Elder Knight Torak and Tower Knight Mac sat down across from me, Mac in a chair, and Torak stretching out on the couch.

The Elder’s friendly smile turned into a frown as he learned forwards towards me. “A report came in that a large fire was spotted on the second floor, far outside the tamed zone. Our scouts found five severely burnt bodies that were identified as Elven adventurers.”

Despite having the title of Elder, Torak looked to be healthy, powerful, and at the peak of his strength. He took a moment to pour himself a drink before hovering the bottle above another glass with a questioning look towards me. Remembering how uncoordinated I was last time I walked out this room I thought it best to decline. I gave him a polite smile and shook my head. The Elder turned to Mac who was nodding a little too eagerly, his eyes locked on to the bottle.

Torak took a sip of the amber liquid before leaning back, his large frame taking up most of the space on the couch and nodded to Mac.

Mac placed his glass down and cleared his throat. “As I mentioned when you registered, the Tower Key Storage devices keeps track of the last mana signatures they encounter before the wearer’s death. Four of the adventurer’s TKS listed a mana signature that matches your own. Three of which was the last mana signature recorded before death.”

Mac leaned forwards to take another drink from his glass but did not say anything more. Torak remained quiet, watching me. Waiting for me to speak.

From what I remembered there were only four elves, not including Zelphar. I remember killing one myself, while my shadow took care of two. The fourth, Kade, Krell, or something was done in by Zelphar’s fiery domain, which was a shame as he seemed less murder minded than the others.

“I see…” was all I said as I continued to gather my thoughts.

Mac’s eye twitched, I could tell this was not going the way he expected. Not wanting to piss off some of the first people to be kind towards me in this world, I continued.

“I am responsible for three of the deaths. Zelphar was responsible for one, but the fifth, I have no idea.”

Mac’s eyes widened as he whispered, “You killed… on the baby floors?”

Torak sighed before finishing his drink and refilling his and Mac’s glasses.

“Baby floors?” I asked. “They were hunting me, to kill me for whatever reason. Zelphar would have if I was not so close to a mazer hole. Sone of them said they were from burntwood trees or something. Zelphar’s guild.”

“Glade.” Mac said quietly. “The Ashenwood is the glade that Zelphar is a part of. Glade is their community or city, if you would, and guild is an organisation that could be made up from multiple adventurers.”

“I see…” Maybe I could use a drink after all. I summoned myself a glass of rum and cola with ice and took a long sip.

Torak’s eyebrow’s rose as he looked at my conjured drink. Seeing that I noticed, he schooled his expression. “Please. Tell us what happened.”

Much like the first time I was in this room, I shared my experiences in the tower. Only this time the tower in focus was different. I started with meeting the dwarfs and ended with escaping through the mazer hole to floor three.

They remained silent, nursing their drinks. After a moment Torak spoke. “I suspected it might have been something like that. We heard rumours that a powerful seer had arrived on the Isles. Apparently, this seer is very highly respected and holds many insights into arcane mastery. For whatever reason this seer has an interest in you and many of the Elven factions are competing to gain her favour.”

“Great so it’s not just one group of elves, but a bunch of them after me. Do you know who this seer is?”

Mac placed his now empty glass on the table. “No. We have Zelphar in for questioning, but he refuses to give a name.”

“Zelphar was released earlier this morning.” Torak said.

“What?” Mac must have been surprised as he almost dropped his cup.

“His father came personally and put pressure on the tower. He will be barred from entering the tower for half a week.”

Turning to me the Elder Knight continued. “The tower is the highest priority to our order. I personally despise the political games that are played by the world factions. That being said, we have been asked to be very cautious when it comes to matters surrounding yourself. To not make any decision that would either be harmful towards yourself or cause you to build resentment towards us or the tower.”

That took me aback. Guess being an ex hero has its perks in this world.

Mac’s eyes widened and he turned to Torak. “I have not heard about this. Has this ever been asked before?”

“No, it has not.” Torak’s eyes bored into me. “However, no one has ever been able to cut the foundational spacial fabric of the tower’s walls either.”

Mac shot up from his seat and looked to me. “That was you?”

Not really sure what they were talking about I just looked back and forth between them while scratching the back of my head. “Maaybee? What are we talking about exactly?”

Mac started pacing back and forth in the room. “Two days ago, an unknown power damaged and broke through the tower’s walls. Hundreds witnessed the event, and it said it was like long thin white streaks of light were cutting through the very sky from the tower. Fortunately, none of the slashes angled towards the city, unfortunately, several airships nearby the tower were caught by the energy and were destroyed.”

The memory of Mr T. tapping me on the head with the hilt of my old sword flashed through my mind.

“Was anyone hurt or killed?”

Mac stopped pacing to sit back down and pour himself another drink “One man lost a hand, but there were no deaths. A lot of important cargo was damaged. Apparently, whatever that energy was, was so sharp that it cut through everything, even enchanted silver steel.” Looking to me, he asked. “Just what did you do?”

Torak remained silent but I could tell he was just as interested in knowing the answer as Mac was.

“Uh well. I am not too sure myself. I was knocked out in a…” I coughed into my hand “friendly spar and when I came back to my senses Mr. T scolded me and said he was taking precautions.”

“Mr. T? Who is that?” Mac asked as he looked between me and Torak.

“Some Red Dwarf fanatic.” I responded.

Torak chocked on his drink and took a moment to clear his throat. “Not your concern right now. Anyway, because of that we have been asked to treat you as a very important person.”

“And that’s why Zelphar gets a three day ban?”

“Five days.” Mac said. “A week on this world is ten days. Has Exterra not been teaching you?”

“Uh, well I have not been back to the guild since I stepped into the tower.”

Torak nodded. “Nor will you, for a while anyway. Zelphar reports that he was knocked out by some adventurer disguised as yourself and argued because of that, he was not responsible for his domain ending the Elves in the deep forest.”

“Bullshit. And what of Torva and her team?”

Mac chimed in. “Torva managed to survive, unfortunately the rest of her team did not make it. There was a surviving firemage that claimed responsibility for the alteration, despite one TKS stating otherwise. He has been banned from the tower for a decade.”

Torak frowned. “Politics.” He said the word like he was spitting out something foul. “Hiro has asked that you remain in the tower. His guild is under pressure and powerful adventurers are waiting to spot you in the city. Hiro hopes you can reach their guild hall on floor ten with his descendent and her team.”

He finished his glass and placed it on the table. “Since we let Zelphar off easily, that allows us to keep you inside the tower without showing favouritism. Instead of being barred from the tower you will instead perform assistant services under the supervision of a Knight.”

Assistant services? Just a second ago they said they were to treat me as a VIP, now they are saying they want me to work for them? Anger started building inside me. That was completely unacceptable.

I leaned forwards as calmly as possible and met Mac’s eyes and then Torak’s in turn. “No. I have very important goals to achieve right now and all this.” I waved my hand in a circle above my head. “The elves, Zelphar, Khemrok, and now you are getting in my way and slowing me down from my ultimate goal.”

A bead of sweat could be seen dripping down from Mac’s forehead. “And what is that goal?” he asked quietly.

Launching to my feet I yelled down at them. “Magic! I can use magic! Do you not get it? Every minute not play… uh practicing is one minute slower to reaching mastery! I recently learned that you could dismiss your own mana. Did you know that was possible? Well I didn’t! I had planned to master it today but instead I’m stuck here talking with you. And now you want to take up more of my time doing what? Follow some knight around running errands? I don’t think so.” I was breathing heavy by the end of my little rant. But I must admit I did feel better for it.

Deep rumbling laughter erupted from Torak and my eyes locked onto him. “By the tower, you can be frightening.” He held out his hands in a calming gesture, “Peace Reigner. That is only the story others will hear. Instead, you will be free to move in the tower how you wish while also having a knight standing by to ward off any... unwanted distractions and prevent the deaths of any more adventurers.”

A bit mollified by his words I coughed into my hand and sat back down. “Oh… Hm. sorry then… and thanks.”

Chuckling, Torak repositioned himself on the sofa. “I actually know just the knight who also happens to be an excellent teacher who can help guide you in more advanced mana techniques.”

My eyes widened and my lips curled into a smile. Having access to teacher that can help me with magic while also discouraging elves from attacking me was just the thing I needed.

Torak was pointedly looking towards Mac who was looking back at him with a surprised expression.

“No. Not me. I can’t. My other duties…”

“Will be taken care of.” Said Torak. “You have built a good rapport with Reigner here and due to how sensitive the situation is, no one else could be more suited.”

“Mac is a teacher?” I asked.

“Mac here is a mentor of our order and assists with instructing new recruits. He is also quite knowledgeable when it comes to the utilisation of both skills and spells.”

Now that I thought about it, Mac did give me good advice when I first awakened and could access mana.

“Okay, that’s fine with me.”

Torak grinned, showing of his large teeth. “Excellent. What’s the time now?” He looked to the side of the room. “Good, still early. We need to make a little show of this so Mac, can you check the arrival gate today with Reigner? Just stand around a little before heading into the tower.”

Torak stood up and reached into his robes. He pulled out a folded bundle of dark grey cloth and handed it across to me. “You will need to wear this. This symbolises that you are paying a debt to the tower.”

Shrugging I slipped the robe over my clothes. If it meant I could learn from Mac and not get bothered by others, then a change in outfit was fine with me.

Mac sighed and finished the rest of his drink in one gulp. “Alright, but I want a week off after this.”

Torak chuckled as he shook my hand. “Good to see you again, Reigner. Net time let’s make sure it’s under better circumstances.” He said before walking out the room.

Mac sighed again and stood up. “Come on, we can pop by the arrival gate before going into the tower.” He stumbled a little before balancing himself and started walking towards the door. I did not miss that when he stumbled, he also grabbed the half full bottle of liquor off the table.

“You alright there boozy?” I asked. He seemed to be enjoying the liquor a bit too much.

He gave me a sly grin. “Elder Knight Torak always has access to the best spirits and he seems to always need a drink whenever your name comes up.” He showed off the bottle to me, giving it a little shake, before storing it away. “A perk of working with you.” Chuckling happily, he led the way forward.

The arrival gate turned out to be the stone room I woke up in before stepping into this world. The area in front of it was filled with a large crowd of people with a large number of elves. I felt their eyes following me like a hawk, once they noticed me.

“Oh good, they see you.” Mac muttered under his breath.

“Wonderful, that mean we can go back into the tower now?”

Mac turned his head and looked up to the tower. Following his gaze, I realised he was looking to the rings of light wrapped around the tower. There were ten rings, the bottom ring was a dark blue colour with each ring above it a slightly lighter and greener colour until the tenth ring, which was a bright green. Just as I was about to ask what we were waiting for, each ring, starting from the bottom and moving upwards flashed white. Once the light reached the top ring, they disappeared, leaving just one ring of light at the base that glowed green.

Looking around I noticed that Mac and everyone in the crowd was also looking at the tower before turning towards the arrival door. What felt like a few minutes went by with nothing happening.

Mac turned away from the gate. “Okay let’s go. No new arrival to worry about today.”

We walked into the large hall where a bunch of adventurers were waiting to go into the tower. Instead of getting a ticket like climbing team were required to do, Mac walked right up to the Knight manning the entrance.

The person behind the wooden pedestal which sat a crystal sphere was a Beastkin with rabbit ears. “Morning Macauley. Going in today?” The tower knight asked.

“Yup. I pulled the short straw and need to supervise this one.” Mac gestured behind himself and towards me with his thumb.

“Oh?” The rabbit man looked over Mac shoulder and his eyes widened as he noticed my robe. “Surprised you got stuck with sitter duty.” He gave Mac a sly grin. “What did you do?”

Mac coughed onto the back of his hand. “I might have been caught with a bottle from Elder Torak’s study.”

The beastkin let out a cackle of laughter. “You’re lucky you got off so lightly. I would gladly do supervision duty for a cup or two from his collection.”

Mac looked around suspiciously before turning his back to the hall and pulling out a bottle of liquor from the inside of his robe. “Well maybe you won’t have to. Instead, you could just do a few things for me.”

A fluffy white hand handed on Mac shoulder. “Brother!” Mac and the beastkin started chuckling while grinning to each other.

I don’t know what Mac’s game was but whatever he was doing it was taking too long. Stepping close to the pair I asked. “Can we go in now?”

A serious look overcame the beastkin tower knight as he looked to me. “Chill bigboy, the task boards are not going anywhere.”

Mac winced, pulled the beastkin to the side and whispered into his ear.

The beastkin listened, occasionally glancing towards me.

After a moment they broke apart.

“Okay, go on through. Mac, find me after yeah? We have some catching up to do.” The beastkin made a drinking gesture.

“Thanks Bon. Come on Reigner.”

Mac walked through the shadowy doorway.

I walked followed after him while nodding towards Bon. “Thanks, Bon the Rabbit.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the beastkin’s expression as I walked through the doorway.

“What’s so funny?” Asked Mac.

“Oh, nothing. Let’s go back to floor four and pick up a key stone.”

Mac insisted we stop by the first floor so he could grab some breakfast.

“Most of my duties lately have been outside the tower so there is not much opportunity to enjoy Chef Powin’s cooking.”

Mac did not pay with coin and instead pulled out a hind leg of some creature. The guy inside the cart seemed happy and handed over what seemed like fifty or more skewers. Mac accepted them with a smile on his face and placed most of them into his storage.

Remembering what happened last time I walked into the fourth floor I prepared myself for the gust of cold wind to hit us as we entered from the dark passageway.

“Welcome to… Oh it’s you two again.”

I felt the wind rustle my robe, but it was not freezing cold like the last time the tower knight played his prank.

Mac walked over to the sitting tower knight manning the entry to the floor. “Carlson. Anyone cleared out the snow wolf dun, recently?”

“I doubt it. No one likes that place due to the terrible loot” Carlson placed his hand on the crystal for a moment before continuing. “About three weeks ago was the last time anyone walked in or out of the place. No word if they cleared it or not.”

“Good.” Mac nodded. “If anyone asks about us, tell them we went to the steam tunnels.”

A mischievous smile made its way to Carlson’s face. “The steam tunnels, you say? Talking about steam. You seem very aromatic today. You wouldn’t happen to have passed by floor one… on the way here by chance?”

Carlson’s smile widened and he held out an open palm.

Mac frowned down at the man for a moment before letting out a breath and reaching into his storage. “Fine. Have one.” He handed over a skewer to Carlson who asked, “Just one?”

I could tell the exchange was painful for Mac, his body was tense as he handed over a second meat skewer.

Carlson gave Mac a huge beaming smile. “Thank you! Enjoy your time in the steam tunnels. Be careful, it’s easy to get lost in there.”

Mac did not say anything and walked towards the wall’s gate.

Catching up to him I commented, “Seems you’re a popular guy.”

Mac grinned towards me. “After some time in the order you become familiar with just about everyone.”

I gave a shudder. “Sounds like my old job. Sometimes you can learn a bit too much about the people you work with.”

Mac nodded in agreement. “True that.”

As before, there were a number of solo climbers hunting the creatures that spawned in the field outside the wall. There were large rabbits, some wolfs, and the occasional golem made from snow. As we walked about halfway into the field, I recognised one of the people fighting a snow golem.

A stout dwarf wielding a shield and shiny pick hammer was swinging his weapon against the golem’s legs. He managed to knock the golem on the ground before delivering a deathblow to the monster’s head.

Just as he took a moment to catch his breath a wolf turned his way and charged. The dwarf readied himself to meet the charge, but the wolf stopped dead a few metres from him, it’s head impaled by my spearbolt.

The dwarf spun around towards me and shouted out. “Ye rotten kill stealing bastard! Did ye wee ma’ drop ye too many times while you were a meatball?” He noticed Mac standing next to me. “Did ye see that Mr tower knight? Or is this how you gain levels? By stealing the work of solo climbers? Rotten bunch of…”

Laughter bellowed out of me at the angry dwarf’s tirade and his face turned from anger to shock.

“Reigner… is that you?”

“It’s good to see you, Burin.”