Once they recovered, they started the walk back up from the tenth floor. Like the walk down, it started in silence, though this time it was from tiredness rather than anything else. Still, the silence didn’t last very long. Tahir shifted back to walk next to Clement, bringing up the rear alongside the Winged Serpent, and spoke up after they’d traversed a couple of floors “So, Clement, after all this I’ve become incredibly curious. What’s a priest like you doing in the Redclouds, anyway?”
“Good question, though not one I haven’t heard before.” Clement replied. “I serve the god of knowledge, and there is much knowledge to be gained on the frontiers and in the unearthed. Take this ruin, for example. I wouldn’t have been able to enter unless I was a Redcloud, since they claimed rights to it pretty much immediately after it appeared. I wouldn’t have been able to spend the hours that I did pouring over that inscription, wondering for what possible reason could the ancient Vudrans have for leaving such a warning.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m wondering about that as well. That fight would have been much harder if they didn’t tell us beforehand. The miasma alone would have severely hindered any group that didn’t have as many people that could use divine magic as we went in with. If it was supposed to be a guard to the lower floors, why give that warning? It’s almost like the inscription was-
“Meant as instructions rather than a warning.” Clement finished Tahir’s statement for him.
“I came to the same conclusion. Indeed, there are a lot of things about this ruin that I’ve found odd. There are a number of chambers - one of which I believe you cleared yourself - that are sealed, containing hazards that would have been very effective in keeping intruders out. As far as we can tell, this entire place isn’t nearly as dangerous as it could have been. It seems like less obstacles to kill any who enter and somewhat more like a trial of sorts.”
He waved the statement off. “Enough about that, though, I have a question for you, Tahir. What do you think the role of a priest is?”
Tahir gave Clement a confused gaze, but took a moment to think about the question. “Well, the gods need people to preach for them and their ideals. A bunch of people running around with blessings that they didn’t intentionally try to get don’t make for good preachers.” Tahir answered. “Plus, I imagine different orders like the lightmaidens and the nightwardens have their own business and aren’t really expected to convert people.”
“Well said. A priest like me is expected to be the mouth of Hibris and carry his word. Those two-'' he gestured up toward Raline and Ester. “-could be considered the left and right hands of Noxulla, though I wouldn’t discount those who have received blessings.” He looked to Naevys, then back to Tahir. “The gods do not bestow their blessings on those they do not see potential in. As long as you continue to act in a way that allows you to keep that blessing, the divine tend to worm their way into your life in some form or fashion, even if you don’t go on to receive teaching from them.”
“So the blessing is their way of telling me they’re keeping an eye on me?”
“It is very much that as much as it is a reward, but if they look favorably upon you, the blessing itself can grow in strength.”
Tahir couldn’t deny the prospect of growing his blessing was exciting, but not as much so when he thought back to how he got his blessing in the first place. “I guess I have to check that next time I kill a lich.”
Clement chuckled. “Well, don’t discount the possibility of receiving another divine blessing also. Of course, joining a holy order might aid you in that, but they usually find you before you find them.”
Once they reached the fifth floor, Tahir thanked the Winged Serpent and the earth spirit for their aid and sent them away, allowing his mana to recharge as they made their way back up to the surface. As they were on the home stretch, moving through the first floor toward the entrance, Ester started speaking. “I will admit, the fight went smoother than I expected.” She looked back toward everyone else. “You’ve all done admirably. Clement, you are as helpful as ever. Naevys - I believe you are qualified to try for platinum if you’d like. And you, Tahir, you’ve grown, incredibly so since we last fought in Balrech.”
Before Tahir could reply, Raline stepped forward. “What? No compliments for me? Not even for preventing you from getting a nice new set of puncture wounds in your torso?”
Ester rolled her eyes. “You are very good at moving around unseen, but that is to be expected.” She told her, and then continued on after Raline’s mock sigh. “It will take a day or two for your payment to arrive after I report that the chamber is clear, if you continue to stay near the ruin.”
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“That’s alright, I’ll be making my way back shortly-” Tahir began to say, though the sight he saw outside the ruin made him pause. The entire horizon, as far as he could see, had a sand-colored tint, like a rolling fog that also blocked his vision of the sky. At this point, it should have been nearing sunset.
“A sandstorm?” Naevys wondered aloud.
“I suppose we were down there for a while.” Raline said. “Probably enough time for it to roll in. Are you still planning on heading back in this weather, Tahir?”
“Yeah.” Tahir responded simply as he stared up into the sky. Having never been to the desert, he’d never actually seen a sandstorm, let alone been inside of one. It wouldn’t hinder Neremyn’s ability to teleport, though.
“Are you sure?” Naevys asked. “You’re more likely to get lost trying to walk out in this.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Tahir replied with a smile. “I have my ways. It was a pleasure working with you, everyone.”
Soon after, Tahir summoned Neremyn and teleported back to the city. The sandstorm reached there as well, and Tahir walked through and enjoyed the faces of a couple confused guards, wondering whether or not he’d just been traveling through the blinding cloud of sand. He found navigating through Nagyermend a bit slower than before, since he was already working on memorizing the landmarks, but he could at least conjure a thin swirl of wind around him in order to prevent his face from being pelted with sand.
Eventually, he made his way back to the Redclouds’ lodging, even with the surroundings growing rapidly darker with the setting sun. Since he only had the storage bag on him, he skipped going to his room to set it down and made his way to Theo, Meti, and Shukri’s room, knocking on the door and waiting. Hardly ten seconds passed before Theo threw open the door and pulled Tahir inside with an ecstatic grin. “Tahir! You’re back! You’re not gonna believe what happened while you were gone.”
She pulled him over and had him sit on their bed, next to Shukri who seemed to be in the process of sharpening her spear when he knocked. He turned to look at Meti, who sat at one of the desks in the room as she shifted her chair around to face him. A slight change in her appearance caught Tahir’s attention. She wore a dark sleeveless shirt, which wasn’t out of the ordinary for her, but what stood out to Tahir was the swirling, circular markings that ran all the way down both of her arms. They almost had a sort of shimmer to them.
“Meti finished making the aura enhancer and got a blessing from Presia for it!” Theo answered the question before Tahir could ask.
"A strong blessing too, by the look of it." Tahir commented. He could see the pattern encompassing a much larger area, far more than the simple mark on the hand that Odium's blessing gave. Speaking of which, the pattern didn't seem to overlap, a neat circle surrounded the mark of Odium on the back of her hand. "That is an incredible achievement though, Meti. Can you tell what the blessing granted?"
"Not entirely, though I can tell for sure that my mana increased." Meti replied. "After I put the final touches on the amulet, I felt mana surging as Presia bestowed the blessing. I felt like I could go for twice as long with my smithing, but I don’t think my mana has doubled in capacity. Unfortunately, I won’t have time to do proper testing.”
Shukri chimed in to answer as Tahir gave Meti a questioning look. “Those investigators contacted us and let us know that they’ve found where the Spirit Mages are hiding. Within the merchant prince’s- in Osman’s manor. They would like for us to join the raid tomorrow evening.”
“So I almost missed it again, huh?” He replied. He hadn’t forgotten that Neremyn’s willingness to give Tahir their name had been the reason they managed to make the first raid as well. He really needed to thank them in some way other than having them out to explore Nagyermend. “I assume Hasio knows?”
He got a nod from Meti to confirm. “Will you be ready to go with us tomorrow? You don’t look too worse for wear physically, but it doesn’t seem like you came out completely unscathed either.”
“I’ll be alright. The fight itself wasn’t that bad…” It didn’t take long before Tahir got into telling them about his experience down on the tenth floor. While the fight itself felt harrowing at times, it didn’t feel nearly as perilous as when he fought the lich. Part of that might have been because he knew he’d gotten more capable since then, however. He also wanted to share some of Clement’s musings about the true purpose of the ruin, and how several aspects of it seemed to imply that it was meant to test the ability of the the delvers rather than to keep them out.
The others didn’t have much to add, they’d need to see more than the fifth floor that they explored. Once the business with the rogue spirit mages was over and done with, they’d probably put more time and effort into clearing out the dungeon. Another bit of information Tahir shared, that he worked out himself, was that if all of the final chambers of the floor groups were like the ones he fought the bone hydra in, then the ruin itself might have less floors than the Redclouds originally estimated.
Whatever the case, before he could think about the ruin any further, he needed to work to put this sordid business with the rogue spirit mages behind him.