The stone stairs inside the Mage Tower were riddled with web-like cracks, as though the slightest pressure would shatter the entire flight.
Avoid using magic to levitate if at all possible. That had been Klauthsura's advice. According to her, many magical traps were specially designed to target intruders who tried to evade a tower's defenses by flying.
Yet when Renato, clad in Mountain's Embrace, cautiously stepped onto the first stair, it felt remarkably solid beneath his boot.
Perhaps the stone's internal structure was far sturdier than its appearance suggested, its supports still intact, or the magic embedded within it had yet to dissipate completely.
At any rate, it seemed he would not have to waste a casting of Spider Climb to scale the walls inside the Mage Tower.
Somewhat reassured, Renato nodded to Klauthsura behind him, and the two ascended the spiral staircase one after the other.
After they passed through the chipped and broken spiral stairway, the space before them suddenly opened up. They had reached a circular hall on the next floor, which differed little from the one below.
Discarded alchemical vessels lay scattered at odd angles in the corners, while the bases of Magic Circles, long stripped of their magical glow, were covered in dust. Only the heavy, tightly shut doors lining both sides of the walls caught Renato's attention. Their copper handles were mottled with rust, and the patterns carved into the door panels had long since faded beyond recognition.
Aside from that, this floor was slightly brighter, though the light came not from any magical lamps, but from the white glow flowing from a boy's hand in one corner.
Rafada was crouched before the innermost door with his back to them, murmuring under his breath. His right hand rested firmly against the door's brass handle,