Slightly stumped before the great doors that blocked his entry, Ieros looked for the boy but could not find him, he had already gone. A bit confused, Ieros could only look back at the door, wondering just how he was supposed to get inside. However, that concern was soon forgotten as Ieros studied the door, a door that combined both machine and magic, the workmanship of an Artificer. As he looked upon the door, he was reminded of a quote that he had read long ago:

“Mages harness what is unseen, builders manipulate what is seen, and artificers harness the unseen to manipulate what is seen.”—Arch Artificer Harmac Stonehand.

However, that quote and a few books in the Academy Library were all that Ieros knew of artificing as the art was something that only one race has mastered up to this point in time, the dwarves. A race that was not gifted with the ability to harness mana, a race that was thought to forever be doomed to while away beneath the earth, toiling in perpetual darkness. But they did not succumb to their fate, they still found a way to harness the mana around them, by use of runes which powered their great machines.

While most have now lost the “Sight,” the first dwarves were blessed with the ability to see the flow of mana around them, Augurs. It was these Augurs who created runes, symbols that allowed artificers to harness the power of mana. There were runes that would first collect the mana, then runes that would direct it, and finally runes that would use the mana to power the machine as a whole; each working together to form a greater machine.

However, to artifice one does not simply just memorize the runes, no, there was far more to the art which was why the dwarves had managed to maintain a monopoly over it, growing ever richer as they exported runic artifacts to the customers that desired them. And who wouldn’t want runic artifacts, artifacts which allowed anyone to wield mana. Of course, the expense of making runic artifacts combined with the lengthy rituals that dwarven artificers practice before they even begin carving the runes—slowing the already lengthy process of producing a runic artifact—made such artifacts unimaginably expensive. Indeed, the price was so much that the cost to outfit just one of the Nine Towers would be enough to fund the building of a small city.

And to be able to fund the building of nine such towers, the Academy itself was a major power in Atheran politics, a power that did not usually make a move. However, when the Academy does make a move, it shakes the political balance of Athera, shifting either to one side or the other. One example of this was three centuries ago when Teramon the First took the throne. According to the history books, Teramon the First had obtained the King’s favor and, when the King was on his deathbed, he was named the King’s Heir which enraged the former Crown Prince, Galeren who decried Teramon as a liar and a thief who manipulated the old King to steal the throne.

Galeren’s Faction far outnumbered Teramon’s and it was believed that Galeren would triumph over Teramon and execute him for his crimes. But before the conflict could begin, Teramon revealed his trump card and called upon the Academy to aid him and the Academy did, having struck a deal with Teramon. Teramon was to respect the independence of the Academy—which had been increasingly encroached upon by the preceding Kings—and fund the Academy’s projects for ten years once stability had been returned to Athera. In return, the Academy would lend to Teramon the might of their most powerful mages and would even give four of those mages to the King to become his Court Mages.

This proved enough to cow the Crown Prince’s Faction, many of whom betrayed Galeren and swore loyalty to Teramon. Those that did not were completely and utterly obliterated by the power of those who would become the Court Mages of Athera. Thus Teramon’s position was secured and under the protection of the Academy, he was able to obtain Ruling Magic without any trouble. And Teramon kept his word, respecting the Academy’s independence and funded the Academy’s research, which was when the first of the Nine Towers was built, substantializing the Academy’s independence. The Academy now had a center of power, nigh impregnable from the outside. Even if Teramon wanted to turn on the Academy, he could not do so without suffering great losses for not even Ruling Magic could make the great doors open.

For these doors could only be opened by a special and unique key, a key that—once imbued with mana—would circulate mana throughout the runic machinery, powering the opening sequence. It was practically impossible to do so without the key, for the runes of the machinery were extremely strict, they would only accept mana that matched the threshold it possessed. If the mana inserted was over the threshold, it would simply wash over the rune without much effect, keeping the mechanism closed.

Merely trickling in the mana would not work either as mana does not last long outside of the blood, meaning that it would dissipate before it could build up to the threshold. And even if one found the proper amount to inject mana, it was still not enough, for they had to enter runes in a specific order and each rune had a different mana threshold, essentially making the door impregnable to those who did not possess the key.

And Ieros was fully able to appreciate the complexity of this door as he attempted to solve it, mistakenly assuming that he had to open the door, not knowing that there was a key. His initial efforts met no success but this only intrigued Ieros more as it had been so long since he had encountered such a challenge. Stepping back slightly, he pondered on a way to find the solution, finally deciding that he’d just analyze the door piece by piece, or rather, the machinery within. However, since he couldn’t just tear open the door and study it, he had to make do, pressing his hand against the door’s surface, once more injecting mana.

However, this time he was spreading his mana throughout the material of the door itself, which included the machinery within. And by using his mana sight to see the flow of his own mana, he was able to see the secrets within the door. It couldn’t be sustained however, after a few moments his mana would dissipate but those few moments were enough, he could now recreate the door’s machinery through Creationism. And so he seated himself in front of the door, recreating the naked machinery for him to appraise at his leisure, paying close attention to the runes that were engraved upon each piece.

He was so absorbed into deciphering the door’s secrets that he did not notice the approach of Merin Cornelius who had rushed here, having forgotten to give the boy the key to the tower. However, his worry over possibly offending Ieros disappeared as he beheld Ieros sitting there, poring over each piece of runic machinery as he occasionally grabbed one, injecting mana into it before he put it down and surveyed the rest. Thoroughly bewildered by all of this, he finally just decided to wait until Ieros was done doing whatever it was that he was doing before he disturbed him.

Ieros didn’t notice as he had finally discovered the threshold of one rune, seeing as how it began to move after he had done so. He attempted to do so with another, only to be met with failure, the thresholds of the two were different. However he just shrugged it off and then compared the two runes, wanting to see just what was different about them that led to different mana thresholds.

He compared various parts that seemed to correspond with one another and experimented with mana injection but was met with failure over and over. Finally, he sighed and stretched, he couldn’t just sit here all day. He stood up, preparing to go and search for someone to talk to about opening the gate, stopping when he saw Merin standing there. Seeing that Ieros seemed to be done with whatever it was that he was doing, he bowed his head, holding out the key.

“My apologies, I had forgotten to hand the key to the boy who had led you here so I came myself.”

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Ieros said, “Oh no, it was pretty enjoyable trying to unlock this door, it has been a long time since I was ever stumped by something.”

Merin blinked.

“You tried to unlock the door? Without the key?”

Ieros nodded.

“If I had a month, I could probably unlock the door without the key, although that doesn’t mean I would understand the meaning of the runes though. That would take a lot longer.”

Merin asked, “Really?”

Ieros nodded.

“I can do it but I don’t really have a lot of free time, I have a job that’s coming up and that will probably take me away from this place so I’ll have to put it off for later.”

Merin nodded.

“I see, well, seeing as we are probably going to see a lot more of each other, I am Merin Cornelius.”

He offered his hand and Ieros took it, saying, “I am Ieros.”

Merin once more offered out the key and Ieros took it, saying, “Well, my job here is done. See you around, Ieros.”

Ieros took the key, saying after a few moments, “See you too.”

Merin smiled and with a small nod, he turned and left, Ieros watching his retreating form for a moment before he returned his attention to the door, then looked at the key in his hand. He shrugged and then placed it inside the keyhole, injecting mana into it which then distributed the mana throughout the door, unlocking it. As the door opened, Ieros withdrew the hand holding the key, waiting for the door to finish opening. Once the doors ceased to move, he looked back, waving his hand to undo his spell. With the replicas beginning to disintegrate, Ieros stepped inside the tower, turning to watch the doors close behind him. Once they closed fully, he turned and took in his new surroundings, pulling off his hood to get a better look.

His eyes were met with a pristinely kept chamber whose walls and floor were made with white marble with geometric patterns of black marble. These patterns weren’t simply for aesthetic however, they also served as a large spell circle whose function was to collect the mana from the earth into the tower itself, making the mana concentration so thick that a mage could begin to absorb it. This was only possible due to the Academy’s proximity to the Imperial Palace which was the center of the ley line. It was able to siphon some of the earth’s energy which was most concentrated at the palace for the Academy’s use.

Of course, such a privilege was only for the most high ranking mages of the Academy and now it was available to Ieros as well. But other than that, the Tower was mostly empty, Ieros feeling that it had been left this way for quite some time despite the fact that there wasn’t a single speck of dust to be seen. It wasn’t surprising though, back when he attended the Academy, he too had heard rumors of the Nine Towers and of the high prerequisites needed to be given the honor of occupying one. The four Court Mages would be given a tower each by default and the remaining five would be given to the brightest that the Academy had to offer and when Ieros was last here, only 3 of those remaining towers were occupied.

He didn’t know if that number had changed but at least one tower remained unclaimed until he came. Finally, he decided to head up to the upper floors, although he was a bit at a loss on how to do so seeing as there were no stairs. He looked around, finally settling his eyes down on the floor which had previously overlooked. He knew that it was one large spell circle whose purpose was to gather energy but perhaps there was something else that he had missed. As he pored over the patterns etched into the marble, he noticed something strange. It appeared that there was a smaller circle within the spell circle, one which began to stand out as he began to spot the differences.

It was a spell circle whose purpose he didn’t quite know, but there was one thing he did know. That the piece of floor it was one was not one with the rest of the floor, meaning that it could be detached. If his theory was correct, then this was the means to travel up and down the tower, a magic elevator. But now the question was how was he supposed to activate it? With nothing else in mind, he went over and stood at its direct center, the spell circle lighting up as he did so. Blinking in surprise, he waited but nothing happened, was he supposed to do something else?

Figuring that it wouldn’t hurt to try, he cleared his throat and then spoke, “Up.”

However, it did not move.

Frowning, Ieros thought again, saying, “Take me to the top.”

Once more, it refused to move.

Feeling a bit stupid, Ieros took some time to think, his eyes suddenly noticing a change in the intensity of the spell circle’s light. It was dimming now, almost completely dead. A bit frustrated, he thought why it couldn’t just take him up and suddenly, the light brightened again. Returning his attention to the sudden change, it suddenly clicked. He had to think his desire, the universal language of magic. He had to think it, not just say it.

Chuckling to himself for having forgotten such a simple rule, he straightened up, casting his gaze up to the ceiling which had a perfectly cut hole in it, saying, “Up!”

And this time he did ascend, the circular elevator he stood upon floating up into the air as he neared the hole in the ceiling. He passed through and with a thought, the elevator stopped, Ieros stepping off as he studied this room. It was equally empty as the floor below, with the only changes being the patterns in the marble and the four windows at each of the cardinal points. He didn’t give it too much heed as he was curious as to what lay above, Ieros returning to the platform to continue upward.

This time, he only gave each room a passing glance as he ascended until the platform came to a halt, the elevator could not go any further. Ieros stepped off, entering an equally empty chamber, although the geometric patterns on this floor were far more numerous and even lined with gold and silver. And the air of this room was almost vibrating with the amount of ambient mana in the air, so thick that just by standing there, Ieros was able to integrate the ambient mana into his blood.

Already beginning to feel energized, Ieros then took out the Absolute Flame, pondering just what he was to do with this. But there was one thing that felt off, the light that was coming off the marble seemed to be dimmer than before. He wasn’t sure how that was possible but it seemed that this thing was losing energy. In an attempt to stop this, Ieros injected some mana into it, meeting some success as it began to glow brighter.

Reassured by this, Ieros decided to pour even more mana into the Absolute Flame, taking advantage of his mana rich surroundings to supplement his own mana, the small bead glowing brighter and brighter. However, that was all it did, glowing brighter and brighter so eventually, Ieros just gave up. He still had some mana to spare but he was unwilling to spend it all on the Absolute Flame, he couldn’t help but feel that he might just be wasting his time with it. So for now, he put it out of his mind, instead looking once more at his surroundings.

Greeted with the emptiness, he felt a moment of loneliness, which he quickly shrugged off as he set his mind to making this place more like home. However, once more he was a bit stumped on where to begin. Having spent the last three years in the forest, he never had a use for furniture really so he was forced to improvise. And while they did seem a bit out of place in their more elegant surroundings, the simple bed, desk, and chair that he made were enough to make Ieros satisfied. It’s not like a lot of people would be seeing this place besides him so he figured that there was nothing wrong with it.

If it looked too weird, he’d make it look better in the morning but right now, he was pretty tired, he couldn’t remember the last time when he had slept properly. Back in the forest, he was always learning something so he had to be awake, sustaining himself with mana to keep himself from falling asleep. But here, there wasn’t as much to do, which brought his building weariness to the forefront of his mind. So, stripping himself of his bulkier outer robes, Ieros let them fall to the floor as he himself fell on the bed, dressed in lighter clothing. He yawned sleepily as he crawled into the covers, letting his mind wander on various things until he fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the Absolute Flame which had been left alone continued to grow brighter ever so slowly, absorbing the mana that the Tower collected.