We stood at a distance as Viktor tinkered with the cores. He had set up a small workstation in our lounge and had requested some time without interruption. Isabel had kept a watchful eye on him, lost in her own thoughts. Meanwhile, Lyra lounged lazily on a couch we had moved out of the lounge to make space for Viktor.

Isabel had given us a brief rundown on her trip to the castle, where she had initially been rejected. After convincing the guards that she had important information, they had taken Armin into custody on the governor’s orders. Though skeptical, the guard had listened to Isabel's story, and agreed to delay taking action on Armin until further investigation was done.

Suddenly, there was an exclamation of disgust from the lounge, and I turned to see Viktor approaching us. "These are filthy contraptions," he declared. "We need to destroy them, but it would be impossible to do so here. Instead, I will disrupt the runechain that activates them. It is more time-consuming, but it will make them mostly harmless, for now at least."

Isabel nodded in agreement, "Whatever you can do, Viktor. We can't have these lying around in case another group comes after us." Lyra stood and stretched, "Can I go to bed now?" Isabel rolled her eyes, "Lyra... Fine, go to bed. David and I will keep watch while Viktor works."

I raised an eyebrow at Isabel, "Um... I have been running around all day, you know." Isabel gave me a hard look, and I held up my hands in surrender, "Fine, fine."

I used the images and Grim to create a sort of perimeter around the house, and sat down with Isabel to keep an eye on Viktor. It was going to be a long night.

The sun had already risen when Viktor finally finished his work. I watched as the man stumbled into a nearby chair, completely drained. "Finished...I will need some time to recover...Before I begin working on a device for you," he said, his words slightly slurred and dark lines under his eyes. Isabel went over to him and led him to an empty bedroom, leaving me alone in the lounge turned workstation. I rubbed my eyes and checked in with Grim, who had become increasingly sour all night, complaining that it was too boring when nothing happened and wishing for someone to attack us already.

I was perfectly fine with a peaceful night, of course, and wanted to get some sleep myself. But just as I was about to head upstairs, Grim spoke up. "Got some people coming, partner. The big guy and a few others."

I grumbled and went to the door, opening it up and waiting for them as they arrived. Malik was accompanied by three people in total, including Landvin. The other two were a large man with a thick black beard and a stern-faced woman who seemed like a no-nonsense kind of person.

I greeted them with a tired wave, and Malik gave me a bright smile. He had definitely gotten some sleep, the bastard. I led them into the house, and Viktor's workstation got more than a few curious looks. I had expected Landvin to be his snide and sour self, but to my surprise, he nodded to me in greeting and even gave me the tiniest of smiles.

I cleared a space for them to sit and went into the kitchen to fetch a few drinks. I called up to Isabel, and soon she came back down looking just as fresh as Malik had, which might have annoyed me just the slightest bit.

Malik stood and greeted Isabel, and when all were seated, an impromptu meeting began. "So," Malik said, "can I assume Lorik was of some help?" he said, gesturing at Viktor's mess. Isabel smiled. "We had success, yes, but it was his apprentice Viktor and not Lorik himself. He was apparently drunk out of his mind."

Malik sighed. "He has a habit, yes. But good that Viktor could help then. I have briefed these three on the situation, and they have agreed to assist us." Isabel nodded to the three adventurers. "And your teams?" The woman gave a curt nod. "They will join as well. It would arouse too much suspicion if too many people congregated here, so only the team leaders came."

I looked around the table, taking in everyone's expressions. "I think that might be a little late already," I said. "We have caused ripples already, and if I was running their operation, I would be scrambling to put their plan into motion as fast as possible." There were nods around the table.

"We need to make a plan and put it into action sooner rather than later," Malik said, and Isabel brought out a map of the city. "The man we interrogated indicated we might be looking at hundreds of cores, spread throughout the city. Viktor is sure he can make a device that can pacify the cores, but he needs a bit of rest before he can get started on that. As for a plan, I suggest we split up." She pointed to the map. "One team in the trade district, one in the upper district, and one in the lower. Both the temple district and the keep have plenty of fighters, and will likely be the least impacted should things go wrong."

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Malik nodded in approval. "That will do. The plan is to comb the district for these cores systematically. Once we find one, we pacify it, collect it, and move on. It will take time and effort, but how efficient we can be really depends on our enchanter."

The big bearded man leaned in. "If what you tell us is accurate, then I think we need to prepare for a fight. Even if we comb these areas thoroughly, we cannot be sure we got them all. I think it highly unlikely that we can avoid a confrontation."

Isabel sighed but nodded in agreement. "I agree with you Eric. All we can do is limit the damage. We have informed the governor already, and he should be making subtle preparations himself. Once the fighting begins, the garrison should be ready to engage the enemy."

Eric smiled fiercely, another battle maniac. "We will each protect our district. Once it is cleared of hostiles, we move to the closest district, and support the next team. We will focus on civilian-heavy areas first, then work our way to the temple district. The keep is the lowest priority." Another round of nods.

We continued discussing plans, but it was clear to me that no one had much faith in our sweep for cores. They all assumed the worst-case scenario, and I supposed preparing for the worst-case scenario was a wise stance to take.

Once we had talked through the plans, we agreed that everybody should stay at the house until Viktor could produce his items. Then we would immediately move out after that.

I was feeling a little nervous. Until now, it had all seemed somehow far into the future, like some distant threat. But now that we were actually taking a more aggressive approach, it suddenly felt very real.

As I made my way towards the stairs, Malik pulled me aside and whispered, "I have recruited a fourth team. The others are unaware of this, since this particular team is a bit special. You don’t need to know the details, but they will search Segin’s house as soon as possible. They will bring any information they find to me." I nodded, "Thanks, Malik. That's great. I would love to see what was behind that door."

Malik looked concerned, "I fear what they might find David. This might go deep, lad, deeper than we can imagine. There is still someone in the shadows, someone directing all of this." I agreed with him, "We will simply have to wait though. I need some rest, Malik. I have been pushing myself hard these past few days."

Malik nodded and gestured for me to go on. I stumbled back to my room, too tired to even change out of my clothes. I dismissed the images in my mind, so as not to drain my ether while I slept and fell asleep almost instantly.

Later, Lyra woke me up. Viktor had created a device that would help us search for the cores. As I made my way into the lounge with Lyra, Viktor was enthusiastically explaining how the items worked. "This is what I call a 'rune pacifier,' and it does what the name suggests. Basically, it will affect a specific strain of runes, and the related spell will not activate as long as the pacifier is in close proximity after that. I have managed to make about twenty of them so far, but I will need more time."

Isabel nodded, "It is a start, Viktor. Good work." Viktor grinned, "Next is this," he held out a small metal disc, "It will vibrate when in proximity to one of the cores. I managed to make it react to the souls within the cores. I am quite intrigued by what else I might be able to use it for. With a few tweaks, I might be able to search for spirits, phantoms, or other things. Can you imagine the-"

Malik raised a hand, "Your enthusiasm is appreciated, Viktor, but we are straying off-topic." Viktor looked annoyed but nodded, "I suppose. Well, I created one of them for each team and one for you, Malik. Each team will grab a handful of the pacifiers as well, and I will stay here to work on some more."

Everyone took their assigned items, and Isabel looked around at the group as they settled back into their seats. "We will need to be careful. We can't make a ruckus out there." There were nods of agreement, and Malik stood up, "Time for work then. Let's go."

Malik joined our group, and we headed off to the busy trade district to search for cores. We made our way to one of the poorer areas, and with Malik going off on his own, Isabel led us through the narrow alleys.

As we walked, Isabel suddenly stopped and gestured towards the disc. She then slowly moved down another alley, nodding and increasing her pace until we reached a junction. There, she walked first one way, then another, gauging our direction. Lyra and I followed closely behind her.

Eventually, we found the core lodged between two buildings, tucked away in a spot where it was unlikely to have been noticed by anyone. Isabel was about to retrieve the pacifier when a voice called out from the end of the alley.

“Adventurer Indomitable, Emberheart and Harlequin. You are all to lay down your arms, and come with me. You are accused murder!”