30 Learning Experience

『Chronicles of the Blood Tower』

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Elaine, Rasmus, and Gray hopped through the portal formed by the port key and came out into a complete change of scenery.

Elaine quickly got her posture stabilized and looked over to Rasmus and Gray to make sure they were alright before looking elsewhere.

Quite frankly, Rasmus and Gray were not 'alright', because they had just entered the Tower not so long ago; they were still trying to get used to portals and spatial movement. That being said they were feeling a bit nauseous on top of the panicked feelings they had.

Gray's facial expression could be seen as relieved and also confused, whereas Rasmus was on edge and was visibly perplexed.

Hands on his knees, Rasmus inhaled deeply for air and looked around his surroundings.

There was a light warm breeze with a rosemary scent in the air. It smoothly brushed up against his skin to help at least his body relax, while his mind was vigilant.

Around him was an incredibly breathtaking and beautiful sight to behold. It was a small field in front of him, the grass up to his waist and clearly not trimmed, but gave a weird familial sense of pleasure for him. There was a small cottage out about 200 feet away from where they had arrived and nothing else in sight besides that.

The cottage was colored with a vintage white paint and curved wooden planks for the roof. A small chimney could be seen and there was no smoke coming out obviously as there were only the three of them in this space so far.

Gray could be seen looking around as well tilting his head to expand his view and look for anything else, but Elaine didn't pay attention to their inquisitive and curious looks, and instead had an anxious look plastered across her face.

Rasmus was wondering the identity of this woman and where they were.

When on the Trial Floor he could clearly feel the presences of several people even in far off areas, as mana signatures did not lie no matter how far apart one was. But in this location it was seemingly like the cottage, the grass, and the three of them were all that were there.

Fwoosh-

A portal quickly opened up and a flash of light could be seen as Mathis stumbled out of the portal onto the grass as an explosion could be heard.

The portal quickly closed up and Elaine rushed over quickly to Mathis in silence.

[I'm fine.], Mathis spoke as he brushed off Elaine's gesture to help him up in a brusque and prideful manner.

Mathis had a dark red hole near his left collarbone that was clearly an injury from his fight.

Elaine tried to get him to accept her healing but, he continued to ignore her pleas and stood up to face Rasmus and Gray who were looking on in discomfort and nervousness.

Unease could be read across their faces as Gray and Rasmus locked gazes with Mathis.

[We'll talk in a bit.], Mathis spoke matter-of-factly and gestured to them to follow him towards the cottage.

As the three walked towards the cottage, Elaine held Mathis up who was limping a bit and needed a weight to support himself on.

The blood dripped from his wound and dripped across the grassy field, giving it a stark contrast of colors reminding Rasmus of Christmas back on Earth.

'What would christmas even be like or other holidays here?', Rasmus randomly thought as he followed behind the group.

He still didn't have much of a goal in mind or reason for climbing the Tower really. He felt as if his life in the past was a dream almost. Like everything had been a lie up until now and he was suffering from amnesia. Not knowing who he was, not knowing the real identity from the false in regards to his mother. What the Tower had to do in relation with Earth. Where he had ended up stranded.

It was a lot to compress in his mind and process, so he had been avoiding delving into the corners of his mind to investigate it.

Inwardly, he was a bit expectant since Mathis had been so vague with him when he first came to the Tower and seemed to have a lot of answers that he was looking for. Though it was highly probable that he would continue to not give Rasmus direct answers.

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Around 30 minutes later, Mathis had patched his wound up properly and told Elaine not to worry about it as he brought Rasmus and Gray both in to a room to talk about the circumstances that they had been subject to.

[I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me. However first things, first. I'm assuming you both know your true identities and are aware you're both irregulars?], Mathis spoke in a blunt manner.

Rasmus and Gray nodded in response, allowing Mathis to continue speaking.

[Good, you should first know a couple of things. I may be a Guardian, but that does not mean all Guardians are similar to each other and sometimes have conflicts of interest. Today was a production of that.], Mathis said as he brought himself a cup of tea to his lips.

"Is that supposed to be normal, where Guardians will kill regulars like flies and fight with each other to the death?", Gray asked in a seemingly sarcastic but curious tone of voice.

[Perhaps not that extent, but things in the Tower will be changing from here on out. I know you both have just entered the Tower, but there's a lot of hidden politics and agendas that are coming to fruition. This partly has to do with your appearance, and partly to do with the systematic nature of the families.], Mathis replied in depth.

"You know my mother then.", Rasmus suddenly interjected with clear enmity and anger in his voice.

[Yes and no.], Mathis spoke and turned his head towards the bookshelf in the corner of the room as he pointed with his finger.

[No matter how much you look in the history books of the Tower, information about the 9 Great Sovereigns is kept in wraps. Understandably so, if I might add. I only know the basics and even the most knowledgeable of information providers have no insight or clues to your Mother's disappearance. You yourself, are the very answer to some of these questions. Because of this, the Trostas family and the other 9 families may resort to rather extreme methods to capture or find you. That also is no exception to you Mr. Windsor.

Although you may not have any blood or ancestry in the history of the Tower…. There are certain beliefs that were held that one day someone like you may come to the Tower.], Mathis spoke cryptically.

Gray and Rasmus' expressions were distraught and confused. They wanted to speak and ask more, but at the same time it felt dangerous. As if the very nature of whatever questions they wanted to ask were only going to lead to more troubles later on.

Rasmus suppressed his confused state much better than he was expecting and decided he needed some time to cool off.

"I think I need some time to think things through.", He spoke with his head down and eyes full of conflict.

Right before he was about to turn away and head outside to rest on the grassy area, Mathis spoke up.

[As much as I want to let you do so right now, You need to listen to one last thing, the both of you. You can't climb the Tower as you are right now. I've been watching you both from a distant place and you are severely underprepared for your tasks ahead. If you want to live through this and reach a higher place, listen to my words well :

You need to form a party with each other and look for future teammates to include in it. Obviously they need to be trustworthy comrades.

You both will need to learn about magic in the Tower, especially you Rasmus. Calling yourself one of the caster branch is a sheer joke. Elaine the person you saw earlier will work with you on that for a little bit of time.

And for you Gray, I will instruct you myself on what you will need to start researching in terms of strengths and auxiliary magic spells and skills.], Mathis said this in almost an ordering way, as if there was no way to refute it.

However, Rasmus and Gray both saw from the fight earlier that they were lightyears away from their goal no matter how much they thought they were prepared for their future endeavors.

[I'll leave you to think about it some more, but keep in mind this is a safe place away from prying eyes, and one of the only times you will be able to receive such protection since your lives will never have a consistent element of peace with them as long as you stay in the Tower. Think of it as a quality time to learn and develop.]

Chapter 30 - Fin