Enmity of Atlas

Inside, there was a constant state of bustle. Workers, spatial servants, and customers all perused about, their light chatter and footsteps making the whole area come alive with the commercial feeling of a town square. Except, instead of being spread out across a street or little clearing, it was all localized entirely within this one tower. The bottom floor was large and spacious, easily walkable despite the hundreds of people all around them. various vendors standing at different booths with large signs above them indicating what they were selling were strewn all around the floor, one large staircase towards the middle leading to a mezzanine overlooking the plebian shopping floor.

“What exactly did we come here for?” Leo asked him, eyeing the dozens of different booths, the choices practically overwhelming.

“I’ve a couple things in mind, first of which is a deep pocket for you. If we’re going to be traveling for a while yet, you’ll need storage of your own,” Trenton replied.

“Aren't those expensive?”

“They are, but with the gold eas…” Trenton stopped himself, thinking about it for a second. They were in a public space. Probably best not to say out loud that the demon of the east gave them money. “But we should have enough to pick up some basics, nothing fancy. It’s not like we’re shopping for artifacts.”

Slowly but surely, the two of them interjected themselves into the many long lines surrounding the booths. Some of the lines were of little interest, potions, alchemy, scrolls, but some others actually had some fascinating finds. Once they had purchased Leo a basic deep pocket, one with about the storage space of a common household room, they made sure to stop by some of the general magical items booths. Using whatever money they had left, they splurged on a portable healing center and two small energy storages, which took practically everything they had. They had hoped to get some items with the rarer magic types, something to teleport, fly, snuff light, but those items were all out of their price range. Since mages that could forge those items were so rare, it made those items inherently more expensive, way more expensive. When they were finished, they stopped by a window on the side, looking out to ensure they were making good time. Looks like it had only been an hour or two since they were in here.

“What do you think they use the other floors for? This one alone is big enough to house most of the customers,” Leo noted, craning his neck to look up at the ceiling far above.

“It is a wizard's tower. Maybe they do research or something.”

“Do you think Era funds this place?”

Trenton shrugged, “Could be, or maybe they have another sponsor. I imagine a lot of entities would be interested in magical development. Be the one to invent a new great spell and whatnot.”

They walked over to the staircase, still chatting about what could’ve created this massive tower, stopping in front of some security guards.

“Are we allowed to the higher floors?” Trenton asked politely.

The smaller man looked up at him, his eyes scrutinizing, “Nope, no sir. Unless you have a pass you gotta stay on the lower floor. Now get back,” he said, shooing them off.

“Wait a tick, Scrag. You Trenton? Trenton Boulreguard?”

Trenton furrowed his brow, confused as to how they recognized him, “Uh, yeah, that’s right.”

The man’s eyes lit up, “What’re the odds?” He handed Trenton a little coin with an intricate engraving on the front. It kind of reminded Trenton of the coin that Geren had given them a while back. Seems like people really liked using coins as special passes in this area, “This’ll take yah to the higher floors, up to the top. Big man said he wanted to see you lot for some reason,” the man shrugged, moving out of the way to let them pass.

Trenton and Leo looked at eachother, skeptical of the invitation. After all that has happened, it didn’t seem like a good sign that someone wanted to see them personally.

“So we’re walking into a trap, right?” Leo asked.

“Yup.”

“Alright.”

The two made their way up the grand staircase. At the top, there was a large balcony clinging to the edge of the tower, a place for guests of honor to mingle. All around them were plush seating areas stuffed with finely dressed noblemen and women, their gazes icy. It must’ve felt like an intrusion to see two poorly dressed children ascend to an area reserved for only the highest of mortals in the land. They would not dare deign the company of such lowly beasts. It reminded Trenton of the nobility back in Aria, the way they snubbed the slums of Aria, their denizens not even considered human because they weren't born into wealth. It disgusted Trenton back then, and being faced with it again, it disgusted him even more.

“If you keep looking at them like that, we’re bound to be kicked out,” Leo said, nudging Trenton.

“Huh? Oh, right,” Trenton responded, relaxing his face into a much more amiable demeanor. It seemed that, unconsciously, his whole body had tensed up thinking back about the nobleman's culture. Hopefully whoever they were intended to meet was a little more down to earth.

They circled around the edge of the mezzanine, making their way towards a catwalk which extended over the main floor, a familiar stone platform in the center. It looked like all the cool mages had an elevator for their wizard tower nowadays. Back in his day (7 weeks ago) people used stairs like civilized beings. Now everyone was too lazy, too entitled, what with their magical transportation devices. Trenton chuckled at his own thought. He wasn’t nearly old enough yet to be bashing new technology yet. Standing on the platform, there was a younger man wearing a bell boy’s uniform as well as a dozen heavily armed soldiers. The guards intercepted the two boy’s, placing their thick bodies in between the children and the elevator.

“Have you a token?” a gruff man said.

Trenton flashed the coin he had been given. The guard took it, inspecting it closely, before handing it back.

“Looks good. This way,” he said, nodding towards the platform. The bell boy gave them a warm smile and pressed the button, the elevator quickly ascending the great tower.

“Do you think this tower is bigger or smaller than Rema’s?” Leo asked Trenton in a whisper.

“Hmmm,” Trenton stroked his chin, “I think this one is bigger just based on the floor space. Rema’s was impressive, but not quite this impressive.”

Leo said nothing in response, merely nodding, his curiosity sated. They entered into a tunnel the size of the platform, the top of the tower now visible above them. It must have been space for more rooms, these one’s connecting each other rather than relying on direct connection to the elevator. When they made it to the top floor, they were quickly ushered off of the platform, which itself descended to leave them stranded there, a veil of spatial magic covering the massive hole in the floor. Interesting. It was certainly a more foolproof method to just block the hole, rather than some other solution like railings.

Trenton looked around, taking in the opulent…office? It was a smaller walled room, doors to their sides indicating Trenton was correct in his earlier assessment. Of course, it was still massive, akin to the reception hall in the Boulreguard manor, the whole place finely decorated with the finest textiles money could buy. It was only small in comparison to the other rooms in the tower, which themselves could easily be considered gargantuan. Similar to Olin’s office, it had a lounge area around a large fireplace off to the right, the left side of the office reserved for various tables cluttered with magical instruments of some sort. In front of them, backlit by a glass door stretching all the way up to the ceiling, was a large desk, a big red leather chair turned away from them. There was no way he was going to-

The chair began to turn slowly, a really dramatic reveal for someone who was clearly warned that they were taking the elevator and had to sit there for several minutes turned the wrong way while they ascended. There were even papers on his desk. He was probably working on something and had to stop just to do this. And, when the chair was fully turned towards them, the end of the grand reveal, they saw…a kid?

“Hello! Welcome!” He shouted, leaning forward in his chair. Leo and Trenton were still a ways away, so trying to talk wasn’t convenient in the slightest. Did he…did he not know where they were? Did he guess where they were in the room when he started turning? Trenton and Leo walked closer to him, sitting in the exactly two chairs he had positioned right in front of his desk. Trenton glanced to the right. There was a circle of fine chairs around the fireplace, but he also noticed that there appeared to be a hole in the perfect semicircle about two chairs wide. So not only did he stop working to turn himself around, he had to really quickly grab two chairs to set up in front of his desk for them to conveniently be able to sit in. That was…kind of funny, actually, the image of him doing it, at least.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Trenton looked closer at the kid in front of him. Was he really the boss? He had long thick white hair, which pooled behind his back. He was really short, around 5 feet at most, his whole frame rather narrow. His eyes, perhaps his most interesting trait, and yet the thing Trenton noticed last, were a brilliant diamond color. To put it bluntly, he looked like he was 15, and that was being generous.

“How old are you?” Trenton asked.

“64,” the boy replied, smiling.

Leo, who had picked up a cup of water and taken a sip already, nearly spat out his water in shock, “64!?”

The boy fiddled with his ears, “I’m a half elf. I know we aren't exactly a welcome sight, but it’s not that hard to tell, is it?”

“It is,” Trenton responded dully, “Who are you? In fact, why are we even here? Were you the one that called us.”

“I was! My name's Wizard! Wizard T. Sorcerer!” Wizard said with a harumph, closing his eyes and placing his hands proudly on his hips.

“Your name,” Leo said, trying not to laugh, “is Wizard Sorcerer?”

“That’s right!” Wizard said.

Trenton and Leo looked at each other, their faces full of jocose mirth, but neither broke, each holding themselves together, if only barely. Wizard Sorcerer was certainly the most to the point name he’d ever heard. What kind of a surname even was Sorcerer? It almost sounded like some sort of elvish translation error.

“So your surname is Sorcerer?” Trenton asked, calmer now.

Wizard nodded, “That’s right. What do you think the store's name meant? Sorcerer’s Atelier. It’s the Sorcerer family's workshop. Well, this one is technically just my workshop. My brothers all have their own atelier’s in the other cities.”

“How do you even get a family name like Sorcerer?” Leo asked.

“Long story, but our father, Magnius, was this really old mage, like 2000 years old or something. He was so popular that our family name, Sorcerer, became synonymous with mages. He was kind of a big deal. Gods may he rest in peace,” Wizard said, looking up for the last part.

“Wait, he’s dead? What killed him?” Trenton asked.

“Plague.”

“Huh,” Trenton remarked. Plague seemed to be getting more and more people these days.

“He was actually the only one in our bloodline able to cast magic, funny enough. My brother’s and I all have aspects, but no magic.”

“That’s certainly some irony. Kind of rude to name your kid Wizard when he can’t even cast,” Trenton said.

“Have you never heard of the WL clause?”

Leo sat forward, suddenly interested, “WL clause?”

“Yeah. Your first name can only start with a W if you are a black haired elf without magic, half elves included. And, your first name can only start with L if you are a red haired, red eyed, pyromancer human. Era published a huge paper on it like a century ago,” Wizard said, leaning back in his chair.

Trenton glanced over at Leo, “Yeah that checks out.”

“Your hair is white,” Leo said, raising his eyebrows at the half elf.

“I dye it,” Wizard responded.

“Huh,” Leo said.

“What if you name your kid with an L without those traits?” Trenton asked.

“It’s really complicated, you’d have to read the study. But as far as I’m aware, it’s impossible. Era has a copy at the Academy if you ever stop by. Anyway, I didn’t call you up here to tell you my life story.”

“What did you call us here for?” Trenton said.

“I just kinda wanted to look at you.”

“You wanted to look at us?” Trenton asked, taken aback.

“Yeah. You two have got the whole world in a tizzy. I don’t really know how word has spread so fast, but most of Verulik knows about Aria by now, as well as the two survivors. I really just wanted to see you two in person. Well…actually there is another reason, but it’s a bit less specific to you. See, my brother, Wrigley, he-”

“Wrigley!? Your brother's name is Wrigley!?” Trenton exclaimed, practically bursting out laughing again.

“Yes. Wisdom, Wizard, Wheelock, Wrigley,” he said, counting off on his fingers, “now pay attention. Wrigley’s birthday is in a couple months. And by a couple months, I mean like 4. I have a gift for him, but I’m too busy to deliver it myself. He lives in Korak,.”

“Why don’t you have one of your employees do it? Surely they would be better fit to the task, rather than asking two strangers. We’re not even heading to Korak,. It's quite a ways from our path,” Leo said, mimicking Trenton’s own thoughts.

“I’ll give you each a magical item from my personal reserve if you do it.”

“You have a deal,” Leo said, extending his arm and shaking Wizard’s hand.