Nico and Yuri were luckily able to find a room they could rest in.

They had actually found plenty of rooms before then, but Measure detected traps in all of them, which Nico warned Yuri about. Thankfully, the Russian didn’t bat an eye at Nico’s warnings, and readily accepted the information.

Nico was glad that the others had traps in them, because the first room they found that seemed actually hospitable was filled with linens draped along the walls. He and Yuri hurriedly pulled them down, gathering them into little nests to sleep in.

They piled them up into their own separate piles and made makeshift beds.

Another good feature about the room was there is only one entry and exit point, according to Yuri. At first, it seemed like a bad idea. In case a mob of enemies swarmed them, they wouldn't have means of escape.

However, Yuri insisted on it. He explained it like a soldier who had done several tours of combat, even though he was about the same age as Nico. According to the Russian, the limited space gave them a predictable line of sight of where any potential enemies could be.

Yuri had exited the room and drawn formations on both sides of the entryway before entering the room. Nico caught a glimpse of them, but didn't recognize any theories among them. He speculated they had something to do with cold conversion theories that were similar to ancient nomadic magicians of the Caucasus regions, but nothing specific came to mind.

“We will know if enemies come,” Yuri explained. “Plenty of time to wake from rest and prepare.”

Nico drew his own formations inside the room itself. He created his own barriers using the modifiers he had acquired and developed throughout the mayhem of the day. The barrier he erected created a thin film of magic in the entryway and would stop any low-level gray dead from entering.

He didn’t know how long it would hold them off because it would depend on how many came and how powerful they were. If was a bunch of slimes, he could handle them for a while. He had even drawn a couple ectoplasmic binding formations just for good measure.

If it was the grey knight, it wouldn't for even a minute at max.

Even if Yuri and Nico managed to recover at full strength, he wasn’t sure they could take the undead creature on, especially in such an enclosed space. But something about Yuri’s flat-toned explanation of battle tactics gave Nico confidence in their defenses. From simple math alone, Yuri had spent at least two days longer than Nico inside the NextOver in this tower, braving its dangers.

Nico linked a Gallahad control formation modified to the barrier. The energy would feed back into the barrier like a closed loop. It was similar how electric cars braked, with the momentum converted that energy back into the car. Niico's modified formation converted any attacking energy back into the formation itself.

Aside from the detection formations, Yuri didn't seem to have any barriers of his own. He rubbed his head sheepishly, the first sign of apparent weakness Nico had seen on the broad shouldered guy.

“My magic focuses more on attack and counter attacking than defense,” Yuri apologized. He seemed ashamed of it.

Nico looked up from the floor, not bothering to look at the spell formations he was drawing, his hands guided perfectly by Measure. “That’s fine. My magic is more focused on survival. You can be Superman. I’ll be Batman.”

Yuri looked confused. “Why would anyone want to be Batman? Superman has undeniable power. Batman is...weak? Has gadgets that would bounce off Superman’s chest, no?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Well some of us weren’t born with super human magical abilities, you ding dong. The Batmen of the world have to make do with what they have. Besides, Batman’s cooler. He gets all the chicks.”

Yuri opened his mouth as if to protest, then closed it.

Nico’s marker lifted from the stone floor. He stood up, examining the formations he’d drawn. The first was a magic regeneration formation specifically geared for Yuri. Since Nico didn’t know much about how Yuri’s magic worked, except it had some leanings toward Gallahad, he couldn’t boost the efficiency by more than ten percent. He explained the purpose of the formation, as if showing off a fancy new bike he built himself.

Yuri was a suitable audience. He whistled, impressed. “Even Pullman could not create something this useful.”

At the mention of Pullman, Nico winced, but didn't want to push the subject any further. They first had to make sure that they were safe. After that was done, they’d be able to talk about Pullman. Even if Yuri didn’t have good answers, his side of the story would at least clarify some things.

Nico situated himself in his own zone of recovery formations. He set up a couple Gallahad control arrays around him, each the size of his thumb, just in case they were attacked and somebody broke the barrier. He could redirect their magic right back at them.

Now that he had more experience with Measure, he was pretty sure he could redirect significantly more energy back to his opponents. The treasure hunters had remarked that Nico had an unusually high level of control and efficiency over his own magic. Was that how he was able to survive against those of a higher class than him?

Yuri’s eyebrows knitted together. His voice went low and quiet. “How did you survive the slime attack again?”

Nico resisted freezing like a deer in the headlights, his back to Yuri. He continued drawing the modifiers on his array as if undisturbed by the question. “Hard to say, really. I summoned a couple fire spells. After that, it was all a blur.”

A long moment of silence passed while Nico finished the rest of his array. Yuri seemed to be okay with that answer. But it was the fact he had asked twice which put Nico on edge.

It was a miracle that they had survived the slime attack. They were both at the edge of death and nearly depleted of their entire power. Nico could hear Yuri shuffling into a comfortable meditation position.

The Russian was probably restraining himself from pushing the matter any further.

Nico was grateful for it, and didn't want any kind of awkward conversation. Besides recovering, what they needed most now was trust.

It occurred to him that Yuri had no tone of accusation. Usually, when Nico pulled something off that was unexpected for a hedge mage, people asked how he could possibly have done it. That tone accused him of trickery or outright lying. But Yuri didn’t have any of that. It was a restrained curiosity. Nothing more.

In terms of magical power and raw power, Yuri was a full grown adult while Nico was a thin little boy. But they were the same age, and Nico's skill with formations was more than enough to impress Yuri and keep them alive.

Yuri flexed his muscles and whistled. “My body is healing quite fast, Nico. Your magic is very impressive.”

Nico looked away, trying to blush. Compliments from actual magicians still felt new to him. Nico felt a little guilty because he didn't tell Yuri what every aspect of the formation did. It included some of the Vera’s healing and buffing capabilities, which he modded into the formation itself. The drew on basic life forces that showed little green motes of light around Yuri.

He had been standing in his own recovery formation long enough that he could finally summon the spell he’d been wanting to for hours. With has marker in hand, he walked over to the wall and drew a variation of Gallahad’s water formation, which he called the Water Spout.

It was a simple spell that normally drew on his memories of swimming in the local YMCA pool with mother as child. With Measure, he didn’t need to rely on the imprecision of emotions. And yet, he couldn’t help but recall the memory with fondness.

A small amount of energy trickled through him, and coalesced in the formation. The formation glowed blue until a stream of water as thin as a need with very low pressure eeked out of the wall.

Nico had drawn the formation exactly one foot above his head, allowing the water to trickle down. He lifted his mouth and just let the water quench his dry mouth. When he was done, he nodded to his new companion. “It should last another minute. Hurry.”

The Russian hustled over, and drank as much as he could until the water ran out. He wiped his mouth with his jacket sleeve. “You have a spell just for drinking water?”

“Technically, it’s a modification,” Nico corrected. He could hear his voice picking up the usual enthusiasm when explaining spell theories. “It’s literally the same principles as the pillar of fire formation, except modified for water and using Gallahad’s water formation as the base. This specific modification is just for drinking water because I left my water bottle at home on a hike. Of course, I had to introduce some Arabian waterfinder theories to compensate for the…”

Yuri stood very still, like an animal that sensed the presence of another animal. He crossed his arms, and said. “You made this spell?”

Wasn’t he listening? Nico sighed. “No. It’s a modification...well, a variation of a modification of a modification to an alternate application of a spell.”

Yuri shook his head slowly. “Right.”

“So, what?” Nico caught himself sounding a little more defensive than usual. “It took me over five hundred…” Measure kicked in. “Five hundred sixty eight attempts just for this variation alone. I had to pay two months worth of rent to cover the damage to the basement.”

Yuri took a deep breath, and looked like he was being very careful with his words. Finally, he just nodded and said. “You’re very impressive, Nico. Very.”

With that, he plopped on to his own magic recovery formation and meditated in silence.

Nico's face flushed at the compliment. It was rarely complimented about his magic by magicians of a high caliber. It helped out minor hedge majors over the years and they always seemed impressed by him. But a true practitioner who had studied real magic? That was rare. And although Nico didn't want to show off every single one of his formations and all of what he was capable of, he did want to show off a little.

Yuri tried moving the fingers of his broken hand, but winced in pain. It would be at least another two hours in the formation until he could actually make use of it. Pullman had bent back the fingers and snapped them to the side. Luckily, some of the theories from Vera’s school of magic adjusted bones for the magician so they wouldn’t heal improperly.

In Nico's vision was his stamina bar and MP bar.

Next to them was a grey bar which seemed to be depleting a little. It was a new bar that his ability had created after defeating the slimes. Unlike everything else in his heads up display, he didn’t make this grey bar.

It just appeared out of nowhere. He had some suspicions of what it was. He suppressed his insatiable curiosity for magic. Now wasn’t the time for that. He had to recover his magic and stamina as much as possible before he could address some of his other concerns.

Since he and Yuri were now settled and relatively safe, Nico plunked himself right in the middle of this formation and slowly recovered his magic. He looked at one of the modifications on Yuri's formation. If the Russian decided to turn on him for whatever reason, Nico could activate a modification and practically turn off formation completely. He could then repurpose it for a counterattack.

It was the first time Nico had taken such a precaution. Anyone could be his potential enemy at this point. He had lucked out with the treasure hunters. Trust was important, but so were back up precautions.

A half hour later, Nico’s magic power had recovered completely. He guessed that was the odd silver lining in having such a small amount of magical power. It could be replenished super quickly with his formations now. Yuri would probably take another couple hours.

Nico waited another half hour for his stamina to recover entirely. The grey bar was still there. He ignored it. Luckily, his Measure ability had recovered as well. All his tools were back in his toolbelt.

Now was the time. He was at full strength. Yuri was still recovering, which Nico guessed to be at a quarter of his strength.

He got up from his spell array, and plumped himself in a pile of the linens. It was the first soft thing he’d touched since entering the tower. They felt luxurious, tempting him to just shut his eyes and forget about being awake for a couple days.

Instead, he cleared his throat, causing Yuri to open his eyes. Nico gave him a serious look. “I think it’s about time we get our cards on the table.”

Yuri didn’t move from his position, but nodded in agreement. The cuts on his hand had completely healed, but his fingers were still bent in unnatural positions. “Da.”

The Russian didn’t go any further, so Nico guessed that meant he should ask the first question. He had to be careful about his approach. Even though he was sitting on the linens, a roll of Gallahad’s control formations was positioned on the floor between him and Yuri. If this went south, Nico would be ready.

Nico breathed out slowly. “So, about Pullman.”