Demon's Virtue

646 Partax Evergreen – Part “What nonsense are you blabbering about?” Partax asked with his brow raised, his confused but curious grin hidden behind his thick mustache, “Are you talking about the tower as though it’s some metaphorical state of being?”

“Obviously not, it’s a very real place. Multiple versions of it exist across different realms, all connected to each other in some way that I’m still in the process of figuring out. I still haven’t found the tower in the central material plane, if it were that easy then you would have found it as well by now,” Eiro explained, and partax quickly approached, carried over through his mechanical mount.

The halfling raised his brow and leaned forward, nearly falling off his seat as he stared at the Demon, trying to figure out if he was just messing with him, “So you are saying that you not only found the tower in another realm, but managed to travel across realms in the first place?”

Eiro shook his head, “It’s not really travel, technically. I’m sure you’re aware of Spirit Gateways.”

“Hah, aware? I’m the first being that has managed to truly harness the power of such a gateway! Not to brag, but I’m using one of them as the central power source of my laboratory,” Partax explained, as though he was trying to brag to Eiro. But the Demon just frowned and ground his teeth, “What? You’re doing what, right now? You goddamn- For the sake of your life, I hope that you’re not doing anything to the spirits that might be drawn to it.”

Partax scoffed, “Who do you take me for? Of course not! I deployed a barrier around it to reduce the amount of mana lost in the process of harvesting the energy of it, and at the same time stops spirits completely from sensing it in the first place. I’m not a fool, I would never abuse the life of a spirit,” he replied, practically insulted at the idea. Eiro calmed down a bit; the fact that Partax was using the spirit gateway like that still wasn’t great, but at least it would be protected this way. For now.

“Now shut up about that nonsense! If you mention spirit gateways, have you found a way to traverse them yourself?”

“...Jura might have told you, but I’ve been blessed by the former Naiad Queen. Recently, I also gained a blessing from the Salamander King. Both of those were protecting certain spirit gateways before,” Eiro explained, “But then, in addition to their blessing, I became the Guardian of those Spirit Gateways, and they were fused into my core. My soul. I have become one with them.”

“...Nonsense, something like that is impossible!”

.....

“Why would it be?” Armodeus sighed, trying his best to clean up after Partax, as he was making a mess in the workshop, “Both of us know that the word ‘impossible’ barely has any meaning anymore. The kid’s telling the truth, so stop being so stubborn and just listen to him.”

Partax glanced at the Elder Dwarf, “Do you not understand the magnitude of what the boy is saying? Spirit Gateways are a force of nature beyond most others; they’re rifts in space, connecting to other realms. If he became one with those gateways, then he himself has become said rift, and he has become a force of nature. He would no longer be a simple mortal creature like us. While we will move on to an afterlife... even I do not know what will happen to him,” Partax pointed out bluntly, “So again, a thing like that is impossible... or rather, it should be, for your sake.”

Eiro slowly shook his head, “It’s not impossible, but you’ve got a good point. My soul isn’t like that of others’ anymore, not that it has been ever since I lived this life, or toward the end of my last. But let’s skip that for now... all you need to know is that it’s true. Ever since I’ve acquired the Absolute Domain of Truth, I’ve been averse to lying.”

“So you have become this force of nature; then what? How did you find the towers in the other realms?” Partax asked, clearly curious about everything else that Eiro was mentioning. But even so, more than anything else, he just finally wanted to hear about the Tower of Books, the place that he had yearned to find his whole life. Eiro grabbed something off of the table next to him, a small hammer that had been misshapen by all the work that Armodeus had done with it. Eiro looked at it and kept his sight focused on it, before slowly averting his gaze. And through the power of the mirror placed into his eye, the hammer was duplicated, and Eiro quickly grabbed the second hammer.

“Like this. The Mirror of Duplication. I’m not exactly sure which of my abilities caused this effect, but when I duplicate myself, the consciousness of the duplicate is still linked with mine. As though you have two minds at the same time. Since the spirit gateways allow magic to pass through them, I was able to use the mirror to create a duplicate of myself on the other side of each of the two gateways I am linked to. And like that, the gateway moved together with my bodies in those two realms, allowing my to travel through them without any limit,” Eiro explained it quickly and simply. There was a lot of information that was missing, but clearly, Partax understood it perfectly. He grew excited, “I see... I see! And if you say that the tower of books exists in those realms as well, then it must be a lot easier to find it there... correct?”

“Right. All the libraries in those realms are somehow connected to the towers. The librarians there are instructed to send people they deem worthy to the tower, though you still have to figure out the way yourself somehow. There are plenty of clues around each library. The reason they’re doing it this was is probably because they deem the people of those realms as less of a threat to the tower than the people of this realm. And as such, they are practically inviting them to the tower. Beside me, I actually encounter a man already in the tower of books of the elemental plane of water.”

Partax expression grew into one of glee, as if he were a little child again, “So it is real! It is real, very much so! This is wonderful, this is perfect! Eiro, please, you have to allow me the knowledge of the towers somehow! There must be a clue to find the true tower in them somewhere!”

Eiro leaned back, and considered it for a moment.

—

“Overseer,” the Eiro in the plane of water looked at the being sitting behinds their desk. They slowly raised their head and stared at Eiro, waiting for him to speak. Quickly, the demon asked his question, “In this tower, is there some clue to find the tower in the central material plane?”

The overseer thought for a moment, and then nodded his head, “That is so. But you will not simply find any literature explaining how to get there. The version of the tower you speak of... is the most true tower. It is a place protected more than anyone, and nobody that isn’t directly invited by the Librarian is allowed to enter it. The current librarian doesn’t like to leave the tower, so it has been a few centuries since anyone ahs entered it, as he hasn’t gone to find anyone worthy. At the peak of the tower, you will find a clue that might lead you to the tower. The clue is different in each of the towers, so since you’re in two of them... You are the one with the highest chance at finding the true tower yourself, the first one since its inception.”

Somewhat surprised, Eiro scoffed, “Surprisingly loose-tongued there, aren’t you? I thought you can’t speak of details like that?”

“What detail did I mention that you could not have figured out yourself? I already explained that on each floor of the tower, more and more special information will be given to you, so you could have guessed that the secrets of the tower itself will be amongst that information at some point. Not to mention, I was always able to divulge the structure of future trials.”

“So finding the ‘true’ tower is just another trial?” Eiro smirked, before shaking his head, “No, of course it is. Oh, and just to reiterate something else, but sharing the information from the tower with someone that hasn’t earned access to it...”

“There is some nuance to it, but... indiscriminately sharing information of the tower will lead to your immediate banishment from the tower forevermore.”

—

Eiro explained what the overseer had told to him, leading in the Halfling growing quite annoyed, “Really?! You’re in the tower, and you will not share even a speck of its knowledge with me?!”

“I can’t do that, sorry. But I can do something else. I mean, all the knowledge of the elemental realms I’m in is before me. And I know for a fact that I’m not the first one from the central elemental plane that has made it there, so sooner or later, I’ll find something that will explain the method of traveling there, for someone who isn’t made wholly of magic. While I can’t share all the info, if I find a way to bring you to a different realm, I’ll show you the way to the towers.”