The Tower Series, the half of Vahir that consists mostly of defence and support spells.
In contrast to its counterpart, the Vanguard Series, the Tower Series requires immense time and dedication to master, but its advantages far outweigh the effort put into it.
Among the spells of the Tower Series, there is Number 34: Neural Interface, a spell used to enable communication through thought between two or more individuals.
To use Neural Interface, the individuals must either both perform the spell in the presence of each other to connect or use connected spell tags made by the same caster.
Then there is visualisation, the process of envisioning a mindscape to ease communication when more than two individuals are connected with the same neural link.
The scape Miyuki visualised that night was nothing but an empty room, but it was sufficient. The tag she held in her hand sparked and the pattern inscribed on it gave off a faint glow before the tag burnt away completely.
"Five-way Neural Interface established," she thought with her eyes closed.
Once she opened them, she was sitting in that empty room that she had envisioned. Four other faint silhouettes came into view in the corners of the room.
"Can everyone hear me?" she thought.
The confirmation echoed across the room.
"Yuriko, what's the status of the girl?" Miyuki asked.
Yuriko, who was lying on her back looking at the ceiling, replied, "She just snuck out of the room. It looks like she's going to meet her just like she was told to."
"Is anyone following her?" Miyuki asked.
"I haven't picked up on anyone so far," Takae replied.
"Good," she said before turning to Izumi and Lloyd's silhouettes.
"What's your status?" she asked them.
In the shadows of the forest near the shrine, the two of them were lurking in wait.
"We're ready to move in as soon as she walks into the forest," Izumi replied.
Lloyd turned his head in the direction of the back gate with his eyes glowing a sharp purple.
"I'm keeping watch on the gate with my Rebel Eyes," he said. "As soon as she walks out, we'll be able to tail her."
"Make sure you stay hidden and don't forget to use the concealment tags I gave you," Miyuki said.
"We've got them ready for when we make a move," Izumi replied.
"They only last three minutes, so save them for the right moment," she added.
Izumi held the small piece of paper in his hand and thought to himself, "I didn't think it was possible to convert a wide-area spell like Silent Sphere into a concealment tag."
"The surprises just don't stop with her."
"Has she come out yet?" he asked Lloyd.
"The gate still hasn't moved yet," he replied, his gaze still fixed.
"Is something holding her up?" Izumi asked. "Or was the entire setup of approaching the gate a trap for her from the start?"
"No, wait," Lloyd interrupted. "The gate is sliding open."
"Really, who is it?" Izumi asked.
Lloyd focused his vision even more and saw a teenage girl walking out. She was of moderate height and had a head of slick black hair.
"A girl just walked out," Lloyd said. "She matches the description that Yuriko gave us, so it must be her."
"What is she doing?" Miyuki asked.
"She is scouting the field around the gate," he replied as he kept his gaze fixed on her.
"Now she's walking into the forest," he continued.
"How far is she from us?" Izumi asked.
"About half a mile," he replied.
"How fast is she moving?" Miyuki asked.
"Since she can't see in the dark like I can, she's flailing around pretty slowly," he answered. "But it seems like she's headed in the right direction."
He rose to his feet and turned to Izumi, saying, "Let's move."
He nodded, and the two of them dashed out in the direction of the clearing.
Though Lloyd was manoeuvring around effortlessly because of his Rebel Eyes' ability to see in the dark, Izumi only had the faint signature of his source energy as a guide, so they weren't able to move as fast as they would've wished.
With time, Izumi's vision started to somewhat adjust to the darkness, and their pace hastened. Soon, the clearing was in their sights, and so was she.
From a safe distance away in the forest, they watched as she walked toward a large boulder at the center of the clearing, intending to sit, before two cloaked figures appeared from the other side of the clearing.
They approached her, and one of them took down their hood. Lloyd could tell who it was at a glance. It was the Shrine Priestess.
He gestured a sign to Izumi, and the two of them pulled out their concealment tags and used them.
From that point, all they could do was watch what would happen next. The two ladies spoke for a moment before the priestess suddenly embraced her.
What followed left the two of them stunned. With her bare hand, she tore through her gut with such frightening speed that it took Tsubaki a few seconds to even notice what had happened.
"What's going on?" Miyuki called out to them.
The priestess pulled out her arm, and Tsubaki fell to the ground lifeless.
"I don't know how to say this," Izumi thought,"but she's dead."
"Dead, but how?!" Yuriko shot.
"Hold on, we can hear her saying something to the guy she's with," Lloyd thought.
The two of them tuned into their conversation and heard her say, "Bury her like the rest of them."
"What did she say?" Takae asked.
"She told her guard to bury her like the rest of them," Lloyd replied.
"Like the rest of them?" Takae said. "Does he mean like all the other girls who disappeared?"
"But if they were all killed, then how did they come back?"
"He's finished burying her and seems like the two of them are walking away," Lloyd thought.
"Get up, Lloyd, and let's follow them," Izumi said.
"Wait, don't go yet," Lloyd said, trying to hold him back.
But just as he grabbed his arm, she turned toward their direction.
They both jerked back simultaneously, with Lloyd thinking, "Did she sense us?"
"But how? We still have an entire minute left before the spell wears out," Izumi replied.
Her gaze remained fixed in their direction, the shadows cast by the trees being their only cover.
"Is something wrong, Mistress?" her guard asked.
She stared at the patch of trees a bit longer before turning away again.
"I thought I sensed something," she said, "but it seems it was nothing."