“And that’d be a month without any other Golems being produced, or controlled, or the Tower getting fixed; okay, I get it.” I said, shaking my head. It had been a nice dream, though…I sat and pondered the options for a minute, before nodding and speaking to Heph.
“Okay, build the Servitors. We need to get the place cleaned up and repaired as quickly as possible, I know that, but if I’m going to try and steal the manastones, I’m going to need you guys to be ready to use them. Build three Servitors and…wait.”
I came to a halt suddenly as another thought came to mind. “Where the hell are we getting these Cores from? I thought we used all the ones we had?”
“Aye, laddie, we did! Little Caron was fair pesterin’ me fer a job, so I told him I needed Cores. He found three in two days!” The dwarven-featured wisp was obviously bursting with pride as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet.
“Damn, he found three that fast?” I said, shaking my head in shock, “Okay, how long will it take you to make all three?”
“Well, wi’ the repairs I’ve already done, should be all built in aboot ten hours, thereaboots, anyway!” Heph said, looking proud of himself.
“Damn, that’s great! Okay, then let’s build the three Servitors, and while they’re in process, get Caron to keep searching. If he can find more, build more. As soon as we run out of Cores, though, shut the Genesis Chamber down and begin proper repairs and upgrades.”
“Once you get three more Servitors built, get them all working on the repairs as much as you can. Once the upgrades and repairs are finalized for the chamber, begin building one Construction, then a Servitor, and just keep repeating that pattern until I tell you different, but make only Level Two versions once the upgrade is complete.”
“Aye, m’lord, it’ll be done,” said Heph, bowing his head and then flowing down into the pool as he relaxed.
“I’ll speak to Cai to determine what help he needs and begin directing those you have assigned to me. Thank you, Jax.”
With that, Seneschal followed Heph and disappeared, leaving both the room and my mind. I turned to Oracle and grinned.
“So, fancy going and raiding a city?” I asked her, getting a laugh in return.
“Of course! I always wanted to explore, after all! But you still need to speak to Jenae, so I’ll take Bob up and get a few bodies arranged for his repairs, and then chase Oren along!” She hopped off the table, leaned in, and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek before straightening up. “Just don’t be too long!” she said, shrinking down to her normal size and flying to Bob.
Oracle landed on his shoulder, resting one arm across the polished and cracked bone of his skull and struck a pose, pointing toward the door dramatically.
“Off we go, Bob! Onward…to the ship!” Bob, of course, said nothing and simply turned around and set off, his compromised frame sounding like a collapsing bellows and shaking as he went. “…we really need to get you fixed, you know, and maybe a cushion…” I heard Oracle’s voice faded into the distance as they began climbing the stairs.
“Okay, then; just you and me, I guess,” I said aloud, then paused. “Actually, I have no idea how this works… hello? Jenae? Can you hear me?” I said, receiving only silence. “Okay, so I need to work on that…” I sat for a while, thinking. The last time we’d talked, I had been channeling mana to her, but I didn’t have a quest to do that anymore. There had to have been a way people spoke to her without the quest in the past, so maybe that was it?
I drew in a deep breath, and then got down on one knee for good measure, with my right fist curled and my knuckles pressed flat to the ground, left fist pressed to my chest, and I closed my eyes.
I am trying to speak to a Goddess, after all, and she has saved me once already; best to try to be respectful…
I searched inside of myself, feeling the mana channels that ran through me and visualizing them in my mind. I saw my body, kneeling there on the cold, pitted stone floor of the Tower, and I concentrated on the feeling of using my magic.
Seeing in my mind’s eye the way it flowed from me to form the components of the spells, I imagined it slowly gathering before me, a faint blue mist seeping from my skin, as I concentrated it into a ball of magical energy that pulsed and rippled.
I realized that the light in the room had changed, the soft silvery illumination of the Creation Table and the sunlight that streamed in through the window to my right slowly being replaced with a steady blue glow.
I opened my eyes, finding it exactly as I’d visualized it: a gentle, glowing ball of mana that slowly bobbed and weaved before me. I focused on it and said one word.
“Jenae.”
The ball of mana seemed to burst, but instead of the mana splashing or falling apart, it pulsed brightly, then vanished into motes, like embers rising from a campfire in the dead of night.
“Eternal? You called to me?”
I grinned as I straightened up, relief flooding through me. I’d done it!
“Hi, Jenae,” I said, suddenly realizing that I really should have put some thought into what I was going to say, rather than whether I should kneel when calling to her. Dammit.
“Ha! You don’t need to do that, Jax; we agreed that for now we’re allies and will treat each other as such. Just speak to me, but remember who I am; I
