You float 3 bolts, keeping them close to your body so they aren't as visible.

You enable the exceptions, and start trying to break your way out of the crate. You've lost sight of the whatever is out there, hopefully your team has it covered.

The crate, even when it's all banged up, still puts up a fight as you rip apart the metal sheeting that makes up the walls, eventually making an opening large enough to squeeze through.




Your team watches the creature, John and black mages prepping bolts, Monk crouched and ready to pounce, Vandolf shedding the last of the metal coffin.

Monk: "DRAGON!"

A massive draconic shadow slams into the ground on top of the lady-like creature and quickly shrinks into a human-sized form, holding the broken form of the lady. The "dragon" hurls the creature south with titanic strength, and you nearly fall over from the force of the dragon jumping buckling the earth, morphing back into the form of a four-winged dragon. The beast looks large enough to crush Vranhal's capital building under its foot, bigger than any other dragon you've heard of.



________________________________________


Hmm. Nope, don't feel different at all.

Daalmir: "If you feel nothing different, then it is successful. Look."

He shows you the construct in his hand, which used to be on your arm.

Daalmir: "Because synchronization no longer occurs, you won't feel anything from your spirit."



________________________________________


Dehlii: "The others might get upset if they knew I just let you run off, I guess."
You find what looks like a corner store, being run by a single chirop behind the counter. The small but brightly-lit building has shelves of preserved foodstuffs.

Packages of dried fruit slices, roasted or salted beetles and grubs, juices, candy, water.

Employee: "Late-night snack?"



________________________________________


You peek under the bed, where you find Kuori shifting around trying to get comfortable.

Black Mage 1: "If the thing causing all this trouble really is the First Witch, it makes sense that it'd have witchlings.


Though... That wasn't a dragon. I think that's a warlock."


You PAUNCH the crate wide enough to crawl out (it's sideways), escaping the metal death trap.


Looking south, you can see the land scarred with huge trenches and walls from the leviathan's movements, as well as hundreds of giant boulders scattered about. Witch cores.



________________________________________


You shake his hand and nod, which he uses as an opportunity to reattach the anti-magic construct to your arm.

Well, you've spent enough time not-mission'ing. Leaving the Whitehawk camp, you make your way through the city and reach the port again, where Ethan and Amelia are waiting.

Amelia: "Hey. Ready to, uh, go into a dark cave with a murder-beast?"



________________________________________


Well, she's not doing any harm. Lying back in bed, you close your eyes.

Grant is standing in a Ruhe temple (what was that called again?) talking to, seemingly, the air.

Grant: "The devil herself has appeared again. It's only a matter of time until the gates of hell are opened again."

A familiar voice emanates from the walls of the building.

Faren-Wuust: "I do not mean to sound rude regarding the questionable accuracy of your scriptures, but the Ruhe do not think Infidi was responsible for the Corruption, not directly, at least. At this point it's just comparing sources of knowledge that contradict the other, so we can't say for sure what will happen."

The Caelum healer turns to you.

Grant: "Oh, hello Kyeltziv."



________________________________________


Hmm. Two wooden containers of water, two packs of dried apples, and two packs of roasted wood-grubs. Those little buggers are high in protein.

There doesn't seem to be a cash box, and you don't exactly have money either. The "store" tender notices your questioning look.

Employee: "Free food. Just don't gorge yourself."