After a few minutes of waiting, Randwen appeared in front of Dane. He looked like a completely different person.
For starters, he had five rings on his left hand. One for each finger, thumb included, no matter how weird it sounds.
In the game, thumb-rings weren't a thing, but Randwen somehow managed to fit one of them. Of course, they were not for aesthetic purposes, each one of them was enchanted and had very intricate rune carvings. Other than that, he was wearing an earing on his left ear, which made his wooden mask stand out even more. His shoes were luxurious looking, and his robe was what you would expect of a very wealthy and accomplished magician. The necklace he was carrying seemed more of a black chain than jewellery, but to anyone that knew their enchanting it would look like a ridiculous luxury. To top it all off, he was wielding a magic staff of about 1.4 meters. It had a metallic look and was intricately carved with runes that embellished the decorations on its body, and on top of it, there was a claw, presumably a wyvern's claw, holding a purple orb in it's place. When combined with the golden coloured staff, it looked majestic.
"My lord, I managed to find these items. I hope you are not upset about me borrowing them."
"That's okay. I'm relieved you chose something like that. It looks intimidating without being overly flashy. It is a good set."
"Thank you, my lord." Randwen hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth again. "Sir, if I may ask, why are we going to Enas? You should just focus on improving your magic."
"Believe me, this is a step to that goal." Dane hesitated for a second before sighing. "Randwen, when we return I will explain things to you in detail. Actually, there should be books about it in the tower, so Shera should already know, but I want to be the one to tell you."
"Master, did you call for me?" Just when Randwen was about to speak, Shera materialized at Dane's side. He thought this was strange. A god's intelligence should not allow for this type of misunderstanding, especially the goddess of intelligence's.
"No, Shera, I didn't. We are about to leave, is there anything you need to tell me?"
"Yes, master. I want to request master to take me along with him." Randwen frowned. What was this? Even though he was not very perceptive, he could still feel his master was feeling pressured and somewhat stressed, so the situation should not be good. And still, this spirit wants to take a stroll? He was very displeased.
"Miss Sheraffina, I believe it is best for you to stay inside the tower. If you are not here, it will be impossible to react timely to any unfortunate event. You surely wouldn't want master's possessions to be robbed or his privacy to be desecrated, would you?"
"Randwen, stand down. Thank you, but I think you misunderstood Shera's intentions." Dane took a deep look at Shera. Was it time yet? Even by her godly standards it was too soon. At least he believed so, he had never seen in action the product of an origin item working in tandem with a god's spirit.
"Thank you, master. It is indeed so. I did not mean nor do I want to leave the tower with my main body. At any point, it is nearly impossible to do so, anyway. I was referring to my spiritual fragment being bound to master."
"Oh, so that was it. I apologize, Sheraffina." She smiled and nodded.
"Shera, apart from communication, does it serve any other purpose to have you materialize? Because if it doesn't, we can just communicate mentally. Materializing you would spend mana, and I don't have that much of it for now."
"Master, I realize that. But I could still help master in some other ways. Besides, using the spiritual imprint I can hear your orders, but not see what you see."
"Still, it is inconvenient. My mana is very limited, Shera." Dane had a conflicted expression. Anyone would while facing such beauty, and rejecting her, at that.
"Master, if that is the case, then please allow me to do a partial transfer and accompany you with that." Dane's eyes sparkled.
Partial transfer. It referred to a spirit body breaking off part of his or her body and create a clone of sorts. This "clone" is just an amorphous blob of spiritual energy, and it only works as a way to communicate between the it and the main body. It is used as a tactical asset in battles and wars. It was rarely used, though, because it could only survive for about 24 hours and, if it had not returned to the main body by then, it would perish greatly damaging the original spirit. That, of course, is until it gains a host.
One the "clone" entered another living being, the partial transfer could be completed and the spiritual energy would not perish, even after the death of it's host. It would require a very, very small amount of mana to maintain, so Dane could do it. Besides, it was a good thing to have Shera with him. She could help and warn him about the tower's condition. But…
"That is a great idea, Shera, but what about your vessel?"
It would all be useless without a vessel. Even if they returned before her 24 hours expired, people could see a blob of light following them, and magicians could feel the spiritual energy. It would be unnecessary attention as well as trouble.
"Master, I already solved that problem." After Shera stopped speaking, rhythmical footsteps started approaching them, as well as what sounded to be an angry animal hissing. Somehow, Dane already had an idea of what happened.
Once the origin of those footsteps appeared in his line of sight, Dane gulped. There was a transcendent-grade metal puppet approaching them with a very small cat in his hands. Of course, this cat could still kill Dane in seconds if left alone.
"Silver… Silver-eyed Cat?" Shera smiled.
"I anticipated this situation, so I had one of my puppets go capture an inconspicuous creature from the forest nearby. This lovely thing should be good enough as a vessel for my partial transfer. It has a good potential, so I could keep its body for a long time, too." Dane was at a loss for words. She really thought about everything.
The Moonlit Razor beast. Also known as the Silver beast. It was one of the most powerful non-ancient descendants of one of the legendary creatures, the white tiger. Its growth was divided in four stages, at which they would abruptly change their physical appearance, like an evolution. When they were newborns or infants, they would be a silver-eyed cat.
They had a small, slim, agile body, just like an ordinary cat. Their fur was silver, and their eyes were that colour too. They were a very good beast for a tamer to get, since it had the potential to reach the 5th rank before they evolved. The beast in front of him now was just a rank 1, so it would not actually be very inconspicuous.
Still, Dane had to admit that it was a good option for a vessel, since it could actually evolve. If it reached fourth stage, it could actually have the strength of a newly advanced transcendent while being at 9th rank. It was even possible to purify its bloodline and have it evolve further. In few words, Dane was sold.
"It's fine, Shera. Use it as your vessel, but when other people are around don't speak, or mad collectors would stop at nothing to get a hold of you."
"Yes, master."
Just like that, Shera started glowing until a small ball of light got separated from her body. It entered the defenceless kitten and the glow around Shera's body died out. Apart from looking rather pale, she didn't appear to be in any kind of discomfort.
"Well, we should get going. You have control over the gargoyles and the overall defences, so keep the tower safe, would you?" Dane said to Shera before walking with Randwen towards the portal. "Have you entered the location for Enas' main tower to the portal, Shera?"
"Yes, master. I have already saved the locations of every major city I could, but the number is still quite small."
"Well, don't worry. Let's just get going." Dane stopped briefly in front of the portal.
"We should be in physical contact, just in case." Dane said with a sigh. "Cat Shera, come over my shoulder." After he said that, she just jumped and obeyed. To Dane's surprise though, the cat rubbed her face in Dane's cheek.
"Shera, what are you doing?"
"Master. In order to keep the cat's growth potential, I had to overlay mi soul with it's soul. I suspect my sudden desire to rub my face against you is due to this reason."
How can you say that so seriously!?
"Well, that's okay, I guess. As long as it doesn't affect your spirit."
"It won't, master."
"In that case, let us go." Dane smiled and placed his hand on Randwen's shoulder, but suddenly stopped.
"Randwen, I forgot. Please cast a transfiguration spell to change my face and the colour of my clothes. Something ordinary that people won't remember."
"Yes, master." Randwen nodded and from his staff a warm light started to fly to Dane's face. He felt his skin, nose, eyes, and ears move, but he didn't feel any pain. Shortly after, the light vanished. "It is done, master."
Dane nodded.
"Well then. Randwen, activate the portal."
"Yes, master." Randwen stretched his hand and placed it on the left side of the oval-shaped metal in front of them. Suddenly, its reflective surface started to sim until it became completely opaque. Next moment, the metal started to ripple, like a pool that defied gravity. Randwen placed his hand on top of the chaotic surface and everything went black.
Dane got nauseous. Teleport via portal was not as stable as a teleport via gate, but it still was useful. If there was anyone to blame, it was Dane himself. With his pathetic strength of a rank 0, of course he would get Dizzy. When he regained his senses, he was no longer in the tower.