Evan soon leveraged himself up and left his cot, but not before asking about that ointment the Lifeweaver had mentioned. He also inquired about the cost of his treatment, but found that Starspire, in a rare display of generosity, wasn’t charging him for the healing – it seemed they were owning up to their mistake in at least this small manner.

The ointment wasn’t included in that, but he still gladly paid for a hefty amount of it, along with a satchel he could carry it home with. It wasn’t cheap, but was still hardly worth mentioning to him, especially if it saved him from some scarring and other unpleasantness.

Once that was done, he found somewhere nearby where he could wait for dawn. It was still dark out and he didn’t feel safe going out – the attackers could still be here, and he was still uncomfortable of going out in the dark so soon after the attack.

As he waited, he tried to get some more sleep but found he couldn’t – now that he was in better shape, sleep seemed to allude him, and the uncomfortable chair he had found didn’t help things.

Left with his own thoughts, he tried not to dwell on the events of the previous night. Part of him was surprised nobody had come to see him while he was asleep, but he supposed they might be hurt as well.

If they were, he hoped they were alright. He had tried asking around, but nobody had any answers for him and he was too afraid to venture out into the dark. Master Isaac was up to all manner of things at night – the man seemed to spend more time building and maintaining connections than almost anything else – and Arnav typically ventured out to hang out with some of his other ‘buddies’ he found everywhere they went.

Illiana was likely in the most danger, but he had no idea what to do about it other than report it. He wasn’t heartless, and he was somewhat worried about what had happened to her, but there was nothing he could have done – not without risking his own life, something he refused to feel guilty about.

The guilt came anyway.

It gnawed at him as he waited for the sun to come back out and chase away the darkness in his thoughts, but by the time it had arrived, it had already found a place to stay. He set out.

As he arrived before their home, he found it in ashes. He frowned as he stood before his charred home. It wasn’t much, but it was home, and he had kept most of his belongings in there. There was nobody nearby, and he wasn’t sure how he would know if anyone had been inside when it burnt down unless he came across a body.

He didn’t have many belongings, and had no sentimental objects – just his clothes, his money, and… his notes! A spike of concern that nearly matched the worry he felt about his friends and teacher lanced through him and he rushed forwards.

Inside, the scent of ash and cinders welcomed him, and for a moment a wave of pure terror crashed through him, halting his steps. Then it was gone, but in its place was a pit of fear he couldn’t dislodge.

He wasn’t sure what had happened to the house, or who was inside when the fire was started, or even if someone else had raided the house last night. The money wasn’t a big deal – he kept a good sum in his room, but it was a small fraction of what he kept in the bank. It was spending money, so he always had some physical currency on him.

He stepped over still burning embers and around the collapsed walls – their home had been made of mostly wood. High quality wood, but still wood, and still flammable. As it wasn’t truly their residence, and was temporary, it also lacked any formations at all – they were incredibly expensive, even for the current him.

Much of the roof had collapsed in the fire, and he found himself blocked from accessing his room or much of the rest of house – it was totally destroyed by the raging flames and collapsing structure.

This made him incredibly angry – could Starspire do nothing right? What if Master Isaac or Arnav was inside? Or if Illiana had somehow made it back before the fires started? What of his notes? Everything that mattered to him could have gone up in flames, because the military of Starspire was a joke!

Useless! He cursed the military in his mind, but much of his anger had already been spent. That made up his mind, and after some more searching and listening, he left for one of the offices.

That, too, was burned down and even more demolished than most of the other buildings. It had been made out of stone, and no doubt had some formations to ensure it’s stability. Whoever the attackers were, this had clearly been a raid, and one meticulously planned.

It made him realize that they must have explicitly targeted the important buildings, and that their workshop was probably torched as well.

He shivered. It would take a lot of strength to demolish such an important building so utterly, and unlike most, it would have had plenty of guards and was close to reinforcements.

Still, he looked around for somewhere to go. It was still early in the morning, but in the stupor his injuries left him in, the second day since the attack had already arrived. Surely, some sort of temporary office had been set up in that time.

After looking around, he found what he was looking for. The official buildings were situated near each other in a plaza, but all of them had been destroyed. Still, there was some foot traffic to and from a location a few blocks away, and that was where he found the temporary offices that had been set up.

Not all of the buildings in the outpost had been torched, of course. It wasn’t practical, for a variety of reasons, and so the military seemed to have commandeered one of the closest intact buildings.

Evan entered, and inside he found a chaotic mess and some very tired and fed-up clerks. He flagged one down and tried to order the Substance he needed for his cultivation – he needed to be stronger. If his shield wasn’t so weak, maybe it could have better protected him.

Mostly, though, he just felt the deep need to move forward, and do something productive so he could put this behind him. He must have looked like quite the sight to the clerk, for the older man gave him a strange look.

It must have been all the bandages, but the ointment must have been helping with the pain, for his various wounds didn’t hurt all that much. The ointment wasn’t cheap, so this was to be expected.

There was also the ash he gotten on himself while searching the house. He started speaking before the clerk could get the wrong idea. “Hello sir,” he spoke with false cheer, “I need to put in an urgent request to find my master and fellow apprentices, as well as order some Substance for my cultivation.”

Not hesitating for a beat, he responded, “Sir, I’m sorry, but everything – including the logistics network – is stretched quite thin at the moment, and we have been ordered to refuse all non-military requests for Substance, no matter what is offered. Everything has been put on the backburner to help expedite the repairs.

“As for your request, sir, you are welcome to put one up, but with the current situation it might be some time before anyone gets to it.”

Evan waved his hand at the man, as though to dismiss his words. “I’m with the military. All of my uniforms were lost in the attack, but I’m an apprentice under Formations Master Isaac.”

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An expression of sadness seemed to briefly pass through the man before he replied in the negative. “I’m sorry, sir, but even as part of the military, all efforts are being dedicated to repairs. Trust me; I understand the desire to get stronger after the tragedy that’s just happened, but rebuilding critical infrastructure must come first.”

The man rushed away, leaving Evan stupefied. What was that expression of sadness? Had something happened to Master Isaac?

And what a load of poppycock. Expediting the repairs? Yeah right; he understood what that really meant. All his superiors were trying to do the same thing he was, and they had priority against him for cultivation resources. At least he could put in his request.

That didn’t make a lot of practical sense, for his overall strength would increase much more than theirs would, as well as the fact that the war still had rules – cultivators past a given strength, that he now knew to be the fifth Collapse, were barred from active participation in the war. Their battles were just too destructive – and even then, those at that level were discouraged from being too overt in their power and were mostly only present to fight off cultivators at a similar level.

Crafters were generally under less of a restriction, but only when it came to things that supported the defense of utility of something or someone – anything meant to be incredibly destructive was still barred.

He wasn’t sure why this was, as then why didn’t some tenth Collapse formations master build all the defenses, and outfit the strongest allowed cultivators with a shield like his own? Just like that, they would crush all opposition, and such crafters must surely exist.

Shaking his head, as he tended to do, he once more approached the same man from before. He wasn’t done here yet.

“Hey, wait. What if I assist in the repair efforts? The Substance I want to order is only of the standard crafter package, and I want to put a sizeable reward for the request.” He considered disclosing his full cultivation level – the very beginning of the first Collapse – but decided against it at the last second.

The man seemed to consider this for a moment before he came a decision. “Alright, I guess I can do that, but I’ll need to you take on some tasks for the repairs.”

Hearing this was like music to his ears. Yes! This wasn’t a problem for him. “I’m currently – or, well, I was working on the formations of a building for a client not yet in town, and I’ll need to check up on that, but I would welcome any requests that involve working with some of the buildings around town.”

Smiling, Evan could hear the relief in his tone. “Thank goodness. I’ll put your current work on hold – the repair efforts are more important, and I’ll see about finding something for that. Truthfully, there’s not many of you composition architects in town.”

Composition architect? What in the world is that? Is that what formation masters who work on buildings are called?

“Ah, a question. Why is Formation Master Isaac not known foremost as a composition architect?”

“Oh, well it’s just that the military doesn’t permit a composition architect to take fresh apprentices. The field is too advanced and requires more cultivation and learning than is reasonable of a fresh apprentice, so your master likely does that instead – I don’t know the man personally, but I know there are several composition architects that do the same.”

Evan felt like such a fool. All this time, he had been calling his work such a mouthful when there was such a handy term? Composition architect. He liked it, and he supposed what the man said was true. Still, why had he never heard this term?

He didn’t want to reveal even more ignorance to the man in front of him, so he allowed himself to be led over to a counter where the man had another, younger clerk, dig through some sheets of paper for a few requests in specific. The man seemed to know his stuff, as they were in the pile and found easily enough.

While the younger clerk did this, the one he had spoken to led him through the forms he needed to fill out for his request, and gave him advice on how much he should offer as a reward – his wallet hurt to pay out so much, but it would be worth it if it saved their lives.

Unfortunately, as the clerk had mentioned, he was not the only one putting out requests for finding loved ones, friends, or even masters. He could only offer a large reward and hope for the best.

Once that was done, the younger clerk laid out the requests they wanted him to look through. Looking them over, he thought about how difficult they would be. He couldn’t afford a repeat of what had happened with his first job – those mana potions were expensive and had come out of his own pocket. It had been a matter of reputation to him, so he had simply swallowed his frustration and bought them.

Now, though… that seemed to have all gone up in smoke – perhaps literally. What would he even be paid for his work if it was destroyed, and the task put on hold? How would that reflect on him?

The clerk had made it seem like no big deal, but he couldn’t leave without some reassurance of the fact.

“My previous contract, you said you’re putting it on hold? What does that mean? Will there be any repercussions to that?” He hated revealing his ignorance, but in this case, he couldn’t leave it alone. What if this ruined him because he simply didn’t ask?

“Nothing to worry about. The contract will be put on hold pending the end of this emergency, and that’s if things can continue as they were anyway. You’ll suffer no consequences, and it will even leave a good mark on your record that you are willing to contribute to the repair efforts, even if it’s motivated by self-interest.”

As the man continued speaking, he laid out several pieces of paper before Evan, and the way he went about everything gave him the distinct impression he was an old hand at this. “These are the requests I would like for you to take a look at. All of them are completable at the first Collapse, and I’d like for you to pick whichever you feel is best. Under all of that is the form for ordering the Substance you need.”

He spent several minutes looking over all the requests before him before picking one out that didn’t seem too difficult, but still paid well. It was a request from one of the infirmaries, to add a couple formations to an already established primary formation.

It had been constructed during the night, and the primary formation had just been established by a formations – er, a composition architect this morning.

That’s a good way to go about it, Evan mused. Laying the primary formation was definitely the most difficult part of the job, and it would be interesting to do things from the other way around since he never got to actually build the lighting formation his previous contract had wanted.

He wondered if the building he was on contract for was still standing, and how the attackers determined their targets. Surely, some spies must have been involved, right? Maybe having stronger composition architects do the primary formations was for more than just optimal labor assignment.

Regardless, none of it was his problem – at least not anymore. He studied the full details of the request – was hastily written, so there wasn’t much, but the desired formations were listed.

Apparently, the previous medical centers had been especially targeted – from the beginning, the attack was more of a raid than any attempt at a takeover. This meant that with all the injured after that brutal night, there were far more patients than beds.

Evan was probably only lucky enough to get a bed thanks to his status, and the serious but easily treatable wounds he had suffered.

Healers were rare to begin with, so something else had to be done to stem the tide. That was where he came in. He was to install a formation that would promote cleanliness by keeping the infirmary mostly sterile, as well as keeping the air clean of the stench he still vividly remembered.

This would help morale and stifle infections, allowing some of those whose life hung in the balance to find themselves on the preferred side of the scale.

He was especially interested in this request, as the idea of a formation that kept things clean appealed to him on a personal level, and it couldn’t be simple – the military even offered some notes and a method to make the task rather easy.

There was only one issue – his mana. While the primary formation was far and away more complicated than anything else he had done to date, requiring large amounts of inscriptions whenever possible to save on his intent, none of the other inscriptions would be easy, either.

Just tying into the primary formation, properly interfacing with it for the functions of the primary formation to work as they should, would require extensive inscriptions. None of this even took into consideration the imbuing that would have to be done afterwards.

Imbuing was far and away from the slow pace of inscribing, but it wasn’t instant, either. He still remembered the first time he imbued a simple sword with a weight enchantment – that had taken him upwards of an hour if he remembered correctly.

Evan looked back up at the clerk. He liked this request, and wanted the notes and methodology – eventually, he would get his own house assigned to him after he left the tutelage of Master Isaac, and he really wanted to build his own formations for the place.

“I’m interested in taking on this request, but I have a severely lacking mana regeneration.” He left it at that. His hope was that-

“Of course. That’s expected – can’t be good at everything, after all. We have a stock of mana potions for your use in getting things done in a timely manner.” The man grinned at some internal joke.

That was exactly what Evan was hoping for. Now, with most of the business taken care of, he just had to figure out where he would be staying, now that his home was in ruins.