Skillfully, Cale let the dirty dishes fly in front of him as he walked through his apartment toward the kitchen. He was still holding the communication crystal in one hand, in which more and more voices could be heard.

"This is a disaster", Sefra Ristus, 4th seat of the Magistrat, announced in horror. Her usually elegant and pleasant voice was barely recognizable. Instead, the stern, concerned manner of the magician that Cale knew from his 1st life could now be heard.

Quietly, Cale reached for the cups and placed them one by one on the counter before turning away and heading back to his room. He had decided to simply listen to the others, so as not to influence them with his theories. People with no prior knowledge could sometimes have an interesting take on things, as he had since discovered.

"If the creature can really teleport, then we can never capture it, let alone kill it", Luc Darves, 6th seat ot the Magistrat, calmly interjected.

"That's why we're trying to find a solution", Aaron's voice replied a moment later. He seemed to be in motion, for his words were softened by the wind.

"Do you know how far it can teleport? Can't we surround it somehow?"

That was probably one of the few useful comments, which surprisingly came from Joshua. Like Cale and Grischa, he was among the youngest in the 12-member group and was often dubbed naive.

"We don't have any information about it. It could be a few meters, it could be hundreds. But like any mage, they can't overdo it either, eventually they run out of power too."

"Do we have a way to identify the Kormandent so that we always know where it is?", Joshua replied in the same breath. Meanwhile, Cale went up the stairs to his bedroom and, using his magic, began picking up the books and stacking them in the corner.

"I can use his shadow."

For a moment, Cale looked at the crystal in surprise. In fact, this was not a bad idea on Luc's part. He was a High-Magician, which used the shadows for attack and defense. Besides, Cale knew that the man was quite capable of jumping between different shadows, even if he didn't really know the principle behind it.

"Are you able to track the Kormandent with this?", Odin Ander spoke up, who was ranked one above his comrade.

"That should be doable, although the creature will notice that I'm tracking him with my Igrikum", Luc explained calmly. He was one of the mages who had stayed in the city to help the Eldest.

"Then that's what we'll do", Aaron replied victoriously and murmurs of agreement could be heard, but Cale just rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you forgetting something? We have to find him first", he therefore interjected, dropping a glance at Grischa. He was asleep on the edge of the bed and the blanket had slipped off him almost completely.

Silence was heard in response from the other High-Magicians.

Quietly, Cale walked up to his friend and cast a skeptical glance at him. Ice was forming on his skin again, tonight he really must let him bathe again. Caring, he pulled the blanket up to his face and took a seat next to Grischa on the floor. He leaned against the wall of books and closed his eyes as he continued to talk with his colleagues.

"Caleb, didn't you mean that the creature stole Grischa's mana?", Nora finally spoke up.

"At least that's what Aletta Merensen thinks, and the other healers from Frignez also agree with her theory. Whether this is true, however, I cannot guarantee."

"If it is, doesn't that mean that the creature is currently running around with Grischa's mana?"

"It may be, yes. If it truly has no mana of its own, it only makes sense that the Kormandent currently possesses it and uses it for itself", Cale confirmed calmly. "Assuming it can store the mana. What are you thinking about, Nora?"

He didn't know the mage very well. She, along with Sefra, was responsible for training students at the Magistrat, among other things, but he really hadn't had much contact with her even in his school days.

"Yusuf Mirai is blind, after all. How can he tell us apart?", she interjected a few moments later. Cale flinched in surprise and suddenly got goose bumps when he thought of his school friend, whom he had abused to defend the city during the attack of the first wave. He had never thought about that before, for him, it had always been natural that his friend could differentiate people. But now, as someone pointed out the obvious to him, he remembered quite a few moments with Yusuf when he acted differently than he was supposed to.

"Wait a minute, does that mean...!"

"Yusuf can...!"

"So the boy would have to be able to...!"

"Are you planing in...?"

Cale could hear the horrified voices of his colleagues. They had instantly understood what Nora was getting at. Ever since they were kids, Yusuf had always been able to find him and even after Cale had changed from his blond-haired Frignezer guise to his real appearance, the mage had always seemed to know it was him. At the time, he hadn't questioned the issue because he simply assumed that Sefra or Grischa had told him about his gift... but what if that wasn't the case?

What if Yusuf Mirai was able to distinguish mana? Just as Grischa was able to see mana?

"You want Yusuf to look for Grischa's mana?", Cale's gave word, causing the others to fall silent. The idea should be quite feasible, but they had one small problem: Yusuf would be putting his life in danger if he agreed to it.

"He once told me many years ago that every mana feels different to him. If this is true about the Kormandent, then he should be quite capable of locating the creature in the masses", Nora calmly admitted.

"Do you realize what you're saying right now? Yusuf Mirai is a teacher and not a High-Magician, involving him in our affairs is risky, not to mention the danger he is in if he joins our quest", Sefra summed up the fact. The High-Magicians had taken an oath to protect Altona, its inhabitants, and the Magistrat by any means necessary. But it was different with ordinary mages. They worked officially on behalf of the Magistrat, but were in no way forced to do so. What they expected of him was definitely a step above him.

"How about we ask him what he thinks about it first?", Rangar finally spoke up. He was usually the loudest among them, but today he had held back for a surprisingly long time.

"That would mean we would have to inform him about Grischa's condition", Aaron replied hesitantly. Cale inwardly agreed with the statement. The blind mage had his eyes and ears everywhere, Cale feared that he could not keep the secret to himself. Besides, he didn't really trust Yusuf to handle such information carefully, nor did he even want him to know what was going on. On the other hand, Yusuf was currently their best option.

"I think we can trust him. We made an exception for the meeting too, why not now as well?", Luc inquired quite justifiably. Even if he was not one of them, he had definitely proven his loyalty. Moreover, thanks to his last life, Cale knew that Yusuf was not an evil person, just a bit naive and stupid. "Besides, Grischa and he are relatively close, so I think it would be worth a try."

Partly reluctant statements were heard, but none of them could give a reason which spoke against this proposal. Inwardly, Cale sighed. If they brought Yusuf in, there was another risk of leak. His mouth was simply too big. But for Grischa's sake, he would have to take the plunge. If he could save the 1st seat with it, then he would willingly sacrifice Yusuf. The man had done his job; Cale had no further use for him.

"Fine by me", Aaron gave voice.

"Okay."

"Fine, why not?"

There were murmurs of agreement as Cale reached out and gently touched Grischa on the forehead. The man showed no reaction and closed like a stone, as he had for the past few weeks.

"Sarches, please find Mirai", the Eldest himself spoke up, to everyone's surprise. "When you find him, bring him to Leuen's place, I'll come there as well."

Surprised, Cale straightened up. The Eldest wanted to come to his apartment as well? Why was that? He had never come to visit otherwise either, so why now? Cale couldn't exactly say that his apartment was prepared for the unexpected visit, not to mention how he himself currently looked.

"I'll be on my way right away, Eldest!", the mage announced joyfully, disconnecting in the next moment. With mixed feelings, Cale stood silently in front of Grische. Actually, he was uncomfortable, but for the sake of his friend, he would swallow his pride. He merely had the windows in his apartment opened with the help of his magic before striding into the dressing room to put on a fresh shirt.

"If you have any more ideas, let me know", Aaron lifted as Cale just slipped in the clean, black shirt.

"Alright. Meanwhile, we'll keep looking, please get back to us when you have an answer from Yusuf", Sefra announced on behalf of her group before saying goodbye and disconnecting as well.

The others followed her lead, one by one saying goodbye to each other, until finally only Aaron, Ranger, the Eldest, and Cale remained. Meanwhile, the 12th seat had arrived in front of the bathroom mirror and carefully combed his hair back neatly before quietly running the water to briefly wash his hands and face.

"Why didn't you inform us much sooner, anyway?", Rangar finally gave to word and for a moment Cale seemed to feel something like remorse. "If you had told us sooner, we wouldn't be in such a time crunch."

"There's more to it than just that", Cale interrupted the High-Magician, who was his examiner in the practical part of the examination for the title of High-Magician. Rangar, with the help of his Igrikum, which made his own body many times more robust, was a true fighting machine and he didn't care much about rules. Sometimes Cale suspected that the wild man became a High-Magician only to be able to duel with strong opponents. It would definitely fit his character.

"Rangar, the kid is right. There's a possibility that Grischa was deliberately chosen, and until we know who our enemy really is, the circle of those in the know should be limited."

"Which doesn't mean we don't trust you", Cale added to Aaron's statement. You wouldn't think by his words that he had been arguing loudly with Aaron just under an hour ago. "We are simply being overcautious at the moment."

"Honestly? Caution or not... I'm a council member, too, for crying out loud. You can't just hide something that important", Rangar scolded as Cale turned off the water and combed his wet fingers through his hair. He had already expected this reaction from Rangar, even if it came much later than he had expected. "Not to mention that you've just added our youngest member."

"When Grischa came to me back then, we didn't know it would have such serious consequences", Cale replied in a relaxed manner, brushing his hair back neatly before reaching for a ribbon and tying up his long mane. "Eldest, have you told the council what happened the day of the attack?"

"No", the Eldest confirmed a moment later.

"Then it's probably time to do so now", Cale prompted the mage and Rangar could be heard inquiring as to what Cale was talking about. When the Eldest then told him of his vision and the deaths of several High-Magicians, Rangar didn't produce another comment.

"It was me... I asked High-Magician Leuen to keep the vision a secret after the incident with Vonstetten", the Eldest finished the story and unconsciously Cale nodded at the statement. After his meeting with Miguel Heriog, he had happened to run into the Eldest and they had talked for a moment about what happened during the attack. When the Eldest realized that the creatures were the same creatures from his vision, he asked Cale not to tell anyone.

"Now... Rangar. Think real hard about what were the two reasons we didn't tell you."

"Are you seriously trying to mess with me now?", Rangar countered flippantly.

"That's a serious question. How do you think Odin, Rosalie and Malte would feel if they knew about the vision?" threw back Cale, stepping into the hallway.

"They would blame themselves", Rangar replied, to which Cale could not suppress a mocking clap of his hands.

"Nice, very nice. Seems to feel something like empathy, after all."

"Caleb", Aaron interjected sharply. "Don't overdo it."

"I'm just telling it like it is. I may be a bit conceited, but Altona wouldn't be standing without me and you know it. Maybe you should start not seeing each of us as ballast, just because we may be children in your eyes", Cale replied, emphasizing the word 'children' again.

"I know", Aaron replied at the same moment. "I realize that without your barrier we would have lost Exarion. I was actually going to thank you for that until the Grischa thing came up."

"Not just Exarion", Cale interjected, completely ignoring Aaron's statement. "I'm talking about Altona. All of Altona. Do you really think the creatures would have stopped in Exarion?"

"What do you mean, Leuen?", the Eldest interjected in wonder.

"Let's face it. The only reason Exarion was targeted is because of us High-Magicians. How do you think that would have ended if all of us had died?", Cale retorted challengingly, deliberately taking the risk of angering the Eldest with his words. "I'll bet you they would have fought their way all the way across the country to the twin mountains of Fringez in the next few days."

"Aren't you exaggerating a little with your statement?", Rangar spoke up again.

"I don't know, tell me? Am I exaggerating with my statement?", Cale directed the question back to the 2nd seat Magistrat, who did not respond. "Aaron, what do you mean? Am I exaggerating?"

"No", Aaron replied.

"Eldest?"

"No, you're probably right...", the Eldest hesitantly answerd.

"Which in turn brings us to the second point of why we didn't want to inform you of Grischa's condition. Currently, we High-Magicians are the only thing preventing the creatures from committing mass murder. We could not afford to burden you with the thought unnecessarily. That would have just come out somewhere somehow. When the creatures find out what happened to Grischa, what do you think will happen?"

"They'll take advantage of the situation and attack us in exactly that way", Rangar finally got to the point Cale had made weeks ago. Since they were in a timeline that was foreign even to Cale, he couldn't help them with his knowledge, but that didn't mean he couldn't draw logical conclusions. And one of those points was the danger of the creatures and especially the fact that they were intelligent.