The tower had looked tall even from far away. Up close, Xu Yi could see that the entire structure was cast from iron and steel and rose more than twenty meters above the ground. He had to tilt his head back to see its tip.
The iron tower's base alone covered more than a hundred square meters. Combined with its height, that made it an especially striking sight on this stretch of land.
Xu Yi approached the base and saw a group of people in the uniforms of the Xinfei Merchant Guild Magic Research Institute's researchers busy working beneath it. He was about to greet them when a little girl's piping voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
"No! I want to go up! I want to go up!"
Xu Yi froze for a moment. He immediately recognized Freya's voice.
Sure enough, Akali's helpless attempts to persuade her followed.
"Freya, it's too high up there. It's dangerous. I'm afraid you'll get scared if I take you up."
"I'm not scared! With Aunt Akali here, there won't be any danger at all!"
"But it's so high, and the wind is strong up there. You'll get cold."
"No, I won't! Aunt Akali, you're a mage. You'll protect me, won't you?"
Akali sounded even more helpless.
"But I have work to do."
Freya went quiet for a moment, then suddenly shouted, "Hmph! Daddy has work, Mommy has work, and you have work too, Aunt Akali! None of you will play with me! None of you want me anymore!"
At first, Freya's voice was full of anger, but by the end, she was on the verge of tears.
Xu Yi had wanted to listen a little longer to how Freya talked with Akali, but now he could no longer stay off to the side.