Thanking the two Fwyn and the Brecan for their help, Verdan watched with a bemused expression as they all left, leaving just him and Ruan behind.

“Damn, that was pretty impressive,” the older man said, coming over to the paving stones that had been shifted and poking them with his foot. “Can’t even tell this was moved.”

“There’s a reason why I didn’t get involved,” Verdan said with a chuckle. “I might have been able to do all this myself, but I doubt it would be of the same quality.”

“Huh,” Ruan said, shaking his head again before turning back to Verdan. “Need me for anything else then, Boss?”

“No, get yourself back to bed,” Verdan said, waving Ruan off as he walked over to the workshop. There was just a few things to do now.

Heading down into the basement of the workshop, Verdan found the part that lined up with the new room and created a hidden door of sorts.

The idea for this had come to him quite recently, the inspiration coming from the doors within the ancient ruins.

Perhaps in the future, Verdan would recreate them in the same way, for now, he created a construct that would, when provided with Aether, slide aside.

Closing it behind him was then simply a second introduction of Aether. Simple, but effective.

With that done, he set up a ward to reinforce the room the Automaton was in, and another to resist and counter any Aether usage from outside it.

Once Verdan was satisfied with the visualisation of that second construct, he poured in as much Aether as the construct could take.

As far as he knew, there wasn’t anyone in the city, outside of the Fwyn, Brecan and a few of his other allies, who could detect this room, let alone try to breach it.

Still, with something this valuable, there was no such thing as over-preparing for people trying to steal it.

Sealing the entrance behind him, Verdan examined it for a few moments to make sure it simply looked like a slight recess before nodding to himself and heading back to bed.

-**-

The morning saw Verdan sitting in the communal eating area in the workshop, Natalia by his side, as Adrienne and Henry served up a hearty breakfast.

Adrienne was Verdan’s housekeeper and was nominally in charge of keeping the estate running in his absence. Henry, her husband, was the estate cook, and a good one at that.

“Are you sure you’ve had enough?” Adrienne asked, frowning at Verdan with clear doubt that he’d been taking care of himself.

In truth, with everything going on, Verdan had missed more than a few meals recently. Not that he’d admit that to Adrienne, of course.

Verdan was saved from having to answer by Kai and Tom joining them at the table. Tom had a seemingly endless appetite and would take a lot of pressure off of Verdan, but Kai was the larger distraction.

The Sorcerer was wearing his injured arm in a sling today, and Adrienne gasped as soon as she saw it. “Kai, are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” Kai said reassuringly. “Verdan healed the worst of the damage at the time. I just pushed myself too much too soon afterwards. Now that we’re back in the city, I’m going to let it rest as much as possible.”

“Well, Henry will whip you up something nice and filling to help with that,” Adrienne said, heading for the kitchen with a purposeful stride.

“How is your arm?” Verdan asked as Adrienne disappeared from view.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Kai sighed slightly before adjusting his sling a little. “Better, but if I use it too much during the day, it aches at my shoulder and then spreads down to my wrist.”

Verdan tapped his fingers against the table thoughtfully. “It sounds like the Malfease is lingering in your muscles. Let’s do some more work on it now that we’re back. I have a few ideas to help, and now that the initial Aether has faded, we have the chance to make progress.”

Kai nodded but lost the chance to reply as Adrienne came bustling back into the room laden down with plates of food for them all.

Tom’s eyes lit up as a large plate of bacon, eggs and sausages was slid in front of him, while a second, marginally smaller, one went in front of Kai.

“Let’s go before we get weighed down any further,” Natalia said, getting up from the table with a laugh.

They’d made plans to work on some healing potions and antidotes for a couple of hours, which would let them spend some time together while still being productive.

Natalia was back to working full time as an alchemist now, and the adventurers, guards and Sorcerers within the city were eagerly buying up everything she made.

A few competitors had started up within the city, but they were still finding their feet, whereas Natalia was well established already.

Glancing up at the sky as they left the workshop, Verdan judged how much time he had before he needed to head to the guard headquarters and meet with the Commander.

There was time enough to make a few potions, but first, they needed to talk about Kai.

-**-

Natalia was deep into a flow state when Verdan realised it was time to leave.

In the comparative privacy of her home, he’d explained the situation with Kai’s arm, as well as his worries.

Something about either the weapon that was used or how deep into Kai’s body the abyssal energy had been introduced was making the healing process difficult.

Gwen had been bound in Cyth hair and all but dying from corruption when Verdan had found her, and she’d responded faster and better than this.

Kai should already be healed by any standard that Verdan knew, yet the Malfease persisted within him. It even seemed to be spreading within his arm, despite Verdan’s best efforts.

Natalia knew the full truth about Verdan’s origins and how he’d come here. She’d been a steady source of advice and a constant support from the first moment he met her.

Now, with his closest ally suffering from some malady that Verdan was struggling to deal with, she was his best hope for an alternative solution.

Natalia was currently working to design a new type of healing potion, one that would double as a cleansing agent. Their hope was that it would target the Malfease directly, but only time would tell.

Stepping out into the courtyard of the estate, Verdan rolled his shoulders and let out a heavy sigh. If this didn’t work, he’d have to have another conversation with Kai.

The Sorcerer seemed to realise that things weren’t quite right, but if this failed, he deserved to know how bad it really was.

Thoughts of the more severe options they had filled Verdan’s mind as he made his way to the gates.

“Boss!” Ruan’s voice brought Verdan out of his reverie, and he looked up to see the grizzled guard heading his way. “Tobias is here to see you. He’s at the gate.”

“Thank you, Ruan,” Verdan said, pushing his worries away for the moment. “I’ll head there now.”

Ruan nodded and waited for Verdan before dropping into step behind him. “He’s come with his butler, so I think they want you to take a trip with them. If you want one of us to come along, just say the word, Boss.”

Verdan nodded with a slight frown as he wondered what Tobias wanted from him.

Rounding the corner of the workshop, Verdan saw Tobias and Brent waiting for him under the watchful gaze of Pania.

Tobias was a tall man with gaunt features that gave him a borderline emaciated look. He was now also the premier merchant within the city, having reached that position when his rival, Feveraux, had thrown in with the Weeping Death Sect.

Brent was Tobias’s butler, aide and bodyguard all rolled into one. A tall man with a muscular physique and a reserved demeanour, Brent seemed to genuinely care about his employer, which had always been a point in Tobias’s favour.

“Verdan, welcome back,” Tobias called out with a smile that was a touch too wide and didn’t even begin to touch his eyes. “I heard from the Commander that you would be heading that way, so I thought I’d stop in and walk with you.”

Verdan raised a brow questioningly but didn’t call Tobias out on the fact that the merchant would have had to go out of his way to get here. “Of course, I was just about to set off, in fact.”

“Excellent, shall we?”

Verdan nodded before making a subtle gesture when Ruan cleared his throat behind him. He trusted Tobias, and he was still concerned about people trying to break into the estate. Best that all his guards remain here for now.

“So, what prompted this friendly chat?” Verdan asked as they set off into the city, his staff setting a steady rhythm on the cobbled streets.

“Well, the meeting is somewhat more official than perhaps you were led to believe,” Tobias said softly, giving Verdan an apologetic look. “We thought it best that I make sure you arrived at the right time.”

“I see,” Verdan said, giving Tobias a sharp look. He wasn’t sure he liked any of this. It felt far too much like the sort of cloak and dagger nonsense he thought they’d left behind when they drove off the Weeping Death.

Forcing a smile, Verdan did his best to stay relaxed. “So, what has happened in the last few weeks, any new opportunities I should know about?”