Chapter 5: Chapter 2

"Arrg...RAAR...EEIIR"

Cries of pain bellowed from the room next door. It was Mary again. A few days ago, Adept Anderson called her to his floor for a "powerboost", that is to say she became his experimental subject. Ever since she returned, she locked herself in her room and burst out cries of pain on the regular. Although the entire floor could hear her, no one bothered to lend her a hand. Not only was it to stay clear of Anderson, not wanting to be his next victim, but the innate cruelty and darkness of this place everyone only caring about themselves, so they all simply pretended that Mary and her torture didn't exist.

Greem was different on the other hand. His life on Earth taught him that there was nothing wrong with simply helping someone when it came at no cost to the helper and besides, he didn't want to lower himself to the moral standard of those around solely because he didn't want to be a cruel and selfish bastard like they were. So when the crying began, he opened up one of his cabinets, picked out some dried meat and vegetables and put them up through the airduct that was connected to Mary's room. But once he did push them through, he didn't even hear anything hit the floor, only a sound similar to munching, followed by complete silence.

"Don't worry Mary, everything will be fine"

He said that not knowing if she actually hear her, but saying so put him at ease non the less.

Although most jobs gave the same knowledge credits, that is to say, points that could be exchanged for borrowing knowledge books in the libary, the monetary remuneration was nothing the sneeze at for jobs that involved risking ones life. So Greem could easily afford food for multiple people and buy experimental materials from the tower based shops for experiments in between his job. 

This time however, he was copying a book that he had borrowed from the library, "basics of fire magic". The boy Greem was born with a talent for fire magic, however, the original greem had only been able to learn 1 fire spell, "fire hand". This spell created a fire ball in his hand that could create a stream of fire whenever he wanted it. It was a good first spell for beginners, dealing 10 points of damage, with points being the base measurement of intensity in this world. However greem wanted something more powerful to protect himself. 

However, with the selfishness of every adept and apprentice in the world, one can't simply learn new spell. Firstly because they don't want to put in all the extra hard work for someone else's sake. That is, to create and complete new spells of all elements, not just the element(s) the writer has affinity for only to give them away for free as part of their duties. And second, no one wants to let their enemies know what kind of spells they have and how they work as to prevent their enemies creating counter measures against them. So Greem's book is only really an encyclopedia of different fire element chants and what each of their particular function is and it is Greem's job to chain together different chants to make a spell. 

*Thud, Thud, Thud* "Oi Greem, its time for our rounds"

It was his friend Toril who suddenly started pounding on the door. With a deep sigh he put down his feather pen and made his preparations, it was time for his job. A few minutes later, he walked out the door and they both begin walking down the stairs of the tower. They walked past all the alchemy rooms, where other apprentices are creating who knows what concoction and past all the classrooms where newcomers are taught to read and write. 

They eventually reached the ground floor of the tower where they stand in front of a giant Garage type door. Toril chanted the magic password and the door opened up and all the defensive spells outside the door were turned off. They both stepped outside, waved each other goodbye and began their journey.

Alright, it was time for work.