You set John as an exception, giving his marker the name "John" for easy identification.

Not a second later and Vandolf is bathed in sparkling lights, demonstrating the sleek lines and fine craftsmanship that went into his armor.


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You can't just scale up the core, there's not much to grab on to and it's fairly high.

Rolling over several busted logs, you pile them against the core and manage to jump and awkwardly scramble up.

Hmm. Too dark to actually see anything. It's night time, after all.



Huh, is the core getting smaller?

Remaining on top of the core, you take a comfortable sitting position and drink from your mini-keg to pass the time.

It gradually shrinks, getting smaller and smaller, until you're able to easily stand back up. Feeling the ground for the core, you find that it's now black and shiny, about the size of a chicken egg. Shoving it into your pack, you put away the mini-keg and continue on towards your destination.

More and more walking, and you smell smoke. Smoldering craters here and there, most with glowing embers. Burned bodies.

A dark, stone structure built into the side of the mountain looms ahead of you, littered with small fires, glowing pits, and corpses.

The massive towers of Magusalto are in the distance, and you can see another mountain facility north of the city.

Looks like you're in the north-east one.


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________________________________________


Setting Kuori on your shoulders again, you leave the house and find one of the guards outside.

Guard: "Can I help you?"