As soon as Dink entered the Rusty Blade Inn he could feel something was off. He washed off the blood covering him in a basin beside the door, staining the water red. It was placed there to be used by miners for cleaning off rock dust before a meal.

Now he was relatively clean, he pulled on the basilisk leather coat, discovering it was a perfect fit. Wiping a hand over his face, he looked around the common room for the source of his unease.

There's nothing out of place, why do I feel like something's wrong? Riva and Tahlea are eating their dinner at the table they were seated at earlier. Wait, where's Estra?

I can detect her upstairs through our magical contract. Yet her emotional state is completely unreadable. That’s highly unusual.

Riva and Tahlea noticed him entering the common room and motioned him over. Feeling concerned, he waved them off as he changed direction toward the stairs. He hurried to ascend to the second floor, heading straight to the room he had left Estra. Arriving at the door, he slammed it open then rushed inside.

It was too dark to see while his eyes adjusted to the dim light coming from the hallway. Something shifted in the corner, drawing Dink’s attention.

"Show yourself!" Dink commanded, menacingly raising his new sword.

"You can put that away. It's just me," Martha said.

A figure walked into the light coming from the doorway to reveal herself. She was holding her hands up placatingly in front of her as she cautiously approached him. Dink relaxed and put aside his great sword, leaning it against the door frame.

"Martha, where's Estra? Is something wrong?" Dink asked, walking into the dark room.

"I haven’t left her side since you left. She still hasn’t woken from her magic trance. Not long ago, her breathing became erratic and the light surrounding her disappeared. Which I don’t think is a very good sign. Can you help her?” Martha helplessly said.

Dink pushed past Martha to discover Estra sitting motionless on the floor in the lotus position. He walked over to crouch in front of her. Placing a hand against her brow, her skin was hot and damp to the touch. Leaning in close, he sniffed the side of her neck. He could detect the faint odour of sulphur.

Using a pair of fingers, he gently pried open Estra’s eyelids. Her eyes were completely pale, including the pupils which had become a milky blue colour. Dink hissed at what he discovered, abruptly standing up. He brushed the clammy sweat off his hands on his pants, turning to Martha.

“Estra’s vitals are deteriorating. She bit off more than she could chew with processing my draconic bloodline. I know who can potentially fix this, they’re not far from here. I’ll shift her to the cart in the stable. Go get everyone ready,” Dink instructed, throwing one of Estra’s arms over his shoulder.

He knelt beside her and scooped her into his arms. She was extremely light as he easily picked her up.

“Where are you taking her?” Martha asked, rushing ahead to hold the door open for Dink. He walked past her to descend the stairs, Martha following at his heels.

“The Sisterhood of Mercy. If it still exists, they’ll have the best chance at healing her,” Dink replied, pausing to allow Martha to overtake him.

“Gasp, can’t you just ask the Magus that repaired the Inn to take a look at her? The Sisterhood is abducts young women with their virginity still intact,” Martha objected. Dink stopped moving to make eye contact with Martha before he responded.

“That's merely a rumour. There's always desperate people that will resort to selling their daughters. The world is an ugly place. Did you notice a white sash on Albus’ arm?” Dink asked.

“No. Should I have?” Martha curiously asked, taken aback.

“Exactly, he’s not a healer. Although, under the Nine Disciplines both belong to the Restoration category. They’re still separate. Healers usually wear a white sash when they’re travelling to advertise their services,” Dink replied.

“I see. Can you tell me about the Nine Disciplines?” Martha asked.

“I’ll keep this brief because our time’s limited. The Nine Disciplines divide the different schools of magic. Unlike what you’d expect after hearing the name, only seven of them belong to Magus. The first, Augmentation, is what Estra affiliates with. She has never told me that but no other discipline would dare to absorb a draconic bloodline. Tahlea focuses on Divination. The others are Alteration, Creation, Destruction, Illusion, and Restoration,” Dink informed her.

“What about the remaining two discliplines?” Martha asked.

“The last two disciplines apply to Attuned. Physical, like Axion, and Sensory, like Riva. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses. An Attuned is restricted to their one discipline whereas most Magus will dabble in at least two or three different ones,” Dink continued. He walked toward the group seated in the common room, seeing Axion had joined them.

"You haven't mentioned Murkuk," Martha added.

"Murkuk… well, he can only use the single spell enchanted into his bangstick. So, if you're being technical, I guess he falls under the Destruction discipline," Dink replied, frowning in thought.

"Hahaha, a goat-fucker with any number of spells is too many!' Axion teased, oblivious to Estra being held in Dink's arms.

“Don’t forget the three forbidden disciplines, Dink,” Riva interjected, overhearing their discussion.

“They’re not worth mentioning. To find a Magus stupid enough to be corrupted by that kind of power deserves everything that happens to them,” Dink dismissed the statement with a shake of his head.

The group noticed Dink and Martha’s arrival. Pushing their chairs back from the table as they abruptly stood. Seeing the unconscious figure of Estra, he rushed over and carefully lifted her from Dink’s arms.

“What’s happened? Estra looks like death!” Riva suddenly exclaimed.

“Mana backlash. It could be crippling or even fatal if we don’t get her to a healer,” Tahlea answered, tentatively brushing aside Estra’s strawberry blonde hair plastered to her brow.