Bondsfungi: Chapters 13-14 (The Weirkey Chronicles) (Patreon)

Today's update will be a little unusual. Due to the limits on how many things you can put in one Patreon post, I need to make several (First Cover, Second Cover). These are non-trivial: I have been working to find replacement artists for TWC covers! There will be two poll posts in which you can see the new covers and vote on them. Feel free to give feedback, but I'm doing this via poll so that people can vote anonymously.

As for these chapters, they're meant to be a critical turning point. Aside from the character development, they'll introduce some pieces that I felt would be too intensive for earlier in the series. I hope that everyone enjoys them. ^-^

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Chapter 13

"Four columns, then, alternating between techniques and reinforcement chambers. Symmetry of function." Navim sat with his limbs in a rough pile and his gemstone sphere settled atop them, musing as their conversation wound down. "Though it is not as precisely symmetrical as a Mundhin fractal soulhome, I think the trade-off for flexibility is likely worth the cost."

"That was my calculation at the blueprint stage," Theo said. Ordinarily he might have sketched it out, but Navim could easily visualize everything he described. "Unfortunately, I had to throw out my original technique plan, so I'm still trying to decide on the last column."

"Hmm... you completed one column with an armament chamber, and you made previous reference to anchoring and tunneling techniques. It seems that your Ruler tier is dedicated primarily to support techniques."

"Yes, because the new chambers can also support the lower, more dangerous techniques. The problem is, each column has to follow a specific theme." Theo tapped out the floors for his own sake. "My torsion bolt is lethal enough and there's no point overloading it to compete with my singularity. The stonevortex on the second floor intensified its spin. So the third floor should be... something related to spinning, or orbiting. The problem is, I already have those capacities elsewhere."

"If your soulhome follows a spherical flow, each circle must pass through the other side. Is the opposite column relevant to this decision?"

"The opposite is my gravity and wormhole techniques, which honestly is only an adequate match. It's the mass and anti-mass combination on the opposite circle that I really wanted to synergize. The other columns work well enough on their own."

"Then you have a variety of potential techniques for the open chamber." Navim was silent for a long time, completely motionless, and Theo patiently waited until he finished thinking. "It seems to me that your soulhome, though powerful, takes only a few fundamental approaches to combat. You are largely lacking in non-lethal skills, for example."

"That's not fully true. I can use only a fraction of my full gravitational fields."

"Which is another application of pure force, potentially overwhelmed by cantae or even physical power. Set aside reversed fields for the moment, as they are another application of force that requires continuous attention. If you need to disable an opponent who you cannot or should not kill, what options are available to you?"

"Maybe you have a point." Theo sat back and rubbed his chin as he considered the argument. "In the future I might be able to pin them to the ground with mass or anchoring techniques... but like you said, those require me to keep feeding cantae into them. Are you practicing the questioning technique, or did you have a suggestion?"

"As it happens, I have been reflecting on the fragility of many species during the course of my work." Navim lifted one of the hovering plates they had worked on earlier to demonstrate. "You have never had trouble, due to your soulhome, but I've noticed that gravitational techniques seem to easily disrupt beings with your sort of flesh. Dizziness, vomiting, and many other symptoms."

"Because of how our auditory system works. There are tiny hairs that detect-" Theo cut off, his hand half-way to his ear. He'd been intending to tap it just in case Navim was unclear on human anatomy when the idea struck him and everything began to fall into place.

It could absolutely work. Disruption of the inner ear could be disorienting, from children on a merry-go-round to astronauts dealing with space sickness. Most soulcrafters reinforced their bodies from external disruption, which was why they didn't get sick when flying around, but they didn't reinforce the functioning of the vestibular system. Maybe a few Ichili did, but not most. If he used the twisting cantae from his previous two rooms, he could create rotating planes of gravity far worse than anything that had ever existed in reality. Strong soulcrafters armored from external assault might be laid low, since his technique wouldn't attempt to penetrate their spirit, just manipulate their body's functioning. And the principle could easily scale...

A low chuckle emerged from Navim's sphere. "You seem to be pleased with your idea."

"You've given me a great one. It wouldn't be effective against Arbaians, at least not without modification, but it has so many potential uses, I think it's worth it. Best of all, it can work with some of what I already have, though I'll need to consider the blueprint..."

At last, the chaosgem he had purchased could be put to use. Its cantae of "confusion" had been too fuzzy and unscientific a concept to merge with his soulhome, but it could easily function as disorientation. He'd need to figure out some details, and he had no idea what sort of carvings would support a disorientation skill, but the concept was solid.

Realizing that he was going too far down the rabbit hole, Theo pulled back to smile at his friend. "Thank you, Navim. I wish I had an idea equally worthy to offer you."

"Your continued assistance has already been a great help to me," Navim said, "and you've helped more than you know by connecting me to House Blacksilver."

"Oh? How so?"

"If I wanted to pursue combat alone, I could have acquired all the necessary materials and potentially ascended to Ruler. However, I seek to pursue both that discipline as well as the art of stoneshaping. These require such different skills and materials that it has slowed my progress and stretched my resources."

"And Blacksilver has helped? I thought you had plenty of commissions in the city."

"Enough for ordinary money, but for rare materials, connections are necessary." Navim finally shifted to his feet, the pile of rocks becoming his usual hulking shape. "Your House is seeking armament crafters to assist them in the upcoming Wargames, and though I may not be among the best in the city, we have come to a satisfactory arrangement."

"Then I'll be glad to have you helping us." Theo stretched his legs, but their conversations always took a long time to wind down. "I didn't realize that you had been drawn into that preparation too."

"If you have not observed, this city loves to obsess over grand events." Navim's sphere slid closer and the pressure of his mind increased. "But despite the central focus, other events continue to occur. I am very curious about the consequences of your conflict out in the wastelands."

"Oh, that. I'm honestly a bit disappointed. The other Houses are upset that Crimson was lying about its activity, and Wiltur is allegedly furious, but there's no one that can really punish such a powerful organization. They'll be under more scrutiny, and House Crimson is now required to lead more forces in joint exercises, but it's just another move in a long game."

"But such choices can have consequences. The House of Coin is no doubt pleased with the return on a minimal investment."

"Definitely, and Blacksilver got some credit as well. Actually, the only person who didn't is Nauda, and I'm not entirely certain why."

"You haven't asked her?"

Theo frowned and slowly got to his feet. "She's busy with her recovery, so we haven't talked much lately. Speaking of which, I should apologize in advance if we don't have as much time together in the future. I have nearly enough materials, so I really need to get working on finishing every chamber on my third floor."

"I will welcome our evenings together." Navim rose as well and escorted him to the door. "If my advice has been helpful this far, Theo, may I offer one more suggestion?"

"Of course."

"It is well known that the path of soulcrafters is filled with dead ends, and the same is true of all branches of research or philosophy. But, in my experience, the dead ends are not often where we predict. Sometimes a singular focus can obscure greater value at the periphery of our vision."

From anyone else, Theo wouldn't have accepted such a vague statement, but he listened to Navim seriously. His advice seemed pointed and, based on context, likely related to his upcoming focus on soulcrafting. Not what he would have expected, from a fellow work-obsessed soulcrafter. Still, he nodded his acceptance of the suggestion and turned it over in his mind as he left the Arbaian quarter.

He hadn't come to any particular conclusions by the time he returned to the Blacksilver complex, but to his surprise he found someone waiting for him. Kathina was chatting with one of the guards and broke off to greet him when he drew close.

"I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd stop by to notify you of something."

"More about the wild tribes conflicts?" Theo asked. He used his access to let her in, since a corner of the courtyard was more secure than the street.

"No, that's all developing as expected. No changes there for a few months, I think. But there was something you specifically asked me about." Kathina stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Our friend Raythe Darkblade? He won a tournament and was heard to be talking about having an Artifact of Elghiera."

Theo suppressed a chill and forced himself to think. "Anything more specific? Is there a sign that he's acquired anything new, such as a ring with an unusual gemstone?"

"If he'd purchased it by any means, legal or illegal, the House of Coin would know about it. Either he had another method of acquisition or he already had it. I just wanted to tell you, because I couldn't believe it when I've heard. I've gone from thinking this was an eccentric interest to wondering just what you're investigating."

"I wish I knew more myself. So he won the first tier tournament and was boasting about it. That tracks with-"

"Not the first tier tournament, the Archcrafter. He ascended at some point."

By any rational standard, the mention of the Artifact of Elghiera was more important, yet the news unsettled Theo. This Raythe had already ascended, and if he won the tournament it couldn't have been overly rushed. It all felt too similar to his original experience in the Nine Worlds, and he had to wonder if Raythe had been met by Vistgil and promised a new world...

"Do you want to investigate further?" Kathina asked. Theo immediately shook his head.

"Stay passive. If he volunteers more information, I want to know, and tell me if it seems like anyone is watching or following him. But if I'm right, he's going to start acting more erratically and it might be risky to get involved."

Kathina stared at him a long moment as if she didn't quite believe him before eventually shrugging. "Suit yourself. We were keeping an eye on him anyway, since he likes throwing money around, so it's not a problem."

It should have been a lead, and he had a difficult decision to make when it came to deciding how close to get. The potential for answers was so close, in the very same city, yet if Vistgil was really leading another person from Earth, Theo needed to stay far away. All of that deserved more thought, yet Theo found himself thinking more about the fact that Raythe was already an Archcrafter.

As he made his way deeper into the complex, Theo struggled with emotions he thought he had put behind him. Part of him had become used to everyone being impressed with his swift progress, just like it had been in his first life. Raythe was likely to ascend even faster, and the fact that it might be because he had an Artifact of Elghiera was no real comfort.

That didn't make his progress worthless. If Theo finished his chambers on his third floor, he could explode the artificial sun and significantly strengthen his singularity. There were other tasks to be done to polish his blueprint before he ascended to Authority, but if he pushed everything else aside and focused on them, it didn't need to take an excessive amount of time.

Passing the training courtyards, Theo was briefly distracted by the sound of someone crying. He almost put it out of mind before dimly recognizing the voice. Though he didn't have time to waste, Theo still turned back and glanced through the doors.

Nauda sat in the smallest courtyard, bedraggled and miserable. She had a few sublime materials around her, but judging from the fist imprint in the floor, she hadn't been successful. As soon as he got close she looked up at him, her tear-covered face haunting him for a moment before she rapidly wiped it.

"Are you okay, Nauda?" He started to step inside, but she hurled her technique, binding him in place and pushing him out.

"Go away. I don't need anything from you."

If she spat in his face when he offered help, then he should just leave her alone. Theo pushed past her weakened technique and turned to leave when Navim's words returned to him. What in his life really had value? So much of his first visit to the Nine Worlds had been false, but not his relationships. Walking forward alone and discarding everyone who was useless to him... that could prove to be a dead end, when all was said and done.

"Nauda... I'll leave, but I just want you to know that if you ever want to talk, I'm here."

In response she hurled her staff at him, the sharpened points burying themselves in the door. Theo closed it and turned away.

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Chapter 14

When Nauda heard footsteps outside her door, she knew who it would be. Certainly not Theo, after she had thrown his offer back in his face. It wouldn't be Antha or any of her other acquaintances in Blacksilver, because their relationships only went so far. A Tatian community would not have been comforting to her in that moment, but without a community she had no one.

"Nauda?" Fiyu waited for a moment, then timidly knocked again. "You have been inside for a long time. Are you well? Would you like me to come in?"

"Sorry, Fiyu." Nauda forced herself up, her joints aching as they moved for the first time in hours, and nearly fell against the other side of the door. "I just need some time alone. Don't worry about me."

Fiyu was quiet for so long that Nauda wondered if she had left silently, but eventually Fiyu whispered "Okay, Nauda" and padded down the corridor. Leaving her alone again.

In her absence, Nauda slumped against the door, feeling the grain against her forehead. Fiyu only wanted to help, but Fiyu was perfect and beautiful and filled with potential. If Nauda tried to heap all her problems onto her, she would only infect Fiyu with her misery.

Her leg twinged in pain and Nauda had to brace herself to avoid falling. She dropped her back against the door instead and slowly slid down it until she was sitting on the floor. How long had it been since she'd left her room? It wasn't very messy because she hadn't really been living in the room, just existing. For the first time since the damage to her soul, she had actually stopped soulcrafting.

Misery alone couldn't sustain her, so Nauda gradually turned to anger. Theo in his cursed self-repairing coat, trying to sweep in to save her. As if he wouldn't sacrifice her in the end, if she actually stood between him and his goals.

Nauda heaved the breath from her lungs and slumped lower. Maybe if she remained alone in her room she could convince herself that her bitterest thoughts were true, but she knew she was being unfair. He'd risked his life for her more than once and offered her a great deal on his path upwards. He could just be so arrogant about it.

She knew, whether or not she liked to admit it, that she was angry more with herself than with Theo. Over the past few days she'd gone back over every decision she could have made differently, from building a shielding wall to fighting more cautiously in the Chasm. The fact was, she'd made those decisions in the past and she couldn't see how any decisions in the future could matter. After everything she had survived, she deserved better than this.

The thought stuck with her, not as comfortable as her pain, and Nauda shoved it away.

But try as she might, she was alone in her room with nothing to occupy her thoughts. Maybe she wasn't facing her full emotions. Anguish was miserable, but the raw emotion was cathartic. The idea that her suffering could have a pettier source was unpleasant by contrast, a sickening doubt slowly worming its way through the pure emotion.

One of her problems with Theo was his ruthlessness, so reminiscent of some of the worst Authorities she knew. Nauda wasn't deceiving herself there. But was another piece of it pride? She hated the idea and forced herself to confront it.

No one had ever believed in her, but she had proved them wrong. She had been the exception escaping her home and gaining an important role on Tatian. Even after meeting the others, she had been forging the path ahead of them. But Theo had been on her heels, believing that he was the exception, and she had seen some of herself in him. So in her mind she had to reflect the worst of those tendencies and she couldn't accept any trace of anything else.

Nauda took a deep, shuddering breath. For the first time since she'd locked herself in her room, she thought about the problem without repeating the same old patterns.

It was true that she couldn't see a way forward, but it was sheer arrogance to think that she could solve everything herself. In fact, she had a friend who had also experienced serious setbacks, and he had offered to help.

If he threw it back in her face, she was going to punch him, but Nauda stood up to find Theo.

Her new resolution might have wavered if he had been away, but fortunately he was spending most of his time soulcrafting these days. Nauda only needed to ask Antha about the soulcrafting courtyards, then tracked him down. Theo was testing a singularity between his hands but extinguished it when she entered, without saying anything.

"I need help." Once she got those words out, Nauda forced herself on. "I know we've had our problems with each other. But you're a good soulcrafter, and I need your perspective to get out of this. Will you help me?"

"Of course." Theo was on his feet almost immediately to close the distance between them, and she couldn't find anything but concern in his eyes. "I doubt I know better than the Blacksilver representative when it comes to specific sublime materials, but I'll do what I can."

"No, I don't mean the infection. I want to redesign from the ground up."

He paused, slightly surprised, and then smiled. "In that case, I think we need something to drink. No, I insist, these things take time. You get drafting paper, I'll get some drinks, and we'll meet back here."

Nauda reluctantly obeyed, though she had to admit that it was easier to lean on Theo's directions for a while than to sit miserably with herself. By the time she found paper and other supplies and returned, Theo was waiting to direct her to one of the meeting rooms instead. That was probably easier than doing all their work on the courtyard floor.

When they arrived at the room, she saw that he'd gotten not just drinks, but an entire platter of food. For a moment Nauda was afraid that he was going to try to slowly rehabilitate her and make her talk about her feelings and come to terms with herself. Then he sat down, she saw the spark in his eyes, and Nauda realized that fear had been foolish.

"You're going to enjoy this, aren't you?" She poured herself a glass of water, since her throat was suddenly parched.

"Absolutely I am. There are so many concepts for soulcrafting that I'll never be able to explore for myself because of the choices I've made." Theo rapped his pencil against the papers eagerly. "This should be fun."

The water tasted like a fresh spring rain. Nauda drained her entire cup, poured another, and drank that too before she spoke again. "Be honest with me, Theo. Do you think that I can really recover from this and become a competitive soulcrafter?"

"Without question. You're going to have some weaknesses until you reach Authority, but the problems aren't insurmountable."

"Does surmounting them involve following your instructions to the letter and becoming a living armament for you to wield?"

Theo sighed, and she almost thought he was going to snap at her, but instead he sat back and spoke in a quieter voice. "Is that really how I seem?"

"Sometimes. But that's not fair to you." Nauda rubbed her face with both hands, wondering why she was snapping so much. And why the bread on the platter looked so good. She held off for a little longer and forced herself to face the matter head on. Before she could figure out anything, Theo spoke again.

"You said you wanted to go back to basics. What, at the very core, do you want your blueprint to accomplish?"

"I suppose I never really got a chance to think about that. I was always grasping for whatever power I could find. But I guess... I spent years training with a staff, and my binding technique. Throwing out energy like you or Fiyu has never felt as natural to me. I suppose that makes me a physical fighter... does that mean my soulhome is fundamentally simplistic?"

"Many reinforcement blueprints are, but yours doesn't have to be." Theo smiled again and began sketching rough blueprints on one of the cheapest papers. "The least inspired physical fighter is one who has just stuck tons of aspect chambers side by side. The better ones organize them for efficient cantae flow. But ideally, your design should fundamentally echo your goals in some way."

"Like your orbiting?"

"That's right. Real gravity has satellites in orbit around it, and my central power has my chambers and cantae orbiting as well. Of course, the parallel will always break down at some point, but having a strong thematic concept can strengthen the overall design. For example, I knew a Tatian fighter who built his soulhome like a giant heart, with passages carrying cantae around to each chamber."

"Actually shaped like a heart?"

"Only roughly, but he put a lot of effort into the internal patterns."

Nauda considered the matter as she chewed on one of the pieces of the bread, briefly so hungry that it was hard to focus on anything but the food. As she was picking up the last of the crumbs, an idea started coming together in her mind. Maybe... "If my soulhome is fundamentally about reinforcing me, why shouldn't it be me? Could I make a giant statue?"

Theo's eyebrows shot up. "That's an interesting idea. I don't think I've seen it done before. Okay, I see one immediate problem: human bodies are wide, whereas soul foundations are circular. The only way to make good use of your accessible foundation would be to make your statue very, uh, round."

"That feels wrong. It needs to reflect me closer than that." Nauda popped one of the smaller vegetables into her mouth and enjoyed the flavor as she bit into it. "But it doesn't have to be just me. What if we centered the statue of me, but supported it in front and behind with unrelated towers?"

"No." Theo answered surprisingly sharply, but he looked excited instead of didactic. "Where's your staff? Never mind, doesn't matter. We can incorporate that into the design: it doesn't need to be all armament chambers, but we can balance the design with the staff. Three towers at the base, all merging later. It will work if we do it like this."

He rapidly sketched out a top down look at her foundation and Nauda found herself nodding. At the base level her feet would need to be a bit cylindrical, but not more so than statues carved in older and simpler styles. Her staff would be immensely thick, even wider than her old outside building, but the end result was three circular buildings all clustered around the center of her soul.

In a flash she could picture it: her soulhome rising as a representation of her, not in every curve and detail but a powerful form underlying her strength. Her legs could merge together mid-way up, giving her even more floor space, while her staff would be a straight tower. She could have one arm - or both? - reaching out to grasp the staff tower, thus uniting every component of her soulhome.

"Is this idea crazy?" Nauda asked. She wanted to pick up a pencil herself to keep designing and reined in her enthusiasm. "Do you think it could actually be a design equal to yours or Fiyu's?"

"There are a lot of details to work out, but it's intriguing." He tapped his sketch of the base again. "One of the easiest things to do wrong is lack floor space which, no offense intended, your old blueprint did. But this design uses up most of your soulhome, and the gap in between the three towers isn't as much of a problem as you might think. I can actually think of ways to put it to use."

"Surely there are good reasons why people haven't done this before."

"I can think of one right away: it requires an enormous amount of planning that most people can't do. Imagine the average soulcrafter, who dreams of ascending to Archcrafter or at most Ruler. They aren't thinking of their soulhome in three dimensions, just one floor at a time. What if they never reach Ruler and they're left headless? What if they build their head at Authority, what are they going to soulcraft after that?"

"A lot of good blueprints don't attain their full strength until later..." Nauda smiled sheepishly as she realized where her thoughts were headed. "You said yours was weaker until you can craft a full sphere at Ruler. Fiyu has implied that her design was weak before her second floor, and hasn't reached its potential until Authority. Am I designing something that would be weaker until I reach the very top?"

Theo grinned back at her. "Delayed gratification isn't worth anything on its own, but I think your design is unquestionably built for the long term. Exactly how it develops will depend on a lot of smaller decisions we need to make, but I think this could work."

As quickly as it had come, Nauda's enthusiasm drained away. "In order to design any of this, we'd need to know the proportions of the statue, and to do that, we need to know the true highest tier for soulcrafters. I suppose that's rather a big problem, since it's a mystery for th-"

"I think it's nine."

He answered so easily that Nauda almost got annoyed at him for acting like he knew everything, but Theo had sat back and was staring out the window with a distant expression. She decided to hear him out and waited until he collected his thoughts.

"Senka said that soulcrafting was fractal, so I think it must follow a pattern. Three sets of three, therefore nine."

"But 'fractal' implies repeating," Nauda pointed out. "Does the pattern extend further than that?"

"That would mean there were twenty-seven tiers of soulcrafter, and I don't think there's any way to square that with reality unless there's a magical higher dimension that has never been mentioned before." Theo shook his head and began making horizontal lines on the paper. "Remember that she was trying to speak quickly before she lost consciousness. Most likely she meant that the system contains repeating patterns, and if that's true, nine tiers is most likely."

"Then give me that pencil and let me try this."

Though he'd brought several, Theo still handed her his pencil and let her work. The two of them discussed the design chaotically, sometimes figuring out the specific details and sometimes realizing that they weren't exactly sure how many heads tall a person was. The proportions wouldn't come out smoothly divided into nine pieces unless she distorted herself, which was another major decision.

Eventually Nauda had a rough idea of how her soulhome might look when complete. The first three floors would be separate towers representing her legs, which would unite in her hips at the fourth floor. Depending on how she built her arms, she could also make a connection to her staff at that time, which would mean her full soulhome would be united at Authority. Even though the design would be unorthodox, Nauda found herself pleased with the idea, and Theo thought it would be workable.

"The overall structure might be solid," Nauda said as she stared over the finished design, "but what's inside? Can that represent every part of my body too? No... no, I guess that doesn't make sense. It would be ridiculous for the first floor to be entirely dedicated to giving me extraordinarily powerful feet."

"You could be known as Nauda, the Mightiest Calves in the Nine Worlds." When she smiled, Theo grinned back before continuing in a lower tone. "In theory, a soulhome that was an exact duplicate could be very powerful, but I think it would sacrifice too much for the sake of the design. Besides, it would take you far too long to get to important organs like your heart and brain."

Nauda glanced back at her sketch, realizing that her statue was going to be headless for a very long time, even if she did reach mythical tiers one day. In that case... "So will it just be a me-shaped building filled with everything else? Is that actually a good design other than the overall structure?"

"I think we can do better than that. Three columns suggests to me that you should have three fundamental concepts each flowing separately. Not one sphere like mine, or three intertwined themes like Fiyu, but solid columns of concentrated power."

"That makes sense, I guess, but what?"

"Depends on your sublime materials. Many of your best survived, right? You're going to want to make use of those, because they're the only part of your soulhome that's been reinforced by your ascensions. Let me into your soulhome and we can take inventory."

"I... can't. The telescope was damaged, so I've lost that technique." Nauda paused uncomfortably, expecting Theo to be disappointed or show a hint of scorn. To her surprise, he waved it aside without the slightest hesitation.

"Doesn't matter, blueprints are mostly theoretical anyway. What do you have?"

Feeling better about her decision, Nauda began writing down everything that had survived. She didn't hide anything the way she had back on Tatian, instead revealing every skull and unique material. Listing them all out, she felt simultaneously as if they weren't enough for the work of her life and that she had more left than she thought.

"The heartoak that Blacksilver gave you is a powerful material," Theo said. "I almost considered buying one, if I wasn't so sure it would have died in my soul. Too much life and healing."

"Looking at the list like this, it does seem like I have a bit of a split." Nauda began making marks beside the items in her list. "I should probably separate all these remnants of death from the living materials. Then, what, is the staff for inorganic materials like stones?"

"And your external techniques, I was imagining. That could be a good balance."

"I suppose we need to get this started pretty quickly. My heartoak is getting pretty big - I think it would fit in the circumference of one leg, but it might already be too tall."

"Actually, maybe not." Theo shuffled the papers to return to one of their previous drawings, then rubbed out the line between the first and second floors. "Most sublime trees are contained within a single room because soulcrafters build only one floor at a time, but you don't have that limitation. I think heartoaks can grow to be pretty tall, so it could fill two entire floors."

"Would that make my soulhome too simplistic?" Nauda asked. Despite her objection, she found herself thinking about how wonderful it would be to walk inside and see a tree extending above her.

"Not necessarily, because the tree won't take up the entire column. I assume you're pretty good with the Tatian shaping and grafting techniques, or if not you can learn. You can embed other objects in the tree, place them in the boughs, and so on. It might be a bit heavy on the raw power aspect, but you have your staff tower to provide techniques."

"But... the remnants." Nauda thought about the slag of her old home, which usually filled her with despair, and was surprised to feel a little hope. "Can anything be done with them?"

"You said that you've chipped away most of it, haven't you?" For once, she was glad to see Theo's confident grin. "I was thinking that you could shape the remaining part into the base of one of your legs and then flatten it. Since it's fused to your soul, you're not going to find a more durable foundation. That's just one base of three, but we-"

"Could get the Blacksilver Authorities to fuse the other two!" Nauda grinned as she cut him off, staring at the base drawing again. "I suppose my other leg needs to have a hollow center so that the heartoak can reach the soil, but that shouldn't be too hard. Then the staff is a perfect circle... it can work. Is there any chance I can use the rest of the melted stone for something else? Other than having an Authority blast it, I mean."

"Most likely, yes. I'm guessing that you've found it difficult to work with?"

"I can barely break off little fragments of the stuff, much less turn it into anything useful. I've been thinking of throwing it out, but that felt wasteful."

"You'll need to train in a new technique, but I'm sure it's possible." Theo sat back and began spinning the pencil through his fingers. "I'd suggest talking to Navim and seeing if he can't teach you the internal side of stoneshaping. But even if that doesn't work, I think you want to build your new walls from the remnants of the old ones. They don't have much cantae, but being struck by an Authority has rendered them extremely durable."

For the first time, as the enthusiasm of soulcrafting faded, Nauda was left with some real optimism. Theo would never have lied to try to make her feel better, and he wouldn't tell her to settle for mediocrity like Grekig. The work might be hard, but he'd push her every step of the way.

"Okay, so living materials on the right, dead materials to the left..." Nauda bit her lip as she began planning out individual rooms. "I can see the potential cantae flow for aspects of my body, but the technique tower is going to be a problem. Some of those materials were entirely destroyed."

"On that note, I have a gift for you." Theo's hand slipped out of his coat, but he pulled a stone from his soulhome. It emanated cantae that seemed to freeze the air around it. "This is a staticstone, and it didn't work for my blueprint at all. But I was thinking that it might make a good technique chamber for your staff."

"How much did it cost?"

"I said it was a gift."

Nauda clasped the stone and his hands, smiling but applying a little force. "I'm not impoverished, Theo. Thanks to my problems, I haven't touched much of what I earned in the Chasm. I'll have them transfer the appropriate amount to you and we can all keep soulcrafting together."

Part of her wondered if he really hadn't been thinking about repayment. Theo was no fool, and she doubted that he could have forgotten about her stores of value. In fact, he might have been testing her, checking if she would take his sublime materials for nothing. She didn't detect any of that on his face, but his mind was dark and subtle.

No. Pushing all such thoughts out of mind, Nauda touched his arm gently as she accepted the staticstone. He had offered her friendship and she wouldn't be the one to ruin it. They both rose to their feet, a bit tired after so long working. Somehow all the food had disappeared from the platter and she barely remembered eating it.

"Thank you, Theo." She smiled as she turned the stone over in her fingers, feeling it push against her every movement. Yet just beyond it, she could see the papers and the enormous list of tasks she needed to do... "I need you to be honest with me again. You said that I could eventually become strong, but we don't live in a perfect world with infinite time. Do you think I can rebuild fast enough to help in the Wargames?"

"That's harder to answer." Theo frowned as his eyes ran over their designs. "I think you'll make a lot of progress quickly, but you can't rebuild so much that fast, and you're a long way from Authority. You should be able to fight effectively along with Fiyu and me, but Blacksilver probably wouldn't let you enter."

"I appreciate your honesty."

"Remember that you aren't starting over from nothing, Nauda." He clasped her upper arm in the Tatian manner and offered a smile. "You have three floors of potential space and many rare sublime materials. Most of all, you have yourself. All the discipline and tenacity you've developed are something that can't be replaced by any blueprint."

It was almost too much, yet instead of mocking him, Nauda found herself turning away with tears in the corners of her eyes. The touch on her arm was the standard Tatian gesture, but she very nearly embraced him in that moment. She was pleased and yet pulled away.

"And you have the greatest asset of all: me!" Theo put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. "Truly, my awe-inspiring genius is unparalleled."

Nauda laughed despite herself. Her throat ached and it felt good. Whatever he was doing, it was the exact opposite of the false humility she knew so well. "Nonsense!" Nauda said through the laughter. "I will be victorious because my heart beats with the blood of destiny!"

He laughed too, and she actually did embrace him then. It could have been uncomfortable, but he understand exactly what she meant and squeezed back. She didn't realize how desperate she had been for normal touch until then, but still pulled back before long.

"Then there's no time to waste." Nauda began picking up all the papers they'd created. "I want to talk to you about carving as a soulcrafting technique. Your style seems to be carving everything, so I was wondering..."