A few weeks had passed since the meeting with the nobles, and things had been going quite well, almost too well. Morena wasn't the type to take periods of grace at face value, so she didn't slow down or stop working even in the face of temporary peace.

Instead she kept up her poison cycles; at this point she only had one left to do, and she was just waiting for the day to arrive so she could. For each poison cycle she had done, she had noticed small changes.

It wasn't until around the fifth cycle that she truly felt the density in her energy shift, ever so closer to what "mana" is supposed to be like. Once she felt it, she couldn't get enough of it.

Not only was it stronger, it was also easier to control throughout her body; she was even able to project small amounts of energy outside of her body's surface.

Beyond that, she didn't stop her warrior training either. While the AI had informed her that with her current body she couldn't get past the wall of Rank 1, it didn't mention being unable to reach the peak of apprentice.

And she hadn't even reached that yet.

With continuous training over the weeks, she was able to push her capabilities and body to a solid position within the high apprentice level; she was infinitely closer to a proper warrior than she was before.

But that was as far as she could go in the short time.

It was early morning, and she was in her office doing the usual rounds of going over papers and matters throughout the estate when she received a report of great importance.

A messenger from the north road stood in the doorway of her study with his hood still on, mud caked to his boots. He held the paper like his life depended on it.

Adolf took it from him first and went over it to confirm the details, before handing it over to Morena; his face shifting only once when he read it.

"Trouble by the outer farms, my lady. Some merchants and farmers were hassled for their goods, but thankfully, there were no deaths."

Morena listened to his words as she too went over the details on the page. It was written messily, almost as if the person was hurrying to share the information, but she didn't pay attention to that.

Instead she was more focused on the information itself.

"Bandits?"

"I believe so, my lady."

It was annoying, but not new. The roads always had rats and this didn't seem any different, still, she didn't like the timing; everything was lining up a little too much for her liking.

Maybe she was paranoid but she wanted to be certain.

"Double patrols to the north gate even through nightfall. Pull two squads off the inner route and send them to the outer farms."

"As you wish."

By afternoon, a second note reached her, and soon after it a third. They all told the same story, same worries.

A few men with cloth over their faces and ragged clothing, all carrying with them cheap weapons and tools attacking the areas near the walls.

Just one attack wasn't an issue, they didn't take anything too expensive nor did they cause any deaths; just injuries. But the frequency of it was the issue.

It was only starting to increase.

"Are they scouting the area? They're not even taking anything of value, just attacking the people and walls."

She said as she looked at the rough drawing of the areas they had been sighted, all near the edge of the city where it would be hard to spare patrols.

All areas that didn't have much value in the grand scheme.

Adolf nodded.

"I'll take a patrol out myself."

"No, I need you by my side to help me. Send the captain, have him take some hunters with him to scout the area. I don't want this blowing up."

"As you wish."

Passing on the news to the captain they set off right away. By sundown, the city was already lit with fires and life, yet she hadn't received any reports back yet.

She trusted that the captain could handle the matter, but the thought still lingered in the back of her mind while she worked.

Soon her worry was put to ease, as Adolf pushed the door open without waiting.

"We found them."

"How many?"

"Six. Broke apart when we closed in, three managed to get away but we were able to get three."

"Alive?"

"We were able to only keep two alive, but one bled out on the ride."

"Take them to the cellar. Ah, and use the stone room."

He didn't need more to understand what she meant. The stone room was cold even in summer, and there was a drain in the middle of the floor.

She followed him down shortly after.

The two that lived looked like any other road filth. Cheekbones sharp with hunger, skin burned by rot and years of clawing at the ground, hands with rope scars. One had a chipped tooth and a cut across his scalp that was still bleeding. The other had a tattoo that had been burnt half away at some point in his life.

They looked how she expected them to, but weaker, much too weak to be causing so much trouble for them.

Adolf waited with a small group of trusted men in case things got bad, but they didn't enter behind them.

He took a knife and set it on the table within their sight, then he set a hammer next to it. Then he set a bowl of water and a cloth right beside both.

"Who sent you?"

Morena asked.

Neither answered.

The first man spat blood at the floor and looked through her like she was a wall. The second kept his eyes on the corner not even bothering to give her a second of attention.

Morena stepped closer until she was just in front of him. His hands were bound, but the man didn't hide his rage as he tried to wrestle towards her, only to be stopped.

"Talk, and you may die with your body intact to have a burial; don't and not even your family will recognize you."

Even that didn't get a reply from the man, only more rage and anger.

With a slight nod to Adolf, the man stepped forward and picked up the hammer. The work was ugly and fast; all those that were outside could hear was the sound of breaking bones, screams of pain, and begging to stop.

"Who sent you?"

She asked again.

"Nobody."

The first man said through a thick tongue, his mouth gargling blood and barely able to speak.

"We take what we can in order to survive."

"And you just happened to take from my places back to back? Do you take me for a fool?"

He stared.

Adolf pressed the man's palm flat on the table and lifted the hammer.

"Wait!"

The second one shouted out before he could drop the hammer, his voice was hoarse like he hadn't used it in a week.

"We were just sent to scout the area. We're hungry, they promised us food if we did it."

"By who?"

"A band, a big one. We were told to make noise near your walls. The rest are waiting."

"Where?"

The man swallowed.

"Old stone runs. North ridge near the abandoned mining caves. There's a main camp. They said wait for signal then move."

"How many?"

"A hundred."

The first man muttered, slightly laughing as he spoke.

"Two hundred, maybe even more. I don't know, I can't count, but I know it was more than I've ever seen before!"

Morena studied the man with her eyes; she didn't believe him.

He was trying to tell her that over a hundred men, at the very least, were hidden so close to the city yet no one had noticed it until now? That wasn't possible, no, it wasn't likely.

But she couldn't risk not believing the man when so many lives could be at risk.

"AI, scan their pulse, body, anything you can use to tell me whether or not they are lying."

Ever since learning she could use the AI for such a thing, she had begun using it more often, and this was the perfect use case for it.

[Subject one: 62% stress. Response variance is high. Subject two: 78% stress; however, his words are more stable. He likely believes his words to be true.]

Even the AI agreed that the man was telling the truth, or at least, clarified that he believed he was telling the truth. Whether he was actually being truthful or not, she would only have to test, but she would have to be careful.

"How far is the camp from here?"

"Half a day if you ride slow, less if you know where to go."

The second man said with a sly tone, intending to use this as a chance to save himself some rope.

"Draw it for me."

She threw the man a stone for him to use on the cellar walls. Lines for the ridge, a twist for the sinkhole, a circle for the cave entrance hidden within the mountain paths.

Observing the drawing, she couldn't be certain it was correct. It could be a trap to lure them in and kill them, or even a goose chase to distract her from something bigger.

"Kill the first, but keep the second alive for the time being."

She commanded as she stepped back.

Hearing her words the first man began to flail and thrash around, his yelling drowned the cell, begging for life, threatening to do unspeakable things to her, and even crying and sobbing for loved ones.

But Morena didn't even spare him a second glance. Adolf moved as she had ordered and used the hammer to end it quickly.

The hammer fell, and in one quick motion the sounds all stopped, and the drain that ran through the room had something to drink for the first time in a long time.

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