Zeke took great pleasure in seeing Pudge’s reaction to the changes the Crimson Tower had undergone. Curiously, though, the former dire bear wasn’t terribly interested in the massive city contained within the tower. Nor was he terribly enthusiastic about the healing pools or the Artisan’s Terrace. However, he was more than a little excited by the prospect of testing himself in the Hunting Grounds.
But most of all, he was overwhelmed by the size of the population of kobolds who’d made the tower their homes. Once, Zeke might have expected the such a situation to resemble the one he’d seen in the troll caves – or what Abby had described after her experiences with the gnolls. The kobolds, though, seemed to have been built quite differently than other monsters. Perhaps it was their near-sapience. Or maybe it was some communal instinct. It might’ve even been a learned behavior after spending countless years trying to survive in the hostile environment beneath Min Ferilik. Whatever the origin, though, the kobolds were clean to the point of compulsiveness, well-organized, and entirely dedicated to their civilization’s survival.
In short, they were amazing tenants.
No – they were a people with great potential. They weren’t just squatting in Zeke’s tower. He had agreed to take responsibility for them, and in return, they’d offered their loyalty. He would be a fool to squander such a thing.
“Never stopped you before,” muttered Eveline from within Zeke’s mind. He had just finished giving Pudge the tour, and predictably, the bearkin had insisted on trying his luck with the Hunting Grounds. So, Zeke was, for the first time since leaving Min Ferilik behind, alone.
Or as alone as he could be, given that he had a demonic mind spirit latched onto his brain.
“What was that?”
“Being a fool. It’s never stopped you before,” she repeated. “But then again, we’re all kind of foolish from time to time, so I suppose that’s forgivable.”
“I’m not the one who ended up as a battery in some god’s soul-sucking device,” Zeke pointed out.
“Like I said – we’re all foolish from time to time,” she said.
“Right. So, what do you think about all of this?” Zeke asked, taking the portal down to the Residential District. The kobolds had settled in nicely, but he wanted to make certain that they had everything they needed. When he arrived, he immediately saw Silik walking alongside a slender spiritweaver with vibrantly colored ridges. She also wore an elaborate headdress that said she held some position of importance.
“I think they make a wonderful couple,” Eveline said.
“What? No. Not those two,” Zeke said. “About the future. About what we need to do.”
“I still think the alchemist would be a much more useful person to have around,” Eveline stated. “If he is as talented as your memories suggest –”
“I really wish you would stay out of my memories,” Zeke muttered in his own mind. Having purely mental conversations with the demoness had become second nature to him.
“Can’t really help it, can I? You have no idea what it’s like for me,” she said. “Before, my corporeal body functioned as something of a filter. I could block out what I didn’t want to see. But now, I get everything. No filters. No omissions. You’re lucky I can string together a cogent sentence.”
“I don’t feel so lucky,” Zeke stated, though there was no real feeling behind it. As annoyed as he often was with Eveline, her presence had been a net benefit. Of course, that equation didn’t take into account the distressing nature of having his inner most thoughts laid bare, but Zeke did his best not to think about that. He was only mostly successful.
“You know you love me,” she said in her sweetest voice. Or thought. “And more importantly, you need me.”
“Need is a strong word.”
“But appropriate. For instance, did you know that you’re only using about a tenth of this tower’s energy?” she said. “And what’s more, you have no idea how to upgrade it. That you’ve gotten this far is just…well, it’s madness. Sometimes, I hate how lucky you can be.”
“Some call it luck. Others call it hard work, dedication, and a lot of injuries,” he stated.
“The fact that you’re still alive at all is –”
“Just get to the point, Eveline,” Zeke interrupted. He really didn’t want to bicker with her anymore.
“Okay, so do you want to upgrade the tower?” she asked. “Because I can put you on the right path?”
“You already know the answer to that question,” he said. Of course he wanted to upgrade the Crimson Tower. It had already proved an invaluable asset, and he expected that it would play a pivotal role in any advancements he’d made. In fact, it might end up being just as important as his path or the other advantages he’d developed back in the troll caves.
“I do. But I like to hear you admit it.”
As Zeke stepped off the teleportation pad and into the district’s main square, he let out an audible sigh. He really hated encouraging Eveline’s smug attitude. But the fact remained that he’d made a decision not to kill her, and –
“You thought that on purpose,” she accused.
“What?”
“Your magnanimous decision not to murder me,” she answered, somehow conveying petulance in the tone of her thought. “As if you should get some medal for not killing an innocent person.”
“Demon.”
“Same difference.”
“It’s really not.”
“But –”
“And we both know you’re not innocent, so don’t even think of playing that card,” he went on.
“Innocent when it comes to you,” she said. “I’ve helped you every step of the way. I haven’t hurt you at all.”
“Which is why you’re still alive and floating around in my head,” Zeke said. Some people would have berated him for allowing a mind parasite to live amongst his thoughts. They would have screamed that her betrayal was inevitable. But to Zeke, it seemed that it would take a real psychopath to kill a person based on what they might do – especially when there was no real evidence that her betrayal was truly inevitable.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“If I wasn’t so self-serving, I would point out that you’re ignoring one huge caveat,” Eveline said.
“What’s that?”
“Well, at the risk of sealing my own fate, I should point out that I am, in fact, a demon,” she said. “Evil is kind of who we are.”
“You’re just people,” Zeke said.
“Sure. But those two categorizations aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Instead of responding, he just shook his head as he walked through the Residential District. He wasn’t really sure what he was doing, but he felt that showing his face among the kobolds was, in a way, necessary. After a few moments, he asked, “How do I upgrade the tower?”
“Natural treasures,” she said. “One for each of the major attunements.”
“Which are?”
“They’re right there in your status,” she said. “Fire and Ice. Water, wind, and earth. Arcane. Poison. And then disease. The stronger the treasure, the more powerful the upgrade.”
“And you know this how?” he asked.
“I’ve been snooping,” she said. “Fun fact: the Crimson Tower is a part of you, and so I have free reign in here. I can go wherever I want. I don’t really have access to change anything – not unless you want to give it to me, of course – but I can see a lot of things you can’t. Like how to upgrade the tower. How to rename things. How to reshape it. That sort of thing.”
“Wait…I can reshape the tower?”
“Just the interior. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Eveline said. “You can’t do that until you upgrade it again. And I have to tell you – you’ve sort of hit a wall in that respect. You’ve blundered forward about as far as you can, and now you’re going to have to actively seek things out if you want it to improve. Luckily, you have me to guide you.”
Her explanation made sense, after a fashion. Up until that point, he’d sort of assumed that the experience –
“Kill energy,” Eveline corrected.
Her interruption almost made him lose his train of thought, which elicited a slight giggle on her part. In any case, he’d originally assumed that the experience the tower siphoned from his kills was the impetus behind its continued evolution. However, if what Eveline said was true, then there were other factors as well.
“Do you want to see the control crystal?” Eveline asked.
“Huh? What?”
“The control crystal,” she repeated. “Surprised you’ve never seen it before. It’s kind of obviously placed in the center of the manor’s foyer.”
“That big chunk of ruby?” Zeke asked. He’d seen it every time he’d entered the manor, but until that moment, he’d assumed it was just another decorative touch. Finding out that it was actually important made him feel like a rube.
“It’s okay,” Eveline said. “I won’t tell anybody.”
Zeke quickly finished his short tour of the Residential District. The kobolds’ numbers were impressive, but they couldn’t even fill a tenth of the city within the tower. That, and they had a habit of piling in on top of one another, regardless of available space. Whatever the case, from everything Zeke saw, the people were relatively happy. However, he did worry about feeding everyone.
And a thousand other managerial duties that came with housing thousands of kobolds. Not only was Zeke ill-equipped to confront such issues, but he wasn’t precisely enthusiastic about devoting any of his precious time toward remedying that deficiency.
“I could help, you know,” suggested Eveline. “Just give me administrative privileges over the tower, and –”
“Not a chance in hell.”
“But –”
“No, Eveline. That’s not going to happen. Just drop it,” he stated.
Miraculously, she did. However, Zeke did catch a few stray thoughts about unfairness and bullying, but he ignored them.
After seeing to the kobolds, Zeke headed back to the teleportation pad when subsequently took him to the Lord’s Manor. Once there, he was a little surprised to find Sasha sitting beneath one of the trees on the idyllic grounds. Her legs were crossed, and her eyes were closed; clearly, she was in some sort of meditative trance, so Zeke chose not to disturb her.
“Many people consider beastkin inferior creatures,” Eveline said. “But that girl has some talent in mana manipulation. Can you stick me in her head? I bet we could do great things together.”
“You’re free to detach yourself anytime you want,” Zeke answered as he approached the door.
“You’d be lost without me, and you know it.”
“Agree to disagree.”
But she was right in a lot of ways. There were millions of little bits of information nestled in Eveline’s memory, and she had the potential to make Zeke’s life a lot easier. She’d helped him complete his quest and gain the [Triune Colossus] skill, and that was just the overt effect of having her around. More subtly, her presence had enhanced and clarified his mind. He wasn’t suddenly a genius, but he’d already noticed that he could think things through much more quickly – especially in battle. On its own, that was invaluable.
“So, there’s something going on between those two, right?” said Eveline. “I’m not just imagining it.”
“I don’t know,” Zeke said, but he’d gotten the impression that Pudge and Sasha had grown close during their travels. What that meant, he didn’t know, and he had no intention of broaching the subject until Pudge felt comfortable enough to bring it up himself.
“How does that even work?” asked Eveline as Zeke stepped into the manor.
“Do I really need to explain it to you?”
“Not the mechanics, idiot,” she said, a note of exasperation riding alongside the thought. “The, you know, different species thing. And you know what? The mechanics are fascinating, too. I mean…”
As Eveline went on a tangent about the mating habits of different species, Zeke focused in on his goal – the bloodred ruby that sat on a carved pedestal in the center of the foyer. In retrospect, Zeke should have immediately recognized that it was important. However, in his defense, the manor was full of curios, sculptures, and other decorations. So, he thought it reasonable that he’d assumed that it was just another piece of the overall décor.
“How do I activate it?” Zeke asked, interrupting Eveline’s monologue.
“Oh? Just touch it. Should happen automatically,” she said. “Now, as I was saying…”
Once again, Zeke tuned her out. Instead, he stepped forward and laid his palm flat on the faceted surface of the ruby. Immediately, a notification flashed before his eyes:
Welcome to the Crimson Tower. Would you like to assume manual control?
Zeke didn’t immediately answer in the affirmative. He asked, “Do I want to take manual control? It’s not going to want me to micromanage the tower, is it?”
“No,” Eveline answered. “You should be safe.”
“Should be doesn’t sound very definitive.”
“Best I can do.”
Zeke sighed. Then, he answered the tower’s question with an affirmative response. Immediately, his mind was awash with a veritable tidal wave of information. Suddenly, he knew everything about the tower’s functions, right down to the most minute level of energy usage. With a minor effort, he pushed that wall of information aside and took a deep breath before saying, “That was…unpleasant.”
“Oh, I liked it. It tingled a little, and in all the right ways.”
“Sure. Okay. So, how do I upgrade the –”
Before the thought had finished, Zeke received a much more familiar notification.
Quest Attained! Gather natural treasures representing the nine major classifications of mana. Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Wind, Nature, Arcane, Poison, and Disease. Reward: Hall of Affinity.
“Uh…I guess that’s simple enough,” Zeke said. “But it didn’t say anything about the strength of those treasures, right?”
In fact, there was every chance that one of the slaves had picked up a few treasures on their way out of Min Ferilik. Almost assuredly, Jasper had.
“Don’t be daft,” Eveline said. “You could complete the quest with bottom-grade trash, but the reward would be almost worthless.”
“What is the Hall of Affinity, anyway?” Zeke asked.
“No idea. But you can bet that getting a properly powerful natural treasure will give you much better results. If I were you, I’d go for the bonus reward, too.”
“Huh?”
“There are two other major attunements out there. Their treasures are just a little harder to gather,” Eveline stated. “I can help you with one of them, but the other…well, I definitely won’t be much help.”
“What are these other attunements?”
“Well, there are an infinite number of attunements, but they’re all really subsets of the major ones,” she said. “Like rot, for instance. It’s a combination of poison and disease. With a little nature thrown in for good measure. Or that light attack the kobolds use – it’s a combination of fire, wind, and arcane.”
“I see,” Zeke said. “So, what are the other two?”
Zeke already suspected the answer to that question, but he knew he needed to ask it anyway.
“Holy and demonic,” Eveline said. “The second, I can help you with. But the first? Both of us are going to have issues with that. But as always, I believe in you!”