[Veltharr — Artisan District — 9:00 AM]
Raven found the practitioner in the same place as the first time.
On top of his workshop.
Window open.
The smell of blood magic components that someone with training could recognize from twenty meters away.
She knocked on the door.
The practitioner opened it.
He looked at her.
He looked at Alex behind her.
"You brought the bearer."
"He needs to practice without the Fragment." Raven entered without waiting for an invitation. "I thought your pending mission was the right opportunity."
"I didn't tell you I had a pending mission."
"You didn't need to."
The practitioner looked at Alex.
Alex looked at Raven.
"When did you decide this?"
"This morning."
"Were you going to tell me?"
"I'm telling you now."
---
The practitioner's name was Soren.
Twenty‑five years old.
Ritual scars on both hands that went up to his elbows — more extensive than Raven's, a northern tradition that worked with energy volume rather than directed precision.
