Verdan Blacke trained Imperial Wizard and amateur alchemist, walked through the steps of the recipe he was following one more time before adding the dried ingredients to the moonwater.

A gentle red light filled the flask of moonwater as the herbs interacted with the fire Dryd, the reaction expanding rapidly until all of the moonwater was converted.

“Very good. It’s an unusual recipe, but it works well,” Natalia said, giving Verdan a slight smile as she finished making her own potion.

“Learning to make Dryd manually was challenging, but it’s definitely been worth it,” Verdan said with a nod. Dryd was a powdered substance created from the organs of Aether-infused animals and monsters. The alchemical process to produce it was quite complicated, but Verdan had found a few ways to cut corners with his magic.

“Aer,” Dirk’s voice carried in from the other room, making Verdan shake his head. Dirk was still struggling with his pronunciation of the Words of Power.

“Not quite right, you’ve got to do it with feeling,” Verdan called through to his apprentice. “Aer. Like that.”

Wind rustled through the room as Verdan spoke, but Dirk could only sigh in frustration.

Truthfully, Verdan’s young apprentice was progressing at a prodigious rate and had picked up the basic techniques of Wizardry with ease.

Dirk was a Kranjir, a clansman of the northern provinces that lay beyond the Grey Peaks, a series of mountain ranges that cut across the continent.

Dirk and his mother had fled the north when most of his family were killed, finding safety in Hobson’s Point. Dirk’s determination to learn had brought him to Verdan’s attention, and Verdan had eventually taken him on.

There were others in the city who could sense and use Aether, of that Verdan was sure, but he was testing the waters with Dirk first.

“Aer,” Dirk got the word right this time, and Verdan smiled as a small gust of wind blew past him. Dirk was learning fast.

“I can finish up here. Don’t you have a meeting with Kai soon?” Natalia said as she came around the table.

“I do, and one with Gwen not long after,” Verdan said with a sigh, part of him wishing he could stay in the lab forever.

“Then you best go,” Natalia said, her head tilting back slightly as she looked up at him with a warm smile and stepped in close.

Many of Natalia’s scars were too deep and old to ever be completely removed, but they did nothing to diminish her beauty in Verdan’s eyes.

Leaning down to share a lingering kiss with her, Verdan let himself enjoy a few more moments with her before reluctantly letting go and heading off to meet with Kai.

Verdan had been working in the old servant’s quarters of the estate, so he made his way past the bulky workshop over to the mansion where Kai was waiting.

It was an odd twist of fate that Verdan now owned the land that Natalia’s family had once lived on, especially now that they had this growing relationship between them.

It wasn’t as though it was just the two of them living here, though. Gwen and her fellow Witches had bought a group of destroyed buildings nearby and had constructed a small area of their own for their Coven, but there were still seventeen people who called the estate their home.

Ruan and Barb called out a greeting from the entrance to the estate as they saw Verdan head past.

Ruan was the leader of Verdan’s guards, a grizzled veteran with an old injury to his mouth that left him with a slur and a fierce frown.

Barb was a mercenary from the Kranjir clans in the north. Barb bore a number of ritual scars on her face and wore her hair in a tight braid, which she claimed was traditional for her people.

Barb had lost her left hand in Verdan’s service when assassins had attacked the estate, and she now wore a finely crafted wooden one that Elliot had made for her.

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Nodding back to the two guards, Verdan stepped inside the mansion and entered the sitting room, where Gwen and Kai were in a deep discussion.

Verdan noted how close the two were sitting together with an amused smile. Neither of them seemed willing to make the first move, but there was definitely something between them.

It had been six months since the defeat of the Weeping Death invasion, six months during which Verdan’s relationship with Natalia had only grown.

Kai and Gwen were good people, and Verdan wanted to see them enjoy the same happiness that he’d found, but he didn’t dare meddle.

“Verdan,” Kai straightened as he acknowledged the Wizard, subtly shifting away from Gwen as he did. “It’s good to see you.”

“Likewise, we’ve been caught up with everything recently. How is the training with the guard and the Coven?”

“The number of Sorcerers within the city guard grows by the week, and new independent Sorcerers are still arriving now and then. Word has been spreading about the Essence Tester you designed as well. The number of guards in the city is now almost double what it was six months ago. Commander Silver is still recruiting, but they’ll be seeing shortages of equipment soon enough.”

“I had no idea there were so many people joining the guard. It’s obvious enough that the city has gotten busier since the attack, but that really puts things into perspective.”

“In some ways, it has been even busier for us,” Gwen said with a tired smile. “We’ve been helping other Witches create their own Covens and gain their familiars. There are at least a dozen Covens that we know of, and they are doing the same for their own areas. There’s a lot still to learn, but we’re doing our best.”

“That’s great news,” Verdan said with a smile of his own. It was good to know that the Witches were reclaiming their place in society.

The three of them spent some time discussing their plans for the next few months, both inside the city and on a larger scale.

With the death of Elder Budaev, the Weeping Death’s presence in the region has dropped steadily, and Verdan had heard little about their activities since their attempted takeover.

By comparison, the Defiant Flame had sent an envoy with a formal apology. The Elder who had led the attack had apparently been acting without the authorisation of the Sect.

The Elder in question, whom Verdan had discovered was named Fredran Skarv, had died at Branwen’s hands, so they had little to gainsay this claim.

Neither Verdan nor his allies were completely convinced of the Sect’s innocence, but the supplies sent alongside the apology did help.

Verdan hadn’t heard much since then, but Kai had received recent communication from the Defiant Flame of a new envoy they were sending.

“I think it’s likely a ploy to look at the testers. What do you think?” Kai asked as he passed over the letter in question.

“Probably,” Verdan said, skimming through the letter before nodding to himself. “We’ll have to be careful while they’re here, but I’m willing to give them the chance. I doubt they’ll get a warm welcome, but if we can avoid keeping them as an enemy, we should.”

“I agree, but I don’t like it,” Gwen said with a frown. “The supplies they sent really helped with the aftermath, but it still feels like they’re getting away with everything their people did.”

“I know, but we weren’t in any position to do anything at the time, and we’re still not now.”

Gwen grimaced before reluctantly nodding her agreement.

“Anything else we need to discuss today?” Verdan asked, looking between the two of them for a moment before getting to his feet. “Let’s meet at the same time next week unless anything else happens.”

With their weekly meeting over, Kai and Gwen headed off once more, leaving Verdan to head back to where he’d left Dirk and see how his apprentice was getting on.

Dirk had stopped working on casting his spell correctly by the time Verdan made it back. As Dirk’s gathering spiral progressed, he would be able to practice for longer, but at the moment, it was still too small to make a difference.

“Any more progress?” Verdan asked as he sat down opposite Dirk.

“A little. I’m starting to understand the word a bit better, and I think that seems to help,” Dirk said with a proud but tired smile.

“The Words of Power are as much intent as they are anything else, so the more you refine what that word means in your mind, the easier it will be,” Verdan said, giving Dirk a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Truthfully, most apprentices weren’t taught any Words of Power until the end of their first year of training, and only if they could demonstrate that they had made progress with their spiral.

Dirk’s natural talent was enough that Verdan had decided to break from tradition, and the results spoke for themselves. Even though he had only taught Dirk his first word a week or two ago, he was already coming close to a basic understanding of it.

An Arcane Lexicon would make all of this easier, but Verdan had yet to work out how to recreate one, and he had neither the time nor the opportunity to go delving into ancient ruins.

That might all change soon, though. With the Weeping Death on the back foot and the Steel Custodians keeping to their side of the deal, Verdan felt more secure in leaving the city.

There were a few interesting ruins in the area that Verdan was aware of, so perhaps some shorter expeditions would be possible.

Disciple Macannan of the Steel Custodians still used Hobson’s Point as his base of operations for his own expeditions. Kai had said that Macannan was in the city for the next few days, which was an opportunity for Verdan to learn some more.

Making a mental note to do just that, Verdan turned his attention back to Dirk and began to walk him through the process of building his gathering spiral.

Dirk was reasonably competent already, but he still struggled with splitting his attention, and that was a key skill for any Wizard.