Chapitre 5: 5. New Fit
Walking into the tower, Kai could tell that it was a LOT bigger on the inside. A spiral staircase adorned the center of the tower, winding upwards and branching off at random towards doors embedded in the walls. The ambiance in the tower was spot on too. The walls were covered in stone architecture dotted with candles and suits of armor stood guard at every landing along the stairs. Bookshelves seemed to be bolted on wherever was convenient. It felt like the tower of Saruman had been infected with some Hogwarts whimsy.
Kai couldn't contain his glee, giggling as he took it all in. Unable to remember exactly what rooms he intended to add to the game, Kai raced up and down the stairs to explore.
On the ground floor, Kai first found the kitchen. It looked like a standard medieval style kitchen, outfitted with wood fired stoves, clay ovens, and metal cook wear. There were a few unidentified cooking apparatuses, but Kai figured this would be a common theme until he learned a bit more about the tower.
In only a few hours, Kai managed to explore a good portion of the rooms. He found what he assumed was an herb garden, overgrown with fanged vines and fleshy flowers.
He also found a potions lab fully kitted with glassware and cauldrons, an observatory filled with confusing star charts, a furnished dining room, and a bedroom.
The largest room by far was the library, filled with rows upon rows of bookshelves. Far more than Kai could reasonably go through in a century. The room was even wider than the base of the tower. Kai assumed there must be some magic tomfoolery involved.
Some of the rooms were less obvious though, either being empty or lacking enough familiar items for Kai to make a guess. Some of the rooms were even locked, leaving Kai nearly shaking with curiosity.
Continuing to search the tower, Kai pushed open another door.
At first, Kai believed he found another unknown room. The room was dark and dreary, being lit only by a few candles melting atop yellowed skulls. The walls were fitted with shelves, full of books and jars.
Taking a closer look at the jars Kai saw dead specimens floating in murky liquid, the labels were too faded to identify their contents.
In the center of the room, a large arcane circle was traced on the floor with a lectern situated at its edge.
Walking to the far side of the room, Kai almost face planted into the stone floor as his foot impacted something. Catching himself and looking down, Kai almost jumped out of his socks in fright. At his toes lay a corpse.
The corpse was almost cartoonish in nature. The flesh had rotted away leaving aged yellow bone behind. Draped in grey robes and a pointed hat, the skull was the only visible part of its body. Strangely enough the skeleton sported a full head of whitish grey hair and a full length wispy beard, draping all the way to its midsection.
Kai could see the image of a sagely wizard stroking his long beard in his mind's eye.
Seemingly undamaged by Kai's kick, the skeleton clattered a few feet away. Kai's keen ears picked up a clinking sound underneath all the cloth.
Pretending to hesitate for a moment for a moment, Kai debated what he should do with the wizards remains. Though instinct quickly won over as he found himself rooting through the robes pockets.
Kai only found a small leather pouch, a plain looking ring, and a few dull gold coins. Unable to get the pouch open, Kai turned his focus to the coins. Giving them a quick bite to ensure quality, Kai slipped them into his pocket for safekeeping. The coins instantly slipped through the pocket in his singed pants and clattered to the floor.
Letting out a deep sigh, Kai took a moment to say a prayer full of false remorse. He then picked up the robes and gave them a sharp flick, sending the skeleton flying into a corner in a mess of bones.
Giving the robes a few good shakes to knock off the dust and lessen the smell, Kai quickly found himself wearing brand new robes. The skeleton wasn't using them anyways.
Slipping his loot into the robes pockets, Kai completed the ensemble by snatching the stylish hat before taking the boots as well.
Feeling like a new man in his stylish clothes, Kai decided to stop dilly-dallying and climbed towards the top of the tower.
Coming upon the top of the stairs, Kai was faced with a set of reinforced double-doors. Giving a light push gave Kai a sense of the doors weight. Chiding himself for skipping out on the gym, he rolled up his sleeves and began to push with vigor.
The rusty hinges creaked as the door opened at a snails pace.
Five minutes later, a sweat-soaked Kai stumbled into the final room.
Light spilled in from large skylights on the conical ceiling, giving the room a light and cozy atmosphere. The most noticeable feature of the room was a man-sized blue crystal floating above a pedestal in its center. It was vaguely rhombus shaped, looking like a crystal shard pulled from the planets depths.
A thin, hazy blue fog seemed to seep out of the towers bricks and acculturated near the ceiling. Slowly funneling down towards the crystal and softly enveloping it. A light 'pitter-patter' echoed as the crystal released a few clear blue drops every now and then into the pedestal below. The room was by far the most mystical Kai had seen yet.
Though Kai was in no state to appreciate it. The moment he stumbled into the room and made eye contact with the crystal, Kai found himself in a trance.
Walking to the crystal in small steady steps, Kai couldn't help but give it a small caress. At his touch, small purple cracks formed on his skin and leaped towards the floating crystal.
Sinking into the crystal the purple color seeped throughout and gradually overtook the blue hue as if replacing it. Kai could feel a curious resonance growing within the crystal, like a distant drum beat synced to his heart.
Deep in a trance, Kai followed instincts he didn't even recognize and placed both palms on the rough hewn surface. Purple flashes grew in intensity as all the blue fog frantically cascaded towards the room's center.
As the resonance grew, Kai felt a foreign sensation flood his body. Blue haze swirled along his skin, leaving faint rivulets of blue liquid that disappeared into his flesh.
Floating in the air, Kai felt his entire body being altered; bones crackled and reformed, muscles tore and knit themselves together. Even his mind was not spared, feeling like all the cluttered thoughts were being washed away.
Strangely enough, the entire process was painless. Who said all transformations had to be cruel torture?
After an unknown amount of time, Kai slowly regained his awareness. Blinking his eyes and cracking his body with a big stretch, Kai immediately noticed some changes.
His eyesight was clearer than ever, being able to see tiny spots of dust suspended in the air with incredible clarity.
His muscles felt stronger than ever before, Kai felt like he could easily bench press 300 pounds (135ish kg.) Well over double his previous record!
Most noticeable of all though, was in his mind. Kai felt an incredibly intimate connection with the entire tower. Closing his eyes Kai could feel energy pulsing though every brick in the tower.
Previously, the tower felt like a majestic yet inert structure of mortar and stone. Now it felt almost like a living creature, with the energy that Kai realized was mana flowing throughout its ethereal veins.
Caught up in the moment, Kai focused on his connection and tried to call upon the tower's mana.
It was difficult, Kai was unable to get a firm mental hold on the ethereal energy. At most, he was able to accelerate its natural flow throughout the tower.
A dull purple glow diffused in the gaps between bricks and began to release a fog into the room.
Kai felt mana being pulled from both the sky above and earth below, converging into the tower's structure as a thick purple fog swirled in the room.
The fog formed a whirlpool as it cascaded into the crystal once more, and the light 'pitter-patter' started sounding more like a leaky faucet.
Kai's vision began to blur as his mind rapidly grew fatigued.
Seeing the mystical light show swirling around him, Kai desperately wanted to start a triumphant monologue. Alas, the last of his mental stamina disappeared and he passed out, falling flat on his back.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Moneymancer
Moneymancer Kai takes his first step into the whimsical world of wizardry. I tried to hype up the wizard tower without copying other novels. Hopefully some of the confusing bits are cleared up in the next few chapters.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone