I should’ve brought Nibbles with me.

Cal had done his due diligence on the abandoned quarry. He found it wanting.

There was no cover. The quarry had unstable walls and open views. That's it.

The only place that would’ve worked wasn’t an option. He noticed a space carved out at the bottom of the quarry with sound-absorbing material on the walls reinforced by runes.

They were similar to what was engraved on the coin that Benan had used in the Eatery.

It couldn’t have been more obvious where this meeting would take place.

Cal had chosen to take a safe route. He assumed that there would be at least two Apprentices at the meeting instead of one, and he also assumed that they were good at sensing mana use.

He was well aware that his assumptions were usually wrong, and he hoped that was the case this time, too.

He decided to position himself so far that he would only be noticed if they knew where to look. He just had to hope that nobody in the meeting could sense the mana residue he naturally left behind on the ground as he walked.

Usually that wouldn’t be a concern, but this place was rarely visited. Thankfully, it would probably be covered up by their own residue if there were multiple people entering.

Cal knew he could not hope to eavesdrop from this distance, so he planned to move closer once he had a better idea of what he was dealing with.

He looked and saw the moon close to the highest point in the sky. It was almost midnight. He went back to practicing on restricting his mana.

The words Benan said stuck with them. Strength could be hidden, and once he put a little effort into what that could mean, it became rather obvious.

The mana in his body was always in a free-flowing state. As it should be to cast spells. However, it also made obvious how much mana was available at any time to anyone who knew how to look.

Cal did the opposite of what he did to have easily commandable mana. He drew all the mana he could into his core and locked it up.

He found it hard to do so for long periods. Anything over thirty minutes was a stretch. However, in those thirty minutes, he was no different than a weak Initiate or mortal who had failed the Selection.

Cal tensed when he saw a movement in the distance. It was a single silhouette that moved toward the quarry. He wasn’t able to tell what they were wearing, nor could he tell what level they were at.

I need to wait for all of them to arrive.

Over the next fifteen minutes, others slowly joined the first one who arrived. He mentally thanked them for making it easier.

It looked like they were waiting for everyone to arrive before heading down the quarry.

Cal counted twelve. They still didn’t head down.

… Did they decide to commence with the meeting right there?

A minute later, he got his answer. The thirteenth figure joined them, and then they filed down the quarry.

Cal waited for a moment as he started to suppress his mana flow. He moved closer.

He would’ve liked to be careful, but his time limit on suppressing his mana forced him to take some risks. Thankfully, he went undetected.

Using his sensing spell would have helped, but using his mana for any reason would have automatically negated his effort to suppress it. He was forced to quite literally stand outside the carved-out space at the bottom of the quarry.

Cal stood just out of sight and listened.

“—this anymore. We’re drawing too much attention with increased transfers.”

“Are you willing to take their place, Lorene? If you are, please, be my guest.” That shut down the scared protest. “Astris and I understand your worries, but we are all in the same boat. There is nothing I can do to change their minds.”

A feminine voice spoke next. “Kaelor is right. What’s most worrying is a new group that the Dominion recruited. I found out from a new core guild member, of all people.”

“They’re the reason I called this meeting. I have been put in charge of the group, but I’m not sure if there is anything to worry about. They don’t seem to know what they signed up for.”

Cal recognized that voice as a man named Kaelor.

“Astris, could you tell me anything more about this new group? I can’t use my usual methods since the Dominion hopes that treating them well would cause others to join them willingly.”

Cal was coming to a conclusion about who this new group was. And he did not like it. At all. He hoped that he was proven wrong.

“I’m afraid there isn’t much. The girl I spoke with isn’t interested in talking about her personal matters. Give me a few more weeks, and I bet I could change that.” Astris sounded confident in her words.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“You have it,” Kaelor granted, “I hope you’ll have something for me when we meet for the next transfer. Speaking of which, where are you keeping the goods this time?”

“Ah, they should be arriving at Silverpine tomorrow. They are ready to move.” Lorene, the timid-sounding girl, spoke.

Cal frowned, sensing something off about those words.

“Lorene, your area is in the south…” It sounds like Astris was looking through a notebook. “Do you have someone called Oleg with you?”

He had to stop himself from bursting into this pathetic meeting and get rid of everyone except Astris and Lorene. But no. He had to wait and be patient. Too many mistakes could happen if he did something like that.

“I can’t say for sure… sorry,” Lorene sounded like a kicked puppy.

Cal had gained an affinity for cute animals in this life. But Lorene could sound like an innocent baby, and he would still be tempted to take her out.

All this basically confirmed without a doubt that Tavia was the one that Astris spoke to and the group Kaelor was talking about were Tavia’s friends. The only thing that wasn’t confirmed, but was most likely true, was that Oleg had been captured by these people.

And whatever they intended to do with him did not sound pleasant. Especially since they had the audacity to call him part of the ‘goods.’

“Make sure to check. If you see his name there, take him out of the transfer. He might be more trouble than it’s worth.”

The last thing Cal heard was of any importance to him. The rest were about logistics and other administrative tasks in their trafficking ring. He still listened, but most of his energy was spent trying to calm his rage.

He was on the verge of taking a calming potion. Falling into the hyper-focused, berserker state was the exact opposite of what was needed right now. He would regret it forever if he killed the person that would lead him to Oleg.

Cal frowned when he felt his suppression failing. It had already been thirty minutes since he started eavesdropping. He quickly, and carefully, took his leave.

He would need several minutes before he was able to suppress his mana again. If the meeting continued till then, he would return.

Cal watched intently to see if there were any movements. It didn’t take long after he left for the meeting to wrap up.

He saw one figure leave in a different direction than all the others. It was going north toward the Frostguard Dominion. That was likely Kaelor.

The tricky part was how to deal with the other twelve.

Two of the thirteen people in the meeting seemed like leaders—Kaelor and Astris. With Kaelor out of his reach, it would be ideal to track Astris. She was likely an Apprentice.

He needed to catch a glimpse of what she looked like so he could plan better for the future. As for the rest, it seemed like they would scatter in different directions within the Celestial Order’s territory. It was better to let them be until they gathered all the people that they were going to traffic in one place.

Cal allowed them to create some distance as he waited until he could suppress his mana again. The good thing about being ridiculously fast was that mana wasn't necessary for physical traits.

They could get as far as they want, but he would catch them.

He tracked the three heading towards Silverpine and followed behind them at a distance. He grew confident enough to get closer until he could see the differences in their figures.

Two were men, and one was not.

Cal started to ignore the men completely and kept his eyes locked on Astris. He fell back again to make sure there was no chance he would be noticed. He was tempted to overtake them and try to create some sort of scenario to come face-to-face with Astris, but he knew that was just his need for action speaking.

He repeated the mantra in his head. Patience was key. It would serve a better to wait—

Cal sucked in a deep breath in shock before twisting his body to face the other way. He let go of his suppression and kept his senses on Astris’s group. They had not noticed yet.

There’s still a chance to save this.

He let go of all the reservations and shot forward with incredible speed. Kaelor was waiting ahead, and he was aware of his presence.

Cal didn’t think the man would have the gall to lightly tap him, figuratively, to only get his attention without alerting his conspirators.

His eyes sharpened as he quickly came within several feet of Kaelor. The man clearly did not expect the speed at which he closed the distance, and he had no intention of allowing him to take precautions.

Cal didn’t take out his war hammer from the storage pouch. That would be too loud and attract Astris's attention. That was unacceptable.

He clamped his hand around Kaelor’s neck to choke off any sound before they could escape his mouth. He delivered a devastating blow to the ribs in an attempt to take away his ability to breathe and inject his mana into his pathways to disrupt the flow, even if it was for a moment.

Cal carried Kaelor by the neck for what felt like miles at a speed that was greatly enhanced by mana. It took no more than a few seconds to cover the distance, and he could feel the burn in his legs from that effort.

He dropped Kaelor to the ground and stepped back. “You wanted my attention. You have it. Tell me something that will stop me from killing you right now.”

Cal had never delivered a line quite so brutal before. He found it almost surprising that he meant every word of it. If the next few sentences out of Kaelor’s mouth weren't convincing, his life was forfeit. He couldn’t take any risks.

Kaelor struggled to form words. It could’ve been from the shock of being manhandled like a mortal, but it was more likely from the damage Cal did to his body.

“T-The Dominion,” Kaelor’s voice was harsh and raspy. It was nothing like the calm and collected baritone that was heard at the meeting.

Cal pulled his war hammer from his storage pouch before taking a few steps toward Kaelor’s fallen form. “That means nothing. Against my best judgment, I’ll give you one last chance. The next words out of your mouth are the most important of your life.”

“Guildmarks!” Kaelor looked frantic. Whatever the plan was for getting his attention, it was not going well. “The Frostguard Dominion will give you hundreds of guildmarks if you join us.”

Cal hummed in thought, giving Kaelor hope that he found the key to his salvation.

“I can assure you that even more is possible. Much more! If the Celestial Order could create someone of your strength, imagine how much more you will accomplish with the Dominion! There’s even a chance you might join our guildmaster—“

A deep thump was heard as dirt kicked up, covering Cal and Kaelor. When it settled, Cal had already pulled back his war hammer and stored it in his storage pouch.

He used his mana to pull up a clump of dirt to make a large hole. He went through Kaelor’s clothes and was surprised to find that there was nothing of worth on his person. He had been looking for something that could remotely locate him, but there wasn’t anything to be found, not even a coin pouch.

Cal buried Kaelor’s body before making sure the ground looked undisturbed. This would keep the body hidden long enough for him to wrap up matters with Astris and the others.

He looked at the spot where Kaelor was last alive before shaking his head. He was thankful that the man was foolish enough to try to play with him instead of directly alerting the others that there had been an eavesdropper.

It was a boon for Cal that Kaelor could barely be qualified to be called an Apprentice. If he was a little stronger, there would have been an actual fight.

Thank the gods for arrogant guild members. Looks like they aren’t unique to the Celestial Order.