As I’m walking barefoot on the cold stone floor, I realize that something weird is going on. The square stones look sharp, and they are not well-placed – that means they have parts that stick out and can cut into your foot. But in this case, it’s like there’s an invisible layer that makes you float one or two inches above the surface. Call me crazy, but I swear I hadn’t noticed before.

Only God knows what the purpose of this is. But as I walk, well-washed and rested, it’s definitely not my top question for the place's owner at the moment.

I find Valarith, Levener, and Lord Juler still reading books as if they were mechanical figurines. They are not doing anything in particular, nor are they faster than a normal person. They are simply reading, taking notes, rarely contemplating what they found.

“Yo.”

No one raises their head when I call them, and I have to wait a couple of minutes before one of them does. And it’s my least preferred choice.

I take a better look at Levener. You know, if he didn’t have the super creepy black threads going in and out his lips, he would be a good-looking man. Probably in his late thirties or early forties. The guy is built like a tank. His shoulders are so broad he could probably crumple a thick sheet of steel with a tackle.

After another minute, Lord Juler and Princess Valarith look at me as well.

“Young Joey Luciani, we are studying matters of great importance. Princess Valarith has finally appraised me of her knowledge and the motive of her decision.”

“What are you studying?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

Lord Juler gives me a sympathetic smile in response.

“I discussed it with the Princess. I don’t think it’s in your best interest to know. It would put you in danger, grave danger. But it appears that matters greater than I had imagined forced my people into the position they are currently occupying.”

“I mean, Lord Juler. I gave you knowledge about radiation. Isn’t that even more dangerous than whatever you are researching now?”

“Dead Light had been discovered long before your arrival, and my ancestor gifted you not one but two Relics. The book you own is worth more than you could ever imagine, and it’s supposed to be in the hands of my family. The fact that my ancestor lets you have it is a sign of his greatest generosity.”

I almost freak out when I hear a second male voice in the room. What the hell—

“It’s projected into your brain directly. I’m Levener of the Epodes.”

“Of the what?” I look at the mothertrucker with a stick up his ass. This guy doesn’t like me, does he?

“That would be my descendant, apparently. And you almost fried him alive, Joey Luciani. That’s why he doesn’t like you. You also shouted a fascinating stream of profanities, some of which I had never heard before,” Lord Juler sighs in his new body.

“Ok. Listen, let’s start from the simple stuff,” I say while giving a long look at the descendant of Lord Juler. “One, how are you moving around? Two, are we in one of the Nine Towers? Three, am I a prisoner?”

Lord Juler snorts at the last question.

“Princess Valarith, as I imagine your young friend might have mentioned already, had an Alchemical Homunculus. It’s one of the few receptacles capable of hosting a soul without letting it degrade. You could think of my previous connection with your soul and the book as a very subpar Homunculus. Before you ask any more questions on the subject—no, it doesn’t give me my abilities and levels back. It’s similar to possession, if you know what that is. But it’s like possessing a Golem.”

“Weird.”

“Yes, it is—it certainly is,” Lord Juler passes a hand through his long Gandalf-like beard. “But it’s nice. Even the semblance of life is better than ethereal oblivion.”

“Meh, when I asked if you wanted a body, you said no to me. What’s so special about this chick that you went all crazy about it, huh?”

I admit I’m speaking with a pinch of jealousy.

“Disrespect for the Princess shall not—”

For the first time since the start of the conversation, Valarith moves. She simply raises a hand at Levener, and her disciple goes silent.

“The Princess is the last documented [Hero] of our kind, Joey Luciani. She also has Royal blood. Among the Vanedenis, there are certain practices that... suffice to say that her natural talents are legendary. And the fact that she’s still alive and kicking—at first, I thought she had betrayed our kind. But then I discovered that she’s simply embarked on the greatest fight our people have ever faced.”

Lord Juler goes silent for a moment.

“Are you doing a pause for suspense and effect?” I ask with a sigh.

“A fight against fate!”

I click my tongue and yawn.

“Whatever, Lord Juler. Please, spare me the theatrics and shorten this whole thing. Thank you.”