Wolf took the lead as Dara and Eli followed him through the manor. Eli’s morning-shift guards, Ethen and Jurg, followed along with four of Wolf’s elites. With the addition of six heavily armed warriors, the group made quite a racket tramping along the corridors and stairs. He slowed when they entered the large dining room, but Wolf didn’t hesitate and marched up the middle aisle, stepping onto the platform to walk past the long table and right up to some fancy curtains Eli had previously ignored. Stationed next to the curtain, one of Wolf’s guards pulled the gold-trimmed blue fabric to the side to reveal a heavy wooden door.

Confused about where they were going, Eli silently followed into a new rectangular-shaped room bigger than Wolf’s office. The space had quite a collection of furniture with a few sturdy-looking tables, chairs along one long wall, and a series of bookcases with scrolls and books on the opposite wall. A large map dominated one of the shorter walls with a heavy metal-reinforced door that remained closed along the last wall. Much of the illumination in the windowless room came from the seemingly ubiquitous lightwells positioned in the room’s corners.

The room could have been like many other rooms in the manor if not for the giant glowing crystal sitting on a white stone pedestal near the center. Reminding him of an antique disco ball, he studied the cantaloupe-sized multifaceted sphere glowing with a soft light. He toggled on Manasight, hoping no one took it amiss, and squinted as the mana in the room flowed into and out of the object. Yellow energy bands extended out of the crystal, moving up and through the surrounding walls. This energy appeared to pass through the stone without interacting with it, but it was little more than a pretty light show as far as he could see.

Wolf approached the pedestal. Placing both hands on the crystal, he closed his eyes, and the crystal’s glow grew. The mana suddenly lurched in the air as if the crystal had become a magnet for the floating lights. Within moments, the multicolored lights in the air sped up and descended into the crystal. The crystal began to glow even brighter with more mana piling through the room's walls, sucked out of the environment around them. Finally, the glare was enough to briefly blind him and sent a sharp pain into his eyes, and he toggled off Manasight.

Ow, I didn’t know that could happen.

Rubbing his temples at the developing headache, he jumped as a siren sounded. It was similar to an air raid siren, starting at a low pitch and going up to a high note before going down again and repeating. The bass notes were barely audible, while the high notes made him want to check his ears for blood.

The siren shut off abruptly when Wolf lifted his hands away from the shining crystal. He walked back to join them and gestured back to the crystal. “Alright, defenses are in place.”

“You did what now?” Eli asked, one hand rubbing an ear as the ringing slowly stopped. “I just saw you touch the crystal and try and burst my ear drums. Or is this some ability I’m not supposed to ask about?”

“It’s a device created by our patriarch, Dia Aaric,” Wolf answered with a serious look, his physical presence different in this room. The doting father, injured warrior, or skilled administrator he’d previously shown fell away to reveal a man in command of himself and those around him. “I’ve powered the manor’s shield and wards, and they should give us time to react in case of further attacks. I’d assumed the assassins were an isolated action,” he continued, shaking his head. “It’s costly to maintain, but I’d rather jump at shadows than risk my people’s lives.”

The two men turned to the other door as it opened and Ghlan stepped through in all his fancy metal glory. The flashy man held an elaborate winged helmet under one arm, and a shiny axe rested on his belt in a dark leather holster. Behind him, like his own entourage, more elite guards stood ready through the doorway in their heavy armor. He was only missing a minstrel to record his deeds, and he’d be the very picture of a radiant warrior building his legend.

“Ah, Ghlan. Prompt as always.” Wolf gestured Ghlan over. “There is a possibility that Eli Tal suffered a mental attack last night while sleeping. Coupled with those damned assassins and my brother’s possible involvement, we will work under the assumption of a concerted assault on our position.” He glanced over to Dara and Eli, “I received word recently that my brother and his family fled Bishal. Alliance agents are investigating his properties as we speak.” Turning back to Ghlan, he continued, “Until proven otherwise, or we have word from the Alliance, we will work under the assumption of an attack. This will be a useful drill for our people if nothing else.”

Understood,” Ghlan replied with a slow nod. “I would recommend scenario three. It fits the circumstances, and we haven’t run that one in a while.”

Wolf nodded in return. “I can see what you’re thinking, and I agree. I’ll be back in a little while after I show Eli the security doors downstairs.”

“Father,” Dara said, getting the attention of the three men. “If you’re showing Eli the door controls, I’ll head to the Gifted Hall to meet with Tanca for my training session.”

With a brief bow to his lord and a short nod in Dara and Eli’s direction, Ghlan walked out of the room. Stepping beyond the threshold, he began barking orders even as his troops disappeared in a flash.

***

Eli walked down the stairs with Wolf, their guards left behind again near the stone arch in the basement. Wolf spent the journey explaining the manor’s alert and defense system while they descended under the manor, which sounded like a magical take on a commercial security package back home. Essentially, Wolf had set and powered the alarm when he touched the crystal, which connected to an interlocking set of wards buried in the surrounding hills. The system would react when specific triggers occurred, though the wards had some limits that he didn’t explain. Still, the sum result was that the system should warn them if anything attacked through mundane or magical means.

With such detailed preparations, Eli couldn’t help but be impressed and said as much without thinking. Instead of taking offense, Wolf grinned as he explained the regular drills he and Ghlan ran. The “scenario three” that Ghlan mentioned assumed unknown assailants – potentially invisible. Apparently, the assassins had been so successful due to their stealth, and Ghlan thought that more of the same could occur. Consequently, the wards were given extra juice to look for hidden dangers, but it strained the system, so it wasn’t something they tested often. In addition, any guards with special vision abilities would be stationed at specific points to allow for coverage of the entire area.

“Never forget where you are, Eli,” Wolf reminded him as they neared the bottom of the stairs. “We live near Eld Forest and many other monsters in the north. While things have been calm for the last couple of years, dangers are rarely far from our walls. We’ve faced waves of monsters, bandits, and even a couple of rogue families. Planning and preparation save lives.”

Eli nodded, more than happy with the professional attitude. After all, in a world where strength and power are everything, there must always be a threat of running into something stronger.

“In addition,” Wolf continued as his smile disappeared, “You’re not only my guest – my debt to you is steep. Anyone that would attack you has to go through me first. No, I won’t hear any more on this point, Eli. My honor demands this, and I won’t be dissuaded.”

Eli shut his mouth, his burgeoning objection dying a quick death. Instead, they walked into his lab, where Wolf crossed the large room and stopped in front of a shiny metallic panel set into one wall. Unlike the simple lightwells control panel near the door, there were two small buttons on an otherwise featureless metal plate. Made out of a bluish metal, they looked similar to floor buttons on an old Earth elevator.

Wolf gestured at the panel. “This right button doesn’t do anything as far as I’ve been able to determine, but the left one secures the door.” He pushed it, and a resounding thump came from the closed door. Pressing the blue metal button created another deep thump. “A second press releases the lock. That should reinforce the door enough for your experiments. I hope so anyway,” he finished with a wry twist of his lips.

“Thanks for all the help,” Eli said with sincerity, briefly dropping the playful mien he usually assumed and meaning every word. Like his daughter, Wolf had already done a lot. “I hope this is nothing more than my imagination, but I appreciate you humoring me so much. Really, I do.”

Smiling slightly, the older man waved away the sentiment. “You’ve done much more for me and mine, Eli. Once you’re done here, you should join us for dinner later. I recently had a Hesian beef shipment, and my cook swears it is near-divine. We’ll toss back drinks and boast of our adventures.” Both men laughed as some of the morning’s tension bled away. Wolf waved one hand in a small gesture before leaving Eli’s lab, closing the door behind him.

With a slowly evaporating smile, nervous about his plan, Eli toggled the door lock as it made a satisfying clunk. He had a good idea of what to try, but he was still not sure it was worth the risk. It wasn’t absolutely necessary to do this today since the initial plan was to delay a day or even a week. Then again, he didn’t want to risk more dreams like last night.

As if his fears had summoned them, images briefly flashed before his eyes, almost real in their intensity as pieces of himself were crushed, severed, and mutilated. With him powerless to stop the torture from happening over and over, he wasn’t sure he could go through that again. Everyone had their limits, and he felt like he was near the edge of some dangerous dark precipice, and the wrong step would lead to a horrible fate. Shuddering, he clenched his eyes closed, breathing through the anxious feeling in his chest. He’d trust his instincts and take it one step at a time while checking the results along the way.

Nodding firmly at the thought, he walked to one of his tables while accessing his bracelet. His remaining magic rations began appearing in hand, and he set them down in a line, separated by their different colors. He touched each one briefly and used Identify, confirming that he had their details correct.

Mana Candy

Item Class: Uncommon

Effects: Substantial increase to mana regen

Healthy Refreshment

Item Class: Uncommon

Effects: Substantial increase to health regen

Tasty Treat

Item Class: Uncommon

Effects: Substantial increase to stamina regen

Greater Fortify

Item Class: Uncommon

Effects: Substantial increase to defense

Lovely Feast

Item Class: Uncommon

Effects: Well-fed

Whirling Dancer

Item Class: Uncommon

Effects: Substantial increase to agility

They’d already had the fanciful names, making for an interesting mystery. Presumably, Lugh named them, but they could just as easily be a commercial product as far as Eli knew. It was one of many questions he was unlikely to answer anytime soon – so many unanswered questions. He knew he could already replicate some of these buffs, like Mana Candy, and felt a healthy bit of fear at the notion of running tests on his body. Thinking of the night under the willow tree, he couldn’t help but grimace in remembered pain. He’d knocked himself unconscious after flooding his body with energy, and even though he’d woken up quickly, his nasty headache and the scary list of warning notifications made him hesitate.

Should I try all of them together? Hmmm, that might make things harder for me as I don’t know how everything will interact. Plus, it might be a waste to eat them all, assuming things go well. Ah hell, this whole thing is pretty dangerous, and I’m messing with my head. Better wasteful and safe than frugal and dead.

Eli opened the packages, placing each colored ration brick on its corresponding wrapper. “Glad I haven’t eaten,” he muttered wryly before taking his first bite.

He ate his way through the food, reminded once again of how much he disliked the green one. The others weren’t nearly as bad until he got to the last one, Greater Fortify, from the purple wrapper. It had a chalky texture, which wasn’t pleasant to feel in his mouth. Strangely, it also tasted sweet. Not nearly as bad as Healthy Refreshment’s grass flavor, but he couldn’t help feeling like he’d eaten some old chalkboard sticks dipped in sugar syrup.

Feeling unpleasantly full and thinking he should have skipped the brown ration, he pulled up his status.

Name: Eli Tal

Species: Human

Race: Restricted (Anomaly)

Level: 9

Evolution: High Mundane

Abilities: Tracking, Identify, Manasight, Healing, Flamethrower, Lifesight, Aurasight

Modifiers: +Mana Regen, +Health Regen, +Stamina Regen, Well-Fed, +Agility, +Defense

Taking a deep breath, he slowly blew it out, thinking of his next steps, then laughed. “Ha, so scared,” he said with a rueful headshake. “Okay, let’s do this.”