With that, the ring was safe to modify.
I made some minor adjustments, and then I put it on and ran some tests.
It worked exactly as expected.
The next day, I gave the bracer to Researcher. We tested it. It worked as expected.
After that, we had two days remaining before it was time to head into the spire.
We all spent more of that time preparing.
Keras had purchased five return bells from Lars at my request. They were expensive, but everyone having a separate means to evacuate would make things much safer.
I didn’t need a bell; I still had my circlet, with the same function, but voice activation. If for some reason it didn’t work, though, having the bells as backup would be great.
We debated where to place the anchors for the return bells. Elora’s house was too far away, as was the school — it had to be within about a mile of the spire.
That left a random place, like I’d used last time, or something more familiar. We’d initially talked about using Derek’s old manor, but I didn’t like the risk of Saffron showing up there, even if it was very unlikely he would arrive right when we did. There was always the chance he had it under observation.
Ultimately, we just left the anchor rods with Lars. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time someone had done that. His shop was near the spire for a reason.
After that talk, I remembered what he’d said about healing potions earlier.
They were expensive. Like, shockingly expensive. A single potion cost about half as much as a return bell.
Apparently, that was because they required so much mana to be saturated into a small area to be effective, and because they also required certain rare herbs to create a useful healing effect (as opposed to just pouring raw liquid life mana onto a wound, which would be awful).
There were cheaper ones, but Lars didn’t sell them. Apparently he’d had bad experiences. I didn’t question that.
Sera and I pooled our funds and bought a case of a half dozen of them. I stored them in the Jaden Box.
Aside from that, I spent the last of my time training with Keras, and working on building a mana regeneration function into my phoenix sigil. It was much easier now that I’d both built and upgraded the bracers.
I didn’t know if wearing a mana regeneration item at all times would be safe for me, so I put in a function rune that would stop sending mana into my body, just in case.
It wouldn’t be a waste if I had to do that. A quick test with my mana threads told me that I could easily move mana from one part of the phoenix sigil to another — meaning the stored mana for the mana regeneration function could be moved to the shields to recharge them instantly.
I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it that way, but realistically? I knew I would.
I wanted to build a replacement mana watch. I wanted desperately to check my mana.
I didn’t.
It wasn’t a priority.
And I had started to learn just how important a few days of properly prioritized time could be.
I got one final night of decent sleep.
I said goodbye to the friends that weren’t going with us.
And then, with five unlikely companions, I made my way to the Serpent Spire.
Chapter XXIII – Climber
“I…can’t believe I’m going to the spire.” Researcher was practically bouncing with excitement. She was walking next to me, but I use the term “walking” loosely, because her feet never quite touched the ground.
The bracer of mana regeneration shined brightly on her right wrist. I was glad it actually fit her. I hadn’t thought to check the fit in advance.
I’d given her one other item after some consideration — my school-issued shield sigil. She didn’t have a shroud to protect her, and I knew first-hand that anyone’s chances of surviving in the tower without a barrier were minimal.
I had the materials to make another silver phoenix sigil for her, but I hadn’t thought about it in advance. If we ended up spending several days in the spire — which was a real possibility — I planned to make her one as soon as possible.
I went to meet up with the others just outside the Climber’s Gate like we’d planned. I expected that part to be relatively straightforward, but I’d forgotten a minute detail.
Researcher froze when she saw Keras in the distance.
In that moment, I remembered what had happened the last time an elemental had seen him.
She trembled. For a moment, I thought she was going to bolt in the opposite direction.
She ran straight at him instead.
“Who are you? What are you? What’s that mask? How are you making your shroud do that?”
Keras took a step back, eyes widening, and lifted his hands in a warding gesture. “I, uh, hi. You can call me Keras.”
“But that’s not your name, is it? You’re not a person! But you’re not a summoned monster, either.” Researcher didn’t slow down until she was inches from running into him. When she finally did, she stood up on her toes, bringing her face so close to his that her nose was almost touching his mask.
I walked over, trying not to show how amused I was by Keras’ obvious discomfort.
Keras tilted his head down. “That’s complicated…and a bit of a secret.”
Researcher’s shoulders slumped. “But I want to know.”
Keras sighed. “You’re a knowledge elemental, aren’t you?”
“Oh! Yes.” She nodded vehemently. “Forgive me for failing to introduce myself. I’m Researcher 437-C. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Right.” Keras took a step back. “Knowledge is your sustenance, isn’t it?”
“Well, technically I can subsist by converting gray mana into mental mana, but that’s so…disappointing.” She looked away from him. She was usually so professional that seeing this reaction was jarring, but it was kind of endearing.
Do elementals have stronger emotional responses than humans? Tavare shifted their behaviors rapidly, too, and Researcher had a similar shift in approach when I told her I was an Arbiter…
Or maybe I’m just the unusual one. A lot of humans seem to experience emotions more intensely than I do, too.
Keras sighed. “I can’t tell you everything you want to know right now, but…” He leaned down and whispered something in her ear.
Researcher’s eyes widened, almost comically. “That…is so amazing! I mean, how would that even work? Are you coming with us into the spire?”
“I should be, yes.”
“Amazing…” Researcher turned back to me. “I am so excited.”
Elora walked over to the rest of us. “Well, this is all quite fascinating, but I’d like to be gone as quickly as possible. Can you all please head to the spire?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were teleporting us in.”
“In a sense. I’m opening one of the gates and activating it to lead toward a specific destination. Simple teleportation would never get through the spire’s defenses.”
I frowned. That wasn’t what it had sounded like when she’d described before, but she had been pretty vague.
Elora led the group of us toward an unguarded section of the spire, then reached into a pouch at her hip and pulled out what looked like a comically large crystalline key. It was vaguely shaped like a serpent, complete with fangs serving as the tines of the key.