Dawn had not yet broken when Yvonne approached Jorghan's tent, her silhouette stark against the lambent glow of the settlement's boundary lamps.
She carried something in her hands—a small wooden box carved with runes that pulsed with a faint azure light.
She entered the tent and saw Jorghan was up and leaned against the headrest.
He looked at her and smiled, "Good morning."
"Good morning."
"Did you eat your breakfast?"
"Yeah, they gave me special meals. Thank you."
"Ah, it's nothing."
"So, you said you wanted to leave, and I asked one of our technicians to give you something to go back home with," Yvonne said.
"A flight vessel—it can take you wherever you want."
Jorghan met her gaze steadily, the crimson spiral on his neck warming beneath his clothing. Even in the dim light, he could sense the calculation in her eyes—the weighing of risk against potential reward.
She knew more than she revealed; of this, he was certain.
"A generous offer," he replied carefully, "when I have given you so little in return."
Her smile was thin.
"Consider it an investment in future relations."
Or a way to track me back to my home, thought Jorghan, though he kept his expression neutral.
-
The vessel they provided was deceptively modest—a single-pilot skiff barely large enough for two passengers, its hull crafted from silverwood and reinforced with bands of enchanted iron.
At its heart lay a mana stone the size of Jorghan's fist, a deep sapphire crystal veined with golden filaments that hummed with contained power.
"It responds to intent more than touch," explained the technician, a wiry woman with fingers stained by alchemical compounds.
"Think of it as an extension of your will. The stone draws from your own essence to guide the craft."
"You just have to place your hands on the hand on the stone and guide it; we made it so that you can control the vessel easily."
Fuck me! He cursed inside of his mind. They were going to such lengths to help him. He had suspected that they may have found out about his mana power. That doctor he met, his gaze lingered on his tattoo longer than it should. And Yvonne might have found the beasts he killed in the forest.
He breathed in, calming himself down. First of all, he needed to get out of here.
Jorghan nodded, carefully concealing his surprise at how familiar the mechanism seemed.
The Nor'vack used similar principles in their beast-bond rituals, though their methods preserved the natural connection between rider and mount rather than channeling it through crystal.
He placed his hand upon the control sphere, and the mana stone flared brilliantly, drinking deeply of his essence—more deeply than it should have for one so young.
The technician's eyes widened fractionally before she masked her reaction.
"It... reacted within no time," she murmured, making a notation on her ledger.
Normally, such stones tend to take longer and draw more mana, and as you take the vessel into the air, it draws more mana than a normal person can bear.
They created this vessel to test his mana levels.
Behind her, Jorghan noticed Doctor Revin observing from a distance, his gaze intent.
The doctor made no move to approach, but Jorghan could feel the weight of his scrutiny like a physical touch.