Archcrafter: Chapters 19-21 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

The last of the first run of worldbuilding posts is up on the blog and subreddit. This one actually wasn't planned, I wrote it due to requests. This concludes the first set, and the second set won't be posted until A Hollow Mountain is released.

Meanwhile, we have some fun events these TWC chapters. I know some of you have been wanting some less driven events, so I hope these fill that void a little.

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Chapter 19

Theo crouched at the edge of the slope, peering into the whirlwind. The vortex was contained within the quarry, but it tore into the surrounding rocks and the earth below, no doubt serving a function for the quarry itself. There were a huge number of rocks traveling at considerable speed, so anyone who ventured below risked being battered to death. It did seem that the bottom of the quarry was clearer, perhaps to reduce casualties.

The House Teal official had leapt over the vortex to the central pillar, but the rest of them needed to venture into the whirlwind. One soulcrafter leapt forward with more confidence than skill, almost immediately taking a rock to the shoulder. He lost his footing and tumbled down the side, the whirlwind pulling him partway around the quarry before he hit the bottom and lay still.

Others ventured down more slowly, apparently veterans of the challenge. Some tried to use shields, but the broad surfaces caught too much wind and many tumbled down. One Archcrafter generated a spherical barrier around a small group and they advanced carefully.

"I suppose just throwing yourself down the side is one option," Nauda said. "But I thought that you would be more interested in trying to dodge all these rocks."

"Yeah, that will be a bit of a challenge." Theo rolled his shoulders and resolved to set aside his gravitational abilities for the speed he'd need in the duel.

Fiyu knelt down beside the edge, her body tense, then carefully sat cross-legged. "I will remain here. The number of gems and rocks and grains of sand is... very high. If I could expand my senses to encompass all of them, I could easily reach the other side, but to feel everything will be a great challenge."

"Then you're right where you need to be. The reward isn't anything special, so our actual goal is to use their whirlwind as free training. We might as well get started."

He and Nauda began edging down the side, bracing themselves against the intensifying wind. Theo could easily track the streaking gems, but the dark rocks were harder to make out. Several steps in, he needed to start dodging them, already requiring his full attention even before they reached the most intense speeds nearer the center.

What Nauda intended to get out of the contest was obvious: she spun her staff expertly, knocking aside every stone that came her way. As they pushed deeper into the quarry, a few of them made it past her staff, but they glanced off her body, leaving a mark but no blood. Clearly she intended to test her durability as well.

Though Theo could easily have reached the bottom by keeping her windward of him, that would defeat the purpose. Instead he tried to dodge on his own, the footwork difficult on the smooth slope down. Soon enough, some of the rocks began to clip him, some striking hard enough that he was afraid they'd bruise. He tried to snatch one of the gems out of the air, but it was too fast, even being able to anticipate them.

A rock hit the side of his head out of nowhere and Theo dropped, sliding down the remaining distance to the bottom. He groaned and rubbed the injury, sitting up only slightly. Here at the bottom, the wind was still intense, but most of the rocks had been flung higher, so it was moderately safe. Many of the other soulcrafters were catching their breath or lying still before they ventured toward the even more intense central pillar.

That had confirmed that he definitely wasn't fast enough - the rocks moved much slower than he'd expected Esaire to attack. The problem wasn't his instincts, which he thought were still sharp enough, but his raw speed. Fueled by their soulhomes, soulcrafters could move impossibly fast. As an Archcrafter he was already superhuman by Earth standards, but compared to someone with highly developed speed chambers, he'd be moving in slow motion.

"You okay?" Nauda slid down the side by him, shouting to be heard over the wind. He got up to walk closer to her.

"Not really injured, just frustrated." He glanced toward the central spire. "Are you going to try going up?"

"I'm not sure I'm good enough, but I won't improve unless I test myself." Nauda stepped away from him and headed inward, though she had to start deflecting rocks almost as soon as she set foot on the central slope of the quarry.

For his part, Theo tested his gravity in a small field around himself, mostly out of curiosity. It couldn't affect the wind itself, but it definitely had an effect on how easily the whirlwind picked up the rocks. If his goal had been to get to the top as fast as possible, he would have used that, but instead he set to work and began soulcrafting.

One of his side chambers on the second floor would be dedicated purely to speed, though it lacked sublime materials. Inspired by the wind around him, Theo began carving a pattern of a rushing orbit. Gravity was highly tied to speed, for example using a slingshot technique around a source of mass. Perhaps he could capture some of that...

Before he could do much, Nauda slid back down the side, bleeding from her lip but smiling. When she got close, she gestured toward the slope. "Nobody has made it up yet! I know the prize isn't much, but I think we should at least try, just to see how difficult it is."

That was reasonable enough, so he joined her. This time he helped a little, slightly increasing their gravity so the wind tore at them less fiercely. Nauda soon adjusted to her new weight, making it easier for her to climb the side while still deflecting rocks.

He stayed on the other side of her, his eyes struggling to track the projectiles. Those that got past her whipped at him at terrible speed, but he could occasionally dodge if he really threw himself into it. Without Nauda, he wouldn't have had a chance... for now. Once he'd soulcrafted a proper speed chamber, he thought this intensity might be a fairer challenge.

They struggled their way up, passing a few others who tumbled back down. At the end they needed to make a break for it, rushing up the final ascent on all fours, then suddenly the whirlwind abated. A few rocks swirled lazily near the top, but the whirlwind was no obstacle with the summit only a few times his height above them.

Of course, there were other obstacles: an Archcrafter stood on the slope before the summit, carefully watching the progress of someone below. When a different soulcrafter also got free of the worst of the whirlwind, the Archcrafter promptly hurled the rock at them, knocking them back down. They then returned to watching someone else struggling at the base.

"That Archcrafter could win at any time," Nauda said, "so is he... protecting someone else?"

"Maybe," Theo said, "but my guess is that he's a hired guard. Somebody with more money than skill brought a mercenary to keep anyone else from winning. If they're the one at the bottom there, they don't have what it takes on their own."

The Archcrafter glowered toward them, hefting a rock menacingly, but Nauda raised her hands and shook her head. He looked suspicious, but didn't throw anything at them. They caught their breath at the top, finally free of the dust, and prepared to head back down into the storm.

While he nursed a few bruises, Theo looked across, just to be sure Fiyu was alright. She still sat cross-legged, and when he raised an arm she waved back.

Because he was looking outside the quarry, he saw the crimson chariot descend near the starting point. Fiyu looked surprised and pulled back, but it wasn't an attack: Tythes slouched out of the vehicle. He took a final drink and then threw his cup aside before swaggering directly into the whirlwind.

"Is it even allowed for an Authority to do this?" Nauda asked the air. "What's the point?"

Given the unstable way Tythes walked, Theo wondered if he would adopt some sort of drunken fist style, but it was nothing of the sort. Instead he moved his body the bare minimum necessary to dodge each rock that spun his way. He didn't even look at them, just walked straight down the side untouched, yawning along the way... drawing in dust and coughing, though that didn't slow him down.

In a few seconds he was across the bottom and walking up the steep slope in the center, as easily as if ambling down the street. The Archcrafter mercenary hesitated, squinting down and seeing only Tythes's obscured soulhome. If he had any sense, he'd realize that Tythes was more powerful than everyone else in the quarry combined, but with Tythes approaching so quickly, he panicked and hurled a rock.

Tythes raised a hand lazily, raw cantae curling out and seizing both the rock and the Archcrafter. He threw them over his shoulder into the whirlwind without a second glance and continued marching up the side. Nauda glowered, but Theo grabbed her shoulder and urged her back. Not that he thought she'd attack, just to get them further away from Tythes in case he decided to target everyone in his path.

"You... you can't be here." The official from House Teal left her place at the summit to intercept him, though Lady Baryara didn't dare stand directly in his path. "You've already won this competition. You won when you were ten years old. Please stop coming back."

"But I want that... thing." Tythes stopped, glancing back to the other side. "Uh, a chariot? Yeah, I want that."

"Lord Tythes, the rules need to be followed. We can't stop you from taking the reward by force, but our master would be furious."

"If I leave the chariot here, will you declare me a victor and call me a good boy?"

Lady Baryara stared at him, unsure how to take that. Apparently growing bored, Tythes turned away from her... directly toward them. Theo braced himself to be thrown into the whirlwind, but the Authority simply ambled in their direction with a curious expression, smiling at Nauda.

"Didn't expect to see you here. They're telling me that I can't win, so do you want to?"

"I only reached this point with assistance." Nauda nodded toward Theo, which he didn't appreciate, but Tythes didn't even bother to look at him. "I will not be satisfied until I can pass through the whirlwind as easily as you did, without being struck."

"Ugh, hard workers. You are the absolute worst." Tythes promptly flopped over onto his face and then simply... slid down the side of the slope and lay at the bottom. Everyone stared down at him for a while, but he didn't appear inclined to move again.

Eventually Nauda shook her head and began moving around the side, ignoring Lady Baryara. "Let's stay away from him, but I want to go down again. I think I can do better, I just need to get used to the speed."

"That's a good strategy," Theo said, "but can you capture me one of those gemstones? They seem to move faster than the rest and I'm curious how it works."

She nodded absentmindedly before throwing herself back into the whirlwind. Sliding down was easier than climbing, so Theo just dodged as best he could and suffered the few injuries. This body still felt a bit slow - perhaps he needed to develop muscle memory to match his old instincts. That would only make sense if his physical brain wasn't the same as his mind or soul... the distraction let a rock strike his head and he focused again.

When they reached the bottom, Nauda simply thrust her staff upward, binding one of the gemstones in place. She grunted and took a step back, as if pitting herself against the whirlwind, but then easily pulled it down and tossed it to him. While she returned to train, Theo examined it carefully.

Even with the wind howling around him, he heard a second wind from the yellow gemstone, especially when he brought it close to his ear. It seemed to hum with the wind itself, and he realized that it must be one of the sublime materials that accelerated the wind. If it generated such an intense wind in the real world, it was likely not as valuable for a soulhome, but the cantae wasn't bad.

They didn't attempt to reach the top again, just using the full three hours to test themselves. Fortunately, Tythes didn't cause any other problems and seemed to have disappeared, so they made good progress. After some soulcrafting, Theo could endure the lower parts of the quarry without being hit by the stones, though the most intense part of the whirlwind was still far too fast for him.

What interested him more were the gemstones, which he had Nauda capture from time to time. He wasn't sure if House Teal approved of that, but no one stopped them, so he collected quite a few by the end. It would take a few experiments, but he thought they might be a functional material.

When the whirlwind finally died down, five of the soulcrafters had made it to the summit. That wasn't particularly stiff competition, but Theo knew that any powerful soulcrafters who wanted to win could do so at will. The real contest would be if two came to the same event, so he couldn't assume that he could win whenever he wanted.

Fiyu greeted them when they climbed back out of the quarry, first frowning at their bruises but then smiling as they talked about their progress. "Then this was a success?" she asked. "I feel I am closer, but such a storm is still complex for me."

"We got a lot of practice and some interesting sublime materials." Theo patted the gemstones he'd tucked away and smiled. "Let's fail again next month."

-

Chapter 20

As the last of the demons fell before the three of them, Theo had roughly ten percent of his mind on the battle and ninety percent running over the numbers again. Unfortunately, they didn't add up, and this time the problem was money.

Since the last week had been quiet, free of both danger and opportunity, he'd taken the chance to investigate the city's markets more carefully. To his surprise, he'd discovered a high end sublime material store selling something that couldn't be better suited for him: a stone from Arbai called a "drysupernova". Checking its properties in the store, it could easily produce an implosion reaction, plus strengthen his singularity.

The only problem was that it cost over a thousand Fithan Discs.

It was just sitting there, available for anyone to purchase. The perfect material, so near within reach, yet potentially gone the moment someone else bought the only one. After discarding risky possibilities such as stealing it, Theo thought the only viable path was to earn it as quickly as possible.

He currently had rough three hundred Discs, and every month he'd earn another 110 from his salary, plus roughly 175 from his portion of the granitebile profits. That meant more than two months until he could afford it, which was unacceptable. Even asking the others to loan him money wouldn't be sufficient, so the only choice was to take a flashier route.

His calculations were interrupted by the demons, who didn't last long enough for him to even finish his thoughts. It really was easy when they didn't find a way to sacrifice themselves. As he started to pull the surviving remnants into his soulhome, a familiar chariot swept past and a Ruler leapt to land beside them.

"You again!" Jothan landed beside them with a grin on his face. "I haven't seen the three of you in a long time, but I'm glad to have you helping."

"We joined a House and got involved in a number of things." Nauda stepped forward to handle the smiling and hefted her new staff. "Take a look at this."

Jothan let out a low whistle. "If you were aiming for an armament like that, I see why you stuck to those broken tools for so long. Why are the three of you even back out here doing menial tasks like this?"

"Our House is inviting merchants to the city and they want everything to be especially under control, so they offered more merits than usual for the task."

"Well, the city guard thanks you. We have the demons under control so well that it actually becomes a bit of a problem again, since people consider the work beneath them." Jothan scratched at his jaw, then shook his head. "I wish I could give you something, but you know about the guard's neutrality."

"Actually, there is one thing." Theo spoke up casually, as if it had just occurred to him, though it was one of the reasons he'd agreed to join the demon extermination. "Work at our House is a bit thin, so we're looking for other opportunities. Do you know of any other neutral institutions in the city?"

"Depends on how neutral you want, but a few. Have you heard of the Yorthin Coliseum?"

It was absurd to think that they wouldn't have, but Nauda was the first one to respond. "Of course, but I got the impression it was just an arena for the Houses to work out their problems indirectly."

"Sometimes, but they use it because the arena was built by the city itself, a long time ago." Jothan gestured toward the walls, as if that helped point out a single building among thousands. "If you actually stop by the coliseum, you'll find they have a lot of events. Many you have to pay to join, but try the tiered tournaments. They have three, up to Ruler tier, and the only requirement is being the right tier of soulcrafter."

They chatted for a while longer, Jothan apparently eager to give his opinion on various subjects, but his first suggestion remained the best. Everything Theo had heard about the Yorthin Coliseum had led him to believe it wouldn't be relevant to him until much later. He still didn't want to participate, since it would reveal too much about his soulcrafting, but the others could get real value out of it.

Eventually they said farewell to Jothan and headed back into the city proper on their sleigh. Since they had finished their task earlier than expected, Theo agreed that they could visit the coliseum. On their way, Nauda leaned over the side and pointed out a tall building with an ornate facade.

"I've never been to an auction house before." She glanced back toward him as he drove. "Is that a possibility to earn money, or have you already investigated it?"

"Not a good option. They have some serious auctions that are invitation-only, but only House representatives get to attend those. All the rest are worthless... there are no sealed bids and no one is anonymous. It seems like an ego game for people to show how wealthy they are, so you'd overpay for everything."

"How do these 'buyingwars' work?" Fiyu asked.

They had to take a while to explain the concept to her, and Theo got distracted on the exact mechanics. He was confident in his basic economic calculation, however. Given time and fund limitations, the auction was useless to him. Even if he returned later, it would annoy him to pay so much above market value.

When they drew near the Yorthin Coliseum, the rest of the path became obvious, because its outer wall towered over all the nearby buildings. He'd known it existed, but never gotten close because it lay deep within the center-most circle of the city. However, the street toward it was filled with people of all classes, so much so that they needed to slow down to avoid the wind beneath their sleigh angering anyone.

Once they got past all the pedestrians, it wasn't difficult to find a place for their sleigh. On their way inside, Theo examined the rich red stone of the walls and realized the cantae was denser than he'd thought. After a moment wondering if it would be an unnecessary lecture to his allies, he decided to state his thought anyway.

"You see this stone? It's an Authority-tier sublime material, and I think the entire arena is built out of it."

"How can you tell?" Nauda stepped out of the way of the moving crowds to peer at it closer. "When the materials don't generate cantae, they all just seem similarly dense to me. I know it's strong, but what would be the difference between Ruler-tier and Stronghold-tier bricks?"

"There's a big qualitative difference at Authority." Theo shot a quick cantae bolt at the wall and it disappeared without a trace. "Two Rulers could exert their full strength against one another and they wouldn't put a scratch on this."

Nauda experimentally thrust with her staff and the sharp ends only skated off the surface. "Huh. Could you build armor out of materials like that? For lower tiers, I mean."

"The sheer weight might make it hard to use, but I think it's been done. But such materials are strongest when in solid shapes like this and reinforced. And they're extraordinarily expensive: this building is probably worth more than several Houses combined."

"Oh!" Fiyu straightened with a smile on her face. "But since no one can chip off any of it, it is safe in public like this."

Theo nodded. "That might be why it's owned by the city neutrally, though. It probably has equally strong barrier generators, so anyone who wanted to use it as a fortress would have an advantage."

They walked in further, separating from the audience to find a desk for competitors. There, the clerk clearly had very little time for them, answering questions tersely or just thrusting a finger at a slate on the wall. It seemed that many of the rules of the Yorthin Coliseum were well-established.

As Jothan had suggested, there were scheduled tournaments for the first three soulcrafter tiers. An Archcrafter tournament actually took place in several days, though when Nauda signed up, Theo declined. Meanwhile, Fiyu investigated the first tier tournaments and decided to enroll in the biggest, over two months from that date.

"You're not joining." Nauda shifted back to stand with him while Fiyu completed her work. "Because you don't want Esaire to see what you can do?"

"Yeah. They'll be spying on me as often as possible, so I couldn't give my all in a tournament."

"And yet it's fine for us to participate?"

"Esaire won't be watching you as closely, plus he saw you both fight back on Deuxan." Theo shook his head. "It would actually be good experience, since I imagine the Archcrafter competition will be fierce. But if Esaire knows too much about me, the plan won't work."

"After the duel, then." Nauda gave him a smile that he returned, but then Fiyu joined them again.

They could have watched some of the current events, but Theo judged them to be cheap entertainment for the masses. Even a city with this many soulcrafters couldn't sustain constant competitions between them, so there were a great many other events. Many of them seemed to involve ritualized taunts, which bored Theo and confused Fiyu.

On their way back, Theo took a different route, just for the sake of further scouting. He didn't see anything that surprised him, since Norro Yorthin felt fairly familiar by now. Yet while they passed through a shadier neighborhood on their way to House Blacksilver, Nauda suddenly straightened up.

"What about gambling?" She nodded her head toward a rough-looking building with a symbol of several inscribed sticks. "You used to go earn money at it in Deuxan, so why not here?"

"I wasn't betting my life back then." He did glance over his shoulder at the gambling den before driving on. "But there's also the fact that I don't know Fithan games very well, and they seem to involve less skill and bluffing. If they're games of pure chance, then it's impossible to gain an edge without cheating, and I assume they'll have countermeasures for that."

"If the games are chance," Fiyu said carefully, "then are all the options equally probable? That does not seem fun."

"I don't think that's why a lot of people gamble, Fiyu."

Nauda shook her head and leaned back against her side of the sleigh. "You're not giving them enough credit. I've played that sticks game with some of the others at the House, and it's not pure chance. There's always the same set of sticks in the cup, so you can guess what's left."

Theo glanced back at her swiftly, nearly driving the sleigh into a rake propped up in the back of a wagon. "I figured the game was like rolling dice, because of how they throw the sticks. But they go through a whole set?"

"Yeah, each has specific symbols, then the ones that land face up are counted. You have to play with sets of ten, I think. Why, can it be cheated?"

"Not cheating, exactly..."

~ ~ ~

Several days later, when the tournament began, Theo was almost annoyed that it interrupted his work.

He'd gone over some Fithan games with Nauda and discovered that many of them were vulnerable to an equivalent of card counting. The sticks could land on several sides, so they were slightly more variable, but he developed a point system that was statistically sound. How much it could potentially earn would depend on how the local gambling houses allowed betting.

Aside from that, he'd broken up his soulcrafting with investigations into the sublime material market of their House. Unfortunately, he didn't see any opportunities that were equal to the granitebile, and though that had earned him a decent reputation, they weren't going to give him weirkey transportation just to test theories.

His most promising idea had involved certain wood technology in Aathal, but it had been taken from him by an Authority as soon as he suggested it. That was particularly disappointing, because he'd wanted a chance to go through the gate. Even though he'd confirmed that the gate didn't lead anywhere near where Khaluu's family had grown, he still wanted to return to the world. Aside from the sublime materials he might find there, it would be a nice change of pace from dusty Fithe.

Instead of doing any of that, he waited in the stands with Fiyu. The Archcrafter tournament had an absurd number of entrants, since the only requirement was having ascended, so it began with a massive melee round to filter out the majority. It hadn't begun yet, the contestants still waiting, so Fiyu scanned through the crowds in the vast arena.

"There she is!" Fiyu sat back, nodding to herself, and Theo saw Nauda where she'd indicated. "Her body feels very tense. Do you think she will win?"

"Her odds aren't good."

His statement made Fiyu frown and she extended her senses over the crowd of soulcrafters. "I believe that Nauda is very skilled. She has high quality sublime materials for her second tier."

"She does, but she isn't done soulcrafting the floor. Norro Yorthin has thousands of soulcrafters, so the competition is going to be dominated by people who are at the absolute peak of Archcrafter."

"I see. I understand the logic."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that Nauda is weaker than them, in a real sense. Some of the 'best' Archcrafters will be people who are stuck at that tier and just keep refining themselves there forever. You don't want to rush ahead, but if you just keep soulcrafting one tier you can end up in a dead end."

Fiyu bobbed her head in agreement. "I understand, but I will still cheer for Nauda."

In the end, Nauda made it through the melee, but it was surprisingly hard fought. Fiyu's "cheering" amounted to clapping or nodding her head when Nauda accomplished anything. She did make a good showing of herself, since her new staff made her binding technique immensely effective. Most of her targets were completely paralyzed by it, and he estimated the skill would only get stronger when she finished soulcrafting chambers specifically tied to the armament.

However, her binding technique was limited in its number of targets, and thus poorly suited to a melee. Nauda was bruised and bleeding by the time the final sixteen Archcrafters remained. Not only did she get an unlucky draw, chosen for the second fight, her opponent was a bad matchup, and his speed techniques eliminated her in the first round.

That was a respectable performance, but Theo knew that if someone said anything like that to him, he'd be insulted. Her opponent's taunt at the beginning of the match had been rather restrained due to her injuries, which would only rub it in. They left the stands to go down and meet Nauda, who did look a bit discouraged before she forced a grin.

"Do you have any encouragement or edification for me, oh-"

Theo cut her off with a deep bow. "The passion of your performance shook me to my core, leaving me speechless."

He hadn't been sure if that was the right approach, but her forced smile relaxed into a wry grin. Meanwhile, Fiyu fidgeted between them, beaming but also uncomfortable. "Um... Nauda. I think that you fought well. I wanted to give you physical encouragement, but the idea seems very awkward now. Um... Theo, you do it."

With that, she pushed him forward into Nauda. They both chuckled, but he gave her a hug for Fiyu's sake and then they left the arena. Even as he laughed and talked with them on the way back, he found himself thinking that if he lost, he wouldn't get such a nice ending.

-

Chapter 21

Even though the gambling house was one of the more reputable in the city, it was still a cesspit compared to the House complexes and competitions they'd spent most of their time in. Everyone went around armed, though common criminals wouldn't idly tangle with an Archcrafter. Many of the patrons smoked a heavy herb that left an acidic scent fogging the air. Hosts and hostesses moved among the games, implying sensuality without ever crossing the line, at least on the surface.

Theo leaned back in his chair, tapping the blank ends of his sticks against the table. He pretended to stare out the window, scratched his side, and engaged in a number of other behaviors designed to distract the other players from the fact that he was cheating.

The first component, which had served them well for the past several days, was the point system he'd created with Nauda. It was slightly more complex than counting cards, since it needed to account for the variability in how the sticks fell, but otherwise it was just a matter of following the system and betting when the odds were in his favor. In larger gambling houses that used more sticks, his advantage only increased, so he engaged in other behaviors to distract from his heavy bets at the end of the round.

His second component was careful research. He'd returned to the State of Rest and inquired about opportunities for gambling, and after rejecting a number of offers for private games, gained a decent understanding of the city's gambling houses. From that, he determined the best targets and picked nights when eyes would be focused on other events.

Of course, all his distractions paled in comparison to Fiyu, who sat across the table. When the dealer laid down another stick, she immediately peeked at the symbols on her sticks, then gave a small smile. It was such an obvious tell that he could see the other gamblers' minds turning flips as they tried to decide whether or not she was bluffing.

Her apparently simple nature had won them a massive bet of over fifty Fithan Discs in a different gambling house, since it had allowed for a glorious bluff. That had been hard to replicate, but she still did an excellent job diverting attention.

When the dealer turned to him, Theo pretended to consider before calling for another stick, which dropped onto the table with the others. They were close to a full set on the table, which was one of the highest payouts in the game, but the wager was getting too high for everyone. Instead of staying in the game and calling for more sticks, which would have increased his likelihood of winning, they began dropping out.

That was where the cheating came in. When it came to Fiyu's turn, Theo flexed the muscles of his left foot inside his shoe. Fiyu noticed without any sign of surprise, since their signals were familiar by now, but when it came to her turn, she increased the bet and called for another stick.

Communicating between them was an immense advantage, and it would have been even more effective at strategic games, but Theo had hesitated to try those. With many Ichili in the city, he was concerned that they must have a way to detect such cheating. Avoiding detection was essential to keep earning money, which had totaled to four hundred Fithan Discs. That would have attracted attention, if it hadn't been spread across several gambling dens and different nights. Nauda wasn't with them for the same reason, since their trio might be memorable even in a city like this.

"Last call." The dealer held a final stick over the board and Theo added in another Disc, trying not to think about the probability of losing everything. It was frustratingly high, but playing on high value sets like this was statistically optimal.

It landed with a red sigil up... completing the set. Across the table, Fiyu gave an audible sigh of disappointment and lowered her head, which distracted from the fact that Theo was raking in the entire pot and the set award from the dealer. Though the woman dealing cast him a slightly suspicious glance, she didn't say anything.

"Well, I should quit while my luck is good." Theo faked a laugh and levered to his feet, pretending to fumble a bit with the last Discs. That round had been worth nearly eighty Fithan Discs, his highest so far, putting his total gambling profits at nearly five hundred.

Half of what he needed to purchase the drysupernova. Though pushing harder at more gambling houses could have gotten him to the necessary sum in under a week, he judged it was best to stay cautious. Theo nodded to everyone except Fiyu, who looked deeply concerned, and stepped away from the table.

A hand settled onto his shoulder.

"We want to congratulate you on your victory, friend." There was a Fithan man standing behind him, but more importantly his hand was burning with a Ruler's cantae. It exerted no pressure, but guided him toward a side room instead of an exit. "Let us buy you a drink."

"Why not?" Theo laughed and went with them as if he was unaware it was a trap. If they were local thugs aiming to take his winnings, or just the gambling den's guards, Nauda wasn't far away and Fiyu would help. For now, best to play it cool.

As they walked toward the chamber and he got a better look at the people behind him, Theo suspected that they were not simply local soulcrafters. Two men and two women, all wearing nondescript robes that were expensively tailored. The worst case scenario would be if they were mercenaries hired by the Armeau family, intending to kill him before the duel with Esaire, but he thought it was more likely that they were representatives of a House. Given the circumstances, most likely...

"The House of Coin congratulates you." One of the women sat down on the opposite side of a low table, while the Ruler stayed at his back and encouraged him to sit. When he saw a stone plate with an elaborate golden seal, Theo slouched into the seat opposite her.

"You're not going to punish me for getting lucky, are you?" He intentionally held his soul stiff as he spoke, trying to make the words come out a bit garbled, as if he was a recent foreigner. All he got was cool stares from the cloaked group.

"There's no more need for that, Peanen of House Blacksilver." The woman folded her hands in front of her and gave him the most clinically precise smile he'd ever seen. "The House of Coin watches all of its establishments carefully for certain patterns of behavior, and we are as familiar with statistics as you are. You did well to evade notice for this many nights, but we are now certain."

Dropping the act, Theo met her gaze without blinking. "Nothing I've done is cheating." Not true, but he wasn't going to get Fiyu into any trouble, so he intended to deflect to his stick counting strategy. All he got was the same smile.

"You misunderstand me. Though we do intend to politely ask you to leave, we would like to congratulate you on your efficiency. If you were not already a member of House Blacksilver, we might invite you to work in our gambling division."

"I'm honored." While he mirrored her smile, Theo leaned back and considered his exits and whether or not he'd need to use them. "But since I can't, are we going to have a problem?"

"That is up to you." The woman set a stack of larger coins on the table and Theo realized that they were valued at exactly a hundred Fithan Discs. She slid them incrementally in his direction and gave that precise smile again. "Consider this a reward for your competence, and also a reminder not to return."

He hesitated before reaching out, half-expecting the Ruler to cut off his arm, but no one stopped him from collecting the money. That done, Theo rose carefully, beginning to believe that they really had no intention of doing anything more than threatening. Instead of leaving, he glanced over the entire group. "I suppose that's one way to do business."

"Business is indeed our concern. We do insist on maintaining certain monopolies, but for those who understand the nature of trade, mutual profit is generally ideal. Failing that, effective retaliation. Please have a pleasant day."

Realizing that his luck had been pressed much further than he'd thought, Theo left the room and then the gambling den. He found Nauda and Fiyu by the outside wall, Fiyu tracking him and Nauda looking like she intended to break through if there was a problem. When they looked to him apprehensively, he shook his head and jingled the sack of money.

"They caught on to what we were doing and politely asked us to leave. I suggest we do so."

"Not going to try again?" Nauda moved to walk alongside him as they left the neighborhood. "There are a lot of gambling dens in the city, and this has been earning you more money than anything else."

"Yes, but I don't want to cross them." Theo glanced back one more time, imagining golden eyes on his back. "I can deal with a blood vendetta from a noble family, but getting on the wrong side of merchants..."