The Lord of the Seas - An Isekai Progression Fantasy [ Currently on Volume 2 ]

The rest of the day passed by in a flash, especially for Anriette. Magnus took it upon himself to guide her through the Lower Floors of the Magic Tower, and nothing could have prepared her for what she saw before her.

Massive libraries stacked to the ceilings, suspended platforms of floating books, entire greenhouses glowing with bioluminescent flora, training grounds where spells lit the air like stars, and different laboratories humming with activity—all of it left her wide-eyed.

The vastness of the Tower was staggering, and yet what struck Anriette most was that all of the youth of those gathered here in the Lower Floors, all of them just a few years younger than she was. She watched bright young minds toiling away at their crafts, apprentice mages preparing themselves for the climb ahead of them.

There was a quiet hope in the way they worked, and it filled her with something she hadn't felt in a long time.

A feeling of true belonging.

Despite the tour taking up most of the day, there wasn't a second where Anriette wasn't utterly captivated. But eventually, Magnus had to retire to his chambers, and so the group was left to enjoy what remained of the night.

The Tower had quieted by then. Most of the apprentice mages had returned to their dorms, and the glow of the halls had dimmed to a soft, sleepy hue.

In the now-empty potions laboratory, Thomas, Anriette and Lukas sat in a loose circle on the floor, passing around a cheap bottle of whiskey.

The first bottle had already been emptied, and Thomas was just about to pop open a second when the door creaked open.

Jesse Sterling stepped inside, giving a nod of greeting to them all.

Thomas squinted at him, already tipsy. "How the hell did you get in here?"

Anriette, her cheeks flushed with drink, raised her cup and nodded in agreement. "You shouldn't be here Jesse!"

Technically, the dragonborn was no mage of the Tower so he wasn't allowed to enter these grounds.

Jesse gave a lazy smile, clearly amused by the sight of these drunken idiots sprawled across laboratory tiles. "You were all so loud I could hear you from outside the Tower."

Thomas raised his cup like it was a gavel. "I'll allow it—but only if you take the assessment test!"

Jesse chuckled, already walking toward them. "I don't think you want another broken crystal ball, Thomas."

Thomas narrowed his eyes in mock suspicion. "Fine. Then I'll let it slide this once. But you must drink!" He poured a glass and handed it over before Jesse could refuse. Anriette whooped, clapping him on the back in encouragement.

Jesse gave a sarcastic bow before taking the drink. His gaze flicked toward Lukas, who had been quiet this whole time.

Lukas had found more entertainment watching these two drunken fools interact with one another.

"Where's Rosalia?" Lukas asked, his voice calm.

Jesse's smile softened. "She…has decided to try and talk it out with Celina."

Lukas nodded, the corner of his mouth lifting. He had a feeling Jesse had a very big part to play in that decision. It was a good thing that Rosalia was trying to reconcile with the Divine Knight.

The drinking didn't slow down. If anything, it picked up after Jesse's arrival—though the brunt of the drinking was done by Anriette and Thomas; both of whom were now carrying the conversation, a few glasses deeper than Jesse and Lukas.

"So you're really not even considering joining the Tower?" Thomas asked, half-sprawled on the floor with a lopsided grin. "You could be up on the Upper Floors in a few years, easy."

Anriette groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "I'm broke as balls, Thomas. And in case you forgot—I am also a Vice Admiral of Nozar. Kind of a full-time job."

Thomas booed her like a disappointed audience member at a bad play, tossing a crumpled napkin her way as Lukas quietly poured himself another glass. Jesse, sitting cross-legged beside him, sipped his whiskey without so much as a flinch. Even if they had a barrel of whiskey each, both Jesse and Lukas probably would only feel slightly tipsy. Draconic biology had its perks after all.

"Nozar would sponsor you," Thomas slurred. "They've done it before. It's not like they don't invest in their talent. There are tons of mages who get sponsorships from the navy!"

Anriette raised an eyebrow but said nothing. It was clear the idea tugged at something inside her, but the hesitation lingered.

Then Jesse spoke. His voice was calm, even, and entirely sober. "If Nozar doesn't sponsor you, the Merchant Guild will."

The room paused.

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Anriette blinked. "Wait—you're not joking?"

Jesse gave her a firm smile, shaking his head. "No. I am not."

For a moment, the tipsiness seemed to slip away from her. Anriette looked at Jesse, really looked at him, and then let out a slow breath. "Thanks. Really. I'll think about it."

Lukas watched her closely and he did believe that she was going to really consider Jesse's offer.

Something had shifted in Anriette.

The Vice Admiral had always dreamed of climbing the Tower, that much was clear in the way she always spoke about it with awe and reverence. Lukas still remembered how she had been so eager to meet Varian once she had known he had travelled to Nozar all those years ago for the Celebration. And now that Anriette was finally here—walking its halls, seeing the greenhouses, libraries and archives of ancient knowledge—how could she not consider it?

Dreams, however, always came at a cost. And hers came with a naval rank and a nation's expectations. Anriette had spent her whole life as a marine. Walking away from that wasn't a decision she could make in a drunken haze on a cold lab floor.

Still, it lingered in the air, the scent of possibility; a crack in the armor of certainty.

The conversation began to gradually shift away from whether or not Anriette would become a mage of the Magic Tower to nonsensical topics that Lukas himself could barely keep up with. One moment, Thomas was trying to mimic an old Nozari general; another moment Anriette was telling them all about all the times she had been nearly lost her life in battle.

"The Potion of Sleep," Thomas suddenly declared with theatrical reverence, waving his cup. "I've heard only rumors of it! Apprentice mages whisper of it like it's some mythical brew. Perfect sleep, every night. No dreams, no headaches, no morning grogginess. Only peace. Are the rumors true, Klein? Does such a potion truly exist in the reality we live in?"

Lukas snorted. "You make it sound like a gorydamn elixir of immortality. It's just a damn sleep potion."

Thomas leaned forward, eyes wide with exaggerated excitement. "But you do brew it, right? Every night?"

Jesse chuckled.

"Yeah and? I have trouble sleeping." Lukas muttered into his cup.

"Well then," Thomas said, slapping the floor with both palms. "What better way to end the night than to brew it for us poor, weary souls?"

Anriette raised her glass. "To the Potion of Sleep!"

Thomas too raised his glass, the alcohol spilling onto the ground. "To the Potion of Sleep!"

Lukas hesitated for only a moment before setting his glass down with a sigh.

Honestly, Lukas could not argue against that logic. For one, it was already getting late and this was normally around the same time that he would begin to brew the potion. Not to mention that Lukas had run out of one of the crucial ingredients that according to Varian gave the potion a "kick" last night when brewing an extra portion for Rosalia.

Lukas had not slept last night, writing fervently to Styx about all that had occurred on the day of the Duel. They had exchanged letters for hours and by the time he was done, the sun had already rose. Lukas hadn't been able to get his hands on anymore of those bunyip ashes and considering they were already in a fully stocked potions laboratory, it made sense to just brew it here.

So Lukas stood, stretching slightly, and made his way to the tall cabinet nestled against the far wall—its shelves lined with neatly labeled jars, vials, and bottles.

There was no need for Varian's letter. Lukas had brewed this potion so many times that he had the recipe memorized by heart. He only ever glanced at it now out of habit, not necessity.

One by one, he pulled out what he needed from the cabinet: moonroot, dried sedgeleaf, silvered mint, bloodless berries and much more.

Lukas moved with quiet efficiency, his motions practiced. It really was muscle memory by now.

Then he reached for the last item—the one he'd been run out of. He scanned the shelf for the faint gray label.

There was an entire row of them, unopened and untouched: Bunyip ashes.

Lukas plucked the small, dark glass bottle from the shelf and turned it in his hand—and paused.

Behind him, Thomas laughed. The sound was sudden and unexpected.

Lukas glanced over his shoulder. "What?"

Thomas waved his drink lazily, grinning. "Nothing! It's…it's just that no one uses bunyip ashes anymore. There were many studies done on the effectiveness of the ingredient. I'm surprised that they still have it. I guess the potions department never got around to tossing it."

Lukas looked back down at the bottle. What in the world?

Why would Varian add that ingredient into the recipe then?

Had Varian truly begun to lose his mind when writing that letter to him?

Had…he truly just passed because of natural causes, the decay of age sending him to the Underworld? The same way that it was beginning to take Magnus?

"Seriously," Thomas continued, sobering up a little. "in all my time in the Tower, I've never touched the stuff. Doubt I can name more than five people in the whole place that have. It's just been sitting there for years now. I forgot it even existed if I'm being honest. That's one of the ingredients that's in your potion of sleep?"

Lukas shook his head, frowning slightly as he turned the bottle again. And then he heard it.

Clink.

Lukas froze.

The sound had come from inside the sealed bottle. A small, metallic tap against the glass.

He shook it again, harder this time.

CLINK!

There it was—soft, distinct, and most definitely foreign.

Lukas narrowed his eyes and stepped back into the dim light, holding the bottle up to examine it more closely. The cloudy glass obscured whatever was inside, but he could tell this much: the sound wasn't just his imagination because Thomas had heard it too.

There was something inside that had no business being apart of his potion. And it sure as hell wasn't supposed to be in the Tower's ingredients. Thomas had gone quiet now, his mood gently shifting from playful to curious.

Lukas leaned in, fingers brushing the wax seal at the top.

Something was hidden inside this bottle and Lukas planned to find out exactly what it was.