Shorty after Aiden returned from his Tower with absolutely no memory of his venture inside Mara immediately conversed with Gaia.
'Quite an odd situation. If what he said was true about this boy's growth then he will be a worthy ally. But…'
'If the maker of the Tower did all of this then he must have his own agenda to make the Tower or he's preparing to make a move against someone.'
It was the only logical conclusion based on what Mara knew but Gaia knew Jacob much better then Mara could ever understand.
'His purpose can only be to help us which means that something is coming that we can't stop. For all the time I've known him he has only cared for Humanity's Evolution.'
Mara was somewhat taken aback by Gaia's words as they sounded like she was speaking to an old friend or even a family member.
But the more immediate course of action to take if Gaia was correct was to stick close to Aiden.
"So you really don't remember anything about going into the tower?"
"No im telling you Ms.Thorn that I haven't been in the tower before. I was just following this mark on my hand before everything turned black."
Mara sighed as she had hoped to gain at least a little bit of knowledge of the inside of the Tower which only confirmed one of her suspicions.
'Whatever was in that Tower is dangerous if the Maker wanted Aiden's memories wiped of the experience.'
No one could tell if Aiden would suddenly regain his memories of the encounter but one thing was certain.
'I'll have to train him at the Dojo after I go see my brother.'
'No, have him retested for his Hunter Rank and then start to train with him. Time is of the essence and I can already feel your brother waking up.'
It took everything in her bones to fight the urge to go see her brother but Mara did so anyway.
Which led to the present moment in time while Aiden on the brink of exhaustion on a sparring match with Mara.
"Time out for a second! I need to catch my breath."
Mara grabbed two bottles of water and tossed one to Aiden with a smile.
"Your getting better at your skills with a dagger. We'll continue in 10 minutes."
Aiden grunted as he already felt like his bones were fractured but decided to lay down on the mat.
"You know… I never thought this would be how this day would end. First I get this strange marking on my hand and then I'm training with Mara Thorn."
Mara nodded in agreement as she started brewing some recovery potions with her alchemy tools and with Gaia's help.
"Rest up for the night here. I'm making some recovery potions for you to take with you into the Tower tomorrow morning."
Mara finished brewing the potions in quick succession and turned to notice Aiden was sleeping soundly on the floor without a care in the world.
If Mara wasn't aware of the dangers surrounding Aiden and the Tower then she would be pleased to see that Aiden could rest peacefully in his current predicament.
But that was only because Aiden didn't know the full story.
"We should tell him… he deserves to know."
'Not yet… if I know anything about the being who made the Tower it's that he never does something without a purpose. We have to stay the course and see where it goes.'
Mara didn't like it but she trusted Gaia's judgment.
Mara honestly didn't know what to do or who to talk to about this besides Gaia who already knew everything.
"What do you think will happen? What happens when Aiden clears the Tower?"
Anyone could have guessed that once Aiden beats the Tower Boss that something would happen that would shake the world to its knees. But Gaia wouldn't have the slightest clue as to what would happen. But no one could predict its exact outcome aside from Jacob who was at the heart of the Ethereal Realm.
'By the time Aiden clears the Tower floor Mel should clear her Tower as well and the world will know of a new power and a new threat.'
Jacob was preparing for war and he needed foot soldiers and powerful soldiers too.
"They will face a difficult task when they invade but if need be I can just use the contingency."
Jacob had planned every moment up to this point in time. From the time he led Gaia straight to him to creating the towers with a crowd.
So Edward was quite prepared for what was to come has he closed a black book in his hand.
Mara couldn't shake her restlessness at all in fear of what was inside the tower and what was coming as it was evident that this was just the beginning.
"You should wear a more relaxed face. You could kill a orc with such a serious gaze."
Mara looked at the door to her office to see her brother casually walking around.
"Tomas! You should still be recovering! There's no telling if your still sick."
"Geez relax will you? I have a clean bill of health but I don't know how. I thought what I had was terminal."
Mara wrapped her hands around her little brother after being apart for so long.
"I miss you… so much… I…"
"I know… I know everything you've done to help me. It was all written in this book I found next to me."
Tomas showed Mara a seemingly ordinary notebook with a leather cover. But Mara suddenly felt Gaia's energy turn erratic.
'It can't be! Get that book right now!'
Mara was quite startled as was Tomas who saw one of Mara's eyes change as Gaia used it to look at the book.
"What is it? What's wrong Gaia?"
"That's from Ethereal… a place of infinite knowledge. But it was destroyed by /$;&;(/:?,:"
Mara looked confused as she had never heard Gaia's voice distort before Gaia told her why.
"Mortals can't understand our native tongue. But… if this book is real then perhaps we may see what's inside the Tower."
Mara was immediately interested as she was hoping to see what was inside the tower.
And now there was a way to look inside… just like Jacob had planned.
'Mara's influence will sway most of them once she see's what's inside the Tower. Now Mel just needs to control a demonic Undead.'
Truly Mel was determined to turn a demonic Imp into an undead. But what she didn't know was that it was almost impossible to turn a demon into an undead servant like Tuan and Jakmol.
And both Jakmol and Tuan were too busy running from Melodea who had inferno bagels with obsidian cheese in the middle.