Juri Winkler adjusted the straps of his satchel as he trudged through the forest, a sack of scavenged materials slung over his shoulder. Every muscle in his body ached, his hands were raw from working metal, and his clothes reeked of soot and sweat. But despite the exhaustion gnawing at him, a fire burned behind his sharp blue eyes.

Each step brought him closer to what he saw as the future.

Behind him, Halrick grunted as he hauled another sack, stuffed with rope and iron fittings salvaged from an old village storehouse. “We keep running, kid,” Halrick said, his gruff voice cutting through the silence, “but running only works so long. Sooner or later, someone’s gonna catch us.”

“They won’t catch me,” Juri said without turning around. “And if they catch you, it’s because you’re slower than I am.”

Halrick laughed, though there was little humor in it. “You know, most people your age don’t have such a knack for making enemies.”

“They’re not my enemies,” Juri replied calmly, finally stopping to catch his breath beneath a wide oak tree. “They’re obstacles.” He glanced over his shoulder, smirking faintly. “Obstacles get removed.”

Halrick sighed, leaning against the tree as he pulled a water flask from his belt. “You’ve got guts, kid, I’ll give you that. But guts don’t mean squat when you’re staring down an Arcanist with half a dozen spells ready to blow you to pieces.”

Juri sat on a nearby rock, pulling out a small map of the region and tracing his finger along the crude ink markings. Greystone loomed on the page—a small but vital town situated at the crossroads of several trade routes. It was also home to a mana spire, a towering structure that acted as both a power source and a symbol of magical dominance.

“If we hit Greystone,” Juri said, his tone cold and calculated, “we don’t just slow them down. We show everyone else that they’re not invincible.”

Halrick raised an eyebrow. “You want to take out a mana spire?”

“I want to reduce it to rubble,” Juri replied, folding the map and slipping it into his satchel. “And if we do it right, they’ll be too busy cleaning up the mess to notice what we’ve stolen.”

“Stolen?” Halrick echoed, shaking his head. “Let me guess—explosives, supplies, maybe even a horse or two?”

Juri smirked. “Close. I’m after something much more valuable. Information. Schematics. Anything we can use to stay two steps ahead.”

Halrick stared at him for a moment, then let out a low whistle. “You’ve got ambition, kid. I’ll give you that. But ambition’s a hell of a gamble.”

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“It’s not a gamble if you plan for every outcome,” Juri said, standing and slinging the sack over his shoulder.

Halrick chuckled as he pushed off the tree. “You keep saying things like that, and one of these days, I might actually start believing you.”

The town of Greystone lay nestled between two hills, its spire rising like a beacon in the center. The roads leading into town were lined with merchant carts and weary travelers, their wares glowing faintly with the telltale sheen of mana-enhanced goods.

Juri and Halrick watched from a ridge overlooking the town, their forms obscured by the dense brush.

“Two guards at the south gate,” Halrick muttered, squinting as he studied the scene below. “Another three patrolling the perimeter. Light defenses for a place this important.”

“They think the spire is enough to keep people in line,” Juri said, adjusting the scope he’d fashioned from salvaged glass and brass. “That, and fear of the Arcanists.”

Halrick grinned faintly. “Guess we’re about to disappoint them.”

The plan was simple on paper but risky in execution. Halrick would create a diversion near the east wall, drawing the guards away from the spire, while Juri infiltrated the containment chamber and planted his explosives. Once the crystal was destroyed, they would regroup and escape into the forest under cover of the chaos.

“Don’t get yourself killed, kid,” Halrick said, clapping Juri on the shoulder. “I’m too old to keep running on my own.”

“Try to keep up,” Juri replied with a smirk.

Juri moved like a shadow, slipping through the narrow alleyways that crisscrossed Greystone’s outer district. The town was alive with activity, the streets bustling with merchants, guards, and commoners. He kept his head down, his dark cloak blending in with the crowd.

The spire’s base was surrounded by a low stone wall, its main gate guarded by two sentries armed with mana-infused spears. Juri watched from the shadows, calculating the timing of their patrols.

When the distraction came—a burst of flame and smoke erupting from the eastern wall—Juri made his move.

He scaled the wall with practiced efficiency, his hands and feet finding purchase on the rough stone. Within moments, he was inside the spire’s outer courtyard, the faint hum of the mana crystal resonating through the air.

The crystal itself was housed in a reinforced containment chamber at the center of the spire. The walls were lined with glowing runes, their purpose both to stabilize the crystal’s energy and to ward off intruders.

But Juri had studied enough about magical systems to know their weaknesses.

He pulled a small, hand-crafted device from his satchel—a metallic cylinder with a rotating mechanism at its core. He pressed it against one of the runes, activating the device with a flick of his thumb.

The rune flickered, then died, its glow fading into darkness. Juri grinned. “Works every time.”

He moved quickly, disabling the remaining runes before planting the explosives around the base of the crystal.

The detonation was spectacular.

The mana crystal shattered with a deafening crack, its energy erupting outward in a wave of blinding light. The containment chamber collapsed, sending shards of stone and metal raining down on the courtyard.

Juri sprinted through the chaos, his satchel heavy with stolen documents and salvaged components. Guards shouted behind him, their voices drowned out by the roar of collapsing rubble.

By the time he reached the forest, Halrick was waiting with a stolen cart.

“Tell me you got something useful,” Halrick said, snapping the reins as the cart jolted into motion.

Juri smirked, pulling a rolled parchment from his satchel. “Blueprints. We’re going to build something better.”