Chapter 671: What Remained in the Cores
Xyra made the field the following afternoon.
"Eastern flat," she said. "A thousand to one, as before."
The boundary appeared across the grass. She glanced at the wooden case under Leon's arm.
"Something useful?"
"I think so. My master helped me choose it."
Xyra bent over the reservoir when he opened the lid, studying the inner inscription.
"Carefully made," she said. "Whoever cut that lining had patient hands."
"I'm hoping it means I can be a little less patient."
She smiled at him. "Let me know how that goes."
Leon placed the equipment, supplies, and all seven cores inside the field. He checked the timing against the rhythm he had established during his earlier session, remembering Xyra's warning. Then he separated the extraction line from the reservoir and began.
The cores were dark and heavily drained. Their remaining energy had been valuable all along; recovering it in a usable form was the work ahead of him.
