There were two cloaked figures of disproportionate sizes walking in the desert, cresting over a dune and leaving behind their transportation in the sand. The taller one, whose joints creaked with every step, was carrying a backpack, stuffed with all manner of mechanical parts and knickknacks. The shorter one, whose energy almost seemed boundless as they hopped from foot to foot upon the sand, carried a backpack as well, although this one was significantly smaller, to fit its frame, and it was filled with food and clothes instead. The two figures were also separated by gender as well as the vast age difference present, as the male figure was nearing what could be expected to be the end of its life judging by its almost faded scales, and the younger female seemed to be only just beginning hers with her ears simply tufts poking up out of the top of her skull. Their wayward path appeared to lead in the direction of a massive object in the middle distance although neither had been exactly rushing towards it.

Every once in a while, the older one would stop to chant something in a language the younger couldn't understand, and then point at a specific spot. The girl would then use earth magic, or as she put it 'the shakes', to bring up whatever metal hunk that had been detected. He would then spend a couple hours tearing it apart while walking, storing parts he thought useful in his already bulging pack, before then finally focusing his head upon their destination. All the while, the girl waited with impatient looks between her companion and their destination, a little discontent about the entire affair. It had been what she was expecting from the scaled man, but she still hoped that perhaps he could continue on with her to help her in her quest

"How many times are we going to stop?" The younger one voice let out, questioning. At this, the hulk of a Kobolt turned to the ev at his side and gestured to the sun streaked sky, claws slightly curled at the edges.

"We will continue doing this, till the sun sets, missy. I know you haven't travelled much through the desert, but this is the kind of the general thing you're supposed to do down south. Wait until sundown, and then move while the air is cool. Don't worry, you'll get to your tower soon." At this, the Kobolt's hand fell down towards his side as his legs kept him moving along at a sedate pace. Not to be overtaken, the little ev scurried as fast as her legs could carry her barely catching up with the man.

As had been mentioned by the wizened lizard, it wasn't until sundown did they actually manage to pick up their pace, and by then, the little girl had feared that the reason they had made this trip would be all in vain. As they finally moved notably towards their goal, cresting over one final dune before the natural slope led towards the base of the tower, she thought back to why she was returning to this place and braving its unknown dangers. After all, there weren't exactly many happy memories attached to it for her.

She had been dealt a rather poor hand in the card game that was fate. The earliest that she could remember were images of barred doors and locks, while magic and needles were everywhere. She could not remember a time when she was truly happy, nor anything of her parents either. The vaguest sensations within her told her that she had them. That they had cared for her until they couldn't, or perhaps wouldn't. She couldn't even say for certain what her gut reaction was regarding them. The only thing that she could clearly remember was the lone companion that they had allowed into her cell. That companion, her fluffball of comfort and joy, was the sole reason for her return to this place. Of course, she knew that her venture might have been pointless. Her escape from that tower had been a stroke of luck that she direly needed, but she had had to leave her sole companion behind when she jumped at the chance to get away. She could still hear his please to come back, every ounce of her body screaming at the wrongness of it all. However, she had to leave then. She would've either died underneath the rubble of the crumbling tower, or she would make it back to a civilization she scarcely remembered. Now, however, she couldn't stop thinking about the reason why she was coming back, walking for several days and nights within the desert. Nothing could've survived the collapse, not even Caris, but she refused to accept that he was gone until she had actually seen the body. Only then would she give a proper burial for her only friend in life.

Thinking back on when she arrived in the nearest town, she couldn't help but feel so frustrated. Everywhere she went to tell the people what had happened, how the tower had snapped in half and people might still be trapped inside, they either laughed her concerns off or told her to be quiet lest the tower's curse fall upon her next. She wanted to get help for those in the tower, and definitely save her friend, but no one was even willing to entertain the idea of coming here. People were either so scared of what this place represented that they weren't even willing to go to its ruins, or they just never believed that such a horrible place had ever, or even could ever, exist. It wasn't until the lone Kobolt answered the flier that she had posted in the tavern that she started to feel a shred of happiness, of hope. He had agreed to lead her back here and, with her little amount of earth magic, she could use, she felt like she would be of a lot of use to the supposed Mechanist in return. She was brought out of her musings as the man in question simply stated, "We're here."

She lifted her gaze upward to look at her former prison before double taking at what had happened in her absence. There it lay, crumbling, tilted on its side, leaning against the cliff which used to hold the suspended bridge which was the entrance. Ivy that used to grow up the sides of the tower had fallen down onto the sand, detached, crushed, and turned grey. She remembered that she would often stare at the window down to the base of the tower, which held flower beds and farms. It was also significantly greener around the tower, where grasses had been growing upwards along the dune. However, that wasn't what it was now. It had been three years after all. No one was maintaining the place to keep the sand away nor actively pushing into it. She was sure that if someone could see the before and after, they would be surprised at how quickly it was retaken, but she scoffed at the thought. A normal person didn't have to contend with fire and sand demons. A normal person didn't have to deal with being imprisoned. She sighed, turning her attention away from base towards the sides of the tower bringing her vision up slowly. It's cobblestones had been all but reduced to near its base, although its structure was intact until it met the cliff. There, she could just barely see the cloven top part resting against the cliff, halfway caved in letting the light of the setting sun into its higher levels while leaving the bottom utterly hidden in the darkness of the cliff.

Once more upon this journey, she was torn from her thoughts by the voice of the kobolt. "By the by, I don't think you've mentioned what exactly we're looking for. All I know is that it's a pet."

The girl gazed towards the old man before looking back towards the ruin. "It's a bamph."

At that, the kobolt stopped in his tracks, his tail going still. "You want to search for a little thing like that, Balin?"

The girl nodded, not even giving him a look as she stepped forward towards the base of the tower, her steps firmed by the determination that colored her voice, "I know it's not much, Credonz, but she's all I had."

The kobolt was silent and she could not hear much from him as she moved through the sands, until finally she heard the shuffle of footsteps behind her. Satisfied, she continued her determined stride, cresting over the last tiny hill within the basin. The blisters on her legs throbbed, as sand whipped by reopening some of the more fresher cuts, but she never faltered, until she was picked up, somewhat haphazardly, by the larger kobolt.

"What are you-" The girl started to ask.

"Now that our destination's in sight, I feel like continuing to walk at your pace is not conducive towards getting there anytime soon. I do not want to stay in this desert any longer than needed." The ev looked briefly confused before nodding once and the kobolt flipped her around and secured her on his back.

While she was, understandably, a bit upset at her rough treatment, she finally admitted that it might be necessary. She did wonder what exactly got Credonz to be so full of energy all of a sudden. Before, he had seemed more reserved, but now that he had actually seen the prison she had been kept in for so long, he was striding forward, as if boosted by the wind.

It didn't take much longer for them to reach the shattered monolith. While everything else was mostly dunes in this desert, the area around the fallen tower was fresh and had not had enough time for sand to pile up, so it was mostly just a downhill journey, sliding down the final dune towards the base of the tower. When they finally reached it, however there was a bit of a complication. The path that she had taken to escape the tower wasn't exactly open anymore. Even the brief time she had wasted in the village had done in that exit, as rocks had fallen and covered everything. There was also an issue that some of the other possible entrances that had been exposed since she escaped were either too small, too high up, or jagged and unstable to actually get through them without the loose rocks or bricks breaking free and falling on top of you while you were trying to get through.

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Not seeing any obvious entry, Credonz stared at the girl. It wasn't just because he was overly analytical but also because the girl had displayed signs of knowing earth magic. She had let him think so, although reality was somewhat different. She hadn't even broken her mind sphere yet, so "real" magic was something that she was still unable to do. The effects that made it look like she was using Earth Magic were a actually just a little bit of her own [Wayward] Talent, along with some bodily focus, and theatre. It was going to be fairly hard for her to consistently pull off any major accomplishment, but she got the unspoken message and succeeded in performing her little rituals to direct what Talent that she did have. Eventually, her dance was met with tumbling rocks and stone moved away and exposed the newly cut circular hole. As fresh moonlight came out along the desert and   shone through into the darkness of the room, Credonz was the first one to cross the newly created threshold.

As she moved forward herself, she realized the reason for his unconcerned vault through the new doorway when she saw all the items scattered around the now exposed chamber. There were tattered books on the floor and trinkets galore, perhaps holding some unknown arcane utility or purpose to the lizard. Entranced by the potentiality within the items, he didn't even see the small drop in front of him, and he stumbled a little bit, before regaining some dignity. He set to work gathering as much as he could while the girl climbed in behind him. Her eyes, upon adjusting to the darkness, widened considerably as her breathing started to get more and more frantic. She recognized this room. It was the first room she had seen when she was brought here. It was kind of strange that it was near the bottom of the tower since she had been brought from a town that was more towards the top cliff side. Perhaps she didn't recall fully because she had been asleep for most of that journey. She gazed around noting that tables and chairs had been toppled over, many broken and some bookshelves were even lying on their side. The thing that really stood out the most to her was the desk. She remembered the giant man that used to sit behind it, judging her. Now there was only his bones picked clean by some monsters or desert dwelling animals.

She tried not to dwell on those memories, clawing at herself in pain to get rid of the phantom sensations within her head. That isn't what she was here for after all. She was here to save her only friend. The only reason she even came back was because she couldn't find Caris amongst everything else when the tower cracked. The only things she did find in the immediate area of her escape were corpses of fellow children and some of the people that had been in charge of the tower. There had been the bodies of some animals that had been given to the other children, but there was nothing that struck her as familiar, as her own. Because of that she couldn't find the corpse of Caris.

So with renewed determination she set out to find the main staircase, passing out of the room. If her memory served her right, it would be right in the middle of the Tower. She would have to pass through a couple of rooms to get there, however, since the tower's base was wide. The kobalt didn't seem to notice her leave, which suited her just fine. She passed through medical rooms and other offices before entering the main stairwell, and from there, she traveled up. It took her a fair bit to remember exactly which room she had been in as well as what level it had been on. They didn't exactly keep maps handy in the holding areas. However, from what she could tell from the inside, the holding facilities had been near the middle of the tower, maybe three or four floors below where the top had sheared off.

As she passed up the stairs, she noticed things that she hadn't when going down before. There were claw marks on the walls and gnaw marks on bones, and even loose teeth scattered about. She knew that there were desert beasts out in the wilderness and sometimes they had entered the tower by mistake, but from the way that the managers had talked about it, they were mostly a nuisance. They weren't ever big enough to actually pose a threat, only coming up to about shin height. So seeing something with a jaw big enough to could gnaw on bones, and nearly swallow them, from what she could see, made her afraid. Although, she figured the beast would mostly stay in the lower portions of the tower since that was where the exits and entrances. Plus the environment was all wrong near the top since it let out in the grasslands which covered the top of the cliff, instead of the proper deserts below that most of the beasts came from. So while she was a bit upset from all the evidence of beast activity, she was certain that her kobalt bodyguard could keep whatever it was at bay if not destroy it entirely if it were to enter the tower from the base.

"Caris, are you there?" Her voice echoed out through the Tower. It seemed to bounce a bit before coming back to her almost mockingly. She ran through the hallways looking through each of the cell doors, continuing to call out, even raising her voice to almost yelling. She was sure that Credonz could even hear her, as far down as he was, a couple times. It wasn't until she arrived at her old cell that she realized that maybe Caris wouldn't be there. Then she heard something. Almost like a whimper.

"Caris!" She kept calling hoping to get that bamph to speak up maybe even let her triangulate its location. She was hearing more responses now. They were obviously in answer to her calls, and she could tell that was getting closer. It wasn't until she got to the main room of the floor that she realized what had happened. There, tucked away underneath the rubble, and dug into the corpse of a fallen guard, lay her friend. She recognized the guard mainly from the ID that had fallen out of his pocket, as their face was now unrecognizable. That guard had been someone who seems to get joy out of kicking Caris whenever she was around. A sick sense of gratification swept through her before she lept forward and wrapped her arms around her friend.

She could feel the gentle licking on her face almost as if Caris was trying to lap away the tears on her face. She'd done it. She had finally gotten her friend back. No all that was left to do was head back to the Village and live out the rest of their days in relatives comfort, and in silence, maybe even pick up farming, who knows. She hadn't even gotten a class yet after all. However, where before she was feeling happy, now all she could feel was sadness at what happened. Her friend been alone in this tower for a whole month without her.

So she whispered words of comfort to her only friend, until Credonz showed up. "Balin, thank merciful... what is that?" She looked up to find him standing over her.

Confused, she tilted her head. "What are you talking about Credonz? This is Caris, my bamph." She held her up proudly as she patted the furball furiously. Its tongue hit the floor as its ears pricked up.

"You don't..." Credonz stopped. It was clear to him that Balin couldn't see what her bamph had become. It wasn't any fault of her own, of course. Not many children could tell the difference between beasts and monsters after all. However, it was rather strange she didn't notice the change in fur color and the somewhat pronounced horns behind its floppy ears.

However, as he looked closer at the thing, a dreadful realization crawled through him. There was simply no way that she couldn't tell her pet was a monster. The kobolt began to dread that he had simply been presented with a decision he didn't think he'd have to take on this journey. Either he let this thing live, and hope that nothing happened, or he would have to take it out. Each choice came with its own problems. The first was let the thing evolve however it wanted to. However, knowing monsters, it would grow large enough that emotions like happiness could no longer sustain it. The other was to kill it, here and now. That, of course, is the only viable option for him. However, that choice also came with its own issue, the girl. Thinking on it, he was saddened to find only one possible choice. Nothing he could make or get could solve this without him knowing the cause of the problem itself. Once he killed the monster, he doubted that she would retain any will. With a sigh, he resolved himself to do what must be done. He sat down on the dust-covered floor inside the cell, and handed a ration towards the ev. "If it's going to be travelling with us, best to keep it fed, right?"

She happily reached for the small piece of meat before pushing it towards the thing. That was the moment. That was probably the happiest she was going to be in the foreseeable future. As it turned out, that was the moment that both the monster and Credonz was waiting for. Each struck with a speed that seemed unnatural. The first, because of its swift body contortions and whiplike tongue, and the second because of his hidden devices. In a second, the task was done, and the monster and the girl lay dead, both by the his hand.

He leaned down and picked up the severed pieces of the monster and threw some of them out the barred window into the sunlight and sand. Carefully, he picked up the still smiling corpse of the girl and carried her up the steps. He passed by more trinkets and books scattered along the floor and saw desks, full of secrets he did not know. He went up floor after floor, passing smashed labs and more cells, until he finally reached the broken top, filled with sunlight. Soon, his devices stopped giving him bonuses and the weight of the body that he carried finally became noticeable, almost as if it began seeping into his bones.

Thankfully, the remaining devices didn't need to take him very far, just to a patch of grass a slight distance away from the tower that was all that remained of that group of mad men. He laid her down onto the grass, and began digging with his hands. After he felt like he had gone deep enough, he turned back towards the girl. He looked towards her haggard body, and felt immense sadness. She had gone for two entire days after all, and it looked like she didn't care for herself at all while she was within that wreck.

At first, when he realized that she had separated from him and he stopped haring her calling out, Credonz had thought that, perhaps the silence that stretched from her untimely cut cries had been her falling prey to a beast that had taken up residence within the tower. So, he carefully went up the tower, looting and listening for any sign of the thing which took her. Nothing. Nothing for a day, until he heard sobbing. He assumed that perhaps she had found her pet's corpse, but it was certainly a surprise to find the thing still alive. He was too late though. The thing had already gotten a hold of the girl's mind, with something he couldn't trace, pheromones perhaps. Either way, the outcome had been decided long ago.

He sighed as he laid her gently down into the hole. He said a quick prayer to let her be absolved of any sins she unknowingly committed, took the few coins she had, closed her eyes, and put the paw of the creature between her hands. Like this, she almost seemed happy in death. Then, he began pouring the dirt back over the body. Throughout it all, he couldn't help but stare at the wound he caused, the large hole in-between her eyes, the edges flash-burned. Once she was covered, he set out to gather wildflowers and plant them around the spot. Now it could properly be called a [Grave]. He left some parting words upon the [Grave] before dealing with one last task.

He looked back towards the tower from the cliff and thought back on all the books he found and read inside. He sent a mana pulse towards the devices he prepared at the base, and an explosion ripped the foundations of the tower. Instantly, flames leapt up from both inside and around the monument, the stone itself seeming to burn slowly to ash almost at the same pace it was falling over before it hit the ground with an earth-shaking thud.

Manipulate Construct has gained a level. . . .

For earning 1 level in all class related skills, Class: Arcanist has gained a level.

The Voice of the Gods interrupted any sense of remorse he had towards destroying such a font of knowledge, no matter how corrupt. He turned away from the smoke filled air as he set upon a road that he hadn't been on for quite awhile. His goals had been dealt with, except one. All that was left was to head to the one who corrupted the usage of that wondrous monument to such nefarious purpose. Toward the place where it all began, where he controlled everything, Errenid.