She blinked in surprise as she felt the threads of magic shift. The book she held now hummed with power as "Ipius"'s tethers shifted from the now-smudged runes to it. It took her a moment to realize what had happened, though she couldn't stop a small, self-satisfied grin as the spell finally started to work as intended. She<i>was</i>a real mage, damn it!<br/><br/>There was little time for celebration, however, and she nodded in agreement as the spirit urged them to hurry to Kivarossa.<b> "It'll be a couple days of travel," </b>she admitted, watching as his incorporeal form slipped into the book's pages,<b> "and the mage's guild probably has wards up to keep outsiders from just teleporting into the city. But I doubt Zargga will be able to accomplish much in the time it takes us to get there, seeing as he's still sealed away somewhere."</b><br/><br/>---<br/><br/>True to her word, Valena wasted no time in getting them to their destination.<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=http%3A%2F%2Fjonvilma.com%2Fimages%2Fcity-fantasy-4.jpg&amp;hash=85ab1cd8b934556a957b6489a0013733" href="http://jonvilma.com/images/city-fantasy-4.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Kivarossa</a>was a large city typical of the area, having prospered on trade both over land and sea. Its streets thronged with people from all walks of life, from merchants to sailors to farmers, and traversing the tangled streets and alleyways near the docks was difficult for a newcomer. She managed the best she could, however, clutching the spellbook containing "Ipius"'s spirit tightly. She paused at a plaza stocked with market stalls, a hand straying down to her satchel to ensure that a pickpocket hadn't made off with it yet.<b> "Any ideas where we ought to start looking?" </b>she murmured, seemingly to no-one, but knowing that the spirit in the book would hear her.<b>"The mage's guild and more well-to-do folks would be uptown, but if we end up having to search for the ring through other channels, all the smugglers would be operating near the docks."</b>