Eventually, Dawhe air ge, as if she had walked into a wall of static electricity, and opened her eyes in surprise. Fortunately for her, it appeared they had almost arrived, and there were only a few dozen people visible, most of whom were waiting in lines before the immense spire that towered unbelievably high into the sky. Gng back, she saw that they had just passed through a rge arch of glittering stone, with simir material f a rge wall encirg the spire and some nd around it.
Morris noticed her pausing and looked back, smiling as he saw that she was no longer panig. To both his and Dawn’s surprise, Niphru perked up a bit, suddenly raising his head from Dawn’s shoulder.
When Dawn removed him from her hood, she sighed in disappoi, finding that he wasn’t all better, but had only regained movement of his nebsp; It did make her gd, however, as she had been intensely worried for him.
Morris hummed under his breath for a moment before stating, “It appears the higher may may be helping. And this is good, I had fotten that we o take you to see if Niphru be healed. We will do that tomorrow, as it is a bit too te for today. Please follow me inside, you will have plenty of time to look around ter.”
Nodding at the request, Dawn hugged Niphru before returning him to her hood and following Morris along the road towards the spire. As they approached, Dawn was able to make out that both lines were leading towards small booths to either side of the road. As she watched, one perso, and the line advanced as another entered. Asking Morris about it, she learhat the lines were for people to have excess mana drained, and all citizens in the capital had to cycle through or else the rge tration of life would start causing mutations.
Morris also informed her that one of the tasks of apprentices was to man the booths, freeing the more talented mages to do more plex ws withiower, while also helping train their trol of mana.
Shortly after this expnation, they arrived at the rge ste-gray doors. Dawn was not expeg the doors to open as Morris waved his hand toward them, and was surprised for a moment. She then surmised that he must have maniputed an entment from a distance, and wondered how long it would take her to learn to do so as well.
There was an odd, almost tangible darkness filling the doorway, blog any vision within, but when Morris walked through without hesitation, she followed as well, only somewhat unnerved by the phenomenon.
Oddly enough, once she was inside, she didn’t see signifit decorations or a show of riches, instead finding a simple empty circur room, posed of the same glittering stone as the wall outside. Just to the side of the door, Morris nodded in approval at the speed she had followed, as many balked at the bnk void the first time they entered.
After letting Dawn finish looking around the empty room, Morris waved towards oion of the wall, causing it to open up and reveal a staircase that seemed to curve around the outside of the room, leading Dawn towards it. After almost a full minute of climbing the stairs, they emerged into what seemed like a small park, numerous trees surrounding them and birds chirping somewhere nearby. Looking up, Dawn was shocked since she couldn’t see any kind of ceiling, and it was as bright as day rather than seeming te in the day, as when they arrived outside.
Once again, Morris paused to let her take in her surroundings, remarking, “The first Archmage mahat all primary spires must tain a pce such as this, a reminder of our purpose. Many outsiders believe power is oal, but, as a whole, we work to restore as much civilization as possible. You will learn more, including mas unknown to the publi the future.”
Morris then led her through the trees until they reached a shimmering barrier of light, and they passed through it. Once across, Dawn looked around again, finding that they were inside an incredibly tall circle of walls, the darkened sky visible far above. Looking back, she could see clearly through the field that had been opaque from the other side, and there was a wide road passing around the outside of the barrier. As she looked up into the distance again, she realized that there were several openings in the wall, and, as she watched, someone emerged on one such ledge before stepping off into thin air, rapidly plummeting downward.
Trying to keep calm, she mostly succeeded, and was relieved to see the person suddenly slow before veering towards another ledge and stepping onto it as if they had not just fallen dozens of meters through the air. Notig her gaze, Morris chuckled before muttering something about damned air mages too quietly for her to make out clearly.
Following that dispy, she returned her focus to Morris, and they crossed the road, moving towards an open ar the surrounding wall; the road itself was almost identical to the cobblestone roads ba Granitehill. Unlike below, however, the floor beyond the arch seemed to be made of interlog hexagonal ptes of stohough the walls were still smooth and unadorned.
Looking to the side, she saw a wide staircase spiraling upward along the wall, another simir one going down into the ground to the other side. She wao look around more, but Mently pulled her along towards a wooden door down the hall. She was surprised, as this was the first door, wooden or otherwise, that she had seen siering the spire. It even seemed to be non-magical, though she could not be certain.
Morris simply opehe door without knog, so she assumed it must be ay room, but was surprised to see an absolutely a-looking maed on the floor in the middle of the room. As they ehe man raised his head towards them, opening bzing crimson eyes and direg a pierg gaze at Dawn, quickly looking up towards Niphru as well.
“Greetings, Elder Man, I ister a new mage, as well as an Awakehough they are presently crippled and bue,” Morris stated, bowing slightly to the man.
Silently, the man cocked his head to the side, then spped the stone floor. With a slight rumble, a pilr emerged from the ground, a sb of stone embedded in the side holding a single question mark on it. Just below that, an opening tained a loose sb of stone, which Morris promptly removed and held out to Dawn. Nodding to the man, he focused ba Dawn before remarking, “Please i some of your mana into this ste; it will record your essence, which allows us to avoid tedious paperwork. Niphru will o do the same once he .”
Turning back to Elder Man, Morris expined, “I gave my approval for her to skip the initial apprentice phase, given her performance during a Bck Tide event in her home vilge. She even impressed a warband of the Crimson Way. She will o take the tests to verify, but I am fident in my choice.”
In respohe elder nodded his head ond raised a closed fist before opening and re-g it. As he did so, the pilr of stone crumbled, breaking inte ks, which themselves crumbled, the process tinuing until not even dust remained, and the man lowered his hand once more.
Dawn finished saturating the pte of stoh her mana, feeling it flow through unseen els, and Morris took it from her, gently pg it into a previously absent iion in the wall. More stone flowed around the tablet, returning the wall to a smooth, unblemished state. Morris then bowed to the elder once again, who simply closed his eyes a his head drop once again.
Ohey were outside the room, Morris expined, “Elder Man sacrificed his ability to speak in a ritual to further empower himself. He is the foremost expert when it es to earth magid shaping material. Thank you for remaining silent while we were in his presence, as he dislikes noise and prefers we speak as little as possible in his presence.”
Dawn simply nodded, still awed by the seemingly effortless power the decrepit man had dispyed with casual ease. Even without trying, she had been able to clearly feel the shifting mana as he acted, seemingly in absolute trol over the world around him.
Notig her expression, he nodded, remarking, “Many of us still feel like that. It may not look like much, but the more you uand, the more impressive it bees. He actually created that ste as well, rather than transp one. Once you get into proper enting, you should realize how incredible that is. Now, e, we o get you situated with a room and show you around a bit.”
Morris then turned, leading them up the stairs, rising several floors before stepping out. This floor actually had rugs c several ses of stone, chairs and small tables resting upon them. And also unlike before, there was a long hallway cirg the inner wall, and it appeared there was one on the far end as well. Turning to look towards the ter, Dawn saw a grid of wood f a door of sorts, though it was easy to see through the gaps between the small crossbeams. Beyond y a simple ft ledge of stone, devoid of any railings, and a view out towards the wall on the opposite side.
Spotting where her attention had been focused, Morris stated, “That should be sidered off-limits for now. It is mostly here so those of higher skill and status easily visit. After the first case of a drunk apprentice falling, the doors were installed on all lower floors.”
Dawn nodded, she certainly wasn’t fond of the idea of a long fall being easy to stumble into. It did sound like something to worry about on higher floors, however. Shaking her head, she asked Morris to tinue and followed him down the hall.
Several mier, they crossed another set of stairs, and turned outward, heading away from the inner circle and its fear-indug ledges. After passing two more halls, they turned into a smaller corridor, quickly reag the end, where three doors met. Morris waved towards the o the end of the corridor, mentioning it was a restroom, and all the corridors had the same yout, if she o use one while away. Furthermore, it seemed to be where clothing was ed, and various supplies were kept. Curious, Dawn opehe door, revealing a small room with multiple doors oher side, all of them presently open with a glowing green stone embedded in them. To the sides, she could see basins of various sizes.
Morris poiowards the doors and expined, “The stone on the door will stop glowing green and instead simply return to a dull gray when the room beyond is occupied, so you tell at a gnce whies are free, even if the doors are closed. Ea tains a toilet, sink, and shower, though your room also includes a bathtub, if you wish to rex instead of just quickly ing yourself.”
Dawn aking in the information, and Morris tinued, “The basins are for washing your clothing. The water is stantly cycled out and ed, as warm water is returned. The empty one on the end will extract all water within it when the lid is closed. Do not allow anything except clothing inside, as this process and will kill, and is likely to damage many materials. There are protes, but nothing is perfect.”
She found the warning somewhat frightening, but was thankful that it was mentioned. Since Morris had expined what she was curious about, she closed the dain. As she did so, Morris stated, “This corridor is presently empty, so you piy of these rooms. Personally, I reeher of the two beside us, as the rooms here in the ter tend to be the most quiet when it gets highly active iower.”
As she did not have any preference, she accepted his advid chose the door to the left, though she was uain how to open it, as it cked a handle. Morris directed her to pce her hand ft against the ter of the door and i mana into it, after which the door shifted below her hand, a bar stretg across a recessed circle, backlit by a red glow.
Morris then expined, “The doors have two primary states. When unoccupied, the stone is ft, and anyone cim the room. Once cimed, anyone open the door when you set it to be public, or you assign access to specific people. These ge the light to green and e, respectively. Currently, it is locked, and only you open it. Simply grab the handle and twist it so the bar is upright, and it will allow you to swing it inward. Inside is the same arra, other than a small sg formation to see outside, and a trol stoister anyone you want to be allowed to enter. Additionally, a dial allows switg between public, registered, or private settings.”
He then looked towards Niphru before tinuing, “Unfortunately, these rooms were not expected to house anyone who bonded with an Awakened, so there is no easy access for Niphru, and he will need you to let him in or out. Before Niphru, all known Awakened became such due to tinual proximity to a mage, meaning only those who had already made it to higher floors ever needed access for non-humans.”
Dawn nodded, finding the logic behind the choice quite reasonable, even if it ended up being annoying. Following Morris’ instrus, she turhe bar to a vertical position and pushed, the door easily opening into a small room taining only a bench, hooks on the wall to hang coats, and a mat stretg to the door oher side. Upon opening the far more normal door, she entered a small room that looked to be a dining room bined with a library, shelves recessed into the walls while a table and chairs sat in the ter. In two ers of the room, there were oddly shaped chairs, simir to egg shells. The fur looked rather fortable, however, and the shape did seem like it would be as well, odd as it appeared.
Morris theered as well, pointing out, “There is a small kit through the door to the right, us, the further door is a pantry. The lower half of the pantry is kept cold to help preserve food. To the left is a small room for ste, and ahead is the bedroom. You are free to ize the pce, as long as it be easily restored to how it is now. Using the built-in lighting, heating, cooling, stove, and the bottom of the pantry will incur costs that will be dispyed on the inside of the door. These are covered by perf minor tasks such as recharging mana stones or draining people by the entrao the spire. Don’t worry about them, it is just to ensure people do not e too many resources, and is only an issue with a handful of people. You easily cover normal usage of a month in an hour or two of one day. Anyway, I think that is everything, do you have any questions?”
After thinking for a moment, Dawn did realize she had one and asked, “Is there a way to ge the lighting to wake up at a specific time?”
Morris sighed and shook his head before replying, “Of course I fet that… There is a devi the bedroom that you use to wake up at a specific time. It actually barely even uses magic, surprisingly.”
He then led her into the bedroom, pointing out a small box on a table beside the bed and tinuing, “There are beled buttons on top for ging the time, which is dispyed in numbers on the side. You ge it to slowly increase the lights in the room, emit a loud and annoying sound, or both. I reend both, most of the time, the light works, then the rare times it doesn’t, you get shocked awake. You just tap any button oo disable the arm when you get up. I think that is everything.”
Dawn thought for another moment before nodding and responding, “I ’t think of anything else. This is a lot more than I expected. I thought it was just going to be a bedroom, not almost aire house.”
Morris chuckled before remarking, “Oh, the starting rooms are. But I’ve used my status to have you skip several levels. You will o prove you deserve it, but that will be another day, and I am certain you will pass, even though you likely haven’t learned what you will need yet. Now why don’t you rest for the night a used to everything in here, and we go see about getting Niphru checked out in the m, and tinue going through the spire?”
Finding that she was actually tired after all the excitement of the day, Dawn agreed, and Morris had her register him at the door before exiting. As he did so, he stopped for a moment and poio just above the trols for the door, mentioning, “I fot, but there is a small arm here that be activated by ah high enough status, or anyone you have authorized, even if the door is set to private. Likewise, those with high enough status override the door, but this has only happened a handful of times across all the spires, as it is very rare for it to be required. I will ring the arm when I e back to get you in the m. I hope you have a good evening, Dawn, Niphru.”
“Thank you, Morris, it is a lot to take in, and a chaotic day. I think I will just try to get some rest,” Dawn replied before waving as Morris turned a.
She closed the door and fiddled with the trols, finding them quite easy to uand, ahe door to private before heading to bed. After carefully pg Niphru on the pillow beside her she scratched behind his ears before trying to sleep, finding it surprisingly difficult despite her exhaustion, as the bed was far softer than any she had used before.
