Unfortunately, my spire upgrade was still in progress when I returned. My beautiful tree was still glowing with a soft golden light that pulsed and swirled across the entire structure. It was breathtaking, but useless for the time being.

  I wondered if the cost of the aether used to upgrade it could be indicative of how long the upgrade would take. It was nearly double the cost of anything else I had purchased so far. It would make sense. The higher aether cost likely meant the building was bigger, more intricate, and more powerful. Thus it would take more time to complete.

  I had no idea what to expect from the upgrade appearance wise, but it had already nearly doubled in size. Perhaps my vision of a world tree would come true after all, depending on how many times I could upgrade it.

  Wondering what I should do with the rest of my time here, I turned to go inside. I wanted to upgrade my spear and get some armor, but I needed Trinket for that. She would be back after seeing her father and her clan settled, but I couldn't do much in terms of equipment before then.

  I also needed to sort out the kobolds living in my new territory. Whether or not they decided to stay or go largely depended on who became their new chief. They were in a strange situation, however, since the departure of their last chief was a little more ambiguous than simply dying. He had been alive until a couple of days ago, but he was corrupted before then, and he had betrayed the tribe long before even that. I wasn't sure how they would resolve the traditional two weeks of mourning. For now, there was little I could do for them.

  I was just beginning to cross the atrium that led into the lounge when I heard a sudden snap. Before I had more than a moment to wonder in confusion, I felt a rope tighten around one of my ankles and yank me upwards.

  "Hah! I caught you, you sneaky miscreant!" Ash's voice called out as she zipped into the room. "How dare you clean up a genius's tidy mess." She came to a stop when she saw me swinging upside down, arms folded in annoyance. "Cai? You were the one cleaning my room?" She looked confused for a moment, then pouted. "If you wanted to see my underwear, all you had to do was ask."

  "I'll keep that in mind." I said in a dry tone. "But no, I didn't clean your room. I don't think I'm that brave." Ash's room was almost always a disaster.

  "Hmm," Ash hummed as she rubbed her chin. "I suppose you have a point. It would take a true master to survive cleanin' such a creative organizational space."

  I nodded in agreement. "A master of madness to be sure. Now, are you going to get me down?"

  Ash giggled as she grew to her full size, sauntering towards me with mischief in her violet eyes. "I don't know. I'm feelin' a bit inspired by the sight o' you like this. Perhaps we should play a game first?"

  She was just reaching for my pants when Yume came rushing into the room. She stood with her feet spread apart and balanced, ready in case of emergency. Her sapphire eyes grew wide when she saw us; Ash frozen with her hand reaching for my zipper as I swung gently back and forth with my arms crossed.

  After taking in the situation, she relaxed her posture, put one hand on her hip, shifted her weight to accentuate her curves, and pouted. "I can't believe you two are playing around without me. You never even told me you were into such play Cai!"

  I shook my head adamantly, holding out my hands to stop that line of thought. "Nope! Definitely not interested at all." My hurried motions had the unfortunate side effect of causing the rope I was hanging from to start rotating slowly. Crossing one arm over my chest while putting the other to my chin, I adopted a thoughtful expression. "Weeell," I said, dragging the word out. "At least not when it's me being tied up. I can definitely see the appeal if it was one of you instead. Or both." I bounced my eyebrows playfully as I rotated back into view.

  "Oh come on Cai. Where's yer sense o' adventure?" Ash giggled, but thankfully began to untie me with her magic.

  Yume hurried under me to catch me before I fell, holding me in a princess carry. I imagined it would look weird to an outside observer, seeing a fit yet busty young woman holding a man bigger than her as if it were nothing.

  I still had my arms folded, but leaned up to give Yume a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Yume. It's good to know at least one of you knows how to treat a man." I gave Ash a playful glare as I added the last part, and Yume blushed.

  "Guh!" Ash made a cute noise and reacted as though I had stabbed her, holding a hand over her stomach. "To think I'd be laid so low. And all I wanted to do was protect you from that fruit drink makin', soap deliverin', workspace cleanin' menace that's been terrorizin' us!" I chuckled at her fake drama and wiggled a little to get free.

  Yume put me down with some reluctance, and I gave her a scratch behind her ears as I leaned in and whispered "Later." She snuggled up to me under my arm, and I reached down to stroke her tails. Turning to Ash I offered my other arm and said. "Yes, yes, you're a hero too. I definitely appreciate what your trying to do." I gave her a one armed hug as she snuggled in under my other side. "Even if your trap didn't work."

  Ash snickered, "Who says it didn't work? I'd say I caught an even better prize than I anticipated."

  Yume nodded in agreement, her ears twitching adorably. "He is definitely the perfect prize."

  I laughed, but I could feel myself blush a little. It was nice to be loved, and I could feel across our bond that they were being genuine in their affections.

  Clearing my throat, I turned to Ash. "I wanted to tell you about my enchantments in the Material. I think they worked, though I'll need to do some experimenting." Turning to Yume next, I gave her butt a gentle pinch and received a cute yelp in return. "Then I want to work on cultivation for a few hours before I go back. I feel like I'm close to condensing my qi into a solid. Then I can make a push to open my first chakra." Yume hummed with happiness as we went to get to work.

  ****

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  I sat on a bench in the gym as I waited for Kayla, my bag of enchanted items on the floor at my feet. While I didn't have a way to test the anti-mind control inscriptions, the multimeter worked as expected; For the most part anyway. I needed Kayla to help me test it further.

  The problem was that it read a slight charge no matter where I pointed it. I could make it stronger by using my telekinesis on it, but it otherwise held steady. I couldn't be sure if it was a result of ambient mana, or from being near me. I needed a person without mana to test it fully.

  I wasn't waiting long before Kayla came through the doors with her customary coffee in hand. She was wearing tight black yoga pants and a green tank top that left her midriff exposed. In the hand not holding her coffee, she had a light jacket that was perfect for jogging in the cool morning.

  She smiled when she saw me, and I returned it as I stood to greet her. "Hey hot stuff. You ready to work out?" Her smile widened at my chosen address for her.

  "You bet. Just let me finish my drink first." She raised her coffee to take a drink, demonstrating what she meant. "By the way, I almost got you one too, but you never told me how you like it."

  I smirked. "That's because I don't have a specific way. I don't drink it enough to have a favorite nailed down."

  Her mouth fell open as she stared at me like I was an alien invader. I saw her mouth the words "What the fuck?" before she gathered herself enough for a real reply. "What do you mean you don't drink coffee?! I can accept you don't like alcohol, but coffee is life!"

  I laughed at her reaction, holding up my hands to calm her down. "I didn't say that I don't drink it, just that I don't do it often. Caffeine is a wonderful stimulant, but like all drugs, if you drink it too much you'll build up a tolerance and then a dependance. Soon, instead of needing a coffee for a boost, you'll need it just to function normally." I shrugged "At least that's what my aunt always told me. Then she would go on a rant about addictions becoming predictable and exploitable routines, whatever that means."

  She gave me a deadpan look and folded her arms. "It's coffee. The black nectar of the gods themselves. The very ambrosia that keeps hard working people alive and functioning."

  I snickered at how passionate she was being. "The black nectar huh? I take it that's how you like your coffee?"

  "Of course! That's exactly the way the gods always intended it to be." She nodded resolutely, eyes looking into the distance with reverence before taking another sip.

  "Got it. At least it's easy to remember. I'll tell you what. I'll buy you coffee for a week when I get back from Japan if you forgive me for my slight against the gods of caffeine."

  Kayla crossed her arms and tapped a finger against her arm, looking contemplative. Finally she dipped her chin in agreement before drinking the last of her coffee and throwing away the cup. "I suppose that's fair. You have a deal." She squinted her eyes at me. "Just be careful to show due respect next time. I'm watching you mister."

  I breathed a sigh of relief. "I was afraid I'd have to make another deal with you. Speaking of which, do you remember how you tricked me into using half of my small favor to buy your patience?"

  She snorted and shook her head, long brown ponytail swaying as she walked back toward me, already stretching her arms to get ready for her workout. "Tricked you huh? See if I come over next time you're bleeding on the floor."

  I had to tear my eyes away from what her stretches were doing to her chest. Clearing my throat, I continued. "Right, as I was saying. When you so generously consented to use only half of a favor for my unreasonable request," She nodded in approval at my amendment, though her eyes were filled with amusement, "that left me with one large, and one half of a small favor left. I'd like to ask for the rest of the small favor now please."

  "Hmm. I suppose I don't mind. If it makes me late for work it counts as a big one though." She stopped stretching and took a step closer to me.

  Reaching into the bag, I took out two items, handing her the small box first. "Before I get to my request, I wanted to give this to you. Consider it a thank you for being such a good friend. I honestly don't know what I would've done without you. I hope you'll wear it until you teach me to salsa. I'll explain more then."

  Taking the box from me, the athletic brunette opened it to reveal the intricately carved and polished silver jewelry. She inhaled a breath and carefully withdrew it from the box. She admired it for a moment before giving me a genuine smile, eyes shining. "It's beautiful. You made this?"

  I nodded, then shrugged one shoulder. "More or less. I didn't cast the original bar, but I did the engraving. Those runes are something I learned just for you. They're meant to protect you."

  "Aww! That's so sweet! I love it." She gave me a big hug before stepping back and working to replace her old ring with the new one. Light glinted off the polished metal, her toned feminine abs flexing as she admired how it looked.

  Kayla smirked when she caught me staring and wiggled her waist back and forth. "How does it look?"

  I cleared my throat, folded my arms, and nodded once. "Yep, it's good. It really accentuates your beefy abdominals."

  "Jerk." She huffed and punched my arm, playful but still hard enough to hurt. Unfortunately for her, I was well beyond standard human at this point. "Oww! What the hell? What are you made of?" She cried as she shook out her hand.

  Stepping forward, I took her hand gently, letting out a touch of healing qi as I rubbed it better. "Sorry about that. I forgot to tell you I got an upgrade recently." Looking into the distance I added. "He's more machine now, than man."

  She snorted and laughed at my lame quote. "Thanks, that feels better." She said taking her hand back. "So, what's the favor?"

  I held out the other item I had picked up. "This is called a multimeter. It's used to measure electrical current, among other things."

  "Uh huh. I used one of those in my high school physics class on a potato battery." She said, shrugging when I raised an eyebrow. "Did I mention I went to a top-tier private girl's school?"

  "You normies and your fun science experiments. All I got was an old bald martial arts instructor who smelled like onions." I shook my head sadly in self pity. "I never got to test if he could conduct electricity. Anyway, I need you to use this while I go stand over there."

  Kayla raised her brow, but took the device. I had to stop her when she went to remove the rubber casing protecting the sensors. I didn't want the machine to detect actual electricity, and mana wouldn't have a problem passing through the rubber.

  "Just trust me, it's a part of the experiment." She looked at me skeptically, but shrugged and did as I requested. When I crossed the the room, at least twenty paces away, I give her the signal to start testing.

  "I'm not reading anything." She called out in a tone that told me she thought that should be obvious.

  I took deliberate steps toward her as she watched the meter. I stopped when her eyebrows jumped up and her eyes darted to mine. Moving forward and back a step at a time, I discovered that I set the meter off at about eleven paces away, or just over ten meters approximately.

  "What does that mean? How can this be reading an electrical signal from you? With rubber covers no less? Is it broken?" Kayla was looking more than a little curious, and possibly a touch concerned.

  "It means," I began, taking the multimeter back from her. "That I am both more and less amazing than I had hoped."

  It meant the runes were working, and that I had mana. It also meant that I was leaking mana at a consistent rate; not enough that I could see it with my Aetheric Eyes, but enough that the sensitive runes could pick it up. It wasn't dangerous, unless someone else could detect mana as well as my device, or if they got a hold of it.

  I had wanted to make something that would detect rifts or any magic that was being used. When I had asked Ash to develop the runes, I hadn't expected that I would get magic, nor that I would emit mana. Which meant I couldn't sell it to any governments as I had intended. At least, not until I could control my mana enough to hide it. Or until my secret is out. Whichever comes first.