"I can't see the tower core either. It must be one of those cloaking spells that Forgemasters use to hide their secrets. Can you turn them off, Solus?" Phloria asked.
Solus shared the control panel with Lith and both browsed it for a while, trying to make sense of the various options.
'I thought you were supposed to know by instinct what each floor does.' Lith thought.
'And so did I. Maybe as my core recovers, I get part of my memories back. If I was Menadion's apprentice, this tower was both my academy and my home. Yet only the master of the tower could access this kind of features, that's why I have no recollection of them.
'On top of that, they might be available now only because the tower's pseudo core has finally recovered a bit of its power.' She replied.
Before Solus obtained her energy body, using Invigoration on the tower would only reveal her weakened human core. Now, however, the breathing technique would also reveal the power core that fueled the tower and kept her damaged life essence in check.
"Sorry, I can't. I didn't even know such a thing was possible. I'll give it a try later." Solus said.
"If you want to stay here, be my guests." Lith said while checking his pocket watch. "Kamila is waiting for me. I'm bringing her out on a date tonight."
He was so tired that had to use Invigoration while yawning to not fall asleep on the spot.
"Wow, did you really managed to make time for her despite our crazy schedule?" Friya envied Kamila's guts, wishing to have a decent boyfriend.
"Yeah. Between my cracked life force, the tribulations, and the fact that if I fail Faluel's test I might die, I don't feel like having so many regrets. Back when I was younger and my life flashed in front of my eyes during a near death experience, the good moments were drowned by bad stuff and work.
"I love magic and I love power, but those alone don't make you happy."
'Agreed. You've spent so much time working that if someone were to recap your life, you would be a catchy music short of it resembling a training montage or an AMV.' Solus chuckled.
Lith's words reminded everyone that Faluel's test was imminent. The Hydra wouldn't trust them with any more knowledge unless they proved worthy of it. Phoria's destiny was bound to Lith, but everyone else was in his same boat.
"Lith is right." Nalrond said. "Whatever Faluel asks us to do, it won't be a walk in the park. I don't want to spend my last moments buried under a pile of books or changing diapers. I want to make some good memories."
The girls felt embarrassed, expecting Nalrond to ask one of them out.
"I'm going to ask Brina out. She seems a nice girl and she doesn't look at me in a funny way because of the color of my skin. Lith, is there someplace nice where I could bring her?" Nalrond said.
Brina was the baker's daughter and part of Tista's shut-in club, a group of youths who for some reason had spent most of their early life in isolation, just like her. For Tista it had been her congenital disease while Brina had lost a few fingers and burned her right arm while helping her parents with the oven.
Lith had restored her body after learning tier four magic and now she worked in Rena's house as her lady's maid.
"You're lucky that Lutia has grown a lot ever since I became a Great Mage. Before then, there was just the local tavern, and bringing her to Derios with dimensional magic would have been a huge show-off on your side.
"I recommend you the Heavenly Wolf restaurant. The owner invited me and Kamila for the opening and it was a bit rustic but cozy place. The food is also pretty good. Tell them that I sent you and they'll give you their best table." Lith said.
"Thanks, man. Any advice? I've been out of the game for a long time and I don't want to come in too strong." Nalrond felt embarrassed, but he was afraid of making blunders due to the different customs of the Kingdom.
"Just keep calm and avoid showing off magic or speaking about the future. Mentioning kids or future plans that don't involve just yourself on a first date is a deal-breaker." Lith replied.
"Are you really going to ask Brina out? You barely know her." Tista asked the moment she managed to pick up her jaw from the floor.
"Yeah. You feel a bit out of my league and your brother scares me. Quylla already has a suitor and her baggage seems as heavy as mine. Friya is pretty, but she's way too self-conscious of that while Phloria would clearly spend the evening talking to me but thinking about someone else. Bye!" Nalrond Warped back home to change his clothes and get some money.
'I'm so glad that Lith's silver mines are starting to pay off. It would have been very awkward to ask Selia for money, being forced to explain how much and why I needed it.' He thought.
Before his apprenticeship with Faluel started, Nalrond had worked as a full-time babysitter for Selia. Even though she had often offered to pay him, Nalrond had always refused because he considered Protector's family as his own and because after renovating Selia's old house they were short on money.
Luckily, Zolgrish the Lich had been true to his word. His armies of lesser undead had worked to open the silver mines near Jambel as soon as Lith had been granted its ownership by the Griffon Kingdom.
Thanks to their relentless labor and expertise, it had taken the legion of skeletons just a few months to dig their way to the silver veins and even recover some of the old tunnels. Lith had no idea how lesser undead could be such skilled miners and engineers, nor did he care.
'Either Zolgrish studied the subject and has passed them part of his knowledge like I would have done, or he must have linked some poor soul to his minions. Whatever it is, as long as I get my 50% share of silver, I'm okay.' That was Lith's opinion on the matter.
Solus warped the tower near Derios, the capital of the Distar Marquisate, and from there Lith went to Valeron. For security reasons, those days Jirni and Kamila spent most of their time there while investigating Archmage Deirus, Balkor's mysterious return, and the incident of the Feymar mines.
Oddly enough, Balkor's case was the weakest of the three, no matter how much time and effort they poured into it.
"Archon Ernas, Royal Constable Yehval, I hope you're done with your job because I'm about to lose my reservation." Lith walked inside the room under the steady gaze of the Royal Guards placed at the four corners of the room.
Each one of them was a veteran mage wearing a Royal Fortress armor. A Griffon-shaped artifact that bestowed upon its wearer might similar to Tyris's bloodline.
"I call bullshit." Jirni grunted while checking some papers and interrogating one of her sources on her army amulet. "Your reservation is not up for another hour. By the way, nice to meet you Lith."
