Everything about the tower screamed magic. From the formations and runes and sigils carved into each surface, to the glittering gems burning with the mana of all the elements. Jaina had even somehow worked Psicrystal into the structure. White stone sparkled with ingrained crystals, though the sparkle was magnified by the mana density of the immediate area.

I've slowly become aware that while Psi energy and Mana are not directly related, they are very compatible. You could use one to power the workings of the other, albeit at a increased cost. I suspected that there was a way to merge the two forces completely, but what that would look like or if it was even a good idea, I couldn't guess.

Somehow the tower was pulling in mana and concentrating it into a denser form. It took a moment of observation to figure it out, but it was obvious after standing in it for a while.

Over all I was very impressed. Even if the tower lacked any other function, which I highly doubted, it was worth the expense.

"I'm so sorry, My Lord. As you can see, this is where many of the Company points were spent. Certain gems, stones and even a few metals had to be bought, at least at first. The Assemblers needed samples to be able to replicate the materials." She bowed deeply. Her emotional state was a wreck, she fully expected me to strike her down.

I felt the eyes of my ladies on me. Gauging my reaction.

Which was to laugh my ass off.

"This. This is why you were so upset? I thought you had killed someone, or majorly fucked something up. I was over here worrying about nothing." Of course, my gut hadn't calmed down at all. But I wasn't going to let them see my concern.

"We told her it would be fine, kind of goaded her into it actually." Sally with her eyes cast down.

"I told them they were just worrywarts. There was no way you'd be too upset by just... money." Megan with the Grin of a Thousand Smuggeries, waved her hand vaguely.

"Yes, yes you are very smart." As I patted Megan's head, enjoying the silkiness of her hair and the warmth of contact. All the while, wondering if I'd have to crush her skull soon. Then I grabbed Sally into a side hug and maybe squeezed a little harder than I intended. She didn't complain and in fact latched on to me like a koala. There I was, thinking how I might have to crush her into paste.

That really fucks with your head, by the way. I honestly don't know how spies and assassins do this kind of thing. My empathy and sympathy were warring with my rage and sorrow. Unless they truly felt nothing, I just didn't get it.

Meanwhile, I kept a smile plastered on my face and forced my voice to an even tone. The counting technique really helped, I'd have to thank John for his guidance somehow.

Jaina slowly unkinked herself, and her magic nerd started to show. Her excitement built by the second, as she realized that I wasn't mad. Her face flushed and her eyes gleamed with a fey light.

She turned to the Tower with her hand emphasizing her words, "This is an advanced Mage Tower, let me show you it's features!" Her face lit up with such joy that had I been upset with her to begin with, I'd have dropped it after seeing that expression.

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For some reason, I didn't fully understand, I let out a rolling deep belly laugh. Her antics were just so entertaining.

For the next few hours she explained every decision that went into the tower in exhausting detail. To say I was impressed was an understatement. As she slowly guided us up the floors she would point out her formations and what each of the runes did. She was truly lost in her own little world as she expounded upon each detail.

Not only was the tower a mana concentrator, and storage; it could after a period of exposure to higher density mana, spark a mana reactor. It would literally become a fountain of magic energy, flooding the area.

I had a second of concern before she explained that the mana would be filtered, and presented very little risk to the town's population. Also it would be years before the reactor could gather the required amount of mana to ignite the reactor.

Hmm. Interesting.

Each floor had enchantment built into it to aid in all the tasks of daily life. Cooking, cleaning, and so on. On top of that, the tower had enchantments that would improve the skills of any teacher to convey knowledge and any student to absorb knowledge. Soon we would have mages underfoot at all times. Nice.

Finally, the massive gem on top of the tower not only stored a huge amount of raw mana it could be used as a Mana Cannon. She talked about all the modes of use she had painstakingly scribed into the gem. From a thousand seeker mana bolts, to one thick beam of pure raw mana and everything in between. That was an excellent use of Company Points as far as I was concern.

At this point we were in Jaina's chambers, just below the pinnacle ritual room which in turn was right under the Massive mana gem.

"Well what do you think, My Lord?" She was smiling at me through her eyelashes. Her gaze darted to Sally and Megan, who were latched onto me at this point. She licked her lips.

Um. What? Now, I'm not the most emotionally intelligent of men, but thems was signals.

Sally and Megan squeezed me harder as if trying to restrain me.

Jaina swiftly closed the distance and kissed me like her life depended on it. Maybe it did?

I was too shocked to respond to her kiss. What the fuck was going on?

Two sharp pains entered my kidneys at the same time.

"Rrrrrraaaaaaa!" I very intelligently bellowed as I thrashed throwing both ladies to the sides of the room.

Jaina looked just as shocked as I felt, which was the only reason I didn't attack her first.

My aura flared no longer restrained by my will. A good thing too, it was the only reason I wasn't laying on the ground bleeding out. It was the only reason I didn't immediately fall into shock and freeze up. Healing mana working quickly to keep me alive.

Megan was laughing as she picked herself up.

Sally wasn't. She looked at me with all the focus of a killer looking at their next victim.

Megan taunted, "I guess we have to explain now that you survived the first strike." Her eye flashed as she launched some quick hack at me. Thankfully, Vik did some good work when he updated my ICE. My chrome was safe for now.

Sally snarled, "No, he should die in ignorance." She seemed to hesitate though, probably realized I wasn't at the same level of strength as I had been before."

I backed up, so I could keep them all in my sight. Snorting in contempt, I answered with a groaning, "Figures. I never had any luck with the ladies. I am, however, a little surprised at your involvement Jaina." Swallow the pain, push down the despair. Deal with it later when your kidneys aren't trying to emulate water sprinklers.

"No! My Lord I would never... " Jaina was shaking her head in denial, and she started summoning something with her mana.

"Now, now don't blame poor Jaina. She had no idea. She thought she was going to get added to our fun. Sally and I were certainly convincing as we filled her out like an application. Every. Single. Chance we could get."

My brain made the connections.

Well, that was just depressing.

Megan giggled like a lunatic, her face started to change. "Oh, I love that look." She had produced a pistol from an unknown location.

I glanced towards Sally and yup she was changing her appearance as well. "Who cares, let's get this over with." Her rifle was leaning up against the wall, but she pulling out a long curved knife.

I grumbled internally. What a fucking mess.