After his discussion with Sean, Austin made it back to his house and immediately walked into his office. Before he could even pull his amulet from his chest, a bright light enveloped him. The familiar green light filled the room in a flash, and Austin soon vanished from the room with the light.

  As the light cleared from Austin’s eyes, he found himself in front of Artas’s shrine. The elf stood before Austin with his arms crossed and a smug expression on his face. For a moment, Austin felt annoyed that Artas teleported him without talking to him first, but he knew that there was no time to be annoyed. He needed to talk with Artas.

  “I felt my ears burning, and thought I would just get to business,” Artas said before he turned his head to look next to Austin. “I see we have another guest.”

  Austin was confused by Artas’s statement and turned to look. Standing next to Austin was none other than Regulus. The lion man stood with an upright posture and his arms crossed. His stance gave off the impression that he was trying to intimidate Artas.

  “I’m only this way because you willed it, so don’t act surprised,” Regulus said. “I appreciate it, though. Staying in that bracer can feel cramped.”

  “It’s no problem at all,” Artas waved his hand in dismissal. “I really don’t get how your kind can stay cooped up in one of those tools anyway. It would drive me insane.”

  “It’s that or wait for some strong Essence user to come, kill us, and absorb our power,” Regulus shrugged. “I’m not one for hiding, but it’s my best option for survival.”

  “I guess I can’t blame you for that. There is no point if you’re dead,” Artas said.

  “Exactly, we have to do what’s necessary,” Regulus nodded. “It allows me to continue my path under safer conditions.”

  “Oh, hold on to that point,” Artas said. “That reminded me of something we needed to talk about, but first, Austin, you had something you wanted to talk to me about?”

  “Right,” Austin nodded. “So, we have two major issues that we are not sure how to handle. We have a surplus of different metals that we are not sure how to work with, and the gnolls have infected nearby dungeons with Malis. The Malis from the dungeons has started to spread and infect the nearby environment. I was wondering if you knew how to work those metals and cleanse the Malis?”

  “Funny enough, those questions are related,” Artas said before he paused for a moment.

  Artas lifted his hand in the air, and roots started to erupt from the ground. The roots twisted together until they formed a chair. Artas sat in the chair and casually lifted his hand once more. More roots formed until they took the shape of two more chairs and a footrest in front of his chair. Artas set his feet on the footrest in front of him and gestured towards the open chairs.

  “Go ahead and have a seat while I explain,” Artas said to Austin and Regulus.

  After Austin and Regulus took a seat, Austin asked, “What do you mean the questions are related?”

  “I’ll start with the first, and that will lead us to the second. All that metal you have discovered is Aether-imbued and has a variety of different names and properties. I should have a book somewhere on it. I never got too deep into that metal stuff for a very good reason,” Artas explained. “Aether-imbued metal can only be manipulated by someone with metal affinity. It cannot be forged traditionally. A person has to use Essence to manipulate it.”

  “So, that leaves only a few of us in the town who can even work with it. That’ll definitely make things difficult,” Austin sighed.

  “Yes, you are going to need to expand your influence soon. There are probably other groups that you can ally with,” Artas said.

  “Great, another thing to add to my list of tasks,” Austin replied sarcastically as he ran his hands through his hair. He wondered how he could even meet with other groups. He hoped that maybe he could meet people on his journey and direct them back to his town.

  “You have time,” Artas said with a gentle smile. “Don’t let yourself get stressed about it.”

  “I’ll try, but I can’t make promises,” Austin said. “Now, what does that have to do with cleansing the Malis?”

  “There are many different ways to cleanse Malis. I could give you several different examples, but I’ll go ahead and give you two,” Artas explained. “The oldest way to do so is very time-consuming. A group of Essence users needs to enter the afflicted area and meditate. They take the Malis into their body, purify it, and release it. Eventually, the pure Aether will overtake the Malis and cleanse the area. This process is time-consuming and takes a lot of manpower.”

  “I see,” Austin nodded along. “What is the other option then?”

  “The other option that is easily available to you is to create a sort of totem that does the same thing,” Artas continued his explanation. “The totem would require a specific type of metal and enchantment to work. It is not easy to create, but the totem would take in the Malis and purify it automatically.”

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  “So, I’m assuming a specific person needs to create the shape, but could anyone create the enchantment?” Austin asked.

  “Yes, that is exactly the case. It is still difficult and requires specific skills, but you could do that,” Artas confirmed.

  “Looks like you all have your work cut out for you,” Regulus commented.

  “You don’t need to remind me,” Austin rolled his eyes.

  “Don’t forget, a good leader knows how to delegate,” Regulus said. “You don’t need to do it all yourself.”

  “He’s right,” Artas agreed. “You’ll be gone from your town. It’s a good time to delegate some tasks.”

  “I’ll look into it,” Austin sighed. “At least now I have an idea of what we need to do and what to tell people. Do you have any material on how to do these things?”

  “Of course I do,” Artas smiled broadly. “Remember, I always planned to take a complete newbie as a student. I needed to gather as much material as possible. Malis is also a very common problem in the universe. So, I always assumed a student of mine would have trouble with it.”

  “Once again, I feel very lucky to have you as a resource,” Austin said with a faint smile. “I really don’t know what I would do without you.”

  “Probably die,” Artas chuckled.

  “You joke, but you’re probably right,” Austin said.

  “Well, I was only half joking,” Artas shrugged. “Now that we got your town business out of the way, we have other things to talk about. Which involves both of you.”

  “Both of us?” Regulus seemed shocked. “What did I do?”

  “I thought you would at least have knowledge on how a tower tool is supposed to work, but apparently not,” Artas replied. “With how Austin has been using it, you either don’t know or, for some reason, won’t show my student. I’m really hoping you don’t know, and it’s not out of some sort of ill intent.”

  “I’ve been using it wrong?” Austin asked as he raised his eyebrow in confusion.

  “Completely,” Artas seemed unusually frustrated. “Why would a tool like that be so coveted if it only allowed basic control of different elements without any substance? The attacks are weaker than with your own affinity and do not have any proper form.”

  “I guess I thought it added versatility to my moveset,” Austin replied hesitantly.

  “You have made good use of it, even if you have been using it wrong, but that is not how you should be using it,” Artas explained. “If that were the case, then the ceiling for its power would be very low.”

  “I guess that’s a good point,” Austin said. “How am I supposed to use it then?”

  “I’m shocked to hear that Austin has been using it wrong, too,” Regulus said. “I felt like I was providing him power properly.”

  “You have been providing him with power, but it’s not as simple as that. You two need to synchronize and join your powers together. That’s when the true power of a tower tool can show itself. Right now, you are just wearing your tower tool. Once you learn to synchronize, you can truly equip it,” Artas explained.

  “Equip it?” Austin asked for clarification.

  “Equipping a tower tool will create a temporary transformation of your body. Your Essence will flood with Regulus’s affinities, and you’ll be able to use full-fledged techniques based on those affinities,” Artas explained.

  “That sounds…” Austin paused for a moment in partial shock. “A lot more useful. How are we supposed to synchronize like that, though?”’

  “So, I have never used a tower tool because my planet already was fully integrated into Essence and Aether when I was born,” Artas explained. “All I can do is give you the theory behind it. The rest you’ll have to experiment with. You two need to synchronize your minds with meditation. I think the fact that a tower tool is made of Aether is supposed to facilitate that.”

  “I see,” Austin nodded as he thought of what he needed to do. He knew the Aether in the bracer seemed stagnant, but maybe he needed to try a different method to bring it into himself. Then, when he did that, his mind could synchronize with Regulus. “I’ll work on figuring it out then.”

  “I do have one suggestion, though,” Artas said. “It could be dangerous to try it with that curse on your arm. So, you’ll probably have to wait until after to try anything.”

  “Of course,” Austin sighed in frustration. “Another problem this curse is causing.”

  “Don’t worry, with the right medicine, you’ll be as good as new,” Artas smiled. “Just don’t push yourself in the meantime.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you don’t need to remind me. I think everyone is telling me that right now,” Austin rolled his eyes. “Didn’t expect this to be such a pain in the ass.”

  “Treat it as a break,” Artas chuckled. “Now, would you two like to join me for dinner?”

  “I probably should get back to Maya and Elliot for dinner,” Austin said before he looked over at Regulus. Austin was shocked to see how eager Regulus was at the mention of dinner. It only made sense, though. He could not eat in bracer form. He probably missed it. “I guess I can make an exception.”

  “Yes!” Regulus smiled broadly. “It’s been forever since I’ve eaten something.”

  Artas swung his feet off the footrest in front of him and jumped to his feet. “Great, I always enjoy dinner guests. You two stay tight while I cook us something good.”

  Artas began conjuring various cookware and ingredients from scrolls. He arranged the items into different groups and quickly began to prepare his ingredients. Soon, the smell of food cooking permeated the area. Austin was not sure if he ever seen someone who could prepare food as quickly as Artas.

  “This is just what we needed,” Regulus said with a large grin. “A fantastic feast before a grand adventure.”

  “I guess so,” Austin said. “I’ll be doing most of the adventuring, though.”

  “I’m your companion. Anything you do counts for me, too,” Regulus said. “This is our grand new chapter. You’ll cure that curse, and then we’ll combine our strengths to greater heights!”

  “I guess you’re right,” Austin said with slight nervousness. For the first time since the Survival Game, he felt truly worried about what lay ahead. He had grown so much confidence and strength, but it was stripped away by a stupid curse. Austin felt like he could only hope that their expedition would go as planned. He needed it to go as planned. He could not allow his journey to stop here.