Aozaki Aoko [553-555] (Patreon)

Chapter 553: The Tower of Prophecy

Is this old palm tree out of its mind…?

It definitely is, Aoko quickly realized. What normal creature could stay sane after spending two thousand years in a place like this? The fact this old geezer of a tree can even hold a conversation is already a miracle.

But Aoko didn’t answer right away. After hearing the Nether Oak’s question, she felt there was no point in replying. After all, how could a human negotiate terms with a tree?

Heightened Spell · Instant Cast · Silent Cast · Feeblemind!

A subtle flare of magical light accompanied Aoko’s wand movement. While the old Nether Oak was waiting for an answer, she used the opportunity to cast the spell unexpectedly, striking its trunk. For a moment, its expression went blank.

“Abababababa…”

The old oak let out a series of meaningless noises. Edgin couldn’t help himself and burst out laughing.

“Hahaha… ahem! Sorry,” Edgin quickly stifled his laughter. “How long does your spell last?”

“Hmm… This old tree has strong magic resistance,” Aoko frowned, sensing the effect. “About ten-odd minutes… I can extend it a bit more.”

As a metamagic specialist, Aoko possessed the unique feat of Area Metamagic, which allowed her to enhance spells already in effect. Since the tree was now under her Feeblemind spell, she could use this ability to prolong its duration.

Area Metamagic: Extend!

With a flash of red from her wand, the Nether Oak—already starting to shake off the Feeblemind—slumped back into a drooling, babbling mess.

“All right, Holga, hurry and chop off some branches,” Aoko urged. “Pick the best ones, and don’t take any with those ugly galls!”

Holga nodded and, eager to help, swung her great axe down from her back, then quickly climbed up into the canopy and started hacking off branch after branch.

After about twenty minutes of chopping, and with Aoko’s reminders, Holga jumped down from the tree. Everyone swiftly bundled the cut branches together and stuffed them into Aoko’s expanded imaginary pouch.

“This guy’s waking up soon—we need to go,” Aoko urged her teammates after stowing the branches. “For some reason, this tree has incredibly high magic resistance. Even with heightened magic, I can’t control it for long!”

“Why don’t we just finish it off?” Edgin asked as he packed, glancing at Aoko. “If we kill it, we wouldn’t have to run off in such a hurry, right?”

“I don’t have experience crafting wands,” Aoko admitted. “We’ll have to head to a workshop in Ythryn city. Whether we can make a usable wand is still unknown, so keeping the tree here could be useful later.”

“Well, I don’t think we’ll fail after gathering so much material,” Edgin replied.

“There’s one more thing. Did you guys notice?” Aoko pointed to the ordinary golden-leafed trees lining the road.

“Notice what?”

“All these trees have been transformed into needle blights by the Nether Oak,” Aoko said quietly. “Trust me, you do not want to be surrounded by so many little tree monsters.”

Aoko’s party retreated quickly. Although some needle blights ambushed them along the way, as long as they weren’t moving under the Nether Oak’s command, these scattered minions were easily dispatched.

Unable to find the wand workshop’s exact location on the map, the group decided to first visit the closest landmark—the Tower of Prophecy. Such places usually held plenty of information. Perhaps they’d find a clue about the wand workshop.

Even if they found nothing about wand-making, they could hopefully collect one of the Arcane Octad—so the trip wouldn’t be wasted.

Standing before the Tower of Prophecy, Aoko looked up. Compared to the Tower of Warding, this tower was much slimmer, its outer walls engraved with intricate patterns of eyes and hands. Looking closer, she realized these patterns were made up of smaller magical runes, forming a mysterious magical field.

At the tower’s peak, a massive stone-carved eye gazed out, radiating silver light as if ever on guard, searching for something.

“Isn’t there a piece missing from the top?” Doric squinted, pointing at a side of the spire. “Looks like an icicle got jammed in there…”

“Probably damage from when Ythryn city crashed,” Aoko replied, following Doric’s gaze to the crack. “Either way, we have to check inside. Be careful, everyone.”

Following Aoko, the group entered the Tower of Prophecy. From outside, it looked intact, but inside, the damage was severe—shattered walls, broken devices, and rubble everywhere.

Even creepier, eyes were embedded all over the tower walls—some in glass jars, others set into the walls, or hanging from the ceiling.

Whenever they approached, the eyes would swivel in their jars to stare at the party.

After some searching, they found the first-floor library destroyed. Most books were ruined beyond reading, but Aoko carefully salvaged a few worth saving, storing them in her imaginary pouch.

The upper floors were in similar shape. This worried Aoko—if the ritual record for the Arcane Octad was destroyed, would she have to dismantle the entire tower to negate the central tower’s force shield?

How was she supposed to tear down a tower, anyway? Meteor Swarm? That would likely draw the legendary lich’s attention. Now was definitely not the time…

While Aoko fretted, the party finally reached the top of the tower.

If the tower’s lower levels were a little creepy, then the top room was downright hair-raising.

A massive crystal orb sat atop a stone pedestal in the center of the room, inscribed in Draconic: “Ask and it shall answer.”

So far, so normal—but the terrifying part was inside the orb.

The giant crystal ball was filled with some unknown liquid, and floating inside were hundreds—maybe thousands—of eyeballs.

These eyes swirled like fish; some were milky-white as if cataracted, others bloodshot or pus-filled. Intact, healthy eyes were a minority.

As Aoko’s party cautiously approached, every eyeball inside the crystal orb stopped moving and turned to stare at them. The gaze seemed to pierce their bodies straight to their souls.

Chapter 554: This One, Don’t Need It

“This thing isn’t cursed, is it?” Holga asked warily, gripping her axe as the eyes stared at her. “This is way too creepy. It can’t be anything good.”

“Not a curse, at least. The magical aura on the orb is divination,” Aoko replied, examining the crystal ball. “But it definitely has a side effect. The eyes inside belonged to those who failed to use it…”

“Use it once, lose an eye? What’s the point?” Edgin rolled his eyes.

“It’s very valuable,” Aoko said seriously, scrutinizing the spell matrix under the magical glow. “And I think I know what it’s for. It really can help us find the wand workshop!”

‘Ask and it shall answer…’ Simon mused, staring at the Draconic inscription. “Do you have to ask it a question, and pay with an eye?”

“Good guess, but that’s not it,” Aoko shook her head. “This orb has a permanent ‘Greater Locate’ effect, combined with magic I’ve never seen before. It lets the user see the person or object they seek, and reveals the target’s location.”

“But with such a powerful effect, the price is steep,” Aoko continued. “If you fail the saving throw, one of your eyes is taken as the cost each time you use it.”

With that, Aoko placed her right hand on the orb. Instantly, the eyeballs inside scattered in all directions, each seemingly searching for something.

“Hey! Aoko, what are you—” Edgin started to pull Aoko away. Beyond their camaraderie, as the party’s strongest member, he didn’t want her hurt.

“Don’t interrupt her,” Simon stopped Edgin, shaking his head. “If Aoko’s doing this, it means she’s confident she won’t pay the price.”

Using this All-Seeing Orb was a strange experience.

Aoko’s vision seemed limitless—not just 360 degrees, but as if her eyes could scan the entire material plane. To compare, it was like her eyes became a super-Byakugan.

Of course, she couldn’t handle that much input. As her vision expanded too far, her headache worsened—her brain was warning her to stop.

So she limited her scope to within Ythryn city. Besides the central tower, nothing in the city was hidden from her.

There’s so much good stuff here…

Resisting the urge to snatch up all the magic items she saw, Aoko focused on locating the wand workshop. Soon, she had an answer.

The botanical garden they’d visited before was in District 10; the Tower of Prophecy was in District 11. What surprised Aoko was that the wand workshop—or rather, the artifact workshop—wasn’t far, in District 13, just past District 12, called the Wellspring of Answers.

Aoko was briefly interested in District 12, but after seeing what was in the well—namely, a five-headed hydra with five human heads—she decided to give it a wide berth.

When Aoko’s consciousness withdrew from the All-Seeing Orb, a subtle but vicious magical glow suddenly shot from the orb straight at her eyes.

So that’s how it collects payment. Not paying today.

Before anyone could react, the orb’s eye-gouging spell collided with Aoko’s Heightened Shield spell, crackling with sparks.

This thing’s pretty high-level. No wonder it’s collected so many eyes… Aoko watched her shield waver, calculating her next move.

Greater Dispel or Mordenkainen’s Disjunction wouldn’t work—she still wanted to keep this knockoff True Sight Orb and planned to remove its eye-gouging mechanism herself. As for replacement eyes, she’d have Touko clone a few.

Would an antimagic field or magical nullification barrier work? No—it just kept attacking until it got her eyes.

So, must it harvest a pair of eyes…? Wait, got it!

Before her shield broke, Aoko rapidly cast several hand seals, slammed her wand to the ground, and invoked a ninth-level Transmutation spell—Time Stop!

She stepped back, putting distance between herself and the orb, then cast a VI-level Summon Monster spell. A sinister, blood-red magic circle appeared on the floor, the scent of brimstone wafting out.

A vrock demon, looking like a cross between a vulture and a devil, emerged from the circle—frozen by the time stop.

Such evil, cunning demons are normally dangerous to their summoners, but Aoko was unfazed.

She quickly used her Metamagic Specialist ability “Spell Transfer,” wresting control of the eye-gouging spell and changing its target from herself to the vrock.

With that, time resumed.

“Puny wizard! You dare summon me to the Material Plane? I’ll kill you, then everyone else—aaaaaAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Halfway through its threat, the eye-gouging spell from the orb veered and struck the vrock, yanking out its two bloody demon eyes and sucking them into the orb.

The poor vrock clutched its bloody eye sockets, writhing in pain. The party looked on, stunned.

Aoko, unimpressed, tapped her wand twice on the still-glowing summoning circle, using her Metamagic Specialist “Dismiss” ability to banish the unlucky demon back to the Abyss.

This one, don’t need it.

Chapter 555: Just a Passing Skull

“These demons really stink,” Aoko wrinkled her nose at the ashes left behind. “Every time I summon one, it’s revolting.”

“Well, at least it selflessly contributed both its eyes,” Edgin coughed, walking over. “So, did you learn anything?”

“I used the All-Seeing Orb to find the artifact workshop. It’s close by,” Aoko replied. “As for the ritual record from the Tower of Prophecy, it’s on a stone tablet that’s fallen into the observatory. We can look for it later.”

“Are you taking that thing with you?” Simon eyed the All-Seeing Orb nervously.

“Of course, but you guys better not touch it,” Aoko said, stuffing the orb into her imaginary space with effort. “Whew! It’s hard work to store this thing… For each eye it collects, the All-Seeing Orb forms a contract with the donor, so it won’t attack me now.”

“Should we look for the ritual tablet, or head to the artifact workshop first?” Doric asked.

“The workshop is in District 13, the observatory in District 15,” Aoko said, showing the map. “We’re in 11, so we should go to 13 first—they’re all in a straight line.”

Although most of the Tower of Prophecy’s valuables were destroyed, finding the All-Seeing Orb alone made the trip worthwhile—it gave Aoko a good understanding of Ythryn.

Due to disease accumulation concerns, they didn’t set out immediately, but used Magnificent Mansion atop the tower to rest overnight.

After breakfast the next morning, they set off again.

Along the way, they cut down plenty of minor monsters before finally reaching District 13, where the artifact workshop was located.

From the outside, it was clearly once a vast marketplace. Four huge, broken towers leaned inward, battered pennants fluttering in the wind. From a distance, the group could hear strange noises.

Approaching cautiously, they saw the cause: a headless iron golem was rampaging through the market, smashing stalls and goods.

After some discussion, Aoko and Simon buffed Holga up, and the barbarian charged like a freight train, knocking the iron golem over.

The golem struggled to rise, but Aoko’s black tentacles pinned it to the ground, and Simon quickly erased the runes on its chest core.

The golem twitched twice, then fell still, joining the other ruins in silence.

“Did that hunk of metal smash the place we’re looking for?” Edgin asked worriedly.

“I didn’t see it in the All-Seeing Orb earlier,” Aoko mused. “So the workshop should be intact. Let’s check.”

Soon, the group stood before a building resembling a Turkish mosque. Just as Aoko had guessed, it was undamaged—only some wooden parts had rotted with age.

Since she’d already seen the inside, Aoko knew there were no enemies, so she confidently pushed the door open.

“Let’s split up and search,” Aoko said after glancing around. “Find any tools or books related to wand-making. We’ll likely be here a while.”

Everyone nodded and began rummaging through the two-thousand-year-old luxury workshop.

Aoko found many magical item remnants that had long since lost their power, which puzzled her. Normally, as long as the mythal core was intact, floating city enchantments wouldn’t fail. Why had these items lost their magic?

Did the Ythryn mythallar core fail at some point and later restart?

Mystra hadn’t told her about this. Aoko made a mental note to ask later—no one wants their engine to stall at the wrong time, right?

When you’re busy, time flies. Before they knew it, it was around 2 PM, and everyone was hungry. They conjured a mansion and ate, sorting through their finds.

After a hearty meal, Aoko realized their luck was good: the workshop’s tools and equipment were complete, except for the magic lathe, which was entirely defunct.

“What now?” Simon asked, rubbing his head as he eyed the broken lathe.

“No problem!” Aoko said confidently. “The basic principles and procedures are all in the manuals. I can handcraft two wands myself!”

That sounded easy, but the Nether wand’s ritual runes were complicated. Manually casting and inscribing them took so much time, they ended up staying in the workshop for a week.

At last, Aoko managed to craft two Nether Oak wands. They couldn’t store spells, but could boost spell save Difficulty Class. Simon happily claimed one for himself.

No strange enemies attacked during their stay, but something odd did happen.

“…What do you think that is?” The group was on the third floor, looking out the skylight at the sky, as a grumbling skull drifted past.

“Probably a lich,” Aoko guessed. “But why is it just a head? Where’s its body? And why does it feel like this lich is missing something important, compared to Sofina…?”

“What could a lich be missing—its brain?” Edgin joked.

“You never know,” Simon mused, flipping through his notebook. “That skull might be a half-lich.”

“Can you even become a lich halfway?” Aoko wondered aloud. The Book of Thay Necromancy she’d found never mentioned that.

“I heard from an old wizard in Neverwinter,” Simon said, scratching his head. “There’s a theory that if a lich doesn’t feed souls to its phylactery for a long time, it becomes a ‘half-dead’ half-lich.”