It was incredibly simple to stop a mental caster from divining one’s secrets. Even one as powerful as Geneva.
Despite her well-developed core, the expenditures that came with spellcasting could see her quickly drained if she wasn’t careful. Distance was the greatest threat. Trying to use the mental affinity from any distance at all would rapidly increase the mana cost of a spell. Sustaining such a spell for any significant length of time was completely impossible.
It boiled down to a simple principle. To beat a mental caster, keeping them far away was key. A principle the hunters understood well. The buildings where they’d kept their captives didn’t have many fortifications or an abundance of powerful fighters. Instead, they had eyes, everywhere. Hunters perched on nearby rooftops, on the corners of the street, and frequently patrolling the area. All of them keeping an eye out for her. None were her match. She could easily crush all their minds at the same time…provided they were relatively close. Having to overcome the distance between them as well as their natural defenses to mana intrusion would have taxed her core far too much.
She could have done it, which was an incredible testament of her ability, but she wasn’t immune to the effects of mana strain. Physical pain she could manage no matter how severe, but core strain affected something deeper and it never got easier to endure. And while the hunters were mere insects, challenging their best while in pain wielding a fraction of her mana was the height of arrogance. Even ants could take down predators in the right circumstances.
Luckily, for her at least, she didn’t have one tool at her disposal. Most times, there was always a better answer than the mental affinity. She could have barged into the shelter where her prey was meeting his compatriots and ripped the information out of their minds, but that would be incredibly intensive, especially as a few of them were master or near master casters from the smell of them.
Better to quietly perch on the roof of the ugly building and listen in, draw her own conclusions, and single them out if she needed further clarification. It required a bit of a modification to hear them clearly, but it was a far better use of her mana. Because of the shelter’s small size, she could also read their thoughts. One mind she recognized instantly.
“Finally!” an old, somewhat wheezy voice said. “Took your sweet time. Any longer and I might have croaked.”
“Please don’t make jokes like that,” Lucas Macklemore sighed, his voice thick with exhaustion. Geneva was very glad he was in the room. Lou wanted to have words him about his assault on the estate. “If you die, there’ll be no hope of cleaning up this mess.”
“No need to suck up so hard,” her prey said. She heard the scrape of wood on a hard surface and easily imagined the man pulling out a chair. “You’ve already got a seat at the table.”
“Yes.” Lucas sighed. “The table of the group tasked with hiding a secret armory of the guilds. A secret armory that I have no idea why we didn’t throw at the purple monster that just destroyed our city.”
“It’s complicated,” the old, wheezy voice said. “Eh, you’ll get all the gory details soon enough.”
“Quick answer? We’re just keeping an eye on this stuff. Doesn’t actually belong to us.”
“What? Then who does it belong to?!”
“Oi!” The wheezy voice shouted, momentarily exuding strength. Then the speaker had a coughing fit and the voice returned to normal. “You two little girls can gossip later. Right now, we’ve got serious business. Rick, what’s the situation?”
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Her prey grimaced. “It’s not good. I cleared the way to the door, but the stairs are blocked. Looks like the walls collapsed. A good earth caster or three can get it cleared out quickly and quietly, but who knows if it’s worth the effort?”
The old voice scoffed. “The Authority isn’t made up of glass. It’d take a lot more than stone to break that which has survived for hundreds of years.”
“Leaving aside whether or not it’s been crushed, I think visibility is going to be the biggest problem,” Lucas muttered.
“Hah? I just said, we can get a few earthies to handle it quietly.”
“Perhaps it would be quiet if things were normal, but things are anything but. Since nothing is happening in the city, even the smallest things are going to grab attention. We have to assume that Lady Tome—"
“Why are you calling her like that?” her prey growled. “She’s not a lady. She’s a monster.”
“Then it’s best I don’t get in the habit of antagonizing the monster by not calling her by her rightful address,” the interim guildmaster snapped. Geneva chuckled at his thoughts of Rick. He wasn’t impressed, to put it mildly. She got a very clear impression of his reluctance to be involved with anything related to the Authority. The only thing that kept him seated was the old voice, something his mind related to the name Jacoby.
Unlike his growing disdain for Rick, he had a deep respect for the older man. “I agreed to this because I was told that it was important work. More important than the damn city and all the innocent people in it, apparently. That definitely makes it more important than your feelings so leave them out of it.”
Her prey clicked his tongue but didn’t retort.
Lucas’ voice lost most of its agitation as he continued. “As I was saying, even small things are likely to draw attention. It’s only smart to assume that Lady Tome and her allies are keeping an eye on the city. Do you remember the report we had prepared on her elementals? Succubi can suppress their need for sleep and can sense heightened emotion. If they’re keeping watch, there’s a good chance even a small, discreet operation will draw attention.”
“He’s got a point,” Jacoby said. “He’s here to make sure the rest of you don’t trip over your own feet so make sure you listen.”
“I’m listening,” Rick said defensively. “And I’m not saying he’s wrong. Problem is, we can’t afford to wait. We already lost the Anchor to the elf. It’s just a matter of time before the mon—Lady Tome gets wind of the Authority. Do you really want those succubi on our tails? No, of course not. Which means we need to dig up all the storehouses and get the Authority out of the city, as quickly as possible.”
“We’re already doing as much,” Lucas continued. “Five of the seven locations have already been covered.” Geneva felt a wave of dissatisfaction. She would have to move quickly, before they got too far. “Both of the remaining locations are difficult to get to. We risk exposing ourselves if we go for them and risk what we already have.
“I suggest…that we leave the last two locations alone. The same obstacles that keep us from reaching the storehouses protect them from others. Besides that, no one knows of their existence. I think the best strategy would be to focus on shifting what parts of the Authority we already have and observing the situation with the city.”
Neither of the other two men sounded happy about that idea. “The Authority is always moved together,” Jacoby said with clear disapproval.
“Besides, it’s cowardly.”
“Maybe but cowardly is exactly what we need. We can no longer afford to be bored. Wait, and risk a part of the Authority or go after it now and risk hunters. As a newcomer, I don’t know enough to make the decision.”
“Ah, blessed asses!” Jacoby exclaimed after a moment of silence. “Rick, leave the storehouses alone. Focuses on getting in contact with the scattered members of the guild.”
“Oi, you can’t be seri—"
“There’s nothing more serious than saving lives. You heard me, but there’s nothing more to do tonight. Good job, good night, we all have dates with some shitty beds.”
Geneva slipped away from the shelter as the meeting broke up. She briefly considered investigating the unexpected consequences of her spell but decided against it. One corpse was an anomaly, not a problem. Digging up the guilds’ treasure was a far more enticing prospect. She had her own earth caster that she could put on the job.