Once the two monsters were suitably immolated, Verdan used a wind spell to clear away the smoke, just to be safe, before leading the way further into the ruins.

Unfortunately, what they’d seen at the entrance was a good representation of the whole thing.

Whatever had happened here, all those many years ago, it had been terrible and destructive in the extreme. There was barely a section of wall that wasn’t damaged in some way or another.

When they finally reached the other side of the sealed door, Verdan felt a chill run down his spine.

The door was reinforced and heavily fortified, but every inch was covered in scratch marks, some deep enough to have become grooves in the metal.

“How long were they down here?” Ruan asked in a breathy voice. “And what kept them alive?”

“I have no idea,” Verdan said, looking at the ancient ruins around them. “There’s nothing here for them to eat, but even monsters need food.”

“I don’t like it, not at all,” Tom said, his gaze lingering on the heavily marked door. “We should leave.”

“Agreed,” Verdan said, turning back the way they’d come eagerly. He hadn’t been sure what he’d find down here, but it seemed that it was just more questions that he lacked answers to.

-**-

They returned to the surface without issue and quickly started back to the city, arriving just after dusk had began to creep in.

Everyone had performed well, but Verdan made sure to thank both the Fwyn for their aid in particular.

The swift fight could have ended quite badly if not for Dru and Aeva. Dru had helped keep the first beast down as Ruan killed it, while Aeva had saved Verdan with the stone hand.

The six-legged beast might not have killed him before Tom got there, but it would have mauled him badly.

He also asked them to pass on his appreciation to Lan’Wai, who had once again saved them a lot of time and effort.

It was almost nostalgic working with Fwyn and Brecan again, as was the process of using the Fwyn as a middleman.

It also reminded Verdan of the advantages of having such specialised races working together.

Thinking back on Hursk’s plan to build a city for all the races to come together again, Verdan wondered just how that would feel.

The chance to rebuild the sort of society he’d grown up in was a tempting one.

Perhaps once the latest emergency was dealt with, he’d talk to Hursk more about it. He couldn’t lead the effort, as he’d mentioned at the time, but he could certainly offer some sort of support to get it started.

For now, though, it wasn’t a priority.

The Cyth Host was a threat, and while it wasn’t an immediate one, he had seen how quickly they could get out of hand.

Most of his closest allies seemed to take the danger seriously, but he still felt that the Sects weren’t.

Sighing, Verdan decided to get an hour or so of meditation in before he turned in.

-**-

The following day, Verdan worked through a lot of his smaller responsibilities to prepare for working on some of the bigger ones.

Mainly, that meant spending time at the adventurer’s guild recharging the enchantments he’d given out.

It also meant spending some time working around the city to help as best he could with his magic.

He’d arranged to work on Ruan’s injuries later in the evening, but the process of doing so had made him realise that he’d been ignorant of something critical.

The healers of the city lacked magic.

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Alchemy did what it could, but it was expensive and time consuming, which meant that most people got by with mundane help.

There were a few clinics around the city, and Verdan visited each one, surreptitiously creating a ward over each that would target the most afflicted person with healing.

He kept the output low and filled them up as much as he could, intending for them to provide a slow but steady effect on the worst of the illnesses and injuries that went to the clinics.

He’d stop by every now and then to recharge them, but he’d also have Dirk do the same.

If they split the Aether cost between them, it was a lot more manageable. It was also good for the city, and would save lives.

Satisfied with his work, Verdan returned to the mansion to prepare for his work with Ruan.

Punctual as ever, the guard arrived just as Verdan was finishing getting ready. He doubted he needed any of the medical tools that he’d brought, but they were an option if things didn’t go as intended.

“Ready for me, Boss?” Ruan asked, sounding both anxious and eager at the same time.

“Yes, take a seat,” Verdan said, waving him forward. “So, what I’ll be doing is casting a healing spell and then monitoring you for a short time. What should happen is that you feel some itching as it gets to work, and that’s all.”

“Don’t worry, I trust you,” Ruan said with a slight chuckle. “I’ve seen the things you can do.”

Verdan laughed politely, wishing that he had half that level of confidence in himself.

Still, he was fairly sure this would work as intended. It had done for that Kranjir, after all. It had also hurt quite a bit, but hopefully the slightly altered visualisation he used now would fix that.

“Grym iacha hast,” Verdan filled each word with Aether as he laid a hand on Ruan’s shoulder and focused on healing everything that Ruan’s body had accepted as being sufficiently dealt with.

The older guard gasped before grunting in pain and clutching at the arms of his chair.

Thankfully, the pain seemed to fade as quickly as it had come, and Ruan sagged in the chair, breathing heavily.

“How do you feel?” Verdan asked after a few moments.

“My face feels strange,” Ruan said, the words coming out slightly garbled. Frowning, he tried again, carefully enunciating each word. “My mouth feels loose.”

A wide smile spread across Verdan’s face as he heard the difference in Ruan’s voice. It was improving with almost every word.

“Well, that part has certainly worked. How do you feel overall?”

Ruan got to his feet and took a few test steps before turning back to Verdan with a broad grin. “My knee’s better as well. Honestly, I feel like I’ve just gotten five years younger!”

Verdan beamed, pleased with the outcome. “I’m glad that’s come through so well. You deserve this, Ruan.”

“Thanks, Boss,” Ruan said, stretching out his legs a little more before his expression turned serious. “Kai was talking to me this morning about hiring some more guards. The kind that would be willing to travel with you and be more active than the usual lot.”

“That would probably be useful in the coming days,” Verdan said, nodding slightly as he wondered where Ruan was going with this.

“Well, there’s a lot of people in the city right now, so we have a lot to choose from. If you can do this, though, especially with larger injuries, I know a lot of experienced people who’d jump at the chance.”

“So, you’re suggesting I heal them and they then join us?” Verdan asked, considering the option for a moment. It did seem like quite a neat solution, as long as the guards were sufficiently experienced and competent.

“Yes, I can think of at least a dozen who work as security for merchants or markets because they can’t take more strenuous work anymore. They’d jump at the chance.”

“I can’t regrow anything, and there are limits to what I can do,” Verdan said, but Ruan just nodded.

“Understood, Boss. How about I draw up a list and you can take a look?”

“Alright, that sounds good to me. Run it by me first to check if they can be healed or not, and then take it to Kai.”

“Got it, Boss,” Ruan said, starting to head off with a spring in his step.

Verdan raised a hand to stop him before he got too far. “Wait. Check in with Kai as well, see if he knows of any Sorcerers we could do the same with.”

Ruan nodded and hurried off, leaving Verdan to consider the implications of this. The wards he’d created at the clinics had been a good step, but how quickly Ruan had jumped to this made Verdan wonder just how many such people had been forced to retire.

Debilitating injuries must be common without any Clerics or healers to prevent them. The worst he could do nothing about, but repairing joints and damaged bones was within his power.

If he could create a second set of wards to deal with those more serious injuries at the clinics, he would. The problem, though was the Aether requirement.

A single Word spell could heal a cut or light wound, or at least get it started.

To do something like this, a three Word spell was needed, and an empowered one at that.

Just healing Ruan would use up everything Dirk currently generated in a day, and that was including Verdan’s growing familiarity with healing spells.

There were Aether-gathering constructs he could create, but they were slow and unstable. Adding them in here would shorten the overall lifespan of whatever he made, requiring him to remake the core Aether constructs at some point.

No, a ward wasn’t possible, but he could still manage a good number on his own. A good, experienced guard was worth that much Aether, after all.

Verdan sighed and rubbed his face, hating that he was measuring the value of changing someone’s life against the Aether it would cost him.

He had to be realistic and cutthroat about it, though, if he was going to have enough reserves to make a real difference in the fight against the Cyth.

He knew it was coming, he could feel it in his bones, and he knew that killing a few hundred wasn’t enough.

He had to have enough to at least attempt a strategic strength spell. Nothing less would do.

With the end goal in mind, Verdan focused on the present, and what he could do to help him get there.

For now, he’d work on his spiral, but in the morning, it was time to see if he could push the Chosen any further.