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 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 the 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 to digest 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 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 that denoted which fields she was proficient in. It had been some time since I paid attention to such things, but the sheer number of those symbols 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 even when 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?”

“They 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, whose 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 retaliation 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 two 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 do 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 after I was done altering the acoustics of the rafters. 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.