Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 142: To Stop a Plague

Greahd's mouth worked as she faced off with the highblood, but it was Karsien who spoke up next. "My mist can mask those within from the searching intelligence of the blithe waves," he said, his mask of joviality long gone. "I can help us move a small team to wherever the basilisk blood crystal is located. And in regards to helping those at risk of being infected, we do have options."

My mentor withdrew an item from his dimension ring, holding it out. A bluish beast core swirled with light striations in his hand, the object glowing with a faint pulse of mana. He looked at Greahd. "I know you said that you would never again help the Rats with your spellform," he said solemnly, dipping his masked head. "But I would ask that you do it again. For one last heist."

Greahd stared at the beast core. Her sole rune was a spellform that allowed her to work in tandem with other mages to store their spells in a beast core. And if Karsien could store his mist in a core...

I breathed out, my cheeks flushing as I recognized what that meant. My mentor could create half a dozen spells that wouldn't need to be activated by him alone. Only the person who smashed the core.

Greahd's palms settled along the unnaturally smooth blue surface. "One last heist," she whispered, as their mana began to flow and twist together.

—

Over the next several minutes, a plan slowly formed from the pieces scattered about. Sevren had suggested small squads of unadorned should carry a beast core to places in the city he'd pointed out as high-risk areas, then smash the core and blanket them in protective mist. East Fiachrans could then spread out, spreading the word to all the mages who were still uninfected to gather inside the mists for protection.

Adding onto this, Wade had offered the guidance of his rats to each of the unadorned who volunteered for the dangerous missions. He would stay behind to help coordinate the rescue efforts. Men and women surged forward in droves to help this suffering city against their long-time oppressors.

Karsien had withdrawn a surprisingly vast amount of water-attribute beast cores. He worked tirelessly with Greahd as he infused one after the other with mist, seeming to tire only in mana. His spirit remained strong as ever.

He sighed as he finally altered a beast core, both his and Greahd's faces matted with sweat. He flexed his arms as one of the volunteers–Benny's mother, Baela–resolutely accepted the core into her hands, seeming almost reverent. The young Benny clung to his mother's dress with hands that missed a few fingers, sniffling lightly. Yet even his eyes shone with something beyond resolve.

Baela gave me a steady salute as she clutched the beast core closer to her chest. "I'll make a difference, Miss Rat," she said solemnly. "I promise you that. I'll save lives, like Lord Daen did my boy," she said, her hand clutching Benny's shoulder.

I nodded. "Just make sure to ask for compensation afterward," I said jokingly, acknowledging her resolve, "Else we'll have to steal some for you."

Baela smiled hesitantly, then turned around. A stream of unadorned citizens trailed after her, all wielding various household implements and scrap items in a roughshod attempt at weapons. There was a fire in their steps that belied their strength. I offhandedly wondered how they couldn't be mages as I saw the burning in their eyes. One of Wade's rats hopped up onto Baela's shoulder as agreed, its beady little head looking for any sort of danger.

"Why did you have so many beast cores?" I asked Karsien quietly as he settled in beside me. "We both know how expensive those are, my dear mentor," I continued, voicing the question that had been bothering me for the past few minutes.

"He planned to try and attack the Doctrination himself," Hofal said, plodding up beside his longtime friend. "He figured he could manage a way to get Greahd's assistance regardless." He looked at me, clasping the head of the axe on his waist. "I was going to join him. But they got to us again, first."