A fresh morning breeze blew in from the open window. The inn was quiet. The morning foot traffic in the halls had subsided. Jin, Taeya, and the twins had gone shopping in preparation for their expedition and journey to Floor 5. Taeya and the twins were missing many pieces of crucial gear due to budget reasons, so Jin was there to fund them. Zeirdin sat cross-legged atop the mound of wrinkled bedding on his bed. He flipped through a blue fabric-covered book labeled Field Galma for the Dexterous.

Zeirdin realized during his kidnapping how unprepared he was at close quarters. It was enough of a problem that it could be a liability during the push to Floor 5 they were about to embark on. His first solution was to purchase a handgun. While he already possessed a zinnium blast rotator, it was overkill and usually waste to fire it. Zeirdin carried his new pistol on a chest holster that went easily unnoticed beneath his coat. He could also wear it over his body armor if he needed to.

Zeirdin also realized that he desperately needed more spells, especially for when his hands were restrained. The spell he had modified for Taeya was and would be inefficient for him to use for quite a while. His mana control wasn’t precise enough to isolate a small area of blood vessels, which resulted in much-wasted mana, as well as a big mess. However, no matter which angle one looked at it from, the blot clot spell was terrifying. Especially in the hands of someone skilled enough with mana control. Zeirdin bought the book in an attempt to create a low-cost, flexible and deadly combat spell by reverse engineering and combining simple spells. The book and pistol had only cost him a smallish chunk of his amassed money.

Zeirdin decided he would try to create a projectile spell. Gun? He thought it over, using expanding gas to propel a metal projectile. It was too complicated, difficult, and dangerous. Metal was also a material that would not always be available, as well as expensive to synthesize using mana. Flinging rocks? It was certainly cheaper on mana and rocks were commonplace. Zeirdin would test telekinesis. He rolled off of his bed, landing with a thud and a creak on the wooden planks of his room. Zeirdin fumbled under his bed for his boots. He kicked them under the bed earlier for a reason he no longer remembered.

After finding one boot, he dumped out the pebbles it had accumulated. Getting back on the bed, he began to gather and circulate mana. It was getting much easier to reach and maintain a decently fast circulation speed. He was around three weeks back into practice and was making decent progress. Telekinesis was one of the cornerstones of Galma. Zeirdin held his palm up, a pebble on top. Guiding the energy, he slowly accumulated mana in his hand, then gradually pushed it out of his hand until it enveloped the pebble. Using his imagination and concentration, he imagined the pebble moving straight up and hovering above his hand.

The pebble budged. The sensation of the pebble stirring on his palm caused him to lose his concentration. Shit. It was going to be a little more difficult than he thought. Zeirdin practiced for another hour before he could keep the pebble hovering stably above his palm for more than two seconds. A thought crossed his mind. Would he always be able to find the perfect-sized pebble to fling through someone’s head at all times during an emergency? No. Zeirdin decided to scrap the pebble idea. Zeirdin skimmed the book, finding all the useful and interesting spells, then bookmarking them.

He would learn them all one by one. Telekinesis, Moisture Accumulation, Freeze. Looking through the spells he bookmarked, he had another idea. What if he could make his own projectiles out of thin air? He followed this branch of thought for a few minutes. Zeirdin’s idea was to gather a small amount of moisture out of the air, freeze it, and then fling it at people. In dry climates, the lack of atmospheric moisture could be a problem, but Zeirdin could always use his own saliva if he needed to. The first step was to learn basic moisture accumulation. Zeirdin began to memorize the spellprint, deconstructing each structure in his head. It was a relatively simple spell. To put it simply, it was telekinesis with more steps, but if one was skilled enough, these steps could be performed almost instantly.

A quarter-hour later, Zeirdin was confident that he had memorized the spellprint well enough that he didn’t need to look at it while casting. Once again, Zeirdin began to circulate mana within himself. He kept it to a slower speed, not wasting concentration on something that wasn’t necessary. Next, he began to focus the energy above his palm. Once he became skilled enough, he wouldn’t need a focal point. The mana swirled and danced above his palm like a thin sheet in a storm. Zeirdin shaped the mana and compressed it. Next, he visualized pulling at the empty air above his palm. Nothing happened.

Zeirdin had to struggle to maintain his concentration. This continued for a while before Zeirdin decided he must be doing something incorrectly. He began tinkering with the mana shape and density. Finally, he settled on one configuration. Once again he visualized pulling at the empty air above his palm. Slowly something began to happen. Twenty seconds later, a small patch of cold had formed on his palm. Looking down, a small dewdrop now lay on his palm, glimmering in the sunlight like a jewel. A wave of triumph and excitement washed over Zeirdin. His plan was possible. However, it wasn’t ready yet. He guessed he needed twice the amount of moisture.

Zeirdin spent the next four hours honing the moisture accumulation spell. He had gotten to the point where he could form a medium-sized in about three seconds. This was a huge improvement from where he started. Feeling satisfied, he decided to start working on the rest of the spell. The reason the pebble was hard to manipulate was due to its mass.

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Zeirdin’s mana control skills were lacking. To remedy this, he came up with the idea of using an ice needle. He would only need one medium-sized dewdrop worth of water to make one, and it would have significantly less mass than a pebble. The needle would be very fragile, and wouldn’t have any penetration power on its own. Zeirdin would have to reinforce it with mana to keep it from shattering instantly from the warmer air. Then he would have to keep control of it at all times with mana and telekinesis.

This method wouldn’t work well with a pebble, however, a small object like a needle was a different story. It came with the drawback of range since the difficulty of manipulating an object with telekinesis scaled with its distance. This wasn’t a concern to Zeirdin though, since his main goal was creating a spell for close quarters.

Zeirdin had become so engrossed in his spellcraft that he had missed lunch without realizing it. Things had been going well until the freezing process. He knew how to improve the telekinesis and water accumulation stages, but was at a complete loss with the freezing process. The ice structure he formed was never straight. The ice crystals formed crooked and jagged.

It was not ideal, he needed an aerodynamic shape to reduce mana costs. Zeirdin understood the basic theory of thermal magic since his mom had taught him thoroughly. Thermal magic was an entire specialty area of Galma. Thermal mages carried around tungsten ballasts to transfer thermal energy. While tungsten was rare and very dense, its ability to hold heat made it very appealing to thermal mages. While impossible to create or destroy energy, one could use the flow of mana to draw the heat away from one object and transfer it to another.

Zeirdin was not working with temperatures extreme enough to warrant using tungsten ballasts. His metal belt buckle would do fine. Zeirdin decided he had done enough for now. It was better to make consistent efforts every day, instead of obsessing over something, burning out, and then giving up. Zeirdin got off of his bed, legs stiff like boards from sitting for so long.

It was a cooler evening than the rest of the day had suggested. Sky overcast and grey, the chilly breeze explored Lestag restlessly. Jin and Zeirdin walked side by side, frequently dodging the evening foot traffic. Shops, food carts, and apartments lined either side of the street. Zeirdin’s boots clacked against the grey brick of the road.

“Jin, check this out,” Zeirdin stretched his hand out, palm up to the sky. Jin looked over. After a couple of seconds, ice began to crystallize out of thin air above Zeirdin’s hand, the small tendrils of ice seemingly grasping for the air. He had figured out how to effectively skip the dewdrop stage earlier. After about nine seconds, the crooked toothpick of ice finished forming. “Holy shit!” Zeirdin exclaimed. Rough, bent, and full of bubbles, the ice needle was far from perfect. However, it was the first time Zeirdin had succeeded in keeping it in one piece. He was quite happy with himself. He had formed it while walking.

“Wow, dude. That’s impressive,” Jin said, surprise in his voice, eyebrows raised. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“I spent all day on this, man,” Zeirdin said. “I think I can get it to be as lethal as a firearm.”

Jin chuckled, “I’m glad you’re on my side.”

The two boys continued their walk down the main street of Lestag. Their destination was the bathhouse. This time Zeirdin had a concealed firearm, as well as his biotablet strapped to his body. Things would go significantly differently if someone tried to kidnap him again.

Zeirdin soaked. And soaked. He kept soaking. Zeirdin kept his arms out of the water, resting them on the edge of the hot pool. This trick allowed him to stay in longer without getting overheated as quickly. Jin had gotten out earlier and was out grabbing snacks.

Zeirdin saw a thin figure climb into the water to his left through the steam. They looked towards him and scooted closer. Most people in the pools preferred to be silent, but Zeirdin didn’t mind a little conversation. Zeirdin squinted his eyes. They looked a little familiar.

“Bandir?” Zeirdin asked.

“Oh! Hello there,” Bandir answered. Zeirdin was surprised. He never expected to see Bandir again.

“No way...”

“Oh come on, even members of the Ravers gotta bathe sometimes. Well, some don’t,” Bandir chuckled. “I’m glad to see you made it out in one piece. Things got a bit dicey once the city watch showed up.”

“I’m glad you’re alive too,” Zeirdin said before pausing. This topic had weighed on his mind ever since. “How can I repay you?”

“It’s fine, man,” Bandir answered wearing a blissful expression, water up to his neck.

“I’m being serious, I owe you my life. Can I help you with anything? I leave in four days, but before that, I can do anything.” Zeirdin said sincerely.

“The reason I’m in the Ravers... I racked up debt with them to pay for my sister’s emergency treatment.” Bandir sighed. “That’s not the issue, I guess. Well, it sort of is. They take everything I make.” Bandir looked up at the ceiling. “I’m not sure how, but she got a hold of zinnia down here in Floor 2. It was too early.”

“I’m sorry,” Zeirdin said.

“Don’t be. It was completely her fault. There’s a reason The Tower waits until you’ve made it to Floor 10 to give you zinnia. If you’ve made it that far, you’re tenacious enough to handle it. Anyway, Brady takes everything I earn, but I need a hundred dynats to pay for a Thandizine treatment for her. Without it she might be forever crippled. If you really want to, even just 10 dynats would be a huge help. I have a safebrick to transfer them to secretly.”

“I will give you a hundred. It’s really the least I can do.” Zeirdin said. He had enough that even a hundred dynats wouldn’t affect him for a while. They conversed for a while, talking about everything. Bandir was very talkative and had a lot of life experience. At age 26, he was older than half of everyone who entered The Tower.

The changing room smelled like feet. Bandir had a long face, like a horse in human form. His spiky red hair could not be tamed even while still wet. Bandir stood next to Zeirdin in the changing room as he used his biotablet to transfer the dynats to Bandir’s safebrick.

“Alright, it’s done,” Zeirdin said definitively, stretching his arms while yawning.

“I can’t thank you enough. It means a lot to me, man. I really wasn’t expecting anything out of saving you.” Bandir said sincerely.

Zeirdin pulled his shirt on, “It’s the least I can do. Your act of kindness saved me. I still can’t thank you enough.”

“Good luck on your journey,” Bandir said.

“I wish the best for you and your sister. And may we meet again.”

The two parted ways. Zeirdin went to the main street looking for Jin, while Bandir left through an alleyway.