Later that night, Master Jonat Paseru was the first to collapse into bed, exhausted. A real bed, with a hard mattress, pillows, and a blanket. Since Cale wasn't tired, he made his way over to Julius, only to find that he had fallen asleep at his desk.

  "Leave him be", Loys said quietly, never taking his eyes off the documents. "He hasn't had much sleep."

  "The back pain will surely delight him tomorrow", Cale announced quietly, stepping up to the table where his sleeping superior lay.

  Julius seemed to have been in the process of writing a letter, but the large ink stain on the paper suggested that he would have to rewrite it in the morning. He carefully took the pen from Julius's hand and removed the mana from the light crystal before taking a seat opposite Loys.

  He had never seen Loys so busy, but it didn't seem to be a rare occurrence. The duke studied a list of names intently when he finally noticed Cale.

  "Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on Sir Paseru?", he said reproachfully, lowering the sheet of paper.

  "He's sleeping three tents away."

  "That doesn't mean you should leave him alone..."

  "Loys", Cale interrupted him, raising his hand at the same time. "I can sense his mana and know where he is. I'm watching him all the time, even when I can't see him."

  "Is that possible?"

  "Yes. With a little practice, at least."

  "That's why you said last time that you would find the children. You can sense mana sources much better than we can."

  "My vision is quite extensive, yes. If I really put my mind to it, it can reach as far as the next village."

  "Frighteningly ... impressive."

  "I find your focus at work frighteningly impressive. Don't you think you should take a break?"

  "I'm almost done anyway."

  "Can I help you?"

  "If you want", Loys replied, pointing to some boxes behind him. "These are documents I have to take to Bellator tomorrow. Can you try to organize them a bit and label them neatly?"

  "Of course", Cale confirmed, immediately getting to work. However, a closer look at the mess revealed that this was going to be a major undertaking.

  He spent a good hour with the boxes while Loys busily took notes right behind him. Cale didn't know exactly what he was doing, but now and then Loys handed him a stack of documents. When he had finally sorted everything out, he numbered the boxes and wrote down where everything was on a separate piece of paper.

  Sometime in the meantime, Julius had also woken up again, accompanied by a complaint about his back. But before Cale knew it, Julius was already engrossed in his letters again.

  He silently observed his new colleagues for a few moments as he thought about Aaron and Grischa. In his last life, he had spent a lot of time with the two High-Magicians and often worked together through the night. Both Aaron and Cale frequently had to serve as testers for Grischa's crystals - often more unwillingly than willingly.

  As a smile flitted across his lips at the thought, he sensed a distant source of mana that was rapidly growing in size. Cale jumped to his feet, accidentally knocking over a box in the process.

  "By the gods", Julius exclaimed in alarm and flinched. "How long have you been here?"

  "We have visitors", Cale replied simply and began to release large amounts of mana. Significantly more than he had done before, which the king's two advisors could immediately sense.

  "What happened?", Loys asked as Cale ran out of the tent and looked around.

  Surrounded by tall trees, the only things that really provided light were the small torches in front of the tents and the slightly cloudy sky. It was so quiet in the camp that only the wind carried the rustling of the leaves like a soft melody through the camp.

  It would have been astonishingly peaceful if it weren't for the enormous amount of mana gathering in the distance. However, as Cale discovered, there was more than one source of mana.

  "Zod. What's going on?", Loys asked again, stepping outside behind him.

  "Sir Adenia!", Master Paseru's voice rang out a few meters away from them. "Can you feel it too?"

  "Yes", Cale confirmed without turning around. "I sense three smaller groups, but among them are two mages with an extremely large amount of mana. I would venture to say as much as experienced mages of the Magistrat."

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  Loys stood quietly beside him and looked around, but he obviously couldn't come to the same conclusion as Cale. However, before Cale could give him more detailed information, a bright light appeared above the treetops of the forest. It was so bright that the entire camp was suddenly bathed in daylight.

  "By the three gods", Julius muttered in amazement and also stopped beside him.

  But unlike his colleagues, Cale was not at all relaxed when he saw the magic. After all, he had had his own experiences with this type of fire magic and knew that it would bring death at any moment.

  "Damn it, get...!", Loys yelled, while Cale was already two steps ahead, using the momentum of the branches to catapult himself between the trees in one leap.

  With the same movement, he freed Karekama from its sheath. No sooner was the blade free than it began to tremble, filled with raw mana flowing through its veins. A deep, ominous rumbling spread out - dull and heavy like an approaching storm. Then, without warning, the sound exploded into a deafening crash.

  Thunder broke as if the sky itself were tearing apart, rolling like a steel avalanche over the treetops. Every single soul was torn from the depths of sleep.

  This was followed by the shock wave. The ground began to shake as if the ice giants had awakened. Tents were torn from their anchors as if they were made of parchment, and loose equipment was suddenly whirled through the air. Even the trees bent under the pressure and were on the verge of breaking. A gust of wind raced through the camp, tearing up the dry earth and whipping dust and splinters through the night like bullets.

  None of the eyewitnesses could withstand it. The wind hit them with the force of an invisible fist, throwing men and women alike to the ground and making the entire forest seem for a moment as if a dragon had awakened above them.

  Cale seized this moment of confusion. With the speed of an arrow from Philippa, he shot through the night, straight toward the red orb that hung over the camp like a second moon.

  Every muscle in his body tensed as he swung for the blow. With a cry that was drowned out by the thunder, he tore the blade upward.

  The blade struck the glowing surface. A sharp noise cut through the air - as if steel had struck living fire. In the next breath, the sphere, caught by the force of his blow, was catapulted high above the clouds. There it burst in a dazzling display of red light. A thousand glowing shards sprayed out, tearing fiery trails through the darkness and drawing a scarlet web across the sky.

  For a heartbeat, it looked as if the night itself was ablaze.

  As gravity caught up with Cale again and the roar of thunder subsided, he could hear the cries of the people below him. Using his mana, he let himself fall gently between the soldiers on the ground, causing them to immediately jump a few steps to the side.

  "It's not over yet", Cale announced calmly, standing up. Loys ran to his position, one hand already on his weapon. There was no need to say anything, because Cale already knew what he wanted to know. "There are three groups of four people each. Among them, there is at least one mage."

  With a serious look, he turned to Loys.

  "One group is in the mountains east of us. Near the mine entrance."

  Loys immediately began calling the soldiers into formation while Cale continued to explain.

  "The second group is in the forest where Sir Paseru and I had our duel. Not far from here, but outside the camp", Cale continued, turning toward the last group. "The third group is... among the onlookers gathered in front of the camp entrance... and they are already on the move."

  Loy's instructions echoed through the crowds at the same time as Cale's words, and within moments, three large groups of soldiers had formed, each heading in a different direction. While Loy took command, Julius talked to two of the men who had accompanied them on the journey to Mornet. Then they too disappeared, determined to find the children.

  "Sir Adenia", Jonat Paseru spoke up amid the chaos. "Give me my sword. I can help."

  "If you want to help, then stay where you are", Cale commanded sharply, turning his attention to Loys. With a grim look, he sent his men off and then turned to Cale, his gaze lingering on Jonat Paseru.

  Before Loys could say anything, however, Cale stepped in between them and raised his hands.

  "Leave it", Cale said. "Sir Paseru has nothing to do with this."

  "And you're sure of that?", Loys countered, clearly unconvinced by the statement. "If not him, then who? Someone must have..."

  "Loys...", Cale interrupted him abruptly. He knew Loys well enough by now to know that he could be much more hot-headed than one would expect. "We have more important things to do, don't you think..."

  Something moved. Something that did not carry a source of mana. Cale could sense it clearly because he was still releasing large amounts of mana and could therefore notice any difference. His head jerked toward the forest as a silent arrow flew straight toward his head.

  He reflexively caught the arrow in front of his eyes, but before he could say anything, more followed. Just as he was about to reach for Karekama to fend them off, another movement appeared beside him. Cale hadn't paid much attention to him because he knew the man and trusted him, at least to a certain extent.

  Roan Dastre.

  With an elegant movement, Cale ducked under the attack, grabbed Roan Dastre's hand at the same moment, and forced him to stop. Before anyone could say anything, Cale knocked the man unconscious with his fist.

  "Same thing over and over again", Cale announced, blocking an arrow flying toward Loys from another direction. "I'm slowly getting fed up."

  Loys beat him to it, because before Cale could take out the archers, the duke disappeared into the forest and went after the men one by one. Like a terrifying creature on the hunt.

  Cale gratefully accepted the help, as it allowed him to focus on Roan Dastre. He grabbed the unconscious man by the collar, grabbed his sword, and then approached his old master.

  "Here", Cale announced, throwing the silver sword to Jonat Paseru. "This will have to suffice."

  Surprised, Jonat caught the weapon, while Julius came to his side and tied the prisoner - a former soldier of the royal house - to the nearest tree. Loys made short work of the other men, while the more distant groups were also caught up in their fate. Cale discreetly helped the soldiers by ensuring that none of the attackers could escape or seriously injure anyone.

  However, a column of smoke in the distance revealed that the mages were not about to give up, even though they were vastly outnumbered.

  "Zod", Loys finally spoke up, stepping out of the shadows of the forest. Behind him, he dragged three motionless attackers, whom he threw to the ground in front of Julius without comment. "Go out there and catch them for me. All of them. Alive."

  A satisfied smile appeared on Cale's lips. Until now, he had not distanced himself much, as his main task was to guard Jonat Paseru. Taking care of the attackers was therefore a blessing for Cale.

  "It's as good as done", Cale announced, disappearing in the next moment.