Skyvenom: Chapters 38-39

Here are your chapters for this week.

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Chapter 38

All three of them flew over the city and Fiyu monitored their environment dutifully. She would never lapse in her focus, of course, but it was true that the longer they went without threats, the more distracted she became.

Having Friend Theo back was largely positive, though with a slight negative edge. When it was just Fiyu and Friend Nauda, she felt like it was easier to think about their relationship and what the appropriate next step might be. Of course Friend Theo was an essential traveling companion and she did not resent him, but her lifemate relationship was not properly established yet. While he was back, her mind reverted to their roles as traveling companions.

Which was perhaps appropriate, considering that they were flying toward their next challenge.

"And it's supposed to be soulcrafting-based?" Friend Theo asked. "Isn't everything?"

"I heard it has more to do with blueprints and analysis," Friend Nauda told him. "But I'm not deep into Deuxan rumors, I'm just going based off what I've been told."

As soon as Friend Theo had returned, they hastened to find a secure position and tell him about the officials asking for Teraeves information. This had seemed to cause more annoyance than worry. At least Friend Theo was able to answer minor questions and reassure Friend Nauda, which would make sure that no enmity grew between them again.

When they arrived at their destination, it appeared to be an old manor that occupied half a hill. Fiyu did not understand every nuance of Deuxan politics, but the building was well-constructed with a high density of chambers and few large spaces. This suggested less risk of combat, though she remained alert nonetheless.

For once they arrived before Enemy Esaire and his associates. Stewards led them into a narrow chamber set with a long table, but no chairs or utensils. It contained a number of metallic domes that blocked cantae, presumably in order to hide their contents. None of these blocked Fiyu's senses, so she was able to easily examine the dense metal and stone objects. Given the varied shape and complex structure, they were almost certainly armaments.

An extremely elderly woman was seated in a cushioned chair at the end of the table. She hunched over a cane that was also an armament of some sort and seemed to ignore them until Enemy Esaire arrived. Once he did, the old woman did not speak, only raised a finger.

"Your attention, please." A steward stepped up beside her and raised his voice. "Many of you know us, but for those who do not, our estate manufactures and sells armaments. What we offer today is but a small part of our offerings, a taste that we hope will inspire hunger for more. If you like what you leave with today, speak to your elders, in particular the Strongholds involved in your war."

"And how do we earn them?" Enemy Esaire asked. He seemed to carry more tension in his neck than the average conflict, so his question might not be a ruse - he had been unable to gain advance knowledge.

"If we are to give away some of our products, we will give them away only to those capable of using them. Everyone here will reveal their full soulhome in all its glory and they will be judged accordingly. Then each will be permitted to take an armament, in order of quality. If a blueprint is inadequate, no choice will be permitted."

Fiyu drew back as she realized what would be asked of her. The idea of baring her soul to everyone, including these strangers and even enemies, was horrifying. And yet, if she did not, would she be forsaking her friends?

"We have nothing to hide!" Enemy Esaire must have anticipated this, because he threw back his cloak and stepped forward to lower his shielding wall.

Even though she should have been examining it, Fiyu instead stared at the elderly woman. She fished a monocle from one pocket, or rather a similar device that consisted of multiple different lenses. It was a very potent armament, superior to Friend Nauda's telescope, and it brought a terrifying level of scrutiny down on Esaire. Fiyu paled at the idea of enduring such a thing herself.

"Hmm." The old woman spoke up for the first time. "Lot of remodeling."

"In order to win the most important battle of my life," Enemy Esaire answered smoothly. "But we have far more soulhomes to show."

The old woman and the stewards were now looking toward Fiyu, however. She took another step back, as if her new shielding wall was insufficient and she required her companions to protect her from examination. Friend Nauda immediately saw her discomfort and slipped closer.

"You don't want to?" she asked.

"No, it is..." Fiyu trailed off and shook her head.

She feared that Friend Theo would demand it of her, because revealing their soulhomes was logical in a sense. To her surprise, his back seemed almost as stiff as hers, and when he turned, his eyes were hard. "I'm with Fiyu on this. I don't want to reveal everything."

"Nothing?" the steward called from the front of the table. "Come now, there's no reason to be shy. I assure you, no blueprint you have could possibly surprise us. There are no tricks left in this business."

"If that's true, why not let us show blueprints?" Friend Theo asked. Fiyu immediately nodded and looked toward the old woman hopefully.

The steward hesitated as well, looking down to the old woman. She was still for only a moment before she shook her head. Just a little from side to side, not even disturbing her thin white hair, but that sealed their fate.

"I've seen too many wild designs that work only in theory," she said. "Execution is everything."

That left the three of them glancing at one another again. Associate Krikree was also present, glancing between them and giving no indication as to her thoughts. The idea remained horrifying to Fiyu, and if she was not willing to sacrifice for their mutual good, what right did she have to give an opinion?

"I won't make Fiyu reveal anything," Friend Nauda said, "but why do you care? Even if people see your design, they couldn't pull it off. It isn't like you don't reveal your abilities when you use them, and you've seen that Esaire has opportunity to counter them."

"A soulhome can reveal far more than that," Friend Theo said. "That information could easily be sold and widely distributed, in fact I'd be surprised if they didn't. I can't afford that risk."

Perhaps once Friend Nauda would have pushed both of them, but she merely sighed and accepted it. After turning around, she took a few steps down the long table and spread her hands to either side.

"Fine then, take a look."

The old woman did just that, examining thoughtfully and nodded to herself. For a moment Fiyu was proud of her companion and all the work she had done, then she heard the laughter.

"Is that a pair of legs?" one of the Deuxans asked incredulously.

"Talk about vanity," Enemy Esaire said, and laughed. His laughter gave permission to all of the others and they mocked and jeered Friend Nauda.

Fiyu took a step forward and reached for her cantae blade, but Friend Nauda stepped back into her path before she could take action. "Let them," Friend Nauda said. "I knew this would happen and it doesn't matter. They're only mocking me because they can't beat me."

The words only inflicted more pain on Fiyu: Friend Nauda had known she would be mocked and she endured it anyway, for their sake. Fiyu knew that her own soulhome would likely be respected, so it was shameful that she couldn't bring herself to show it.

All of Enemy Esaire's allies began to share their soulhomes, one after another. They lacked Enemy Amaeli and Adversary Lalye, but they still had a great many soulhomes to demonstrate. And, Fiyu regretted to admit, they were all skillful. Perhaps not intimidating to her, but better than many soulhomes she had seen in her time.

"Are you sure we can't convince you?" The old woman flicked a finger again and the steward stepped forward, pulling away one of the metal domes to reveal a short spear.

"This is one of the most powerful armaments we make for Authorities," he explained, "containing a full lightning technique. It stores cantae separately from your soulhome and can unleash it in multiple forms." He stepped forward and pulled aside the next dome. "Here we have a cloak woven of fibers from the far-off Ashen Court, true Stronghold-tier materials. It will provide some of the most excellent defenses available outside your own soulhome."

Item after item was revealed, many of them impressive. One of them was a tall staff that used binding materials that would have been perfect for Friend Nauda - there was also a warding gauntlet that might be very useful. But just as Fiyu's resolve began to waver, the next armament brought her up short. The scepter appeared normal enough except for an ominous power she sensed within it.

"Here we have an experiment," the steward said. "It strikes the soulhome directly, locking down a portion of your opponent's cantae flow. Regrettably, it will fail on stronger opponents, and cannot work at Stronghold tier or above. But for Authorities, it could well render your opponent disabled."

Friend Theo glanced at Fiyu and she saw in his eyes that he understood: such an armament was more effective the more you knew about your opponent's soulhome. Fiyu had not known this specific threat existed, she only feared similar ones.

"Of course we have provided a wide range for the sake of competition." The steward continued to another display. "These talismans allow the users to mirror one another's appearances, but unfortunately it fails at imitating techniques. This helm provides defense against fire and ice, merely to a lower degree than our other offerings. And this scepter is another experiment that can disable a single sublime material, which is regrettably situational."

"One vulnerable to such an item stands among us," the Siatan said quietly. The others turned toward Friend Nauda, then began to grin as they realized: one of her towers was dedicated to a single tree, so disabling it would be far more crippling to her than to most soulcrafters.

"This is what we have to offer," the old woman said. "You will not reconsider?"

Friend Theo shook his head, giving Fiyu the strength to do the same. She began to fear the consequences when suddenly Associate Krikree leapt up onto table.

"Krikree is proud! Look at Krikree!"

Enemy Esaire and his companions laughed and made jests that her soulhome was nothing but mud and meat, but the old woman looked thoughtful. It had been some time since Fiyu had truly examined Associate Krikree's soulhome and she was impressed by how far she had come. When she had become a Ruler, her soulhome had included many deficiencies. Now it was more sophisticated, more ambitious, and more polished.

And the fact that she shared it openly filled Fiyu with shame.

"Very well." The old woman slowly replaced her monocle in her dress, then raised a finger toward Enemy Esaire. "You first."

Perhaps the old woman was taking vengeance on them for rejecting her game, because she allowed the enemy to choose multiple times in a row. The most powerful armaments like the lightning spear were chosen immediately, then after several, Enemy Esaire whispered and pointed. His next ally chose the binding staff - not because they wanted it, but simply to take it away from Friend Nauda.

"Now you," the old woman said, barely looking at them anymore.

Friend Nauda hesitated. "That staff was the one I wanted. The rest... one of the experimental armaments? Or could we convert the helm for Fiyu?"

"Choose the warding gauntlet," Friend Theo told her. "That was our strategy, remember?"

This seemed agreeable to Friend Nauda, so she stepped forward to take the gauntlet. It shifted to fit her hand perfectly, a sign of a well-crafted armament. She might lack a chamber for it, but surely it would be helpful as she relied on her wards.

Unfortunately, after that Enemy Esaire continued to loot the table. By the time the old woman pointed toward Associate Krikree, there wasn't much left.

"What take?" Associate Krikree asked. "Krikree doesn't want."

"It doesn't matter much now." Friend Theo started to turn away, then his eyes suddenly flickered over the room and became more focused. "Wait, no. Take the talismans."

Associate Krikree hurried to grasp them, then the rest of the dregs went to Enemy Esaire. His group smirked and swaggered as they left, and Fiyu had no answer, because this time they had decisively won an event. Worse, she might find herself facing those weapons in the future.

As they departed, Friend Theo and Friend Nauda seemed to put it behind them and focus on the future. Fiyu remained within herself, wishing she could return to the sanctum of her soulhome and rest there privately. This day, she had failed. In the future, she would need to find a way to be there for her friends.

Chapter 39

As Theo returned to Western Ostic, he had to admit that the loss smarted. It wasn't just missing out on so many valuable armaments, which was bad enough on its own. There was also a petty part of him that wanted to win, that considered Esaire beneath him and couldn't stand losing like this.

He told himself that he'd chosen the long term path and most of the time he even believed it.

When he left he considered saying something to the others about how they needed to soulcraft even harder to make up for it, but decided he would be talking mostly to himself. Nauda and Fiyu were great soulcrafters who could be trusted to keep working. What he needed to do to make up for this was make sure that his plans actually came together.

Profiting from the triple cross turned out to be surprisingly easy. The difficult part was doing it while avoiding hurting Western Ostic, and there he failed.

"You don't have to be dependent on either side," he tried to explain to the old man who ran one of the noble families. "You're in a difficult economic position, but they rely on you for more trade than you think. If you just reorganize..."

"And what happens when all these fancy plans fail?" the noble asked. "When we have to beg Greater Ostic for food, will you be there for us?"

"I'm not staying in Deuxan forever, but I have a weirkey, I could definitely supply food."

"And is that weirkey enough to feed the city?"

The question was probably just asked out of skepticism, since the old man knew next to nothing about weirkeys, but it made Theo hesitate. Authorities generally worked solely for themselves or moved dense high-value goods, so just how much could one transport?

Assuming that a sufficient quantity of goods was available on one end, he estimated that he could take a full load into his soulhome, jump between worlds, and unload it once every twenty minutes. Given the increasing mental strain, perhaps every thirty minutes was a better estimate. That would mean sixteen loads in a standard workday, or thirty-two if he worked a double shift.

Most cities needed dozens of wagon loads of supplies per day, rapidly scaling with population. Theo estimated the average Authority with extra space could take two or three wagon loads at once, but all that work would do nothing but equal the need on a day to day basis. And that was assuming complete efficiency on the giving side, which was absurd... realizing just how badly the math worked out depressed him enough that he didn't try to argue any further.

There was a fundamental inequality to reality, he realized as he returned to the city. An unopposed Authority could easily kill thousands of people, but they'd struggle to support that many. Having higher tier soulcrafters solely playing pivotal roles turned out to be more necessary than he thought.

[Beetles not listen?] Krikree asked when she saw him.

[Not listen,] Theo agreed heavily.

[Then... what do?]

Unfortunately, the answer to that was easy. He wanted to help Western Ostic, both for its own sake and for people like Victon, but if all he wanted to do was benefit himself, he just needed to play the two courts against one another. Everything he'd been doing, despite the distractions, was setting up for that.

"We're done scouting," Theo said aloud. "Time to report."

~ ~ ~

When Theo returned to Occoire Court, he only had to wait a short time at the meeting tower. Soon enough Sartozi appeared, and his robes appeared less orderly than usual. It seemed that he'd been doing some of his own dirty work.

"Have to admit that Nourise isn't around as much as before," Sartozi said. "I almost want to take Southern Ostic directly."

"I don't know how long I can distract her," Theo said. "The more action you take, the more likely she is to react. But I got her forces to completely pull away from Western Ostic, so unless you move too overtly, you don't need much of a presence there."

"Still angling for your reward, are you?" Sartozi chuckled and then pulled a thin book from his soulhome. "This is one of our Authority-tier guides about basements. I don't know if the craft is handled differently on other worlds, but this will give you far more information than you could ever get in Greater Ostic. Use it well."

"Thank you." Theo bowed and accepted the book with deep gratitude. "I hope I can keep serving Occoire Court."

Theo waited until the Stronghold was gone and then flipped through the book quickly to be sure that he hadn't been betrayed. As he'd hoped, it covered basements in considerable detail, both for newcomers and for experts. There would be time to read it later, but for now he had another appointment.

[What now?] Krikree emitted.

[Now we go to Ostic Court and tell them what we've been doing.]

[Theo-sister trick both hives. Smart.]

[Smart until they catch on. Deuxans like double-crossing, but I don't know if they'll be impressed.]

His double-crossing might yet come back to bite him, so he'd have to hope that he had enough power when it failed.

~ ~ ~

It didn't fail in Greater Ostic. When Theo reported to Nourise and went down on one knee, she touched his shoulder and drew him back to his feet.

"I respect that you're in a difficult position," she said, "and you could have chosen not to tell me about double-crossing Sartozi. What have you done so far?"

"I've completely persuaded him to avoid any ambitions in Accilonia," Theo said. "He's making progress in Southern Ostic, but I've convinced him to move slowly."

"And Western Ostic?"

"I'm protecting it from his soldiers even in the absence of yours, though I don't know how long I can maintain that."

"I'm making enough alliances here that I can afford to lose a little farmland." Nourise reached into her soulhome and presented him with a dark sphere that seemed to absorb the light around it to produce a faintly purple sheen. "It was a challenge, but I found the sort of sublime material you asked for. This is called a voidluster... it would be powerful in an Ethereal Floor, more Stronghold than Authority, except that its nature is too thoroughly mixed with Corporeal essence. I don't have anyone here who can soulcraft it, and since you've been so useful..."

"Thank you." Theo bowed and accepted the sublime material with deep gratitude. "I hope I can keep serving Ostic Court."

~ ~ ~

After checking in with Fiyu and Nauda, who seemed to want time to themselves, Theo headed off on his own to soulcraft. He desperately wanted to talk through everything with Senka, but she was storing up energy as if she anticipated a real fight. Her cursed form was being particularly obnoxious, so he found some isolation before he got to work.

Except, after having Krikree scouting along with him for so long, he failed to realize that she'd tagged along. [Theo-sister soulcraft?]

[That's right. Actually...] Theo glanced at her, then smiled. [I think it's time for you to begin building on top of your soulhome.]

Krikree's antennae shot bolt upright and her eyes, which were usually neutral, opened wide. [Krikree... ascend?]

[What did you think we were working toward all this time?]

[Theo-sister help Krikree become perfect scout.]

[Not at all.] He reached out and rubbed her head the way she liked, though she didn't respond as usual. [That queen thinks you're blocked at Ruler, but you're going to prove her wrong. I'm confident you can do it, we've just been waiting this long because I wanted you to have every detail perfect.]

After staring at him for a long time, Krikree skittered a short distance away and crouched down to soulcraft. She didn't hide her soulhome from him, so he could see that she was climbing onto the roof of her soulhome and beginning to produce more mud of the same type. Hopefully she'd learned enough to build a strong platform, but if not, he was sure she wouldn't need much guidance.

Meanwhile, he had tons of work of his own to do. Theo flew to the fourth floor of his soulhome and finally removed the shadowgem, which had served as a temporary measure for longer than he'd ever intended. In its place he positioned the voidluster, which was even more powerful but more importantly perfectly bridged the divide between Corporeal and Ethereal.

If only he had one more material to replace the lightgem, such as the thought-made-flesh... except for the sky. Theo glanced at the skyvenom overhead and the coalrag slowly soaking it up, then moved in the opposite direction.

While seated in his basement, he read the basement manual cover to cover, thoroughly this time. Instantly he got answers that it might have taken ages to uncover otherwise: basements didn't factor strongly in ascension, deeper levels were possible, the removed dirt could be used to craft special bricks, and more. There were also brand new concepts for him: apparently items like lighteggs or darkeggs could be broken underground to continue enriching a basement.

The most useful part was seeing the Occoire taxonomy of basements. They divided them into four types: storage, workshop, resonance, and cellar. The first two were self-explanatory, but the latter two fascinated him.

Because a basement was positioned within the foundation of a soul, unlike a normal floor, it was slightly worse for some purposes and better for others. One common but challenging type of basement was apparently trying to concentrate the fundamental power of a soul into a richer form. Theo was so inspired by this idea that he took a break from reading to chisel a vent through the center of his ground floor: power began dripping from his singularity column, concentrating in his central basement.

Just like real earth served as a heat sink to average out temperatures, a soulhome's foundation tended to average out fluctuations in cantae. This was termed a cellar, which could be used for anything from protecting fragile materials to creating a specific environment for growing or crafting materials. He would need to think more carefully about how to properly use a cellar before implementing one, though he immediately came up with ideas for Nauda, Fiyu, and even Krikree.

During all of his machinations, Theo had also finished digging his eighth basement room. That meant his basement was nearly completely dug, his Authority floor was one material away from complete, and he had advanced significantly. It was validation of all his plans and work up to that point.

Except, of course, that he wasn't sure if Nourise and Sartozi would actually support him in the convocation of souls. If he had to go to war without them, his progress looked much flimsier.