Kyrine and I walked to the door that led out of the bedroom. We stepped through and found ourselves in a big, airy workroom. On one side, there was a big leather-topped desk with a comfortable-looking office chair tucked under it. The desk was equipped with a rack of old-fashioned quill pens made from exotic feathers with gold nibs. There were ink pots with black, blue, and red ink. When I opened the drawers on either side of the desk, I found reams of creamy, thick paper bound in leather covers. There were candles, blocks of sealing wax, and a stamp seal with an image of a dragon.
I looked at Kyrine questioningly.
She shrugged. “When I was on Eosor, my Keeper and I had a wide-ranging correspondence with the outside world. I thought that we may need these things again for that purpose.”
“Sounds reasonable,” I said with a smile, though I’d never been much of a fan of office work. I opened another drawer. This was more to my liking.
“Magical inks!” I said. There were four bottles of arcane ink, a scraper, brushes, and several sheets of finely hammered metal. Everything I needed to create enchanted scrolls.
“How did you know I was into creating scrollwork?” I asked. Back when I worked at the magic shop, my boss Trevor had kept this kind of work to himself, but I’d learned how to do it in my spare time by applying the techniques I’d seen him use. I’d even had some success applying enchanted scrolls to my old car.
“I didn’t know you enjoyed it,” she replied, “but that kind of scrollwork is essential to the functioning of the dungeon. The skill is instinctive in pure-blooded Keepers, and I guessed that you would have a talent for it even if you’d never tried it before.”
“I love it!” I said enthusiastically. “I’ve done a bit of it before. How come it’s essential for dungeons?”
“Scrolls and scroll-enchanted items are basic loot for adventurers, and they are the only thing I’ve ever found that I can’t replicate for myself. A Keeper needs to create them for his dungeon.”
“Awesome!” I said. There was that mention of adventurers again. We’d have to discuss that, but before I could ask a question, another table on the other side of the room caught my eye. “Woah, what’s that?” I asked.
“Enchanter’s table,” said Kyrine, smiling.
I walked over to have a closer look. The enchanter’s table was round and easily five feet across, made of cast iron and inlaid with fat green and red gemstones and arcane symbols that glowed blue as if they were filled with cold fire.
“This is the best enchanter’s table I’ve ever seen!” I exclaimed, running my hands over the runes. These were standard items for people who created enchanted tech, but I’d never seen one so beautiful as this one. Usually, they were cobbled together in someone’s garage from old bits of iron, with the necessary symbols painted on. The iron kept the magic stable and contained while the merging process happened, and the symbols dictated the efficiency and power of the final product.
Binding symbols were strictly regulated, and only symbols up to level 3 were allowed under federal law. These symbols were entirely new to me.
“Kyrine, what level are these binding symbols?” I asked quietly.
“Level 12,” she replied, sounding pleased with herself.
I nearly fell over. “This is the best present ever, Kyrine, thank you! I’m going to be able to make the coolest enchanted tech here!”
She laughed. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it. But come and see the rest of the suite.”
I left the enchanting table somewhat reluctantly. My inner geek was desperate to give it a go and start tinkering, but there would be plenty of time for that.
Kyrine showed me another door which opened to reveal a personal training area, with various free weights, a treadmill, and a glowing pool of water at one end.
“What’s this?” I asked, walking over to the pool.
“Watch,” said Kyrine, happily. She leaned down and waved her hand over a green crystal inlaid in the wall next to the pool. The water started to bubble, and as it did so it turned a glimmering holographic swirl of colors. Steam rose from it.
“A jacuzzi!” I laughed.
“Not just that. You remember the waterfall in the training area downstairs?”
“Sure I do,” I nodded. In the big training hall where we tested the monsters, there was a tumbling fall of holographic water that leveled up monsters over time. I could place a summoned monster under the fall and in time, it would level up their magical defense characteristics.
“This jacuzzi is like that but attuned to the Keeper rather than to your summoned monsters. Spend time in this jacuzzi, and it will slowly level up one of your attributes at random. It’s also pretty nice just to relax in.” She grinned, running her hand through the steaming, bubbling, holographic liquid.
Off to one side of the training room, there was a sauna room, with a hot stove and a pile of logs ready to make a fire, and a bucket of water to make steam. That would be just the ticket after a training session.
We went back to the work room, and Kyrine showed me a brass level in the wall. I reached up and pulled it. Smoothly, the lever worked unseen gears to reveal hidden doors in one wall. The doors swung back, revealing a walk-in closet easily as big as the wardrobe in the bedroom.
Except this one contained weapons, not clothes.
“Woah,” I said as I took in the arsenal of firearms, swords, axes, crossbows, daggers, and body armor. “You made all of this?”
“I did,” said Kyrine with a grin. “Most of it is old, swords and daggers and crossbows from Eosor, but the failed candidates to be my Keeper brought
