[You have arrived in the Wizard’s Tower]

  [You are in the Wilderness. The average monster level here is 315.]

  A strong scent of old books and scrolls filled my nose. The wood creaked underneath, and I hadn’t taken a single step. Around us, the circular walls were covered either by bookshelves or sturdy brick walls. Most bookshelves were full to the brim, but one spot had been saved, where a white puffy cat watched us suspiciously.

  Veyra quickly read the system message of our location, then flicked her head around, scanning the surroundings. “A level 315 zone!” she blurted out.

  “Yeah, the monsters here will one-shot us,” I said.

  She blinked at me, as if I’d just teleported her straight to hell. “Didn’t Lapadin say the Farheight was level 290?”

  “Yeah, the village Amolinn gave is in the complete opposite direction,” I said. “Lapadin will need at least a month to find this place. We’re further west from the Sunken Crypts by around two hundred miles.”

  “Wait,” Veyra said. “Two hundred miles? Isn’t that like almost at the edge of the event map?”

  “Yeah, roughly.”

  She stared at me. “So how are we there?”

  “When the event opened, I spent a week just running around, checking up the area,” I said. “I found the mushroom village two days in. This is what I found six days in.”

  She stared at me suspiciously. “How? This is a level 315 zone. I don’t think I could run this far even if I used my portals.”

  “Trade secret,” I said with a grin. “Really, you just need to see how the natural monster spawns work and walk past. Shadow Dash can reset monster aggro if it’s used correctly as well. And to gather spawn points in the villages, I usually just walk into town and ask them for a bed, claiming I’m tired after a long trip. If the village is suspicious of me, I use the previous town’s chief’s name and say that they sent me there. I’m an assassin, so my class gets a trickery bonus with dialogue.”

  Veyra was silent for a moment, her eyes only growing more surprised. “So you’ve explored all that, and you still know nothing about the lore?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t stay to listen to the NPC monologues,” I said. “Sometimes I was forced to, but I was too confused after skipping too many of the previous villages. The NPCs further up aren’t really giving quests yet. But I reckon Heywin, The Great Mage, will speak now that our quest literally told us to find him.”

  “There’s no way this is the end location of the quest,” Veyra said.

  I grinned, and I turned to the ladder leading up. I called, “Heywin, are you home?”

  “What’s the ruckus down there?” a grumbling voice called back.

  “It’s Assassin,” I said. “Can I come up?”

  “Oh, that kid again!” he called. “I hope you remember the promise. Don’t come back before you’ve got eight pieces of frostfang feathers, and four fire seeds.”

  “I don’t have either of those,” I said. “But I have something better. The Ray Dragon’s egg.”

  The voice paused for a considerable amount. Even the cat in the bookshelf lifted its head. Her name was Snow, I’d learned the last time I was here.

  “Come in,” the voice above called.

  I climbed up the ladder, to the highest level in the tower. This room was far more cluttered with pieces of parchment, more books stacked on the floors, some potions, and of course time magic related items—clocks, hourglasses, temporal stones. On the stool sat Great Mage Heywin (NPC, Level 390).

  A level 390 named NPC. That meant he was pretty much invincible. One of the strongest mages to ever exist in the game. To the eye, he appeared like an average middle-aged man with a scraggly unkempt beard. He had a black cat in his lap, whom he lifted up and placed down onto the ground. His white robe was so odd with shapes and patterns that it could have only belonged to a time mage. Pieces of metal were embedded into the fabric as if it were embroidery.

  He welcomed us with serious eyes. “I recall telling you not to bring friends, Assassin.”

  “She is the one who has the egg,” I said. “She’s another time mage, like you.”

  Heywin eyed Veyra. Surprisingly, he didn’t frown like most other NPCs we’d met. He spotted Veyra’s gear, and his eyes lit up. “The portal mage’s staff! Oh, wow! That takes me back. What was it, a hundred years ago, I met that problematic man. Did he take an apprentice?”

  “No, I am self-taught,” Veyra said.

  Heywin grinned. “A self-taught time mage? At your age? Impressive.”

  Veyra lowered her head in respect, which looked to me like an honest gesture. “I am honored, Great Mage. I have a lot to learn.”

  “Although, if you are self-taught, you must have obtained that staff through more nefarious methods,” Heywin said.

  “I obtained this fully legally,” Veyra said, “by dueling the Portal mage’s apprentice to death.”

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  Heywin burst into a laugh. “Well deserved, if that apprentice was anything like the old grump. Very well, make yourself at home. Young portal mages are always invited.”

  Veyra bowed again. “Thank you.”

  With that, Heywin’s carefree expression fell. He leaned closer. “And you supposedly have an egg.”

  Veyra held out her hand and summoned the egg from her inventory. The cracks were still there, but an ominous purple gloom rose from the egg. In the silent room, I could just barely hear something that sounded like a ghostly wind originating from it.

  “Yep, that’s an egg,” Heywin said. “A real one. You’re in trouble, carrying that around.”

  “We’ve noticed,” Veyra said, “We were told you’re the only one who can lift the curse on the egg.”

  Heywin sighed. “That must have been Amolinn, then. My ex. I told her I wouldn’t be involved in this dragonborn nonsense anymore.”

  He wasn’t looking at us while he spoke. We watched as he continued working on his project. I spoke. “May I ask… Did something happen between you? You and the tribes?”

  “I was young,” Heywin said. “Around fifty years old, that was. And you see, I was into the dragonborn back then. I showed her a bit of time magic, and we quickly fell in love. But over the years, all this Goddess Embridge worship changed her. I couldn’t stand it.”

  He wore a somber expression as he faced his papers. He wasn’t working as much as he was just staring at his work.

  “Still, Amolinn is correct,” Heywin said. “I might be the only mage with the ability to lift the curse. I did learn how to undo it for her sake.”

  “Then—” Veyra began.

  “I will not do it,” Heywin said. “Not unless you pay me fairly. I don’t care about the tribes anymore. The betrayers, the followers, they’re both strangers to me. I have no obligation to get involved in anything at all. I will lift the curse, but only for a price. And considering I am the only person in the world who can do it, I won’t do it for cheap.”

  “Your offer?” I asked.

  “First, I’ll need the ingredients. Eight frostfang feathers and four fire seeds. The real stuff.”

  “Sure, we can gather those,” I promised, “though it might take some time.”

  “Time is not an issue if you can survive with the possession of the egg,” Heywin said. He tapped his finger on the table. “And my second condition… I want to keep the dragon.”

  I raised my eyebrow. “Pardon?”

  “When the curse is lifted, and the egg hatches, I will be the rightful father of the dragon,” Heywin said. “You see, I’ve always wanted a dragon of my own. That is my condition. I will lift the curse on an egg, but I want the dragon inside.”

  I glanced at Veyra, who looked back at me.

  Assassin: “What were the quest details again? Do we need to own the dragon, or just hatch the egg for the conditions?”

  Veyra: “We just need to crack it open. It’s probably a good deal. A dragon pet wouldn’t earn us money. It would probably require a lot of money to raise.”

  I nodded, and we turned back to the great mage. “We accept,” I said. “We’ll bring you the ingredients, and you’ll lift the curse. You will keep the dragon.”

  He smiled. “Thank you. I wish you luck upon your quest. And before you ask where to find those damn feathers and seeds, I’m not certain. So far, I have not found a reliable source of either ingredient. You’re on your own. Other than that, is there anything else you wanted to ask?”

  “Actually, there is,” Veyra said. “I’d like to request a little bit of help from a fellow time mage for our upcoming search.”

  “Feel free to ask,” Heywin said, “but don’t expect me to deliver.”

  “Would you happen to have any spellbooks?” Veyra asked. “Any cool time breaking spells you’d like to share for a pretty young mage?”

  Heywin hmphed, but I could see him smirking. “For a price, of course.”

  “I’m asking because we might die in the hunt for these ingredients,” Veyra said. “I can tell you really want a dragon. A spellbook would help us greatly in searching for these. I can also use frost spells.”

  “Oh, right, because you’re the portal mage!” Heywin said, and suddenly stood from his seat. “I almost forgot. In that case, I do have one spellbook your ancestor left me.”

  He moved to his stacks of books, frowned at them for a bit, then noted that these definitely weren’t the correct books. “Give me a portal downstairs,” he said. “It’ll take a while to search.”

  Veyra enthusiastically moved to the ladder so that she could see downstairs, and she gave a portal for the old man. He walked in, then began searching his bookshelf downstairs.

  Veyra and I watched awkwardly, unsure if we could help. It took him multiple minutes.

  “Snow?” he eventually asked. “Have you seen that one book? The frost and time spell?”

  Snow yawned, until she stood and moved a few steps down on the bookshelf. Finding a book, she wiped dust from the cover with her paw, then slid the book down, dropping it.

  “Whoa, there,” Heywin said, catching the book mid-air with a levitation spell. He then grabbed it with his hand and began reading it. “Yes, this is it. The Portal Mage’s creation. I don’t think it was his life’s work, but a grand spell nonetheless. As his successor, it only makes sense for you to receive it.”

  Veyra bowed deeply. “Thank you!”

  Heywin nodded. “Now, please leave me back to my studies. Snow and Dark, if these two don’t leave within five minutes, I order you to kick them out.”

  Snow was licking her paws, already back in her usual spot. Heywin hopped into the portal, back upstairs.

  With the lower floor silent again, Veyra opened the book. Her eyes opened wide as she read it.

  “No way,” she said.

  “What is it?” I asked.”

  She took a screenshot of the book’s details and shared it to me.

  Time Freeze (Legendary Spell Upgrade)

  Upgrade Target Spell: Time Eruption

  Description: The legendary portal mage had long been fascinated by time eruptions. But he always believed something was missing. Frost. His creation, Time Freeze, combines Time Eruption with the frost element.

  Spell Affinities: Time (100%), Frost (100%)

  Veyra looked up at me with the face of a child receiving a birthday gift. She let out a disbelieving laugh. “A legendary upgrade? Seriously? And it’s for one of my favourites!”

  I grinned back at her. “That will be useful. I can’t wait to see you put it to use.”

  “I’ll need to practice,” she said while hugging the book between her arms. “And I also feel like I should pay you for this…”

  “Nobody except you can use it,” I said.

  “Alright,” she said with the happiest smile on her face. “I’ll give you a few more drops with the next guild wipe, I guess. Also, you better not tell me you also have a teleport straight to those ingredients.”

  “I might,” I said. “I have teleport locations just about everywhere, but I have no idea which monsters drop the ingredients. You know, because I skipped past everything. But I did memorize what monsters spawned in which area. From there, we can start theorycrafting.”

  “Yes, that sounds like my expertise,” Veyra said, grinning at me.

  My breath caught for a moment. I noticed my heart was racing. I took a breath to calm down. “Then, let’s start hunting monsters.”

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