Early the next morning, Chronus opened his eyes from his meditation. Everyone else still asleep, he crawled out of the shelter. He walked over to the pile filled with the materials collected from the forest and the crystal vein from the previous day and took out a small piece of blueish silver metal and a magic crystal.

The metal, mithril, is a common metal used in planes with magic systems. Not particularly rare, it can be found in large quantities in the Distorted Void. Having a similar hardness to steel makes it not ideal for weapons, but it has a variety of applications, such as the one Chronus is about to use it for.

Placing his axe onto the ground, he held the nugget of mithril in one hand and the magic crystal in the other. Closing his eyes and concentrating, he extracted the magic energy in the magic crystal and injected it into the mithril. The mithril began to glow and soften on receiving the energy. Once all the magic energy was extracted, the crystal turned gray and shattered into small fragments.

Chronus opened his eyes and raised his hand over the head of the axe, now holding an almost liquid pool of mithril. He poured a vicious stream of mithril onto the axe head while moving his hand slowly. When he stopped, a silver character was portrayed on the axe. The rune meaning “sharp.”

“Set.” Chronus spit out the word and his head buzzed, almost fainting. The silver character dimmed and merged into the axe. Chronus rubbed his head and sighed. Without the support of a tower, his mental power was only enough to barely perform this inscription.

Picking up the axe, he waved it around. Cutting through the air with ease, it felt much lighter to swing. The edge of the blade gleamed unnaturally with a silver light. Chronus smiled, satisfied with the results. With this enchanted axe, his safety would be much more guaranteed.

The others began to wake up not long after Chronus finished inscribing the rune. When everyone was awake, they started to prepare for the day’s exploration. Some sharp stones collected from the magic crystal vein were attached to wooden poles and fashioned into improved spears the previous day.

Better armed and better prepared, they were ready to set off. Charlene was arranged to stay with Leopold and watch over him. Just when they were about to leave, Griffin interrupted.

“I’ve been considering this from yesterday to the present, and I’ve decided to build my tower now.”

“Are you sure?” asked Charlene, who was the most familiar to the older man.

“Yes. After seeing Leopold’s injuries, I’m even more certain,” said Griffin. He took out a few blades of a bright green grass with white tips and a fist sized green fruit. “These two materials both have the three characteristics of druid, alchemy, and nature magic. From my understanding, this will have a good chance of giving me healing abilities. I think this is my most suitable position in the team.”

Hearing his words, Chronus felt tempted to applaud. Sacrificing his own power for the team, truly an attitude worthy of admiration. Of course, a large factor could be his lack of understanding of the Distorted Void. Perhaps Griffin thought he would be a valuable member of the team in this way and ensure his safety in this way. Foolish.

Sooner or later, they would come to the realization that personal power is their only reliance and guarantee. After all, no matter how good a relationship is, after an eternity, people will always change. With this knowledge, and in an environment where conspiracies and betrayal are everywhere, how can you trust someone and put your life in their hands?

The decision to become a medical professional would become a decision too late to regret. Or perhaps even after understanding the nature of this world, he would continue to stick to his ideals. Chronus had seen too many tower masters like that, unable to adapt and stubbornly walking to their demise. He was interested to see what would happen in Griffin’s story.

Edward also felt moved on hearing this. A healer would greatly strengthen his team. “Well, if you’ve decided, that would be great.”

Griffin reaffirmed his resolve and nodded. “This will also test the results of trying to absorb two materials.”

His embryonic tower core was summoned and held up. He pressed the grass and fruit against the glass-like orb, took a deep breath, and confirmed the birth of his tower in his mind.

A swirling suction came from the embryonic tower core and the two materials were smoothly drawn in. On absorption, the vortex quickly receded into the orb and disappeared. Griffin curiously examined the orb in his hand. There was now a gradient of color in the tower core, a dark green reminiscent of the fruit blending into the lighter green then white of the grass.

“It seems like absorbing multiple objects is possible. I can’t tell if it's a good thing or not,” said Griffin after turning it over and not discovering anything. He then placed his tower core on the ground, inspiring it to take root there.

The foundational form of Griffin’s tower formed differently from Leopold’s construction of his initial tower, the only other construction they had seen, where the surrounding mud was gathered and shaped. Instead, a small green sapling broke though the ground where the tower core was placed. It rapidly grew and developed into a stumpy looking small tree, the top of the leaves barely reaching the height of a grown man’s chest.

The tree enveloped the tower core and wrapped it up, blocking it from view. The leaves of the tree turned bright white and yellow, exuding a calming aura, and similarly colored lines trickled down from the tree’s crown, decorating the bark.

“It’s very different from Leopold’s,” observed Emily.

“Yes, this is a living organism, not an inanimate material like mud,” stated Alice.

The fact pointed out by Alice was an important point. The base of a tower being alive brings trade offs. A living organism grows naturally, so the resource of time is traded for the material resources of a nonliving tower. Being alive generally means the tower is less resistant to damage, but it can also repair itself naturally. And the nature of being a living creature makes it able to receive bonuses from magic such as healing and enhancement, but also makes it vulnerable to curses, poison, and death magic.

All in all, there is no superior choice in this matter, much like the choices between different starting materials and power systems. Of course it is possible to destroy the base tower that was given for free, but a tower master typically didn’t do so unless they had a strong reason to. After all, slowly building up and improving a foundation that already perfectly fits the tower core is usually a safe choice.

“How are your abilities?” inquired Edward, who was most interested in obtaining someone who could heal.

Griffin turned his palm up and a soft green glow radiated from his hand.

“My thoughts were correct. I’ve obtained a healing ability,” he said.

“Excellent! Now our personal safety has greatly improved.” Everyone else was just as excited as Edward. After all, this is a matter of their lives.

“Can you heal Leopold now, then?” asked Charlene.

“I can try. It will probably only speed up his recovery though,” said Griffin. He moved over to where the pale Leopold was lying and passed his hands over Leopold’s body. The green glow reappeared and a small part of it sank into Leopold’s wounds. Some small scratches slowly closed and a tinge of red reappeared in his face.

“That’s all I can do, my energy has been exhausted. It will take a long time to fully recover.”

Even though the healing was weak, everyone’s excitement wasn’t diminished. They all knew their abilities could be improved.

“I also seem to have another ability. I can calm nearby plants and animals and make them less aggressive.”

“Your abilities seem perfect for exploring the forest,” exclaimed Kenan.

“We can try the ability when we meet those attacking trees,” said Alice, curious to see how powerful it could be.

Now much more confident with the aid of Griffin’s newly acquired abilities, the six bade farewell to Charlene and Leopold and set off, ready to conquer the middle area of the dark forest.