“Wait,” she said to me. “Close your eyes.”

“But, aren’t we leaving the core chamber for the tour?” I asked.

“Yes, but there’s no need to use the door. Furthermore, the other residents—those agents who brought you here to me—they don’t know I look like this. They believe I am little more than a spirit who haunts the mansion. I only reveal my true self to those I deem worthy.”

“Ok, that’s fair enough. But how are you going to give me the tour then?” I asked.

“I’ll show you. Close your eyes,” Kyrine repeated, reaching a slender hand up to draw her fingers down over my eyelids.

I did as she requested.

“Now,” she went on, “focus on your secondary sphere. When your will has completely enveloped it, expand your awareness outward. As though you were casting a spell.”

I breathed steadily and wrapped my will around the secondary core, feeling the pleasant sensation of dropping into a slight trance as the magic took effect. Then, taking care not to overload the spell, I pushed mana through the sphere and then out of it, much as I would have done if I were using the mana to cast a spell through my primary core.

Suddenly, a sound like rushing wind filled my ears, and my consciousness was no longer inside my head. There was a soaring sensation, as if my consciousness was being lifted out of my body, and I opened my eyes. I found that I was looking down at the mansion from above, gazing down at the bluestone tiled rooftop.

I felt like I was floating, face downward as if I was lying on a bed, but it was not at all uncomfortable.

Turning my head from side to side, I found that I could only see as far as the edge of the estate grounds. The drive ran down to the high white wall, which I now saw ran the whole way round the house in a big circle. Beyond the wall was what looked like a dense white fog. So, this view was only for looking at the mansion itself. I turned my attention back in that direction.

“You can view any section of the mansion at will from here,” Kyrine's voice spoke inside my head. “Simply focus on an area, and your view will be taken to it.”

I made a mental nod and gave it a shot. When I focused just below the rooftops, I was presented with an entire diagram of the mansion. On the left was a birds’ eye perspective of the ground floor, and on the right was the same perspective of the second floor. It was like viewing an architect’s drawings, only it was in real-time.

“Look closer to see the room itself,” said Kyrine encouragingly. She sounded as if she was enjoying this.