“You’re really heavy, you know that?”

I try to retort, but all I manage is a pitiful groan.

“You also pass out way too much for your own good. Don’t you know better than to exhaust yourself?”

I give a noncommittal grunt in reply.

“Being a hero like that is going to get you killed one of these days.”

I loll my head in her direction, fixing her with a glare.

“What? So I was a little vague on the details of the danger. I figured we’d be fine, and we were! Besides, what were you going to do, not come explore a creepy tower in the middle of a haunted valley?”

I groan in my closest approximation of the word ‘yes’.

“You’re no fun. Yeah, we could have taken more people, but we’d just have been more noticeable. This was the best way to go about it… well, not getting caught would have been better, but somebody got too tired… The light show was pretty cool. I guess you bailed us out a bit in the end. How did you do that? I thought only Rav could do that kind of stuff.”

My body’s natural recovery finally kicks in enough for me to move somewhat under my own power. At least, enough to shake my head without breaking my own neck. “-unno.”

“Huh. Whatever, glowboy. Thanks for the assist.” She wanders off, out of my vision.

She had dragged me into some building, which I can only assume is the tower we were headed to. Hopefully those things don’t follow us in here. It would be even better if they were the only guards, and now we have free run of the place to loot… as if. I’m betting this entire tower is a mimic just waiting to eat us. While I wait for my body to come back to me, I can at least browse some notifications.

[Skill levels gained! Hide +2 (5), Fortify +1 (5), Swordsman of the Great River: River’s Flow +1 (2), Tamer +1 (5)] [Warning! You have been infected with Fool’s Rot. Seek the aid of the Village Healer immediately, or, if necessary, sever the afflicted limb. ] [Congratulations! 12 Shadow Men defeated. +360 Power] [Energy pool depleted. +1 maximum Energy.] [Domination milestone reached: 90%. Synchronization temporarily maxed. Tamer skill insufficient for further growth. Attempt upgrade? Cost: 200]

Fool’s rot? God damnit, again with the village healer stuff. I’m the fucking village healer at this point, and I sure as shit don’t know how to… well, maybe. I enter my Energy view, and see the familiar yellow tinges of light that I’ve come to associate with infection. I quickly convert some Energy to green and heal the diseased tissue, purging and replacing what can’t be saved. It’s relatively easy to deal with the infected blood, which appears to be spreading the infection further than just my arm and leg, but I hold off on curing it completely. I don’t want to waste experience I could be getting for my ‘Retrained’ skill.

500 Power later, and my Transfuse Energy is set back to level one, but a new Trait appears.

[Transfuse Energy Retrain I (0/0): Healing Energy integrity permanently increased. Conversion efficiency to healing Energy permanently increased.]

Not terribly flashy, but very helpful anyway. I have to say, I expected… more. However, the fact that it’s clearly a system designed to be repeated several times gives me hope that future iterations will be more impactful that simple structural gains.

Back in my Energy view, I notice that my green Energy is… vibrant. It’s brighter than before, and not by a little. Thin veins of… something I can’t identify run the length of the new strands. I experimentally try creating more green, and one strand of gold now becomes two of green… effectively doubling my capacity for healing.

The resulting flood of green Energy easily wipes away the remains of the infection. I sigh with relief as the aches and pains of my body melt away, leaving me feeling in almost peak condition.

Well, aside from a dull ache that I’ve come to associate with straining too much with Energy. I flex my hand, feeling my joints pop, and slowly get to my feet. I still feel a little unsteady, but I can finally take in the room Lauren dragged me into.

The room looks… larger than I would have expected. It’s dark, except for a small amount of light emanating from my chest, and the shadows move eerily as I explore the room. To call the place ‘messy’ would be too high praise. Cobwebs are more plentiful than walls, and the furniture has been tossed around like the place was raided a very long time ago. A noticeable layer of dust covers most surfaces, though it’s noticeably more thin on the furniture, implying this place was likely abandoned before it was raided. The bookshelves are bare, not a single table or chair remains upright, and everything but the stairs is in an almost unsalvageable level of decay. I’m leery of the stairs, but I think that’s where Lauren went, so they’re probably safe. I leave the first floor behind with careful steps up the stairs, wincing with every creak and board that bends too readily. I hope we don’t have to fight anything in here… even sneezing too hard would probably disintegrate half the room.

I peek my head over the top of the stairs, and find Lauren rummaging through a dilapidated looking chest.

“Find anything?”

“Oh, loads.” She says, curtly. “As long as dust is considered loot, we’re rich.”

I frown slightly, unsure. “There’s really nothing of value here? I saw that the downstairs looked pretty baren, but-”

“Yeah. There’s nothing. I saw a few books up here, but they’re either in another language or too old to read, I can’t tell. Either way, they’re not useful.”

“This place was too well guarded to be… empty. There has to be something.”

“No guards, no monsters, no loot, just… a shitty tower.”

I shake my head. “Kaythe?” *clack* (Strange emptiness around. Unsure where.) Kaythe has started communicating with a lot more clarity and nuance. Slowly at first, but a long way from the days of single words, or even yes/no noises. I feel a strange happiness at how intelligent my friend has become, even though I believe a large portion of that is due to our bond.

“Even Kaythe isn’t sure, but he thinks there’s something we aren’t seeing. Something hidden.”

She sighs exasperatedly. “Fine. I guess we came all this way, it would suck to leave empty-handed.”

The upstairs looks just as torn up as the downstairs, but as Lauren noted, there are a few books lying around. I pick one up and open to the first page… but it’s indecipherable. The symbols on the page look very similar to the runes in Rav’s book in some cases, but widely different in others. I think if I had access to Mana, I could try casting each of the symbols, and that would verify one way or the other… but no such luck. I’m not going to make Energy runes instead; it would be far too wasteful, and potentially lethal.

There is something odd about the book other than the language. The moment I picked it up, I felt a strange scratching in my ears. The book feels… foreign, but also familiar… a sensation I’ve had once before, with Loreian… Energy?

I examine the book more closely, but nothing seems visually unique about it. I try pushing Energy into it, and it disintegrates in my hands. The scratching intensifies slowly, and after a moment, I begin to make out words. My world begins to take on a blue tint, and I suddenly can’t feel Kaythe anymore. Lauren isn’t where she was, and the chest she was rummaging in isn’t destroyed anymore. The room looks… normal. Clean.

“-ou know what they are trying to do! Calminus, please! They cannot be allowed to find this information.” A strange voice emanates from a crystal structure next to the far wall. A being… one that I recognize as my mentor, stands in front of it.

“I know, brother. I feel their twisted system taking control, searching for more. We have already lost too many secrets to them. The works are safe. Not even one of us could be compelled to reveal them. I… am sorry. It had to be done.”

A heavy silence reigns for a few moments before the crystal answers. “It is… essential. The books must be protected. None must ever follow in our steps.”

“Agreed. Farewell, brother. May we meet again… in this life, or the next.”

“Farewell.”

The crystal dimmed noticeably, and Calminus, my mentor, turns away. A book, the very same as the one I held, appears in his hands as he turns to face me.

“I… lied to him. I had no choice. The books are inaccessible to my kind… we are already lost, but you... if you are seeing this, then another species has the gift. You may open the way. You must find our legacy, and use it to destroy this world. The rings are the answer, and the source of their power. Destroy them, and you will free not just yourselves, but all who came before you. They can’t see into these books, they could never figure it out. Their mastery is over living things, but we can inhabit all. Gather these books, laced with our essence, and order them on the shelf below. Go with caution, our defences are many, but you must go. Please… free us.”

My world shifts violently. The tint disappears, the disorder returns, and the book is back in my hands.

“Hey. You there, you looney bastard? Hey!” I flinch away as Lauren snaps in my face.

“Fuck! What?!”

“Don’t you what me, you picked up the book and just froze for a few minutes! It was really fucking weird! Why are you always so weird?”

“Look, it’s weird for me too. Energy shit is insane. This… this book is a diary. The diary of the guy who taught me how to use Energy within the system. I saw… him, in the moments after the system stole them off their planet. I think they were able to put up some sort of resistance, and… hid some things. Things that they want us to find.”

“So there’s treasure here?”

“I… think so, yeah. They were a little vague. Here, help me. I need to gather all the books and check them.”

“You don’t think your mentor would be pissed you’re learning what girl he likes?”

“Fuck off.”