I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep until something tugged me out of my comfortable and dreamless state. Somewhere nearby, I heard someone yelling at someone else. Something about them cheating or…honestly, I had no idea what they were going on about, nor did I want to know.

  But seeing as they were not here for me, I opened my eyes. The sun was low on the horizon. At the start of its slow climb before falling to its inevitable death. Well, that was how my English teacher spoke back in middle school. The guy was overly poetic in everything he said. Then again, his way of speaking had cemented him into my memories so there is that.

  Looking everything over, I found that, while my mana pool and the orb were both full, my colr was so empty it was practically useless. Well, useless and empty were both retive terms. What I meant was that the colr was only five or so percent full. Five percent of twenty-five hundred mana was still more than the orb carried on its own.

  And, after doing some back-of-the-napkin math, it would have more mana stored in it if I had been dumping the excess mana from my pool into it. Hell, the damned thing would be full. Which begged the question as to why the damned thing didn’t just pull mana from me when my pool was filled.

  Actually, the more I thought about it, the more issues I found. I could end up in a tug-o-war with the thing if I pulled too much mana. If that happened in the middle of a fight I would probably die. So, yeah, let's not do that.

  Instead, I pushed a bit of mana into the colr. The thing greedily gobbled up the mana I offered it. Then it reached for more. Following the channels that I had used to push the mana to it as it looked for more. I blocked off the paths that it was using only to find that it absorbed said blocks. Given that they were made of mana, it wasn’t all that surprising to be honest.

  Still, that meant that it was unblocked from reaching its goal, my core. While I didn’t care if it took more mana, I cared if it would stop at taking only a little bit more. Especially when it could kill me if it drained me dry.

  Finally, left with no other choice, I retreated from the ends and targeted the base of each searching tendril. One quick, sharp mana slice ter, and the colr stopped its questing search.

  The way the colr reacted got me thinking. Not about the magic or weapons, but about how the oracles had not been the only ones attacked. I had also been one of their targets. Why? I had no clue. It didn’t matter either. All that mattered was the fact that there were only a few people who even knew I was there and had access to me.

  In fact, even of the people who knew I was there, there were even fewer who knew where I was in the building. Funnily enough, I wasn’t one of them thanks to how confusing the pce was id out. But let us see, there was the alpha and that woman that visited him. Then there was Pendragon and Ginger. Wait, no, those two didn’t show up until after I nearly got poisoned.

  Who else was there? There was that maid who offered to get me some food while Liam and the woman argued. I could have also sworn there was a guard outside the room she brought me to. Those were the only people that could have messed with the food and tried to kill me. Given that Liam and the woman were both busy, it wasn’t them.

  As for the maid, she just seemed so timid. So much so that I doubted she had it in her to kill someone. Even if she could, I doubted she had the magic or skill to pull all of this off. So it had to be the guard. But which guard was it? Even now I couldn’t seem to recall his face.

  With a huff, I jumped off my makeshift bed. Now, while I would have preferred to find a bathroom to shift in, the ck of people milling about in addition to the distraction that was the screaming couple, I didn’t have any qualms with shifting the moment my feet nded on the warm wood floor.

  I dressed for a fight. While I didn’t expect one to occur with me as an active participant, something told me that I shouldn’t count on that. In fact, while I was getting everything ready, I looked over the stats for my dress.

  Seeing something odd, I asked my AI about it. “Where did all these levels come from?” As soon as the words left my lips, I recalled what had happened the st time I asked it a question.

  Surprisingly enough, the AI answered, albeit with a faint voice. It also, somehow, sounded hollow. Like it wasn’t all there. “The item, Moonlight Elegance, had these levels the st time you equipped it.”

  That made a bit of sense. It wasn’t like I paid attention to what I wore or if it gained levels. While I was sure that other people micromanaged that stuff, I was not one of them. I didn’t have the mental power to keep track of so many random pieces of information. All I knew was that I had a few points to spend on upgrading my armor. First things first, Regenerative Fabric. Sure, it was a bit expensive, but it also meant that I wouldn’t have to get the thing repaired. But what else should I buy?

  Sure, Fortified Weave increased the armor rating by a percentage, but nowhere on the screen did it list said rating. The thing could have a rating of one or one thousand and I wouldn’t really know. Then there was Mana Shield. Unlike the previous to, it was an ability I had to activate. One that cost mana and had a cooldown. But, as far as I could tell, it was also able to block any one hit.

  Of course, there was a skill that focused more on agility than direct defense. After all, why block when you didn’t need to get hit in the first pce? It also was percentage-based and went off a value that would be constantly increasing as I leveled up. The more I thought about it, this was probably one I would get at least one time.

  Of the st two offers, I was fairly sure that the Elemental Infusion one was useless. Sure, it made the dress more resistant to one element or another, but it also weakened the thing against one of the others. Sure, the dress was good at absorbing fire damage, but water, forget about it.

  The st one was Robust Stitching. To be honest, it wasn’t all that bad. While it did nothing to help against any blunt attacks, it did resist cutting weapons.

  Considering the fact that I would be likely going against a guard, who would have a weapon, I needed a mixture of everything. So I purchased everything but the elemental one. Which was a good thing because that one was expensive and it turned out that I could purchase each one more than once. Sure, the bonuses were not as great the second time, but any increase was a good increase.

  I felt it the moment my purchases took effect. I felt both lighter and more nimble. While I didn’t feel like I could leap buildings, it felt like I would have no issues running up and down the stairs. Not that I would do that.

  Dressed for combat, I strode across the space and down the stairs. No one noticed, or if they did, they didn’t care. Unsurprisingly, the farther down I walked, the more people I ran into. Most of whom looked ragged or tired. Likely they were being forced, or forcing themselves, to get up so they could get some missions done or something.

  Seeing these tired zombies made me wonder if I would ever be in the same boat. What I wouldn’t give to just have to worry about myself. To not have to deal with other people trying to get me to do something for them, or to stay with them because they were too worried about me. Fuck, it was like being a kid all over again.

  As I pushed through the crowd, I found it diverging as everyone went around some obstruction. Seeing this made me curious as to what they were all avoiding, plus it wasn’t like it wasn’t between me and the door out of this pce.

  The moment I shoved my way past the st of the people around it, I found myself in a section of the room I recognized too well. While I had seen it when I was in my fox form, the tiny spikes sticking out of the stone was enough of a hint as to what the three official types were looking at. I didn’t stick around to see what they were doing with the spikes, choosing instead to disappear into the flow of people making their way out into the world.

  “Do you know how I can get to the tower?” I asked my AI.

  While the AI didn’t respond, the person next to me did. Likely as they thought I was asking them. “Follow the road to the left until you get to the rge road with trucks and the like. Then just walk towards the tower in the distance.”

  Well, that was simple and straightforward. Thanking him, I started down the road, following his directions without an issue. All the while I wondered why none of the groups that I had been with had gone this way. Choosing instead to take something more complicated.

  Twenty minutes in, I realized why no one took this path to the damned tower. The road twisted and turned as it carved its way through the town. If I had to guess, this was one of those roads that just formed as the town grew around it. It wasn’t pnned out and would always be in need of an upgrade due to the sheer amount of traffic that passed through.

  While I had seen magic-powered vehicles back in the noble district of the starter town, that pce didn’t have enough to necessitate stop lights, let alone cause traffic jams. The amount here reminded me of New York roads in movies. Hell, the way that pedestrians acted made me wonder if what occurred in New York was more common than what the media of those times portrayed. Well, all except for those that flew.

  It was all I could do to not get crushed by people of all shapes, sizes, and species as they flew, walked, or drove toward one pce or another. My mind was so focused on weaving my way through and around that I didn’t notice I had reached my destination until one of the guards at the door stopped me.

  I nearly crashed into his upraised hand as he tried to get my attention. As soon as I stopped, his monotone voice reached my ears. “Name and business?”

  My mind stalled out. While I was sure that I could simply say I was visiting Xander and get in, he didn’t have the information I needed. The only person I knew that had the identity of the guard was the fucking alpha of all people. Given how he was treated by Xander in my hospital room, I doubted the guy would be willing to see me.

  Then again, what about Pendragon? He would know what guards were where on any given day, wouldn’t he? Actually, let's not ask him. I had the feeling that he would just turn me over to Ginger. I didn’t want to deal with her. The more I thought about it, the more I realized my only choice was Xander. If he didn’t have the answer, he would at least know who to ask.

  Decision made, I answered the guard. “Kyren, here to see Kai.”

  “Does he know you’re coming?” His tone went from neutral indifference to annoyed.

  “No, but…” I started but the guard cut me off. “Kai and the other officers are all busy at the moment. Come back when you have an appointment.” The man used his outstretched hand to push me to the side as he yelled. “NEXT!” A bit taken aback, I went to find a seat so that I could figure out what to do next.