The weather grew hot as summer got into full swing, but that didn’t slow down either the kobolds or Rai, who continued to study and train. Rai taught himself new four new combat arts, his two third tier arts actually just improved versions of first tier arts, while his new second tier art was a special type that could augment other arts; his final new art was actually a special self-enhancement stance. For years now, he’d mastered the blade-enhancement stance called Aura Sword, which was how he created sword aura to extend the reach of his attacks by several feet, such as when he stabbed the mercenary named Obsidian in the head. Now, he had a self-enhancement stance he called Blazing Soul, which could be used together with the blade-enhancement stance, which infused him with elemental power, increasing his ability to dodge and stimulating his body’s healing. It did have the limitation that it could only be used when he was in the heightened mental and physical state caused by battle, but it was still very useful.

Isa also taught herself new arts. The combat arts book had unfortunately not been designed for either of their combat styles, so she developed them on her own. She learned five new arts: two second tier, two third tier, and a blade-enhancement stance, the last of which enhanced damage dealt by manipulating the weight of the weapon with qi at the moment of impact. Her two second tier arts both revolved around ferocity when charging, one of her third tier arts revolved around shattering enemy weapons while being attacked by them, and the other third tier art involved using her blood to attack her foes.

Torval proved his intelligence by mastering literacy before the summer was half gone and moving on to reading books in the library as well as studying social and legal rules under Lord Henrik. He quickly became well-liked by the regulars and staff at the library, though he always had an escort on Henrik’s orders just to be safe.

Rai’s study of the books taken from the ruins was quite illuminating. He was especially interested in the mana circle formation method and the book of spells. The formation method gave details for up to sixth circle and was highly effective, practically guaranteeing that he could eventually reach the modern-day pinnacle if he continued to use it. The book of spells also included spells of up to sixth circle. The implications brought him hope: if such things were available for ready use like that, then surely even higher circle spells existed that wouldn’t be so easily available. After all, if sixth circle was the maximum as it was today, it would be hard to find people capable of it, just as it was today.

The personal journal gave insight into the last days of the Tower Era, or at least that city, albeit indirectly. Internal discord and tensions with other cities had evolved into outright war, but there was more to it than that. There had been a catalyst; some sort of cataclysmic event that the writer had called “the Black Sun Starfall.” Her description was vague, but it had made much of their magical infrastructure go haywire. For a society that relied heavily on magical technology to meet the needs of its citizens, that was catastrophic.

The various research journals were interesting, but not Rai’s specialty, so he worked on transcribing some of the information for other scholars to read. The one exception was the research journal on the biological experiments, which he left untouched.

Lord Henrik periodically sent out letters to various institutions, inviting scholars of history and magic to come visit Fairholm and join in the research, starting with a posting in the Library itself. Because of this, a few curious individuals who were already in the city were allowed to come to his estate to meet with Rai once a week, but it wasn’t until the summer passed the halfway point that anyone came directly from a place of importance.

-x-

A blond-haired-and-bearded middle-aged human man wearing sky blue faculty robes embroidered with pink silk held up a beaker full of cyan liquid to the light of a magic lamp, carefully observing the movements of the golden flecks within. His pupils shrank from exposure to the bright light, revealing his green irises. He frowned thoughtfully, then scribbled some notes with a fountain pen on a piece of paper on the table with his other hand. A few feet away, a much younger man wearing navy blue faculty robes with no embroidery poured red liquid into a glass of water, then dusted the top with silver particles and stirred. On the far side of the white and gray laboratory filled with alchemical equipment, a woman in her thirties with short red hair rinsed out another beaker by conjuring water from the air and using it in a low-pressure jet over a sink. She had the gray robes of a student.

“Professor Elliot, you have a son, don’t you?”

The middle-aged man looked over toward the open door, where another man with sky blue faculty robes, this one an elf of indeterminate age with long silver hair, was leaning against the doorframe.

“Yes, I do,” Elliot said, setting down the beaker. “His name’s Rai. Got a great mind, but he wastes it on chasing after fantasies. He’s a scholar, but his chosen field of study is the Tower Era. He’s also a mage: a soul mage. I invited him to apply to study here, but… well, he won’t let go of his obsession with the Tower Era, and he insists he’d rather spend time doing field work than lab work.”

“That’s what I thought. You’re going to want to come to the Chancellor’s office, because your son has found an economic and social backer for his research that claims he’s got some actual findings. The Magic Tower received an invitation to visit the estate of a Lord Henrik Amit of Fairholm to see his findings.”

Elliot was glad he’d already set down the beaker, because he would have dropped it otherwise. “What?!” he said incredulously. “Is this some minor nobleman with his head in the clouds?”

“Apparently he’s actually fairly influential in Fairholm; he controls the city watch. He’s known as a collector of rarities, so it tracks that he would be interested, but one would think someone in Fairholm of all places wouldn’t be so gullible. Maybe your son really did find something interesting. Not from the Tower Era, obviously, but from some other historical period.”

“Assistants! I’m heading over to the Chancellor’s office, put up my stuff.”

“Yes, Professor!” the other two said in unison.

Elliot and the elf walked side by side through the hallways until they reached they reached the lift shaft, where a hexagon of hexagonal transparent platforms regularly levitated up and down to take people to different floors of the Magic Tower of the Isle of Heaven’s Reach. The elf pressed on a magic circle on a pedestal, which called the nearest free platform toward them. They stepped on, and Eliot touched the magic circle in the center of the platform, channeling mana and saying aloud the number of the floor he wanted to travel to. They rode up many floors, stepped off, and headed past the offices of several faculty and staff members until they reached the Chancellor’s office door.

Elliot knocked.

“Your Lordship? It is I, Professor Elliot Flamme.”

There was a short pause, and then a slightly muffled feminine voice replied, “Enter.” The door slid into the ground, revealing the spacious and well-appointed office on the other side. Being one of the offices that shared walls with the exterior of the tower, the room was well-lit by natural sunlight pouring through the windows, making all the glass, crystal, silver, and gold seem to sparkle. Tapestries adorned the walls, and there were several marble busts on display. The entire floor was carpeted in light green, and the furniture was all in beautiful dark wood of varying shades, all taken from magical trees.

Elliot entered, the elf following close behind.

“Oh, Enderwood, you’re here as well,” the beautiful green-haired elf seated at the desk stacked with papers said. Her blue eyes matched her smiling lips, painted aqua. “I take it you’re the one who told Elliot about the letter?”

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“That’s correct, Chancellor,” the elven man replied.

The Chancellor beckoned the two of them to sit in the cushioned armless chairs in front of her desk. Once they were seated, she picked up one of the papers on her desk.

“I imagine you’re curious to hear the letter?”

“I am,” Elliot admitted.

“To the Most Esteemed Chancellor of the Isle of Heaven’s Reach and its Illustrious Magic Tower, Greatest Institution of Magical Learning on the Continent of Embris,” she read, “I, Lord Henrik Amit, lord to whom the Watch of the City of Fairholm, Home of the Great Library of Fairholm, answer, write to you.

“You are a busy woman, no doubt, and so I shall keep this brief and direct so as not to take too much of your time. As a gentleman with an interest in the rare, exotic, and unusual, I have recently become the sponsor for a young scholar named Rai Flamme, the son of your own Professor Elliot Flamme, in his search for remnants of the so-called mythical Tower Era. He believed that he could prove its existence, and an unknown organization sent assassins to steal his work and eliminate him, which is how he was brought to my attention. There is no smoke without fire, and so I offered to be his financial and social backer in his research and expeditions. He departed on an expedition mid-spring to find a Tower Era ruin and returned successful three weeks later.

“Not only did he successfully locate a Tower Era ruin – believed to the one of the ancient Magic Towers, sunken underground by some unknown means – but in his exploration, he also found a number of magical objects and books, the latter of which are written entirely in the ancient runic script from which the modern magic script is derived. While none of the artifacts he uncovered are impossible to reproduce with today’s knowledge of magical artifice – at least, none of those he was able to identify the purpose of and work out how to activate – many are rather extraordinary. And, as I mentioned, there are two artifacts he has yet to unlock the workings of, though he believes them to be information storage devices.

“I respectfully request that you send scholars to verify his findings. Should your representatives find this to be the truth, perhaps a working relationship can be established between the Tower and Scholar Rai Flamme, as he is currently working with no other researchers.

“Yours earnestly and respectfully, Lord Henrik Amit of Fairholm.

“PS: One of the tomes is a several hundred page thick bundle of scroll pages including spells of up to sixth circle – he thought that you might find this intriguing.”

Elliot’s eyes widened when the Chancellor laid down the paper.

“A scroll collection in book form with spells of up to sixth circle?! That’s insane! If that’s true, it would mean that my son has uncovered something from an age where powerful magic was far more common than it is today! Even if this isn’t actually the Tower Era, it’s a miraculous find! Do you think this nobleman is telling the truth?”

“There was a second note attached, letting me know he sent similar missives to many other institutions of learning. True or not, if we do not respond, we will be at a disadvantage. And if it is true and we don’t send someone…” The Chancellor let that hang meaningfully.

“So who is to go?”

“You are, for one – unless you don’t want to interact with your son.”

“No, of course I’ll be happy to go.”

“I will send a scholar of history and a master of the magic script, as well as several assistants in addition. Dean Derx and Master Gold, I think. I will teleport you all there myself once you are ready.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, and Elliot?”

“Yes, Chancellor?”

“Don’t mess this up.”

-x-

Rai, Isa, and Torval stood at attention beside Lord Henrik in the sitting room of his mansion. Facing them was what felt like a small army: representatives from no less than five different schools, several independent scholars, and the delegation from the Magic Tower were all gathered together for a total of twenty-one people, with members of all five of the so-called “civilized races.”

Henrik held his hands together behind his back. “Welcome, all of you esteemed scholars, to my estate. Thank you for accepting my invitation; that you are here is quite the delight and a sign of your curiosity, if not yet your belief. Allow me to introduce you to the young scholar whose achievements are sure to shock the academic world: this is Rai Flamme, the Tower Era scholar who discovered the ruin, led the expedition to the ruin, and recovered artifacts from the ruin of the Tower Era. Beside him are the kobold scholar-apprentice Torval Seeker and the kobold warrior/explorer Isa Bloodscale, both of the Blackfang Tribe, a kobold tribe that lives on the site of the ancient Tower Era city, tracing their own historical myth to the end of the Tower Era. Isa is Rai’s partner, providing him with assistance during expeditions. Possession rights to all recovered artifacts are held jointly by the two of them.”

“Wait… so that boy’s partnered up with kobolds?” a dwarf scoffed. “What a joke. Why’d you even let the lizards into the city?”

Henrik smiled. “Is your school okay with you returning completely empty-handed, my good sir? Because if you continue to disparage Mr. Flamme’s colleagues, you will be escorted off the premises. This is to be a civilized gathering, which means you must behave civilly. The kobolds are honored guests in my home, and will remain so for as long as they work with the scholar whom I sponsor.”

The dwarf frowned, but didn’t say anything more.

“Very well then. Rai, you may take the lead from here.”

Rai nodded. “As Lord Henrik said, I am Rai Flamme, a scholar whose area of study is the Tower Era – a real, historical period, not just a myth. Of course, that doesn’t mean the myths are completely accurate, as my studies have unfortunately revealed.”

“Meaning?” a gnome woman asked.

“Well, for one thing, the Tower Era wasn’t nearly as peaceful as the myths say. In fact, while I only have the fall of the Blackfang-Dragonbreath city to go on – named so for the kobold tribes that currently inhabit the area, as it is likely, for reasons I will reveal soon, that their roots are the original inhabitants of the area during the Tower Era – it would seem based on the evidence so far that the end of the Tower Era was caused by a combination of warfare and a natural or supernatural disaster called the Black Sun Starfall. That said, it was still an era of Mage-Kings ruling from Magic Towers with highly advanced magic and magical technology which used the runic system from which the modern magic script is derived as their writing script, so I feel it is appropriate to continue calling it the Tower Era.”

Rai’s father said, “So you believe the current myths are merely embellished and distorted from countless retellings, but do have their basis in fact?”

“That is correct.”

“You said you think your kobold companions may be descended from the original inhabitants of a Tower Era city,” another professor from the Magic Tower, an older beastfolk man with a red lion’s mane and tail, as well as lion ears, said. “Why is that?”

“Because this particular Tower Era city’s inhabitants weren’t one of the so-called civilized races: they were a mix of kobolds, saurians, and draconids, which is proof that these races were not always considered to be monster-adjacent.”

“Fascinating,” the professor said, intrigued. “And I suppose you found proof of this?”

“Yes. I actually have some population records, though they aren’t that detailed. Shall we all take a seat? I didn’t mean to keep you all standing this long.”

Once everyone was seated in the rearranged chairs and sofas so that they were all facing Rai, he patted the dimensional pouch that he had added a strap to and was wearing on his belt. “This is a dimensional bag that we discovered in the ruins.” He described its internal dimensions and demonstrated its ability to shrink items being placed inside or drawn out. He received some appreciative noises. Then he began pulling out items and discussing them.

First he showed the Strap of Tongues and the Circle Booster Ring. Then he handed the iron ring with sword, spear, and shield design to Isa and had her demonstrate its effects. When she said the command word – a word in the ancient language – her halberd appeared in her hands and the crimson cloak with black claw mark patterns appeared on her back.

“As you can see, this ring, which I am calling the Equipment Ring, can call out – or put away – weapons, armor, and clothing, swapping what is worn and held for what is stored in the ring. It’s nearly instantaneous, and it has no limit to the number of times per day it can be used.

“The cloak that Isa is now wearing is also a magic item. Have your heard of Berserkers? When fighting, they can enter a sort of battle ferocity trance where they appear to be enraged, growing stronger and tougher. This cloak is designed for them, gradually healing them while they are in Berserk Mode, as Isa calls it.”

“What about the halberd?”

“That’s magic, too, but it wasn’t discovered – Isa and I worked together to forge and enchant it in a magic smithy within the ruin. It is a three-star magic weapon made of silversteel. The forge and hammer we used to make the weapon increased its magical potential by two stars, while of course it being silversteel guaranteed it would be at least one star.”

“I’m not knowledgeable about magic weapons; what does that mean?”

“For every star of magical potential, a weapon increases some in guided accuracy and in damage. For every realized star of magical potential, a weapon has a single type of weapon enchantment. So far as I’m aware, the maximum possible by modern methods is five stars, and that requires either a Legendary smith using silversteel or a Master smith using orichalcum, which has a base of three stars.”

Isa stowed her equipment.

“Shall we continue?”