The classroom was in uproar on Monday morning, and for a good reason. It felt like the first day of summer, even though that was still a few weeks away. But it was bright, and hot, and windy, that made people very loud.

Ryan smiled even as he tried to ignore all the noise his classmates made.

Micah slid into their bench next to him, and he immediately welcomed the scent of apples.

“Hey, Ryan,” he said. He had an extra large bag with him this time, bulging a little at one corner. That meant he’d remembered to bring the sword. Good.

But something else clinked inside of it as well, and Ryan suspected Micah was taking his alchemy equipment with him to Prisha’s this afternoon. Judging by the weather, they were going to have a busy day. Ryan doubted Micah would have time for it.

“Hey,” he said.

“So, I had a thought,” Micah started.

“You had a thought?” Ryan asked. He barely kept himself from saying what a miracle, but he didn’t feel like teasing Micah this morning. Maybe tomorrow.

“I think we should be friends.”

Ryan frowned. “We are friends.”

“No, I mean like real friends. Even when you leave for another school. Even when I don’t wear —”

Ryan shook his head. Stop talking, he wanted to say.

“We are real friends,” he growled instead.

What was Micah on about? He was totally ruining the mood.

Hopefully, this didn’t have something to do with his [Lesser Charisma] again. Ever since Ryan had gotten it, people who kind-of liked him were more friendly towards him, and people who kind-of didn’t like him were more hostile.

He’d thought charisma was just going to make him more likable, but apparently, it just made what was already there stand out more. At least, for him. Ryan wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

He’d just have to find out.

“Awesome,” Micah said. And just like that, he’d switched topics again. Ryan could tell he was in a good mood and watched him reach down to get something out his bag. “Here, I made this for you.”

It was another glass bottle. A smaller one, this time. Judging by its appearance, it was another breeze potion. Ryan was far from using the last one up, though, so he wasn’t sure why Micah was giving him this one.

“Uhm, thanks?” he said as he took it.

“It’s a little stronger. Not much. Definitely not half.” Micah scowled. “More like ten. Maybe twenty, then?”

“What?”

What was he on about? That seemed to be the question that defined Micah Stranya. Or for short just, What?

“Oh, never mind. I’m just guessing. I've been experimenting with potion qualities, like how long they last or how strong they are. Here, look,” he said and leaned back a bit.

Ryan leaned across to see inside his bag. There were easily a dozen jam jars full of glowing blue water inside, all of them glowing in different levels of brightness. One of them was even green instead of blue. Some of them had moss inside of them. Some didn’t. Even so, none of their glows seemed to travel very far. Maybe it was just because of the daylight and that they would shine brighter in the Sewers?

Either way, Ryan was impressed.

Where did he get all the jars for that?

“Cool,” he said, kind of underselling his emotions. The truth was, he was excited. If Ryan had Micah, he’d would probably never have to worry about alchemical equipment for the Tower again. That was awesome.

He could have hugged the guy. But—

“You’re warm,” Micah breathed into his ear. It sounded a lot like a joke. Ryan knew it probably wasn’t.

He quickly leaned back.

But — There was that.

He focussed on [Hot Skin] for a moment, pushing it down as far as he could. It was hard, keeping it to normal heat levels. Why couldn’t he have gotten [Warm Skin] instead? No sense in complaining about it now. He just had to learn control.

Ryan considered the bottle of cologne and frowned.

“What am I supposed to do with the old one?” he asked.

Micah shrugged. “Pour it down the drain or something.”

I don’t want to pour it down the drain.

“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal,” he told him.

“What, really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” Micah asked.

Ryan frowned and tried to remember what he’d learned. “I think [Alchemists] used to do it. Some of the potions had bad reactions in the pipes and caused all sorts of damage. We learned about it in History. There’s even a floor in the Tower that’s basically ‘Alchemical Sewers’. 'Where things go wrong',” he quoted Gardener.

Micah’s eyes were wide.

Uh, oh. Ryan had said too much.

“I want to go there,” he said.

When Micah said “I want” just then, it sounded a lot like “I definitely will, and damn the consequences.”

“Maybe one day. I’ll take you,” Ryan said. “But not yet. It’s dangerous. Plus, I don’t have the time.”

“Aw.”

Thankfully, Micah let it drop. Danger avoided.

Ryan supposed he could use both the breeze potions. The stronger one on hotter days. The weaker on cooler. Speaking of, he put some of it on his wrist before he put it away, then rubbed that behind his ears. When he shook his head a little, like a wet dog, he immediately felt a breeze against the backside of his ears. It rolled down under his back, underneath his shirt, and over his ears to tickle his cheekbones.

Ah. Much better.

He thought he’d actually felt something that time, too. It was nice.

“So, how was that thing with your family?” Micah asked.

“What?” Ryan needed a moment to remember that he hadn’t told Micah about the Climber’s School. “Oh, it was fine.”

‘Fine’ meaning barely affordable, his parents had told him. Apparently, there were going to be some partial scholarships spots and even a handful of full ones. Ryan wondered if he could snag one of those. His grades were good enough, and he’d even been an Early Bird for two years now … but he wasn’t sure if he qualified for that. His parents could barely afford it, after all.

They got papers with class offers and other information from a registrar at the Guild. Apparently, all the children were going to have to live in a building of the Climber Guild, or at least very close by, and they had to sign up with the Guild for as long as they attended. Class-wise, there were all the usual suspects — grammar, math, history, languages — a whole lot of focus on Physical Education and combat training, and even a few obscure classes, like Tower Zoology, and Biology, which Ryan was really interested in.

He wanted to see what else he could mimic with more knowledge. Maybe understanding the ins and outs of animals compared to their monstrous counterparts would help?

Either way, he still wasn’t sure if he even wanted to go there. It seemed … rushed, to him. Surely, an established school that taught Zoology would be better?

Then again, he could just apply to multiple schools. That was the sensible decision anyway.

“How was your instructor?” he asked Micah.

“Oh! Awful,” the boy said with a smile. “You’re never going to guess who it was.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Who?”

“Lisa.”

“Lisa?”