I released the Arcane mana I’d been controlling as I Meditated with a sigh. I had no idea if my efforts were actually improving the strength of my affinity, but it seemed like my connection to the mana type had grown a little stronger.
However, whether it was due to familiarity or an actual improvement in my affinity was still yet to be determined.
I’d check once I got out of the mana well.
The [Time Dilation] field I was using to extend my time in my newly secured section of the mana well was a joint endeavor between me and Master Kairos. He’d done the bulk of the Crafting and Enchanting since we were working with Tier Ten materials, but I’d incorporated my Tier Eight Arcane mana into the formation as well.
I might have gotten away with using a normal [Time Dilation] enchantment within the mana well, but we both felt it would be better to incorporate the primary environmental mana type into the formation, given the location in which it would be used.
It helped that incorporating Arcane mana – even at a lower tier – would ultimately strengthen the effect and prevent the valuable energies from being lost. If anything, the effect only served to draw more mana into the small hollow I’d spatially expanded.
I’d already spent several subjective weeks hidden away in the expanded cave several dozen meters below the portion of the mana well that had already been explored. The walls were lined with thick black crystals of solidified mana, much like I expected the upper mana well had been before it was mined.
With the protections I had in place, not even Master Kairos could reach me here without doing some serious damage to the surroundings. I doubted a couple of would-be assassins would be able to find me, much less reach me here.
The thought made me release an involuntary groan of frustration. I collapsed back against the soft round cushion I was using to make the sharp edges of the floor and walls somewhat comfortable.
Space was limited unless I wanted to put more effort into expanding the small cavity, and it had already taken a lot of effort to get as far as I had with the mana well interfering.
Thinking back on the incident, I knew that I’d wasted time by Teleporting to the surface to get away from any potential attacks. I should have just cast Stasis right away instead of granting my would-be attackers the chance to escape.
Even if it had only been a second or two.
The fact that nobody was present in the room when Stasis activated had caused me to doubt myself at first. However, I knew what good [Stealth] talismans looked like when they were active. Once I connected the dots, the source of the odd mana I sensed was pretty obvious.
I ultimately decided not to mention the incident to anyone other than Master Kairos, though I did take additional measures to prevent such an occurrence from happening again.
As the former disciple of the person who ‘owned’ the mana well, I was granted unlimited access to the resource. My mana signature had already been added to the wards protecting the area, so I had no trouble returning in secret.
The second time I visited the mana well, only Master Kairos knew that I was there. Just in case the information had leaked through the allied sect, we felt it was better to completely hide my presence.
I’d even added a few temporary inscriptions to prevent any sensory skills from detecting me.
The inscriptions wouldn’t last much longer, but they’d been enough for my needs during the visit. It probably wouldn’t take much effort to make something that would last longer, which I’d probably do on my next visit.
And it wasn’t like the inscriptions were all that complex to make, given my skill with Enchanting and my understanding of and affinity for Space.
A glance at my interface let me know that I wouldn’t have enough time to make anymore real progress before I’d need to leave. Since there was no reason to start anything new, I stood up and began slowly disassembling the [Time Dilation] formation.
I didn’t want to be late for the next leg of our trip, after all.
----------------------------------------
“You had no further troubles, I take it?” a disguised Master Kairos asked when I appeared next to him a short while later.
I’d given him ample warning about my impending arrival, so he knew to move away from the crowds. Since I’d Marked him before we went our separate ways, it was easy enough to find him in the spatial weave.
Given the effectiveness of his disguise, it was also the only real way I had of being sure who he was without identifying myself.
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Instead of a young-looking platinum-blonde man with unnaturally pale skin, Master Kairos now had dark hair and sun-kissed skin. His athletic physique and height were the only things similar to his normal appearance. Otherwise, he looked like a completely different man.
Though I didn’t bother doing so, I knew that Assess would show him to be a Tier Ten Earth Mage. He had several manatech devices that would support such a persona, all of which were carefully disguised as mere foci.
I wore a similar disguise, though mine showed me as a black-haired Space Mage with medium skin. We both kept our true tiers since misrepresenting someone’s tier could cause unexpected problems.
Some territories even had laws prohibiting such deceptions since it could lead to accidental Accords violations.
“None,” I replied as I smoothed my purple tunic. “I doubt anyone even knew I was there.”
“That’s good,” Master Kairos said with a nod. “The formation worked well, I take it?”
“It did.”
“And was it worth the effort?”
I didn’t bother holding back a smile. “Twenty,” I answered, referencing my new Arcane rating. It was still very weak, but a four-point increase was nothing to scoff at.
“That’s excellent!” Master Kairos said with a matching smile. A moment later, he motioned for me to follow and started moving toward the portal hub.
I kept pace with him as we made our way to the facility. It reminded me of a train station or airport, though there were notably fewer ‘gates’ than one would expect to see.
“Are you hungry? We can sit down for a meal while we wait for our portal reservation,” he offered. Like with airports and train stations, there was a variety of options available within the portal hub.
“You know I’m always up for a good meal,” I said with a grin, not bothering to hide my gluttony.
Once we settled on a restaurant and submitted our orders, Master Kairos said, “You should call me ‘Kai’ while we’re traveling in disguise.”
The suggestion surprised me.
“You… want me to call you Kai?” I asked awkwardly.
The thought felt alien, like suddenly being told to call your teacher by their first name after calling them ‘Mr. Jones’ for years.
Actually, it was stranger than that. It was probably closer to being told to call my mom ‘Avery’ instead of ‘Mom’ or being told to call one of my grandparents by their given name.
It felt wrong.
“It would make things easier,” he replied casually. “Calling me ‘Master Kairos’ is going to draw attention, especially when we’re not dressed in normal sect attire.”
His argument made sense, especially given our desire to remain incognito.
Of course, we didn’t have to travel this way. It was a choice we’d made to prevent any potential mishaps along the way.
That didn’t mean we weren’t going to confront the people intent on doing me harm. It just seemed smarter not to have to constantly look over our shoulders all the time.
“Is that why you decided on Kai instead of Henlen or some variant of your first name?”
“Partly,” Master Kairos admitted. “But the bigger reason is because I like the name better. I plan to use it when I – or perhaps, we – ascend. Getting used to it now would be beneficial if you do accompany me since it would be as a companion, not a disciple or junior. Calling me ‘Master Kairos’ at that point would be… inappropriate.”
“Isn’t being overly familiar with you now inappropriate?” I asked with a raised brow.
“Probably,” he conceded with a light shrug. “But it isn’t an issue as long as we are outside of the sect. I meant to discuss this with you earlier—”
His words were interrupted by the arrival of our meal. We’d both ordered several items, all of which I quickly scanned into the MealMaker before taking the first bite.
“You were saying?”
“Right,” Master Kairos said after sampling the meals he purchased and storing all but one in his ring to keep them fresh. “Since I’ll be ascending in less than a century, most of which you’ll spend in the dungeon, I feel there is little harm in developing a friendship instead of maintaining such a formal relationship.”
“You’re already an Elder anyway,” he added, leaning back in his chair. “By the time you leave the dungeon next, you’ll be Peak-Tier Ten. Nobody is going to care if you call me ‘Kai’ instead of ‘Master’ or ‘Patriarch’ at that point.”
He tapped his fingers together in an odd rhythm. “It’s a delicate balance – remaining professional while also developing a friendship. Within the sect, strict formality is necessary. But when we’re out like this?” Master Kairos motioned around us. “It makes more sense to be casual. We’ll never move beyond a Master-Disciple relationship if you cannot see me as anything other than your Master.”
It was true. Even with our official relationship no longer being that of Master-Disciple, it was hard to see him as anything else.
“I understand when we’re trying to remain inconspicuous…”
I did, but it still felt wrong to call him ‘Kai.’
“Well, since we are currently in such a setting, perhaps you can start getting used to it?” my mentor said with a twinkle in his eyes. It was obvious he found something about our interaction humorous, though I wasn’t quite sure what.
“Sure… Kai.”
The disguise helped a little. He didn’t look like Master Kairos, so it was easier to call him something else. I wasn’t sure I’d manage the same when he wasn’t wearing a disguise talisman, though.
Shifting to a slightly more serious expression, Master Kairos – Kai asked, “Have you decided how you want to handle your old party?”
“Not really,” I said, shaking my head. “I mostly just want to see them with my own eyes – at least Ros and Jorenda. I don’t think I’ll tell any of them who I am. There’s no reason to invite more questions. I might not even make contact at all. I just want to observe them a little and see how they’re doing.”
Maybe it was weird. I didn’t really care.
Master Kairos had given me a file that summarized the major life events each of my former party members had experienced during my time in the dungeon, so I wasn’t walking into the situation without any information.
I’d also done a little of my own research before leaving Hadier. While social media wasn’t necessarily a thing within the Alliance, the Adventurers’ Guild did allow its members to interact with each other through its internal network.
Since I was not a member of the guild in this life, I’d used Master Kairos’s access to learn what I could before starting this leg of my journey. Most of the information I’d found was the same as what Master Kairos had given me, making me suspect most of his intel had come from this very source.
“The ripple effects were pronounced with your friends,” Master Kairos said knowingly.
He was right. A lot had changed just from my messages. Since that was kinda the point, it wasn’t like I could get upset about it.