Robin paced back and forth from his reading table and his Essene extractor. A wonderful magical device. A bronze pedestal, with many-layered rings above, forms a hollow ball. Robin moved one of the rings and the device hummed for a second, telling him that it was tuned to the new setting.

Ok, one more and it will be ready. Robin thought as he turned back to his reading table. Where his user manual sits. Oh right! The seventh ring needs to be set to hundred and ninety degrees not hundred and ninety-five degrees.

Along with the user manual, the table was littered with other items. A book about magical herbs Robin was rereading, for fun. A pile of gray rocks sit in a small box near the wall and hidden underneath a book about herbs was a poster of Robin himself. His brown hair and old pug-like face barely showed beneath the book.

Robin grabbed one of the rocks and walked to the device. He carefully placed the rock in the center of the device and turned the seventh ring to the new setting. A humming and popping sound came from the device. As the rock started to glow bright green.

Robin broke into a smile moments before his reason kicked in. His smile dropped, he quickly moved the seventh ring to a setting. The humming and popping sound stopped. The glowing green rock went dim.

“Good, it didn't explode like last time,” muttered Robin, as he stared down at the little rock. “But I did it again. After days of looking, I finally found a solid piece of uranium. In hindsight maybe I should have used some kind of gloves to handle it.”

As Robin was thinking about what to do, the ring on his pinky started barking at him, like an angry dog. Eyes wide, Robin silenced the ring with a touch and run over to the door. He flipped open, the first of five peepholes, and looked out. Nothing, but a straight empty hallway lay beyond.

Robin then moved to the next peephole, and the same as before, but this hallway's carpet was different. An Orange one, instead of red. He moved to the third peephole and almost screamed.

The door at the end of the third hallway was smashed open. A large group of knights in full armor was probing the hallway with long metal poles. Small flames of green and orange shot up, wherever the poles touched. Making the traps useless.

Robin watched in horror, as the knights wormed their way through his defenses. They somehow got past the first two hallways untouched. Bitterness grew in Robin's stomach.

I should have known he would rat me out. Robin thought as he watched a pair of familiar robed men step forward. Their eyes meet for a moment, but it was enough. Oh Hell! A mage!

Robin quickly closed the peephole, as one of the robed men raised a finger at the peephole. Robin jumped back, as the peephole grew red hot, and started to melt. He hurriedly touched the door with one of his blue rings. As the door shimmered with blue light, the hot metal dimmed and cooled.

In a rush, Robin sprinted over to his Essene extractor and grabbed the gray rock inside. Ignoring the fact it might be radioactive. He runs over to a nearby ladder, whatsit against the wall. He started up.

Robin wanted to used portals for this, instead of ladders; But anything bigger than a peephole was too expensive, for his existing budget.

Robin climbed to the top floor attic. The attic was Robin's storage room by day and bedroom by night. The little room was littered with boxes. The cramped space condensed most of the tower's unnatural smells up here.

Robin crawled over his bed and opened a ceiling hatch. Multicolored light streamed in through the opening.

As Robin stepped out onto the roof of his tower, he looked around. Formed around his tower was a colorful wobbly bubble of magic. It was a spacial mirage spell he had cooked up. No one can approach his tower from any other angle, than from the one he wanted. Luckily that angle was attached to the lord's manor.

It was a bright sunny day, and through the magic bubble, Robin could see the lord's manor and grounds below. A large group of people was moving around down there. Beyond the lord's grounds were the green wilds and the high mountains of Nuirian. They almost made Robin regret what he was about to do.

He climbed to the top of the tower. Where a golden device sits, endlessly spinning. His area effect generator.

The magic bubble was coming out of the thing. Robin climbed up beside it and touched it with his finger. A panel opened up in the device and revealed a tiny crystal inside. He added the gray rock in with the crystal and touched the device with one of his rings.

The tower shook as Robin gave it mental new orders. The magical bubble popped, blasting Robin with a fresh bit of air. As he stood up, he heard shouting from below.

Everyone was gawking up at his tower. Because it was doing something completely strange. It had broken itself off from the lord's manor and started flying away. The knights and robed men stood in the broken hallway staring up at the tower, in frustration and awe. They had made it all the way to the last door for nothing. Robin waved down at the crowd. The maids and servants stared up in shock.

As Robin put his cold hands in his armpits, he glanced over at his pursuers again and jumped. The robed men were gone and the knights had started aiming crossbows up at him.

Oh Hell, I should get a move on. Time to find a new hiding place and I know one that they'll never find because they don't even know it exists. Robin thought as he run back up to the device. He touched it with a finger. It hummed with life. Earth. My birthplace.

The tower vanished.

The world changed for Robin in an instant. Rain-soaked in his clothes, he took in his new surrounding. Above him, dark storm clouds loomed over, as hurricane winds rocked the tower. A vast dark sea lay below.

Oh Hell! Robin thought as lightning filled the sky. He covered his ears as thunder boomed. Ah! I need to hurry and turn the space mirage spell on again before I get hit!

Robin clapped his hands together and made his rings glow. As he moved his hands apart a small ball of light appeared. The ball quickly grew over his hand and down his body. He felt his shoes find new purchase on the wet roof.

The wind wasn't affecting him anymore, but the raindrops still hit Robin's left side, like a sea serpent's breath. He started back up to his area effect generator. He had to work fast, his air repelling spell won't last under this onslaught.

He reached his device and touch it with a ring. The area effect generator started to glow, as the magic bubble appeared. The bubble passed over Robin's head and moved down the tower, encasing it.

Silence met Robin's ears, as the tower got cut off from the storm. Lightning flashed overhead, but there wasn't any massive boom. Instead, a faint thunderclap came from below.

“Oh no! My study, my books! The door is still connected to the storm.” said Robin, as he run for the hatch. The crawl space inside was soaked. “Oh, nuts it's all wet too.”

Minutes later, Robin was resting in one of his wet chairs. After quickly forming a barrier spell, around a loose piece of gold, to block the rain and a few dozen drying spells. His books and things seemed to be safe from the rain, for now. His floor and clothing were still soaked.

“Note to self. Never manifested into a thunderstorm again, without proper waterproofing wards on everything,” muttered Robin, as he started a drying spell on his own clothes. His shirt begins to steam. “ Good grief is this going to ruin my clothes.”

Now with his clothes were dry, Robin set to work on drying everything. He clapped his hands, making his rings glow red. A fireball appeared in mid-air. It slowly grew until robin thought it was big enough. Standing near the ball felt like putting your face in a campfire.