Chapter 5 : Tower Defense (2)

“Ren. Do you really think this will work with only 12 crystals?” Ryoko asked as she fluffed her red hair to the side. The sun was beginning to set and the last thing she wanted was to spend her evening inside a rickety old tower while fending off wolves.

“I’m almost 100% sure that it will be enough to fend off any serious threats. Almost…” Ren replied.

*So he’s not sure at all….ugh.* Ryoko thought to herself.

“Ready - and…. GO!” Ren said as he lifted his right hand to the sky. After a brief moment’s pause, several small orbs of various colors of light could be seen congregating within his palm which he then slammed down to the earth. These energy wisps spread in various directions, tracing a line to each of the placed crystals before finally connecting them all. As soon as this process was done, a barrier of translucent light streamed upwards several dozen meters before finally, the barrier was complete. All in all the entire process took less than a minute.

Ryoko reached out her finger tip and tapped against the invisible barrier several times, causing a ripple to radiate from the point of impact.

“Well, I guess that’s not too bad. Are you going to be able to maintain this amount of mana though?” Ryoko said as she appraised the barrier apprehensively.

“He he he. No problem!” Ren said as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a large orb, about the size of a baseball, which closely resembled a crystal ball. Within there was a thick, blue mist swirling as if a churning hurricane raged within the sphere.

Ryoko gasped upon seeing the object, then her eyes narrowed.

“YOU DIDN’T! THE MASTER IS GOING TO MURDER YOU REN!”

“Pfft. No she won’t. She’s so busy with her crazy studies that she will never know it’s gone. Besides, I’m only going to use it for a short while. After that, we’ll zip back to the capital and replace the Mana Orb before she even knows it’s gone!” Ren placed the Mana Orb back into

“Here lies Ren, Lord Of The Boards. He died so young at the feet of his shabby tower of dreams. Amen.” Ryoko said as she mimicked a lamentable prayer for his spirit.

“Stop.. you’re bad mouthing me.” Ren said as he cut his sister a slightly annoyed glance.

“You’re taking all the fun out of this. It’s supposed to be fun Ry-Ry-chan!” Ren practically shouted as he turned on his heel and set to the task of placing a tent. With Alchemy it was easy peasy -- all he needed to do was grab the correct item from his dimension storage and activate!

He pulled out a trinket, which resembled a key-chain more than a consumable alchemic item, and tossed it a few meters in front of him. It landed not far from the entrance to the tower. In a poof of smoke, the tent unfolded and appeared -- completely set up.

“This should be good for now.” Ren said as he walked over to the tent and nodded his head several times, admiring his own handiwork in the process.

“And where will you be sleeping?” Ryoko asked as she walked over to Ren and stood centimeters away from him.

“Eh? I’m going to sleep in the tower, obviously. This is for you after all. You are my precious delicate flower known as Ryoko Lightfoot. I would never allow you to sleep in less than the best, my princess!” Ren said, pouring on the compliments rather thickly in order to get a reaction.

“Baka.” Ryoko said as her cheeks blushed up slightly.

“Ha ha ha.” Ren chuckled as he patted her on the head.

“I’ll be right back. I need to go take a look around the perimeter to make sure of a few things.” Ren said as he walked out of the barrier.

“Where are you going?” Ryoko questioned as she watched him walk off.

“I’ll be back!” Was all Ren said.

“Baka brother, clueless onii-chan. He should know a woman wouldn’t want to be out here, all alone in the wilderness... “ Ryoko whispered as she watched Ren wander off into the nearby forest. Without the absence of Ren she couldn’t help but feel afraid of the encroaching darkness.

*I hope he hurries back..* She thought to herself before turning and took a look at the tent. She walked around it several times, looking at it from all angles before finally deciding it was worth her time. She then unzipped the flap and stepped inside.

“Cramped.” Ryoko said, accessing the situation in a single word.

---------------------------------------------------

Although Ren didn’t say anything, he parted ways with Ryoko so that he could surprise her. According to the map there was a water source not far away so he decided to collect some in order to make some stew -- one of her favorite dishes. Along the way he saw a beautiful pink flower which he felt would look great in Ryoko’s hair.

“I might even be able to use this in a synthesis to make her an accessory.” Ren said as he knelt down and collected the lone, pink flower.

He then continued about his business, finding the nearby well and extracting some water from it. He tested it and quickly discerned that it was safe to drink before he made his way back to the tower. All in all he had only been gone for a few minutes, six--perhaps ten at the most.

*Hmm. She must be inside the tent already. Perfect! I can start the stew before she even notices.* Ren thought to himself upon noticing that Ryoko was no longer out front of the tower. Ren quickly and quietly snuck by the tent and made his way into the tower. With the sun finally sinking behind the mountains there was very little light to go by, thus he called forth a Light Element.

Ren held his palm face up and used his mind to call forth the spirit from within his dimension storage.

Light Elements, or elements in general were the components of alchemy. Each had a unique characteristic which lended well to a specific purpose-- though Ren had no intention to use the Light Element for synthesis--he just wanted to see better in the darkness.

“Let’s see. I think I saw some old boards over here..” Ren mouthed to himself as he set the Light Element on the table, it resembled a white wisp of flowing ephemeral energy.

“Eh?”

Ren heard the sound but didn’t immediately register what it was, so he turned around only to find himself face to face with Ryoko. Her face was frozen in an expression of fear and embarrassment, her eyes wide and cheeks beet red as her eyes met with Ren's.

It was reflex, he couldn’t help it-- it wasn’t his fault after all. As she stood there frozen Ren’s eyes slowly drifted downwards to the paradise that was Ryoko’s unclothed body. The contrast of light vs darkness against her sleek, yet curvy frame was enough to make Ren’s eyes widen slightly.

“Hmm. C-cups…” Ren said as his eyes settled on Ryoko’s redacted , her redacted were redacted, no doubt due to the crisp cool air swirling about the foot of the mountain. Her jaw dropped and finally she moved her hand to cover herself. Unfortunately that also exposed even more.

“And bald. Oh my.” Ren said as a goofy smile spread across his face.

“G-Get out! I’m changing into my pajamas!” Ryoko shouted as she finally made to push Ren out of the tower, tossing the Light Element out with him.

“What?” Ren added, “It’s not like I haven’t seen it before…”