Chapter 275: The Tower

Chapter 275: The Tower

Chapter 275 - The Tower

Muffled voices stirred Kai awake. Shadows and lights danced beyond his eyelids. He was lying on a cold stone floor. Despite his dazed head and heavy limbs, he had all his fingers and toes. Whatever toxin he got injected with, it wasn't lethal, or the potions had an effect.

I can’t believe that worked. Thank you, Hobbes.

His familiar sent back a regal acknowledgment, their bond still working. The furball paced outside the swirling fog, less than five hundred meters from him. Perceiving the magic in the mist, he was hesitant to come closer.

Don’t worry, I’ll be okay. I’ll reach you once I fix this.

A rock was digging into his back. Kai reached to dislodge it when something sharp brushed his neck.

“Don’t move!” The face of a girl about eighteen with delicate pale features and sharp eyebrows came into view. She stood over him with a rapier pointed at his nose, her dark hair tied in a ponytail. “Did you follow us here?”

“Stop that, Caeli.” A male shadow with the wavy brown curls typical of the archipelago walked behind her. “He’s just a boy.”

“We’ve already discussed this. He popped out of nowhere!” She gestured with her blade too close to him for comfort. “It could be another trick of the mist. We can’t trust anything in this place.”

“We also agreed this place is protected. The cloud fairies can’t come to the tower.”

“We can’t be sure.” Caeli snorted and continued to squabble.

Where is Kea?

Across the bare stone chamber, a young woman with shoulder-length hair and green eyes sat reading a book—not his sister. An enchanted staff rested on the wall beside her. She gave him an exasperated smile as if to say he shouldn’t mind the other two. There was no one else.

Still lying on his back, Kai propped himself up on his elbows to stand up. The rapier whistled back to his nose.

“I said to not move!” Caeli coldly watched him. “Who are you? Did someone pay you to follow us here? It’s that slimy weasel, isn’t it? If you think killing us will be so easy, you don’t know who you’re dealing with!”

“Uhm...” Kai cleared his throat, his tongue still somewhat unresponsive. “Ima domeehn...”

“What language is that?” The dark-haired girl narrowed her eyes and pressed the rapier against his chest. “Do you think I won’t do it after what you did to Caeden?”

“Calm down, Caeli.” The young man pulled her arm back before turning to Kai with a studious gaze. “I don’t think you’re a spy. But you must tell us who you are and how you got here.”

“Imasht.” Kai clenched his jaw to hide his frustration in case they interpreted it as a hostile move.

Caeli’s blue eyes gleamed dangerously. “Are you making fun of us?”

“I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose.” The young woman closed her book and walked closer. “He must have been poisoned by the cloud fairies.” She pointed to the blood on his hands.

“That’s not possible.”

“Caeli’s right, Mari.” The man begrudgingly said. “He would have been unconscious for hours, not twenty minutes.”

“He has probably drunk some potion, and his race is at yellow.” Mari waved at Kai’s face as if that explained everything, a Mana Sense passing through him

Hey, didn’t they tell you it’s rude to snoop?

The mention of his grade made Caeli raise her rapier while the young man reached for the sword at his side.

Repaying the favor, Kai found all three were at the peak of Orange with their profession in the mid to high levels—quite impressive for their age. This could only be his sister’s team, but when he extended Mana Observer through the tower, Kea was still nowhere to be found.

She can’t be dead. They don’t look distraught.

The fastest way to get answers lay in the three wary humans. Kai slowly cross-legged on the stone floor to look non-threatening, and carefully channeled Body Augmentation in his facial muscles.

“I’m Mat,” he articulated. “I don’t mean any harm.”

The squabbling duo cast a glance at the quiet woman. When Mari gave a light nod, they visibly relaxed, though Caeli didn’t lower her rapier. They must have some kind of skill to gauge his intentions.

This complicates things...

“Oh, I’m Niel. And these are Caeli and Mari.” The young man pointed at his companions. “Sorry for the rude welcome, Mat. If you’ve seen what’s outside, you'll understand why we’re all a little jumpy. Why are you here?”

With the possibility of a lie-sensing skill, Kai carefully chose his words. “The clerk at the Hall of Seekers told us a team came here to investigate a disappearance and didn’t come back. Me and my team got separated in the mist.”

“Are you saying you came looking for us?” Caeli sounded quite skeptical. “Why would you care to do that?”

“If we knew we wouldn’t be stuck in here, would we?” Caeli grumbled, sitting on the stairs with her rapier. “We’re not fools or cowards.”

“My bad.” Kai raised his palms to pacify her. “Will the mist dissipate if we kill those... fairies?” Now that he knew their abilities, he was confident to squish them.

“Mhmm... From what I read, yes.” Mari grimaced, not a fan of the idea. “Cloud fairies thicken the mist to protect themselves from predators since they aren’t very strong on their own. But their abilities shouldn’t be able to trap us to this degree.”

“Yeah.” Niel drummed his fingers on the hilt of his sword. “When we tried to leave the tower, all our skills failed.”

“But without the mist, we could see where we’re going and leave.” Not that Kai needed that, but it might be the only way to find Kea.

“If we found what’s keeping them here, we could peacefully solve this,” Mari muttered.

“And do you know where we should look?” Caeli gestures to the bare stone around them. “We can’t leave this chamber.”

“No, but—”

“Then the boy is right. We should just crush those bugs to a pulp.” She pressed her fist in her palm. “No fairies, no mist. No mist, no problem.”

“And how do you plan to defeat a swarm of yellow creatures?” The bookish girl scowled. “They're relatively weak for their grade but still lethal inside their natural environment.”

“We can’t just wait here either. You know Kea. She could arrive at the same conclusion and fight them on her own.”

Oh, fuck.

Worry pressed Kai to action. He stood up, heading for the stairs. “Do you know how many fairies there are? I’ve seen three.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to him. “How did you survive alone against that many?” Niel blurted.

“I got lucky. How many did you meet?”

“We saw four around the tower when the mist thickened.” He turned to Mari with an expectant look.

“Uh...” the girl bit her lip. “Swarms of cloud fairies should vary between three and six individuals. Four should be the most common number. But I still think this is a terrible idea.”

“Sometimes you only get to choose between bad and worse,” Kai mused. Even if he prepared, battling four of those creatures would be a challenge, worse if there were more. “I’m going out. Do any of you want to join?” He wasn’t in the position to refuse their help.

“I’m starting to like you, boy.” Caeli gripped her rapier with a fierce grin. “I’m coming too. We can’t let Kea have all the fun, can we?”

Yeah, I can see why you two teamed up...

Niel scrubbed a hand through his wavy hair and bent to grab a shield reinforced with enchanted steel. “And I can’t let you get yourself killed alone. This is a terrible idea, but the boy is also right. It’s the best we have got.”

Can you both stop calling me boy?

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With a heavy sigh, Mari grabbed her staff off the wall. “We could try luring the fairies to the upper floors. Either way, we must stay close to the tower. It’s the only safe place if we get overwhelmed.”

The more the merrier.

Standing on the stairs, Kai could see plumes of wispy mist fill the floor above. A team would give him some degree of security if he got poisoned.

“What can you do, boy?” Niel stood behind him. “I can lend you something if you lose your weapon in the mist.”

“There is no need.” He summoned a globe of water in his palm, taking his wand out of his pocket with the ring.

Awed gasps filled the chamber, looking at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head.

“You’re a mage!” After three seconds of gaping, Niel closed his mouth with a serious frown. “It's better if you stay behind me then. We need to change our battle formation. How many spells can you cast? Have you refilled your reserves? How many chants do you know?”

The bombardment of questions continued. Years of habit had made Kai cagey about his abilities, but the journey to the mainland had highlighted the importance of knowing the abilities of his companions. Fighting a swarm of yellow creatures while hiding his abilities would be madness.

Kea isn’t someone who gives her trust easily. They can’t be too bad...

Under their expectant gazes, he summarized his ability to use Water, Earth and Nature mana, and his Swordsmanship. He only underplayed the power of his spells since they wouldn’t believe him anyway. Half an hour later, he had also learned what the trio could do.

Despite his own fighting experience, Kai had to admit he was a newbie when it came to team tactics.

“Okay, let’s go. Don’t lose sight of your companions at any cost.” Niel took the vanguard with Caeli while Kai and Mari followed behind.

Together, they climbed the steps to dive back into the swirling mist.