Once Verdan was back at the estate, he made his way directly to the workshop and all but dragged Magnus away from studying the alchemy machine. Natalia had made significant progress in exploring exactly what effect it had, and was already close to converting one of her theoretical recipes. From there, it was just a question of actually trying to make it.

  For now, though, Verdan’s focus was on getting things ready for Ciaran. Explaining the situation to Magnus, they both got to work. Elliot had made a range of metal blanks for them while they were away, which were perfect for the medallions. The enchanting machine for the medallions had been broken, so they recreated it at the workshop, this time in a far less bulky format.

  That done, it was simply a matter of Magnus getting to work while Verdan began to make the more complicated pieces. Using any Sigils or Aethite was risky at the moment, especially without more testing, so Verdan planned to stick to Aether constructs.

  The benefits would be limited, and the enchantments would be destroyed if they fought any magic users, but it was better than nothing.

  Unfortunately, he only had so much Aether to spare, so some meditation was needed. For a while now, Verdan had been pushing himself to split his focus more. Casting more than one spell at a time, albeit very weak ones, was slowly becoming more manageable. He was a long way from using any combat spells, but it was time to push the training forward.

  Setting part of his mind to start actively drawing in Aether through his gathering spiral, Verdan took a seat and placed a stack of Brotherhood documents in front of him. These were the alchemy journals, reports and assorted paperwork they’d looted.

  Natalia would be best to read these, but she was busy, and there was no reason why Verdan couldn’t give them a first pass to filter out anything useless. It was good practice for him on multiple fronts.

  Surprisingly, Verdan found the task fairly straightforward. It wasn’t too different from what he would normally do, after all. His gathering spiral was always going in the background. This was simply Verdan putting more intent into the already existing process.

  Regardless, it meant that he was recovering Aether at a good pace. With an afternoon ahead of them, he expected to get a dozen or more axes enchanted with basic sharpness spells. It wasn’t much, but it was the best he could do.

  -**-

  “How’s it going in here?” Natalia asked, stepping into the room with a cup of coffee in each hand. “Drink?”

  “Govannon bless you,” Magnus said, blinking his tired eyes as he took a mug and cradled it in both hands. Verdan’s apprentice had been working hard to get as medallions done as he could, enough so that they should have enough for every Thearn and a dozen more for the Airta.

  It was good work, but Verdan was going to cut him off soon. Any more, and Magnus would start risking things going wrong. The weapons Verdan was working on were more important now, and he’d made good progress with them as well.

  “Yes, please,” Verdan said, taking the other mug and sipping the delicious drink before setting it aside. He was sitting at one of the few tables with several stacks of paper before him. “I’ve got a few things for you to read, if you have a moment?”

  “Of course.” Natalia took a seat on the opposite side and yawned. “We’ve missed the evening meal, but Adrienne just came up to say she had sandwiches on standby for us.”

  “Gods bless that woman,” Verdan said with a chuckle as he picked out a sheaf of papers and passed them over. “I might just do that in a few minutes. First, though, I want your opinion on these.”

  Natalia nodded and began to read, leaving Verdan to sip his coffee and devote more of his attention to gathering Aether. He’d made a net gain across the afternoon, drawing in more than he’d used, but he was still holding less than he’d like.

  There had simply been too much fighting and too many big spells in the last few months. Hopefully, though, the Brotherhood would be wary of doing anything to provoke him further. He doubted it, but a man could dream.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Magnus yawned loudly and rubbed his face. “Sorry, Master. I think I need a break.”

  “Go, get some food,” Verdan said, waving Magnus away. “Relax and meditate until Dirk and Sinead are here.”

  Magnus nodded heavily and did just that, leaving Verdan and Natalia alone in the room. The alchemist was still engrossed in the papers Verdan he’d passed over, leaving him with just his thoughts.

  Absently, Verdan reached up to trace the outline of his eye patch. He was finally past the point of bumping into things or straining his right eye, but he still hadn’t fully adjusted. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t know if he ever would. Now and then, he’d be struck by how little of the room he could see, making him overly aware of his missing sight.

  “Does it bother you?” Natalia asked softly, drawing his attention back to her as she reached over to take his hand in hers.

  “It doesn’t hurt, not anymore,” Verdan said, unable to lie to her. “But sometimes I feel lessened in a way I can’t find words for. I feel the way people stare at me as well. The pity.”

  “It’s like shards of glass in your soul,” Natalia said, smiling sadly. “You know the state I’d got myself into about going outside or being around other people. It’s tough, but you have to learn not to feel it. What they feel is their business, not yours.”

  “Easier said than done,” Verdan said before giving her hand a squeeze. “At least I have a great example to follow.”

  “But of course.” Natalia affected an arrogant pose, flipping her hair back as she did and drawing a hearty chuckle from Verdan. “In all seriousness, though, if you need anything, you know where I am. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Verdan gave her a warm smile before gesturing to the pieces of paper in her other hand. “Anything so far?”

  “Actually yes, there is,” Natalia said, her demeanour shifting as she tapped the top sheet of paper. “This one talks about the uses of the empowered Dryd, and specifically on how much the end result is influenced by the reagents.”

  “Yes, that caught my eye as well,” Verdan said with a nod. “That’s why I put it aside for you. I wasn’t sure if it would be useful or not.”

  “Frankly, no, it isn’t,” Natalia said, frowning down at the paper. “I knew that the quality of potion outmatched the knowledge behind it, but this is atrocious. This is barely advanced alchemy. Any master in the craft knows all this already and has done the experiments themselves countless times. It made no sense until I read this last part.”

  Natalia held the paper out to him, waiting patiently as Verdan read the part she’d indicated and bit back the urge to curse himself for not reading it thoroughly before. “Someone gave them a recipe, and this is a version of it adapted to work with monsters and animals.”

  “Yes, and there’s only one other potion I know of that extracts magic like this without involving monsters or animals,” Natalia said, her voice sharp with tightly controlled anger. “Someone gave them this knowledge, Verdan. They didn’t discover it or develop it themselves.”

  “The similarity between the two had already occurred to me,” Verdan said, shaking his head. “I’d intended to talk to you about it at some point. I’d assumed that they were both developed by the Brotherhood, though, but this reads like it was gifted to them.”

  “I can categorically say that if whoever wrote this was in charge of the lab you found, then the Brotherhood didn’t develop that cursed potion.” Natalia was on her feet now, pacing back and forth. “The Essence-boosting potion has been around for a long time, and we’ve never known who was making it, or who had developed it. I know stories of alchemists trying to figure it out and going missing. I’d put that all down as hearsay, but what if it were true? What if this is how the Brotherhood has been growing?”

  “By dealing with the worst that Sorcerers have to offer.” Verdan closed his eye, knowing deep inside that he’d have to tell Kai about this. His friend was haunted by what had happened to his sister, and Verdan wished nothing more than to leave the past buried. It wasn’t his choice to make, though.

  The door to the room opened, and Magnus walked back in, Dirk and Sinead following after him. The three Kranjir took one look at Natalia’s furious expression and paled.

  “Is everything alright?” Magnus asked, glancing around as though expecting to find an enemy hidden in the corner.

  “Not really, no.” Verdan winced before putting the paper down and turning to his apprentice. “Is Kai here?”

  “I think he’s over at the Witch Coven’s house.”

  “Go find him for me, please. Gwen as well if you can. Tell them it’s important.”

  “Of course, Master.” Magnus nodded firmly before heading back the way he’d come at a good speed.

  “What’s happening, Master?” Dirk asked with a deep frown as he took in the stacks of paper on the table.

  “The Brotherhood has once again exceeded my expectations for how vile an organisation can be,” Verdan said bitterly. “Take a seat for now. I’ll need to talk to Kai, and then we’ll have our conversation.”

  Dirk nodded and took a seat, joined by a concerned-looking Sinead.

  “I’ll get back to my work,” Natalia said, giving Verdan a concerned look. “Let me know if you need me, but it’s probably best if I don’t know what you discuss with Kai.”

  “Probably,” Verdan said, as eager to keep her out of the more dangerous side as she was to stick with her alchemy. “Take the rest of those pages with you, but don’t let them out of your sight. I’ll collect them before we leave.”