Verdan spent the rest of the day in quiet meditation, slowly working to increase the density of his spiral. Now that he had somewhere to work from and goods on order, he wanted to increase the amount of energy he had to work with. It was so frustrating that he had so little spare power.

Half a day of concentrated work left him exhausted but took him from eighteen layers through to twenty-eight, a considerable jump in number. He was solidly in what was commonly known as the journeyman stages, where students were still forming their first complete spiral and expanding their vocabulary.

Grimacing, Verdan realised that such knowledge wasn't exactly common anymore. He kept stumbling over thoughts like this, which drove home his isolation once more. Sighing, he rubbed his face and gave up on any further meditation. He was in the wrong frame of mind now.

Still, he refused to dwell on his darker thoughts, so Verdan focused on analysing his path from here. Hopefully, he could distract himself enough to forget for a while.

Verdan had a long way to go still to recover his former strength, and the work would only get more challenging. Still, there was something satisfying about seeing how quickly he was moving through these initial stages. He'd held back from using any powerful magic since the cyth encounter, so his reserve was still low but was slowly increasing.

With some hard work and dedication, he would get through both the journeyman and adept stages by the time his equipment arrived. He wasn't sure how much Aether would be needed to work on his alchemy projects, but better safe than sorry.

-**-

With a goal in mind, Verdan spent the next two days exploring the city and meditating whenever he had spare time, pushing himself all the way to forty layers on his spiral by the end of their stay at the Plucky Wanderer. Everything from thirty-six up to a complete spiral was the early stages of being an adept. Verdan smiled faintly as he remembered the long nights of wrestling with his gathering spiral when he was an adept himself.

Adepts were senior apprentices, tasked with maintenance and support, expected to watch everything their masters did and absorb it like a sponge. His own master had encouraged questions and rewarded curiosity, lighting a fire in Verdan that gave him a never-ending thirst for knowledge.

That thirst was all that drove Verdan onward right now. He wanted to understand the changes in the world and the rise of sorcerers. Still, it all felt a little hollow right now. He had no one to discuss it all with. Not even Kai really understood what he was looking for.

A knock at the door drew him out of his reverie, Verdan blinking in surprise at the late hour of the visit. 'Excuse me, Mr Verdan, there's a package here for you,' Bob's voice came from outside his room.

It was their last night at the Wanderer, and Verdan had already retired for his evening meditation. Rising to his feet, Verdan opened the door to find the innkeeper holding a reasonably sized box.

'What is it?' Verdan frowned at the box in confusion. Nothing should have been arriving from Dresk for quite a while yet.

'No idea, sorry, a runner dropped it off just now,' Bob said with a shrug, putting the box down next to the door when he saw that Verdan wasn't going to take it. 'Have a nice night.'

'Thanks, you too,' Verdan gave Bob a half-wave as he pulled the box into his room and carefully opened it up.

Nestled inside the box and carefully packaged were a dozen fleshy masses, which he assumed must be the hearts that he'd ordered through the Guild. A quick burst of Aether picked one up, allowing him to remove some of the excess flesh and reveal the more traditional heart shape. However, this one did seem to have oddly large ventricles compared to the atria.

Of course, Verdan was no master of biology, so it could be entirely normal for the creature. Still, it piqued his interest.

Unfortunately, he'd not been expecting such a quick delivery from the Guild, so he had nothing to work on them with. Well, nothing alchemical anyway.

Biology had been a much-neglected aspect of science within the imperium. Wizards glossed over it and left the potion making and alchemy to witches. Verdan only knew the little he did from some research he'd done on the human body when creating his stasis spell.

Tapping into his magic, Verdan extended his senses outward, examining the hearts for any magical residue that might be getting drawn out as the "essential essence" the sorcerers needed.

Nothing. Not even a hint of magic to them. They were inert flesh and had no intrinsic magic to them as far as he could tell. The Guild wouldn't have cheated him on his first-ever bounty, it was just bad business, so it meant that he must not be understanding just what the process was to extract the essence.

The few alchemy techniques that he knew were based on using naturally beneficial ingredients and then improving them by infusing energy into the mix. That wouldn't account for something like this, though. It definitely warranted further investigation. The real question was how he was going to do that investigation, he needed help, and those textbooks were still in Dresk right now.

Putting the crate in a corner with the lid back on, Verdan pulled together an Aether construct and bound it to the box, intoning a word of power under his breath as he did, 'hoer.'

Releasing the construct, Verdan felt a slight chill brush past his fingers as the spell took hold. He'd added enough power to the spell to last overnight, keeping the hearts cold and, hopefully, preserving them.

Tired and with more questions to ponder, Verdan climbed into bed and let his musings on how to go about his research lull him to sleep.

-**-

The next morning was a busy one as they said goodbye and moved their belongings from the Plucky Wanderer over to the Crea estate. Verdan made sure to take the hearts himself, recharging the construct he'd attached to the box as he did.

Brent was ready with the key when Verdan arrived at Tobias's home, passing it over with a few comments on what had been done to the house and the workshop.

Brent told him that anything left over had been stored in a basement room in the workshop for safety. That would likely include a few pieces of equipment and random things that had been missed previously.

Intrigued, Verdan resolved to head over and investigate as soon as feasible. First, though, Verdan gathered the group together and headed over to their new residence.

The area surrounding the old Crea residence was as decrepit as the last time they'd been here. Verdan could see hungry faces in windows, young and old alike, as they passed through. Old oaths of responsibility tugged at Verdan's heart, reminding him of his recent good fortune and the money in his purse.

'Tim, Tom, I've got a job for you,' Verdan said, the brothers picking up their pace to come alongside him.

'Yes, Boss?' Tim asked, waiting for their task expectantly.

'Here's ten silver each. I want one of you to buy bread and the other off-cuts of meat. Split it into as many portions as you can and then hand it out in the local area,' Verdan said, passing each of them a handful of silver.

Watching the two guardsmen jog back toward the centre of the city, Verdan tried to tell himself he was buying goodwill, and it was all a logical use of the funds he had.

The truth, however, was that he couldn't bear to see starving children, not while he could do something about it. Silver went a long way in the most basic of foodstuffs. Hopefully, it would be enough to take the edge off and help a few of those suffering the most.

Gwen was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to really pay much attention, but Kai gave him an approving nod when Verdan looked back. It was good to know that they shared some of the same values. He didn't know quite how to treat Kai at the moment, he acted like a sworn retainer, but Verdan had little need of a warrior in his preferred line of work. Time would tell, he supposed.

The Crea mansion was three storeys tall despite its practical and non-glamorous design. Six different bedrooms were spread across the top two floors, Verdan quickly claiming the master bedroom for himself. To his surprise, even in the overly large bedroom he picked, there was little in the way of decorations or anything ostentatious. It all felt very practical and very straightforward. Perfect for his tastes.

Kai and Gwen took rooms on the top floor with him, leaving the brothers to take the floor down along with the empty room. He considered asking Natalia if she wanted to move in with them, but he wouldn't want to live in her family home with a group of strangers in her situation.

Putting the few possessions he had in his new room, Verdan made his way back out of the residence and across to the workshop. The building was the size of a medium warehouse, with at least two floors to it and thick reinforced doors at the entrance. Unlocking the doors, Verdan stepped inside the main area of the workshop, which was a surprisingly filled storage area. It seemed to run two-thirds of the length of the building and a good half or more of its width. Dividers were evenly spaced along the edges for organising goods in and out.

Crates, barrels and storage racks sat empty and ready for use in each small zone, their contents long removed and most likely sold off. Stairs up sat on each side of the storage area, with matching stairs down and a number of doors that led into the ground-floor rooms. Picking the closest one to the entrance, Verdan was somewhat disappointed to find a bare stone room. Everything had been taken, right down to the furniture and workstations.

He'd thought it might be the case, but it was still disheartening to see that he was starting from scratch. However, it also meant he could design all of these rooms to do what he wanted from the ground up. Once he worked out what that would be, of course.

Rubbing his face, Verdan did a lap around the whole building, mentally cataloguing what was available. There were six workrooms on the ground floor and the central storage area. Four larger rooms were upstairs, alongside two smaller storage areas, and three large storage areas filled the basement of the building. It was a lot of space, a lot of room for materials and products, enough room for truly industrial output.

One of the storage areas in the basement was filled with the leftover parts that hadn't been sold off. It was a motley collection of items, a few crates of implements in less than pristine condition and a couple of serviceable pieces of furniture.

Several burn marks marred the furniture, likely why it hadn't been sold on, but if he hauled all this back upstairs, he could at least have several bookcases and a chair to start things off with.

Leaving it all, for now, Verdan headed back to the residence to check in with everyone else and give some thought to how he'd want everything set out. Perhaps he would equip one room while he waited. At the very least, he would have an idea of how everything came together then.

Tom and Tim were standing outside the residence when Verdan exited the workshop. The brothers were speaking to an older man with short grey hair and a powerful build, Tim beckoning him over when they saw him emerge.

'This is Samuel, a local foreman for one of the logging parties. He came to thank you for the food we gave out earlier,' Tim said as Verdan reached them. Samuel had a close-cut beard, warm brown eyes and a kind face. Verdan wasn't a great people person, but the few instincts he had were telling him that Samuel was a good man.

'Pleasure to meet you, glad to see someone moving into the old Crea place,' Samuel said, his deep voice heavily accented but clear enough for Verdan to understand.

'You too, I hope to be doing a lot around here, and I will make sure part of it feeds back to the local workforce.' Verdan said with a respectful nod to the other man.

'Is that so? Well, I reckon you'll be quite the popular man,' Samuel said with a hearty laugh. 'I know most of the folk around here. If you need anyone or anything, just give me a shout.'

'Well, been as you're here, I do have a few questions,' Verdan said, thinking of the empty rooms in the workshop.

'I'm all ears.'

'I need glassware suitable for alchemy, I've got some on order, but more is always welcome. I also need a few carpenters to make storage, chairs and tables for the workshop. I'm willing to pay a little extra for it to be done in a good time frame.' Verdan could see the mixture of hope and interest in Samuel's eyes, but something seemed to stop him from getting too excited.

'Well, there's a small problem with that. The logging grounds are closed right now. They have been for a few weeks, actually, which is why things are getting grim here. Something nasty moved into the area, you see. We went from being relatively safe to having attacks every day.' Samuel said, grimacing and rubbing his left shoulder as he shook his head.

'We had to abandon the place or die, which meant no lumber for glass-making, forges or carpenters. The southern woods are filled with cyth these days, so they're no good either, not for a proper logging operation that is.' Samuel's shoulders slumped as he described the issues they'd been having, an understandable reaction to Verdan's eyes.

'Have you put a bounty out?' His first thought was the adventurers in the guild. They would be a good initial response to something like this.

'Aye, a team of three went in after it and never came back, so none of the rest will take it without more money in the bounty. No lumber means no work, which means no money to increase the bounty with. A vicious cycle.'

'I see, and if the creature was driven off and the area made safe?'

'Why I'd have the boys down there the same day, a few have risked going back on their own already. That's how eager they are to get going.'

'Hmm, let Tim know where to find you. I'll most likely want to speak to you in the morning if that's okay?' Verdan tapped his chin in thought. He wanted that operation going once again. It would give him access to a lot more without needing to pay through the nose for it. The goodwill of the locals would have its own benefits as well. That being said, he wasn't making any decisions without more information.

'Of course! Drop by any time. These two already know where to find me when you want a chat,' Samuel bobbed his head and gave the brothers a wave before heading back out of the estate.

'What're you think, Boss? Are we hunting it down?' Tim asked, a little hesitant but willing to commit to the task.

'Maybe. Is Kai inside?' Verdan wanted to speak to the sorcerer first of all, and when Tim nodded, he headed inside to track Kai down.

The sorcerer was standing in the kitchen, feeding wood into the stove, when Verdan found him. A large pot sat on the stove, filled to the brim with vegetables and water, slowly heating up while Kai closed the stove and started preparing a chicken.

'Taking over dinner?' Verdan asked with a smile, the imagery of the scarred and imposing Kai cooking for them all amusing him no end.

'Would you rather take over?' Kai paused to give him a look over his shoulder, his lips twitching into a smile as Verdan threw a hand up in defeat.

Sitting down at the table, Verdan passed on the information from Samuel as he watched Kai work. The chicken soon turned into portions that were added to the stew, Kai covering it over before joining Verdan at the table with a thoughtful expression.

'So, what do you think?' Verdan prompted after a few moments of silence from Kai.

'It's a dangerous job. If we're going to put a bounty out, it needs to be either for eradication or for a subjugation bounty. Eradication would be to kill everything dangerous in the area around the logging site, and subjugation would be to deal with the root cause. Whatever moved into the area must be dangerous to drive out so many other creatures, that or it's a group of creatures taking over a large tract of territory. Regardless, it's not something to be attempted with just a three-man group. Larger groups will only be looking for higher bounties, I'd say fifty silver for the eradication, minimum, and more like a whole gold for the subjugation.'

Verdan instinctively winced at the thought of parting with one of his two remaining gold coins, the time when he could spend gold like water was far, far in the future. Fifty silver was doable, but it would only be a temporary fix at best, meaning that at some point, the loggers would be attacked once more. Arranging for an eradication to clear the area to send them back with the knowledge that they would be attacked again felt like a betrayal of trust to Verdan. If he was going to do that, he would also instigate some form of protection for the site to manage future issues.

However, adding protection to the site brought him straight back to the cost concern. That meant that the eradication was off the list, and that didn't leave much in the way of choice.

'What about if we did it ourselves?' Verdan asked somewhat reluctantly.

'That depends. How many of those strong fire conjurations could you do?' Kai made a rough gesture to reference the fireball that Verdan had used on the Cyth Bayne.

'I could do one more with the reserves I have, but my recovery rate is still abysmal, and it would take some time before I could do another. I have enough saved up for an extended fight with smaller effects, and hopefully, a bit more if I put some work in.' Verdan said, sighing at the sorry state of his Aether reserves.

'The four of us could do it then, you'd provide ranged support while I occupy the strongest, and the brothers hold the rest off you,' Kai said with a slow nod, his eyes distant as he pictured how it would play out.

'Oh, and what about me?' Gwen said from the doorway, arms folded and eye's flashing with indignation.

'Well, do you have control over your magic?' Verdan raised an eyebrow in her direction, noting how quickly her anger faded as she muttered something and uncrossed her arms. 'Exactly, the northern woods are a dangerous place. I couldn't in good conscience take you.' Verdan didn't think it was a big jump to assume the woods were dangerous, not with such a lack of policing.

'The northern woods?' Gwen asked quickly, flashing them both a brilliant smile when Verdan nodded. 'That's where my family home is, where my mother’s books and my grandmother's journal is, now you definitely have to take me.'

'This isn't an overnight process. You will need time to properly commune with nature,' Verdan said with a frown, automatically disapproving of any rushed magical processes.

'And you will need time to properly survey and hunt in the area, time best spent from a base camp like the cottage I grew up in. One of my ancestors warded it to keep away most monsters and things of ill intent.' Gwen's smile took on a smug quality as she spoke, turning the argument around on him.

'She does have a point,' Kai said softly, making Gwen crow in victory and clap her hands together.

'Very well, we head to your home first and then organise our hunting from there. We'll spend the night here first and head out tomorrow, tell me in the morning if you need any additional supplies. I've got some more meditating to do,' Verdan said abruptly as he rose from his chair, leaving the two of them together as he headed back up to his new room. He was a little irritated by the whole situation. Why couldn't the city just look after their own borders?

That was a problem for another day, however. Right now, they were going into a dangerous area with little information and little preparation. He wanted to get his gathering spiral as complete as possible in advance. A single blast of flame could save a life in a situation like this. He had a hard night of meditation ahead of him.