Dawn was somewhat fused by hoidly Elena had rushed out, but after a moment of thought and being uo figure out why, she simply shrugged before leaving the guild at a much more sedate pace.

  Remembering that she had wao see how the mages in towns did things, she asked Lara which dire the mages’ tower was, and they began meandering towards that area. Along the way, they stopped by a few shops on their way out of the mertile district, though nothing seemed iing enough to purchase, despite some of the clothing ing close.

  Lara took note of her i in some of the med clothing she looked at, aiohat there was another p the far side of town that might have things she preferred, which they could visit ter. Nodding, Dawn agreed to that idea, especially since Lara mentio was he jeweler she preferred, and thus would be along the way.

  A few less iing shops ter, they ehe residential district, and, without the rger shops in the way, were able to see the mages’ tower. Dawn was not terribly impressed, as it only looked slightly rger than the shops, maybe four or five floors at most, simir to the inn. Hearing it called a tower, she had expected it to be far taller than anything nearby.

  While approag the tower, they came across several patrols of guards, one of them waving to Lara as they passed by. As they turned onto the street with the tower, Dawn saw that there was a rge wall around it, seemingly made of crystal, and gleaming as though covered in oil.

  Staring at it, she found her eyes almost sliding off of it, trying to focus anywhere but the wall. Turning to Lara, she found her already looking at her, as if expeg her query.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty annoying, isn’t it? They decided it was harder to attaething you ’t focus on and ented it like that over the years. It certainly makes guarding it a lot harder, as I am sure you imagine,” she answered the unspokeion.

  Dawn turned and looked again, this time notig the small gap in the wall with guards standing outside it. However, she could also see anuard within the wall, this one wearing shimmeriher armor, with a scimitar that was clearly carved from an exceptionally rge rib.

  As she once again turo Lara with a question, she was once again cut off with the answer before she could ask, “Only mages are allowed within the walls, and they keep their own guards as well. I’ve seen what happens when someories to get in without permission, a us just say I never want to see it again. If you want to go in, I’ll wait across the street, we’ve got a small waiting area specifically for when visiting mages head to the tower. Or would you rather tinue on?”

  “While I think it is ever so slightly too showy, I do want to see what mages away from the vilge are like, so if you don’t mind, I will go ahead and visit,” Dawn replied, receiving a nod iurn.

  Arriving at the entryway, Lara stopped and watched Dawn until she passed the first row of guards before turning bad heading across the street. As Dawn reached the opening in the wall, she was stopped by the guards on the inside, holding their swords across the gap.

  “Only mages are permitted here, turn back, prove you are a mage, or die. You have five seds,” the guard tht calmly stated.

  Feeling more than a little spooked at how casually he treated threatening to kill her, she quickly fshed a half-dozen orbs of light around her head, setting them spinning. What shocked her most, however, was hoidly they reacted. Even before her magic had solidified, both guards had nodded slightly, then blurred, and the scimitars were once again at their waists.

  “Thank you, miss mage, while you are indeed young, it is clear you have great talent. Be sure to keep those orbs about you while between the wall and the tower, active magic is required here, or the defenses will activate. And, as you obviously are not from here, I wish to request that you don’t judge all of us by the wele you get. The young fools have little idea of the world beyond the town itself,” remarked the guard to her left as he waved a hand towards the tower, shaking his head as he finished his final statement.

  Before she tinued, however, Dawn had a question she felt she o ask, “Why are you here when you are so fast and well equipped? If you were to go to the outskirts, you could clearly do a lot of good pushing back the wilderness. And sorry, I just realized that could be taken as offensive, but I’m just w, not judging or anything!”

  Both of the men chuckled before one responded, “That is fine, miss, many wohe same, though few dare to ask. sider it an iment of sorts. Those of us with more… shall we say, unusual paths tend to be looked down on by many at the capital, but they find erfect for safeguarding those who are still learning the basibsp; As such, we ofte rotated out to guard a tower for a while in exge for research materials. Personally, I’d prefer to go hunting, but I also like watg younglings ge as their view of themselves shatters. I look forward to the havoc your visit will cause!”

  “But I’m not going to cause any problems, I just wao see how people do things here!” Dawn replied, shocked that he would think she would cause havoc.

  At this, both men broke out ughing before catg their breath again. The uard spoke up this time, remarking, “I don’t think you will iionally, but you aren’t from here, and ing from a vilge, you have a great deal of experiehat those here bsp; That said, I’m sure that John will love having you visit, he is from another vilge, and is the only oh any sense.”

  “I see, that sounds odd, I must say. Anyways, thank you for answering my question,” Dawn replied before tinuing past them, careful to heed their warning and keep her magic active.

  She followed a stoh betweery and the tower, looking around as she did so. There were quite a few frightening looking statues scattered around haphazardly, or at least that was her initial thought, right up until one of them turs head to track her. Taking a closer look, she could see the more animalisties sometimes twitched their cws as well.

  Upon reag the tower itself, she paused, feeling something simir to when Niphru put up an illusion. With that in mind, she carefully extended her mana, feeling as it ied with the energy around her. It felt like a much more crude form of illusion to her, and with a quick tug, her maurearing the spell apart as it did so, revealing a stone sb rather than the open doorway she had initially seen.

  Muttering under her breath, she exami, almost immediately spotting a discharged mana stone embedded in the wall beside the door. Following what she knew from her experieh basiting, she probed the existing pathways the stone lio, and finding that her guess was correct, poured some of her mana into it. As the stone rose out of the way, she saw five youanding within, one of them looking quite smug, while the others seemed annoyed.

  As she stepped through the threshold, the sb crashed back down behind her, and while gng back, she heard someone ahead snicker. Looking towards the ain, the man who looked smug was n at one of the others, sighing. He then spoke up, “No, that was not random lubsp; I keep telling you, you are clueless about us, but you never bloody believe a thing I say!”

  He then turned his gaze to her befreeting her, “Hello, I apologize for the fools here, they were absolutely certain of a few things, while being quite incorrebsp; Instead of humiliating the poor vilge brat, they got a taste of why I always say those of us from the outskirts have a better starting point. I must admit I enjoyed how you easily bypassed the best they could do, however. May I know your name, please?”

  Dawn shook her head upon hearing what had happehen replied, “Well, I know of wild animals more skilled at illusion than that flimsy thing, and even several non-mages bae could have opehe door, though they wouldn’t be certain that was what it did. I must admit I was expeg more from the quality, and less attempts at trickery. And isn’t it rude to ask for a hout giving your own?”

  The man shook his head before speaking again, “Sorry about that, I was too excited with your as. My name is John, and I am the head apprentice here, nominally in charge, as long as I remain the most skilled, and do not tradict the elders.”

  Dawn o the man before responding, “And I am Dawn, the daughter of Amilya, leader of Blightfall Vilge. And since I see you are curious, the fellow in my hood is Niphru, my friend, an Awakened fox who was injured while saving my life. Unfortunately, that means that he ’t greet you himself.”

  Upon hearing the word ‘fox,’ everyo John tensed up, and one even called up a ball of fire, throwing it at her. She was shocked he would do such a thing, but far more so at how poorly it was done. It took so long to form that she could have run up and punched him, and he even had to throw it with his hands!

  Even as John s the man, her focus was on the approag ball of fire. After thinking of it, she couldn’t resist giggling, the perfect response in mind. Just as it entered arm’s reach, she swept her hand out, looking like she swatted the fme, and easily reversed it, accelerating it much faster as she did so.

  She had to ugh at the expression he made as his own ball of fire hit him in the face, spshing off an invisible barrier, but not before burning his eyebrows and hair off. There was a moment of stunned silence before the other fan ughing as well, though the man it was directed at didn’t take it too well and stormed up the stairs. John then remarked, “I did tell you I wasn’t that impressive. Anyways, leave us for let’s say… ten minutes or so. I’d like to talk to Dawn without w about you lot doing something simir to him.”

  Hearing this, the others scowled for a moment before turning and heading up the stairs, far more calmly than their fellow.