We all woke up early the next day so we can get the most out of exploring the city. The Inn wasn't serving food that early in the morning, so we skipped breakfast and set out into the streets of Linca city.

The first place Lance and I went was the Magic Tower, a tall stone brick building located in the furthest corner off the city. It towered above all of the over buildings and cast a dark, ominous shadow over them. What resides within there, one can only wonder.

"Here we are, the Magic Tower. It's where the lord's mage, Sir Blank, resides. He's on par with my skill level, which is why he directly serves for the lord."

"Why does he live so far from the castle if he works there?"

"He has a portal set up in the tower so he can move between the castle and his tower when he wants. I know this because he used to work for the order before moving here."

He used to work for the Order? Why would he move here? Maybe he wanted to live an easier life or get away from something...

Ah, I need to stop thinking about that infinite door thing. I'll find answers soon, hopefully.

"Can we go inside of the tower?"

"Hopefully. I know him quite well so he should let us in."

We approached the wooden door at the bottom. Lance rapped on it three times before we heard footsteps, a clink and then the creaking of it swinging open. Sir Blank stood behind, glancing down at me and up at Lance.

He stood a shorter than Lance and looked a lot older. He wore a white shirt with black trousers and leather shoes. His sleeves were rolled up and his hands were covered in what looked like red chalk. His face was slightly wrinkles and his hair greying.

"Lance? Why are you here?" He asked. He had a deep voice, unfitting for his scrawny body. Was he actually a knight before, and if so, why is he so thin?

"I'm exploring the city with this boy, William. Say hello to Sir Blank."

I bowed my head. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

I've been working on my 'courtesy' at the headquarters and how to treat people with respect. I didn't expect to have to use those lessons so soon after taking them.

"Mhm. Well, why don't you come in? I'm not that busy."

The mage beckoned for us to come in.

The first floor was a small sitting room with two sofas, a coffee table, and some food storage. The second floor was weapon storage. I wondered why a mage had so many weapons until I realised they were all glowing. They've been enchanted with exchange magic! All of them!

The third floor was the main laboratory. There were dozens of pots filled with strange ingredients and shelves with odd items placed on them. A cauldron sat in the middle of the room, filled with a red liquid.

"I'm currently brewing up some healing elixirs to sell off to my friend at the marketplace. That's why I'm covered in this dark red sparrow powder."

Sir Blank approached a strange metal device and turned a handle. Surendly water rushed out of a small hole and he washed his hands in it. It looks similar to the well tap back home...

"What is that?" I asked Sir Blank.

"Ah, you've probably not seen it before. It's quite expensive, after all. It's called a sink; an enchanted device that is connected to a water source and purifies it. Basically, it creates clean water that I can drink. Pretty useful, eh?"

Clean water? No wonder it's expensive, clean water is a luxury people would kill for.

We travelled up to the fourth floor which was a library filled with books.

"This is Sir Blank's library, filled with all knowledge on magic theory, alchemy and devices."

The library took up the entire floor, with over forty bookshelves, all of them filled with books. I pulled out out at random and read the cover.

"Corvis' theory on the natural magic circulation, volume three. Huh, that sounds boring..."

"William, remember your lessons on respect. And anyways, we'll be learning that once we move onto charge magic."

I grunted and put the book back on the shelf. Nothing here seems oddly exciting, it's just books on magic theory, alchemy and devices. Just like Lance said. So boring.

I walked up the next set of stairs when, suddenly, Sir Blank grabbed my arm sleeve and pulled me back.

"There's nothing up there a little boy would find interesting. Why don't you go to the first floor and I'll bring down some tea?"

I nodded and went downstairs where I sat down on the sofa. What is up there that's so important? Lance mentioned a portal, perhaps that's up there? But it's not very important, there must be something else. If I get the chance, I'll explore upstairs.

Sir Blank gave me some tea and then ventured upstairs to talk with Lance. I wonder what Baron and Michael are doing? Probably something more fun than this. I was expecting something interesting to be here, but instead it's just ingredients and books.

I drank the tea before leaving with Lance.

"Where do youto go next?" He asked.

"The marketplace," I told him.

Lance agreed and so we set off for the market.

The marketplace was busy and bustling with people of all kind, buying different items at all the stalls. There were jewellery stands, weapon stalls, elixir stalls and food stalls.

I felt something strange around a crowded jewellery stall, and so I pushed past the people around it. They growled as I pushed through them, but I didn't care.

The jewellery on the stall is cheap, but there's one expensive item: a magic ring.

"Only one in stock! Buy this one of a kind magic ring that lets you levitate items!"

Levitate items? That's an extremely complicated magic that involves exchanging mana into an item and controlling it remotely. I doubt a small ring can do that... In fact, I feel something's wrong.

I can definitely sense mana on the stand, but not from the ring he's selling. Instead, it's coming from one of the 'normal' pieces of jewellery: a set of golden, ring shaped earrings.

I focused more on them to try and figure out why it's enchanted, but couldn't tell what the enchantment was.

Lance had given me some pocket money, so I fished out five Lampos coins and handed them over before fishing up the magic earrings and working my way back to Lance, who stood by the fountain.

"Buy anything?" He asked, looking down at the two earrings i held.

"Can you sense it?" I asked.

He nodded and took them from me. He closed his eyes, I can tell he's trying to sense what magic is within them, but instead he shook his head.

"They're enchanted, that's for sure, but I can't tell what the enchantment is. Hold onto them, they might be of worth," He passed them back over to me.

I looked down at the two earrings. If a mage like Lance doesn't know what they are, then how well i ever work out how to use them?

I stuffed them in my pocket and went to buy a snack at another stall. I'll find out eventually, I'm sure.