The Ascendant Wizard

The dinner had gone just about how Morena expected it to go. At first, it was awkward; each one of them wasn't sure how to speak or act, but as time went on and Lorian told his stories, they got more accustomed to it.

Eventually, the dinner came to an end with everyone satisfied. After that, Morena lost track of the time, and it all seemed to fly by without her noticing.

The days that followed dinner pretty much blended together into one long, exhausting week. Morena split her time between tending to her duties, managing reports, and continuing the poison cycles.

The first had been agony, the second worse, but that did not mean she would stop or skip a day just because of hardship. No, she wanted to complete it even more.

Two more cycles followed in quick succession; they were both just as painful as the first time. Morena had some hope that they would be easier than the first time, her body building some resistance to it, but it wasn't.

The worst part wasn't even the pain; it was the odd dreams, the odd blur of hallucinations and half-formed memories from both lives that seemingly overlapped. She couldn't even tell what was real and what was just a nightmare when experiencing them.

But she pushed through them, all the pain, all the burning in her body, her bones reshaping as if they were cracking and reforming under her flesh. Three cycles in total so far, and she only needed to do four more; seven in total.

Through all of this, she made use of the AI to keep track of her progress and changes in her body. So far, she had noticed slight changes, denser flow of energy, greater efficiency when using it, and reduced waste when she tried channelling it through her body.

Her energy wasn't the only thing that changed, either; her body had also undergone slight changes thanks to the repeated process of poisoning and purging.

Most notably, her body was stronger; she could feel that her flesh and skin had grown denser and could take more pressure than they could before. Beyond that, her skin was also cleaner and paler, thanks to the toxins in her body being forcibly purged; it seemed a byproduct was slightly improved physical looks.

While it wasn't something she had hoped for or expected, how could Morena dislike the aspect of looking better? After all, looks were also a type of power when used properly.

It wasn't to the point where it could be called a great improvement, but it was just a step along the way until she finished the process.

Aside from just training, she spent her days working on the usual responsibilities of a head, except this time she had someone tagging along with her.

Mornings were spent going over documents, afternoons spent training or even spending time with Alina and Lorian. Throughout the day she also occasionally taught Lorian topics he was interested in, always prioritising things that interested the boy over forceful information.

Sometimes she would catch the boy looking at her when she trained, or following around Alina to ask questions. She didn't mind it in the slightest, in fact, she encouraged the boy to bother Alina, telling him that she would like it very much.

Alina was more awkward in his presence, she had gotten better but it was clear she was struggling to properly spend time with him. Morena noticed it more than once at meals, the way her sister would smile faintly, then look away quickly, without being able to say the things she wanted.

The bond between them was there, blood-deep, but it was tangled by guilt and the consequence of years apart. Morena didn't press her, but she aided them both, some knots just had to be loosened slowly.

About a week later, she was halfway through some notes and talking to Lorian about trivial matters to pass the time when she heard a knock on the door.

It was much quicker than usual, even Morena could tell that.

"My lady."

Adolf called out from behind the wooden door with a pant in his breath, seemingly having rushed all the way here without a break.

"There's been an incident."

Morena pushed the papers aside and rose slowly, Lorian moving to the side to not be a bother.

"Come in."

He entered, and she instantly noticed the grim look on his face.

"My lady, there has been an incident at one of our storage warehouses. They say a fire broke out, it spread so quickly that before they even noticed the entire thing was engulfed. By the time it was contained, the building was destroyed, and the goods inside burned with it."

Her eyes narrowed.

'A fire? Is this just a coincidence.'

"What goods were lost?"

"Mainly food supplies, my lady. Grain, salted meat. Some cloth shipments as well but not a lot. It was storage meant for the recruits and their families."

It was a great loss. Food was the hardest supply to get their hands on in these trying times, to have lost an entire warehouse filled with it would put them back countless coins.

She would need to explain this to Ella and discuss what they could do. This was a fault on their house; asking Ella to replace the food without giving anything in return would be disgraceful, as they had failed to guard it.

"What about casualties? Shouldn't we have people there?"

His pause was short, his hand gently rubbing his temple to stop the headache he was having.

"The guards assigned to it are missing. Reports say that none of them were found at the scene, not even dead bodies or burnt remains."

Morena paused for a second, her eyes narrowing.

"Missing?"

"There was blood, which would suggest some sort of struggle. But there were no bodies or weapons left behind."

Hearing his words, she closed her eyes in thought for a moment.

'As expected, this isn't some simple fire. There had to be something behind this; could it just be guards stealing the food and leaving? But that wouldn't explain the blood and lack of bodies, if some of them turned against each other, bodies would remain. And if all of them did it together, no blood would.'

Opening her eyes she looked over to Lorian who was still in the room, shocked by the news even more than she was.

"Lorian, go spend some time with Alina, ok? Tell her that I sent you, I need to handle something really quickly. I'll be back soon."

The boy nodded and left the room, only then did Morena turn to Adolf.

"Ready a squad, as well as some local hunters, we're leaving now."

Adolf didn't even hesitate to fulfil her orders, and in less than 30 minutes they were on the road.

The streets still stank of smoke when she arrived. The warehouse loomed blackened, its roof collapsed inward, charred beams poking up like broken ribs against the dusk sky.

Ash and smoke filled the air, the ground littered with rubble and remains that drifted with every step, crunching faintly under her boots. A handful of men were still moving about the place; trying to find any goods still usable, put out any lingering flames, and clean up the mess, buckets and wet cloths in hand.

Her soldiers fanned out as she walked through the scorched remains, she could feel the burn in her lungs from the smoke as she inhaled; but that didn't bother her as much as the sight of destruction.

She could see signs of blood on the ground, just as they had mentioned, but it wasn't enough blood to kill a person. It was clear whatever had happened didn't end in death, most likely meant they had either escaped or been captured.

"What do we know?"

Her question was directed towards the people that had been there, that had been fighting the fire the second it broke out.

"The fire started too quickly to be natural, my lady."

One of the men replied, and another quickly added to it.

"Yes, I was in the area and didn't even notice it until it was too late. It had already climbed the beams and spread to the roof, and the supplies went up so quickly that it didn't make any sense."

Morena crouched near the ruin, dragging her fingers across a darkened patch on the floor. Ash parted beneath her touch to reveal a deeper stain, sticky and red.

It was blood, but something else was mixed into it; thanks to the blood it hadn't burnt away.

'AI, analyse the substance.'

[Substance identified. Traces of refined fire-oil compound detected. Highly volatile, ignites on contact with open flame. Mixture resembles distilled pitch blended with powdered brimstone.]

'As I thought, this wasn't natural in the slightest. The fire was artificially spread. Brimstone burns away in fire and leaves no remains, whoever did this knew their stuff.'

She rose, turning to the guards gathered nearby. Their faces were pale, smoke still smeared across their cheeks.

"Who was on duty here?"

One man swallowed hard.

"Two squads, my lady. Six men in total. None of them were found when we arrived."

"Did anyone see anything?"

He hesitated, shifting nervously.

"A few locals say they saw figures near the warehouse before the fire. By the time anyone thought to raise alarm, the flames had already caught."

Morena's gaze swept the ruin again. Someone had purposefully burnt down this warehouse, but the question remained, who could it be.

She didn't believe the Elder Council would be this foolish, this food benefited them as well after all. But the church? Why would the church do this, it felt too out there.

She hadn't been going against them, so why would they feel the need to antagonize her? She just couldn't piece it together with the lacking information.

"Bring me whatever was left intact. Metal scraps, ashes, broken beams. Everything. And double the patrols on the other warehouses tonight. If this was meant as sabotage, then it mightn't stop here."

Adolf bowed slightly and began barking orders.

Morena stayed where she was, eyes fixed on the black sky above the ruin. Her cloak blew in the wind, the scent of smoke and ash covering her; but she paid it no mind.

A conspiracy. A strike meant to cripple her family's strength and shake their footing in the city. And with her guards missing, possibly dead, it meant they were looking down on her house.

She turned away from the ruin, her eyes cold.

"I want patrols in the surrounding area, search for the missing men and anything that could be connected. Also, send word to the gate guards, have them make sure the missing men don't try to leave the city, we can't rule out this wasn't them."