Alaric looked around the table for something to wipe his mouth with, no doubt feeling the noodle soup dripping down his mouth. Alas, the Sitting Duck didn’t take that into consideration.

He stared at his white sleeve and frowned… then turned to Garin with a helpless expression.

The Knight didn’t react to Alaric, instead staring at something behind him. Alaric turned and froze as well… Standing behind him was the princess holding a handkerchief in one hand for him to take.

Tentatively, he took the dainty piece of clothing, took time to marvel at the luxurious embroidery before marring the brilliant cloth with the soup.

“You can keep it… Are you done with your meal?” Crystal asked.

“Y-yeah… why do you ask?”

“I thought we might give the tour another chance… I’ll help you find your bracelet first. Then we’ll start the tour in earnest,” Crystal explained gently… “If… If that’s okay with you.”

[ Alaric, check her eyes for dilation. She might be under a hypnotic spell ] Alia warned.

The boy chuckled.

“Is something funny?” Crystal asked.

“No… It was just something I remembered. I’d like to take that tour now. And don’t worry about the Storage Bracelet,” Alaric waved the opulent bracelet on his left arm, “Garin helped me get it.”

He turned back to Garin, “Are you coming?”

“Oh no. I would never intrude. Have fun on your tour,” Garin responded with a smile Alaric couldn’t interpret. Shrugging it off, he bid Garin farewell.

As the pair walked off, they stopped by an old man dressed in white robes waiting at the entrance. The man’s grey beard and concerned eyes made him look much older than he already was.

Alaric gave Elder Gregory a short dignified bow, “Thank you for the second chance.”

“No… I thank you for asking for it,” he replied before pulling him aside for a bit. Alaric heard him quickly murmur some words in the old tongue before he started whispering something in Alaric’s ear, “And thank you for offering to be her friend. She won’t admit it but she’s always wanted a friend that doesn’t care about her status,” the old man tipped his head in Alaric’s direction, ending their conversation on that note.

As they walked away, climbing the slight incline leading out of the small town and back to the Tower, Crystal turned to Alaric, “What did my father whisper into your ear?”

“Oh, nothing in particular,” Alaric responded.

Crystal groaned, “He told you I don’t have friends, didn’t he?”

“Why would…”

“Oh, give it up. I know how much he worries about me,” she snapped at him.

At that, he went quiet. So she did know what he was whispering. ‘I thought for a fact he used the proper words of Concealment,’ Alaric thought to himself. The Old Tongue was difficult… but there were still people that used it. And the Master of the Tower had just demonstrated fluency even Alaric was unaware of existed.

Before his guardian could confirm his suspicions, Crystal spoke again, “So is that what he was whispering or not?”

This time, she was red as a peach. Alaric gave a blank gaze for a bit, stunned at how close her guess had been, ‘She’s more intuitive than I gave her credit for.’

“You’re so slow…”

“Oh, sorry. I was just… thinking.”

“About what?”

“How perceptive you are,” Alaric responded defensively. He wanted to add, ‘You act like this tough girl that doesn’t need anyone yet you listen to everything around you and worry about the smallest of things…’

“Band’eak or’ “ Alaric’s lips moved before his mind could keep up with him.

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Crystal’s eyes went wide as saucers at the words, “Fragile Rose?”

The boy shook his head, “I was just mumbling to myself.”

“You know the Old Tongue?” she beamed.

“So do you,” he replied.

“That’s because my father taught me,” she responded, rushing over to him, “Teach me more. Is that why your spells don’t take too much aether? Do you cast all your spells in the old tongue? I use Incantation Theory to shorten spells and cast them fast but without the Old Tongue.”

“Incantation Theory?” Alaric asked.

They spiralled off into the depths of the different ways magic could be used. Alaric only eve knew the way his guardian had taught him… and that was using the Old Tongue.

It was a difficult method… but an effective one. One of the dark truths about the Ancient Tongue, however, was that it was capable of ensnaring someone’s will and controlling them should their True Name ever be discovered.

In the moment that he found himself understanding Crystal’s reactions, emotions and aspirations, his understanding of her character deepened to the point of revealing her True Name to him… which he had uttered without thinking.

How he’d stumbled upon it was beyond him… but he wasn’t about to tell her what it was. Hopefully, with time, she would grow and with that growth, so would her True Name.

‘She’s so simple…’ he thought to himself.

It was a simplicity that had the beauty to captivate anyone. Much like the simplicity he’d seen behind Aiden’s eyes. The kind of simplicity that made concepts like trust and friendship… easy and light.

The first place Alaric was taken to was a cosy bedroom that had been set up for him in case he was planning to stay.

The bedroom reminded him a lot of the luxury he experienced during his short stay in Jack’s Fall… only that this was at least several times more opulent.

His idea of how opulent it was though, was far lower than what Crystal chose to show him. The girl didn’t simply blow past the room. She sold the shower’s hot water features, the bed’s bounciness and comfort, and the blanket’s soft and cool texture, adding that it was stuffed with down feathers—which Alaric had no idea about until she explained in detail.

After showing him the various boons that came with having the room, the ride became a lot wilder. She took him to her favourite places in the whole Tower. First, she taught him how to operate the platforms.

Alaric had initially thought there were a few platforms all designed to be shared but soon discovered every door on the stairless corridor had a platform embedded beneath it, ready to slide out the moment someone stepped out to use it.

Those that led into long halls and corridors were even equipped with as many as ten platforms. The platforms also came with a robust magic spell that would keep passengers glued to the surface without them ever realising it. The magic kept anyone from falling off unintentionally… or even when pushed.

Unfortunately, testing this came at the price of a near-heart attack. It took more time than he would have liked for the girl to finally stop laughing… Alas, it was the kind of laugh he’d heard from his friends before. One that came from a warm place… unlike the malicious one she’d shown earlier.

From this point on, she took Alaric to a variety of places. With each door they entered, Alaric’s previous assumption of the inner side of the Tower of Seekers was shattered anew.

From one library of texts to the next, Alaric observed hundreds of thousands of books, papers and rolls of parchment either neatly placed on shelves, wrapped up in boxes, or arranged on tables… and on multiple occasions, floating in a bundle close to an enchanted ceiling.

It would be an insult to call the Tower of Seekers one great big library. No, it was more like a collection of several Great Libraries, all holding countless pieces of knowledge.

The libraries littering the Tower were arranged according to what field they addressed… from fundamental topics like agriculture and economics to arcane theories of magic and aether to arbitrary things like comedy and theatre—which were concepts Alaric was relatively new to.

Two hours later, the pair were seated inside one of the many cafeterias inside the Tower, taking a breather. Alaric had not felt this exhausted since raising his Temper Rank.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he spoke up, “Hey, Crystal… You’re about my age, right? I don’t remember you as an aspirant though.”

The girl paused for a bit, taking a sip of the water on the table. Unlike Alaric, she didn’t look tired in the slightest. Her fair wavy hair remained neatly organised and her fair brow remained spotless, unlike Alaric’s beady one.

“Would you let your child wait for the Appraisal Ceremony if you were the head of the tower?” Crystal asked.

Alaric was slower on the uptake than he would have liked. His eyes widened in shock when he came to understand the full implications of her words.

“What? You mean you awakened your guardian before you turned fifteen…. And have been training since then? Aren’t there rules against that sort of thing?”

“Rules don’t exactly work the way they should when Keepers are involved,” the girl replied with a shrug.

Alaric nodded with a nodding expression, sipping his juice, “Earlier in our fight, you mentioned not being able to use your Inborn Ability. What is your Inborn Ability?”

“You’re just full of questions, aren’t you?” the girl chuckled nervously.

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Alaric responded apologetically with a bow.

After a short silence, her voice came again, “My Inborn Ability allows me to become invisible. But with Aether Sight, someone can see me… so it would be useless on you.”

Alaric furrowed his eyebrows for a bit… To him, this didn’t make the slightest sense… but then, he also understood why she would think like this. She’d probably tried out her Inborn Ability once and decided its limitations and strengths.

“I bet if you tried really hard, you could make your scent, aether, presence and everything about you invisible,” Alaric replied with a smile, “Just ask your guardian.”

The frozen expression on the girl’s face told Alaric all he needed to know. ‘I bet an ability like that would make hiding Alia even easier,’ he thought to himself.