"Look again, Ripha. Please." Leegaain asked, hoping to be wrong.
"Bytra is right." nadion nodded. "Whatever those things are, they are not Forgemastery spells."
"Just as I feared." Leegaain opened a long-distance Warp Steps leading to the Verhen Mansion. "Go with Lith, Bytra. You need to hide in a safe place where Azith can't find you. I'll let Lith know when I'm done, and he will contact you."
"What about Zor? How can you ask to sit tight and wait while she suffers the sa experints that created so many vengeful souls?" Bytra asked. "I could never live with myself if my cowardice killed her!"
"I'm asking you to sit tight and wait because that's our only chance to save my daughter's life." Leegaain replied, making Bytra flinch. "You heard Azith. He needs you, and he's not stupid.
"He knows that Zoreth is the only leverage he has to force you to cooperate with him. Until he gets what he wants from you, Zoreth is safe."
"I understand." Bytra nodded, taking deep breaths to regain her cool. "Do I return to the Organization or stay with Lith?"
"Go back to the Organization and inform the other hybrids of the danger you are in." Leegaain said. "Azith might make another attempt before I find him, and if you stay with the Verhens, he's going to contact you and play on your fears."
"What about ?" Lith asked. "Ripha is Azith's second choice, but once Bytra disappears, he'll focus on . He'll target my family to control just like he did to Bytra."
"I've heard the Blood Desert is beautiful this ti of the year." The Guardian replied with a smirk. "After everything that happened today, you and Solus can use a short vacation."
"Sounds like an excellent idea." Lith nodded. "Thanks for your help, Grandpa. Expect a hundred cakes or two from Mom as a thank you."
Leegaain's expression turned sour as soon as the Warp Gate closed. He suspected that Zoreth's kidnapping was more than a ploy to get a few artifacts. Yet he had said nothing to keep Bytra calm and not let her do anything stupid.
'Azith's strength is already beyond any Eldritch I've ever faced.' He thought. 'To reach that kind of power, Tezka relies on his Suneater spell, whereas Azith didn't use any external energy source that I could detect.
'Also, it doesn't make sense that he kidnapped Zoreth and let Bytra go during the ambush.
'Unless, of course, he succeeded against his own expectations. Unless he thought that it would have taken him a long ti to get what he wanted from Zoreth, but an unknown factor hastened his progr-
'Arthan's slave spell!' Leegaain's expression tensed in worry. 'The hybrids created by the Master are vulnerable to the Unwavering Loyalty array, and Azith must have access to it. How he learned it and how he discovered Zoreth's weakness are questions for another day.
'I need to find Azith before he gets too powerful. Luckily for , I know exactly where to start.'
***
Gorgon Empire, Ressan region, City of Dekari, the following day.
There was no nobility in the Gorgon Empire, but poverty was still hard to eradicate, even for the most magically advantaged country on Garlen.
The Magic Emperors of the past had established soup kitchens in all the major cities of the Empire, and volunteer work as a Healer was one of the few mandatory civil duties that the students of the six academies had to perform for their Code of Practice course during the fourth and fifth years.
The purpose was to ensure a steady supply of free Healers who would provide check-ups to the less fortunate and treat the most common ailnts that prevented the poor from holding a steady job.
Soup kitchens also served as labor exchanges, offering an opportunity to find stable employnt to anyone willing to set their lives straight.
The academy students also benefited from the experience. They had the opportunity to treat dozens of patients a day, put their diagnostic abilities to the test, and, most importantly, see firsthand the price of failure.
After their first shift in a soup kitchen, the students put so much effort into their studies that the graduation rate for the last two years of academy reached over 90%.
Yet there were always people who couldn't be saved. Children too young to work and who the system had already failed were given food and dical attention without alerting the authorities.
Holess families couldn't afford to leave their young unattended while they worked, and had to wait for a spot to open in a shelter. Gamblers, addicts, and alcoholics couldn't keep a job for a week before being fired.
People with missing limbs or with serious health conditions that students couldn't treat were also considered helpless cases and let go with a warm plate and a pat on the back.
It was the reason the criminals working in the black market had given soup kitchens the unflattering nickna of flesh mines.
Soup kitchens were operated by volunteers, and among them, there was always soone with a flexible conscience and an empty wallet. All the volunteers had to do was take a peek at the Healers' records and pass on the nas of the regulars of the soup kitchen.
The most sought after were the healthy youths on whom the Empire had given up or didn't care about due to their lack of magical talent. The pay was excellent, and the 'recruiters' always pacified the soup kitchen's staff by telling them that they looked for people to hire on behalf of rich and bored mages.
That it was all safe and proper.
It was an obvious lie, but the money that sugar-coated it was more than enough to silence the guilty consciences of the right people.
Vastor, Gadorf, and anyone who practiced Forbidden Magic knew about the flesh mines and made use of their services when in need of a specific type of test subjects.
Raum was no different, and after self-destructing his base, he had to restock his dungeon cells before he could resu his experints on Xenagrosh. Bytra had disappeared from the face of Mogar, and Verhen had moved to the Blood Desert, leaving the Wonderer no choice but to focus on his only remaining specin.
With no way to reach both Rulers of the Flas and no idea when they would return to the Griffon Kingdom, Raum couldn't afford to stand idly. Not when his goal was finally in sight.
It was still far from his reach, but for the first ti since Raum had started his research, it was no longer a dream but a certainty.
The Eldritch sent his associates to round up new batches of subjects in all the cities of the Empire where he had reliable connections. Knowing that at least one Guardian was after him, Raum gave clear instructions to keep the number of disappearances within acceptable paraters, not to alert the authorities.
Quality was more important than quantity for him, and he could afford to wait a few days while he finished unveiling the secrets of Xenagrosh's body. His little sister was incredibly resilient, but she still had limits.
Raum couldn't risk ruining his opus, and gave her plenty of ti to recover after every examination.
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