Natasha was the one who guided Rafael to the top floor of the Tower of Distortion. Before that, she showed him the many floors they had conquered and their multiple and enormous biomes... Rafael would make good use of these places, learning new spells until he recovered his old ones... The most interesting thing was that despite appearing to be enormous, they weren't that big when you had a map of the place and knew what you were looking for.
According to Natasha, it was possible to cross from one side to the other in just one day, walking at a normal pace... But since the structure of the tower was circular, if you didn't know where to go or what to look for, it would still seem very big...
One of the novelties and also one of the most valuable resources of this place was the existence of a large freshwater lake that seemed to have some natural spring... This also solved one of the Order's biggest expenses, which was also one of the biggest problems for every inhabitant of Asshai: spending a significant amount of money every year on drinking water. But with the Sage Store closed, all that water was never sold, and now, Rafael's creative mind was thinking about how to turn it into something profitable…
In the last few years, the Order finally mapped out all the floors of the tower and finally also had more complex numbers and data… This Tower could easily house thousands of people or be fertile cropland to feed at least two cities with the same number of inhabitants… Although Rafael liked the large hidden space that the Order now had, the Order of Sages did not have that amount of people to occupy all that space, but who knows in the future it would have…
As they descended the last floors, Rafael also took advantage of being alone with Natasha to ask some more personal questions…
"So Natasha… Sorry for asking… But how is everyone still so young? Have they already consumed the fruit of immortality?"
"It's all thanks to Liza, she managed to create a ritual capable of slowing down aging using some of the data you provided about telomeres…"
"I don't think it's cheap?" Rafael asked after remembering Aisha, who was one of the only ones who already had some gray hair, being the only one he had found so far who showed some youth, but with clear signs of aging…
"Yes, the wise men of the Order have already performed the ritual twice each, which was the limit for each person in this new ritual, but the regular members of the Order were barely able to pay for it once…"
"And how is my father?"
"The ritual doesn't work more than once for people who are older than Lord Anurys, since it only slows down natural aging… Liza traveled and personally went to Dragonstone using the ritual on him, and then went to her mother and did the same… She confirmed that the two are fine, and despite their advanced age, they are in good health. An immortality fruit has also been left in their hands…"
"That's good, I need to send a letter later, and also visit you as soon as possible…"
Arriving at the top floor, Natasha pointed a finger in a direction.
"There! Can you see the door, Master of the Order?"
Rafael looked through the darkness and saw huge, giant black double doors, in the middle of the two, there was a very unusual circular-shaped lock, which resembled the same symbol that White Shadow was investigating.
"Hm, it is very similar to the key, why can't you get in and get closer? Where is the creature you spoke of?"
"It's better if I show you…"
After Natasha's words, she took a step out of the portal barrier, and when she did, a bright circle the size of a cherry flew towards her, touching her body and making her reappear back next to Rafael…
"This…"
Rafael was speechless, and Natasha repeated the process twice more, this time trying to use her powerful angel as a distraction and hiding in the shadows, but the mysterious luminous creature continued to teleport anyone who entered the floor into the barrier…
"You can try it too. Besides making you a little dizzy, it doesn't hurt anyone. We tried to capture the creature using many methods and rituals, but they all failed… It's as if it only touches what it wants, and everything passes through it…"
"Okay, I'll try then…"
When Rafael left the barrier, what happened next left Natasha completely astonished. When the light was about to touch his body, it stopped completely. And then it began to circle him slowly as if it were curious. After a while, it began to spin its body at high speed, sometimes circling its head, sometimes going from the foot to the head. And other times it made strange and meaningless symbols as if it wanted to show its happiness at meeting someone it knew…
Rafael also didn't understand the reason for the creature's strange reaction, so he did something that many others had tried before him but failed miserably. He touched the small light with his hands.
And to Natasha's surprise, Rafael managed it!
"How?" She asked as she left the barrier…
Rafael gestured with his hand for her to wait, and stared into space for a long time before doing something even more unusual. He ate the small ball of light!
"Rafael… Are you okay?" Natasha ran to him, touching his shoulder and checking to see if he was okay.
"Yes, I'm fine, I've never been better than today…" Rafael said with his new black eyes smiling mysteriously…
Natasha blushed a little at his smile and due to the proximity of the two, before moving away and returning to her stoic self. She still had more doubts about everything that had just happened but decided to leave them for later. Their esteemed leader had always been an enigmatic man with vast knowledge… Solving a problem that had trapped everyone in the Order for years in seconds was truly something that only the Red Sage could do…
"You were right, the lock is 100% the same, and according to your master's book, it should have been divided into 5 parts… Can I leave the investigation of the door and all the writings it contains to you?"
"Yes, that was always my goal… Now that the creature is gone, I can finally do it."
"Alright, I'll recreate my Blood Clone and then pay a visit to Master Baron Bones' shop to return the favor I owe him… Afterward, I'll head to Omar's castle to check on some research and experiments I had with him… If you find out any more information about the door, let me know immediately."
Natasha nodded and smiled as she imagined what kind of trouble Rafael would cause for the Master who destroyed her shop, and soon turned her attention to the mysterious door and the many symbols on it…
As for Rafael, he was holding back from jumping for joy, a new affinity and a new innate spell had fallen into his hands as if it had been a gift from heaven… But he knew that there were no free meals in this world, and once again, he began to think about his mother and "aunt"… It seemed that his body had undergone many more changes than he thought… This made him wonder what else his mother did when he was still just a baby in Valyria, and if some of those changes were what caused his reincarnation in this body…
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Leery Falcon, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, and 704Corleon!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley and Avacus!