Archcrafter: Chapters 31-33 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

The second book in The Brightest Shadow will be coming out before the next TWC chapters, but there should be no delay in chapter posting. That will get an announcement of its own, so look forward to that!

Meanwhile, I think this is a fun set of chapters. Several subplot coming together, and a sequence that I really enjoyed writing. ^-^

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Chapter 31

Technically Fiyu should have been purchasing sublime materials to prepare for the tournament she would participate in, but as she looked over the record of her merits, she instead thought of her companions. Though she still believed her decision to wait was the correct one, she admitted to herself that she was unable to contribute as much to their journeying group without ascending.

With the materials she'd purchased in Sweetfruit Cavern, she'd enhanced her curtain and integrated it into the rest of her sensory room. She was now completely confident in her ability to resist any assault of light or noise, though her chamber couldn't expand enough to detect the beast that had deceived her senses. No simple refinement could accomplish that.

Since she was running out of refinements to her first floor, Fiyu had actually begun to pursue Friend Theo's plan. She had purchased something from a Fithan tree called eldenwood, which was durable enough to resist the clouds overhead. The first several times she tried to set it upright, the pressure from above knocked it back down, then she realized that she needed to attach the ropes first.

Once she got them all hooked to her roof, it almost worked. If she'd gone on to secure another set of ropes to the ground, it might have been stable enough for her to climb to Archcrafter. And yet in the end, she lowered the eldenwood to her roof.

It wasn't that she feared that she would fail, though it was true that she had never attempted to ascend before. She also didn't worry that her ascension now would damage her future soulcrafting. But it felt deeply disrespectful to her relative to simply ignore his plans and push forward. She was confident enough in her own skills to choose comparable sublime materials to those she lacked, but ascending was a very different process and the blueprint for her second floor was difficult.

Yet she did admit that she was being a poor companion to her friends. For a long time, she had been collecting merits and Fithan Discs, in the hope of using them once her relative returned and helped her onward. Relative Guchiro had many resources, but she could still contribute some to be a good relative.

Since he was not likely to hear her message for some time, being a good companion currently meant making use of those resources. Currently Friend Nauda and Friend Theo had entered the city to participate in a social assignment for the House, so she resolved to accomplish something of her own and departed the Blacksilver complex.

There were a great many stores and merchants within Norro Yorthin, and all of them would serve Ichili customers, but few made them truly comfortable. When she did not have others to assist her with the crowds, Fiyu had occasionally gone out to better scout the regions near the Ichili gate. While there, she had met Acquaintance Hirot again, and he had suggested that she visit a particular mercantile house when it came to sublime materials or armaments, one of the few not controlled by the House of Coin.

When she arrived on the narrow street, she was forced to leave the sleigh, but at least the people in the neighborhood kept a more polite distance between them. This was good, as she had yet to master the method she had seen some Ichili use, slipping between crowds without being touched. Fiyu held her portion of the money tighter within her robes, pulled the bundle of eryo claws closer, and looked about for the indicators she had been given. There was no sign written in obvious words, only a specific pattern within the stones out front, visible to most Ichili senses but hidden to others.

She entered and was immediately met by an Ichili woman wrapped in many furs despite the heat, confronting her from several paces away. "State your business."

"I was advised to come here by a stranger named Hirot," Fiyu said. "I wish to purchase an armament without being betrayed by merchants."

"This is reasonable. We do not often cater to first tier soulcrafters here."

"I desire an armament that will be useful to me after I ascend. I believe that I also have sufficient funds for such a purchase."

"If your funds are found to be inadequate, we will discourage you from returning here." The Stranger Sentry stared at her for a time, and when Fiyu did not budge, she nodded. "I will escort you to our current armament specialist."

They moved down a side hallway, everything tastefully lit so that it would be just barely visible to the eyes of most. Each doorway they passed was covered by a curtain of beads that shimmered oddly, somehow blocking her senses from discerning anything beyond. Fiyu became mildly concerned, though given the semi-trusted location, she thought it was a good idea for privacy.

Eventually she was escorted into a room filled with soft objects, from Fithan rugs to pillows she recognized from home to unfamiliar chairs made from Ichili wood. A partition had been set up between the two halves of the room splitting a table in half, the one dense object in the room, though it did not prevent her senses from feeling a man sitting on the other side. There was a closed window in the partition to allow for items to be passed through. Overall, she thought it was a pleasant, comfortable arrangement.

"What armament do you require?" the stranger asked.

"I am uncertain." Fiyu spoke as she sat down, then immediately felt a tensing of the man's muscles in annoyance. Recognizing her error, she continued on. "What I require is an armament that is usable for a first tier soulcrafter, but not irrelevant when I ascend. This is a difficult request, so I did not want to burden you with more specifications."

"Not impossible, if you're not going to try to build a room around it yet." The man shifted on the other side, leaning onto the table with more receptive musculature. "Why don't you explain your blueprint so far and tell me what you might want?"

Though Fiyu would never reveal details of her blueprint easily, she was free to speak of the three sublime materials that formed her primary walls. She also spoke of her techniques and other details that she thought might be relevant. This was a trusted encounter, after all, and dishonesty would reflect poorly on her.

"What we have will depend on what you have." The window slid open with a clatter. "Show me how much you are willing to pay."

The truth was that Fiyu intended to spend everything she had, though that was not a truth she was required to share. She began to remove everything she had stored away or kept with Nauda: Fithan Discs, craftgems, even the limited Ichili money she possessed and the Silver Crowns she still had from Deuxan. In all, it seemed a sadly small pile, but she pushed it through the window.

After a pause, the man shook his head to himself. "For this amount, I can acquire you an armament that meets your specifications. But in the interest of courtesy, I must inform you that it might not meet your expectations. Are you willing to spend more?"

"I have no more money, but..." Fiyu's head drooped, but she had feared this. She reached into the bag she carried and pulled out her third of the claws they had taken from the dead eryo. Though she hesitated to place them all on the table, she did not believe they were a sublime material suited to her, so she thought it was better to spend them here.

The claws were large enough that the man needed to turn one sideways to fit it through the window. Once on the other side, however, his senses pored over the claw with such intensity that she could feel them rippling even from her side. Soon enough, he set the claw back down and turned to face her again.

"These are a valuable sublime material. Would you be willing to reveal where you found them in exchange for compensation?"

"Yes, but in the interest of courtesy, I must tell you that you would not be able to use that information. This sublime beast was killed by a companion of mine and I could not replicate the feat or the hunt."

"Pity. But yes, with these, we will be able to offer you an excellent armament. Please wait here." He vanished through another beaded door on his side of the room, leaving her alone.

On her own, Fiyu had time to consider whether or not the lie had been irresponsible of her. It was possible that the Ichili in the city could venture through the Tatian gate to hunt eryos, though she did not know how difficult that would be, if they lacked an ability like Friend Theo's. Because her companions were so concerned about security, she decided to withhold the information, even in this company. Though Ichili society could be trusted to some degree, betrayal was always possible.

While she waited, Fiyu entered her soulhome to work, but found herself struggling to decide. The number of improvements she could make to the interior were steadily decreasing and the exterior could hardly be more polished. Before she could generate the full willpower to begin any new project, the man returned from the other side bearing several heavy objects.

"First is a Darkling Knife, which can easily absorb and enhance cantae from your hand." As he spoke, the man slid each object through the window to her side of the table. "Second is a Voidwraith Cloak, which matches most stealth abilities. Third is a bolt of Voidwraith Cloth, if you wish to craft your own garment. Fourth are these Soulsilver Bracers, which will increase the intensity of applied cantae. Fifth is a Companionsphere, which generates a powerful defensive field. All meet your specifications with potential for growth. Choose."

Fiyu looked over each armament, admiring the quality of the work and the cantae within. She must have underestimated the value of the eryo claws, because the tools she had been offered were much more suitable for a Ruler or above than her. And now she would need to choose among the treasures.

She was most attracted to the Voidwraith Cloak, which was both elegantly inscribed and very soft. Most importantly, it would make her stealth technique more potent, perhaps allowing her to avoid the gaze of more powerful soulcrafters... or sublime beasts such as the one that had deceived her.

After much hesitation, Fiyu decided that she should not make the decision based on fear. As she had seen with Friend Nauda and Friend Theo, many conflicts required them to stand and fight. She judged the Soulsilver Bracers to be the overall most powerful, since they would increase the potential of her bursts of light. When she picked it up, she felt increased tension from the other side.

"That is your decision? I must tell you, that is the most expensive, and may also be difficult to soulcraft even at Archcrafter, being more suited to Ruler."

"I will choose these." Fiyu rolled back her sleeves and slipped the bracers onto her wrists, finding them easy to tie into a comfortable position. The cantae contained within the etched silver surface was actually somewhat intimidating, but she would master it later. In the short term, it might help her contribute to her companions when it mattered.

While she experimented with them, the man on the other side took everything she had offered. At the end, he slid the pile of Ichili coins back to her. Apparently that was all that remained of the money she had been saving for many months. Fiyu touched the bracers on her wrists carefully, hoping that they would be worth it.

"That concludes our business. Please depart."

"I will do so." Fiyu bowed to him and then slipped through the beaded door.

No one came to escort her, as conducting a successful deal had likely made their relationship incrementally closer. If she remained in the city, perhaps she could return again in the future and establish another ally. For the time being, she let her sleeves hide her new armament and returned to the sleigh.

On her way back, Fiyu realized that she had not truly spent all her resources: her merits with House Blacksilver had been accumulating for quite some time. They did not have many sublime materials that suited her, but perhaps...

-

Chapter 32

As another month dwindled, Theo was for once allowed to soulcraft in peace. He still went on assignment with the others and tried to push more value out of his ventures in Aathal or with granitebile, but that was maintenance. What would help him survive the duel were the new chambers he'd worked on.

Surprisingly, he hadn't been able to find out information about the wormhole sublime material he'd purchased in Ichil. Whatever it was, his instincts told him how valuable it was, so he put in the work first.

The most obvious option, the one he would have taken when he was a young man, would be to place the wormhole chamber above a ranged attack. Having a cantae bolt that could skip over space to strike instantly was no joke, and the potential for it still inspired him, but he forcefully set that aside for his Ruler floor if ever. Instead, he thought about the blueprint from the other angle and placed the wormhole above his very first chamber.

When he'd begun carving the walls for his gravitational fields, he'd used one of the most obvious symbols of gravity he knew: the fabric of space and time being warped by an object. Wormholes, even if theoretical, were just a logical extension of that. Instead of strengthening his gravitational fields, which were already adequate, he had the cantae from the room flow upward into the wormhole chamber.

That reinforcement wasn't enough to create a wormhole on its own - he'd tested - but he knew it was a close thing. When both chambers flowed together into his central core, they might be able to transport something small... something like a singularity. He couldn't test that process until he actually had a completely balanced second floor, but the flow between the two was quite strong.

So far, he hadn't made any decisions that weakened his blueprint in the long term, but his soulhome was turning out strange. The cantae generated by his second floor overflowed into the unfinished first, and whenever he tried to use a spherical flow, it swirled around itself strangely. His speed chambers on the second had more raw power than the enhancement rooms below, which could be easily corrected, but he didn't think he could waste time on a little more strength when his opponent was so dangerous.

Still, the lack of rooms enhancing him directly did bother him. Without them, he was as vulnerable as Fiyu, and a sword blow to the wrong place could kill him instantly. Yet trying to go up against a Ruler's cantae would be foolish in any case, so he remained focused on his plan.

With the wormhole done, it was time to move on to another material. Fortunately, he'd been distracted from spending merits recently, so they'd piled up in his account. The trip to Ichil alone had been worth 175 on top of what he would have expected to earn that month. All told, he'd just barely scraped over a full thousand merits. Enough for the Chasm Invitation... but he'd probably have to choose against it.

Theo stepped out of his room, noting absentmindedly that he'd apparently soulcrafted through the entire night. He'd need to get proper sleep later, especially in the last days before the duel, but for now pushing himself was harmless. Even after he obtained everything he needed, he'd have to make it all cohere and refine the technique.

When he stepped into the materials office, Antha looked up at him without expression. "The usual, Peanen?"

"Not quite. I'm going to actually purchase something today."

"Well, wonders never cease." Antha pushed the books of merit rewards over to him and he reflexively ran over them again.

Of course, with a thousand merits to spend, there was absolutely no point even looking at something like the Esoteric Chisel. Instead he focused on the sublime materials, particularly the less expensive ones that he might soon need to purchase more of. This was a challenging technique, after all, and it might require more than just raw materials and carving.

Soon enough, he found his other usual entries:

Voidgum 48 merits

Twilitwood 83 merits

Soulshadow Stone 300 merits

Dark Lantern 420 merits

Bleakburden 790 merits

Chasm Invitation 1500 merits

Just as he was starting to regret that he would have to leave the Chasm Invitation for later, his eyes flashed back to it in surprise. After so long, he'd barely actually looked at the number, but it had increased. Not only that, but by fifty percent. Theo slammed the book down on the table in front of Antha.

"Why is the Chasm Invitation more expensive now?"

"Because there's only one left." Antha patiently pushed the book away from her work. "Another member of House Blacksilver purchased the first, therefore we require a greater commitment for the last."

"Who?"

"You should know better than to ask that. All such information is private."

Recognizing that he was taking his anger out on the wrong person, Theo stepped away from her table, fuming. Despite all his efforts, he'd fallen into the basic trap of assuming his targets would stay in place. He'd been so focused on the ways that Esaire would improve that he'd started considering all of his other conditions as fixed values.

After taking a deep breath, he told himself that it didn't matter. He needed a sublime material most anyway, or the Invitations would be irrelevant. For now, taking focus away from the duel was weakness.

"I'll take the bleakburden," Theo said. Antha blinked in surprise, but nodded.

"If you want to spend all your merits that way, you can. I'll have someone retrieve it from the protected stores."

According to the description, bleakburden was an exceptional sublime material: not in its rarity, but in its strength. Most materials were useful only in soulcrafting or in the physical world, but bleakburden had powerful effects in both. It was an absurdly dense stone that held far more weight than it should, and would have been a critical component of many defenses if it didn't react so poorly with other materials. He wanted it because it was a perfect representation of mass.

When Antha returned with the bleakburden in a special case, she required a special cart to carry it. Theo was able to pick it up with cantae reinforcing his body, but it was difficult. Opening the case, he stared down at the dark rock. Unlike many sublime stones, it was a rounded disc instead of a sphere, but what mattered was that the cantae was every bit as intense as expected.

Theo reached down to squeeze the stone... and it refused to enter his soulhome. He blinked, actually looking for interference before considering the more likely explanation that he'd just failed. Yet it shouldn't be his willpower or his abilities, since he'd been easily absorbing sublime materials ever since he'd returned to the Nine Worlds.

He knew the real reason: his heart wasn't in it. With his advanced experience, he could draw many materials into his soulhome without really putting in effort like most soulcrafters. But not this, not a stone that was nearly breaking his present limits.

Instead of trying to force it, Theo hefted the case and headed back to his room. Truthfully, part of him didn't like being so focused on the duel. It was his life on the line, but it was also a small vendetta, unimportant in the vast scheme of things. While it consumed him, he couldn't focus on reaching the Chasm of Lamentations, much less on taking revenge on Vistgil or resolving any deeper problems.

On his way back, he passed Fiyu, who smiled widely at first, then more nervously when she saw his scowl. "Theo? Is something wrong, or is that just your face?"

"It's nothing important." He could have brushed it off, but after risking their lives together, Theo decided to push on. "Someone else took the cheapest Chasm Invitation, so now our job is a lot harder. Six months will pass without us getting a single one..."

"Oh. Oh, that is..." Fiyu reached inside her robes and then revealed a plate of pure white crystal, cut into a precise rectangle. "I acquired it with my merits. I was waiting to tell you when you needed to be cheered up, but now it seems I have troubled you."

"Fiyu, that's amazing." He stepped forward, probably too far into her personal space despite all they'd shared, but resisted grabbing it from her. Smiling again, Fiyu extended the plate for him to examine more carefully.

The Chasm Invitation was made out of a strange white marble that didn't contain any particularly powerful cantae, yet it did resonate strangely. He recognized it from his visit to the Chasm of Lamentations, since the entire place was made out of the stuff. More importantly than the material, it was inscribed with two elaborate sigils representing Norro Yorthin and House Blacksilver.

"So that's one." Theo handed it back to her with a smile. "This one is yours, but you can count on Nauda and me finding a way to earn one too. Then all three of us can go together."

"I hope that we can." Fiyu smiled even more broadly and tucked the Invitation away. "But first you must be concerned for your life."

"After today, I'm going to be a lot closer." Theo swept past her to his room, dark mood banished by such a small thing. They might not be able to join him in the duel, but he did have allies beside him.

When he opened the bleakburden case again, this time he had no trouble cracking the stone and drawing it into his soulhome. Time to get to work.

-

Chapter 33

Though Nauda told herself she was soulcrafting, she was mostly just stewing over her same problems. She'd significantly enhanced the chamber on her Archcrafter floor dedicated to her new staff, but it wasn't enough. For a while she worked on building toward Ruler, but the pressure soon got to her and she stumbled back down.

So when someone knocked on her door, she wasn't upset at the distraction. When she discovered that it was Fiyu, she was pleased... though the other woman was frowning and her hair was in a much messier version of its usual braid.

"Is everything alright, Fiyu? Shouldn't you be preparing for your tournament today?"

"My soulhome is ready, but my mind is not." Fiyu pushed her way in without making contact, and Nauda gladly stepped aside to let her be a little more comfortable. It was rare for Fiyu to express herself so openly, or at least it had been before their journey to Ichil.

"I'd help if I could, but I'm not sure I'm the person you want to talk to. I failed my tournament badly."

"Oh, do not say that, Nauda. And it is not a matter of strength, I am worried that I will not represent myself well. All the strange insults, and being in front of the crowds, and..." She touched her braid, but not as a nervous gesture, instead bringing it over her shoulder. "Do you think this would look bad to Fithans? I think it feels beautiful, but I know most people use their eyes first."

"I... would advise you do it slightly differently."

"Please assist me." Fiyu walked further into her room and sat down in front of her table, regarding her brush and the few other items she'd laid out there. "Complex hair styles on Ichil are usually focused on having various pins dividing the hair into layers. I am not good at those either."

Nauda stared at the other woman's back, unsure if it was really okay after so long staying apart. Fiyu had put distance between them ever since the moment when she had taken Nauda's hand while ill. Truthfully, Nauda had no idea if she even remembered her actions while delirious, and had assumed they were back to remaining apart. "I'll do what I can."

Careful not to touch Fiyu directly, Nauda pulled her hair out of the messy braid and brushed it out. The other woman's hair was remarkably thick, though fortunately her regular brushing didn't leave it with tangles. Having silence between them was a bit uncomfortable, but Nauda didn't think she could talk for all that long about hair.

"I'm going to braid it into several plaits, then weave those together. That should be practical but also look nice."

"Thank you, Nauda." Fiyu sat cooperatively, displaying no apparent discomfort, so Nauda decided to keep down the same path. Perhaps, after they were both immortals who had lived for a thousand years, Fiyu would voluntarily hug her.

"I wish I could do more for you than this." As she worked, Nauda spoke slowly, glad there was no mirror to make it more awkward. "Normally if a friend was going into a tournament, I'd be trying to give them sublime materials or last-second advice. But your soulhome is so finely balanced, and you have the skills you need..."

"Oh, but it will help to know that you are cheering for me!"

"Well... I'm glad it helps, Fiyu."

After that, it became slightly less awkward, as it seemed that Fiyu wanted to take her mind off the tournament. By the time she finished the plaits, Nauda wished that she could make the moment last longer. But since Fiyu no doubt knew each and every hair on her head, she would obviously notice any stalling, so Nauda simply finished her work.

Fiyu seemed quite happy and departed with another broad smile for final preparations. After that, Nauda had no chance of focusing on her soulcrafting. Fortunately, there weren't so many hours to while away before it was time, and when Theo came to collect her, he was all business.

They flew to the Yorthin Coliseum quickly, Fiyu quiet the entire way. Theo seemed to realize that she needed a distraction and kept up a conversation with Nauda about the tournament schedule. Apparently there were tournaments later in the year that awarded a Chasm Invitation, though those didn't restrict soulcrafter tier, which meant they had very little chance.

Eventually they reached the coliseum and Fiyu had to depart to join the other contestants. Intellectually, Nauda knew that Fiyu was a talented soulcrafter who had just recently survived being impaled through the stomach. She still felt anxious when she saw Fiyu walk out onto the sands among so many others.

~ ~ ~

The initial melee went heavily in Fiyu's favor, of course, Theo had never doubted that. Her ability to cloak her presence combined with her situational awareness was an overwhelming advantage, especially against first tier soulcrafters. A few with vision-based skills attempted to hunt her down, but she dealt with them in short order.

Waiting for the final few to drop was dull, since Fiyu wisely conserved her strength for the one-on-one tournament that would come afterward. He returned to soulcrafting, trying to balance all his cantae flows again. It was within his power in theory, but much trickier with so many sublime materials filling the rooms and adding their own cantae to the mix.

In the end, two of the contestants eliminated each other, leading to only fifteen remaining instead of a full sixteen. The judges discussed for a while before determining that Fiyu would be able to pass through her first round based on her performance in the melee.

That was a good advantage, and it also led to Fiyu suddenly emerging in the stands beside them. "I am not required to join the others yet," she explained, then moved between their shoulders and waited for them to create a space for her. He realized that she'd done something special with her hair, a somewhat more elaborate braid that he presumed was aesthetically beautiful to her senses.

Theo expected her to carefully watch her opponents as the matches began, but instead she withdrew into herself. It didn't seem to be the combat on display, which was unquestionably competent but nothing that should shock someone with her experience. He realized that it got worse at the beginning of the matches, when the contestants ritually insulted one another.

The next round was a Fithan man and an Ichili woman, who walked onto the combat floor and nodded to one another.

"I heard you weren't born blind," the Fithan man said, "but the first time you saw yourself in the mirror, you tore out your own eyes. Now that I get a look at you, I believe it."

The Ichili woman twirled a pair of long knives around her fingers. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear. I heard a rumor that you were so clumsy you tended to fall down and stab yourself in the back repeatedly."

Their taunts complete, the two of them began circling. They were better than average, but Theo didn't think they were astonishingly skilled soulcrafters, which was why it seemed odd that Fiyu was fidgeting with her braid while watching them. He considered asking, but decided to let her deal with her own issues.

The match ended with the Fithan man victorious and they were replaced with two more Fithans, who issued their taunts and began fighting. Again, they had solid finished soulhomes, just nothing that would have challenged Fiyu's skills... yet her lips pressed together tighter and tighter until Nauda finally spoke up.

"Are you okay, Fiyu?"

"I am worried about the beginning of the match," she said.

"Why?" Theo asked. "I haven't seen anyone who you don't have a good chance of taking."

"Not about the fight. I... do not understand these insults. They are supposedly jokes, but they are only insults or threats."

Theo paused and exchanged a glance with Nauda. She shrugged nearly imperceptibly and bent a little closer to Fiyu. "You don't need to say anything if you don't want to."

"But I wish to participate to respect Fithan culture." Fiyu pressed her lips together again as another set of contestants exchanged their insults, then shook her head. "I do not understand."

"You... do realize they aren't real insults or threats?"

"I am not foolish, Nauda. But I do not understand why some insults are good and some are bad. They all seem simply unkind to me. Are there established rules for insults?"

Nauda paused and cast a glance back to Theo, so he tried to take a different approach. "Unfortunately, it's based on intuition and it's all very subjective."

"This is frustrating. I will copy what the Ichili woman said."

"Fiyu, that doesn't... you're not carrying any knives, so it wouldn't make sense, and she was playing off his rumor line. Do you see patterns in what they're saying? They imply the other person is ugly or incompetent, but in a memorable way. The insults are never too serious, more playful."

"But she threatened to murder him..."

"Sometimes they go the other way." Nauda tried to catch her eyes, but Fiyu remained fixed on the arena. "If the insults or threats are incredibly over the top, then they can't be taken seriously. Do you understand?"

Based on her expression, Fiyu did not understand, but there was no more time. The first round of matches had concluded, so she needed to leave them to go sit with the other remaining contestants. Nauda glanced over at Theo nervously, but he could only shrug. He thought Fiyu's mental discipline was too good for her to make an error while flustered, he just wasn't sure what would happen.

Soon after Fiyu was called into the arena opposite a Fithan woman. She flinched at the roar of the crowds, but headed forward with determination. Her opponent grinned, no doubt thinking that Fiyu was scared of her, and hefted a large halberd to her shoulder. Soon enough Fiyu stopped across from her, still fidgeting with her braid.

"You look nervous," the Fithan said with a sneer. "Did you enter the tournament for adults by mistake?"

"Um... your head is bad. It is the wrong shape."

The Fithan woman stared at her for several long seconds, then let out a roar of laughter. She stepped forward, still grinning as she swung her halberd off her back-

Fiyu flooded the arena with a storm of light.

Taken off guard, her opponent was battered backward and nearly fell. She swung her halberd to deflect the bolts, but Fiyu was no longer easily exhausted and the onslaught continued. Though the woman tried to push through, Fiyu slipped into her stealth technique and reappeared behind her opponent, sending another hail of light directly into her back.

As she dropped, the arena was silent for once. When they began to cheer, Fiyu flinched, then instinctively bowed to the crowd and scurried back to her seat. Nauda had a fond smile on her lips, while Theo simply wished that he had time to offer Fiyu a little feedback on her insults.

The second round of matches passed in a boring fashion, so Theo spent his time soulcrafting and just watching with one eye. Some of the contestants had potential, but others he thought had tried to design blueprints specifically for a first tier competition. Nothing was worth his time until Fiyu returned to the arena.

This time, she faced an Arbaian Mundhin, several limbs fashioned into fearsome claws. He loomed over Fiyu, deep voice grating. "I haven't heard such ill-formed insults since my master went senile. I'm impressed you were able to clothe yourself, or did your mother dress you?"

Fiyu blinked in surprise and then shook her head. "You are mistaken. You are the one who was dressed by their relative. You are not wearing clothes. This is because your relative was inept at this task."

What followed was dead silence, and even though Mundhin were hard to read, Theo was pretty sure he knew exactly why its central sphere was motionlessly fixed on her. Fiyu shifted her stance and her fingers twitched, clearly wanting to play with her braid.

"Your... your head is also bad. It is the wr-"

The Mundhin let out a bellow and launched himself at her. This match was much more intense, since he could resist the majority of her bursts, but Fiyu outmatched him in speed. He nearly caught her while pretending not to be able to see past her stealth, but she anticipated his trap. In the end her dark blade proved able to cut through his limbs and she was victorious, though it was a close thing.

If tournaments followed laws of drama, Theo might have been worried about Fiyu's chances, but he knew the odds. In a single-elimination unseeded tournament, there was no guarantee that the two strongest fighters would end up against one another in the final round. As more unremarkable contestants fought, Theo strongly suspected that Fiyu had just defeated her closest competition.

By the time of the final match, Fiyu's cantae seemed to have recovered, but she looked more nervous than before. Her opponent was a Fithan man covered in scars who immediately raised his hands to either side of his face before she could speak.

"It's okay, you don't need to try to insult me. You're a talented soulcrafter, and you can simply show us your work."

After peering at him for a time, trying to discern an insult in his words, Fiyu smiled and nodded. "Thank you, I will do this."

Though the Fithan man might have been kind, he wasn't good enough to be competition for Fiyu. He had absolutely no counter to her stealth except instinct predicting her movements, and Fiyu was too smart to fall into simple patterns. When she defeated him, she seemed surprised by the loud cheering, then beamed as she realized that she had won the tournament.

It wasn't really a surprise, but Theo still found himself smiling.

~ ~ ~

The cheering would have been horrifying if not for the curtain within her soulhome, which Fiyu closed tightly even as she maintained her smile. It was important to behave normally, because she was representing herself, Ichil, and House Blacksilver. She knew that her insults had not been effective, though she wasn't certain why they were bad, but hoped her victory would be more important.

In the end, a Fithan stranger in elaborate clothing presented her with a sword, which baffled her. She had no idea how to use a sword, and if they had demanded that she do something with it, she might have been apprehensive. Yet it seemed to be sufficient to simply hold the weapon, based on the cheering, so she managed until she could retreat from the coliseum floor.

Though she only wanted to rejoin her companions, the way appeared to be blocked. Walking toward the group, Fiyu resisted the urge to touch the hair Companion Nauda had done for her, instead merely running her senses through the strands. She would be okay. Her companions were with her.

A number of people closed on her, apparently with offers, but a representative from House Blacksilver cut them off. Fiyu had hoped that it would be Ally Antha, mostly because she knew the other woman best. Still, the other officials were not bad, surrounding her at a reasonable distance while also keeping others away and escorting her through the press.

"You've done our House proud," an older man said. "We don't focus on such tournaments, so they're almost always won by soulcrafters from House Crimson or the House of Waves that are forced to stay at the first tier. But having one of ours win will remind them that they can't forget about us."

"I attempted to do well in every aspect." Fiyu had been holding the sword in both hands and now thrust it at him. "I do not know how to use this."

"It's still your reward, or at least the start of it. House Blacksilver is going to add something on top of it: five hundred merits. We hope you'll use them to continue your career to Archcrafter and beyond."

"Thank you." Fiyu did her best to smile at the Stranger Allies, but then she saw Friend Nauda and Friend Theo standing in the corridor ahead. She hurried to greet them, glad to see the smiles on their faces. "I have a sword now," she said. "I am not sure what to do with it."

"Didn't you used to fight with one of those?" Friend Nauda asked, glancing toward Friend Theo. Several muscles in his jaw clenched for a moment, then he shook his head.

"That was the old me, and this isn't about me at all. Congratulations, Fiyu."

She nodded her thanks. "I did not truly expect to win."

"That's humble of you, but you could have. You're remarkable for a soulcrafter anywhere, not just in this city. They think Stronghold is the limit here, but if you keep moving upward, you'll be able to go further."

Fiyu agreed, hoping that it could be alongside her companions. Not so long ago, she had been nearly dead, and now she was the winner of a competition and quite happy. She would hope that the next turn of fate was equally positive.