Rainhorn: Chapters 13-15 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

Three items of business before the chapters:

1) I'm participating in a huge sale on r/fantasy, in which 100+ authors are making 250+ books free or $0.99. Please check it out, because there's a good chance you'll find something of interest to you.

2) RoyalRoad changed the formatting again. If any of you read it via phone, can you check out the most recent chapter and tell me if you can control font/size like normal? 

3) These are the last chapters of the year, but I'll be posting a yearly review before the end.

These chapters cover some important stuff, both plot and soulcrafting. I hope people enjoy them.

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Chapter 13

"So this is the great Armeau family?" Theo put his arms behind his back, projecting an air of confidence even though he didn't fully grasp the situation. He'd seen packs of young court nobles like this before and they preyed on weakness.

"We only happened to stumble across your companions." The leader - apparently Esaire - was the one to respond, because Theo had cast aspersions on the family name by implying their behavior was beneath them. "It was supposed to be a lighthearted duel, but I'm not sure the Ichili understood."

Many of the other Deuxans laughed, only Esaire understanding that Fiyu had been a split second away from killing her opponent. It looked like he wasn't the worst type of noble, but he had let the situation get this far out of hand, which suggested a casual cruelty that Theo found very familiar.

"Did you really let her in here without a clue how duels work?" The muscular Archcrafter who had been called Delarde stepped around him, grinning down at Fiyu. "If it had gone differently, does she even have the money to pay the bloodprice? Do you, girl?"

"I... I don't know what that is." Fiyu's voice was incredibly soft, and Theo knew that she needed support, but things could get a lot worse unless he kept control of the situation.

"What was that? I can't hear you!" Delarde reached down to grab at Fiyu, only to reel back as Nauda struck him across the wrist.

"You've had your fun." Nauda stepped up beside Theo, forming a wall in front of Fiyu, her cantae ready for a fight. "Just let us go in peace."

"Not after that." Delarde scowled and rubbed his wrist, though the blow wouldn't have done any real damage to an Archcrafter. That was no doubt laying the groundwork to begin another duel, so Theo struck first.

"We've obviously caused offense. In exchange for the injury to your wrist, one of your first tier soulcrafters can duel Nauda to surrender, then we can go our separate ways and never trouble you again."

"No! She tried to break my wrist, I want to fight her!"

"As an Archcrafter, that wouldn't exactly be honorable, would it? I'd heard better of the great Armeau family." It had been a solid strategy, but as the words left his lips, Theo realized that he had made a mistake. Esaire had been standing back, only mildly amused by the whole situation, but now his eyes hardened. Apparently that had been an insinuation too far.

"I don't believe I know you, stranger." Esaire spoke in an icy tone that froze the laughter in all his followers. "I don't think that you have the standing to be determining the terms of duels, not unless you're hiding your power."

Theo gave him a conciliatory smile. "Surely it's enough to be a guest in your city?"

"No. No, I don't think that it is. If none of you have standing to determine duels, perhaps..."

In the theatrical pause, Theo considered his options. The group of young nobles wanted a fight, so they couldn't be reasoned out of their fun. Since all three of them were base soulcrafters, they lacked certain formal protections, and while the bloodprice would shield them to some degree, Theo didn't want to count on that.

His remaining option was a show of force, which might draw attention. Theo didn't truly believe that Vistgil or the Landguards were tracking him, or that word of a minor skirmish in this city would travel far, but technically it would was an unnecessary risk. Part of him said that, no matter how unlikely, it would be better to sacrifice a little to leave the conflict...

But another part of him heard Fiyu whimper.

When Theo extended a hand to the Deuxan group, they sneered at him. A moment later he created a reverse gravitational field and the sneering stopped as they fell into the sky. He let them fall upward only briefly before he brought all three gravitational fields down on top of them, slamming them back to the ground at quadruple gravity.

Only Esaire managed to resist his field, though he looked startled. A cloak of blue cantae lit up around him, a reinforcement technique that required considerable soulcrafting. Delarde and the Tatian woman managed to catch themselves as they struck the ground, but the entire rest of the group went sprawling, some of them still lying stunned. Theo lowered his hand and stared the leader in the eyes.

Though Esaire wasn't sure if Theo was an Archcrafter, the doubt had been raised in his mind. Arrogant as he might be, he wasn't about to risk his life challenging an opponent who might have a shield wall hiding ascensions. So Theo just remained silent, letting his opponent regain some dignity.

As they did so, Theo looked them over more carefully. The leader of the group had high cheekbones, classically ivory Deuxan skin, and hair cut to be stylistically shaggy. Though he didn't emphasize his badge, his robes and the purple sash over the top spoke of his wealth. The musclebound one called Delarde looked possibly related, and the belt that mirrored Esaire's sash suggested they were allies, so perhaps a family ally. None of the others particularly stuck out to him, just more Deuxan courtiers.

"We need a duel to resolve the insults we've suffered," Esaire finally said, "but you're quite right. The Armeau family has been ungracious hosts today, forgetting the weaknesses of foreigners. Let's resolve things with a simple duel... one first tier soulcrafter against yours, to simple surrender."

Though Delarde didn't look happy about that, he retreated when Esaire glanced at him. Nauda remained where she stood, glaring back at them. It looked as though Hauloe wanted to tear her eyes out, but fighting again would reflect poorly on her. Theo had forgotten that detail... dueling occasionally was considered the height of culture, but too many duels rendered one a brute.

So in the end, a young Deuxan woman was chosen to step into the circle. She wasn't a nominal soulcrafter, judging from her reasonably built soulhome. Nauda knelt to pull her pack off her shoulders, shooting a glance at Theo, so he bent down beside her.

"Will a duel really get us out of this?" she whispered. "I... don't think I like this place."

"I think they'll stick to the terms. Just win without seriously injuring her."

Though a hard glint emerged in Nauda's eyes as she rose, Theo thought he could trust her to handle the situation effectively. After seeing Fiyu fight, he didn't doubt that he could trust her in a different way, but he needed to be careful, or she'd be a liability to herself and others.

Nauda walked into the circle carrying her staff in one hand and the broken fork from her old armament in the other. It got a few odd looks, and the other Tatian woman tried to mock it, but the group was too shaken up for laughter. Esaire glanced at Theo, who simply nodded to defer back to him, then he signaled the start of the match.

Immediately the Deuxan woman drew a narrow sword and lunged forward, aiming to finish the battle in a single thrust. Nauda deflected it with one end of her staff, then shoved the other end of her weapon at her opponent's face. It missed... but the other woman froze, bound by Nauda's technique.

Yet Theo instantly knew that things weren't quite right. Nauda could bind people in place powerfully - he'd felt it himself in training - but she must be struggling to use the technique with the new staff, because her opponent was working her way free. The Deuxan woman flooded more cantae through her body and whipped her sword up again.

She should have retreated. Nauda bashed the weapon aside with her staff and then thrust with the broken fork, directly at her opponent's neck. This time, the woman froze in place, and Nauda didn't let up, driving her opponent back to the ground and pinning her with the tines of the fork around her neck.

"Enough of this!" Delarde struck from the side, and though Theo started to raise a hand, he wasn't fast enough to keep up with an Archcrafter.

When Delarde's fist struck Nauda's arm, the loud crack left no doubt that something had broken. But though Nauda grimaced in pain and her staff clattered to the ground, her other hand remained firm, gripping the fork around the fallen woman's neck. She briefly glanced toward Theo, but returned to staring at Delarde, who looked frustrated that she hadn't collapsed.

"Take the bloodprice for your arm." He reached into his cloak and tossed a small sack onto the ground, then snorted and turned away. "This isn't worth my time."

Silence stretched over the group, laughter now long gone. Theo forced a careless grin and glanced over to Esaire. "That makes one victory and one loss for each of us. I'd say that's a good enough day, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, perhaps so." Esaire glanced at Nauda more thoughtfully, but his gaze soon returned to Theo. "It seems that foreign Tatians are formidable, if a bit rough around the edges."

Before he could say any more, Hauloe moved up beside him and pulled him away. "Just a barbarian, Esaire. Come this way and don't give her another thought..."

Esaire resisted her efforts to pull him, still focused on Theo. "What's your name, stranger?"

"Bartolo aina Fithe." Theo gave a sharp bow, though the Fithan military stance was probably wasted on them. "We don't plan to stay in your city long, so forgive us if we take our victory and avoid a rematch." That should have been an olive branch, letting their family salvage plenty of respect, but Esaire shook his head.

"Oh, that's a pity." He gave a theatrical shrug, but its intention was obvious. "You see, the Armeau family is always looking for talented outsiders to assist us in the great hunt. If fate leaves you in Anguedan longer than you expect... perhaps we'll meet again."

With that, he gestured to his group and led them away. Some of them were limping and their good mood was broken, but Theo couldn't feel that it was a victory. He'd exposed himself to attention, Nauda had a broken arm, and Fiyu still huddled unhappily behind them. Even if he'd consciously chosen to make what might have been a minor mistake, it didn't feel good.

"Well, this could be a problem." Nauda gingerly tested her hanging arm and winced. "We can splint it, but I don't know if we can afford a healer."

"That's what the bloodprice is for." Theo walked over and reached down to the sack, testing the weight. It seemed to contain more than the price he'd been given for an arm, no doubt as a token of scorn.

"What is that?" Fiyu finally looked up, and though she was far from happy, he thought that she had recovered from her shock.

"On Deuxan, soulcrafters can duel to the death, but there are monetary penalties for injuring or killing anyone of a lower tier, increasing with the distance between them. An Archcrafter breaking a first tier's arm is a small sum, but it would be far more to break the arm of an ordinary person. Each country and city has slightly different laws and specific bloodprices, but they all have some, otherwise too many people would end up dead."

"I understand now." Fiyu rose to her feet, but remained some distance from them, probably wanting pure isolation. Meanwhile, Nauda walked closer with a grim expression.

"But there's just a price? That means if a family is wealthy enough, they can just... pay to kill someone? Are there no laws?"

"Beyond what's agreed upon in a region, there are only courts and disputes. Technically any peasant can bring a case against the most powerful of families, but you can imagine how effective that actually is in practice. Their best defense is that the world needs them to grow food and maintain everything."

Nauda snorted and shook her hair as if she could shake off the encounter. "Come on, let's find a place to rest. Before we step on someone's beloved cobblestone and begin a feud lasting a thousand generations."

As they carefully made their way to an inn, Theo got the full story from them. He was able to piece together several other details as well, such as that the local Tatian family was trying to acquire legitimacy from the Armeau family. There had been no warmth between Esaire and Hauloe, but that meant nothing; it could just as easily be a courtship or a simple alliance. With a few exceptions like Brigana, Deuxan wasn't a very passionate place.

"What about the name?" Nauda finally asked. "I introduced myself as from Tatian and that was what really made her angry. Was that just an excuse?"

"I'm guessing you said 'Nauda ai Tatian' when you should have said 'Nauda aina Tatian'." He paused for a moment, since the words had automatically come out correctly and he needed to focus to control the soul translation. "The first one means a specific family, and the local Tatians seem to have taken the entire world for their name. If you say 'aina' it just means you're from a location without claiming a family."

"One syllable?" Nauda stared at him, believing and wishing that she didn't. "We got into a fight and people almost died over one syllable?"

"Welcome to Deuxan."

Though Theo said it carelessly, as they continued to their hostel, he found his steps coming heavier and heavier. It felt like so long ago that he had first visited Deuxan and learned all of their complex rules. At the time, it had been a whirlwind of court politics and duels, striking against rivals and eventually earning Brigana as an ally. Throughout his time on Tatian, part of him had been looking forward to reaching a more complicated world.

Now that he was in a Deuxan court, it all seemed petty and childish. He knew this might not be the end, and they needed to prepare, but all Theo could think about was what this meant for him. One world at a time, the joy seemed to be draining out of his return...

-

Chapter 14

Theo returned to the inn bearing some food in his arms and many issues in his mind. Though he remained alert for potential retaliation or further feuds, in the morning before the sun rose, the streets of Anguedan were mostly empty. He remembered most Deuxan courts held events late into the night, and rising early was unfashionable, so he thought it was the safest time to do errands.

Unfortunately, he wasn't early enough to avoid Senka, who now trotted at his heels. "Hey. Hey. Hey, what do ya got there? Is it for Senka?"

"No." He pulled up the sack just before she managed to latch onto it, leaving her flailing in the air. "If you want us to feed you, you need to be useless less often."

"Senka can't fight a bunch of big fumpets!"

It was true, but he wasn't in the mood for nuance that morning. Theo growled low in his throat and walked faster, but despite her tiny legs she managed to keep up.

"Hey. Hey, how'd you make all the fumpets float? That was sporping neat!"

"Who are you again?"

"Senka is Senka!"

"Right. I made them float by making them float."

"Hey!" Senka tried to run after him, but as soon as they got off the street he neutralized her gravity and left her flipping awkwardly in the air. The field would wear off before she drifted too far, and by that time he could be inside their room with the door closed. Probably the windows too, and he should check for any cracks she might squeeze into.

Inside, he found Nauda sleeping, her arm positioned very carefully in its sling. Fiyu sat on the other bed with a blanket partially over her, somber but not obviously miserable. He should have known that she would be awake, given that this time of day was most pleasant for her.

"Are you alright?" He barely whispered as he handed her a piece of Deuxan bread. She took it with both hands and nibbled a little before answering.

"I am well, Theo. You do not need to protect me."

Theo carefully sat down on the bed beside her, keeping his eyes on the small sliver of the city they could see through the window. "I wish that I could do more. Perhaps we could improve your window so that sounds aren't so traumatic for you."

"The flaw wasn't in the technique." Fiyu chewed for a while before swallowing and speaking even more quietly. "I wasn't prepared for them to say such things. I would only speak that way to someone I truly hated, or during a war. If they truly use such words every day here..."

"I'm sorry to tell you, but I'm afraid your world is the odd one out. In most places I've visited, people aren't nearly so cautious with their words."

Because Fiyu simply nodded and returned to eating, he stood up and moved to an empty corner of the room to soulcraft. She seemed to be fine, she just needed more time to digest the experience. He hadn't expected it to be so traumatic for her, but he realized that the other Ichili he knew had been at least somewhat familiar with other worlds. Fiyu was being thrown into alien environments with a powerful soulhome and no social preparation whatsoever.

Though he set to work carving the walls of his torsion chamber, Theo's thoughts shifted to his core and overall soulhome design. His gravitational fields were effective, but still extremely limited compared to what he hoped to soulcraft. The problem was that gravity simply wasn't a very powerful force, not at the levels of power he could generate. No matter his skill, first tier soulcrafters couldn't create massive effects in reality.

Over time, he'd feed more sublime materials into his singularity and ascend to more intense cantae, but those weren't effective options in the short term. No, he needed to refine his basic design in a way that would ascend along with him in the future.

As he worked, he slowly came to the realization that he hadn't entirely overcome the ideas of his old soulhome blueprint. Many were relatively simple: one room for a fireball, another room for ice, one room to create a bigger fireball. But if his core concept was gravity, then it might be wrong to focus on specific techniques: he needed to create conceptual components that could be used together for other skills. They might be weaker in the short term, but when he connected those first floor rooms to the second tier, they'd create truly formidable techniques.

Thinking about his technique chambers as components entirely shifted his thinking, so he left the torsion room behind and moved to the new anti-gravity chamber. Anti-gravity... or perhaps the creation of "anti-mass". If he soulcrafted a fourth chamber that created normal mass, the combination of the two might have a stronger effect even at his first tier.

And if he did that, then he should think about his gravitational fields as enhancing or inverting gravity, while his torsion room would be manipulating its direction. Mass, anti-mass, intensity, and direction... between those four, he might actually gain a handle on an elemental force.

He'd only taken a chunk out of the soulcrafting he had to do before Nauda finally woke up. Though she gratefully accepted food from Fiyu, the look in her eyes suggested that she didn't want a leisurely breakfast. Theo finished the ridge he was working on and returned to the real world to face them.

"I know yesterday was difficult," Theo began, "but I still think remaining here is our best option for moving forward. According to my information, there are no other gates within months of travel. Nauda's gate to a hub city is still our best goal, and to get there, we need transportation."

"I don't disagree." Nauda's arm flinched as she sat forward, but she didn't let the pain reach her face. "I just want to plan better so we don't keep running into these problems."

"I can try to tell you more about Deuxan, especially now that I've learned all the local customs. But if we stay here, it's inevitable that we're going to be challenged to duels. The local court has a lot of young soulcrafters and they're eager to test themselves."

"We have 117 Silver Crowns." Fiyu raised a dark sack, having apparently gathered all the money he hadn't taken with him. "But we need over 2000 to purchase a high quality sleigh. How long would it take us to earn that much money?"

"It depends on how much work we can find," Nauda said. "The best jobs are only available to Archcrafters, even though they don't sound overly dangerous for us. If I can ascend, maybe I can take the two of you along with me."

"That would help... but we have expenses. How much is this inn?"

"It's worse than that." Theo gestured at Nauda's arm. "We'll need to pay for a healer so you can be useful, and that probably won't be the last time we need healing. In addition, we'll need sublime materials and other supplies. As I see it, we can sprint to cheap transport as quickly as possible, or build a stronger foundation and set our time schedule far back."

"I do not like this place," Fiyu offered. Nauda looked more thoughtful, then stretched her broken arm with a wince before speaking.

"I don't think there's any point hurrying into danger. No matter where we go, even Tatian, there will be people trying to use their strength against us. So I don't mind building for the long term... but I don't want to get enmeshed in the court politics here, much less end up staying here long term. I'm worried that the more we invest, the deeper we'll dig in here."

That was what Theo had been hoping, so he decided to cut in with his plan. "I propose a calculated risk. It might seem like a bit of a gamble, but by far our greatest chance for profit is the upcoming hunt, which is taking place in four months. For that time, we prepare ourselves for the hunt and future challenges as well as possible, then we acquire the money we need during the event."

Nauda frowned but didn't reject the idea out of hand. "The hunt isn't a noble event that will just get us embroiled in more conflicts?"

"It's a major cultural event, so I skipped the courts entirely and just asked the normal people. Apparently, throughout the year hunting any of the rainhorns is punishable by death, even as their population increases and they eat crops. But eventually, the court announces the Great Rainhorn Hunt, and for a short time, killing them is permissible."

"The rainhorn could see us, but it wasn't strong." Fiyu looked between them, a bit of interest in her eyes. "I think we could hunt them effectively, but would opponents stand in our way?"

"Some, without question. You see, the number and quality of antlers that each house can collect during the hunt is a major part of their prestige in the coming year, and they use the antlers for their young soulcrafters. Technically anyone can take them... but it's far more profitable for independent soulcrafters to sell the antlers to houses. They're just sublime materials to us, but the houses are buying respect. It's actually like a second layer of the competition: which houses have the connections and wealth to purchase the most."

"I'm sure the numbers work out," Nauda said carefully, "but I don't like it politically. We might be able to earn money that way, but what if the houses decide to turn on us and just steal whatever we hunted?"

"It would be a scandal, but it's not impossible. That's why I suggest we do everything we can to prepare." Theo smiled and looked between them. "Remember, everyone will be watching. At times like these, every court family will be looking to insult their rivals, not kill them. If they do make any moves, it will most likely be kidnapping opposing soulcrafters for ransom."

Nauda stared at him for a time, then finally nodded. "The risk might be worth it. But I think you need to start telling us everything we've learned, starting with these bloodprices. If those are the rules they play by, I want to know exactly how much it would cost them to kill me."

Since the system was similar to his last visit, Theo had easily memorized the new bloodprices in a mental table and now recounted them to the others. Along the way, he did his best to explain every intricacy of Deuxan society that seemed to hold true, particularly ways to cause offense and the rules of dueling. He'd thought his first lesson had been sufficient, but he'd clearly been wrong.

"This is a violent world." When at last he finished all his explanations, Fiyu spoke her conclusion with quiet confidence. "Why do they not invade Tatian?"

"Because Tatian has a bigger army." Nauda sat back and gave a smile with an unpleasant edge. "Deuxan is broken into countless factions - even this city is split into numerous families that hate each other. If one of them tried to invade through the gate, they'd face the combined forces of all nearby cities. Even if they managed to make an alliance between every family, they'd only draw down the Landguard."

"I see." Fiyu bobbed her head, receiving this information without any apparent emotion.

"They might be violent, but they waste most of their strength against themselves, and these noble families only get in the way. On Tatian, every child with talent is given a chance to reach their potential, no matter if they're in a 'noble' family or not."

Though she was right, and Tatian's armies were often underestimated by those who didn't understand them, Theo disliked self-aggrandizement for any world and decided to speak up. "But it isn't because Deuxans are foolish: both worlds are just reacting logically to their environment. Tatian has abundant sublime materials for early soulcrafters, so they can afford to be generous at the early tiers. If Tatians grew up on Deuxan, they'd create a similar system when they realized there wasn't enough to go around."

That earned a sharp glance from Nauda. "That's your wisdom, oh ancient one? You think everybody is all the same in the end?"

"Of course they're not the same. But I think those differences emerge because we're all shaped by our environments. Some things in life might be random and meaningless, but if you assume they are, you'll miss whatever patterns are there."

Fiyu looked back and forth between them, anticipating further discussion, but Nauda just shook her head. She eased her legs up onto the bed beside her and found a more comfortable position. "We can argue the philosophy later. If we're going to end up competing with those courts in the hunt, then we need to do everything we can to prepare."

"Starting with getting that arm healed so you can help us work." Theo rose to his feet, but to his surprise, Nauda shook her head.

"Spending money on a healer is a waste, especially if sublime materials will be expensive here. The broken arm won't hinder my ascension, will it?"

"No, it's about the strength of your soul. But the process isn't going to entirely heal your body, so don't expect a miraculous-"

"It doesn't matter." Nauda clenched the fist on her broken arm. "I've waited long enough. It's time to ascend to Archcrafter."

-

Chapter 15

Nauda sat atop the roof of her soulhome, tying branches together more tightly, but in her heart she knew that she was stalling for time. The truth she didn't want to admit was that she was scared of trying to ascend and failing. She had a solid understanding of soulcrafting, but this step was something that she had never been in a position to experience.

She'd had a foolproof plan back in Myufuru, but that was no longer an option. If she'd had enough time and resources, she could have built her pyramid atop her soulhome all the way to the sky. Now it stood partially finished, providing a platform to build a bit higher and little else. There was a chance that the incomplete construction would interfere in some way, so she'd covered the pyramid with shingles she'd soulcrafted from a thick Deuxan leaf, a weak sublime material that she hoped would still help. On top of the shingles, she'd been steadily building her tower of crossed sticks, a square of decreasing size climbing toward her limits overhead.

Deciding that she should make it a little higher, Nauda gathered several of the remaining sticks and began to ascend up the side, using the branches like rungs on a ladder. She'd tested it before, and knew that it would hold her weight, but as she drew nearer the sky, her body began to tremble as the air itself pushed back against her. Her tower creaked and groaned, making her nervous despite all her earlier testing that the springiness of the branches could absorb the stress.

At the top, she could barely breathe and the air closed around her like a fist. Everywhere else, she felt comfortable in her soulhome, but here the heavens denied her. She longed to throw herself up against the pressure, to tear through and ascend to Archcrafter. It would help her arm heal and improve their position in a single stroke.

Yet... if she failed...

Once, Nauda had used her telescope to watch a soulcrafter ascend, only to witness him fail instead. He'd built a ladder of tough wood and braced it heavily, actually a more durable creation than her tower. Yet when he'd climbed to the top, he'd struggled against the pressure and been repelled, the recoiling power smashing his ladder to pieces and damaging his soulhome.

She couldn't afford that: these branches had been bought with the last of their money on Tatian, and sublime materials were even more difficult to obtain here. While in Myufuru, she'd sought out books on ascension, so intellectually she knew that it was possible to fail without destroying one's progress. Besides, the ascension itself depended partially on willpower, and she would let nothing stop her.

Grimly imagining the consequences if she failed, Nauda placed another branch in place at the top and began tying it to those below. The sky pressed against her skin so fiercely she felt as though it would begin shredding away, and she thought she was about at her limit. She managed to build another layer of branches, but just raising her arms above the top took immense effort.

When she crawled back down, she just lay on the roof of her soulhome for a while, catching her breath. Her body was sitting calmly, relaxed and unstressed, but her spirit was sorely tested. Could that inhibit a potential ascension? Some of the books she'd discovered suggested that willpower alone would be sufficient for the first barrier, but she wasn't sure how much she was willing to gamble on that.

"Nauda?" Theo's voice came to her from the real world, but instead of trying to attract her attention, he only put a hand on her knee. She allowed him to enter, his blurry spirit soon appearing in the field outside her soulhome and floating up to her.

"I'm doing the best I can," she said. Yet she didn't seen a driven or impatient look in his eyes, and he just sat down beside her, as well as his spirit could sit.

"Now that I think about it, my first ascension wasn't fair at all. I'd been sponsored by a mentor who gave me endless sublime resources, so I was free to try as many times as I needed. Looking back, I was probably rushing too much."

"This... is the right decision, isn't it? I won't be permanently weakened by not soulcrafting more of my first tier first?"

"I don't think so." Theo glanced down, almost as if he could see through the roof to the locked chamber where her treasures lay. "If you break through, the pressure will flow down and infuse everything you've built so far. You might have to do more work later when you add or change things, but in the end if you keep ascending, it won't make a difference. If you have an advantage at Archcrafter, you should seek it out."

That was a small comfort, since some on Tatian seemed to suggest that the tiniest misstep at any tier would forever condemn a soulhome to inferiority. It was strange to think of Theo as so knowledgeable, given his youthful appearance, but she did trust him as far as soulcrafting went. 

"Would you like a suggestion I learned only much later, as an Authority?"

When she nodded, Theo went on, staring skyward.

"It's impossible to ascend a bit at a time, but you can weaken the barrier a little. After a serious failed attempt, it will be weaker for part of a day, which is why secondary attempts often succeed. The pressure restores itself faster the less you push against it, but it's not instantaneous. So you can make a softening push, rest a little, then try to ascend before it recovers."

"Huh." Nauda finally sat up, trying to capture his gaze despite the haziness of his spirit. "I don't suppose you have any amazing tricks that let you just punch through the sky for me?"

"I'm just an observer." He ran his insubstantial hand through the tower, wisps of spirit escaping into the air. "It actually is possible to join someone in their soulhome, but only at higher tiers. That was something I never fully understood, in my previous life, so I need to study it more. I'll help you when I can, but there are no shortcuts, at least not shortcuts you'd want to take."

"I... thank you, Theo." She smiled at him, and she thought he smiled back, but his spirit blurred away to give her privacy.

Though she felt flush with confidence, Nauda remembered what she had to lose and remained cautious. For the rest of that day, she wandered through her soulhome, setting everything aright and making a few final modifications she'd been thinking about. That night, she slept deeply, ate a good breakfast, and then prepared.

She soulcrafted normally until Fiyu and Theo left: as much as she valued them, she needed to do this alone. After meditating to center her mind, Nauda slipped into her soulhome. On an abrupt impulse, she opened her locked chamber and brought out the Archcrafter materials that she'd been storing for so long. Crushing her final doubts, she promised the materials that she would be back for them.

On the roof, she began climbing up the side of the tower, gritting her teeth as she pushed into the sky. She was carrying nothing this time, only striving to fight through. When she reached the top, she made herself reach upward, even though the bones on her hand began to ache. Yet she could feel the barrier giving way, so close...

The sky pushed back against her and she tumbled down the side, hitting the roof painfully. Air flowed down after her, but it wasn't a torrent that could destroy what she'd built. That had been the first test, like Theo advised, and she could feel that she had pushed the sky back slightly. 

Though she'd planned to rest between attempts, Nauda found herself climbing the side of her tower again, this time determined to throw her full will into it. When she reached the top, the pressure felt even more intense than before, but she told herself that she could break through to the other side. Gritting her teeth against the wind, Nauda slowly climbed to the very top, bracing her feet and centering herself crouched above the tower.

There she stopped, the pressure slamming down against her like endless spiritual hammers. Nauda took a deep breath and began draining all the cantae in her soulhome, drawing it up not just through her tower, but into her body. Her bones ached and her mouth opened in a silent scream, but she slowly forced herself to rise to her full height.

A shudder went through the sky, but she remained firm, pressing upwards with all her might. She was equal to the task, just a little further...

Another shudder sent a wave of intense pressure down over her and she heard something clatter. Despite herself, Nauda looked down and saw in horror that the wind flooded down over her soulhome, sending shingles flying in all directions, shredding some of them in the air. The tower itself had begun to collapse, ties coming undone and branches beginning to break.

For a moment she felt a flicker of horror... but that reminded her of what she was doing. She wasn't building into the sky or unlocking new space within her soul, she was creating a new tier of her soulhome with her cantae and willpower.

After coming this far, Nauda wasn't about to give up. She let out a cry and drew all her remaining cantae into her soul, flinging herself against the heavens.

In a single instant, the agonizing pressure snapped, bending inward. New cantae flooded from the sky, but instead of battering her body, it rushed through her, filling her with a rapturous strength before engulfing her soulhome.

Her tower had been scattered to pieces, but it didn't matter: the whirlwind of cantae bore her to the roof gently, her soulhome once again her home at the heart of herself. What took her breath away was the intensity of her cantae, flowing more thickly than it ever had before. The flood that came with her ascension filled up the space she had emptied, and though the size of her soulhome hadn't increased, she felt far stronger than before, each of her chambers newly empowered.

Yet that wasn't even the true bounty: when Nauda looked upward, she no longer felt the sky pressing back against her. The roof of her soulhome was no longer her limit, it was just a platform for her to soulcraft even higher. She'd need to get rid of the damaged pyramid base, but that was a trivial detail she could handle later.

Sliding back into the real world, Nauda found herself laughing breathlessly. She felt a brief pang when she realized she was alone, now wishing that she could have shared the moment with the others, but it was swept away in the euphoria. Her body felt incredible, every inch of her newly alive, and she couldn't resist hopping to her feet. Though her arm wasn't miraculously restored, it felt deeply right, as if it was well on its way to a full recovery.

Though Nauda felt like testing out her familiar techniques with her new cantae, she realized that she wanted to share that, at least, with the others. She was astonished at how little the sun had moved: it had felt like an eternity fighting against the pressure inside herself.

Since the others weren't likely to return soon, Nauda drifted back into herself, not bothering to sit down. She tried to push back the giddiness, acknowledging that many tiers remained above her and there was still a great deal of work to do. These efforts were much less successful than her effort to ascend.

The shingles had been wrecked, but she saw now that they were unnecessary, just a small step on her way upward. Nauda examined her soulhome carefully, noting a few cracks in the boards and other minor damage she would need to repair. Nothing but details, and in fact she was glad that the damage had shown her minor flaws that she could now improve.

Within, the Archcrafter sublime materials no longer felt like dangerous risks: they resonated with the rest of her soulhome. Nauda smiled and set to work.