In the end, my prediction would be proven wrong. We spent the next two days like the previous one. Walk up to a tower, find it run-down and deserted, explore the inside, find nothing and then sleep in the dorms. Luckily, Sophie had planned to leave the caverns before our little confrontation at her spider web. In true Sophie manner, she had been fully prepared for a long excursion.

Most of all, she had brought plenty of water, enough to last us a while. There was some of the Mystic's stale, dry bread, as well as emergency rations. Until now it had been enough, but after our three day march, we were running low. If we didn't find something beyond the long-forgotten remnants of civilizations, we would be in trouble.

“Today will be different. Today I'll meet Eileen again,” I said towards no one in particular as I marched out of the third tower's annex and into the heat of day. No one in particular felt obliged to answer.

“Right. Not like you didn't say that yesterday. Or the day before. Actually, can you just shut up about your sister for at least a second?” No one in particular was pretty grumpy today. She wasn't used to being out in the sun for so long, was what I thought.

“Well, it makes sense though. They're positioned like rings after all... the towers I mean. Two outer towers, then another two in the middle and two more inside. We've looked at three total now and all of them have been empty and abandoned. Today we're gonna reach the central tower. If we don't find anything there, we're probably going crazy.”

“Sure. I'm just venting,” Sophie said, always flippant.

After I had moved closer, I reestablished the light barrier that had surrounded us over most of the past three days.

“That thing again, huh? Don't you think this is a waste of your mana? I don't think the old man would've wanted that.”

Sophie looked left and right as she talked, even though she couldn't see the shape of mana I had formed around us.

“Well, we're expecting to find something today, right? Better safe than sorry.”

“No, you're expecting to find something,” Sophie corrected.

“Right. It's my expectation just like it's my mana. So how about you let me waste it the way I want to?”

“...it's your funeral too.”

“Shhhh.”

While Sophie still tried to get the last word in, I had heard the echoes of an unnatural sound up ahead. This time, I was almost certain we would find more than a bundle of decomposed leaves, so I held my palm in front of Sophie's face to quiet her down. Although the girl got annoyed and swiped my hand away, she didn't say another word.

Sophie knew what was at stake. If we were caught by the red guards it would be lights out. Even I wasn't sure big sis could save us in that case. After all, entering the towers without authorization was one of the great taboos of the city, worse than almost any other crime.

We crouched down to quiet our movements and sneaked up towards the front. Soon, we could see something we hadn't seen in three days: fresh water, and a splendorous excess of it at that. Beyond the forest of dead trees, two giant fountains rose towards the top of the towers. Ever-changing, the liquid danced through the air in lavish arcs. Though we couldn't see the source of the water yet, the arcs shot so high we could see it past high walls and dead trees. A true spectacle to behold.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

As we closed in on our first sign of life in days, our path was blocked by a hedge. However, unlike every other place in the inner city, it didn't show any signs of decay or disuse. Instead, it shined in a lush, verdant green. The opulent vegetation appeared as if one could squeeze pure morning dew from its delicate twigs. With my face pressed up to the hedge, I looked around to see if I could take a peek past the leaves. I wanted to uncover the mystery inside, of a world that wasn't death and decay.

Finally, I found the gap I had searched for. What I saw would have been expected just three days ago, but now almost seemed like a miracle. This was a true, honest to god pathway. The slick white plates on the ground were squeaky clean, proper and neat, just like everything else in their surroundings.

Beautiful green grass lined the pathway, a true marvel after our days of brown and gray. Meanwhile, the two fountains we had spotted before flanked this neat route and caught their liquid projectiles within enormous, shallow basins at their base. This was my mental image of the greatest academy in the world. At last, between the fountains, I saw the first signs of life within the great Towers of Knowledge.

The guardians of peace, the red guards, the beasts. Here they were, in orderly formation and in large number. I watched as they loaded themselves into the backs of large transport vehicles. In fact, I had seen this type of transport before. One of them had stood outside the community hall on the day of the assessment. These were the official transporters of the Guardians of Peace.

At once, my brain made the connection. The fateful day had come once again. Today, rows of young hopefuls would line up and get themselves tested to see if they had the mettle to join the Towers of Knowledge, and my little sister was right among them. Hoping beyond hope, I just prayed that within these walls, the young mages would find what they had dreamed of.

While I was busy distracting my brain from reality, the gentle hum of the transporter signaled its departure. Another look over and I found that most of the guards had left the area. Only four remained behind, to protect the perimeter. If we wanted to get inside, we would have to sneak past. Either that or we would have to find an alternative point of entry.

Just as I was trying to think myself into the annex, a ball of dirt flew over and landed in front of my feet. While I had been immersed in my thoughts, Sophie had moved a good distance, along the hedge and towards the side of the building. Now that her attack had gained my attention, she waved me over with impatient movements.

Rather than argue over her rudeness and attract the attention of the guards, I decided to follow the command without complaint. Once I had reached my companion, she pointed towards a portion of the hedge. Through the holes in the thicket I could see a side entry, maybe meant for delivery or an emergency exit, which led to a small gravel path between the hedge and the building itself.

Unguarded. Perfect.

I used some of my mana to press the hedges aside to form an archway. Of course I formed my shape with the greatest care, to make sure no one would sense the emitted mana. Though getting to the prettier side of the academy had been easy, the side door turned out to be blocked, with no obvious way to open it. All we found was another one of those stone carvings we had become so familiar with over the past three days.

Since there was no way through the side door, I thought we might as well try the front instead. So far the guardians had failed to spot my light barrier, so it was worth the risk. We walked the long way around and found ourselves within the welcoming plaza of the tower. However, upon inspection, the front doors provided much less welcome than we had thought at first.

We walked past the guards without trouble. The door wasn't locked either, but I could sense the complex shapes draped over the entryway right away. This was another spider web, spun by a professional. We couldn't go through the front without triggering who knew what and I wasn't willing to take the risk.

Thus, we had no choice but to park ourselves near the side entrance and hope that a chance would present itself. At least we could refill Sophie's water bottles at the fountain. That would last us for a while.

After we had waited for several, mind-numbing hours, a click of salvation brought life back into our lethargic bodies. The side entrance had opened, no, it had been opened by one of the red guards, maybe on a smoke break or whatever vices the guardians indulged in. Making good use of my mana, I bounced up and held open the door before it could close shut, for both me and Sophie to slip inside. Before I had even processed everything, we had infiltrated into the central tower of Astralis. Although the door behind us shut with a soft click, in my mind it sounded with the booming finality of cannon fire.