrived, and I was sitting on the top of my tower, enjoying a glass of pear brandy. The new height had done wonders to the view during the day, and I could see all the way to Lark from where I sat. Of course, I sat facing the other direction so it wouldn’t disturb my view, but that didn’t change the fact that I could.

I already missed Kine’s presence. I’d sent him off with a geomancers staff, a hollow metal one stuffed with emeralds that bound first-tier earth elementals to it, and topped a larger emerald with a bound second-tier elemental. Should he be forced into combat, it would give him the ability to call on hundreds of creatures.

I also explained to him the other enchantments. Over a hundred different complex enchantments were placed on it.  He would need to dispel one each day or it would summon an elemental to attack him that night. A tier one earth elemental shouldn’t be anything but an annoyance to him at this point, so I didn’t fear for his safety. I feared that he might have sold the staff if I hadn’t done so, rather than keeping it for himself. It was certainly worth quite a bit of money, if not for the risk of being attacked.

He had done an excellent job in creating the new floor. The entire floor was now my room, with its own private bath and study. He’d even moved the correspondence bookcase from the study into my new room. That he left my bed covered in stone dust was only a further sign that he was ready to begin exchanging wizard tricks. I smiled and considered how much I looked forward to the missives he would send when he finally unraveled that last enchantment on his staff.

Kine had graciously stayed a week after the new assistants arrived to show them some of their duties. I’d already shown them most of the remainder, though having three assistants meant the rotation of duties would be changing. They seemed to take well to them, but I was still learning about my new assistants.

Leslie seemed to see herself as an authority figure over the other two, directing them with an arrogant demeanor as they went about their duties. I would need to address that in the near future.  Jax and Philipe were actual brothers, though Jax was more analytical and Philipe more confident.

The consideration of those duties, though, wasn’t what brought me to my rooftop today. No, it was the lilies in my moat I was thinking about.

Over the past few weeks, the lilies that were nurtured by nature elementals had grown to tremendous proportions. The flowers were larger than my entire body. They went very well with the golden-scaled eels that had been delivered. I was still awaiting the perch, but after two years, I didn’t hold much hope in the matter. Still, the size of the lilies was only a symptom of my concern.

My concern was the evolution of the nymphs or fairies that inhabited the flowers. Those beings had grown to human-sized, and now resembled incredibly handsome men or unbelievably beautiful women made entirely of green leaves and yellow pollen. They had pointed ears like elves, but that only made their appearance more attractive. The creatures lounged about in the flowers as if there was no work they could be performing, which was most intolerable.

It was disconcerting the way they tried to beckon the residents, and I’d had to keep Meathead from diving in to play more than once. I only had suspicions of what would happen should they actually ensnare someone, but none of those suspicions were good. On the other hand, my tower crystal counted the creatures as part of its defense, listing them under ‘Converted’ as something the elves had called ‘Aldraune’.

Ideally, I would have them all sealed with amber and under my direct control. That they were somewhere in between threat and defense was the only thing that kept me from burning them all away at the moment. I’d been sending my assistants and guards out in groups of two or more to ensure that nothing untoward happened while I decided on the issue.

It was as I was sitting and worrying over how dreadful the sound of plant peoples’ screams would be to the other residents that I heard the sound of a horse galloping. It was faint from this far up in the tower, but with a turn of my head, I could see a messenger racing down the path towards my tower. I finished my drink with a gulp and stood to see what message could be of such great import.

And, hopefully, catch the messenger before they became unintended food for a flower.

The messenger was a thin woman in sweat-soaked clothes. She sat atop her brown horse as they both took in heavy breaths. As Meathead opened the gate, and Eni whispered to her horse, she jumped down to kneel before me. A sealed scroll case with a dangling golden thread was offered up on her two hands.  After a cursory glance to ensure there were no enchantments, I snatched the scroll from her theatrical hands.

I popped the side open, and the rolled parchment slipped out.

My esteemed Alderman, Great Wizard Nemon Marcus, Hero of Two Wars,

I apologize for the late notice, but I have sent this missive to you on my swiftest messenger. There are two urgent items I feel I must urgently share with you.

The Kingdom of Sena has formally presented a Declaration of War against the heinous Mirktal Monarchy. According to the declaration they have thrice attacked Senan lands without provocation. Each time, they took good citizens as slaves. Even now droves of chained soldiers march south upon Laxtoni lands with impunity.

Tis my duty to share with you this new, even though you and your people will not face the same conscriptions as others. While you have no requirements to muster for service yourself, and your guards a beholden to you in a way that makes them ineligible for conscription, I implore you to find a way to support our Kingdom in the coming battles. The honors and valor you would earn for taking part will not be small.

In more glorious news, I wish to notify you of my upcoming wedding. I will be marrying the most handsome of men on the most auspicious of days, the summer equinox. In twelve days, there will be a ceremony in the center of the Town of Lark, and a feast to follow.

I cordially invite you to attend in a place of high honor, to be seated at my table during the feast. This will be the grandest celebration in our barony this decade.  I would be delighted for you to join us and witness my Matrimony.

Cordially,

Baroness Lady Olivine Lark

When I had finished reading, I looked back to the messenger who seemed willing to stand there for as long as it took to obtain my reply. It was petty, of course, that she provided me with such short notice. No doubt it was her way of expressing displeasure from our last encounter. I small slight towards me, to be certain, but still a slight. I had hoped she had enough of such things after how disappointed she looked after our last meeting, but it seems that was not the case.

Still, even petty slights against a wizard do not go unanswered. With a large smile on my face, I nodded to the messenger, “You may tell the Baroness that I shall attend.”

The woman nodded her head and left very promptly afterward, not even sparing a moment for farewell. As I watched her ride away, I considered that she hadn’t spoken a single word the entire time. While it was an unusual occurrence, it was one that I appreciated.

When I returned inside the gate, my gaze swept over the numerous naked bodies of the plant people. More than twenty in total, all with seductive smiles and beckoning arms. I considered the matter a little further, as I took in the sight. I had enough wards and magical protections, that there was little they could do to harm me, even if they filled the air with poison. Perhaps a test was called for.

With that decision made, I took a step up onto the hip-high wall of the bridge and used my [Air Manipulation] to hover my way over to the closest lady flower. Her smile grew uncannily large as I did, and her body gyrated with excitement. It called to my elven half in a way that I hadn’t experienced, and I felt my heart start to beat faster.

I was only a handspan away when I stopped. I tilted my head and waited. I didn’t trust nature elementals for a reason.   Should it actually attack, though, my defensive spellworks would leave nothing but ash.

As I watched, the lady’s smile grew ever larger, and then she presented a monstrous grin of sharp teeth. The mouth opened revealing no tongue at all but more rows of teeth inside. Her head lurched forward to bite me, but a sharp mental cry echoed across the moat like the toll of a great bell.

Stop!

The ivy along the tower rustled loudly and the nature elemental I had summoned stepped out from it, revealing a voluptuous green woman. Darker green hair and pink eyes with no pupil or iris.  That her body was made from the thinnest green vines did nothing to detract from her form.

Child, you would be the death of us. Be happy with your bees and your flies.

The one that had been about to attack shrunk back with a look of confusion and fear. The others around me no longer beckoned but hid inside their flowers, the petals closing up around them. This seemed to be the appropriate time to have a conversation with the elemental in the vine.

She had not only revealed she had a form, but that she controlled the others. No doubt, this too was a plan to attempt to entrap me. She could have warned off the other elementals at any time, but stayed her voice until the last moment. It did make me curious, however.

I floated my way away from the giant lily and to the vine woman. When I landed on the stone path near her, she spoke again.  Her thoughts brushed ever so softly across my mind, like a gently whispered word.

If you seek pleasure in company, you need but beckon.

Her smile was coy, and her body shook as if laughing. The tiny leaves that made her hair mimicked the sound of a lady’s giggle. My heart was still thumping in my chest, even faster than before. Yet, it had been a very long time since allowed my passions to dictate my behavior.

“You did not tell me your… children… would grow into such,” I answered without answering.

The children will learn. They shall serve in any way you desire. Your lilies will bloom.

I nodded. Of course, they would serve. I’d kill them all if they didn’t. “Then teach them, and teach them soon. I will not have any within my tower fall victim to the whims of a flower.”

As I spoke those words, I immediately felt them hypocritical. That didn’t mean I meant them any less.

Your will shall be done. How else may I please?

“Clothes. We have human children here, and they should not see such nudity.  I will not have my tower appear as a… a brothel. Additionally,” I brushed my hand through my beard as I thought of what tasks I could assign forty hands to that could be done from one spot. The water limited my options, or I’d have them copying tomes.

I must have stood there thinking for several long moments, because I felt the sun’s heat warm my back through my robe, “Additionally, they should not be idle. If you cannot find something productive for them to do, be it learning music or twisting rope, I will. And neither you nor they will be enamored with the task I give them.”

She gave me a low bow as she accepted the order, twisting her legs so that her leafy hair slid to the side and provocatively displayed her bare back.  It was moments like these that caused me to regret the decades of self-imposed abstinence. I was not entirely immune to such temptation, but I was not fool enough to risk myself, either. Rather, I was most tempted to send her back whence she came.

That's the last chapter for the week!  Will return Monday.  I will be trying to keep up a 5/week posting rate for now, and will let you know if that changes!

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 4

Two months had passed since Walker and Lilly’s departure. My new assistants were due any day now, but I could see Kine growing more and more prepared for his own journey. While Walker had grown more interested in testing himself through combat over his two years with me, Kine had grown in a different way. He had maintained his focus on the practical application of his magics, and held no interest in the experimentation and studies he had been tasked with. Instead of desiring to test himself against monsters, he saw his recent third-tier ascension into [Geomancer] as a way to raise his social status through wealth.

When Kine first joined us, he had been a lean man in his late twenties, with long eyebrows and short brown hair. Now, without the rigors of an adventuring life, he’d filled out to a healthy weight. His stature, though, was countered by his hair having grown long and thin. It gave him the impression that he was older than he was, having only turned thirty earlier this year.

I was inside the new room for my tower crystal when he approached the doorway. I hid original room beneath the fireplace in the basement, but, as the number of underground floors grew, I had grown weary of having to move it down each time. Now it held a floor of its own, though it still remained surrounded by thick stone walls heavily enchanted for protection.

I paused in the creation of another stone beam, one that crossed in haphazard fashion above the crystal. In my mind, I had envisioned the spider egg hatching and the spider hiding among the beams overhead to drop on any unwary thieves. That the stupid egg hadn’t hatched yet was only a minor setback in this vision.

In truth, this was simply busy work to keep my hands preoccupied as I continued digested how I felt about the Kingdom at war. Two seasons ago, I had my last sip of Asrid Flower tea, and had overcome the addiction to it. Or so I hoped. I still felt somewhat unbalanced at times without its calming influence, but time had granted me a measure of relief from the emotions that I had taken it to seek refuge from.

What I felt about the war was disappointment and irritation. Also, I felt a forlorn desire to join it that I pushed into a barrel to go to the corner of my mind. I wanted to defend those around me, and protect the kingdom I lived in, but I couldn’t be sure if that was in truth my opinion or vestiges of the loyalty the flower caused. I’d developed a spell to isolate and contain the magical effects of the plant within my body, condensing it into the shape of a squirming worm. I felt it thrash inside me even now in attempt to escape. Without that certainty, I’d chosen to do nothing and I feared I would regret it.

That said, I clapped my hands after completing the beam I was working on.  The eighty-second beam could wait as I saw to whatever Kine was interrupting me about.

He spoke as soon as he had my attention, his voice bouncing across the room and through the rafters in an interesting fashion, “Pardon the intrusion, master, but your new assistants have arrived.”

I had been listening to how his voice reverberated among the beams, but I put that thought away to test later, “They’ve arrived? How fortuitous! I know that your feet urge you onward, and I shall not keep you here much longer. Let us go see about these children, shall we?”

I placed my hand on his shoulder after I spoke, but Kine just tilted his head, “Master, there’s something you should know first. There are three of them.”

“Three? Excellent. I will be able to expand some of my experiments now.”

“No, I meant there are three of them, but there are only two rooms. Unless you intend for me to leave today?”

I waved away the concern, “No need to worry. I shall make this your final test. To create an additional floor and move my room into it. It should be a pithy task for a [Geomancer] of your capabilities.”

I patted his shoulder and left to go up the stairs, allowing myself a small smile at how the man sighed to himself before he followed me. It was a pity he was leaving so soon after how well we had gotten to know each other.

On the first floor, two young men and a woman stood near my table staring in awe at the artistic geometric etchings I’d left on the ceiling of the room. The light from the fireplace and windows reflected against the amethyst and copper in a way that sprinkled dots of purple and gold light all around. I’d considered adding a small mesmerizing enchantment to the work, but the Rolf’s presence in the tower dissuaded me from that course of action.

I waited for a few minutes, to see if they would notice my presence and greet me, but the three seemed preoccupied in their conversation.

“I don’t think it means anything. There’s no runes or enchantments I recognize,” The woman was saying. I vaguely recognized her from the Arcanum as the student I’d met when I hired Walker. She looked the same as she did then, with short, curly black hair and blue eyes. Her black student’s robe now displayed hints of her womanhood along with the embroidered symbols dominated which fields she was proficient in. It had been some time since I paid attention to such things, but the sheer number indicated that she graduated well in advance of others.

“I’m not so certain. If you look there, it looks like the rune for stillness is overlapping the one for sunlight,” One of the men said and pointed towards a corner of the ceiling. The two pale men, each with heads of thick red hair, freckles, and green eyes, looked to be brothers. The one who spoke, however, was much taller than the other.

“I almost see it,” the shorter brother answered as he tilted his head and squinted his eyes.

I approached them from behind, though they didn’t notice until I was within arm’s length of the three. I looked up at the ceiling with them, noting that the design I made could be altered into a set of runic enchantments if I nudged a line here or there. The enchantment would cause something along the lines of ‘stilled, cold light shielding from quickened fire’. Not necessarily anything I could see of immediate use, and it would entirely ruin the pattern.

I relegated the thought for later, though, as I interrupted their conversation, “I quite enjoy the ambiance it sets.”

I watched as the three nodded their heads before realization that it wasn’t one of their voices set their faces in surprise and shock. It was unfortunate that they caught on so swiftly, as I imagined a longer conversation before our introductions took place.

Kine smirked and tactfully coughed into his hand, “Master, I would like to present to you Leslie, Zax, and Philipe, all hailing from the Arcanum of Elementalus and graduating with honors.”

The three were quick to provide me with a formal bow, lower than was necessary, but polite all the same. I marked in my mind that the tall brother was Philipe, hoping I would remember it later. I should write it down after our introductions are over.

I nodded back, “Good afternoon. I trust your travels went well?”

“We did, Master,” Leslie said, speaking for the three. I glanced at the other two, who nodded in agreement.

“Master,” Kine interrupted, “You may be interested to know that they mentioned travelling all the way to Lark with a group of twenty other graduates headed for employment under Baron Froom.”

“Oh?” I asked, and glanced at the three.

Leslie bowed again, “We made certain that they were aware that we held the higher status coming to your employ instead of his, master.”

“Over and over, she did,” Zax mumbled under his breath.

If I didn’t have such excellent hearing, I might not have caught it. Still, as I imagined the irritated and annoying new assistants arriving at Alred’s tower with their lips moving in complaints of condescending attitudes, I couldn’t help but smile.  Sometimes, things worked out perfectly without me having to say a word.

Chelsea entered the room at that moment, a platter of food held high over her head. The large plate contained small mountains of fresh bread, baked meats, and an assortment of cheeses, “Why hello there! Don’t mind me. I’ll set this right over here, and return shortly with the drinks. Milord, will you be having wine with your meal?”

I glanced at the woman, who’s face was the epitome of innocence, and considered the many different ways I could respond to her intrusion. Why couldn’t she wait until I finished with the introduction before involving herself? She was purposely doing it, no doubt thinking of how I enjoyed periodically frightening the young adventurers who stopped by occasionally. Fortunately for her, none of my more creative ideas for retalliation would leave a good impression on my new assistants.

Instead, I answered with a contained smile, “I’ll take the strawberry wine. I’ve grown fond of it this year.”

“Right away, milord,” she answered and scurried away. Scurried like a rat. It was actually her normal walk, but I couldn’t help but to imagine it differently at the moment. I turned back to the three new arrivals, “Well, have a seat and enjoy the meal. There will be no work for you today to allow you to become accustomed to your new quarters for the next few years.”

I turned toward my current assistant, “Kine, if you would, after their meal would be an excellent time for your final test. A demonstration to them, and a tour of the tower will you both good.”

Despite his expression, I followed my words with a pleasant smile, and then bid farewell to the group. I had experiments downstairs in my laboratory I needed to keep working on. I didn’t know how much time the Pestilence would give us, but stopping was not an option.

I couldn’t help but overhear Kine’s next words as I departed.

His voice was low and tense, like the beginning of a ghost tale.  The words foreboding and malicious in tone as he spoke, “I tell you now, you don’t know what you’re in for. I used to have a full head of hair before…”

Ah, those words filled me with such great pride! He knew exactly how to properly set expectations.

Friday will be the last chapter of this week, and Nemon will return on Monday!

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 3

Honest Brom was anything but honest. He was a man of smaller stature, though he had gained some weight in the past two years. His brown eyes, bowl-cut black hair, and a clean-shaven face did nothing for the naturally mischievous countenance. I imagined others viewed his arrival like a roll of the dice and wondered if they would lose or win big.

His guard, on the other hand, stood nearly six feet tall and had the same brutish body type as Meathead. They were almost matched to each other, except that the guard’s nose was a huge bulbous thing. I couldn’t see his hair under the leather cap he wore, but his chin bore a thick beard of grey and black hair.

Both Honest Brom and his guard stood in the shade of his garish wagon, away from the afternoon sun. The was itself was large, almost as big as the wagons used to deliver my stone. Though it made up for its smaller width and length in height. The thing, painted a bright yellow, stood about two and half times as tall as I did, and rolled on huge spoked wheels. Windows cut into the side of the wagon in simple square shapes were opened. I could see a variety of goods displayed within, from bolts of cloth to jars of spices.

As Eni an I approached the wagon, Honest Brom’s face lit up with a huge fake smile. My eyes darted towards the door of my tower, hoping for Mena and Chelsea to arrive so that I wouldn’t stuck listening to the man. Unfortunately, they weren’t quick enough. Honest Brom had become a bit of a regular visit, stopping by every two months or so to share the latest gossip and sell sundries.

“Great lord wizard, I bring terrible tidings!” He called once we were within talking distance.

With resignation, I nodded in response to the worst greeting I could have ever imagined and bid Eni farewell. Not that my guard noticed as he directed his wolved into the kennel. The beasts didn’t even stop to sniff at the new arrivals, showing that they were very well trained.

“Aye, the worst of tidings. We are at war,” The man donned a solemn expression for just a moment.

I tilted my head back and closed my eyes as I took in a deep breath. My letter had reached Count Shielding two years ago, the letter that bid warning of the threat of Pestilence. When the threat of war between Kingdoms of Sena and Mirktal didn’t come to pass, I had hoped that meant that my warning was taken seriously. It seemed, rather, all I did was delay the inevitable.

After I breathed out, and returned my look to the man, he continued, “The slave armies of Mirktal have invaded Laxtoni, and General Niser rides to the kingdom’s defense. Messengers were sent out with warrants of conscription for each province. I ride ahead of the news.” The man’s head bobbed up and down as he spoke, like a bird pecking at a worm.

“Thank you for the message, merchant. I foresee you will be traveling far and fast to keep ahead of the messengers?” I asked it nicely, though I’m not sure I kept the hope of his departure from my eyes.

“Oh, ah, yes. Not day though. I’m headed back to Woodhoot in the morning and up to Iron Yard from there. The new road is quite the marvel,” he said, and I could tell he had more news he was eager to share.

I didn’t bother to contain my sigh this time, “What else?”

“Lady Lark makes preparations for a wedding. Songmaster Tek does not appear pleased with the matter,” He shared with the expression that this information was monumental. Maybe it would be to someone else. I simply waited for him to continue.

“Baron Froom continues to hire mages from Sena City. They say he’s working on a secret army,” his eyes lit up so brightly as he spoke, I would have assumed the sun was shining through his posterior if not for the clothes he wore. I waved him to continue.

“Baron Broole has offered to come out of retirement and assume the position of Marshall of the West,” His head went back to bobbing as he spoke. A very distracting habit.

“Baron Bushwah was killed in the night and his lands given to Count Lahal for stewardship until his daughters marry. Good riddance to the spy, I say!” Naturally, Honest Brom could not speak the words without the following forceful spit to support his opinion.

It was after that spit, we were both distracted by Mena’s yell, “Michael, this that you, you plump pheasant?! I thought you died of stupidity!”

Her call echoed across the bridge and through the gate, causing Honest Brom’s guard to stop his staring contest with Meathead to look.

“Mena! The heart of my foot and the heel of my heart! I hoped to never see you again!” The man cried, his expression completely at odds with his words.

Happily, she arrived and gave the man a great hug. Soon, they were off to the side of the gate discussing matters of little interest or import. I, though, used this opportunity to bid Honest Brom farewell. Or a tried to.

“Master Fargus,” Honest Brom said, this time his face entirely serious, “My mistress bids you a greeting and has a proposal for you, though not one that could be bore in writing.”

“Oh?” I asked, my interest close to being piqued.

His head bobbed again, “Yes, she’s found a tome, one written in a language no one speaks. She believes it hails from a past Age.  She has heard of your purchases of gems, and would offer to sell it to you for a sum.”

“Hmmm,” I stroked my beard. I was definitely interest, if it were real. Though I wasn’t so foolish to admit that to the merchant. After I pretended to consider the matter long enough to make the man nervous, I answered, “I would need to see the tome to determine it’s worth.”

“Of course, of course,” he said, though by his smile he seemed to think that the deal was already struck.

“Farewell,” I declared before he could get another word in.

I hadn’t even made it to the stairwell, when Mena caught up to me, “Hey boss!”

I stopped and turned with a raised eyebrow. The woman was normally full of confidence, but her current demeanor spoke of a request about to be made that made her nervous. I waited for a few breaths before asking, “Yes?”

“Boss, Michael, that guard out there, is a friend of mine. A good man and he’s good with a sword. He said that his contract is only for another week and he’s got no other work afterwards. I was wondering if you could hire him? He’s in a bit of a rough spot and…” Her voice trailed off and she just looked at me.

I couldn’t remember the last time the woman had asked me for anything. Though, considering she was a reformed bandit and had only escaped death through my mercy, I had hoped to keep it that way. I considered her question.

Honest Brom worked for Baroness Nix as part of some shady organization, likely a thieves’ guild. He also functioned to gather information for her. That the guard travelled with the man led me to a suspicion that Michael might also be a catspaw of the Baroness. Not that having a spy would bother me. My magical secrets were far and above what even my guards were capable of finding, even if they spent their entire lives searching for them.

The man could also be a killer for hire. While I told my guards not to concern me with the corpses of assassins, there was a day last fall they felt inspired to show me that fifty men had attacked all on one night. This might be a ruse to allow one of the killers into my tower. I doubted the man could get past my personal wards, or even Kine’s for that matter, but it might put Chelsea and her son at risk.

Or, I could be imagining shadows into monsters. While I might regret it later, I decided to give Mena her boon, “Very well.  But first he must meet with [Paladin] Adam in Lark and answer the same questions you did. He can return with a signed letter from the man. I will not have a dishonest man living with me under my roof.”

Mena didn’t seem all too pleased with my answer, but she smiled and thanked me all the same. I turned to head back upstairs, but stopped myself. I could smell the meal Chelsea was cooking, and it would be better to have dinner before I carried on.

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 2

The next day was filled with realizations. While my time tutoring Lilly had been less and less as she grew in her studies, the tasks that I had previously assigned Walker still needed completed. Kine graciously agreed to stay until the new assistants arrived and take on several of Walker’s previous duties, which did help.

I also stopped the patrols out into the bog. Those patrols took increasingly longer periods of time as the exploration went further and further out. To date, the patrols found little of value besides an enormous quantity of quartz crystals. Unless I counted the one fourth-tier Revenant that awoke from its burial mound when they walked to close. Still, that left several duties I needed to perform myself.

Which is why I found myself in the dungeon with a record-keeping tome realizing that, for some reason, the mushrooms had evolved into ankle-height humanoids. Pale white humanoid mushrooms that were, in fact, doing the gardening for my newest variant of the Asrid Flower.

I flipped through Lilly meticulous tracking of the growth ‘mushroom-man’ culture, and, with perfect hindsight, decided that I should have been more involved in the study of the dungeon creatures. I had been so devoted to my study of the Pestilence scales I obtained and my schemes for revenge that I had no knowledge of this tribe developing within my very tower.

Not that I feared the moving mushrooms would pose a threat even if they grew to a much larger size. They are the Asrid Flowers for sustenance, and I’d long changed the target of the loyalty-infusion away from the kingdom to myself. Even if the flower’s loyalty magics didn’t work, I doubted they could even get past the magical barriers I had in place. No, what unnerved me about it beyond my ignorance, was not their existence. Nor was it how they developed a society within less than two years. Nor was it the handspan-tall statues of Lilly and Walker they had constructed in the center of their village. Statues that were as realistic a replication of the siblings as what I could do with magic myself.

What unnerved me the most was that they had halted all work when I arrived to begin the immediate construction of another statue, one that was a replica of me. I held several reservations about the matter, not the least of which was the correct manner to communicate with a mushroom with limbs.

In that moment, I felt a multitude of emotions that each rivaled one another in a turmoil that I could only compare to a squirming pit of lampreys. The fact that it was not my illusion but my real features only increased the turmoil.

I felt shame that I hadn’t known about this earlier, even if neither Lilly nor Walker mentioned the matter. Within my own tower, how could I not have known? I was almost angry with myself for overlooking this development.

Fear of the heights these little people could reach, compared to my own. A village in two years? Would it be a city in five? A country in ten? It was a line of thinking I wasn’t prepared to go down for fear I would torch them all. And if I missed one single mushroom man, one who vowed revenge, what would that even look like?

Curiosity of what this could mean for the future of magic. How was their body made? Could I join them with the flowers somehow and feed them to the Pestilence? Could I teach one to speak and learn magic? What were their lifespans? How did they grow? How intelligent were they?

Disbelief was present as well. I’d seen some weird creatures in dungeons before, but nothing of this nature. Were they somehow meant to defend the dungeon core? How? Did they have defensive spores or would they throw pebbles?

Finally, the emotion that topped them all, was resolution. I firmly resolved to look into the matter in a few days when I wasn’t bewildered by the very concept. This resolution is what convinced me to proceed with the task at hand, to gather clippings from the flowers for further testing. I took several flower samples, more than I originally planned, but I was also studiously and meticulously pretending the mushroom creatures were not, in fact, bowing to a replica of myself in homage. Nevermind how they so perfectly captured my incredulous expression on such a small figurine.

I also noted that, since I hadn’t been in the dungeon in a year and a half, that the dungeon was preparing a second room. To the right of the entrance, a small cave about four feet tall led to another room about the size of a closet. While I wasn’t certain the intended purpose of the room was, I didn’t believe that this would be the final size.

In an effort to try and forget about mushroom religious behavior, I distracted myself by using my [Earth Manipulation] skill to raise the ceiling of the hallway and flatten the ground smooth. Then I expanded the room beyond to an equal size of the first by compressing the earth around it. I took whatever stones I found and moved them to the floor of the hallway creating a smooth and solid path between the two circular rooms.

When I was done, I ignored the mushroom men filing into the new room and gracefully departed to take the samples back up to my laboratory. As I arrived, I came to a decision. I decided I would research these mushroom people after I had finished my two higher priorities. Their physical and social growth wouldn’t matter if we were all devoured by the Pestilence.

That decision did not stop me from skimming through Lilly’s book to see what she had already documented. Some curiosities simply must be sated when they occur. I could only hope that my new assistants suffered more from natural curiosity than fear when they get assigned the task to monitor the dungeon below.

After reviewing her thorough work, which detailed everything from their limited social structure to what different food types looked like after digestion, I felt a great welling of pride in the girl. It was a pity I had to consider eliminating the species because of the inherent risk they posed, considering how much work she put into the matter. I doubted she would forget about them any time soon.

With that disgruntled consideration on my mind, and after a hearty meal of stew made from feast leftovers, I made my way out to the beast pits. The moat around my three-story-tall tower was beautiful this time of year. The walkway and walls were now covered in light blue marble. They were reminiscent of the stone buildings in Sena City, but better looking in every conceivable way.

The waters were clear, with arcs of first-tier water elementals that jumped about with the sounds of small bells each time they landed. The lilies were in a constant state of bloom, the orange and lavender petals brighter more beautiful than the book I chose them from described. Many had small nature elementals, tiny pixies or fairies of some kind, that lived in the center of the flower. These ones were larger, nearly the size of a body, and shone in the night. The pillars dotting the moat, lit with little mice-shaped fire elementals scurrying around on top gave it a warm inviting feel. Even the tier-two mist elementals with the little dots of nature wisps stuck to the edge during the day.

The bronze gate on the wall matched the door to my tower. Even the gate was beautiful. After I grew tired of having to order it polished, I tasked Kine and Walker to coat the bars with clear quartz crystal. At the time, I had called it a form of practice, but I think they suspected the truth.

Meathead, my only guard that remained at the second-tier, stood watch at that gate. The muscular man had suffered a head injury in a battle that left him addled, an unfortunate event to be sure. Despite that, or maybe because of that, his attitude was that of a happy child, an attitude I appreciated on most days.

“Hiya, boss!” Meathead took off his helmet to wave at me.

“Good morning,” I answered with a nod. I heard a door beside the gate open and close, and the [Beastmaster] Eni appeared soon after. Six wolves followed in his footsteps, though I could hear many more still in the kennel.

He looked at me, then the record-keeping tome in my hand, “To the pits, sir?”

“Yes,” I answered as Meathead opened the gates.

Eni gave a quick salute, and then turned to walk by my side, “They’re all eatin’ well, sir. No problems. Foods a little low, but I can go hunting if ya want,” Eni offered, more vocal in those few words than he had been towards me the entire past season.

I glanced at him, checking to determine if there was something wrong, but he didn’t seem to notice me as his eyes were on the pits. Maybe he only likes to talk about beasts and animals? If I had done this task more often, I would have known that about him.

As we arrived, I took in the sight of my experimental grounds. Pits dotted the boglands here for a square mile. My experiments had grown far beyond the original scope, and I would need to make some changes soon if I wanted to keep it within reason. Possibly hire more guards to feed them. Or maybe a [Rancher].

The closest pit held the snake experiment. Pits tall enough that one could only reach the top if three people stood on one another’s shoulders. Pits twice as long and three times the width as they were deep. When we originally caught the beasts, after a beast wave, I needed to wait until their breeding season to begin my experimentation. I had been unaware that this particular type of monsterized snake was the type to lay its eggs and move on. With nowhere to go, they began consuming their own eggs.

My original experiment with the beasts was to see what the impact of shedding was on my longevity spell. I wanted to know if the shedding would reduce the number of growths on the skin or not. That experiment turned out to be short-lived, however, when it was proven that it did not. Which was fine, really, as I didn’t want to invest time in developing a method for humans to molt.

I had been considering terminating the remainder of the snakes at that point, when Kine made a suggestion. To use the adults as feed and see about adapting the newborn snakes to feed only on lampreys. Lampreys disgusted me, with their slimy bodies and their circular mouths. My guards and assistants held them in no higher esteem after numerous patrols in the bog.

A couple of years ago, my fourth-tier water elemental had hunted down n enormous lamprey and brought it to the tower as a trophy. After it confirmed there were no more of that size, I had it bring smaller ones to feed the snakes, a task my elemental found enjoyable.

The very idea that I might have to one day gaze on another one of that size again was more than enough to cause me to agree with Kine’s proposed experiment. To see if we could breed a monsterized snake that ate only lampreys? That was a concept I regretted not thinking of myself.

I spent some time allowing Eni to count the number of snakes in the four pits to verify that none had perished before moving on. So far, the second generation of snakes fed on only lampreys had no survival issues. The first generation only a third survived long enough to breed. A few more years of this, and I would be prepared to release them into the wild.

The next stop was the boar pits. I had started with two pits but had to expand to four. Two pits contained the boars enchanted with the longevity spell to see if any would survive and not succumb to the growths that would turn them into abominations. I surveyed those to see if any were exhibiting signs of the growth, but none were. It had only been two years, and I didn’t expect to see results for at least a decade or more.

The third boar pit held a selection of boars being subjected to fire mana. While the originally captured beasts were Poison Boars, and not edible, I wanted to see if an elemental infusion would change that. I'd read an alchemist study that claimed ‘while the Flame Boar was not acceptable for the testing solutions, the beast tasted delicious’. Far be it from me to believe the words of an alchemist, and given that I had the materials on hand, I thought some verification was needed.

The fourth pit of boars was my breeding pit. This pit was larger than the other three, and I allowed the boars to freely breed and spawn. I did this because I made an agreement with the Kingdom’s Scout division. They would come by every so often to purchase the animals as animal companions. The offer was also available for any [Ranger] class holders at the local adventurers’ guild.

The last part of the testing fields took up most of the land. The experiment with infusing earth mana to induce a Stone Wolf or some other earth variant was a partial success. I was able to find the correct rate and time requirements of mana infusion to trigger the change. The downside was that the discovery that there was no method to slow or stop over-infusion. If there was, then it was something I wanted to find to potentially use to stop the growths caused by my longevity spell.

So, I combined the results of that test with my other one. I had many pits with only two wolves, male and female for breeding. Their pups were numbered and mated with pups from parents in other pits. My goal was to determine if I could breed wolves into a longer life. Already, one mating pair had failed, with the male wolf succumbing to an internal ailment.

Eni had begged me to allow him to keep the pups from that pair that I had planned to terminate and I acquiesced. I also obligated him for their feeding and care, as well as responsibility should they cause harm. He used those pups to start a kennel and train them for support on patrols. This was likely the reason he obtained his [Beastmaster] class, though I wasn’t entirely sure.

Still, the task at hand was incredibly mundane, and I felt I wasted the better part of the afternoon marking all the living wolves.

It was on our walk back from the experiment pits, that we saw Honest Brom, a seedy traveling merchant that worked as a rumor-monger for Baroness Nix, waiting for us by the gate. A new guard, this one silently brooding and sizing up a smiling Meathead stood by his side.

Wizard's Tower - Arc 2 - Chapter 1

My study had changed significantly in the past two years. With the laboratory moved to its own floor, I was able to expand the room to contain books and scrolls along all the walls without the need for a bookcase to stand out from them. These shelves weren’t entirely full, either, which gave my literature collection room to grow. The sitting chairs were now better positioned, and I acquired new finely-crafted oaken tables and desks from Lark.

Lark’s [Carpenters] had something of a breakthrough in levels after the handful of new quarries began their excavations. The quarries needed lifts and stronger wagons and a multitude of other wooden products. While Lark had always been one of the biggest producers of timber in the kingdom, the updated roadways and advanced carpenters meant it could now export everything from barrels to tables.

Such as the one my latest correspondence lay on. It was a rectangular table that came up to mid-thigh, with carved wooden forest animals in motion and a smooth marble slab inlaid into the center. Polished to a high shine and stained in a soft brown, it made for an excellent centerpiece for my study. The missive on it, however, did not.

That scroll, the latest of forty-seven, was yet another complaint from a jeweler, this one in a remote Laxtoni town. I made a mistake upon receiving the first such complaint. I responded with sympathy and included a note to allow for the withdrawal of five gold pieces against my accounts. Such hubris and charity, of course, could not go unpunished. Hence, the complaints kept arriving. I didn’t believe there were even forty-seven jewelers in the entire kingdom, but I’d never bothered to count them either.

Next to that scroll lay two others, with their responses already written. After my ascension to the fifth tier, word had spread across the magical community. I’d been inundated since with missives pleading for information on the [Wizard] Class. Those, of course, all held the same response. A general vague answer that only the ‘chosen one may be able to unravel the secret contained within this letter’ and a subtly hidden enchantment that caused diarrhea to any who read it.

A second, even more hidden, enchantment caused constipation and severe stomach cramps to whoever attempted to dispel the first. I pitied the person that tried to do both at once. Admittedly, that was a bit vulgar, even for me. But I will defend my decision to any who asks under the basis that their requests were vulgar as well.  I still remember when mages had the decency to try to find answers for themselves.

My response to those requests, though, was repetitive. I’d begun to enjoy my responses to the jewelers. In fact, I picked up the latest to read it through again.

To you who have arrogantly assumed,

That my hand is holding your purse,

I offer you this great boon,

In the form of a curse,

May your greed turn you green,

On your body’s greatest shame,

Whether that be seen or unseen,

For as long as your greed remains.

I followed that up by enchanting the scroll to turn the first reader’s rear green. Last time was their feet, and before that was their lips. I’d made three people bald. Oh, my spell would only last for a year. I wasn’t so angered that I would make it permanent as I did to whomever sent the second letter accusing me of gem hoarding.

Still, I quite enjoyed making poetry. I could see why the powerful wizards and witches in children’s tales always rhymed. It adds a unique flavor to my missives that allows me to enjoy responding to the mundane just that little bit more. Not that I am overly proud of my poems. I’m simply obtaining some mild enjoyment in writing them now, even if the actual message is disinteresting.

Satisfied with my response, I rolled and sealed the scroll into its case and gathered the other two responses to head downstairs. Today was an important day, as it was the day that Lilly and Walker departed to Sena City. I had two gifts prepared for them.

On the first floor, Chelsea had prepared a feast to celebrate their imminent departure. Wine and ale on one side of the table, and five different kinds of meats on the other. The center held baskets of bread and bowls of roasted vegetables. For some reason, a huge platter of fried eggs sat in the very center, but I wasn’t about to question my servant’s food placement on such an auspicious occasion.

The first floor hadn’t changed much.  The large circular room, with a bronze door outside, was crowded now. The stone table and uncomfortable stone benches still curled around the fireplace. Copper and amethyst geometric patterns on the room were still beautiful in my eyes. I had added three long thin windows opposite of the entryway, each filled with thin layers of amethyst that let in a purple-tinted light during the day.

Mena, Rolf, Meathead, and Eni were gathered around Lilly as she was hugging them with tear-filled goodbyes. Chelsea was hovering around the food, making sure that everyone got a plate of what they wanted. Tond and Kine were sitting with Walker discussing his decision to join the war effort. I was personally disappointed with it, but I didn’t let that show. Walker was a young man and felt he needed to prove himself despite all the monsters he’d helped clear from the bog. Or maybe because of them. Both he and Kine, as well as three of the guards, were now at the third-tier. Getting to the higher tiers was always a progressively more difficult journey.

I regretted that all their conversations stopped when I arrived. I’d have preferred to be able to join the celebration without great notice. I would have preferred to be welcomed as another guest. Unfortunately, when all the people here lived under my roof and either worked for or studied under me, that wasn’t meant to be.

I coughed into a hand, “Don’t stand on ceremony today. This farewell is for the two siblings. Let us all bid them goodbye together,” I said with a pleasant smile. Truthfully, I would miss them. Lilly had grown into a fine young woman, once she started acting her age. Walker had grown increasingly confident and competent throughout the last two years.

“Here, here!” Eni said, and lifted his cup. The others soon followed in the toast, except for Chelsea’s son Rolf who watched wide-eyed.

With that, the conversations began again, though more reserved. Lilly and Walker would be leaving within the hour, and parting was never easy. First, I was joined by Chelsea, who provided me with a goblet of fine strawberry wine and an empty plate to fill from the feast.

As my servant, I allowed her to dress outside the normal servant’s smock at her leisure, and today she was wearing a nicer peasant’s gown of faded yellow that displayed parts of her thicker body that I’d have preferred she kept hidden. Not that I deemed it important enough to tell her now. She seemed to be enjoying herself, with the large smile on her face displaying why she had so many laugh lines.

“Well, milord, I tell you that this is the biggest feast I’ve ever prepared, and I once cooked for Merchant Faunter’s wedding, which hosted thirty people!” She began her latest long diatribe of irrelevant folktales while dishing a roasted fish onto my plate. She’d been with me for two years now, and while her brown hair showed grey when it didn’t before, I’d grown accustomed to tolerating her unstoppable mouth. The enchanted copper bracelet I gave her for her first year of employment that dampened volume of her voice certainly helped matters.

“But I said to myself, who else is gonna cook a farewell dinner for these young ones if Ms. Chelsea ain’t? You don’t have magic for that, now, do ya?” She continued and turned to look at me, her blue eyes indicating she actually expected an answer.

“I certainly do not,” I said with a controlled smile, though my eyes tracked the spoonful of mashed potatoes she held not quite close enough to my plate to stop it from dripping onto the floor.

“Hmmph! Exactly. So, I told myself, now is the perfect time to prepare a feast to show them that they’ll be missed. Even if we spent more than the allotment for food we were given. I told myself that Lord Nemon wouldn’t mind,” the spoon finally deposited the potatoes on my plate, but she reached it back for another helping as she kept talking. “I knew it in my heart that you would want to see young Lilly and that fine, upstanding young Walker off with a proper meal. One to remember us by,” The second large scoop of potatoes landed on my plate. Now that was little room for much else.

She reached to scoop a third helping, “Young folks, they need to eat right so they can grow up healthy I say—”

“Miss Chelsea,” I interrupted her sternly, and she reacted as if I startled her. Maybe I had. “You have done a fine job with this meal, and the allotment for food will be updated. Thank you.”

There was an uncertain look between me and the scoop of potatoes she just realized she was holding, before she answered, “Yes, milord.”

With that, I set the plate down on the table, and moved around her to join the conversation between Tond, Kine, and Walker, “Good morning.”

The three young men all rose to give me small bows, “Master.” “Master.” “Boss.”

Walker had grown nearly half a foot in his time here. The height looked good on him, given his and Lilly’s coastal features. The sand-colored skin, blonde hair, and tan irises all went well with the blue mage's robe he wore. I personally would have chosen a yellow sash instead of green, but he had time to learn.

“Assistant Walker, if you would walk with me?” I asked and motioned with my head towards the staircase.

“Yes, master,” he said with a bow.

I chided him as we walked away, “None of that master business now. I was never your instructor at the Arcanum, and tomorrow you will no longer be my assistant. You don’t want the Army hearing you say that word or they’ll assume you to be a Mirktallian spy.”

“So, what should I call you from now on?” He asked. It was a fair question. Master was the title used at the arcanum for instructors. Sir or Milord would imply a subservient station, which was no longer true. But that didn’t mean the perfect answer didn’t come to mind.

With a smile, I answered him, “You may address me as Wizard Fargus for now. Hopefully, you will address me as friend in time.”

We had reached halfway up the staircase when I stopped. From inside my pocket, I withdrew a blank tome, though that didn’t mean it was empty. I’d filled each and every page with small enchantments that would inflict everything from toe-aches to turning his teeth to wolf fangs. A tome of wizard tricks, for him to disable or inflict on himself.

“This is a gift I prepared for you. An empty tome. I expect you to return to me with a chronicle of your time as a mage of the kingdom so that I may add it to my shelf,” I told him.

Walker, having grown more astute in his time here, understood the implication. He received the book with two hands and a deep bow, “Master, I promise to return. I’ll make you proud.”

I was already proud of him and Lilly both. He’d accomplished a lot both for me as an assistant and in his class, where both he and Kine had advanced to [Geomancer]. I wasn’t going to tell him that, though. I simply smiled at him at patted his shoulder. We walked back downstairs side by side, and I looked about the room again.

Tond, one of four ex-soldier [Bandits] that I’d fostered into [Guards] had originally been a tier two [Ranger].  Now he was an [Elemental Sniper], the first of his class. Where he had been sitting with Kine and Walker before, now he held Chelsea in a hug. Kine had moved on to speak with Eni, one of the other guards.

When I first met them, I couldn’t tell the difference be Eni and Tond, as they both held a smaller body type and a sneaky countenance. It was Eni’s broken nose that eventually made the difference, though after he had advanced to the third-tier class [Beastmaster], he had almost a feral look about him. A look which wasn’t helped in the slightest by how he smelled after spending his days in a wolf kennel or an owl roost.

Mena had taken a stool to the left and was sullenly drinking by herself. Walker made his way to the [Elemental Guardian]. After their initial dispute, she had continued to make herself a problem around him, much to my satisfaction. He needed the thorn to grow, and she was happy to provide that. The thorn, though, somehow turned into a smoldering occasional romance fraught with loud disagreements. Walker leaving seemed to have put a damper on those disagreements, though I half expected one to occur at any moment.

I pretended not to see them, as I made my way towards Lilly. Whatever words they had for each other should be theirs to keep. Walker’s younger sister, Lilly had grown as well. At sixteen, he’d adopted her from the same orphanage he came from and brought her with him. Now that she was eighteen and a first-tier [Apprentice], she needed to go her own way. So, they now journeyed to the Arcanum of Elementalus, an academy I helped found, to further her studies.

She had grown her blonde hair long in the time she was here, and frequent brushing had left it straighter and shinier than any I’d seen. That and her tanned skin and yellow eyes went well with the green dress she wore. I wasn’t sure she had worn it before, but I approved.

“There you are, Miss Lilly,” I said, cutting into her conversation with Meathead and Rolf. Both of whom were only humoring her at this point, their nervous eyes and posture giving away their desire to gallivant off to play. My interruption was more than enough reason for them, and they were gone before Lilly even fully turned around.

With a big honest smile, Lilly performed the perfect courtly curtsey.  I returned her smile with my own, “I trust that you found use of my gift?”

She lifted her chin in a mock impression of a courtly lady as she answered, “Da—master, I don’t know if I can truly find a use for a trunk that holds all twenty-three of my dresses. Couldn’t you have secured one that could hold fifty?” She asked, not even a hint of a smile giving away the joke.

I played along with a sagely nod of my head and a stroke of my beard, “I certainly could, but then you would have fifty dresses, would you not?”

“My!” She said with a mock gasp and then a giggle.

I gave her a half-smile. I was proud of how much she’d grown and that she was no longer acting childish, but to take it in this direction… She still had a lot still to learn. Hopefully, Sena City wouldn’t be too stern a teacher.

She gave up her impression, and gave me a teary hug, “I’ll miss you.”

“I shall miss you too, child. You will write,” I answered and patted her back.

“Of course, I will!” She claimed fiercely. I didn’t doubt her, but I also wasn’t certain it would hold true.  I also knew that it would be hypocritical of me to be upset if she didn’t.

When we parted, it looked as though all the others were headed out of the door towards the bridge. There, a wagon had been made ready.  The waggoneer and several nervous adventurers stood around it waiting. I tasked one of them with taking my three scrolls to the messenger’s station in Lark, and bid goodbye to the siblings.

As I watched the wagon depart, I could only bite back my bitter smile. Two years seemed like a blink of the eye to me, and it seemed to have meant so much to them. A harsh truth, if there ever was one.

I will be moving to a four posts/week timetable here and three posts/week on Royal Road.  I'm still uncertain what days will work best, but I was thinking of a M/W/F/Sat schedule for Arc 2.  Thanks for your understanding!

Not a chapter - status update

Hello!

I just wanted to touch base to let you all know that I'm still working on the next chapter and it should be out in 2-3 days, instead of the week I originally estimated.  

For those patrons who joined recently, I'll be working to ensure you stay 3 or more chapters ahead of any Royal Road postings once the 2nd arc begins.  Privileged content should also be made available in the future, like polls, special interludes, etc.  

As background - I've rewritten this chapter almost four times now.  Because its the beginning of the second arc, and potentially start of second book, I'm trying to find the perfect balance between keeping the story flowing and ways to catch up new readers that might potentially pick the second story up before the first.  

You might also see some things in the first few chapters of this arc that were covered in the last arc, and that seem a tiny bit redundant.  If so, that's why.  Such as added descriptions of things previously described, quick summaries of events, etc.  Those won't last long, though!  

Also, I'm considering possible names for the next arc.  So far, I have:

Wizard's Revenge

Wizard's War

and... that's about it so far.  I wanted to keep with the idea from the title Wizard's Tower, so if they seem a little bit direct, that's why.  As always, if you have any of your own ideas, feel free to sling them my way.

See ya soon!

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 44

As I considered the multiple ways of going about what I wanted, I decided on one thing first. That despite my anger at the kingdoms of men, I didn’t want to see humanity lost with the end of an Age. I was half-human, after all. So I began my work with a letter. One that I hesitated to write, if only for a moment.

To the honorable and respected Count Shielding,

I write to you to inform you of a matter of great import. I hold your family in high esteem and believe your line to be one of the cornerstones of this kingdom.

A colleague of mine has discovered what lay over the western mountains. You may recall in the annuls of our kingdom’s history a period where our armies did battle against a great beast called the Pestilence. A monstrosity of such danger that those records cannot fully contain its threat.

My colleague describes not one of those beasts but a number of such great multitude they could swallow these very lands.

As you are no doubt aware, the debt your family has belabored me with was never a debt in my consideration. That your line continued generation after generation to uphold your belief only speaks to the high honors you and you kin warrant. I could think of no more worthy family to hold a noble title.

I never conceived of a time where I would need to call upon your family’s believed debt. I wish that events allowed me to continue without doing so. Unfortunately, I ask to lean upon your honor to bestow upon you a grave task.

The king and queen need to be told of this danger forthwith with as much urgency and expediency as you can muster. Should you do so, then I will consider your family’s debt completely discharged. Should you do so, I believe that the entire kingdom will be indebted to you.

I understand the threat that war with Mirktal represents, perhaps better than any other. Regardless, I fear that any battles between our two countries will be as the squeaking of mice compared to the cat that lay over those mountains.

Cordially,

Nemon Fargus

I rolled the parchment and sealed it with wax in an ornate jade scroll case and then stared at the thing. What could the king do, truly? I didn’t know what ancient artifacts the crown held in their vaults. If they hand something they could use, why would they have allowed the Pestilence to rampage? I also didn’t know if the things could swim or not. Maybe he would order the construction of a fleet of ships for humanity to flee on?

With a scowl, I resigned myself to send the missive anyway. While I didn’t know what the crown could do, I would rather that the leaders of men know than be surprised. It would be something of a parting gift. I could send this and know that the obligations of any last vestiges of loyalty I held for the Kingdom of Sena were met. Oh, I wasn’t about to revolt anytime soon. But I wasn’t going to lend aid either.

I considered my next steps. I had several plans that I wanted to begin, but there was one thing I had delayed for a long time. Decades delayed. It was time I ascended to the fifth tier. I would have preferred to increase my [Enchanter] class one more tier before merging it, but I worried my time for preparation was at an end. For many of the plans I had in mind, I would need to be at a higher level of power.

With that in mind, I left the sealed scroll on the table, grabbed an empty tome, and descended my tower until I found Walker. I charged him with seeing to the tower resident’s needs and to ensure I was not to be disturbed, by even the king himself. With that out of the way, I made my way to the room that held the tower crystal. It was the most secure room in the tower, and I added another few layers of powerful defenses to it before I began.

With my legs crossed and the empty tome before me, I opened my Soul Scroll to my [Class].

Class: Elementalist, 4th Tier

Subclass: Enchanter, 2nd Tier

Details

Ascend

Merge Classes

I felt reluctant. I originally planned to get to the next tier in the enchanting class, but I had been putting this off for a while. The kingdom heavily monitored all fifth-tier class holders, and I didn’t want to be subject to that scrutiny. Regardless of my feelings, I still selected the Merge Classes option. I felt something inside me shift. The shift was something I had tried to research in the past, but found my magics blocked by a powerful divine barrier. I once planned on continuing to study it in the future before I became preoccupied with my longevity spellwork.

When the shift completed, I returned to my Soul Scroll.

Class: Elementalist, 4th Tier

Subclass: None

Details

Ascend

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. The ascension process could be painful. It could also be pleasant. It was a gamble for those who ascended, though common thought was that it depended on how ready one was. In my opinion, that was idiocy. Likely the ones who experienced pain were the same ones that chose class evolutions that didn’t fit who they were. They reached too high or too far, and the pain was the difference between where their capabilities were and what they wanted to be.

That didn’t mean I wouldn’t need to reach when I ascended, however. I fully expected that I would. And with that expectation, I knew that I might be subject to a crippling level of pain. So, after I breathed out and readied my mind, I chose to Ascend.

Class Options Available:

High Elementalist

Grand Elementalist

Grand Magus

High Elven Territorial Lord

High Elven Dungeon Keeper

Planar Lord

Wizard

I looked through the list, surprised at some of the options available. I expected the first three. In the [Mage] class, the first-tier was [Apprentice]. The second was [Mage]. If a [Mage] chose to specialize, the third tier was based on their specialty, such as [Geomancer]. If they didn’t, the third-tier class was [Magus]. This was followed by [High Magus] at the fourth-tier and [Grand Magus] at the fifth-tier. Many classes worked in that way, with the descriptor ‘High’ or ‘Grand’ used for the upper tier versions of the class.

What I didn’t expect was the last four options. The two High Elven classes seemed related to my most recent work with the tower and the dungeon beneath it. The last two classes I had never heard of. I jotted down each option in a separate page of the tome. While I might choose one, that didn’t mean I shouldn’t record the requirements of the others.

One by one, I went through the options, each detail recorded as I saw it.

High Elementalist

Requirements – Reached Level 100 of the 4th Tier Class Elementalist

Description – You have mastered the four primary elements, and used them to advance to greater heights. This class allows an Elementalist to obtain greater control and wield higher amounts of authority within these elements. Bonuses to wielding four primary elements.

Elemental High Magus

Requirements – Reached Level 100 of any 4th Tier Magic Class, Mastered at Elementalist Class

Description – You have mastered the basics of magic, and continued on the path of magical mastery in the elements to advance to greater heights. This class allows a Magus to obtain greater control and wield higher amounts of authority within all known magical specialties. Bonuses to wielding four primary elements, and casting spells.

Grand Magus

Requirements – Reached Level 100 of any 4th Tier Magic Class, Mastered at least two Mage Third-Tier Mage Classes

Description – You have mastered the basics of magic, and continued on the path of magical mastery in other specialties to advance to greater heights. This class allows a Magus to obtain greater control and wield higher amounts of authority within all known magical specialties. Bonuses to casting spells.

Grand Elementalist

Requirements – Reached Level 100 of the 4th Tier Class Elementalist, mastered Manipulation Skill of at least four additional elements

Description – You have mastered the four primary elements, and continued on the path of elemental mastery in other elements to advance to greater heights. This class allows an Elementalist to obtain greater control and wield higher amounts of authority within all known elements. Bonuses to wielding any element.

Dominion Territorial Lord

Requirements – Reached Level 100 in any 4th Tier Class, Noble Title, Control of Building or Territory Crystal, Elven Heritage

Description – By Right of Conquest, you have been granted the Authority of Command within the Elven Dominion. This class allows a Lord to obtain greater control and wield higher amounts of authority within all territorial areas. Bonuses to citizen production, attack, defense, training, or fertility.

Dominion Dungeon Keeper

Requirements – Reached Level 100 in any 4th Tier Class, Noble Title, Control of Dungeon Core, Elven Heritage

Description – By Right of Displacement, you have been charged the Obligation of Alteration within the Elven Dominion. This class allows a Dungeon Keeper to obtain control and alter a single dungeon core. Bonuses to control, domination, linkage, directed growth, and lifespan.

Planar Lord

Requirements – Reached Level 100 in any 4th Tier Class, Noble Title, Visited Another Plane, Contracted with Nobility within a Plane of equal or greater power.

Description – You have met and negotiated with Elemental Lord and are seen worthy to be elevated to greater status. This class grants a Planar Lord the Authority to create and maintain a [Tiny] Plane of Existence for so long as they live. Any created Planes are subject to Territorial Rules of Conquest. Bonuses to Planar Travel and Summoning; citizen attack, defense, and fertility.

Wizard

Requirements – Reached Level 100 in any 4th Tier Mage Class, Mastered at least 10 Third-Tier Mage Classes, Discovered new forms of magic.

Description – You have walked the corridors of magic, and peeked into the hidden secrets of the world. This class allows a Wizard to hold Rights of Authority within up to three magical fields. Bonuses to wielding magic, casting spells, comprehension, and alteration.

Just by their descriptions, I immediately knew which I would choose. I took a moment to consider the implications of the others, though. Mostly out of hesitation to face what might be overwhelming pain. I’d read about two different people that died from their Ascension, though I hadn’t seen or heard that occur in my lifetime.

Most of the options within the fifth-tier Elementalist and Magus fields were both expected and previously documented. The [Elemental High Magus] was something I hadn’t read about before. It didn’t appear to offer much more than a [Grant Magus] or [Grand Elementalist], but seemed superior to a [High Elementalist]. I reviewed the list again and confirmed that it seemed the classes were ordered by power level.

Which gave several implications about the High Elven dominion’s social structure. Was a [Territory Lord] less powerful than a [Dungeon Keeper]? Is that only within the Dominion? Is it based solely on personal strength? It didn’t seem so. Both mentioned Rights and either Authority or Obligation. Given how my tower crystal looked like the dungeon core, I could only imagine that the [Dungeon Keeper] class was responsible for turning a core into a territory or building crystal.

If that responsibility was greater than the responsibility a [Territory Lord] held over citizens, then it could mean… well a whole number of different things. I made an annotation to follow that line of thinking later, and to find if there were any remaining tomes or documents from the sixth age that would provide me more answers. I was most assuredly not choosing either class. I had no desire to antagonize the gods.

The [Planar Lord] option was something I had never seen. There were no records that ever indicated such a thing was possible. It also mentioned authority, but there was no reference to the Elven Dominion. I wondered who granted the authority here. Was it the gods themselves? The Planar Lords? I didn’t know. Even more unsettling was the reference to Territorial Rules of Conquest. What rules were those? Who established them? What happens if a rule is broken? The class’s very existence caused me to rethink much of what I thought I knew, and I was left with more questions than answers.

Yet despite my desire to expend myself researching the peculiarities of that class, the final option presented was the one that drew nearly all my attention. I had been calling myself a wizard for so long. I introduced myself as such. I referred to others of a certain station the same way. To me, I had used the term as a catch-all for those magic users of a specific disposition, and never even remotely considered the possibility that there was a class for it. But there was.

Even more, the class itself spoke to me on a personal level. Walked the corridors of magic. Peeked into the hidden secrets of the world. These were… me. That is what I do and have done. To not select this class would be to forever deny a part of myself that I couldn’t part with. Even now, my right hand shook from withheld desire. The fear of pain and possible death no longer even the faintest doubt in my mind.

I chose [Wizard].

I will be taking a break for about a week from this chapter to fully plot out the next arc.  I'm planning about a two-year time skip (which would be barely noticeable to Nemon).  Just wanted to let you all know ahead of time.  

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 43

Following his words, we did the one thing that most wizards would do when confronted with the possible end of civilization. We drank. We went through three bottles of brandy. By the end of the night, we had found ourselves on the roof and composed poetry. Poetry about the giant lamprey corpse sitting in the lake. When Alred fell asleep there, I took myself to my bed.

In the late morning when I awoke, I found that he had already departed. His warning left me with a number of concerns, but no direction in which to pursue them. I took breakfast in my study as I considered the matter.

If the other side of the mountains were overrun with Pestilence, then there was little I could do about it at the moment. The monster I fought wasn’t unstoppable, but it was nearly so. It took three armies and several fifth-tier combatants to put it down, and that was only a single creature.

Poison hadn’t worked. Nor earth magic or wind magic. Cannonballs bounced off its hard scales. Ice magic slowed it some, but not enough to kill it. Remove a head and two grew back. The only thing that stopped it was fire, and only when applied to an open wound.

I considered the means I had available. If I perfected the tea, I could turn some against the others. It wasn’t likely, though. That creature had eaten entire towns and fields leaving nothing but dirt and stone in its wake. The amount of tea I would need would be tremendous.

Mind magic was an option. The monsters weren’t too intelligent, as much as most beasts. However, I would need to redesign the [Charm] or [Dominate] spell so that it affected all heads at once. When the kingdom tried it against one of the heads of the Pestilence, it had amounted to little.

If I obtained several large size rubies and combined them to make a giant one, then I could theoretically summon a fire elemental lord. An elemental lord though would take all my mana to summon and all my willpower to control. If it could be controlled. Even then, I wasn’t sure how well one would match up against the monsters.

It might be better to encircle the kingdom with a barrier of dead land. If the Pestilence saw no meal nearby, perhaps it would seek it elsewhere. I could cast a—my thoughts grounds to a halt. Why was I thinking of defending the kingdom? Was that a symptom of the loyalty-inducing tea? No. I won't let that get the better of me. I had been thinking in the wrong direction.

Who else would have the capabilities to fight these creatures? How can I get them to do so? That’s what I need to plan out. I just wasn’t certain who that would be. If I were, then I should be able to design a weapon to put in someone else’s hands.

If I had kept a trophy from the creature, then I could be testing it for weaknesses. I could inquire about a scale or bone. Given the size of it, there must be some parts that remained. That would take time, though. Time we didn’t have. Or did we? How long have those things been on the other side of that mountain? What’s keeping them there? Answers I needed.

I glanced down at the breakfast I had brought with me and realized it had grown cold while I pondered. They aren’t attacking today, I decided. Today, I needed to do something about the Carcass of Foul Fumes polluting my lake.

My elemental perched atop the carcass of the lamprey coiled like a sleeping snake. I didn’t think that the lampreys could be more disgusting than they already were. Fate conspired to prove me wrong. The worm-like creature bore the wounds of the battle all across its body. Bile and organs spilled out in piles. Flies and other insects buzzed around it in thick clouds. The smell only grew stronger as I approached.

My stomach, weakened by the night of drink, grew more and more unsettled with each step. I was only half the distance to the thing when I needed to stop and heave. I cast wind magic to keep a breeze coming from the other direction, but that only lessened the odor.

When I arrived at the foot of the beast, I took into account its true size. The creature lay on its side, its body lumpy and deflated. Even with that, it was nearly twice as wide as I stood tall. My water elemental peeked its head over the side to look down at me.

It projected its thoughts to me in a sequence of images and emotions. A thrill as it hunted. A hesitation when it encountered this beast. The ferocity in which they battled. The heavy wounds it took. Victory. Pride. The arduous journey it took to drag back its trophy. The confidence it held as it took its place on top. Then dismay and concern as it waited for me to see its accomplishments. Fear it had done something wrong.

When it finished, it just waited. I took it all in and received its story and emotions while I battled not to vomit again. After I composed myself, I projected my thoughts back to it. Happiness in its victory and return. Gratitude that did as I asked. I stopped there as my elemental started to preen. It undulated in a wavy dance, projecting a sheer childish joy.

When it stopped a few minutes later, it turned back to me and I projected another thought to it. The odor of the corpse.

With alarming speed, I watched as my elemental jumped from the corpse and swam away. It stopped near my tower wall and waited. Using [Fire Manipulation] I burnt away the corpse, leaving thick black clouds floating off into the air. When only the bones remained, I used [Earth Manipulation] to pull them into the mud below.

The elemental returned and circled me as I headed back to the tower. When I reached the wall, I once again used [Earth Manipulation] to etch an image of the victorious elemental atop the body of its enemy. I projected that image and where I carved it to my elemental, who splashed against the etching.

Soon enough, I found myself back in my study to plan. Where once I had one goal, now I had three. I still wanted to complete my longevity spell, but that was no longer my biggest concern.

My biggest concern was the Pestilence. If it was truly the end of the Age, then I needed to find a place I could retreat. Or a way to defend my tower that wouldn’t be overcome. I didn’t like the idea of moving so soon. If felt as though I had recently arrived. It also meant that I needed to shelter some of humanity. I wasn’t sure how many. A village size would ensure I always had servants available.

Beyond that, I had the tea to consider. I couldn’t ignore what the crown did to me. After all I had done to support the kingdom, they would chain me? No. I would have my vengeance for that betrayal. Many slights I could ignore, confident that time would punish them more than I ever could, but not this.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 42

Three intense weeks flashed by me. The first thing I had done was to restructure my [Analyze] spell. If the tower could detect information I couldn’t then something was wrong. That was only the precipice of my fall as I delved into the inner workings of the Asrid Flowers.

The yellow-leafed plant was much, much stranger than I originally imagined. The inner workings of it barely functioned as a plant at all. Instead, it fed on ambient mana, like a dungeon creature. But feeding on mana is what allowed me to perceive the intricate spellworks inside it. The loyalty that it inspired did flow back to crown and country. But the way it did so was a peculiar offshoot of what I recognized as a familiar contract.

The more one drank, the more the spellwork built inside their bodies in tiny, tiny amounts. A spell that obligated loyalty from the drinking at the cost of a burst of energy for an hour after drinking. The day-long calm seemed more a byproduct of the addictive quality of the leaves. I imagined that the flower this plant originated from was a dungeon monster of some sort. A plant that lulled its victim into a calm state before it attacked. Someone had made such a monster into their familiar and then bred its offspring.

That was my assumption at the moment.

More importantly, I was able to alter the spellwork inside the plant to change the source of loyalty. Now, whoever drank it would be loyal to me and my tower. Or that was the intended change. I was almost certain it worked, but I had four wolf pups in my containment cells as test subjects for it. I’d prefer human ones, but there had been no more assassins since the first attack. The barony was also experiencing a dreadful shortage of bandits and criminals.

I also wasn’t ready to switch to the new flowers. After all, what would an increase in loyalty to oneself mean? How would that affect me? No, I was better off with the decreasing cups of tea.

But what was the most interesting, to me, was the change in the plant when I introduced more nature mana to it. I’d expected a wild growth and possible monsterization. Instead, nature mana tore through the inner magical structure. It left the plant wilted and dying. Increased nature mana made it die faster.

I had begun experiments with smaller and smaller amounts of nature mana when I was interrupted. I was looking for the balance in which the addition of nature mana supplemented the growth of the plant. Really, most of the intensive research was completed. and The fugue state from the first few weeks of experimenting had already passed. The interruption, Assistant Walker, calmly stood outside the laboratory. His expression indicated he wasn’t pleased to be interrupting me.

I finished the latest injection of nature mana, and turned to the young man, “Yes?”

“Many apologies master, but you have a guest seeking an audience,” he said with a bow.

“And they refused to be sent away?” I asked, my brows furrowing at the perceived rudeness. Part of me, though, was still calculating when and how much the next injection would be.

“The guest is Baron Froom. He insists that you received a missive detailing when he would arrive,” Walker replied.

I hadn’t been fully paying attention, to my assistant until he said that. I recalled the Baron had sent correspondence, but I never opened it. It was likely still sitting on the table in my study. I looked back at the plant I was working on. It was due to a new injection in half an hour, or my current study would be worthless. I sighed.

“Very well. Have Chelsea cook her best meal, and gather the bottle of plum wine from the study. Wait, no, gather the pear brandy. I’ll see him in myself shortly,” I reluctantly answered.

I annotated the current results of my research and deposited the flower in its containment cell. Upstairs, I found a decent robe of dark blue with embroidered golden on it with a matching wide-brimmed conical. It was a style that was in fashion fifty years ago, something the Baron likely saw wizards wearing in his youth. A reminder that his new station meant nothing to me.

I also took several esoteric spell scrolls from my personal supply and carried them in a pocket. Wizards of our standing did not meet without exchanging spells, one way or another.

Walker met me at the door, an unpleasant look on his face, “Master, before you go outside, there is something you should know.”

“Oh?” I asked. I thought of quite a number of possibilities after he said those words.

“Your water serpent. It killed an enormous lamprey and pulled its body back to the lake. It sits on top and won’t let anyone remove the carcass. It—it stinks out there,” his nose scrunched as if the imagined smell were offending him.

“Hmm,” I could readily admit to myself that this was not one of the possibilities I’d considered. “I see.”

With that, he opened the door and the smell attacked me. I spoke through a cough, “I shall most assuredly do something about that once I am done speaking with the Baron.”

With quick use of [Wind Manipulation], I sent the smell away and brought fresh air to us as we walked. The pathway was decently clean, and my lilies were blooming well. Meathead stood at the gates, chatting with my old assistant.

Baron Alred Froom had grown from the gangly youth I remembered him to be. Now, the man’s blonde hair and youthful visage had turned old and grey. Despite his height, he carried himself imposingly as he hovered in the air atop an air elemental. The silver staff with a large mounted ruby in his right hand matched the scarlet robe and green sash he wore.

His hat, though, looked ridiculous. It was a conical hat with a wide square brim like mine, but the brim was green and the cone was scarlet. He had some sort of silver buckle around it, that I suppose might have matched his staff--if one were unaware of the difference between iron and silver.

He slowly levitated down until his feet touched the ground, and he lifted his left hand to lift and lower a pair of silver-rimmed spectacles, “Egad! That’s what you look like under your illusion spell? No wonder you keep it up. You don’t look a day over thirty.”

So, his spectacles were enchanted to see through illusions? Not only that, he had the nerve to utter such words aloud? I scoffed, “Yes, well you humans do have such a pedestrian penchant for judging by appearance. I have learned that an illusion or two easily remedies instances of jealousy and vulgar behavior. Please, do come in.”

Meathead waved to the Baron, “Bye! Nice to meet you.”

Baron Froom nodded to my guard, “And farewell to you as well, brave one.”

I withheld my sigh and waited for the Baron to step to my side before we began walking down the bridge.

“Ah, I like what you have done with your guardian elementals. I built my tower atop the convergence of four elemental ley lines, but I prefer that my defenders be golems,” the Baron spoke as he looked about.

No doubt he felt golems the better choice, for whatever reason, “Thank you. I found golems to be an annoyance to build. The constitution of their instructional spellwork never quite perfect enough to adapt to changing circumstances as an elemental could.”

“Ah, I remember that lecture. I have found a way around that by utilizing beast cores for parts of their instructions. That way, if the circumstance isn’t within what I proscribe, then the golems' behavior falls back on the beast. Much less mana needed as well.”

I considered that. It was a novel approach that would take a great deal of the painstaking work that was required to build one. I would need to research the topic more. I wonder what my assistants have been doing with the beast cores from the corpses? Shoved in a crate or barrel somewhere, most likely. Still, I answered with a noncommittal, “Hmmm.”

Inside my tower, Chelsea had laid out a platter of bread and cheeses. The brandy and two empty cups rested nearby. I was a little excited. I would finally get to see the impact of my uncomfortable furniture firsthand.

“Please sit,” I offered as I took my own chair.

Baron Froom took his chair opposite of me, and motioned towards the bread, “May I?”

“Of course,” I smiled and poured two glasses of brandy.

We both snacked for a few minutes, considering the possible topics at hand. Of course, I didn’t know why he’d come as I never opened his letter. I wasn’t about to give that away. If it came to waiting, I would always win that competition.

“You never read my letter, did you?” He asked with a huff.

“No, was it that important?” I asked back.

“I wouldn’t have sent it if it wasn’t,” he replied and crossed his arms.

I shook a finger in the air, “If it was as important as you say, then why have me waste a day to open it?” I gave him a smug smile.

He sighed dramatically, “Perhaps I overestimated your capabilities. I didn’t think it would take you that long to open it.”

I blinked. He planned that entire conversation just so he could jab me with that sentence? I was so proud of the man! I beamed at him and chuckled, “It seems I taught you well.”

He chuckled too and then soon we were both laughing.

When we stopped, he took a sip of his wine. I could tell by the shift of his shoulders that soon we would approach the topic so important that it required a personal visit. I part of me wondered if he already knew about the flowers. I was almost afraid to ask. So rather than guess at his purpose, I simply raised an eyebrow.

“I come with bearing… unfortunate news. But first, let us exchange gifts. I have within my holding an independent village of wood elves. Natali, my wife, was able to open trade with the village. They have several spells of green magic they were willing to offer her in exchange for furs and the like. One of which is a fertility spell.”

Alred set a scroll on the table and then continued, “But while I was outside your tower, I saw the spells you were experimenting with. When I was your assistant, such magic was too complex for me. Even now, I only grasped a portion of your working. The green magic. The blood magic. The light magic. I feel the need to ask, do you fear death so much?”

That was a surprising question, and I could only shake my head. I spoke softly, “No, not at all. Rather, it is a lonely road I walk and I seek a companion to walk it with me.”

He glanced at the scroll he brought, “I see. I fear the gift I prepared is… an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

I withdrew the bundle of scrolls in my pocket, each a peculiar rarity, “I hadn’t prepared anything specifically for you, either. Feel free to look through these, if any take your fancy, but I will send you a better gift later.”

He looked me in the eyes, “About that gift. Your spellwork, would you be willing to share it? Both my wife and I are advancing in years, and I see time slip through our fingers.”

I could only shake my head, “No, my friend. The spell isn’t ready. It could grant you a hundred years at best, but… it would leave you an [Abomination]. A powerful one at that.”

“I could prepare magic to take my own life, if that is the case,” he answered firmly, and his eyes bore into mine.

“Perhaps. But could you do the same for your wife?” I answered him back, meeting his resolute expression with one of compassion.

His beard shook. His hand clenched into a fist. He took a big breath. And then he deflated and looked away, “No. No, I could not.”

“I assume this isn’t the foul news you come bearing is it?” I asked, diverting the heavy topic.

That question roused him, “No, it isn’t. I fear for us all, my old master. I have glimpsed what is on the other side of the mountains. Not Sena nor Mirktal nor Turing stand a chance. Even combined. I fear we are nearing the end of another age.”

I sat up straighter in my chair. From someone else, I may not have taken such news in the gravitas spoken, but from my old assistant I wouldn’t dismiss it, “Tell me.”

He shuddered, and took a sip of the brandy, “I’m studying the planes. I hope to either learn how to make one we can escape into, or escape into one that is already there. I—”

I could see that he was trying to change the subject, so I cut off his words, “What did you see, Alred?”

He gulped and whispered, “Pestilence. An ocean of them.”

So, I'm looking at where in this story would a good place to end the arc and start moving into the next one.  That doesn't mean I am going to stop posting, although there MIGHT be some periods of delay in the future as I edit and update chapters and work to better the story overall.  

If you happen to see a good place for the arc to stop and the next to start, please feel free to point it out to me.  

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 41.5 - Interlude - Lilly / Adam / Meathead

By vote - 

A day at the tower day - Lilly POV

The sounds of birds chirping woke me from my dreams. I wiped my eyes as I tried to recall the face of the handsome prince. But I couldn’t. All I could remember was the white stallion we rode away on, and the way the wind felt in my hair. The same breeze that blew through my window.

My window, the only one in the tower. Dad—master—had allowed us to chose our rooms, and I picked the rightmost one. The only room with a window, and I could look out upon the bridge and sparkling waters. I took a seat in the chair in front of it and leaned out to brush my hair. It was growing longer here, longer than the nuns ever let me grow it before.

That was okay because I was a princess now. I lived in a castle with its own guards. I ate three meals a day, three! And with meat each time. The other orphans would scream at me with envy if they knew. That was one of my dreams. To return all the mockery they gave me and Walker over our skin and hair by showing them how much better off I was.

A small dream.  My big one was more important. Soon, a prince would ride up and ask to marry me. A handsome prince with perfect hair and a nice smile. Not like the pig-nosed one who didn’t even look at me when I sat in the window brushing my hair just for him to see. Who would want a prince like that, anyway?

Beside me, Lady Ivy’s face grew, a smile on her lips. Hello, water flower.

It was a whisper that tickled my mind. When we first met, she nearly scared me to death with the way she talked. Now, though, she was the best handmaiden a princess could ever ask for. “Hi! How are you this morning? Are the little ones happy?”

Her little ones, the tiny specks of green light in the mist, were her babies. Well, I wasn’t sure if they were her babies or babies she cared for like a nun, but she called them her babies.

Yes, water flower, they grow well. Two more have hatched and are bonding with the water flowers. Are you certain you do not wish to bond with one?

I bit my lip and admitted, “I haven’t asked dad yet. I’m afraid he will say no.”

Now is the best time, and the bond will only help you. Need you his permission?

“We’ve talked about this! I won’t do it if he says no. Here, comb my hair,” I handed the comb to the ivy and let my handmaiden work. She always did an excellent job that left my hair smooth and shiny. A good handmaiden. I bet the other princesses didn’t have magical handmaidens.

When she finished, I promised, “I will ask him soon. Thank you,” I gave her a courtly bow of the head. One of dad’s books was about all the courtly manners, and I read it each day. I even practiced my curtseys for an hour, once! Next was one of my favorite parts of the day.

In my wardrobe, I had twelve dresses. Twelve! I didn’t know someone could own that many clothes, but my brother had spent all his money getting them for me, and I loved it. He was the best brother ever.

I had the light blue one with frilled sleeves, the pink one that was a little too small, and the green one with a fluffy skirt. Only those three I hadn’t worn yet. I wanted to wear one today, but I didn’t want them to get dirty in the dungeon. Chelsea would fuss forever if I did.

Do you think the yellow or the beige one, Miss Ivy?” I asked as I held one up to my chest.

The green one looks best water flower.

I rolled my eyes, “You always say that. I’m picking the beige one.”

After slipping into my dress, I gave Lady Ivy a courtesy and grabbed my catelogue tome. I wanted to review my illustrations now that all the creatures were trapped inside cages. Much easier than when they squirmed all around. Dad said my illustrations were good, but I’d seen his other books. I wanted them to be the best.

One of the downsides of having the rightmost room was that it was closest to the stairs. I could always smell it when Chelsea was cooking. Which was great when I was hungry, but torture when I wasn’t. This morning we had eggs again and I was excited.

When I mentioned to Chelsea how much I loved eggs, she came up with a scheme to get Dad to buy more. And he fell for it! At least I think he did. He seems to always know what’s going on, like when Rolf was pretending to be strangled by the floating lilies in the swimming pond and he just ignored him. So maybe dad did know that the eggs were for me and got them anyway. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

Dad. Brothers. Rolf was like a little brother. Kine was like a distant cousin. Chelsea was like an auntie. I finally had the family I always prayed for at the orphanage. I said a quiet prayer of thanks to Goddess Elora.

Goddess of Light and Love, thank you. Thank you for everything. I will forever be your follower. I love my new family. If… if you hear me and can grant me one more favor… please… send me a prince. A handsome one who will carry me away. He should have face hair, but not too much. Blue eyes. Or green. He should be strong and caring. And a good listener. Thank you again, Goddess!

After breakfast, little Rolf came bouncing to me, “Lady Lilly, are we having studies today?”

That was a curious question. I tutored him every day, “Why?”

“Well, me and Meathead wanna go swimming, but the water is too cold in the morning. Can we study now so I can play outside this afternoon?”

I thought about it. Walker wasn’t back yet, so I didn’t need to study with him this morning. But I wanted to do my illustrations right now. “Hmmm,” I answered like dad would.

“Please?” He asked and gave me a pouty face. When I saw him do it, I had to bite my tongue. No wonder dad says for me to stop doing that. It really was childish.

“I can’t. But if today you want you can practice your numbers and letters by yourself today. To make them look better,” I tired of needing to squint to read his writing.

“Thanks, Lady Lilly!” He said and gave me a hug before running off.

I swung my hands and skipped my way down to the dungeon. Chelsea and Tond were already making kissy faces in the cellar, so I didn’t stop to say hello. In the storage room on the side of the dungeon, I sat down. Beside me, I sat out the quill and inkpot, before turning to the latest illustration.

Mister Mushroom, the one that could grow arms and legs, was having a baby. Sort of. He looked like he was splitting into two Mister Mushrooms, and I wanted to draw him doing that. He got scared easy though, so I needed to sit perfectly still until he wasn’t scared anymore.

I couldn’t wait to see what his baby looked like, and I had all morning and afternoon to draw him right. This was going to be a very good day.

By vote 

Adam the Paladin Guildmaster - Adam POV

I waited outside the Baroness’s attendance hall with calm decorum. Ertal, my second tier Dedicated, stood in his finest robe to my side, fretting with his hair. With a quick glance, I once again confirmed my armor’s high polish. As a [Paladin], one had to become the inspiration to others—something that Ertal had yet to learn.

“Calm yourself. Bi will provide for whatever strength you lack,” I assured him.

“I don’t doubt that, Trusted Adam. I fear that my hair is beneath his glorious gaze,” Ertal respond and continued to fuss with his hair.

This was an important meeting. It was not often that one was summoned before a noble, with required attendance no less. I was confident though that my god would see me through. This was simply another battlefield. As long as I carried his strength and valor, all would fall before his mighty horns.

With a creak, the door opened. An [Administrator] carrying an open tome and quill. Her voice called out into the room, “Now presenting [Paladin] Adam, Trusted of the Order of the Charge, Guildmaster of Lark’s Adventurers Guild and Veteran of the battles of Smith’s Edge, Doran’s Creek, and Small Trees.”

I held my head high with my helm under one arm and marched down the fine rug that led towards the Baroness’s seat. To either side, crowds of angry faces jeered at me. Oren the baker with his bald, sweaty head growled. Felli the carpenter, a sneer on his bearded face. Aera the herbalist, an otherwise pleasant and plump woman, had her arms crossed as if I were an unruly child.

I ignored them all as I stepped forward. Yesterday, I had visited the barber for a haircut and shave and the bathhouse for a soak in body oils. Ertal spent the day ensuring my armor fully oiled and shined. I was certain I was the picture of a hero. They might be angry now, but if a monster were to attack then I wanted them to remember my face. For all those that leaned on me in a time of need would place their gratitude in Bi.

As we reached the appropriate distance from Baroness Lark’s seat, I stopped and gave a low bow. A courteous one. [Paladins] kneeled to no other but their god, but a bow was appropriate.

“You may rise, [Paladin] Adam,” the Baroness spoke with an officious tone.

I took in her look as I stood. She wore a blue noblewoman’s gown of fine silk and painted her face with colors that made it seem she was blushing. In her left hand, she held a closed fan that she tapped on the arm of the chair.

“Do you know why I summoned you here today, guildmaster?” She asked.

I didn’t, but with the reference to my position and the angry merchants, I could assume. Yet, it was better to admit a lack of knowledge than an abundance, “No, Baroness.”

“Of late, I have been getting complaints from my merchants. They say that you are sending adventurers to harass them. You, what did you say earlier?” She pointed her fan at Stey the Miller.

“My own daughter came to me not two nights ago and asked me if I were the greediest merchant in Lark? When I told her no, she asked me why I wasn’t! As if greed were a good thing!” The man had cleaned up well, as he was normally covered in flour. Other called agreement after him, a chorus of voices with similar stories. Guard Captain Untal, a man I respected as much as he respected me, stomped several times before they silenced.

“What do you have to say for yourself, Guildmaster?” the Baroness asked as she gazed down at me with an angry look.

I answered that look with a smile, “I am only carrying out the commissions, the quests, of those given to me, Baroness.”

“And whom did you take quests from that would require Lark’s youth to accost its merchants?” She tapped her fan into her other hand.

“The wizard Nemon Fargus, Baroness,” I said with pride. The wizard could do no wrong in my eyes. He not only created the symbol of my god in his tower, but my god sanctified it before my very eyes. That wizard had done so without a breath of hesitation. He charged forward like the bull himself.

Of course, the court was full of people, and the merchants broke into shouts of anger. One man, that I didn’t recognize, stepped out onto the carpet as if to attack me. A guard unsheathed their blade, and that man quickly joined back into the crowd. The rest of the noise calmed as well in the face of that weapon.

“Why would you allow the man to place such a quest?” She demanded.

“Baroness, he issued not one but several quests. Some of them connected to one another,” I answered, and smiled even broader.

“Oh? Do go on,” she said.

I nodded once, “He has provided the guild with many quests recently, more than ten that keep Lark’s adventurers active. Some are connected in ways I don’t understand, but this one I do. The first quest placed was one of the scouting of your lands. Prospecting for stone or gems. Or fine metals.”

I paused to take a breath, and noticed the court had gone utterly silent, “The second was for adventurers to discover who were the greediest merchants in your lands.”

I stopped there, as the merchants around me began to murmur, almost like the babble of a creek.

“And the third?” The baroness asked, leaning forward. Her voice cut through the babble like grass under a bull’s hoof.

“To deliver the locations discovered to the greediest of Lark’s merchants,” I answered. I dropped my smile to feign a serious countenance as I did.

The baroness leaned back into her chair and began tapping her fan against the armrest. The herd of merchants was utterly silent. That was until one voice broke out in a yell.

“Sir Adam, I am the greediest!” he called. But he was only the first. Soon a great cacophony of merchants filled the hall, and each claimed a greed that surpassed their peers. The volume only grew for several long minutes and reached a deafening level. That is until the rhythmic beating of weapons on shields made it impossible to speak.

When the room was again almost quiet, the yells now a murmur, the baroness spoke.  She called out, “Does any man or woman here wish to pursue the matter against [Paladin] Adam, guildmaster of Lark’s Adventurer’s Guild?”

She looked around, but no one answered her. Finally, she took a deep breath and declared, “Then I dismiss you all.”

I bowed again to the Baroness and marched my way out to through the doors, ignoring the calls and grabbing hands of shopkeepers and tailors alike. They parted before me. Of course, they would. Who stands before the bull when he moves?

By vote

Meathead the Disabled Guard - Meathead POV

“Quick, hide!” Rolf whispered, and we ran. Out of the room, around the corner, and another. And another.

Against the wall, we hid. Footsteps came down the stairs. And voices. It was Mena and Eni.

“Are you sure you left it here?” Eni asked.

Mena sighed, “Can’t be too many other places, cannit?”

I snickered, but Rolf shushed me. We heard them enter the room beside us, and the shuffling as they dug through things.

“It’s not here! Where is it?!” Mena sounded angry and upset. I stood up to see what was the matter, but Rolf pulled my arm. When I looked down, he shook his head no. Oh right. This was a game.

I smiled at him and nodded to let him know I understood. Playing games was fun.

“Eni, I swear by the fallen seagods, that if you took it again that wizard won’t save you!” Mena was yelling now. And being mean to Eni. That was good. She should be mean to him. I didn’t like Eni much. He was one of the ones that kept calling me stupid. I knew I used to be smart like them. I knew it. But I wasn’t no more, so he didn’t have to be mean about it.

“I promise, I don’t have it. That was one time cause we all was drinking, and that’s that,” he answered her, sounding almost as mad as she was.

She huffed and stomped out of the room and back up the stairs. Eni followed a little bit after, his owl on his shoulder. I didn’t like him, but his owl was a pretty bird. Even Lilly said so.

Beside me, Rolf started laughing. I guess that meant it was okay to laugh now, so I laughed with him.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go,” Rolf said and pulled my arm. I followed him as we crept up the stairs playing sneaky-sneaky.

We walked normal past the kitchen, but Rolf’s mom wasn’t there so we didn’t have to worry. On the first floor, we could hear Mena yelling at Tond and Eni all the way up on the roof. She was pretty loud when she got mad. I was about to go see what she was mad about when Rolf pulled my sleeve.

“Quick, open the door before they see us!” He whispered.

We were going outside? That would be fun. Swimming was always fun with the water things. The fire mice didn’t like it when we splashed them, so we couldn’t do that. They squeak really loud and it sounds like they hurt. I don’t want to hurt the little mice. Not like real mice that I’m supposed to step on. These ones were different.

“The door!” Rolf whispered again, and I lifted the bar that kept it locked. It squealed when we opened it, and we waited to see if anyone heard. No one did, so we kept going. This was a fun game!

Outside, we went to talk to the green lady. She was super nice and smelled good, even if her body wasn’t ready yet.

Her face peeked out of the ivy, and Rolf sucked in his breath. I did too, in case that was how you were supposed to say hello to her.  She didn't talk with words, either, so that made sense.

Hello children.

“Hi!” I said. She always says hello and never calls me stupid. It’s really nice of her.

“Mistress Ivy, we want you to do something for us. Will you, please?” Rolf asked.

I nodded my head too. If Rolf said this would be fun, it would. He was usually right about that.

Certainly, children. What do you desire?

“We want you to take these and hold them up high in your ivy. Really high so the wind catches it. Like a flag,” Rolf held up the treasure we’d found.

“Like a flag,” I agreed. Flags were great. The tower needed a nice flag.

Of course, children. Will you play with my babies again soon?

“We sure will, Mistress Ivy! We love playing with your babies. Right, Meathead?”

I nodded. The green lights were fun and they liked to dance funny. We watched as the ivy took our flag and carried it up the tower. We had to go out by the gate to get a good look when it got really high.

We watched and waited and waited. It took almost all afternoon waiting until Mena saw it and screamed.

“What are my bloomers doing way out there?!”

Rolf and I laughed so hard we fell down. I think everyone in the tower heard her. That was a fun game.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 41

By the time I’d made it down to the entrance to the dungeon, I was fuming again. I had been going over in my head the number of times I had bent my neck to nobility.  How often I listened to a kingdom representative because I wanted to be seen as a good and upstanding citizen of the kingdom. A proper son of Sena that did his part. The smiles on their faces meant something entirely different in my mind now. As if the entirety of the noble caste were laughing at my expense.

It wasn’t true. Logically, I knew that most of them also drank the same tea I did. I bet few, if any, knew they were giving part of themselves away with each sip. They were as much a victim of the charade as I was. That fact, that cold logic, did nothing to abate my anger. And looking at the plants now, many in broken pots, I struggled not to burn them away.

But I knew I shouldn’t. I wanted—no. Needed. I needed to see just how far in my back this dagger stabbed. With my mind focused more on containing my rage than anything else, I worked. I moved each plant into the dungeon room. The ones in broken pots, I replanted. Spells and wards contained the things. Allowing some mana in to feed the plants, but only a trickle. Then I cast more wards. I didn’t think that my tower could be affected by loyalty plants, but I couldn’t be certain.

I wasn’t in the proper state of mind to begin experimenting on the flowers. My emotions were unchecked. I felt almost as unbalanced as when I started drinking the tea in the first place. So, instead of experimenting immediately, I began the construction of a proper laboratory. In between the cellar and the dungeon, I created a room. It was as big as any other floor in the tower. Next, I moved my equipment down from the third floor.

The tiny laboratory I had created on that floor simply wouldn’t do. Not if compared to this one. Here, I devoted an entire floor to my passion. Testing equipment for the elemental compositions took up the entire right wall. Cells with containment fields were placed along the back. On the left side, I had stone tables and shelves I loaded with my records. For three days I worked, stopping only to eat. At least three days. It was likely more, but after three I stopped counting. I knew I was gripped by my own obsession, but I was powerless to stop myself. When I finally had completed the floor, I rested.

The sweet comforts of my bed were a blessing that I had missed. When I awoke, I felt my fingers and toes curled with pain, and only the cold cup of tea on the table beside my bed would cure it. But I hesitated. That tea was no longer a welcome friend, but an enemy I despised. I couldn’t help but scowl as I sipped. The breakfast was much better. Cold rolls and sliced pork with spiced cabbage. Even lukewarm, the spiced cabbage was incredible.

After I changed my robes and cast a quick cleaning spell on myself, I went downstairs to see about my pupils. I knew I had ignored them during my period of… intense focus. I wasn’t going to apologize for that, but I could spend some time ensuring that they had continued their studies. If so, I could provide them the next steps.

Surprisingly, all three were sitting at the table on the first floor. Their heads huddled together as they whispered. I could see them in the reflection of my new bronze door. It seemed thick and sturdy, polished to a near mirror shine.

“…Do you think we should wake him now? It’s almost midday,” Walker was asking.

“I think so! He’s slept for four days already. It should be…” Lilly’s voice trailed away as she noticed me.

Kine, though, had his back to me, “If master wants to sleep, I say we let him sleep. We talked about this yesterday. Am I not the senior disciple here?”

When he didn’t get a response other than for Walker and Lilly to stare past him at me, he turned to look as well. It seems my pupils don’t know how to greet their master. I gave a polite cough and an expectant look.

The three jumped from the table and gave quick bows, “Master!”

“Please sit. I believe that you all were discussing something of import to be whispering about it, yes?” I wasn’t going to give away how well elven ears could hear. Some secrets were worth keeping.

The three gave each other awkward looks as if they had been caught stealing. Then they slowly sat back down. I joined them at the table, sitting in my chair, “Please, do continue.”

Lilly seemed the least chagrinned. She softly whispered, “Master, we were just discussing when to wake you. You wouldn’t wake when we tried earlier, and we were scared to touch your shoulder.”

Both the other two nodded. I briefly wondered about the bravery of my assistants if a young girl was more willing to speak than they were. I gave her a soft smile, “Thank you for your concern, young lady. In the future, you need not worry. One does not live as long as I have without learning to sleep for days on end when needed.”

I patted her shoulder, “Tell me, have you been continuing your studies in this time?”

“They are going well, master. I’ve continued my readings and tutoring of Rolf. I’ve also been studying the mushrooms and the crawling things from the dungeon. I think I understand why you wanted me to do that.”

“Oh?” I asked.

“Yup! I’ve been noticing a lot of things I hadn’t before. Like how the trees grow and how Eni’s owl behaves. It’s like I wasn’t seen the world before!” Her voice grew more excited as she spoke.

That wasn’t what I had expected. Not that I let my mild surprise show on my face. I simply wanted her to exercise her writing skills. Record keeping is such a chore. If she came here after she graduated from the Arcanum then I could get her to do it in my stead. I hope I didn’t accidentally put her on the path of the druid, that would be an annoyance.

“Good,” I commented with a smile. Then I turned my attention to Walker.

“And you, young man? I see that you have returned.

He looked embarrassed for a moment, “Yes, master. I—I had some difficulties looking after Mena as you ordered. But I was successful and we have returned.”

I wasn’t sure what he was expecting. He held himself as if he thought I was about to slap him. Instead, I nodded, “And what did you learn?”

“I learned that I shouldn’t trust—” He declared before he held back his words. In a calmer voice, he continued, “Master, I learned that I should be more cautious in how I evaluate others.”

I smiled and nodded at his answer. It was always such a shame to see youthful naivete start to crumble. Better that happened here than later when it could mean a knife in his back. Still, it was a bittersweet feeling, “Good. I will be turning over some of the monitoring of my experiments to you and Kine shortly. I have another task that will require me to devote myself to it exclusively.”

Kine leaned forward a little, his posture indicating he wanted to say something. I motioned with my hand for him to speak.

“Master, I had hoped to take the Baroness up on her offer. You said you would grant me a month to do so.”

I did remember saying that. If Kine left, my only assistant remaining would be Walker. Kine was the more competent at the moment, but if I held him back Walker would never have the room to grow. Foisting the day-to-day responsibilities of the tower on Walker’s shoulders would either be disastrous or beneficial for the lad. Still, my most valuable things were well warded.

“Granted. You may depart tomorrow. I will write you a message for the Baroness,” I was feeling a little guilty that I had ignored my pupils for more than a week. This conversation had gone some of the way towards alleviating that feeling.

“Walker, attend me,” I said as I rose from my seat.

“Master, can I come too? Please?” Lilly asked, stretching the word please and batting her eyes.

“No, you may not. In fact, the behavior you demonstrated just now tells me you would not be ready for such duties. You are no longer a child. You have two hours to compose a page-length essay addressing the matter,” I spoke firmly as I shook my finger to demonstrate how serious I was.

“Yes, master,” she answered with a pout.

I ignored the pout, of course. Instead, I took a closer look at my new door. It was four inches thick and held on massive hinges. The polish and shine were excellent. I could see some minor creases, likely from the forging. No one would be able to tell unless they paid attention to their reflection, but once I knew it was there, it bothered me. A simple application of [Earth Manipulation] caused the bronze to even out to a perfect smoothness.

As we walked towards the pit, I gave Walker instructions on how to manage the tower while I would be busy experimenting. Most of which he was already doing. Patrols would stop until Kine’s return. It was at the pits I ran into another surprise. Tond, the [Ranger] guard with the straight nose, was struggling to drag a netted swamp bear into my ice fox pit.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I inquired.

“Uh, master,” Walker began, “We weren’t sure how to tell you, but the ice foxes didn’t last. We thought if we caught swamp bears that they might work as a replacement.”

I raised an eyebrow, “The ice foxes didn’t last?”

“We, or Eni and Tond, tried to feed them. They tried every different animal part from the feed pit, but the foxes wouldn’t eat. When they came to get me and Kine, we tried as well. They wouldn’t even take a bite when we tried food from the pantry.”

That was surprising. Did they require live food? “They didn’t eat at all?”

Walker shook his head. “No, they ate… rocks. They scratched at the wall until it chipped rocks away and ate those. Vomited and then ate it again. They kept doing that until they passed.”

That was unusual. If they required live food, maybe it needed to be stone beetles? Perhaps that’s why they starting on the walls. I was considering that and other possibilities when Walker continued.

“Master, we tried everything. We even caught several fish, squirrels, Redrot beetles from the forest. They would only eat rocks,” he was starting to sound like he was coming up with excuses. Again, the penchant for weakness. I hoped the month without Kine would let him come more into his own.

Still, the foxes were a mystery. Why couldn’t I breed them? Did the element affect their intelligence? Slow the blood to the brain? I hesitated to think that.

I patted him on the shoulder, “That’s fine. It sounds as if it were outside of your control. I don’t need swamp bears, however. You can use them to feed the other animals. When the pit is depleted, we shall obtain some normal foxes to work with. I would be interested in seeing how their behavior changes after inducing elemental adaptations. For now, here is what I would like you to track on these pits.”

I started giving him a brief overview of what to look for without going into the details. I didn’t need anyone to know I was working on a longevity spell. Simply tracking the changes I was looking for was sufficient. The only hesitation I saw was when we came to his duties regarding terminating the beasts.

“Master, what do you mean when you say that I should watch for excessive growths?” he asked nervously.

“I mean, that if they began showing strange growths, then you should execute the beasts before they turn into [Abominations]. Those are much more difficult to kill, and would likely devour my other subjects.”

Walker looked horrified briefly before he gulped, “Yes, master.”

By the time we returned inside, lunch was ready. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I started to eat. I had three servings of thick chicken and pork stew. When I finished, Lilly presented me with her essay. She fidgeted while I read.

“The Detriments of Being Cute?” I asked, looking between her and the title of the paper. Part of me wanted to crumble it up and toss it in the fireplace. Another part wanted to proudly frame it. A third part of me realized that in just thirty or forty years, I’d likely be writing about this in my Book of the Dead. But I smiled and shook my head a little.

“Thank you, young lady. I trust you have learned your lesson?”

She gave me a curtsey, “Yes, master.”

I dismissed her and carefully placed the essay in a spot near my bed. It was time to begin experimenting on the flowers. I was calm enough now to do so. I had arranged for the tower and its residents to be cared for. I had a new large laboratory ready for use. There were no tasks of greater need. It was time.

The interlude chapter will be out tomorrow.  The winners of the polls were: Lilly, [Paladin] Adam, and Meathead.  

To the posters that didn't want an interlude, these chapters won't focus on anything that impacts a major plotline and the interlude will only take up one day.  Just fun little side stories.  

Monday's posting will be back to normal POV.  

Lilly interlude choices

Hello!  I have several ideas for different scenes from Lilly's POV that would all work well.  So, I thought why not let you all pick?

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 40

When I awoke, my anger hadn’t abated. Rather it seemed to have grown. I felt ashamed of my initial reaction, the raging tantrum I threw in the dungeon. Though, it didn’t take me long to lay the blame for that on the crown. My breakfast was brought to me in my bed. Chelsea had outdone herself, with an intricate pie of tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and condor meat. It smelled delicious. The downside was that drink served was the Asrid Flower tea. It tasted of bitter betrayal, and yet still I drank.

I didn’t bother with my normal cleaning spell this morning. Instead, I threw back the covers and marched to my study to formulate a plan. I was a researcher first, and I wanted to know the extent of what was taken from me. Loyalty was such a vague concept, after all. What was this loyalty tied to? The king? The country? I set out a blank parchment and a quill.

My first test was to write something seditious on a blank sheet of parchment. I started with the royal family. ‘I will murder them one by’—my stomach twisted and the muscles in my back tied in knots. I didn’t even finish writing the sentence. My anger may have allowed me to go further than I otherwise would have, but it wasn’t enough.

Next, I tested the kingdom. ‘I will summon a host of fire elementals and watch it’—revulsion again. As if I were sick of my own thoughts and writings. I gagged and hacked, patting my chest in an attempt to calm myself. Kingdom was protected as well. But what did that include? I felt nothing holding me back when I considered slaying Baron Llal yesterday for his annoyance. Was that because I didn’t see him as a pillar of the kingdom? Was the increase in loyalty based on the drinker’s thoughts?

The next test was simple, I wanted verification of that. I wrote ‘I will smite Baron Llal with a thousand bolts of lightning.’ Nothing. The Baron was safe. But did that truly mean that it was based on my own thoughts? The king has many heirs. If I were to kill him, then the Kingdom would not suffer for it. ‘I will slay King’—revulsion again, this time I vomited on the floor. Pieces of condor meat and tomatoes.

I cast a cleaning spell, and it was gone as if it had never been. I hoped some of the tea came up with it. I sat back in the chair and stared at the unadorned ceiling, considering the matter in more depth. Was this because I knew that, even if the king had a great number of heirs, it would harm the kingdom? How do I test around that? Consider the murder of one of the heirs? A duke or duchess?

I was absently twirling the quill when Kine coughed politely. Startled from my reverie, I looked up at my assistant. His brown hair was growing longer, almost to his shoulders, and he hadn’t shaved in a week. He gave a short bow, appropriate for our positions. I nodded in return. My hand discretely grasped the parchment I was testing seditious thoughts on. A small flame burnt it away.

“How went the defense of Woodhoot and the trip to Lark?” I asked, beckoning him to sit across from me and distracting him from the missing paper.

“Master, the defense of Woodhoot went well, thought the village lost two men. We only lost one in battle; a man named Brom. He left behind a widow and seven children. We met one, the stableboy,” Kine smirked as he continued, “And a mistress with another nine children. Her husband was understandably upset about the matter and left the village in a rage.”

“This Brom, he left behind fifteen children? Are they cared for?” I asked. I didn’t care for gossip usually, but anything that could take my mind from the tea was welcome at the moment.

“The village cares for its own. Half of them are all related to the other half. There are enough uncles and aunts to make sure they won’t go hungry,” Kine said.

“Good. And Lark? Have Walker and Mena returned as well?” I asked.

Kine’s mouth twisted in a smile, struggling to keep in his amusement, “Master, I regret to inform you that Guard Mena has tricked Assistant Walker, and made off with his coin in the night. Walker departed after her the next morning, determined to return with his charge. I don’t know when they will return.”

Well, that wasn’t quite what I expected from Mena, though it wasn’t outside the possibilities I considered either. I had hoped she would give Walker reason to mature some, a trick or trap that he wouldn’t expect. Her escape must have been due to an opportune moment. I gave a small smile and a nod to Kine, “That is well and good. He will learn from this, I hope.”

“I’d be surprised if he hasn’t already. I wasn’t certain if you wanted me to notify the town guard that she was an escaped criminal or not, so I did not. Shall I return to do so now, master?”

“No. I expect that Walker will return with her in a few days. If we have not heard in a week, then you may go. Were there any letters for me?”

Kine shook his head, “No, but the quest for your lilies was completed. I have them in a bag on the first floor. The guildmaster, Adam, wanted me to pass along that there have been four quarries and a clay pit found based on your quests. He said that the clay pit is in your territory, and to expect a merchant in a few days to negotiate mining rights.”

Well, that wasn’t the worst news. Depending on where the clay deposit was, I might not even see it. If I took a tenth of the clay as payment, I could build an army of tier-one clay men and keep them a room beneath the tower. I would need to check the location first, though, as I didn’t want the bog drained.

“There was one more thing, master,” Kine said. He didn’t sound or look nervous, but one of his fingers tapped against the side of his chair.

“Oh?”

“The Baroness sent one of her people to find me when I arrived to pass along an inquiry. She wanted to know what it would take to continue the road from Woodhoot to Owl’s Fall and then to Fort Lark. Or if other directions were possible. Though the scribe made certain I was aware that the Baroness did not want to disturb you.”

I gave him a half-smile and shook my head, “I’m not interested in such work, but I’ll grant you a month from your duties, if you would like. Provided you return any gems you find along the way to me.” I stood to depart, having made the decision that I wanted to test the flowers more.

Kine’s finger stopped moving, and he looked at me, “Truly, master? I have no more to learn from you?”

I snorted, “You are my assistant, not my disciple. If you want to spend a month doing something as mundane as building a road, I imagine you will learn a great deal about your possible futures from the experience. And when you return, you’ll be even more eager to assist me. Consider that job, if you desire to. For today? Eat, rest. Tomorrow your normal duties will resume.”

I felt the pangs of hunger as I descended the tower, and stopped in the kitchens to grab a few goat sausages from the pantry. I didn’t see Chelsea there, so she must be cleaning somewhere in the tower. I returned to the first floor and heated the sausages in the fireplace while I looked through the bag of lily bulbs.

I felt a strong desire to experiment further with the effects of the tea, and the flowers themselves, it wouldn’t do for the lilies to die while I did so. Inside a fine leather satchel were twenty or so bulbs, some with the roots and flowers still attached. Each was carefully wrapped in a wet cloth, keeping them moist. Whoever had gathered the things had gone through a lot of effort to keep them alive and present them in a respectable manner. Which made sense, as I’d offered a gold apiece for the flowers to ensure timely delivery.

When I stepped outside the tower, I had the satchel in one hand, sausage in the other. The second was already eaten with only drips of oil in my beard a reminder that it had been there. I walked towards the center of my bridge and considered where I wanted the lilies placed in the moat. On either side of the bridge? Around the base of the pillars holding flames? How far apart did I want them to be?

After watching the movement of the water elementals, I resigned myself that they would likely grow however they grew best. I tossed a bulb out into the moat. Only for an arc of water to catch it from the sky and start to deliver it to the waste pit. I wasn’t even phased by my lack of foresight. Instead, I commanded the elemental to return with it. I projected to them that the lilies would be additions to the moat, and shouldn’t be removed. Then I tried it again.

Soon enough, the bulbs sank into the waters and the second sausage was gone. I headed back towards the tower when my nature elemental’s face appeared among the ivy.

Mortal.

“What?”

Some of the children grow. Will you release them or bind them here?

I turned back to look at the tiny lights hovering in the mists. I didn’t have any more amber, not that I would admit that to the elemental. It did make me curious, though.

“Why?”

My siblings which you so callously throw into the water. You seek to grow them, yes?

“I do,” I answered, looking at the elemental with suspicion. I didn’t trust her. Trusting a nature elemental was foolish.

I can guide these children to your flowers when they grow.

“I’ll consider it. I have more important duties to attend to at the moment,” I answered, and turned to leave.

Yes. Those horrid yellow things. The dungeon flowers.

I froze. This elemental knew? How would she know I placed them in the dungeon? Why would she dislike them? I thought nature elementals like all plantlife.

I turned back to her, this time giving her my undivided attention. This time, I gave a command, “Tell me.”

The face in the ivy shuddered as it attempted to mentally fight back, but my will was too strong. For the first time, sound came from its lips. A musical voice, though the music was painful to hear, “Those flowers are born in a dungeon. They are not… not natural. They should not be! Kill them! Kill them! Burn them away, wizard!”

I released my mental hold on it and rubbed a hand through my beard. The flowers were ‘born’ in a dungeon? What did that mean? Are they dungeon monsters? I started considering the implications.

Please! I gave you what you wanted! Allow me to guide the children. Your flowers will bloom, oh they will bloom!

The mental words from the elemental, the desperation in her tone, caressed my mind. It didn’t dare to communicate as directly as it did before. Like a scared animal, the words only touched in the briefest and softest way.

I turned my attention back to the face in the ivy. I would have forgotten she was there, so lost in my thoughts, if she did not speak. I only gave her request a small consideration before answering, “You may. But do not forget, I am the master here.”

With that, I turned away from her again. This time, the flowers and the dungeon were the only things on my mind, and I wouldn’t allow for further distraction.

Interlude Chapter Option

Hi!  I wanted to see if any of you would be interested in an interlude chapter from a different point of view.  I've put together a list of some of the characters to choose from, but if the option you want isn't on the list, feel free to comment below to add it.

The options listed below are formatted names - background 

This format isn't indicative of what the interlude chapter would be about.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 39

I came to the conclusion that the ice foxes were lacking in intelligence. I had made a stone pit near the other experimental subjects and created canals connecting the trap pits to it. I only had a little more than a dozen of the foxes still living after the burrowing, and what did they do? First, they didn’t want to go down the canals after I woke them up. I had to cast fire spells to get them moving in the right direction, and then seal off the trap pits so they didn’t return. Then, the stupid creatures attacked the foxes from the second pit when the canals met. Four dead foxes later, and several fire spells later, they finally made it to the pit I had created.

I watched them for a moment as they licked their wounds, or growled and snapped at each other. Just long enough that I was confident they weren’t going to attack each other again. Then I left to close up the traps and canals. That, of course, was a mistake. I should have put them to sleep first. By the time I’d returned, there were four foxes left. One stood brazenly on the bodies of the dead, and the other three cowered in a corner.

So, I did what any good wizard would do, and checked myself for mind magic, illusions, and charisma skills. Nothing. I decided the dead foxes in the pits were something I could deal with tomorrow, once I recovered from the shock of losing most of my new test subjects. It would also be a good way to determine if these beasts were cannibalistic.

After a night’s rest, I went downstairs to eat a hot breakfast of sweet buns and fried eggs. While I was happy we had enough eggs for Chelsea to make bread with, I was growing tired of eating the surplus. Lilly took her seat to my right, placing her tome down beside her.

“Master, I believe I’m done with the illustrations,” she said.

At first, I was surprised. After I considered it though, she likely spent most of her time yesterday drawing them. When I reviewed her pictures, I found them to be well drawn. For a beginner. But that was expected.

“Good, good,” I complimented her as I flipped through the pages. She filled almost a third of the book, even to go so far as to describe any behavior she noticed. It was thorough enough as a starter, and I hoped would lead her down the path of a researcher.

“When you’re done eating, bring any blank parchment you have remaining and meet me outside the dungeon,” I instructed her.

“Yes, master,” she answered with a nod.

We ate in silence until I finished, at which time I took the stairs down to the dungeon. I’d forgotten how deep it went. When I arrived at the bottom, I didn’t go inside. Rather, I began constructing a new room adjacent to it, this one bare except for stone shelves. Lilly found me there a few moments later and watched me work. It didn’t take long.

“Miss Lilly, I will begin collecting samples from inside the room and placing them on the shelves here. I want you to write the names of each that you know on a piece of paper to be placed beside them.”

She nodded her head and withdrew papers to begin her assigned task ahead of time. I cast protective magics on myself to prevent spore infection and went through the barrier. Inside, I began trapping the moving animals first. Small cages of stone, each with a ring at the top. Afterward, I cast barriers around those, both to prevent any escape and to guard against spore infection. After bringing them out and placing them on the shelves, I watched as Lilly began to place the parchments next to each. We worked together like that for a few hours, collecting mushrooms and lichen next, until I felt that I had sufficient samples to repopulate the dungeon.

That’s when I used my [Fire Manipulation] to burn everything that remained. The dungeon core and mana crystals were stone, and should be impervious to the flames. The fires raged inside the dungeon, as Lilly and I watched from outside the barrier. When they finally died down, leaving nothing but ash, I did it again. And then a third time. One couldn’t be too safe when it came to parasitic mushrooms.

The remainder of what was left inside the dungeon room was nothing but stone, crystal, and ash. I gave a satisfied nod and turned to head upstairs, but Lilly stopped me with a question.

“Master, shouldn’t we return these things to the dungeon?” Her hand waved at the filled shelves.

I shook my head, “No, we will watch them closely for a few days to see if any show signed of infection. We can move my Asrid Flower below, though.”

“Asrid Flowers? Oh, your special tea!” When she bobbed her head, her blonde hair bounced about.

“Yes,” I answered and we made the trek upstairs. I waited around the dining area, reviewing Lilly’s book in more detail with her as we waited for lunch. She had beautiful handwriting, though at times she used too much flourish. The lunch was a meal of bread sliced to hold a fried mixture of goat sausage, onions, and eggs. This, I felt, was an appropriate use of the eggs.

Afterward, we met the guards outside, and I instructed them to follow us carrying the flower pots. They were more than happy for a break from plucking condor feathers and jumped to the task. Chelsea’s son Rolf, joined as well, though he only carried one potted plant.

It was when we arrived in the dungeon, and I used [Earth Manipulation] to plant the first flower that I found myself surprised. Not just surprised either. Angry. Livid. My soul scroll had lit up glowing orange, with an option I could barely fully read. I sent the others away above with orders to fetch the other flowers and leave them outside the barrier. Then I torched several flowers. I may have also melted a wall or two and unleashed several bolts of lightning.

The others were quick to set the plants down and depart when they saw me pacing back and forth muttering. My mind, though, was in disarray. I wasn’t just mad. I was seething. The calmness and poise I prided myself on, gone in an instant. I even let my illusion slip. The one that let every see me as a fifty-year old human with pointy ears. It shook away in the magical aftershocks of my barely controlled mana outburst. Waves of unaspected mana that appeared as a heat mirage.

I wasn’t sure how long I spent like that. Days maybe. My guards or servants had left food by the entrance and taken it away to replace it with new meals several times. When I finally had exerted myself enough to think clearly again, I took another look at the option presented by my soul scroll.

[Tower crystal has new plantlife: 4th floor, Dungeon]

[12 Plants detected. Type: Loyalty-Inducing Flower Tier: 2]

[Tower Crystal recommends the following options:]

[Eliminate]

[Expulse]

[Convert]

[Stasis]

[Consume]

I sneered at the screen. Loyalty-Inducing Flower? Was that how the crown controlled their nobles? Why there hadn’t been a revolt in so long? When was the first time I drank this? When I was a third-tier mage in the mage corps. A long time ago. The army included it in our rations and, like every other fool, I was happy to drink something more than water.

How many times had I offered to others? Who else knows about this? I started pacing again, my mind fighting with itself. I should tell everyone! But that could get me killed. They might already know and not care. How many people joined a war effort because of this tea? How many have died because of this plant? How many of my friend’s lives were gone because of this thing?

I tried to rationalize it. In Tervan, to the south, the jungle kingdom made sacrifices to their dark god. Those who didn’t follow their priest-king met the knife at the altar. To the north, Mirktal enslaved nearly their entire population with slave-magics. I used to despise them both for it, but was this any different? More subtle and insidious, certainly.

Would I have made the same decisions in the past if I hadn’t drunk this tea? Would I have accepted the position as alderman? Not slain the Scout commander? I didn’t know. But now I did understand why he had been so willing to accept the task of growing and delivering the flowers.

I also knew that I shouldn’t make any decisions without a calm mind, and I was not calm at the moment. But I was also exhausted. The anger had drained me. With heavy steps, I returned to my room in the tower and curled up under the sheets.

Tomorrow was a new day. I can consider it then with a calmer mind. Those were the lies I told myself as I closed my eyes.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 38

That afternoon, I organized the cleanup from the beastwave. My elementals in the moat had already done a decent job of moving the pieces and parts into the feed pit behind my tower. The full bodies were collected in a floating pile. I had them pull the condor bodies to the bridge and set my three guards to plucking them. The feathers they could use for arrows, and I wanted to see if Chelsea could cook the things. Maybe a jerky, considering the number.

I had no intention of keeping or doing anything with the harpy corpses. I doubted the adventurers’ guild or the necromancer would want the bodies. They appeared too close to human. I directed the elementals to place those in the feed pit as well. It left several dozen stone beetle corpses inside the tower, which I froze in mass. When Walker and Kine return, they can work with the guards to separate them out to be placed into the cellar.

That settled, I made my way out and around to the reflection lake. The floating bodies and body parts further disrupted the look that my trapping pits already marred. Further, the feed pit was almost full. I bit back a sigh and set my mud elementals to sorting the parts from the whole while I made a second feed pit. My eyes kept glancing towards the trapped ice foxes, but I committed myself to the tasks at hand. Experimenting could wait a few hours.

While I was constructing the second feed pit, my fourth-tier water elemental approached me. It circled around my legs and projected its thoughts. Joy in battle. Challenge. Victory. A vision of the struggle against the bear. The desire for more combat.

It annoyed me while I was working, as it kept sending the same message again. When I finished the pit, I directed the mud elementals to fill it with the parts and turned to the water elemental. It swam in long winding loops around me and itself with an eagerness. It was then I considered the matter further.

The thing wanted to fight more. Should I return it and summon another? A calmer one? I rather liked that it was eager to defend my tower, and it wouldn’t seek out a fight without my permission. But it might keep asking. Summoning a new elemental would be another chore that would keep me from my new experimental subjects. I hoped this was a phase, and after it fought enough it would calm some. I could test that.

Picturing in my mind the disgusting image of the lampreys, I sent a new command to my elemental. Hunt. Only this enemy. The water elemental paused in its endless looping and then darted off into the waters of bog. I felt as if I had given a child their first sweet.

Turning back to the task at hand, I found the second feed pit already half full. But my lake was almost clear of bodies. The full corpses piled beside the entrance to my makeshift cellar, the one that led under the bog. I would need to expand it to fit all the new corpses, and I set out to do just that.

It was evening when I finished and directed the mud elementals to take the new additions from the lake inside. I rubbed my hands together in barely contained glee as I started walking towards the pits that contained the ice foxes. I wasn’t sure yet what type of experiment I wanted to run on the beasts, but I wanted to get my eyes on them first. I had a number of designs that this type of creature would fit well in.

There were four pits in all. These ones built wider than the last, so as to catch and hold more. In the pit below me, ten feet down, I saw a moving carpet of white fur. Mud clung to much of it, but still, I was surprised. The foxes were a beautiful animal, almost regal in a way.

That wouldn’t stop me from experimenting, of course. I would need to ensure that my experiments didn’t alter their fur coats. Perhaps, I should hire a personal tanner? Between the wolves and boars and now the foxes, I would have an abundance of beast fur soon.

I started a rough count. Two of the pits only held five and six. The other two were harder to count, with the foxes moving about. And they screamed, like a woman in trouble. It was quite an annoying sound. I started to prepare a spell to silence it when I heard a shout.

“Hold there, fiend!” The deep voice called from across the waters.

I looked up, eyes taking in the new arrivals. A host of about twenty men led by a bare-chested brute with green eyes and a plain face. Scars marked his chest and arms. In his hands, he held a longsword aloft. The other men looked to be guards of some sort, wielding short swords and round shields. The only other person besides them was standing in the man’s shadow. The necromancer.

That makes the brute Baron Llal. I raised my hand and waved hello. I’m not sure what he took the gesture to mean, as I wasn’t sure how someone could confuse a greeting, but his response was to yell, “Charge!”

At which point the guards and he all rushed into the muddy waters of my lake, many slipping and falling as they did. My mud elementals did what they were ordered to do, rising from the waters in a counter-attack. Muddy arms snatched at men’s legs, pulling them underwater. Baron Llal stabbed and slashed his sword at one, but the attacks amounted to little.

“Hold!” I called out, my elementals stopping in place. The men that were being drowned, sputtered and spat water, but also ceased their charge. Not that charging through three feet of water and mud was an ideal endeavor to begin with.

Only Baron Llal was the only fighter to keep fighting after I called out. His sword stabbed and slashed at an elemental that reformed after each attack. It was an awkward few moments we spent watching him until he exhausted himself enough to realize it wasn’t fighting back.

“That! Is a terrifying monster!” He finally announced between deep breaths.

“Baron Llal, to what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked as I approached.

He stood tall and puffed his chest out, “We come following the trail of a mighty beast! A fourth-tier bear that stands taller than two men. It can slay five men with a single swipe of its claw.”

I pointed towards the corpse of the bear, lying dead near the cellar. It was out because I would need to widen the entrance to fit it through. Moving the other corpses was more important at the time, “That one?”

Rather than answer immediately, he trudged across half the lake to get a better look, “Aye, that’s the beast there! I made this wound here myself.”

His guards had followed him and were making the appropriate sounds of approval. For my part, after he answered, I returned to the trap pits to consider what experiments I wanted to conduct.

Pyl, the necromancer, followed, “Master Fargus, I owe you a great apology. I was out of sorts when I arrived at your tower and did not recognize you for the mighty wizard you are. This was unseemly, and I—”

The man’s creepy fawning was interrupted as the guards and the Baron broke into a loud cheer. When the cheer was over, I waved his words aside, “Think nothing of it. If you wish to make it up to me, you’ll take some of these corpses from my lands. Most are over in the cellar.”

I pointed to where the mud elementals had returned to their duties and were carrying the whole corpses of beasts from the pile into the cellar. When he walked away towards the cellar, I cast the enchantments needed to silence the foxes. A simple one that would only last a day or two, but I didn’t need anything complicated at the moment. The beasts would need to be moved to the side of my tower soon enough, and I would recast a better enchantment there.

Before I could go further, I was once again interrupted by the Baron and his men, “So that’s what was screaming. I thought it was odd that a wizard would be keeping maidens in a pit. Trap pits, I hadn’t considered using those.”

I bit back several scathing retorts concerning his intelligence as I turned to answer him, “If you found it odd, why did you order a charge?”

He chuckled, “I’m used to being the one following that order. I still have a few things to learn.”

“Evidently,” I answered dryly.

“So, my apologies wizard. I am Baron Llal. How should I greet you?” He asked. I assumed he was trying to get back to some respectable position in the conversation. His men were nearby listening.

“I am Nemon Fargus,” I declared. The man had already interrupted my work twice. I wanted nothing more than to return to my work. Both my assistants were gone for several days. My guards had enough work to occupy them as well. Lilly was busy with illustrations and tutoring Rolf. I was positioned perfectly to begin a new experiment.

“Ah! Al’s old teacher. I sent you a letter,” He said with a broad smile.

“Yes, you did,” I said and gazed at him evenly.

“Your mud men seem stalwart foes,” he kept talking, ignoring my look.

“Mud elementals, yes. They should be within Baron Froom’s capabilities to summon,” I answer him, though I felt my eyebrow twitch.

“I was wondering, if… can I have one?” he asked, giving me a look that I thought would be more appropriate on a child than a forty-year-old man.

“No.”

“Can I come back to fight—”

“No.”

“What if I paid you?”

“Baron Llal. While I appreciate the offer, I suspect your lands and people would be better fit to benefit from your wealth than I. Now, I have several important experiments to conduct, and I believe that Mage Pyl has gathered the ingredients he requires to serve you.”

Baron Llal followed my gaze to take in the necromancer. The man was surrounded by hundreds of animated corpses and cackling loudly as he raised the body of the bear.

“Yes, well, um, it was a pleasure to meet you, Wizard Fargus,” he said awkwardly.

“Quite so,” I answered, and turned away from the man.

I continued to ignore them all as I looked forlornly into the pits. In the time that conversation took place, I lost a great deal of experimental subjects. The ice foxes, for all that foxes are known for cunning, were stupid. In two pits, they had burrowed into the mud walls only to unleash a rising current of swamp water. Swamp water that drowned the entire group. I put the foxes in the other pits to sleep with a spell to prevent further loss.

Then I turned my gaze to the uninvited guest, with a rising desire to fling lightning bolts. Luckily for them, they had already crossed the lake. The necromancer rode on an undead bear and the others keeping their distance from his horde. That they seemed in high spirits was like rubbing salt into a wound.

I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths. It wasn’t like me not to be calm. Perhaps it was the lack of a full night’s sleep. Or the decreased tea. Or skipping dinner. When I opened my eyes a moment later, though, I was calm again. Ready to prepare stone pits for ice foxes.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 37

The first thing I did was gather several large-sized gemstones from the hidden places within my stores. Gemstones the size of my head, which only fit through the opening to my bag of holding with some difficulty. With these, I would be able to summon fourth-tier elementals. Several handfuls of the smaller gemstone types made it in as well.

Next, I remade the trap pits in my shallow lake. If this wave came from the same direction as the last one, then these pits would catch more experimental subjects. I delighted at the prospect of elemental animals. Mostly the ice foxes. Stone beetles weren’t all too common in the dungeons throughout the kingdom, but common enough that I had experimented on them before. Ice foxes would be new.

While making the pits, I had time to think. I felt it was unusual that harpies were part of this wave. The other creatures were beasts. Monsterized animals. But harpies were different. There was no animal equivalent that I was aware of for them. Still, I didn’t know everything. What was on the other side of the mountains had been a mystery before the kingdom existed.

It was dusk when I finished with my new pits. The sun was setting, and the reflection on the water wasn’t as pleasant when I was so close to it. I also didn’t like that the pits marred my view of the reflection again, but that was only temporary. This time, I already had an area established.  These pits wouldn't be here for long.

From within my bag of holding, I drew forth a large sapphire, the weight of it heavy in my hands. I sent my mind through the gem, a plea to the Queen of Waters. I pictured a great serpent made from the water itself, two sharp triangular fins behind its head. A long, coiling body that ended in a sharp-bladed tail. I pictured it rising from the bog to defend the tower, with sharp teeth that cleaved through flesh. I pictured it coiled around a giant bear and squeezing the life from it. I pictured obedience to my commands, and loyal service me.

I used [Water Manipulation] to pull forth the muddy and waters and watched as they started to take shape. From within, it looked to be a worm or snake of clear, clean water that grew larger with every heartbeat. Soon the serpent I had picture was floating on the water before me. I communicated the same orders I had given to the other elementals. Who I allowed passage and who should not be harmed. To stay in the assigned area. The fourth-tier elemental was much smarter than the others and understood quickly. It circled me once and then jumped further into my bog. It left only one small ripple as it went.

More sapphires were withdrawn, twelve altogether. Small gems, though, only the size of my finger. With each, I summoned more mist elementals, like the ones within my moat. These, I ordered to patrol the waters and confuse interlopers. A thicker mist soon intermingled with what already floated above the waters. The elementals moving in strange and unusual ways. I smiled to myself and allowed them to move beyond the lake and into the bog for several miles around my tower. Those who didn’t come along the road would surely find themselves in peril.

My mana was beginning to run low; the summoning costs were high. That wouldn’t stop me, though. Instead, I moved back to my tower, headed for the roof. It was there that I would summon my next elementals. Chelsea awaited me as soon as I entered, a plate of food warming by the fireplace. Goat sausage again. Though sliced this time and added to a mixture of root vegetables with a spicy seasoning. It wasn’t my favorite meal, but it was warm and hearty.

I finished without a word and continued to the top of my tower. There, Eni was on watch, and I sent him to fetch some of the iron weapons and supplies salvaged from the assassins. While he was gone, I checked the moonstone, which was more than three-quarters full. More than enough to ensure my tower couldn’t be scryed upon.

When he returned with a bundle of weapons and hooks, buckles, and assorted other iron things, I got to work. His owl was the basis I used, a living example. The extra stone taken from the newer basement rooms was available. I used my [Earth Manipulation] on a small portion of it to begin constructing four stone owls.

While I had five large emeralds, I only had nine medium-sized topaz. For what I wanted, I would use two topaz for every one emerald. As the owls took shape, I used the iron to mold into their claws and beaks. It would rust in time, certainly.  For now, it shined under the moonlight. Each owl was four feet tall and beautifully sculpted. The other gargoyles I’d seen made were often grotesque in appearance. Something to inspire fear in battle. I had no desire for that, I wanted everything I crafted to look magnificent.

First, the emeralds, fourth-tier earth elementals giving life to the owls. The iron clanged as they snapped their beaks and hopped around. Their stone wings smacked against their sides. Next, I summoned third-tier wind elementals, one for each wing. Wind elementals subordinated to the earth. It was a command they expressed dislike of, but not outright rejected.

The topaz that held their connection, I used for each eye. The emeralds, I hid within the stone roof of the tower, along with the sapphires from water elementals. I gave orders to my new summons, to take a corner each and defend the tower from the air. Similar orders to the other elementals, but these I didn’t want to move at all unless they were defending. The earth elementals took to the order with ease. The wind ones again expressing their displeasure. This time it took shape with a wing moving ever so slightly like the owls were adjusting themselves.

I was considering what to do with the last large emerald when Eni’s voice called to me.

“Sir?”

I turned my attention his way, “Yes?”

“Those things. The, uh—” His owl, fluttered onto his shoulder.

“Gargoyles,” I informed him.

“Those gargoyles, are they, um, safe to ride?” He asked with a curiosity in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. He couldn’t stop himself from glancing at the creatures every few seconds.

I considered the matter for a moment. Of course, they were safe to ride. They were under my command absolutely. They were large enough. The extra weight would be meaningless to the elementals within. The true question was, did I want him to ride one? And that answer was, “No. I don’t imagine so.”

He looked disappointed but didn’t ask anything further. Not that I wanted him to. Instead, I returned to considering what I wanted for the final large emerald. A guardian for the front door seemed to be my best idea so far. Something that looked to be an elaborate entryway that could come alive to defend me. The question, was how did I want it to look? I didn't want anything I had already done. So not a serpent. Or an owl. No lizard or mouse. I didn’t like the idea of a giant man, either. Nor a giant jaw, though the threat of one would be interesting. Watching people look up at sharp teeth in fear every time they walked into my tower? That idea brought a smirk to my face.

But, it wasn’t beautiful. Or ornate. Eni watched me warily as I began to pace, but I ignored him. I could make a beautifully shaped stallion, but if I did, then I would want one for each side of the doorway. When Tond came to replace Eni, I glanced at the moon. It was well into the night, and perhaps tomorrow the idea would come to me. Now that my moonstone was in effect, someone would need to see my tower with their own eyes to tell that fourth-tier summons guarded my home. It could wait, as this was more than enough to deal with a beastwave.

I knew I should take myself to bed, but my desire to summon was great. Just one more. I had a medium-sized piece of yellow amber. I was surprised to have found it, thinking I used it in a past experiment. Amber wasn’t a gemstone like the others, that much I knew. It didn’t respond to [Earth Manipulation] like the other gems. Many said it to be blood from an ancient tree, but I suspected its origins were closer to dragons. Ear wax, perhaps? Dragon humours were mysterious, and even the oldest history books only held suppositions on the topic. But how else would I be able to connect to the Plane of Nature, if there were no connection?

As I laid the piece of amber at the base the ivy grew from, I reached through it to connect to the Plane of Nature. My appeal was answered quickly by a fifth-tier elemental. The elementals on this plane did not allow their lord disturbed.

What do you want, elf? A seductive woman’s voice came to me, one that sounded like the gentle song of a bird. It sent shudders down my spine and spoke to my wood-elf half. As if I had heard from a long-lost lover, it touched on a reminiscence that wasn’t truly there.

My willpower held firm, and I answered with the projected thought of my ivy come to life. It whipped and stranged attackers. Bloomed in beautiful flowers. Reached and lifted pots and rocks. Of obedience and loyalty.

The response was a peal of light laughter like tiny bells jingling. My little sister I shall send. Treat her well.

The connection went silent after that, and I felt the drops of sweat run down my back. Nature elementals were some of the most intelligent of the elementals. Or rather, their intelligence was closest to mine in the way they thought. Except they were tricky, and often couldn’t be trusted. I watched as a woman’s face appeared among the vines. A beautiful face with elven ears, and green eyes that darted around. A third-tier elemental, but that I expected.

Oh! You care for our children! It called into my mind, as a flock of wisps escaped the confines of the floating mist elementals. They danced through the air to hover around the face, and a hand of ivy reached out to them. I was considering eliminating the new elemental when her hand pulled back.

The eyes on the woman’s face turned towards me, and the lips creased upwards in a happy smile. As long as you care for the little ones, I will serve.

Arrogance.  If she didn't serve, I would simply summon another.  I gave her orders, the same as the other elementals, and departed. If she truly served, I would keep her. But I would test her to be sure. I just wasn’t sure how yet. Another consideration for tomorrow. The moon was high, and I could see the early rays of the morning on the horizon. It was past time for sleep.

It was midmorning when a guard woke me. The beastwave was here. With a cup of tea and a platter of fried eggs, I went to sit on a bench on my rooftop. Beside me, all the guards stood ready. Below, the beasts and monsters filled the trees across the lake. Harpies were ugly things with the torsos of women, wings for arms, and clawed legs. They perched on branches next to condors of great size. Stone beetles crawled in and out of bushes and up and down tree trunks. White foxes, the size of wolves, sniffed at the water’s edge. Mist rolled off of them in plumes and added a chill to the air. The numbers seemed off, with many more harpies and condors than the other animals.

I took a bite of the eggs, they tasted bland but we had a surplus that needed eaten. The creatures in this wave were all mountainous. Considering the first wave, and then this one, it seemed to me as if something were on the other side of the mountains. Something that could scare these things this way. That made me curious. But not curious enough to investigate myself. I had no death wish. No one came back from over the mountains. Not even before these beast waves. I considered briefly the idea of a quest but dismissed it.

A bear, hidden, roared. Birds and harpies took flight. Beetles buzzed their wings and flitted low over the waters. Foxes pounced and swam. Like the wolves before them, the mud clung to white fur. White splotched with brown.

In the waters, my mud elementals attacked first. Branch-like arms swiped beetles down. Stone beetles. The beasts sunk like rocks. Foxes bared their teeth and jumped, only to be trapped in muddy bodies. But the beasts were many. There were only four of the mud elementals. I watched many more monsters made it past them.

I took another few bites. Even bland, the eggs still tasted good. While the beasts crossed the center of the lake, my owls took flight. They fell fast, almost too fast. A straight fall from the ledge. Until the wind lifted their wings. Harpies shrieked in rage. Condors piecing cries echoed across churning water. My owls were only silent in return. The four gargoyles met the horde and were swarmed. Like bees around a nest, their enemies struck. But the attacks did no damage against tough stone bodies. Iron beaks and claws met flesh and monsters fell. But like the mud elementals, the owls were only four against many.

In the center of my lake, ice foxes fell into the trap pits. Beetles fell inside as well but flew their way out on unsteady wings. My water elemental jumped into the air. A single splash of water would knock down hundreds of buzzing beetles. Stone beetles which couldn’t swim. It made short work of many. I watched satisfied as my pits filled up and beetles fell, then turned my eyes back to the skies.

Most of the high-flying attackers were past my owls. But they didn’t make it to the rooftop. They tried. Hundreds upon hundreds tried but were knocked away by my air elementals. I was glad I had summoned so many. I could see the air as it whipped around my rooftop like a cyclone. A globe of shielding wind. Feathers tore from broken wings, caught in the funnel. I sat my empty plate aside and sipped the last of my tea, glad to have finished before the attackers got too close.

I watched for another moment as the flying monsters flung themselves at my defenses. None came close to breaking through the wind barrier. The feathers and blood caught in it darkened the cyclone that made the sun seem overcast. Many flyers turned back, only to receive death from iron claws instead. The beetles made it over the wall but met a slaughter. The elementals in my moat were unrelenting. The foxes didn’t even succeed with that, their paws uselessly clawed at the stone. Their tiny yipes of anger and frustration created an undertone to the sounds of battle.

I was tired and ready to return to bed. A few hours’ sleep wasn’t enough. Harpies smelled awful. Beetles smelled worse. I had seen enough to be satisfied. It was time to end this. With a cast of [Chain Lightning], I dispersed the flock of harpies and condors. The few that remained alive turned to flee, and I ignored them. Thousands of winged bodies already littered the ground.

In response to my spell, a bear roared and burst from the woods. A giant creature, almost a third as tall as my tower when on all fours. Shaggy fur of brown and grey hung from its body. Along its side, a long gash was torn open revealing the muscle and bone beneath. Blood dripped and clouded the waters at its feet. A fourth-tier beast. An angry one.

My mud elementals tried to trap it in long clinging arms of mud, but it shook them off. A single swipe cleared three, their forms splashed across the waters to reform slowly. A bite downed the fourth. I saw my water elemental race forward. Its form arced above and below the waters. The bear saw it and roared again, as it lifed itself up on its hind legs. Clawed arms held high over its head.

With such a large target, how could I not? A [Lightning Bolt] flashed from my hand. With a crack, it hit the chest of the beast. Not even an eyeblink’s time between the two. But the bear lived. I thought it might, but my attack was more a response to an annoyance than an attempt to kill. It was already wounded badly. It wouldn’t last long regardless of what I did. The furred chest rose and fell, scorched.  Smoke whispered away. Its eyes glared hatred at me from below. And with its eyes on me, it didn’t see my water elemental’s tail rise and pierce the chest in the same spot I struck. The serpent came next. It coiled around the bear to try to drag in under the shallow waters. Instead, they both fell back. The bear hacked blood and grunted.  The serpent twisted and tightened.

The horde dispersed, what remained of it. Only a few dozen creatures headed towards Woodhoot. My assistants would have no problem with that. Though my elemental still tangled with the bear, I didn’t wait to watch. My bed called to me and sought its comfort. The sooner I slept, the sooner I would wake.

“Have a good morning, gentlemen. Wake me for lunch,” I bid farewell to my three guards whose eyes still stared at the carnage outside. They didn’t respond, and I was too tired at the moment to repeat myself. I shouldn’t have stayed up so late. My nature elemental didn’t even see any battle. The four gargoyles weren’t as effective against the flyers as I’d hoped. There were too many enemies for them to stop. A fourth-tier earth elemental would be a real challenge for a third-tier adventurer party. A flying one should be a challenge against a party of fourth-tier adventurers. Four should be more than enough. And they were, but this wasn’t the best enemy to use them against.

It was with these thoughts, that I fell asleep.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 36

Yesterday afternoon and this morning I spent doing recordkeeping for my latest experiment. I’d enchanted numbered markers for each of the wolf pits, and needed to annotate those dates and numbers. It wouldn’t do to forget and accidentally breed the beasts incorrectly.

Right in the middle of eating lunch, I was informed I had guests. Scout [Rangers]. If it were delivery of tea flowers, they would have dropped it off with a guard.   That they were waiting for me meant it was something more. Still, whatever news they held would wait until after lunch. The lunch wasn’t anything grand, goat sausages wrapped in a leafy green and baked with quarter potatoes.

But the side of buttered bread was mouthwatering. The crunchy outside, and steaming soft inside, reminded me of a bakery in Sena City.  It closed fifteen years ago.  Six generations of bakers, only for the last in the line to gamble it away. A man great at baking, but poor at knowing when to stop betting.

When I arrived outside, I found two scouts waiting on me. The first was the young lady that warned me of the last beastwave. She had light brown hair and freckles. Beside her sat her animal companion, a large badger. The other was the man who I met once at the inn in Woodhoot. Short brown hair, and the makings of a future beard.  Despite having such a plain forgettable face, I hadn’t forgotten.

“Good afternoon,” I greeted them, while Mena opened the gate for me.

“Sir,” They greeted me, both with small bows. So, no recognition for previously held rank here.

“You come with tidings?” I asked it generally, not really bothering to direct it at either.

“Yessir,” the woman responded, but then stopped and looked towards the man for approval. With the Scout's newer uniforms, I wasn’t familiar with what ranking symbols went where. But the look she gave him indicated he held the higher rank. He gave her a tiny, tiny nod.  Barely perceptible.

She held herself higher and spoke a little more confidently, “Another beast wave approaches, sir. Condors and harpies in the air. Ice foxes and stone beetles on the ground. It’s led by an ancient cave bear, though Baron Llal wounded the beast. I stopped to warn you on my way to warn Woodhoot.”

I gave her an approving smile, and then turned to the man, “Good. I’d like to say I believe this young lady deserves a commendation. Her early warning and the assistance in the defense of Woodhoot during the last beastwave should warrant such.”

The other Scout didn’t seem to think so, with the angry look he gave her. “You stayed to join in the defense?! That’s not our job. We are the eyes and not the arms. We see and—”

“Excuse me?” I interrupted his dressing down, using the minor illusion that made my appearance grow in size as I spoke.  “Do you not understand what a commendation means? Not only do you ignore my words, but you try to use them against the very person I sought to laud?!”

I stared down my nose that the arrogant whelp as I continued, “This woman will receive the commendation I recommended, or I will curse you to only taste the bitterest roots.  No matter what you eat. To see all coins as copper. To feel thirsty no matter how much you drink. You have aggrieved me, Scout, and I am not one to be aggrieved.”

I had no intention of doing that. I didn’t have the magic to accomplish half of what I’d threatened. That never stopped me from threatening someone with it before, though.

“Please, sir, I beg your forgiveness!” He cowered with his hands raised.

I cast an illusion spell, one that made a mark on his hand glow for a moment before it faded, “Forgiveness? No. I mark you.  Should you fail at the task assigned, so too shall you face my curses.”

Truthfully, the mark did nothing, and no curses were used.  Well, one curse.  But he shouldn’t need sight to tell the difference between copper and gold, anyway.   That minor hex would serve as a reminder.

I crossed my arms, “Now speak.”

He gulped before he spoke, sweat dampening his hair, “Sir, I come with grave news. Assassins were spotted in Lark. We fear they head towards your tower. They already slew three men in Lark and a man in Woodhoot. Creeper in the night the townsfolk are callin’ them.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Oh? That is grave news indeed. I’ll need to prepare a proper greeting for them. If that is all, I will attend to my defenses. I expect you both to serve in the protection of Woodhoot before going about your other business.”

I turned and let Mena close the gate back, “Mena, gather my assistants and attend me on the roof.”

“Right away, boss!” She answered with a sloppy salute before jogging into the tower.

Walker was with Meathead and Tond on patrol. In that time, I regretted the hex I placed on the Scout. Sure, in my interactions with him, I found him to be annoying, melodramatic, and rude. Certainly, it was within my authority to reprimand him. Clearly, I had the power to do it. But it felt wrong. As if I had spanked a child one too many times. My regret over my actions served as yet another example of my emotions being at odds with logic.

It took an hour before we were all together. Once they arrived, I gave them orders to defend Woodhoot. Three days in the town of Lark if they were successful. Kine was also given the quests to pass to the adventurers’ guild and tasked with collecting any correspondence. Walker was assigned to ensuring that Mena actually returned. Given her personality, I imagined watching over her would prove a good learning experience for him.

After they departed, I got to work. Now that I had an official warning from the Scouts, I could increase the strength of my defenses. Spells and guardians that were normally preludes to war would be available to me now. With war on the horizon already, this would be the perfect time to improve without alarming the locals. I couldn’t help but smile.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 35

In the morning, Lilly approached me. I was eating a breakfast of onions, eggs, and sausage baked into a hard roll. She approached balancing her breakfast atop her tome and say immediately to my right. Rather than eat, though, she opened her tome and pointed a tanned finger at one of the passages. In it, she described and measured one of the mushrooms from the dungeon.

“Master, Walker and I have searched through your books on herbs thrice and can find no mention of this type of mushroom.”

“Hmm,” I acknowledged while chewing, turning the book closer to me. Lilly began eating as I flipped through the pages, reviewing her work.

When I finished chewing, I dabbed my mouth with a napkin and spoke, “You have done fine work here. The measurements appear to be exact, and measuring each sample twice is excellent. However, where are your illustrations?”

She gulped a mouth full of food down, “Illustrations, master?”

“Yes, what did you imagine the loose sheets of paper were for, but to practice? You have room here, on the back of each page to place your final versions,” I tapped the empty space.

“I—yes, master,” she bit back whatever she was about to say.

“With regards to any wildlife you are unable to identify, you may work with Walker to collect samples. We will send them to an herbalist or alchemist for identification. Follow his advice on collection, and do not touch them with bare hands. This is vitally important…” I trailed off, as one of my guards, Tond, was pacing nearby in an agitated manner.

“Yes?” I asked, not happy with the interruption.

He stopped pacing, and saluted, “Sir, we found bodies in your feed pit this morning.”

Bodies in my feed pit? What was he talking about?  Immediately, I feared that some idiot local may have tried to sight-see my tower and fell into one of my experiment pits.  I had plans for those soon, what with the wolf population now large enough to proceed with new experiments. Monsters breed so quickly, I don’t see how the alchemists in the capital could have ever caused the shortage. They must have been stupider than I imagined.

Still, a dead villager was the last thing I needed. Oh, I hope it isn’t that stable boy. That would be a disaster! If he was sneaky enough to make it out this way before, he could do so again.

“Show me,” I said, rising from the table. Lilly and breakfast, unfortunately, would need to wait.

Behind the wall of my tower, between it and the lake, was a pit. I remembered originally placing it there for the pieces of beasts that weren’t a complete body. Pieces I directed the two [Ranger] guards to feed my experiments. Since I hadn’t been using the pit myself, and the view of it was blocked by the wall, I had put it out of my mind. Now looking at it, I realized that my elemental guardians had been busier than I thought.

The pit was still filled with beast parts, but they were recent additions. Creatures that must have tried to come over the walls since the beast wave. Dead monsterized owls, cats, frogs, and some sort of insect. It created such a foul odor that I covered my nose with a sleeve. But Tond was right, there on the top of the pile, lay three bodies.

Assassins or thieves, though.  It was almost a relief I wouldn’t need to send a guard to tell the folks of Woodhoot that one of their idiot sons fell victim to his own stupidity. These men wore black clothes, including boots and cowls. In the clenched hand of one, I saw a grappling hook with a rope.

It was unfortunate they were dead.  I couldn’t question dead men without resorting to necromancy, and I suspected the symbol of Bi would disrupt that. Of course, I could create a barrier to hide my activities, but that would be beneath me. I could only sigh and shake my head in disappointment.

“Sir, I was on duty last night, but I didn’t see anything,” Tond freely admitted. Which was noble of him.

I only nodded, “They likely had skills or magic to hide from sight. Perhaps Eni could have seen through it if he was using [Beast Sight] or some such skill. No matter, strip them and feed them to the swine. In the future, only notify me if the bodies aren’t burglars.”

I had no intention of telling him there was a good chance they were assassins. Burglars this far into the wilds? I doubted it. More like some noble house bore a grievance against me for some slight I’d long forgotten. While he jumped into the pit to carry out my command, I decided it would nice of me to give him stairs to return by. Something that only took a moment to do, though building from compacted mud might not last long.

The nightly invaders did give me some concern. Not for myself or the tower. It was unlikely for anyone below tier four to enter without my permission.  A fifth-tier attacker wouldn’t be after my servants or pupils, and I felt my personal defenses were sufficient at the moment. I would revisit that consideration in the future.

What concerned me, as I walked back to finish my breakfast, was the suspicion that these assassins attacked others on their way to me. The type of men that would commit this crime aren’t often known for their restraint.  My answer to this, though, could easily coincide with my desire to offer a reward for the good impression my assistants made on me the other day. I also suspected that Walker didn’t take the time to enjoy the last reward I gave him.  He likely rushed home with the Baroness’s missive, thinking the matter of great importance.

On the other hand, I would be bereft of competent servants to stand guard at the gate. My [Ranger] guards were already working night shifts and feeding my experiments.  And patrolling with my assistants, though they wouldn’t be doing that if my assistants were traveling. In hindsight, I might should have kept the other two bandits. Bah! I’d rather have too much work for them than not enough.

Rewarding those three also tied me to the tower until they returned.  While I didn’t think anything serious could get through my defense, I wanted someone capable of answering should the Baroness make another surprise visit. Not that I possessed any desire to leave.

After a lukewarm breakfast, I made my decision regarding the giant spider nest. I would issue a quest through the adventurers’ guild but have a copy delivered to Baron Llal. That should suffice for now, and if no one took action by this fall, I would remove it myself.

While I had other tasks I needed to accomplish, I did what I wanted to do for the rest of the morning. Which was to implement a new experiment on the wolves. The wolf pit that wasn’t subjected to mana infusion was crowding. So, I divided it out into several smaller pits. In them, I placed breeding pairs of wolves, all cubs from recent litters.

In the past, I had some success with animal husbandry using rats.  I had bred them for longevity, succeeding in getting the vermin to double their natural lifespan. That experiment ultimately failed when the rats monsterized and turned cannibalistic.  These wolves, though, were already monsterized and they showed no sign of turning cannibalistic.  I wasn’t yet sure that I could implement a breeding program that encourages human lifespan extensions, but I could consider that after I proved successful with the wolf pits.

Again, this was only a side experiment. Something to curb my desire to through myself into my work.

After lunch, I was walking upstairs when Walker and Lilly approached me with a question. They caught me on the first floor and directed me over to my new table.

“Master, could you have a look at this?” Walker asked, pointing to a monsterized beetle in a stone cage resting on the table.

Lilly opened her book, “I think I can do the normal mushrooms and creatures, but I am uncertain how to do the clinging mushroom. It looks different on each insect.”

She opened her book and showed me an illustration of a different beetle with mushroom-like growth coming from its back and legs.  Then she held the illustration against the beetle in the cage, which mushrooms grew in different places on the body.

I was immediately alarmed. The insects in the dungeon were only the size of my hand at most, and I hadn’t paid them much attention when I was down there. Parasitic mushrooms were an adventurer’s nightmare. They sometimes staying unnoticed all the way back from a quest. Something that could turn into a plague quickly with little to no answers other than fire. Which is the first thing I did. I tossed the stone crate right into the fireplace. So swift the movement, it left surprised looks on both of my pupil’s faces.

“Stand there and don’t move,” I commanded, as I hustled upstairs. There, in a small crate, I own several wands enchanted with [Cure Disease]. Something I had experimented with to try to stop the growths my longevity spell caused. While they worked for a time, the growths always came back, and they came back faster. My spell needed something that could stop them from growing in the first place. Still, I had eighteen or nineteen of the wands left.

Tond was coming in the front door from his body disposing assignment when I returned downstairs holding three wands. “Quickly, gather everyone!” I ordered, my tone making it clear how serious I was.

When all residents of my tower gathered, which seemed to only take a few moments, I lifted one of the wands. “This is a wand of [Cure Disease]. It will not harm you. Stand still until you are dismissed.”

I ignored the murmurs and fearful looks, and immediately zapped Rolf. The wand causing the child to radiate with a soft golden light. Soon it faded, leaving him looking at his mother. His mother was zapped next. When she stopped glowing, I dismissed them to their quarters.

Next came Lilly and Walker, who both sneezed a thick yellow mucus onto the floor when the light struck them. I burned it away with fire manipulation and dismissed them to their quarters. Kine showed no response but bowed in thanks as he departed unasked.

Tond and Mena, likewise, had no response, but Eni did. He bent of hacking and coughing until a slug the leech the size of my finger came out and fell to the floor. It hovered and started to drift in the air until I burned it away.

“Lung-leeches,” I muttered and turned to zap Meathead. For his part, he giggled a bit.  I thought I might have seen his eyes brighten with recognition or intelligence, but the look was gone too quickly. I zapped him again, to be certain, but I didn’t see it a second time.

When I stood alone, I zapped myself. I disabled several defensive spells to do so, but knowing I was clear of disease was worth it. Only after I recast my defenses, did I call that the other residents no longer needed to stay in their quarters.

While concerned looks and a host of questions bombarded me, I ignored those. Instead, I gave Walker and Lilly instructions to no longer enter the dungeon.  She should have all measurements and be able to finish her illustrations from beyond the barrier. I would personally gather any samples that needed to be sent for identification.

That such a thing was in my dungeon was worrying to me.  It meant that I would need to remove whatever creatures and plants I wanted to keep and burn away all the other wildlife. Nemon Marcus, plague-bringer, was not a title I wished to have.

Still, the barrier would keep it contained. No need to worry so long as no one else went inside.

Map of the five kingdoms

I used the inkarnate website for a few hours to put together a map of the five kingdoms.  It's a little rough, and I'm not sure I want to use it, so I thought I would see what you all thought.  

First time using this software, so I'm far far from an expert mapmaker.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 34

Our meeting didn’t last long after Baron Wilchrest’s response. I reminded Baroness Lark that Mirm Fenn was a landless noble trying to escape justice for banditry with his sweet words. For the [Bandit Lord]’s part, he silently brooded. We paused our conversation for a few minutes when Chelsea arrived with some tea and delectable honeyed rolls with jam. After the snack, I apologized for not preparing more because I hadn’t known they were coming. Then I began discussing the upcoming war against Mirkdal.

A topic I raised so that I could hammer how much the army needed good officers into Baron Wilchrest’s head. I bribed the man with compliments concerning how the northern villages and towns needed his sword arm. Of course, when the Baroness realized I wouldn’t be returning to her preferred topic of conversation, she’d made excuses and they left soon after.

I could tell by her look that she wasn’t pleased with my solution to the problem she brought before me. I was though. If she hadn’t come to me with the nonsense, she would likely still be reveling in whatever she felt from having three suitors.

More than that satisfaction, I was extremely pleased with the table my students created. It would need some ornamentation, of course, but the stone benches! They were just perfectly uncomfortable. I could tell by the way my guests had shifted in their seats that the longer they sat the more their hindquarters were growing numb. That was the impression I wanted to give guests.

I could picture the future now, the uncomfortable faces anyone would have when they visited. The way they would frown or grimace the longer they stayed. I would be able to repay the irritation caused by their intrusion with irritation of my own equal measure. And should they be rude enough to inquire as to why I have uncomfortable furniture? I’ll blame the Laxtoni for their monopoly on couches!

After seeing my intrusive guests out to their waiting carriage and watching just long enough to ensure they departed, I went to search out my assistants. Unfortunately, they had both gone on patrol with Eni and Mena. Lilly was studying, which I wholeheartedly approved of. Tond and Chelsea were busy reorganizing the cellar by the sound of them, and Meathead and Rolf were swimming again. Which meant I was free for the time being. This day was getting better and better!

I returned to my first-floor room and began working on the table and benches. The general shape of them was fine, but they looked too plain. From my bag of holding, I withdrew the large amethyst, the purple crystal maybe a finger or two larger than my head. Amethyst, the useless gem. First, I etched another ornate geometric shape onto the table-top. I made sure it matched the fireplace, but not identically. Then, I melded the amethyst into the groves until the etching was smooth against the stone top. Perfectly seamless to the touch.

Then, I touched up the corners and legs of the table and benches, ensuring they were smooth. Sturdy enough to support almost anything. I’d trusted my assistants during the meeting, but that didn’t mean I thought their work was infallible. They must have rushed to make the furniture before the nobles came in, and I didn’t want to risk something unforeseen occurring later. I checked that all the pieces were melded with the floor, catching only one chair leg that needed touching up.

The last piece I did was to add more etchings to the tops of the benches. If they were uncomfortable before, they’d be even more uncomfortable now! I only filled the etchings on my chair with gems, altering the stone to a slight curve that was a more comfortable seat. I also raised the seat an inch or two so that I would sit a smidgen higher.

I didn’t want to look down on any guests like a lord might. I only wanted them to think I could. An implication. Arrogant? Maybe. But this was my tower. I should be allowed to freely condescend here. Now, as I considered how the diamond-shaped cutout of my chair looked after I’d filled it with melded amethyst, I wondered if I had overdone it.

Kine and Walker returned as I was considering the matter. I hadn’t realized how long I spent getting lost in the design until they arrived. They both greeted me before heading upstairs to bathe, muck and monster splatter dripping along the way. They had nothing important to report. Mena stayed outside to guard the front gate, and Eni, with his owl, was out there as well. It was his turn to feed my beast experiments today.

I cast a quick cleaning spell on a monster claw, some type of insect leg, that had fallen off when they departed. It made me consider their appearance for a moment. I sent them out patrolling as a way for them to learn through activity. At their age, studying all day long would be torture. I wanted to get them to the point their skills would be able to assist me with my experiments. I also didn’t want them to leave in two years without fully earning the right to be able to say they were my assistants.

But I didn’t consider what might lay deep within the bog. Here in the hinterlands, it could be almost anything. I tapped my finger against my chin as I considered now.

I made a few assumptions. I assumed that, if there were something powerful out there, someone would have issued a quest to slay it already. That because Baron Llals lands lay west, closer to untamed wilds, these lands were tamer. That if my assistants crossed paths with a powerful beast or monster, they would retreat and inform me.

While all these may be true, we were still close to untamed wilds. Predators ambushed adventurers often enough to warrant more action on my part. I didn’t want to risk losing an assistant to something as stupid as an errant beast. Or my guards. Well, that’s what my guards’ job was. If they felt the call of duty so greatly as to fall in defense of the tower, I wouldn’t stop them. That didn’t mean I liked the idea. My assistants were under no such obligation. No, I needed to survey the bog for anything third-tier or above.

Not that they wouldn’t be able to handle a third-tier beast. Just that if it were part of a pack or swarm, then it may give them trouble. Anything above fourth-tier nearby, I should be fully aware of. Making the decision was easy after I thought it through.

First, I went to the top of my tower and communed with the wind elementals there. I kept two, which is all I needed to defend against tier-one beasts. The rest soared across the bog with orders to report back on any creature found at the third tier or above. I could have cast some scrying spells first, but why should I bother when my elementals would work better?

The few hours more they would take I spent fashioning stone rings. Stone rings enchanted with the rock armor spell. Normally, enchantments required a metal band to hold. The exception being stone, which could hold earth magic enchantments. I suppose green magic enchantments would hold on a wooden band as well, but I hadn’t yet tested the theory.

Even then, these stone rings could only hold enough of the enchantment to supply three uses of the spell. Which should be stable for a couple of years. As they only took a few hours to make eight of them, I could always make more later if needed.

By the time I had finished with the rings, the wind elementals returned with their findings. A third-tier snake, black with yellow stripes, to the west. A third-tier lamprey in another muddy crevasse to the south, surrounded my lower-tier versions of its kind. And to the southwest, a four-tier giant spider. It made its home inside a rocky pillar that jutted out from another crevasse, this one also filled with lampreys. Brown, and large enough to stretch its legs from one side of my tower to the other. A sticky mound of spider eggs taller than a man lay behind it.

I wasn’t worried about the snake or the lamprey. The snake was solitary, and my assistants smart enough to not jump down into a crevasse filled with squirming monsters. The spider surprised me. While I considered there might be such a beast, I didn’t put enough thought into what kind of beast it might be. Giant spiders seemed likely to be the apex hunters in the bog. A fourth-tier one was the kind of beast that could demolish a village and threaten a town.

I sat on the stone bench, to consider it more in-depth. Did I want to do something about the spider? If so, what did I want to do? I could easily warn Kine and Walker away from it. Submit a notice to the Adventurer’s Guild. But who knew when adventurers with the right skills would come along to slay it? And the way this monster established its home, surrounded by a muddy chasm filled with those disgusting things... that was the kind of place adventurers often met their deaths. Treacherous, slippery grounds. No civilization for miles.

I could send notice to Baron Llal. He’d practically begged for something tough to slay, and this might interest him. Though, if he died in battle against it, then it would appear as though I were the cause of his death. I pushed a simple thought to one of the air elementals, increasing the breeze. The full sun of the day was making me a little too warm.

Certainly, I could slay it myself. It wouldn’t take but a day to do. I could even wipe away the lamprey pit while I was at it. Who knew if the spiders were responsible for keeping the lamprey population in check? Killing the spider might lead to the bog swarmed with the filthy things. I shuddered at the thought. But, on the other hand, that would be a whole day I couldn’t spend experimenting. I would have to pack a lunch! No. That wasn’t a good option. The spider hasn’t bothered me enough yet for that.

I immediately regretted the thought. Who knows if it killed people yet? I couldn’t help but believe it had. And who knows if it has enough food in the lampreys to meet its hunger? I had no idea what its hunting range was. If the Scouts were aware of it, they would know. But if they were aware of it, would they have let it be? I wasn’t sure. The scout commander seemed more focused on political threats than environmental ones.

Truthfully, I didn’t know if the Scouts already were aware of the threat. Nor did I know if the adventurers’ guild already had a posting for it. In fact, now that I thought about it, I didn’t know how much of the bog was my territory. Not that it mattered for Kine and Walker’s training, but if I were to slay the monster, I would need to know who owns those lands. Unleashing my magics on it only to find it some nobleman's pet would be an annoyance.

With a new trail to follow, I went to my library and pulled the scroll that granted me my title and lands. I chuckled to myself, realizing the wax was still unbroken. I’d never even read it. For all I knew, it could be blank. I doubted it, but it wasn’t like me to overlook such an important detail.

I couldn’t help but frown after it opened. She didn’t just grant me the tower. Or the bog. She granted me a great swath of undeveloped land right in the center of her barony. The implications of that didn’t sit well with me at all. Quickly, I rolled it back up and returned it to its place on the shelf. I may have cursed. Only once or twice, if I did—I’m not some heathen. Small curse words, not the really vulgar ones.

I wasn’t that upset by it. Only mildly annoyed. There were several plausible reasons she granted additional lands to me that didn’t have to do with some scheme to tie me closer to the local politics. Some far less likely than others, but it would make for a good discussion between my pupils. Especially so for Lilly. I’d recently directed her studies more towards nature and reduced her required reading in politics. Also, I smelled freshly baked bread coming from downstairs and it was almost time for dinner.

I arrived downstairs to a magnificent dinner of baked chicken, rice with chicken gravy, and a side of soft, buttery rolls. Rolf was the first to finish, having the smallest portion and the greatest desire to go play. After he left, though, I caught everyone’s attention.

“Good evening, I have some news to share. First, let me begin by allowing everyone to take one of these,” I spoke between bites, after dabbing my mouth with my napkin. With my other hand, I placed the stone rings on the table.

“Please, there are enough for everyone. If you would take one, and pass the rings to the others. If they don’t fit a finger now, I will adjust the size after dinner. These rings are enchanted with a spell called Rock Armor, and—”

“Rock Armor?” Meathead asked, only for his body to be encased in solid plates of grey stone. It, unfortunately, included the chair he was sitting in. When he found himself stuck to the seat, able to move his arms but not his legs, he started to panic. I quickly dispelled his enchantment, for fear of him breaking my chair.

I continued as soon as he stopped panicking, “As you have seen, the rings activate by speaking the name of the enchantment. Now, these rings only hold three—”

“Rock Armor!” Meathead shouted, now from a standing position.

“—three uses of the enchantment. I made these for you, should you find your lives be in danger. Which brings me to my next piece of news—”

“Aha ha ha ha!” Meathead began laughing and punching the stone wall with his rock-covered fist, both the sound and his laughter interrupting me once again.

“Sleep!” I cast with a waved hand. We all quietly watched as he fell backward like a tree and landed with a heavy thud. His eyes closed and he softly snored. Everyone else’s eyes turned back to me immediately after.

“I have found a tier four monster in the southwestern part of the bog. Until it has been dealt with, all scouting and surveying should avoid the area. If you see the beast, or any beast of that power, you should flee and report back to me. Understood?”

Most nodded their heads, but Chelsea held up the ring pinched between her thumb and forefinger, “Now why do I get one? I’ll not be going out there.”

“Neither will Lilly. That doesn’t mean it isn’t part of my responsibilities to protect you. Now, any other questions?” I asked, while also gesturing to the sleeping Meathead. I greatly appreciated that they understood the implications of that motion and decided not to ask anything else.

We finished eating our dinner in a silence that I quite enjoyed. I broke it only once I finished eating, “Lilly, Walker, Kine, please join me on the roof when you are done eating.” I waited long enough to hear three ‘yes, masters’ before departing to watch the sunset.

I stopped by my study on the way up to grab the grant of land and title, as well as a simple map of the western duchy. I also poured myself a glass of pale berry wine, the kind that was right on the verge of being too sweet.

From my bench, the sun’s normal yellow light changed to beautiful oranges and reds. A hint of purple along the thin clouds hanging above the mountains. The reflection of the scene in my waters was amazing. It was the type of view that no artist could ever paint, though many tried.

My pupils joined me but didn’t break the silence until the sun was in its final moments of setting. It was very considerate of them. They sat on the other benches around the rooftop, and Eni, the guard on duty, took himself and his owl to a corner to inspect something in that direction. Or at least tactfully pretend to.

“Master, you wished to see us?” Walker asked tentatively. I would have thought Lilly would break the silence first. When I turned to look at the three, I noticed she seemed preoccupied with a tome she was writing in. Ah. That must be the tome for cataloging the dungeon creatures and plants. Her focus on that task was warming to see.

“Yes, I have a few things to discuss with you all. But first, a lesson. Attend me,” I unrolled the map of Eistoni and placed it on the ground facing them. A quick use of [Earth Manipulation] brought the stonework over the edges to hold it in place against the breeze.

The map was older, at least a hundred years old. While it showed the barony of Lark, that’s where the borders ended. Again, I used [Earth Manipulation], this time etching a rough copy of the outline of the barony and the city of Lark. I didn’t mark any of the villages, as who knew if they were still the same? Instead, I marked roughly where my tower stood, the basic outline of the bog, and then the area granted to me under the Baroness’s orders.

I slid the grant and title into the sleeve of my robe, seeing as I didn’t need it at the moment. “What you see here is the map of the Barony of Lark. If this is the town of Lark, this would be about where Woodhoot rests. Here is where my tower stands, and this border is the wetlands.”

My students stood from their seats and walked closer, each moving to get a good look.

“This area outlined here is what the Baroness gifted me,” I said pointing with my finger. “More than I wanted or needed. And she granted me this holding not upon purchase, though I would have paid a fair sum. She granted it to me as a gift, calling the lands worthless.”

I paused a moment to let them take in my words, before continuing, “My question, to you my pupils, is why? I want you each to take a moment to consider this question before you answer.”

I took a sip of my wine as I watched them think. Lilly bit her bottom lip and furrowed her brows, her hand absently twirling a strand of her blonde hair. Walker appeared to be doing some sort of calculation in his mind, with his tanned eyes looking upwards and his head tilting from side to side. Kine returned to his seat on the bench and crossed his legs at the ankle, his eyes gazed absently at the map.

With his experience as an adventurer, I considered him the most likely to consider all the factors and arrive at a similar answer to the one I did. I would call on him last. Walker, having an education from the Arcanum could arrive at close as well. Though he was concentrating much too hard if that were the case. Lilly, I only hoped she had a thoughtful answer and learned something from the discourse. I would call on her first, unless she appeared to be still considering the question when Walker finished.

When I finished my wine, I set the glass down, “Now who is prepare to answer?” My gaze drifted from pupil to pupil. Kine gave me a firm nod. Lilly gave me an uncertain one. Walker didn’t respond at all.

“Very well, Lilly, what are your thoughts?” I asked.

“Well…” she began, her palms came together before her and she did this kind of hand swinging thing as she started to speak, but I raised my empty hand to stop her.

“You will speak to me properly, young lady,” I scolded her, my voice firm.

“Yes, master!” She immediately dropped her hands, straightened her back, and lifted her chin. Her voice started as an imitation of my own, but she lost focus on the impression soon after she started speaking, “You see, I suspect Baroness Lark wanted to tie you to her house and the lands were a bribe. I think if she said that they were worthless, then they were. And she lost nothing with the offer. That’s… what she wants. If you didn’t want them, she wouldn’t be seen poorly for having offered them either way.”

Lilly finished with a definitive nod. I could see Kine itching to respond, and that Walker was still thinking, though he was partly paying attention. I motioned for Kine next.

“Master, I believe this a trap. Should you not clear the lands of monsters, she will say you failed in your charge and retract them. Should you clear them, she will find some other reason to retract the lands. She wants to use you to make the lands habitable, and then sell them to someone else.”

Kine turned to look at Lilly, “She did not grant him the lands out of generosity. Nobles don’t do that.”

“How do you know nobles don’t? Do you know them all? Why would she lie and trick master?” Lilly argued back. Soon the two were going back and forth, with Walker chiming in here and there. Walker seemed to express a middle ground between the two points. Though whether he did so because that was his opinion, or because he felt the need to mediate was uncertain.

I let them discuss it for an hour until night fully set. When I felt the arguments repeating, I dismissed them for the evening.

These past few days, I’d felt steadily more cheerful. Not joy, but mild happiness. Some playfulness. I felt guilty about it, as if I were dishonoring Ram’s memory by not grieving enough. Another part of me felt that grabbing hold and enjoying happiness was important because I wouldn’t know when I would feel this way again. Both feelings were irrational, and I understood that. Mental justifications to permit myself to feel one way or another.

And that rankled.

I wasn’t used to strong irrational feelings. I compressed them all to focus on my magic experiments. Putting my feelings in barrels and stacking them in the corner of my mind. Deal with it later, do this now. That mentality was what I’d grown accustomed to. That I felt strongly now was yet another reason I needed to deal with all my small concerns so that I could experiment in peace.

So, I put the documents back in the library and took myself to bed. I would make a decision on the giant spider tomorrow.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 33

A week had gone by since the Baron’s visit.  The merchant returned in that time, escorted by fledgling adventurers saving me a trip into Lark. I spent the majority of my free time following up on my ongoing experiments in the beast pits.  When not doing that I was working to apply ornate etchings and designs throughout the varying rooms of the tower. Walker returned one day with a handful of gems, most of which were worthless to me. Kine had yet to find any more valuable than quartz, but he didn’t look disheartened about it.

And I was procrastinating. In a way. I had two major things I needed to do in my tower that I was preparing myself for. The first of which was to build a laboratory floor. The pits were fine, but they were minor experiments. I didn’t hold out much hope for their success. I was more using those experiments to stall the desire to delve full force. My tower and staff weren't ready for me to spend weeks or months on end doing nothing else.

Which led me to where I was standing. Or, more accurately, pacing. The first floor. Currently, it was an empty room with only the fireplace in the center. The alcove was now cleared of most everything but a broom, a mop, and a bucket. The ornate design on the ceiling and the fireplace did a lot to attract the eye and make the room not feel as empty as it was. That didn’t help me at the moment. I needed to decide what I wanted the room to be. It would be the first thing that any guests would see, after all. Not that I wanted guests. But, if I had them, what would I want them to see first?

I still had crates of honors and medals. Letters of thanks from important historical figures. Commendations from both the military and arcane communities. I could fill most of the wall with the things. But. But I didn’t value them anymore. I didn’t feel the need to brag or speak about my accomplishments. Certainly, I used my history in conversation when I wanted something, but that wasn’t the same. Dedicating an entire room to the topic seemed a little arrogant. I was not such a little person—or I didn’t want to believe myself to be. I’d grown past considering if others thought me arrogant.

Part of me wanted to turn the room into a lounge and fill it with sofas. It could easily fit fifteen or twenty. If only those damned Laxtons didn’t hold a monopoly on the things. Thousands of gold coins for a single couch was ridiculous. And that they barred me from purchase! Me! All because of a single drunken night with a woman on the eve of battle. The ducal family’s revenge did a lot to curb my youthful arrogance, even if I laughed the matter off then. But they won in the end. Here it is, a hundred later and I’m not laughing now. It almost made me wish to join the upcoming war just to raid a few enemy manors for their couches. Still, even if I could fill the room with couches, I wouldn’t. That wasn’t the impression I wanted to give. That would look inviting.

I could fill the room with elementals. I stopped pacing to try to picture it. Carved stone soldier every three or four feet all along the circular wall. Stone soldiers standing at attention all around the hall. Some nobles did that with family armors as decorations.  I know I’d enchanted a few to function as defenses on occasion, though it had been painstaking work not worth whatever favor they offered. Golems, I didn’t care for making them. The time it took to craft their controls was wasted when I could summon an earth elemental that could do the same. It wasn’t a bad idea, but I didn’t want to scare the local nobility into thinking I was preparing for war. It was one of the reasons I had yet to summon a third-tier guardian elemental.

The door creaked open behind me, and I glanced back to see Kine enter.

“Greeting master,” he said with a small bow. By the look on his face, I could tell something had happened. Perhaps he finally found some gems out in the bog.

I greet him with a smile and nod, and turned back to look at the room, “Assistant, what do you think I should do with the first floor?”

The change in topic must have put him off his expectations, as he paused a moment before answering, “I’m not sure. Is there a skull of a powerful monster you could mount on the wall there? And a chair to go beneath it?”

He pointed towards the center of the back wall. I assumed he meant a high-back chair, like a throne room or the similar rooms other nobility had. It was a decent suggestion if I were a human wizard, one that wanted to showcase their power. If any of the nobility saw it, they’d either arrest me or elevate me in title.  I could only imagine the ambitions the young man held to suggest such a thing and noted to myself that I’d need to keep an eye on that. Ambition was only good if he held the power and skill to support it.

I shook my head, “That’s a good idea, but I’d not want young Rolf frightened every time he climbs the stairs.”

“Master, actually, you have a guest—” He began.

I snorted.  It made some kind of ironic sense that when I finally get around to doing something about the room that I'd be interrupted. Still, I wouldn’t allow myself to be interrupted for something petty, “Who is it?”

“Baroness Lark… and three gentlemen,” Kine answered.

I held in my sigh.  Apparently, I would allow myself to be interrupted by something petty if the right names came along with it. I checked my robe; it was still my standard traveling robe. I hadn’t changed clothes here as often as when I lived in Sena City. It was more comfortable that way, and it wasn’t as if the cleaning spells didn’t leave it looking newly made. But I would need to change for these guests.

“Tell them I will join them momentarily,” I huffed, before heading upstairs.

I picked out a forest green robe, one with golden embroidered cuffs of various forest creatures. I wrapped a matching golden sash around my waist and tied it to the front. I chose a staff of gnarled wood with a hooked top that held a mana crystal in woven metallic netting in the center. The spellwork on the staff would create an illusion that I changed the color of something with a touch. Not something that had any real uses, except to impress the ignorant. Which is exactly why I’d chosen it.

When I exited the poorly made wooden door of my tower, I used the bottom of the staff to change the bridge’s color to a golden color with every other step I took. I could tell by the faces of those waiting at the gates that I was suitably impressive. Mentally, I turned off the defensive measure around the moat, should I decide to invite them in.

Really, there were eight people in front of my gates, but I’d already dismissed the carriage driver and the guards. The four that mattered to me at the moment were who I focused on. Baroness Lark, in a floral gown of light purple and a matching umbrella. Her long hair styled into elaborate curls that highlighted her painted face.  Baron Wilchrest, from the Shielding family, wearing a blue silken doublet standard among the nobility in the capital. It went well with his blond hair but did nothing for his nose. Mirm Fenn, the captured bandit lord.  He no longer looked to be either captured or a bandit, but instead wore a fine suit of light green which almost matched his green eyes. He held his arms behind his back, no doubt to hide the missing hand. And Songmaster Tek, bard and annoyance.

Mena opened the gates for me, and Kine bowed as I approached, “Master, may I present—”

I waved him to silence, “I know who they are. Please go ask Miss Chelsea to prepare some tea for us.”

He bowed again and quickly departed. For my part, I turned and looked each of the four in the eyes.  I held their gaze for a few seconds each before turning to Baroness Lark, “Lady Olivine, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

The way I stressed the word pleasure made it certain I thought the visit was anything but pleasurable. But she didn’t show any response to that part of my question at all.  Instead, she answered as if she had prepared her words ahead of time, “Alderman Fargus, I find myself in a conundrum. Mayhap we go inside? I fear the topic of the conversation should not be overheard by those of lower stature.”

I had expected such a self-styled invitation, but it was still an annoyance to have someone try to invite themselves into my home. I had hoped to have the entire thing done with at the gates. Still, there was nothing for it. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was rude of all things.

“Please follow me,” I said and turn to walk back towards my tower without looking back. I ignored their commentary about the moat, even if I wanted to take pride that they were impressed. In front of me, I could only feel slightly ashamed at the state of my door, and knowing the room inside was empty.

To my surprise, Mena opened the door with a bow of greeting. Kine and Walker stood at the other end of the room. The two had used [Earth Manipulation] to raise a long, stone table with stool-like benches. It curled around the space between the wall and fireplace, with only the bench in the center having a high back. The back of the chair had a crude diamond-shaped space cut out from it. From their smug looks, I could tell my two assistants were proud of their quick thinking. I was, too. I’d commend them on it later, though part of me suspected this was Mena’s idea.

Leading the way around the room, I took the chair with the high back and gestured for the others to sit.  While normally seating was by rank, they had not only visited me without notice but also invited themselves into my home.  It took a few minutes for them to get to their seats, as they seemed busy staring at the brass working on the oven and ceiling. Under the table, I tapped my leg, but I didn’t show any sign of impatience on my face.

Baroness Lark took the seat across from me, with Baron Wilchrest immediately to her left. Mirm Fenn and Songmaster Tek stared at each other silently for a few seconds before the [Bard] huffed. He moved down a seat so that the handless Mirm could sit to the lady’s right.

“Great Wizard Fargus,” the lady began and then stopped herself to turn her head to the side. She gave a pointed look towards my assistants, “If you would be so kind.”

I nodded once in the direction of my two assistants and guard, “Return to your duties.”

With small bows, they found somewhere else to be. The Baroness began again, “Great Wizard Fargus.” She spoke with a contained smile, “I find myself in a confusing situation. And as you were the one to bring it about, I was hoping that you would be able to offer a solution.”

“Oh?” I asked.

“You see, before you came, I was happy with my Tek,” she gave a smile to the man, though it wasn’t a real one. “When you sent me Aldermann Fenn, I didn’t think that he would fall for me as well. He began to try to court me the very day he arrived. And now, Baron Ernie has shown up on my doorstep with speaking of duty in a way that sends my very heart aflutter. And, I, I have no idea what I should do.” She batted her eyes and touched her chest as if it were some kind of secret code when she finished.

“She means, that years of faithful love mean nothing against a title,” Songmaster Tek said with a bitter look on his face. The last time I saw him, the man displayed a charming demeanor, with his black hair and green eyes. It made the expression a poor fit for his face.

Mirm scoffed, “If your love isn’t strong enough that’s your fault. If I were in your place, I’d long since found another noble to offer me land and title so that I could have wed.”

Baron Wilchrest didn’t say anything, not in with words.  His eyes, though, pinned me in silent accusation, as if he wanted to say ‘see what you have gotten me to be part of!’ I couldn’t blame the man if those were his thoughts.

I didn’t care about this whole thing, to begin with. Wait, that’s not true. I did care. I cared because after living so long, I’d started to see humans as children. Even grown adults in positions of power, or relative power, lacked a maturity I wished they had. These four were good examples of this. So, I cared for humanity, in a way. It was one of the reasons war was so hard on me.

So, I did care. And because I care, I meddled. And because I meddled, I’m now sitting in front of a woman who is trying to decide her marriage options. A woman who seems to think I am the perfect sounding board.  In all likelihood, she’s looking for me to give her a trite common saying like ‘follow your heart’ or some other nonsense that can be disguised as a nugget of wisdom. Then she can make the decision she wants to make and blame me if the results are disastrous.

Well, two can play at that game.

“What do you want, Songmaster Tek?” I asked.

“I just want my beloved back. I’m sorry for the song. I was angry about Mister Fenn taking so much of my lady’s time and how she just… just… disregarded all we had together. I only wrote that piece because I blamed you for it, but you were easy to blame because you weren’t there.” He turned to the Baroness and continued ranting, “My light! My love! The dove of my heart, I cannot be without you. Why do you do this to me? You know if you asked me to crawl on my knees to you I would!”

The Baroness showed the good grace to blush and pulled a small fan from her sleeve to cover the lower half of her face. But before she could respond, I pointed at Mirm Fenn, and asked, “And you?”

“When you sent me to Lark, and I saw her beauty for the first time, I was smitten. I don’t have the words that a [Bard] might, but I think she may have grown weary of such a soft love.” He said, his eyes and face close to hers, and his torso leaned forward in an imposing manner. Baroness Lark blushed even redder, and her fan fluttered faster.

I pointed at Baron Wilchrest, “And you, Baron?”

He seemed to have been waiting for this moment. He looked the lady in her eyes and smiled. Then the smile grew broad, before further growing into a giant grin. Then turned to me and said, “I brought eggs, savior.”

Lady Lark’s fan stopped fluttering.  Her face showed her confusion, “Eggs?"

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 32

The next three days were a mixture of experimental bliss and grudge work moving the pits.  Giving the additional duties to my pupil and assistants worked out perfectly in allotting me more time to pursue my own interests.  The wolves being subject to two earth elementals’ mana infusion were doing well in that they seemed to be adopting traits of an earth subtype.  Not completely yet, but I saw the beginnings of it.  The wolves under only one elemental mana infusion didn’t show any change as of yet unless you counted that they were dirtier.  I had to spray them with a water spell to ensure it wasn’t a true change. Neither the snakes nor the boars were showing any change, though the boars were breeding faster than I expected.

It was on the morning of the third day, during breakfast, that disaster struck.  I had noticed there was no bread served last night, which was fine.  Not all meals required bread.  But when none came with breakfast either, I needed to investigate.  It was there in the pantry that I heard the bad news.  I’d just found the hardtack and a bag of four moldy biscuits, but no other sign of bread, when Chelsea interrupted my search.

“Can I help you, m’lord?” She asked while wringing her hands.

“Yes,” I said, the bag of moldy biscuits in hand, “Is there a reason no bread was served this morning?”

I didn’t add any inflection to my tone of voice, nor held any manner of expression to indicate I was upset, but she still turned her face as if struck, “M’lord, the eggs went bad yesterday.  I have more coming with the merchant, but I’m sorry…” she answered me, and then proceeded to continue to yammer on as if the addition of extra words would somehow soften her answer.

But no eggs?  Which means no more bread?  That!  That—That was just unacceptable!  I understood that by segregating myself from real society, the dividing of my home from the culture that would support it that I would need to forgo some of the finer examples of human culture.  But this?  I had a great baker living with me, and she hadn’t the means to bake!  This was a tragedy unfolding before my eyes.

“—and eggs just don’t keep in the spring and summer like they do during the winter, the cold it—”

Somehow her words struck me out of my own mental rant.  Of course, cold keeps food fresher longer.  Why have I done nothing about that yet?  I’m a great wizard with the power of the very elements at my fingertips!  I stormed away with the intent to take action at that very moment, disregarding Tond who was standing nearby as if he had something important to tell me.

There, halfway down the stairwell to the dungeon, I built a cellar.  The ground here was cool enough that it should suffice, and I only spent an hour making it.  The problem wasn’t solved, we still needed eggs, but I hoped this would prevent such a thing from occurring again.  I almost considered draining a part of the bog for a farmer so that we would have a closer supply, but that may be taking things a little too far.  Farmers, they tended to breed quickly and spread out in unexpected ways all across the land.  Better to keep them in one area, because if I allowed the first, the second was only months away.

I knew I had overreacted, and treated it in a silly manner, but she was a surprisingly good baker. Perhaps too many sessions with Lilly had infected me with some of her youthful exuberance. When I returned to the kitchen and found Chelsea, I informed her of the new cellar then volunteered Walker or Lilly to show her the way when they returned.  They would surely see the room on the way up.  Tond was standing at my side when I finished.

“Boss, you have a guest out front by the gate.  Fancy-looking man.  Says he knows ya from the capital,” were his words, though his eyes never left the blushing Chelsea.

I left them to discuss the greater details of absolutely nothing important and departed for the gate to see who had arrived.  In front of my shining bronze gates, casually chatting with Mena who stood on the other side, was a man I didn’t recognize at all.  But I recognized the coat of arms painted on his shield.  Behind him was a carriage, of the same style I rode in, but with the same coat of arms painted on the side.  Four fine black horses were attached to the front, and several boxes were tied to the top.  Next to him, a Scout [Ranger] sat proudly on his horse with a lumpy bag stuffed with Asrid Flowers clear on his back, the little leaves sticking out from the opening.

My two new visitors snapped me a salute as I approached, one which I only half-heartedly returned.  Mena opened the gate for me with a very professional bow, and I would need to compliment her on it later.  The nobleman turned to nod at the scout who walked his horse forward offering up the bag of tea flowers.  Mena took it on my behalf, with me having to gesture, another thing to compliment her on.  I don’t know if she was looking for extra pay or a day off, but I began to suspect as much.

“Hero Fargus, the commander sends his regards.  Our last scout to pass this way passed along the message that you may have beasts trapped from the wave for sale.  Might I inquire as to the type?” The man inquired with a formal tone to his voice.

I nodded and waved dismissively to my right, “Yes, yes.  They’re over there in the pits.  You may go look for yourself.”  I had no interest in haggling with the man at the moment, rather my eyes were set on my other visitor.

House Shielding.  In a battle more than a hundred years past, I accidentally saved the young son of an Alderman [Knight] when I slew the man about to kill him.  The youth was barely fifteen at the time, but his father was in no shape to battle and sent him forth.  In some misguided sense of honor, that young man swore an oath to that one day his house would return the favor.   Such things happen now and then during battles, and I thought nothing of it at the time, but years later when I returned to my home in Sena City, I found his father sold his lands and moved his entire household to try to meet the oath.

I wanted nothing to do with the matter, of course.  I still don’t.  Instead of allowing their service, which would have placed an Alderman beneath me when I had no title to support it, I simply ignored the matter.  Later, the family joined the city guard as officers, and somewhere along their lineage married up into a Baron title.   Then, once a decade or so, some second son or cousin would come by the Arcanum to try to serve me, and I’d need to find reasons to dismiss their request.  It was one of the many reasons I only spoke to a few people about my departure from Sena City.

Only now, I had my own guards and a title.  With a deep dissatisfaction, I took in the man’s appearance.  Tall, muscular though with the mannerism of a court noble.  Sandy hair and brown eyes, he would have been more handsome if not for the nose he’d inherited.  It was a smushed upturned thing that allowed one to see all the hairs inside the nostril clearly, one of the features the nobility was proud to bear.  He bowed to one knee, gracefully crossing an arm across his chest.

“Great Nemon Marcus, savior of House Shield. I, Baron Wilchrest, do so swear to—” He began, his tone officious.

“Wait, did you say Baron?” I asked, not bothering to keep the smile from my lips.

“Yes, savior, I did.  My father wed a Countess five summers ago, and was raised into the title,” He answered, surprised that I interrupted his oath of service.  But to me, this was great news.

“Ah, then we are at a bit of an impasse,” I said, borrowing the word from the leader of the Bents, though I used it more accurately.

“An impasse?” he asked, blinking his eyes in confusion.

“Indeed.  You see, Baroness Lark recently appointed me the title of Alderman.  What would it say about my liege, if I had another Baron serving beneath me?” I glanced at his hand, looking for a ring.

“I—I see,” he said, though it was clear he didn’t.

“Are you wed, Baron?” I asked, ignoring how my guard Mena turned away.  A few weeks together, and she knew enough about me to see where I was headed with my question.

“No, savior, I am not,” he answered hesitantly.  Or maybe suspiciously.

“Good.  Neither is she.  If you wish to serve me, you can do so best by immediately returning to the town of Lark and courting her.”

“What?  But, savior, that is not—” The blond man began to protest, his pig-like nostrils flaring.

“Who are you to decide the matter?  Did you not come to swear service to me?  This is how I want you to serve,” I said, ending the conversation, but then I stopped right as I passed through the gates.

“Oh, and Baron?” I called to him from over my shoulder.

“Savior?” He asked, still kneeling on the ground in confusion.

“If you return to me to tell me that you failed in your quest, you best bring eggs with you,” I informed him.

“Eggs?” I heard him whisper to himself as I walked away.  Mena followed behind me, though she was biting her knuckle to keep from laughing.

When we entered the tower, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Behind me, Mena said between fits of giggles, “Boss, you’re a great boss.”

I frowned a little.  That's right.  She wanted something.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 31

The morning after the adventurers came and went, I ate a pleasant breakfast of sliced deer sausages in a yam sauce with biscuits. It was interrupted when the [Ranger] guard Eni presented an owl that he had tamed last night during watch. Apparently, it had just flown right up and landed on the edge of the tower, attracted to the wisps. The animal, its plumage orangish-brown with fine white speckles and a white face, wasn’t a beast or it would have been destroyed by the guardian wind elementals there. I finished eating while the others had surrounded the man, commenting on how pretty the bird was. Eventually, I’d had enough, and ordered him to keep it in the guard barracks until he could build a roost for it on the roof. They might be concerned about its visage, but I was concerned with stepping in its droppings.

After breakfast, Walker and Lilly went about their task in the dungeon, the young lady giving a resolute face with fearful eyes as she marched down the stairs in dramatic fashion with her brother chuckling behind her. Kine, I brought with me to the library. There, I took a piece of the quartz crystal he’d gathered the other day and placed it in a small box before instructing him to use [Earth Manipulation] to change its shape to a sphere, then a cube, then a pyramid, then back again. His given goal was to be able to do so within a breath each.

He took to the task right away, his head bowed in concentration. If I couldn’t sense his magic at work, I might have mistaken him for engaging in a midmorning nap. While he practiced, I set myself down in a chair with a sigh, staring apprehensively at the three scrolls on the table before me. I sensed an enchantment on one and decided to keep it for last. I grabbed one of the others, this one sealed with wax and an imprint of an ax or something that vaguely looked like one. I didn’t recognize the symbol, but I hadn’t kept track of all the noble houses and their coats of arms and silly sayings over the years.

To Teacher Fargus,

Thanks for sending my little friend back! He and I are both happy with his new toys. If I had known all he needed was beast bodies, I’d fetch them for him.

I haven’t met you, but I heard enough about you from Al. I still remember him taking a month to collect thousands of fleas to send you while muttering to himself about ‘experimental subjects’. When your return missive turned his skin green for months, both Nix and me got some real good laughs out of it.

Welcome to the hinterlands. Let me know if you have any monsters that need slaying.

Baron Llal

It was a simple enough letter, though the handwriting was atrocious. It seems that the necromancer made it back fine. I hadn’t really forgotten about my exchanges of magic tricks with Alred Froom, I just hadn’t considered it in a while.

He had the unfortunate circumstances to be my assistant right around the time I had fallen deeply into an infatuation with a young human woman. I had cut ties with her before my feelings became a romance and then shriveled in the reality of her aging. That she married someone else no more than a few months afterward left me feeling bitter, so I had thrown myself into experimentation, tasking my assistant to find more and more subjects for testing—if my longevity spell was finalized, we could have been together!

When I had eventually pulled myself back from the intense testing, I found my assistant worn and used, filled with resentment. Even guiding him to the fourth-tier class of [Elementalist] wasn’t enough to soothe his grievances. He had declared himself my rival immediately after achieving the class, and--with the pettiness only wizards are capable of--the tricks ensued. That assistant was now Baron Froom.

I glanced at the other two scrolls, now knowing who the enchanted scroll was from, and sighed deeply. I burned away Baron Llal’s missive, not wanting any documentation linking me to a necromancer, even one with noble support. I decided to save Froom’s letter for last.

To the Renown Wizard, Alderman Nemon Fargus of Lark,

I hope this letter reaches you well.

My companions and I have heard of your recent arrival in Eistoni, and I wanted to personally send greetings to Baron Froom’s mentor. Your teachings granted him the knowledge and power he needed to fulfill his role in our adventuring team, saving our lives more times than I can count.

While he has a complicated relationship with you, please know that when he speaks to other mages concerning you, that he brags about your tutelage.

I also received word from one of my representatives of your desire for ancient magical artifacts. I have no such items on hand but have communicated to my subordinates that should any such device be found, it will be delivered to your hands first.

In addition, I have contacted Baron Aide, my neighbor and ally to the east, who owns a gem mine. I know from my experience with Baron Froom, that certain gems hold particular value to elementals. One of his gem merchants should be making their way south to you in the near future. I hope that you treat this merchant with dignity and respect.

Cordially,

Baroness Nix

I tapped my fingers on the side of my chair in thought. Now I felt mildly shameful at the past antics I engaged in with Alred. Baron Froom. I rolled up the scroll and tapped it against one palm as I let the feeling subside. Eventually, I rose and placed it in the library, the section with mundane correspondence that I kept often for more sentimental reasons than the actual value. Then I sat back down and looked at Baron Froom’s letter without touching it.

It sat in an ornate scroll case the sides embedded with gems, three of them the size of a fingernail. Layers of wards and enchantments made it glow under my mana sight. I picked at the layers of enchantments to see what they did. The first, a simple ward, to keep the scroll locked against anyone but him and me. The second, an enchantment to keep the insides dry and safe. Both would have faded in a year if I left the missive untouched, but that was common among mages. The next enchantment, tied one of the gems on the side, looked to be a summon for a tier-one wind elemental. Likely something that would return to Froom to notify him that I had received and opened the letter. Another enchantment to keep anyone from removing the gems. Was that to prevent theft or to keep me from simply disconnecting the gems from their enchantments? It was tied to the scroll in a way I couldn’t tell until I opened it, hidden beneath and inside other enchantments. From there, the other spellcraft was woven together tightly in a way that reminded me of the intricate knots sailors used.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t pick the spells apart one by one until I was certain it was safe, I could do that. It would just take a day or two. I didn’t see it so much as a test of my patience, Alred knew me better than that. The working itself was a poke in my side, a way to waste time that could be used experimenting. Or teaching. Or working on my tower. Or sleeping. Or any number of more important things. It was a way to ask if I valued what he said more than I did my time experimenting. It did make me glad that I had already sent the Bents his way if we were going to continue the minor tricks.

I smiled to myself and simply left the letter there on the table. I might open it next month if I felt like it. Instead, I patted Kine on his shoulder as I went downstairs to the first floor and began working on the copper ore left there. Purifying it was simple with [Earth Manipulation] at the level I had it, and soon the raw metal was shining brightly as I placed it into the groves around the fireplace, molding it to follow the etching I had made there.

After I was finished with the fireplace, more than half of the copper I ordered remained. Following the designs I made on the fireplace, I continued them into the ceiling. When I felt satisfied, I flowed the copper up to fill those as well. The copper inlay became thin towards the edges of the room, but I managed to use it up. When finished, I nodded to myself and turned to leave, only to find nearly every resident of the tower standing behind me with looks of awe.

Mena was the first to recover, “Boss, I came to get you for lunch, but got distracted watching you work.”

A few of the others commented something similar and jumped with a cringe when Chelsea called from the dining hall asking what was taking so long. I don’t normally let myself indulge in feelings of satisfaction, but the awed looks I’d seen on their faces did make me feel warm inside. It’s been a while since I experienced the emotion, and I smiled softly until I reached the bottom of the stairs.

There wasn’t room around the table for us all to fit, so some of the guards chose to stand. I mentally tasked myself with ordering a second table when the next merchant came around. Lunch was recooked leftovers all jumbled into a thick stew with a side of rolls. While the main fare wasn’t anything special, the rolls were delicious. Chelsea was quite the baker.

Afterward, I summoned Kine, Walker, Meathead, and Tond to outside the gates of my tower. There, I gave them new instructions, “I want you to begin surveying the bog. Kine and Walker, you will take turns, Kine in the morning and Walker in the afternoon. Start with building pathways using [Earth Manipulation], while the guards escorted you.”

“As part of your duties, any stone you pull up you should remove any crystals from and return them to me. Crystals that don’t have any magical value, you may keep to do with what you please. The most important rule is that you don’t ever draw stone from too deep. Do you know why?”

I didn’t think their powers could reach into the parts of the earth that led to the subterranean world, so I wasn’t too worried about that. I didn’t want them to accidentally drain the bog. Not only would that ruin my reflection lake, but it would also attract all manner of farmers to try and take advantage of the good soil underneath. That, and I didn’t know how stable the foundation was here. If they accidentally sank the entire bog and left only my tower standing, that would be fine, but I imagine it would take the road with it. That wouldn’t work well for me at the moment. Maybe in the future.

Kine answered first, “You don’t want to risk another Pestilence.”

I smiled and nodded, “Correct. The Underneath is an entire world filled with monsters that escaped even the cataclysms. So vast, that even the seagods wrath couldn’t flood their tunnels. I fought the Pestilence when that beast escaped the ground. It destroyed three cities before the armies of Sena put it down. Even with the heights of my power now, I would only think to escape.”

Both Walker and Kine gave me serious nods of understanding. Meathead picked his nose. Tond, though, asked, “Sir, what’s the Pestilence? I ain’t ever heard of it.”

At first, I thought he was joking, but the serious look on his face told me otherwise. “Tond, imagine if you will, a snake the size of one of the trees back at Woodhoot.”

“Okay.”

“Now, cover it with spiked armor that could stop any sword, and instead of two fangs, it has a maw with more fangs than anyone could count. Multiply this snake by a hundred and tie all their tails together into one beast. That is the Pestilence,” I finished my description with a small illusion spell of how I remember the monster. The knee-high image of the horror even now making my skin crawl.

“That’s what’s underground?” He whispered, with a quiver in his voice.

“That might be the least of what’s down there,” I answer, turning back to give both of my assistants a meaningful look. “Today, you will go together. Kine, if you would, show Walker the exercises I had you performing earlier today when you return.”

My assistants gave small bows and the guards saluted before I watched them depart. Tond took the lead, with my assistants walking side by side behind him using their [Earth Manipulation] to forge the trail. Meathead followed a few more paces behind the two, swing his hands at a buzzing insect.

Returning to the tower, I met with Lilly to continue her tutelage. I was explaining her afternoon assignments to read at least two books from the bookcase where I kept my tomes and scrolls of general knowledge when she interrupted me.

“But master, this is so much!” She said, stretching out the words and trying to give me a cute look. Something that a girl much younger would do. I had let the behavior slide in the past, as I knew it was something that the orphanage actually rewarded because I hoped she would grow out of it on her own. Now, it seemed more likely I would need to do something.

“Young lady. Is that the behavior a pupil of a powerful wizard should demonstrate? Are you intent on remaining a child, or do you want to be one of the few women who can claim to have personal instruction from a name known throughout the kingdom?” I wasn’t truly upset or angry, but that didn’t stop me from feigning it. If this tactic didn’t work, my next one was to feign disappointment.

“Sorry, master,” She said, her shoulders drooping.

“Now how should my pupil behave?” I asked.

She straightened her back, and lifted her chin in the air, “The pupil of master Nemon Fargus should behave as if everyone else is beneath her.” Her voice did a fairly good impression of my own, and I had to struggle to keep a straight face.

“Rightly, so,” I answered, and turned to continue pulling tomes from the shelf for her assignment. I may have purposely given her a few tougher works as petty retribution, but that should have been expected. Her eyes bulged when I set them on the table.

“There you are, young lady. This will be your week’s studies. Our sessions will be changing to every three days from here on,” I informed her and patted her shoulder as I left the room. I hadn’t even glanced at Froom’s scroll the whole time I was in there and was proud of myself for that.

I was considering my options for designing the third-floor basement laboratory, but there were several things I needed to do first. One of which I headed to do now. In the second-floor basement, in my Hall of Valor, a beast tooth lay on the floor. It wasn’t from the Pestilence. I chose no trophy from that beast, the vile thing's memory more than enough. No, this was from a warbeast from the jungles of Tervan. I was one of the few men that slew one of their creatures, an honor that few could claim even among that southern kingdom’s own champions.

I lifted the tooth, and stepped back outside the room, using my magic to turn the rectangular doorway into an archway. Above that, I mounted the tooth and etched the words ‘For the Glory of Sena’. I could have done so in a few minutes, but I spent nearly an hour working on getting the curves of the archway and the words to match the curve of the tooth. It left the entrance to the Hall of Valor a little wider than I would have normally cared for, but the look of it made the difference. Pride, in my kingdom. Pride, in the battles, regardless if they were victories or defeats. Pride, in my fallen comrades. The feeling welled up inside me when I looked on at my Hall.

The feeling only faded when I took in the Book of the Dead, sitting like an offering in the center of the far end of the room, right beneath the symbol of Bi. That book, and the people recorded within, radiated sadness and loss in my eyes. I almost couldn’t bring myself to look at my creation. The Book of the Dead.

I shook away the serious emotions of the room, sparing only a glance for the guards’ quarters. Eni was sleeping within, his new owl perched upon his head. I imagine that will be odd when he wakes for the night shift. I found myself standing on the landing between staircases for that floor, considering what I wanted to do next when Chelsea called for dinner.

Goat ribs in a pear sauce. I didn’t imagine it would have tasted as good as it did. It didn’t look appetizing. But she had added some sort of spice to it that paired the two flavors perfectly. A leafy green vegetable boiled with onions was served on the side. The plant tasted well but was a little stringy.

Walker, Kine, and their two guards had returned while I was working, but they only said they didn’t find anything of note today. I imagined they focused on building the trail more than searching the area. They’ll find themselves surprised when they say they’ve finished mapping the bog only for their next task to be cataloging its plants and animals, beasts and monsters.

After dinner, I retired to the rooftop to watch the sunset over my lake. The beauty was still marred by the darn beast pits, something I should set about moving tomorrow if no other more important tasks arose.

Wizard's Tower - Chapter 30

Nearly a week had passed since the unexpected visit from the Bents.  Tomorrow, I would see if the decrease in tea consumption would have any noticeable effect, but I doubted it as the change would amount to less than a sip and I didn’t always finish my tea.  Yesterday, Kine had declared himself caught up on his studies, which I felt to be a surprisingly quick time spent.  We spent the entire day with me questioning him on his learning and him answering to the best of his ability.  There were weak points, small gaps in his knowledge, but even considering those, I was impressed with how quickly he took to it.

Meathead and the servant’s son Rolf became friends as well, playing games such as tossing a stick or hide and seek.  I had to stop them once when one suggested they try to jump into the moat from the top of the tower.  Immediately afterward, I added an additional command to the wind elementals there to prevent falls.  Chelsea became more talkative, much to my chagrin, but for some reason, Tond always seemed interested in her nonsensical vomit of words.  I considered confining her to only having day-to-day conversations in the kitchen, but if the way they were looking at each other was leading to what I was expecting, I’d prefer them not to be together alone in the kitchen.

Today also marked a new first, as it was the first time that adventurers arrived to collect some of the frozen corpses.  They arrived escorting a merchant that had come from Kine and a wagonload of copper under a well-bundled bronze gate.  There were ten adventurers in total, a large number for the task, from my estimation, and not one of them looked Walker’s age.  Most could only be a couple of years older than Lilly, likely in their first tier.

I welcomed them at the opening in my wall where the gate would go, a spot directly connecting the bridge to the road.  Walker, Kine, and Mena all stood beside me.  While I planned to have Chelsea be the contact person for ordering sundries, Mena had done so last time and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience.  But before we could even greet the merchant, an adventurer ran forwards with three scrolls in hand, offering them to me, the young woman bowing and holding them out in one hand as if I were royalty.

So close I could have just taken them, instead, I gestured for Walker to do so.  My assistants needed to get in the habit of this.  They also needed to get in the habit of warding themselves against spells and poisons before touching things, so this would be a good way for me to bring the matter up later on.  Walker looked surprised and a touch uncomfortable, but took the scrolls for me, holding them as if uncertain how to.  First tightly with two hands, then tucked under an arm like a tomb, and finally resting them on his shoulder.

I watched him patiently until he was done finishing, and then instructed him, “Go place those on the table in my study and fetch the other guards to unload this copper.  Chelsea too.”

He hopped to it, and I was satisfied with the look of minor embarrassment he gave.  When I turned back to the adventurers before me, the deliverer of the scrolls was still awkwardly bowed with her head held down.

“What are you doing?” I asked, and watched as they promptly answered me with a barely contained scared noise before jumping back among the other adventurers.  The young men and women were the sons and daughters of Lark, and their complexion and features showed it.  I was, I admit, a little surprised at the fearful glances they were giving me.  I also wasn’t one to let that kind of thing go, not with these young people standing around like they were nervously waiting for something.  I simply raised an eyebrow and watched as several took a step backward.

“Well…” One young man started but shut his mouth when I glanced at him.  A little taller and broader of the chest than the others.  He likely fashioned himself some kind of leader.   I forgot how much fun this was!  I was about to swiftly move a finger in the air, just to see if the sudden movement would cause any to startle and run when my fun was ruined.

“Oh, will you stop scaring the children!” Chelsea’s annoying voice came from behind me.  She came to stand beside me and huffed as if I were the source of her exasperation and not the other way around.

“You boys and girls are here for the dead dogs, right?” She continued this time in a stern manner with her hands on her hips.

“Yes, ma’am!” Their pseudo-leader answered.

I looked at him after he answered, and he nervously met my eyes this time.  I can only surmise that his courage might be dependent upon the number of servants around.

“Very well.  Kine, if you would show them where to go?” I gave a smile and waved at my other assistant.

“Yes, master,” he said with a small bow, the perfect response to the circumstances.  He began leading them away, calmly answering whispered questions that we could all still hear.

“Wow, that was scary.  You work for him?  How do you do it?”

“You’re a real adventurer?  What tier are you?”

“How long have you been an adventurer?  Are you silver grade?”

Beside me, Chelsea sighed and shook her head, “I swear, you do that on purpose, don’t you?”

I didn’t lower myself to answer her, though I did need to try to keep a smile contained.  The three guards arrived with Walker shortly after and carefully moving the gates from the wagon, leaning them against the wall from the outside but not unwrapping their cloth cover.  I directed them to take the chunks of copper ore from the back and leave in around the fireplace on the first floor, and then turned the negotiations for supplies over to Chelsea and Mena, but without the opening I gave last time.  If this were to be my normal supplier of goods, I didn’t want him to feel threatened by me every time he came.

Instead, I asked Walker to bring me a scroll I had already written, for the Paladin Adam.  Quests for adventurers to bring me the lilies and beasts I wanted for my moat.  I never did decide between the eels or the fish.  Instead, I would try them both.  I could easily remove one or the other if they didn’t suit my needs.  This way, if one of the beasts couldn’t be caught, then I would at least have the other.  But I absolutely wanted the lilies, and the reward reflected that.

It didn’t take long, maybe half an hour before the trading was done, the wagon was unloaded, and the adventurers returned lugging six corpses sealed inside ice.  The merchant had a huge smile on his face which I judged to me he was happy enough with his profits to return.  The frowns and looks of disgust the adventurers had for their delivery goods likewise meant that several would not be seeking a life of adventure, especially with the way Kine was needling them.

“What are you making that face for?  This has got to be the easiest quest I’ve ever heard of!  Delivery of a body frozen in ice?  No killing it first, no capturing it alive.  No blood or guts.  No damaged equipment or wounds.  I would have jumped for joy to see a quest like this when I was tier one,” He kept going even as they were walking down the road, the smirk on his face evidence of his enjoyment.

The guards helped to hold the gates in place as I directed Kine and Walker how to sink the parts of the hinges into the stone to allow them to work correctly.   This was followed briefly by a lesson on locking wards and reinforcing spells.  Which then led to me asking for demonstrations on their casting of the common earth magic spells Stone Spike and Stone Wall.  It was only when I heard the gate close for the fifth time that I stopped my impromptu training session and looked over.

Meathead was standing there with Rolf, both demonstrating the pleading looks that one would normally find on a puppy.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Mom said to ask you if we can play in the water.  If it was safe,” Rolf stated his request while digging the toe of one of his feet into the ground.   I sighed.  Was it safe?  The elementals wouldn’t attack.  Was it clean?  Not really.  I had the water elementals removing things from the water but not purifying it.  That could be changed in a moment, though.  Can they even swim?  I wanted to tell them no, but those looks they gave me were just too powerful.

“Fine.  Give me a moment,” I said, more snarl than words.  And really, it only took a moment.  The waters bubbled shortly when the elementals purified them, and then I added an extra command to ensure that assist anyone who might be drowning.  This didn’t take the first few times, I tried, and eventually became a command to lift any of the residents of the tower out of the water if they stayed under for more than a few minutes.

I waved the two over and watched as they jumped in, to ensure it would work.  Chelsea was also outside the door, watching for her son as any good mother would.  When it was clear the command worked, I was satisfied.  Then, I noticed that the earlier orders I gave the tier one water elementals to play also had an effect.  Meathead and Rolf simply needed to point and an arch of water would leap from one to softly splash the other.

With some reluctance, I returned to training Kine and Walker, teaching them how to use [Earth Manipulation] to replicate the spells.  It was a degree harder to do and cost more mana without the [Geomancer] class, but it was a good exercise for budding mages.  We trained until supper, a more rounded meal of fried goat, rice with chopped vegetables, and thick gravy that went perfect when dipped into with the dinner rolls.

That night, while I watched the sunset from the top of my tower, I noticed wisps floating over the walls.  The small lights, little different than soft candles of green.  Nature wisps then.  The creatures were simple things, really.  The equivalent to elementals what animals were to beasts.  Likely attracted to the mana used earlier during training, as they tended to fly in groups seeking out sources of mana to feed and grow strong on.  I was a little surprised I hadn’t seen them earlier, but perhaps there was something in the bog that preyed on the things.

When I went to investigate closer, I noticed they darted over the waters of the moat, chasing after my first-tier water elementals who seemed to play with them.

My first instinct was to destroy the creatures, as I had just made the moat safe to swim in, but the way they glowed under the mists gave an enchanting ethereal quality I liked.  I didn’t personally have a skill to capture them, lacking the type of rock that could seal a nature elemental, but I did have another means that might work.  Using the tower crystal.  And it worked perfectly.  Soon, I’d ordered the wisps to follow in the trail of mists created by my second-tier elementals, and only when the waters were covered completely in mists could they play.

I stayed and watched the lights move until midnight before turning in, smiling to myself even as I lay down.