It wasn't even three days later that I watched the newest beast wave approach from the top of my tower. This wave was composed of condors, wild frost elementals, and yeti. All of which were led by a powerful ancient yeti, whose mere presence caused frost to form around it. I wasn’t terribly worried about the beasts, and wouldn’t have even bothered to oversee the attack if concern over Kine’s village wasn’t on my mind. The flock of condors was the most concerning, even if the villagers had retreated into their homes and my apprentices had constructed a wall.

The trees opposite my reflection pond were being pushed down and the bushes trampled as the latest horde emerged. Around me, my apprentices, Kine, Loralie, and all the other magic-users had gathered. While it would be easy to cast a spell like [Tempest] and dismantle the entire horde, I wanted those around me to have the opportunity to test my improved [Advanced Fire Blade] spell. The third-tier spell might be too much for some to control without supervision.

The ancient yeti stood proudly on one of those fallen trees, letting loose a mighty roar that froze part of my lake. In turn, a serpent made of water rose from the center, its undulating body swaying in something like a dance. Both creatures eyed each other in a contest of will that lasted only until Kine released his [Advanced Fire Blade] from the top of the tower and into a crowd of yeti. At least a dozen of the monsters were cut down, not to rise again. A handful more attempted to crawl away with injuries too severe to stand.

I nodded at the man, satisfied with his performance and he smiled back as he wiped sweat from his balding head. Jax and Philipe were next, releasing theirs out into the flock of condors, the blades cutting through the monsters like a scythe through wheat. It took most of their mana, and Jax needed to sit down on a bench to recover. I was still proud of them for their efforts.

The witches went next, their spells cast a little differently. I understood the reason for it, as their magics were normally ritualistic instead of direct-cast, but the effect was the same. Loralie seemed more than confident in her casting, with an easy smile and a relaxed posture. The other witch, Grena, was more focused and intense in hers. When she had been originally introduced, the forty-something year old woman had said her name was Ninkat, which I found out only later was her making mockery of Fintak the Illusionist's moniker. Apparently, they had known each other for years, and exchanged barbs like wizards exchanged tricks.

The witches' two spells crashed into the remaining condors, leaving only a few still flying in the air. Those didn’t stay for long, abandoning the battle to fly back west with frightened squawks. It gave me a sense of relief that I didn’t know I needed. With the flying monsters out of the battle, the villagers would be able to defend themselves should the need arise.

The others, the illusionist, Pyl, and Rhela the Red I expected to have a more difficult time with the casting. Specializing in a third-tier class often came with a natural ease of learning spells in that field at the cost of difficulty learning spells from another. I was surprised however, when the other spell-casters moved to aid them with words of encouragement or advice.

First came Rhela, who had somehow endeared herself to my former assistant Kine. He smiled and nodded in her direction as she practiced the motions and words needed to cast the spell. I did a quick check on my former assistant to ensure that she had used none of the charming magic she was known for, but found nothing of the sort on him. If she had charmed him, then it wasn’t magical in nature.

The witch Grena helped the illusionist, or I assume it was a form of help. She insulted everything from the way he stood to how he drew upon his mana. The entire time, she challenged everything from his skills to his very manhood. It made me glad that I had not attracted her attention myself, not that she would ever find any weakness in the way I cast spells.

What surprised me the most, was Loralie and Pyl. While I knew they were friends of a sort and came from the same general barony, the way that she whispered encouragement to him seemed more than just that. It was only when she placed her hand on the small of his back and turned to give me a brief look of victory that I understood what she was truly doing. While no doubt the others would see her illusion doing it as a matronly act, she knew I saw through both the illusion and her pointed look.

It felt such a petty barb, even if I knew that, when I had rejected the offer of a relationship with her, something like this could be possible. With her actions now, she was telling me that she would have one with Pyl should I not change my mind. If she hadn’t already began to see him romantically.

It burned a little, the feelings of jealousy. They weren’t logical, I knew that. I had rejected the woman and had no say in who she saw. Nor did I harbor any ill feelings towards Pyl. Instead of signaling her, I turned away to watch the monsters as the spells were cast.

Pyl’s did well. He could have aimed it better, but the spell was cast correctly. Fintak’s sputtered out in a miscast that left him looking more angry than hurt. I suspect that Grenda’s barbs were more distracting to him than he let on, but he recast it almost immediately with no concerns, both the spells hitting different groups of yeti leaving them in smoldering pieces.

Rhela had the most difficulty with the spell, but I suspected she might. Kine needed to help her shape the spell before she released it, and even then it crashed into the lake instead of striking the beasts.

My patience, though, had been broken. While I had initially planned on watching them recast the spell as many times as it took to get it right, I was no longer in the mood for it. Whatever game Loralie was playing with me had left me feeling irritated. With my lips pressed together firmly, I cast several chain lightning spells out into the horde.

After the flashes of light from the spell faded, I turned to look at the other spellcasters, “Please continue to practice as you see fit.”

Without another word, I descended into my tower towards my laboratory to seek refuge amongst my work.

I had considered letting Loralie know about my research into longevity, and what that could mean for a possible us, but her actions today left me feeling slightly bitter towards the woman. It was, of course, entirely reasonable for her to start a new relationship if I turned her down. That wasn’t what bothered me. What bothered me was how quickly she did so, and how she made sure to draw my attention.

For the two of us, who can see in decades instead of years, to make a decision such as that within a month was… I couldn’t think of the proper word, I was so irritated. Instead, I decided to throw myself back into research until I had calmed.

It was so easy to get lost in my work, too. I periodically checked on the experiments I was running on the hydra. The fifth-tier elemental had not changed in regards to killing more or less of the beasts, but I didn’t think that it was sufficient to affect their overall numbers. Maybe if I had summoned ten or twenty of them and had the boulders rolling in constantly changing patterns, I could have dealt death to a tenth their number. Still, it was worthwhile to watch, if only for the satisfaction I felt seeing it roll over the monsters.

The illusionary rabbits continued to attract attention and cause the monsters to fight each other. Often times that didn’t result in their deaths, which was unfortunate, and the moonstones I had used were subject to being disturbed causing the illusions to only work for part of the day. Yet those illusions provided a more accurate result than I could gather from the parasitic mushrooms experiment.

On my last review of this experiment, the infected hydra had been isolated, like an island within the ocean. I’d reacted by using the air elemental I watched through to spread the spores out from the island. It was disappointing that I needed to take a more active role in the experiment, and should I return to that canyon—a thought which caused me to shiver—I would attach an air elemental to continue the spread of the mushrooms from the start.

The current experiment, though, was a mess. Rather than an island, the infected hydra battled against non-infected in an enormous squirming hill of the beasts. I could barely tell one monster from the other, as they bit, tore, and ate each other only to regrow moments later. The regenerative effects of the monsters surpassed that of trolls.

I watched those experiments and proceeded with several others for two days straight when I was interrupted again. My seneschal knocked at the door and drew my attention.

“Lord Fargus, you have a guest,” he informed me in a toneless manner.

“A guest?” I asked, my eyes going back and forth from my current experiments to him. If this guest wasn’t important, then I planned to have the man deal with the matter.

“Yes, lord. A young woman, a Miss Lilly, has arrived and she looks rather distraught. Shall I dismiss her?”

I stopped what I was doing to look at the man, “Lilly, you say? Distraught? I will attend to her shortly.”