Archcrafter: Chapters 16-18 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

Usual combination of worldbuilding post and new chapters. These ones are starting up the countdown that's meant to tie everything together through this whole book.

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Chapter 16

Five months.

Theo had taken an unexpected step forward, since Nauda had helped him find the trenchgem, but it had thrown off all his calculations. He still needed four more sublime materials and he now had limited money to acquire them, even considering his future budget. Though he'd thrown himself into soulcrafting one of his corner chambers on the second floor, he knew that he needed to find more alternate methods.

He'd already done some preliminary investigations, yet hadn't come up with any miraculous means. If events had gone like before, he was sure that something would have fallen into his lap, leaving him unsure if he had just been absurdly lucky in his first life, or if the Artifact of Elghiera had something to do with it. Though he wanted to research more about that, he didn't think there was time with only five months until a duel with his life on the line.

There were some interesting potential opportunities in Norro Yorthin, but the most promising was something involving the granitebile. With the right idea, he could instantly earn himself an unknown amount. Unfortunately, banging his head against the problem accomplished nothing, and while soulcrafting and stewing over it, he often considered that there might be no solution.

It was only when Nauda and Fiyu dragged him away from his soulcrafting that it finally came to him. He'd set the matter aside, relaxing with them, and it had struck his mind like a bolt of lightning: a Siatan petalfilter.

"Nauda, thank you." Theo stood up in the middle of his meal, already considering everything he'd needed to do. "Forcing me to stop overworking was exactly what I needed. There's something I need to try, immediately."

"We definitely invited you as an optimization thing." Nauda gave a rueful smile, then just waved a hand. "Alright, go. If you say it's that important, I trust it is."

Fiyu bobbed her head in agreement. "Good luck, Theo."

He rushed from the restaurant, tearing into the last of his sublime food as he tried to think through the details. It had been when he was struggling to ascend to Authority, back when Eratius was still a bitter rival. The Noveni warrior had been taken down by some of the strange demons that lived in the Siatan darkness, and it had required a team of Siatan healers to restore him.

Most of their work had been straightforward enough soulcrafting, even if it required significant power. But aside from restoring flesh and repairing soulhome damage, there had been a poison that had stymied the healers. They'd discovered that it was actually a sublime material injected into his body, continually renewing the spiritual poison. What the Siatans had done was repurpose something they called a petalfilter, which fundamentally altered the nature of liquids somehow. They'd converted the physical poison into a beneficial material, thus removing the source.

It had been a minor detail on a tense day, forgotten almost as soon as he'd heard it. As a matter of fact, he wasn't sure if he'd ever given it a moment's thought while he was on Earth, since his mind tended toward the grandest moments in his memories. Yet now those mundane details had filtered back to him...

When he arrived at the Blacksilver complex, he rushed directly to the main office. If Antha hadn't been there, he would have needed to search her out, but for once the world worked along with him. He rushed up to the desk, restraining his enthusiasm at the last second so he didn't appear unhinged.

"I believe I have discovered a method that could improve House Blacksilver's profits. Could I have a vial of granitebile to test, please?"

"Really?" She regarded him skeptically, then shrugged. "I'll let you have it for two merits, but I can't let you take it far. You could kill someone with that."

"Believe me, it's not profit via assassinations. I shouldn't need long, just a few materials."

He waited impatiently while Antha lugged out the heavy box used for initiation trials, then eventually handed him a vial. Undiluted granitebile might have been better, but the concentration wouldn't change the fundamental laws of soulcrafting. What he needed to understand was its exact properties, because he recalled there being many more than one type of petalfilter.

Theo dripped a little granitebile on the back of his hand and his cantae immediately surged to try to resist it. It was poisonous on contact as well as ingested, which was a good sign. He tested another drop on the floor, but it wasn't acidic enough to eat through the finish. Another positive indicator.

One experiment at a time, Theo felt out the sublime poison's exact characteristics, then went to interrogate Antha for more details about the mines. His specific information was a century out of date, but the fundamental natures involved shouldn't have changed. When he was completely confident that his theory was correct, and mostly confident he could make the arrangement work, he returned the half-empty vial.

"There's a sublime plant in the world of Siata that could convert all your granitebile into useful materials." He had more of a speech prepared, but Antha immediately frowned and he saw that she understood both the challenge and the potential profits.

"We have no connection to Siata. I don't even know of any cities with a gate to that world, and though our elite soulcrafters may have acquired a weirkey for it, we do not meddle in other worlds lightly."

"You wouldn't need to meddle. The plant we need isn't some hidden secret, it's a mundane aspect of their world. Please, contact one of the Blacksilver Authorities. With a simple trip to Siata, you could revolutionize the House's mining operations."

She regarded him skeptically, and he knew exactly what she was thinking. House Blacksilver didn't worship Authorities like some did, instead adopting a mutually respectful structure, but the time of Authority-tier soulcrafters was far too valuable for them to be simply summoned on a whim. Once again, he found Archcrafter to be a strange borderland: insignificant to some and yet not so easily ignored.

"Think about this from my perspective," Theo said carefully. "In just a few months, I'll be fighting a duel that might as well be to the death. There's no way for this to be a scheme to enrich me, and I can't afford to waste time on dead ends. Would I risk my standing with my only allies if I wasn't confident?"

Her fingers tapped along her desk, but he saw her thoughts shifting before she nodded. "Alright, I'll let you try this. If it fails, your use of an Authority's time will come directly out of your merit budget, and I think you know how you'd fare with that."

"The consequences won't be relevant. This will work."

Frustratingly, they wouldn't act on his decision immediately, forcing him to wait. He tried to soulcraft to pass time, carving perfect walls for another of his chambers, but his focus struggled. This would be the first time that he actually summoned an Authority to work together, instead of running from them. That was a step up in the world, and certainly in Norro Yorthin. The Stronghold who led the entire House was never even seen, one of the main powers of the city, so the Authorities were the highest powers for normal people.

There had been a time when he'd held the same rank, and he knew that time would come again. Hopefully just a little sooner than expected, if this scheme worked out as he hoped.

The waiting ended without warning: an Authority simply stepped into his room. Theo hastily left his soulhome, though he noted that the powerful soulcrafter seemed to have examined his work thoughtfully. Though that man was a standard middle-aged Fithan, he wore an Arbaian cloak and an Ichili mask. Theo wasn't entirely familiar with the Blacksilver Authorities, but he thought this man must be Dhan, one of the most experienced of the group. Before Theo could make his case, the Authority raised a single finger.

"Before I decide if I should spend my time on this hunt of yours, you must answer a question: why do you have a hole through the center of your soulhome?"

"It will serve as a heart column." Theo wasn't intimidated by Authorities, yet realized that acting too confident would only get in his way. He needed to strike the perfect balance of respect and explanation. "Once I complete the second floor, I'll raise the power you saw to the second floor, then begin circulating cantae in three dimensions."

"And your flow would only strengthen once you built a Ruler floor." Dhan regarded him somberly, no hint as to his thoughts. "That might power three floors adequately, and you could raise or lower it, but you cannot believe that strategy would continue to be viable. I presume you are arrogant enough to want to reach Authority one day... what then?"

Normally Theo didn't want to reveal such details about his blueprint, but he knew he was being tested and couldn't risk a false answer. "The first three floors will form a sphere of moving power. If I do ascend to Authority, I will develop a second core... to power a second three floors."

"So your design requires ascending all the way to Dominion in order to be balanced?" Dhan abruptly chuckled and shook his head. "You can't be faulted for lack of ambition, at least. Normally, I would say that such a complex spherical flow would be too complex to work, but I suppose it's technically possible, and exceptionally efficient if accomplished."

"You can decide whatever you like about my blueprint being madness. But my idea to filter granitebile is something you'll be able to test within a day, so you can see for yourself if I'm a fool."

"I was going to reject your request, as our House has only a single Siatan weirkey, reserved for highly unusual circumstances. But if you can tell me exactly what kind of plant I need to retrieve, I will journey there and... as you said, see for myself."

"I wouldn't go with you?" Theo tried to make the question sound surprised instead of indignant. He'd been counting on being able to guide things himself, and had plans for acquiring some valuable Siatan resources in the process. Judging from the Authority's somber look, that was not to be.

"You'd only slow me down. Tell me of this sublime plant, if you are truly attempting to assist the House instead of only yourself."

It wasn't ideal, but Theo was prepared for such a test. He'd already revealed that he had unusual knowledge of Siata, so he might as well embrace it. "What you need to do is go to a continent with acidic storms, then find a Sapphire Column with an ultraviolet shell. Around the edge of the community, they'll have a number of plants they call a petalfilter. They're common, but you'll need a high quality plant, not one the community uses to filter mud. Tell them that you need to filter a sublime poison emanating from rock mined by human hands and they can direct you to the correct species."

Though the Authority's eyebrows rose as Theo continued explaining, in the end Dhan made no comment at all. After staring for one more second, he pulled something small from within his sleeve, a brief flash of citrine. The weirkey caught hold of him and he was gone in a blink.

For a time Theo switched between soulcrafting and pacing, wondering how long it would take him to return. He wasn't concerned that his concept was wrong, since he'd done thorough experiments, but his plan could still fail due to simple human variables. Dhan might have misunderstood his explanation, or might not be able to navigate Siata well, or might simply give up instead of searching as long as it would take to locate the proper Siatan community.

Eventually, Theo accepted that the matter was not likely to be resolved that night. Staying up later would only fatigue him, and he could learn the results as easily when he woke up, so he forced himself to go to bed. Soon enough, his fortune would change sharply, one way or another.

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Chapter 17

Half a day passed without any news, leading Theo to wonder if something had gone terribly wrong. Then again, using a weirkey to search through a world required much more skill than simply stepping between gates, so it might take time. He didn't let the waiting slow him down and returned to his usual schedule.

In the afternoon, the sun dully red through a haze of sand, he joined Nauda and Fiyu in one of the training courtyards. With less useful soulcrafting to do, Fiyu was focusing more on polishing her skills, while Nauda was happy to test out her new Archcrafter strength. One day he'd join them, since he needed his new skills to be well-practiced to stand a chance against Esaire, but for now he merely soulcrafted nearby and occasionally offered suggestions.

Aggravatingly, Senka had joined them this time, and hadn't even brought any stolen money. All she had was some sort of skewer of meat, like the kind he'd seen sold on many streets. While he watched, it slipped from her greasy fingers - she bobbled it a few times, then let out a cry of dismay when it fell to the ground.

Then she dropped down and began eating it, despite the fact that it had been covered in dust. In fact, she reached down and picked up a rock that had been covered in grease, shoving that into her mouth as well. Theo made a deliberate decision to stop looking at her.

As before, he had very little warning: Dhan suddenly stood in the courtyard, only a bit of mist flowing from him after the transfer. Fortunately, the Blacksilver Authority carried a potted petalfilter, the plant glowing a gentle lavender just like the one in his memory.

Also, a Siatan hovered alongside him. The fact that one came at all was more notable than its appearance, but it was still the first Siatan he'd seen in decades. Every species he'd seen on Siata couldn't be mistaken for the inhabitants of any other world, always inhuman and sexless, more energy than flesh. This one had a bright orange body the size of a child's, but with arms and legs twice the normal length. Above the glowing yellow eyes, its head split into three narrowing tentacles that floated around its shoulders. It wore nothing and it didn't need to - as far as he knew, Siatans reproduced by reincarnating themselves in beams of light.

"Moment of truth, little Archcrafter." Dhan grinned at him and hefted the pot. "I followed your instructions, and my new friend here even assisted, so we'll see if it works."

"Then we just need some granitebile." Theo ran to go grab some from the materials office, only to be met on his way by Antha and several other House officials. Apparently they had been given a message beforehand, because they were coming with all the necessary supplies.

Meanwhile, the courtyard had remained in absolute silence. Nauda clearly wanted to stare at the Siatan without being rude, though it gave no indication that it cared or even noticed. Fiyu was seated and frowning to herself, and he wondered what her senses felt: it was possible that Siatans were energy all the way through. Senka sat on the ground and continued to eat her disgusting skewer of meat.

"Is it time for the experiment to begin?" The Siatan's voice sounded more like a wind chime than anything that might come out a mouth, not that it had one. "Please bring the necessary elements and the proposer."

Though he would have been happy to let them test it themselves, Theo saw that he had no choice but to join them. While Dhan set the potted petalfilter down carefully, the Siatan stared at him. It took considerable discipline not to display any nervousness, because Siatans had uncanny senses that might be able to discern that he came from beyond the Nine Worlds. Still, this one was just a first tier soulcrafter, probably a merchant, and it extended a curling hand toward the pot.

"We will trade you our petalfilters only if your intended use is not harmful, and it does not react poorly with Fithan sublime materials. Please demonstrate."

"It won't take much work at all." Theo took a flask of granitebile from Antha and walked over to the petalfilter. "Even if they come from different worlds, this poison is very similar to the acidic mud that your people need to keep from their communities. It should require only time."

He poured out the granitebile and everyone else leaned in as the deep lavender petals of the flower curled upward, as if thirsty for it. Instead of splashing off the surface, the bile quickly spiraled into a natural container. With the petals raised, everyone who wasn't surprised by the plant's movement could see that an open stem extended from the bottom of the petalfilter.

That part was unnatural as far as he knew, specifically grown by the Siatans for this purpose. It could take a few minutes for it to begin working, so he had time to ask for a container to catch the result. Unfortunately, the Siatan revealed a ceramic bowl and simply set it beneath the stem, which meant that instead of a methodical demonstration, now everyone was staring at nothing.

Yet in less than a minute, a drop of dark amber liquid swelled in the stem, then dropped into the bowl. Several of the Fithans made appreciative noises, while Dhan simply grunted, nodded to him, and then walked off. As far as he was concerned, the matter was done, but the real question now was how much it would benefit Theo.

"The petalfilter has performed its work." The Siatan floated lower, extending a finger to the liquid and absorbing some into its body. "The result does not appear to be toxic or harmful to society. We are willing to trade sublime for sublime, but you must tell us how much your community requires."

With that announcement, the officials rushed in, eagerly testing the drops of liquid as they continually dripped from the bottom of the Siatan flower. The one thing Theo had been uncertain about was how long it would take the process to work, but it appeared to be processing the granitebile rather swiftly. Judging from the early reactions among the Fithans, the result had some uses, just like he'd hoped.

"You definitely won this one." Nauda moved up beside him, bumping her shoulder against his as they watched the activity. "How many more of these ideas do you have hidden away?"

"If I had a year and interviews with everyone in the city, maybe a few more," Theo said, "but we'd better not count on it."

"I'm sure they'll reward you handsomely, but I'm more curious about the Siatan. Everyone on their world looks like that?"

"With some differences, but yes."

They stayed silent for a while longer, then Nauda leaned a bit closer and spoke in a lower voice. "Do you think it's possible that Senka is a Siatan?"

"Not likely." He glanced in her direction, but she was still chewing the meat... no, she'd moved on to eating the skewer itself. "Every Siatan I've seen is composed of that sort of solid light, and they have strange life cycles. Short lives, but they're speaking in full sentences at a few months old. The only real similarity is that they're small, really."

"Not just that. There's something odd about Senka too, similar to them. She doesn't seem to have organs, she's just one substance all the way through, or at least that's what Fiyu says."

Though he wanted to get Fiyu's observations for himself, and for that matter her full report about Siatans, that fact swept aside other concerns for Theo. This time, he resisted the urge to look at Senka and instead spoke back in a low voice. "You've been investigating her?"

"After something happened, yes. She gets covered in filth sometimes, and she stinks horribly, so Fiyu decided to give her a bath." Nauda chewed on her lip a moment before glancing over to him. "Her body looked... artificial. Her skin looks like flesh from here, but her joints don't connect smoothly, one body part just sticks into another. I thought she must be a construct, until I saw the Siatan."

"The Nine Worlds contain a great many strange things." Recognizing he was being a bit portentous, Theo smiled at himself. "But I have no idea what Senka is. I still think the most likely theory is that she's from another world, one stranger than mine."

"Maybe it doesn't matter, and she's just lost. I never brought it up because I don't know what we should do about it. Seeing the Siatan just... made me wonder."

Whatever else she might have said was interrupted when Antha approached them with a broad smile on her face. Nauda quickly adopted a friendlier expression, while Fiyu tried to join them, slowed down by Senka abruptly latching onto her leg.

"It's everything you promised, Peanen," Antha said. "The resulting material isn't exceptionally valuable, but it could be converted into a sublime adhesive and it might have healing applications. We have a huge excess of granitebile, but you've just turned it into an asset."

Theo nodded, trying not to look too smug. "I did it to help House Blacksilver, but I expected it to help me too."

"Yes, if any contribution was worthy of merits, it's this one. Given the unusual nature of your achievement, there are no exact protocols, so it's up to you... would you like to be compensated in Fithan Discs, or in House merits? We'll insist on giving you some of both, but which is your preference?"

"I'd like ten percent of the profits made from the converted granitebile, every month."

Antha immediately recoiled, the threat to her profits a far greater danger than any threat to her life. "Ten percent! You expect us to calculate such a thing and then pay you in perpetuity? What you've done is a great aid to the House, but there are limits to reason. You don't own the mines or their byproducts, nor the petalfilters..."

"But you'll go on making money that you wouldn't have without me, forever. I'm sure you've already estimated the numbers: will it take even a year for your profits to dwarf the small pile of merits you intended to give me?"

Though Antha bristled at his argument, some of the other officials came to speak with her, and Theo knew he had a strong position. Of course, asking for ten percent was an absurd request, but he'd only started there to set their frame of reference too high. His actual goal was something more valuable than a bit of money.

"What about a promotion, free of merits?" another official offered. "A higher salary every month in exchange for nothing but continued contributions?"

"Throw in promotions for my allies as well, and I might consider it." Theo pretended not to care, but the offer was actually tempting. Still, if he reframed it as being paid 1300 merits per year and a little money, it seemed less remarkable, especially since he only had five months.

"Of course, your allies as well. Perhaps for a slightly lesser amount, but you've been eager members, so-"

"What about access to the Blacksilver vaults? Say... instead of ten percent of profits, ten items from the vaults, which I'll pledge to continue using for the House. Consider it an investment, since I'll be able to do even more for the organization."

They argued back from the second ridiculous offer, but Theo thought that he had them. In the end, he negotiated them to three items from the vaults, a hundred merits for the sake of formality, and a tiny fraction of a percentage on the profits. He hadn't expected to receive the last one at all, just wanted leverage to get into the vaults, but he'd certainly take it.

Once the deal was agreed upon, Antha led them deeper into the complex, as if eager to seal the terms. They went past gates that ordinary members weren't allowed through, past several pillars that hummed with energy, and eventually down into a fortified basement. In addition to the Rulers standing guard, the passage down into the earth was heavily warded and locked with several keys.

While the vault was opened, Theo turned back to smile at Fiyu and Nauda. "One item for each of us, I think? I doubt I could have argued them above two items if not for your presence making that seem unfair, so you're owed it anyway."

"No! Senka wants!" Senka interrupted whatever Nauda had been about to say and leapt at his elbow. As she wrapped her legs around his arm and began pummeling him with both hands, he wondered if he could feel the artificiality or not. "Give Senka a present! If everyone else gets a present Senka gets a present!"

"Senka gets nothing." Theo pulled her off his arm and flattened her to the ground with several gravitational fields. That might have been enough, but he immediately second-guessed the thought and bent down beside her. "You're thinking of stealing things, aren't you? They wouldn't take that kindly, and you can't get away with it. Stay here."

"Sporp!" Her eyes went wide as she started up at him. "You think Senka would do a blooky thing like that?"

"Don't insult me by asking." Theo increased the strength of the gravitational fields a little and left her there as the group was finally escorted into the House Blacksilver vaults.

The outer chamber was filled with gold, jewels, and other mostly useless things. Theo sensed no sublime materials at all, except from a few statues that he thought had more historical value than any real power. If he'd stolen it all, he might have been able to sell it for a moderate amount, but that wasn't an option. Antha and the guards didn't insult him by offering anything from that chamber, just escorted them deeper.

There, he began to see items of real value. One large chamber was filled with various vehicles, many of them chariots. Typically such large vehicles required a Ruler's cantae, but he saw several that were constructed so that any soulcrafter could easily use them. A few might have been slightly superior to their sleigh, but an incremental improvement was worthless for now.

Unfortunately, the guards wouldn't let them split up, so they kept moving together through the displays. One section was filled with soulhome blueprints and ancient books - the latter could potentially be useful if he had all the time in the world, but they weren't worth the gamble. Many sections held armaments, most of them weapons but others simply functional. Other chambers held stores of valuable sublime materials, only a few of which held his attention.

For the most part, everything he saw was clearly maintained for regular use. After all, it would be stupid of the House to keep valuable items locked up just as prizes for their workers. Many might be worthy items on their own, but he needed something better.

"Do you have a chamber for sublime materials that you couldn't use?" Theo asked. "Or anything old with an uncertain function?"

"Something close to that." Antha glanced at him skeptically, but she couldn't deny the request now that he had access to the vault. No doubt she was thinking the same thing he was: useful materials would have been claimed by the House's strongest soulcrafters, so the most valuable items would be those that they hadn't figured out how to use.

When they were brought to a smaller chamber alongside a weapons room, at last he started to see promising options. The walls were lined by shelves filled with various odd sublime materials. He saw a miniature tree growing around a hovering seed, a sphere with a sandstorm inside it, knives that spun uncontrollably, and more.

His first priority was anything that might serve as a central explosion, but nothing seemed to fit. Many of the sublime materials looked Fithan, and the world didn't seem suited to such things. Perhaps it was the dull red sun, perhaps something else, it was irrelevant for the time being.

In the end, three items struck him as truly exceptional. The first was a flame contained within a sphere that he was sure would fit Fiyu's soulhome, so he intended to suggest it to her. He struggled to choose between a seed that exerted significant gravity and a hunk of crimson rock that spun violently.

Both held significant cantae, closer to Ruler than Archcrafter, and would fit in his designs. In the end he chose against the seed primarily because it was organic: the tree it grew might be stronger than the rock, but after his experiences in Tatian, he wasn't sure it would match his soulhome completely. This was decidedly not the time to take a risk and potentially degrade the quality of his blueprint.

"This one." Theo gestured to one of the Rulers to lower the defenses and then eagerly scooped up the rock. It continued to spin in his hand, intensely enough that it would have torn skin if his body wasn't reinforced. He entirely understood why many would struggle to include it in a soulhome, but he could use it to represent multiple phenomena orbiting around a black hole.

When he walked back, he found Nauda in the weapons room with another guard, examining a trident. "Could the central tine be removed?" she asked. "Perhaps melted down and added back to the staff?"

"I suppose it could," one of the officials said. "This armament was forged by an Authority, but simply reforging part of it should be possible without excessive expense, so long as the inscriptions are not damaged."

Judging from her smile, Nauda had made her decision, but Theo still nodded toward it. "You have your new staff, I take it?"

"The shape needs modification, but the spirit of it matches what I need." Nauda ran her fingers along one of the outer tines up to the point. "A bit more violent than what I had on Tatian, but perhaps that's appropriate. Plus, this armament is actually worthy of soulcrafting a room or two for it."

Though Theo was curious about her plans there, the vault wasn't the place to discuss them. He instead looked for Fiyu, who was shuffling about one of the sublime ingredient tables. It appeared to be mostly varieties of sand, but she didn't look particularly satisfied.

Instead of speaking to Fiyu, he just stepped up beside her and waited. Soon enough, she looked up to him somberly. "They have sublime sands of high quality here, but I am not sure they are suited for me."

"Not good enough for making glass?"

"These could all become glass, but not the proper variety. This one..." Her hands passed over one of the closed cases. "I think it came from a terrible burning waste, and the glass it produced would be fiery red. That would be much too disruptive for my soulhome. And this one is from a dust storm, and this..."

"I have something else for you." Theo gestured for her to follow and they moved back into the smallest chamber until they stood before the sphere of flame. "Feel the cantae in this thing. It's almost pure burning, not light or warmth. Your soulhome is going to have a heart chamber with a flame on every floor, right?"

"I am not sure if it will be a flame every time, but fires are a stable source." Fiyu bent down and peered at the flame. "I like that it is so quiet and calm."

"Yet destructive. I don't know if your Archcrafter floor will be devoted to anything like that, but surely you'll need raw destructive cantae at some point. This could be the perfect material for a heart chamber."

"Thank you, but I do not think I will use this. My relative has gathered the appropriate materials for heart chambers on each tier. I will wait for him."

She turned away, returning to the sand, and Theo had to let her go. He was a bit irritated that she'd rejected his advice, and frustrated that she insisted on relying on her relative, but in the end she was her own soulcrafter. Eventually she chose a particularly dark sand that she thought would make a good glass, then the whole group was swiftly escorted from the vault.

Once they were back in the outer courtyards, Nauda tapped her new trident on the ground and smiled at him. "Thanks for this, Theo. I figured you were going to take all three for yourself."

"Not at all. I still owe you for the trenchgem, and I know you'd do the same for me." Theo touched her shoulder, just smiled at Fiyu, and led them back into the complex. "Let's just focus on being prepared for anything Esaire's family tries to throw at us."

Despite his words, Theo hadn't made the decision lightly. It had been a calculated choice, based in large part on the fact that he'd doubted he'd find more than one perfectly matched sublime material. Had there been two, he would have needed to make a much more difficult decision weighing his allies versus the immediate threat of the duel.

That was just for a few sublime materials. If everything was truly on the line, he wasn't sure what he'd do.

-

Chapter 18

With two major sublime materials acquired, Theo left behind polishing and carving tasks to focus on essential work. Refinements to a given room made the difference between a mediocre soulcrafter and an excellent one, but having functional rooms would make the difference between life and death in the coming duel. 

The trenchgem had been a valuable find, the question was where best to place it. His design was for each new material to be placed on top of a technique chamber on the first floor, with vents in between for cantae flow, but in this case the ideal path wasn't clear. He'd settled for placing it above his chamber that generated anti-mass, because resisting pressure was more similar to that than any of the other options. 

Even completed, the trenchgem chamber on its own had little effect, perhaps increasing his defenses against pressure, but when its cantae flowed down to the chamber below, it made his anti-mass skill much stronger. Both materials combined effects pushing things away, and if he developed it enough, he might even be able to create a new sort of defense. Such a technique would require significant spiritual mass, however, so he mostly developed both for use in his singularity.

By contrast, his sublime material from the vault was no question at all. Investigation led him to discover that the spinning red stone was called a stonevortex, and he placed it directly on top of his gravitational torsion chamber. The spinning cantae matched perfectly with his technique of shifting gravitational planes, making the technique much more deadly. He'd tried it on some demons while on assignment and been pleased with the results.

Of course, both of those chambers were still extremely simple, just suspended materials within a great deal of carving. There was a lot of work between functional rooms and truly finished chambers.

The traditional form for such chambers was a large dais, crafted from supporting sublime materials that would enhance the strength of the object placed at the top. He'd always thought this method lacked imagination, but also didn't want to fill the rooms with generic furniture or other household materials. It might not require expensive materials, just some decently supportive ones and a lot of time.

As he carved more symbols along the walls of his torsion chamber, Theo frequently glanced down to the vents leading below. Were vents actually the ideal form for his blueprint? Fiyu being so focused on glass made him think of windows set in the floor, though that obviously fit better for the light theme of her soulhome.

For the time being, he stuck to vents. They were completely functional but could be easily filled in or changed once he'd perfected this detail of his blueprint.

Another temporary measure due to the duel impending in... four months? Theo briefly stopped working as he realized that a few days ago, it had been exactly four months until his duel. He'd taken major steps with two sublime materials for the singularity, but he still needed two more, plus a material to reinforce the central chamber, not to mention training with his new skills.

That in mind, he could accept some of the measures he'd taken. So far, his rule for himself was that he wouldn't do anything that would set back his soulcrafting in the future. Everything he'd done was a step toward his final blueprint, they just weren't necessarily the steps he'd expected to take. Some of the chambers on his first floor still hadn't found their final forms, and he'd have much more to do on the second. If he survived, he'd have a great deal of work to do before he was ready to ascend to Ruler.

When his fingers became so numb he could barely feel the spirit chisel, Theo recognized that he was reaching a point of diminishing returns and switched activities. Leaving the room behind, he instead climbed down to his central chamber and began testing patterns of cantae flow.

Many soulhomes used simplistic unidirectional designs: cantae moved in straight lines from its sources to the exits. Competent soulcrafters had a smooth cycle, such as Fiyu's emanating heat or Nauda's spiral. His aimed for orbiting around his singularity: easy enough when everything was rotating on the single plane of his first floor, but much more difficult in three dimensions.

With a deep breath, Theo halted all the cantae within his soulhome and tried to push it in a half-sphere that arced through his second floor. The problem was, the cantae that arched up over the top of the sphere promptly went into the ground. He could redirect it, of course, because cantae flow problems could always be overcome with willpower. But it was a clumsy pattern compared to a perfect sphere of cantae that spanned three floors.

Theo was sure he could manage it once he had the space, even if the design had surprised the Authority. That orbiting design was the most effective part of his blueprint, a refinement of his old solar idea that he actually liked better than the original. It lost the absolutely brilliant design Brigana had made for an explosive start, but since that had been lost to him, he'd have to find a different path to the same power.

As he was considering whether or not to try alternate patterns, he noticed that Nauda was approaching his real body. Pulling back out of his soulhome, he glanced up at her, wondering if he'd forgotten something. No, it seemed like she had a new purpose of some kind.

"They finished your staff?" he guessed. She blinked and then shook her head.

"Oh, I forgot you hadn't seen it." Nauda spun the weapon on its end so quickly that the upper tines made a whistling sound. The central tine of the trident had been removed and, judging from the way the base was now studded with black stones, melted down for modifications. It looked much more like her forked staff from before, yet retained the deadly points of the trident. "They finished this a few days ago, you've just been locked away. But that's not why I'm here."

Theo hopped to his feet, fresh in the real world even if spiritually exhausted. "Then I assume you either think I need a break, or you have a new opportunity."

"The latter. Come on, Fiyu is already waiting in the sleigh."

By now the Blacksilver complex had become quite familiar, though he didn't feel any real sense of comfort from it. Nauda was moving everywhere faster these days, feeling the new strength of her second floor. He'd even noted the start of a pyramid atop her roof, though he judged that premature. That said, he trusted her judgment enough that he was highly curious about what she had found.

They soon reached one of the outer courtyards, where Fiyu sat patiently in the middle seat of the sleigh. When she spotted them, she smiled, and continued beaming as they climbed in. "Hello, Theo. Nauda believes that she has found a local challenge that will be beneficial to all of us."

"So she told me, but what is it?"

She didn't answer right away, instead easing the sleigh out the main gate and beginning to slide through the city. Norro Yorthin had laws about flying too high, but the streets themselves were rather orderly, with different lanes for different types of vehicles. They floated over the heads of most, the sleigh's downward force only producing a slight wind. Once they were en route, which he noted might take them out of the city, Nauda turned back toward them.

"Every month, one of the lesser Houses conducts a contest in a quarry outside the city. I think the competition generates cantae for their mining operations, but they motivate people to come by giving rewards to the winners." Nauda grinned and began ticking off her fingers. "First, House Blacksilver will give us a small amount of money for winning. Second, the award always includes some money. Third, there's a different unique prize every month. And finally, the contest itself is supposed to be a speed challenge."

"It sounds like you've thought this through." His own thoughts immediately led to an obvious question. "Is it based on teams, or can we each win the competition a different time?"

"Individuals. I don't know how stiff the competition will be, but I thought we should at least try. Since each person can only win once, I think we have a shot."

Based on those details, the idea did seem promising. Since the rewards would be won or lost in a short period of time, it was certainly an efficient method, which made Theo more curious how effective it would be as training. That, he would probably just have to determine by seeing the actual contest.

They left by the western gate, which didn't have nearly as much of an outer city as the southern region near the gate to Tatian. A road of durable stone sliced out into the wasteland, likely to another city lost in the dust storms, but Nauda quickly took them away from it, northwest to a region where mining was obviously in evidence.

Huge pits gouged deep into the ground on both sides, but where most had workers going about their labor, one in particular had a teal flag and a cluster of soulcrafters around it. No doubt their destination. They stopped their sleigh alongside several chariots, and while Theo locked down the controls, Nauda hopped out to speak to the officials.

They stayed at the edge of the crowd of soulcrafters for Fiyu's comfort, so he just looked over the group and the mining pit itself. Most of those he saw were first tier soulcrafters, though a few had reached Archcrafter. The sides of the quarry declined gradually, their walls remarkably smooth - worn by wind, he thought. Strangely, a section in the middle of the quarry hadn't been worn down at all, instead a steep peak in the center that made the entire pit a ring. Something gleamed at the top of the platform in the center, so that must be their destination.

"Everyone, attend to me!" An official in teal robes called for silence, then somberly tucked her hands into her sleeves to address them. "I am Lady Baryara of House Teal. We have again decided to open our treasure vaults to the seekers of other Houses. If you have merit, you could well be rewarded in today's challenge. Each contestant may only receive one gift from House Teal before departing the challenge, to allow others to receive or magnanimity."

She went on with a similar level of pomp, so Theo began tuning out the exact words. Instead he examined the mine more carefully, trying to determine how the challenge itself would work. He noted that there were metal spheres placed throughout the exterior slope, designed to absorb cantae. Though he tried to feel for any dangerous sublime materials that could make this a trap, he thought they would simply absorb the atmospheric cantae used in the contest.

Honestly, it was a bit pathetic for a House to need to generate cantae like this. The quantity they'd gain, subtracting the expense of running the contest, would be trivial if they had able Authority-tier soulcrafters, much less a Stronghold. That didn't mean he wouldn't take advantage of it, though, so he listened in when the official moved on to the rules.

"In a moment, the tornado will be kindled and will rage for three hours. Your goal will be to descend this side of the quarry, then climb the center - as always, vehicles, flight, or leaping over the chasm are not allowed. Anyone who reaches the top of the summit will receive the esteem of House Teal, but the first three will receive additional compensation, and the first to scale the summit will be awarded this month's prize: a grand historical chariot from House Teal."

Lady Baryara gestured to one of the chariots beside the quarry and Theo barely gave it a glance. He had no direct need for it, and if they were giving it away like this, it couldn't be too valuable. What interested him most was the contest itself, and fortunately, it began before any more speeches.

A powerful source of cantae surged from the central mountain and wind began to circulate throughout the quarry. It was unremarkable at first, but the cantae urged it faster and faster. Rocks began to lift into the air and spin in a vast vortex, and then glimmering yellow stones were released, joining the others as citrine streaks.

"No one will be given assistance until the three hours are complete," Lady Baryara said. "Begin!"