Chương 49: Chapter Forty-Nine: Hot Showers

FORTY-NINE Roan leaned back on the bed in the dormitory and sighed in relief as something in his back clicked and a sudden wave of relief rolled through him. Fighting and bleeding for days on end was exhausting and the bed felt like heaven. The communal showers were running as others rotated through them, but Taoya and Moira had wanted to talk before they rested.

"We need to get back to the others. We have a lot of wounded," Taoya told Moira as he sat on the edge of his bed. The entire structure creaked under his weight, but held up otherwise.

"Then I'll go back with you. This place is amazing, Taoya. The Tower Master must be a space or time or…or both, mage." Moira's voice had shot up multiple octaves as she paced before them.

"Why?" Taoya asked, leaning forward.

"All towers manipulate space, we know that. The enchantments in them help, but this place, Taoya. They have time dilation chambers here. For rent. Cheap rent." Taoya reeled back as if slapped, stunned.

"Anyone want to explain to the desert rat?" Roan asked.

"It goes to mana theory. The more it deviates from the natural world, the more expensive it is. A fireball is a lot cheaper than, say, accelerating time in a localized area," Moira said.

"So a time compression chamber is expensive? The tower is draining mana out of the entire region for the last century. It should be thick with energy," Roan said with a shrug.

"And you're a hundred percent correct. But, you're still not appreciating how much mana it takes to do this. And this village has multiple time dilation chambers which compressed time while expanding space. This is one of five villages in the area. If each of them have multiple facilities, then the only way it's possible is if the Tower Master specializes in space or time or both. Which means they're very, very powerful." Moira stopped talking and looked at Taoya who nodded his head in agreement.

"Does that change what we're trying to do? Or should it?" Roan asked.

"I don't know. I thought with the first level he was a life mage or a necromancer, which are strong but common enough. There's only one tower climber who has left a tower with a fully functional time mana core. And he's isolated in Antarctica."

"That has to do more with he's a psycho," Taoya cut in which caused Moira to nod her head in agreement before she continued on.

"Every tower has a theme or something that it specializes in. It's better to lean into the specialization. For those who've cleared multiple towers, it just becomes farming opportunities. Mana rich materials or knowledge from other schools of training that they want. With how the market works I wasn't sure which way I wanted to lean."

"Thought you were doing alchemy?" Roan said.

"That's a profession or hobby, not your mana speciality. My bloodline works well with morphing things. Transmutation technically, but with how weak I am I can't make that work. I can shift something I hold, change its shape, which is useful for alchemy. Can purify ingredients or whatever, but it doesn't limit my mana type, not like Taoya's does," Moira said. Roan looked over to the big man who nodded. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Need a momentum or something similar to that mana type and a body tempering that works to enhance my durability to withstand the power I put my body under. Specializing in fire could work or anything to do with movement or expanding, but nowhere near as useful as a momentum core," Taoya said.

"So you couldn't specialize in time or space?" Roan asked.

"Both of those could work with my bloodline, but I wouldn't be able to fully utilize it. Space and Time are rare and powerful mana types requiring lots of resources to develop. Seeing a full developed mage of those mana types is expensive. Very, very, expensive. And a mage at the pinnacle of their mana type, it doesn't really matter at that point. A basic fire mana type who's pushed the limits of their mana type can go toe-to-toe with any group.

People think rare types are more powerful since they don't get to fight them often and the spells or abilities they have unique or haven't been seen before," Taoya said.

"Ehhh, there's something terrifying about someone just saying, age a thousand years. Or holding you in a fixed place," Moira said.

"Holding you in place?"

"Yeah that's a nasty one. You're fixed in place in relation to the galaxy, not the planet. Ripped to pieces instantly." Moria shuddered in thought.

"How much is cheap?" Roan asked. He could use the time to start going through the manuals and finishing the requirements he needed.

"Thousand an hour," Moira said instantly.

"How much time do you get for that then?" Roan asked.

"Oh, no it's a thousand an hour time experienced. Every minute in main time line is ten inside of the chamber," Moira explained.

"Damn. That's not cheap," Roan complained as he wiped at his face. He needed so much and he'd had the hope that these chambers would be the solution. With the price tag they had, he didn't think it was going to work. Not if he wanted to arm up and start fixing himself with items.

"You're still underestimating how expensive a time dilation chamber is, but they have a solution for that as well. This village has a quest board. It's some type of storyline dealing with a horde of goblinoids raiding the region. A few people looked at it and said the rewards were good, but nobody was turning down a shower and hot food," Moira said.

"Shower before or after we get everyone?" Taoya asked before sighing and looking regretfully at the showers.

"After. Alright Moira, grab your gear and healing supplies. When they get out of the shower we're out of here. Roan, thank you for the company, but I think you have some reading to do," Taoya said, rising slowly to his feet and groaning as he stretched upward. Roan heard something pop in Taoya's back. He could relate to that as his own back was stiff as a board.

"I'll check out the quest board and food options until you get back," Roan promised. He was thankful to the big man for giving him cover to go through the skill manuals he'd left with him. He was also hungry. Roan just had to go over the quest boards and see what type of money was available before he spent too much.

"So generous of you," Moira said as she slapped Taoya on the arm and stuck her head into the showers, yelling at whoever was in there. Roan watched as the entire group got together and marched out, Moira grabbing a backpack and marching out with a stream of volunteers.

"Shower or search?" Roan asked himself. Then he looked down at his stained garbs, drenched in sweat, bile, dirt, blood, bone fragments, and all the other filth he'd been in.

"Shower and clothes. Let's do that first," Roan said as he got to his feet and accessed the marketplace with the same ease he had in the first saferoom.