Skyvenom: Chapters 28-29

Here are your chapters for this week.

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Chapter 28

With another Deuxan week available, Theo returned to his basement and hoped he wouldn't be distracted too much. By his count, he had fully dug out four of the nine rooms that would form his basement, and over the course of that week he should pass the half-way point and finish the sixth.

Of course, they weren't truly complete until they were fully walled, but his stone plates were doing fine for the interim. Once he was finished, that would mean a 25% increase in total soulhome space, and his cantae capacity would increase by more than that considering that much of his fourth floor was filled with Corporeal materials. Basement space could be an essential method of preventing his audacious design for later floors from hurting his cantae stamina too much.

Digging new rooms was straightforward and concrete progress, but the real joy lay in deciding how to fill them.

He kept thinking about those questions as he dug, and by the time he'd finished the fifth room, he was ready with some basics. Theo had dug out his central chamber second, as part of his route to opening up the southeastern chamber. At first he had been just been thinking that he should reinforce the foundation pillars under his singularity column, but now that was convenient because his Nine Worlds Feast lay in the central north.

Since eating the Arbaian crystals had worked so well, he placed them directly underneath, along with his makeshift meal and the spirit fork he'd forgotten to give back. Adding in all the sublime food he'd received from the Silver Gourmand, he basically had a second Nine Worlds Feast. Overall it would be much more efficient to condense them into one room, but he'd worry about that once he finalized his other basement chambers.

There was one other easy choice: he'd purchased something called "stormpowder" from Nourise that went underneath his torsion bolt chamber, improving it meaningfully. The deathdust on his first floor was a flexible enhancement that improved an attack's intensity, so just about anything could boost it a little more. But everything after that became difficult.

All gravity materials were difficult to find, and "anti-mass" was an even more abstract concept. Then the room beneath his singularity was just a challenge, no matter how he looked at it. Theo had attempted to use the remainder of the mountainheart he'd gotten in Noven, but it was still much too intense and would have damaged his basement. Many hours he spent digging or preparing, he just turned the problem over in his mind repeatedly.

Eventually he decided that it was better to have temporary measures than nothing. Theo threw in all the minor sublime materials he had in storage that increased his strength or durability. If this was going to be his thug phase, he might as well lean into it until he had the resources for his next step.

All of that would have been more than enough to keep him occupied, except several days before the next event, they received another message.

This one was brought by their official steward and claimed to be from someone named Krimmile, who turned out to be the Arbaian noble who sat in the Accilonian court. For a brief moment, Theo had the inane thought that the Arbaian wanted to buy food crystals from them. But no, Krimmile hadn't even been present at the Silver Gourmand's event.

"Could it be a trap?" Fiyu asked as they considered the message.

"If someone wanted to attack us, they know where we are," Nauda objected.

"But we do not generally leave the palace together. The message appears to be to everyone, so they might want us all at once."

"I think we should go," Theo said. "An Arbaian here is likely to be a neutral party, or at least someone we should know. Besides, the location isn't far from the palace."

"We won't win this on our own," Nauda said. "We might as well."

Since it wasn't an official visit, there was no transportation and they could fly in their own sleigh. Theo felt safer in it simply because it was always secure with them and thus less likely to include any threats. In a way, it was almost a shame that their destination was such a short distance away, just flying down the central glowing mountain to a modest stone building.

The stone and metal were all distinctly Deuxan, but the style reminded him of Arbai in a very vague sense. Of course Arbai as a world had an immense variety of architecture, so he couldn't be sure it wasn't just confirmation bias since he knew about the owner. Unlike almost all the other buildings in Accilonia, there were no guards, no servants, nothing but a door that unlocked itself when they approached.

There were plenty of anti-weirkey defenses in the foundation, though. Theo frowned at those before deciding the building was so small, they could easily fight their way free even if attacked.

When they entered, they discovered a room like an abandoned shop, with a large counter but no products. It was lit by gemstones larger than anything seen on Deuxan, and what struck Theo is that they weren't placed to impress. It would have been possible to create vast displays and windows of Arbaian gemstones that would stand out in Deuxan, but these were subtle, only casting dim light over the room. There were no chairs and the counter was slightly the wrong height... everything was situated solely for the comfort of the owner, not guests.

"Welcome." The voice rang in their ears like most Arbaians, though this one had an eerie tone. As Krimmile rolled into the room from an obscured door, Theo realized that he wasn't a round Mundhin, he was definitely another species. Perhaps a Napienti, though Theo wasn't very familiar with that group of Arbaians.

For that matter, he wasn't sure if Krimmile was a "he" or not. The voice was ambiguous and Arbaian ideas about gender had never really mattered to him.

"My name is Krimmile, formerly of the Orphic Cabal." The Arbaian came to a halt behind the counter, which reached half-way up his body. "I am not here to sell my loyalty or grant you any blessings. However, given your extensive travels, I hoped that we might do business together."

"What do you have to offer?" Theo asked. Perhaps he was too accustomed to Arbaians, but he thought this offer was probably an authentic one.

"Ideally, I would like to trade sublime for sublime. Money is useful to me, but only as a means of exchange. From you, I might acquire materials that I could never purchase in Accilonia, or even in larger courts that lack significant inter-world trade."

"How powerful do the materials have to be?" Nauda asked. "Because we have plenty of random sublime stuff from worlds other than this one, but the strongest items we need for ourselves."

"That is regrettably often the case with soulcrafters, particularly the ambitious ones." Krimmile was silent for several moments, an inner glow pulsing from within his stone plates. "You must understand, I am not a conventional merchant; rather, I make exchanges of rare materials. Often these are for the wealthy, who are willing to pay a premium for such services. In your case, it is more of an investment... so, what sublime materials do you most need?"

Fiyu glanced at Theo immediately and he knew what she was thinking: it was possible that this was all a long scheme to get information on their soulcrafting. He expected Deuxans to scheme, but this didn't strike him as their usual modus operandi. Just in case, he decided to start with a harmless request.

"My soulhome is based around the scientific concept of gravity," Theo said, "which is rare in sublime materials. What do you have that would be appropriate for an Authority floor?"

Instead of a verbal answer, Krimmile hummed and pulsed for a moment. No limbs emerged from the stone and Theo didn't see any manipulation technique, three items simply appeared out of thin air and settled onto the counter in front of them. Immediately he set aside thoughts of deception and investigated the materials more carefully.

The first was a dark stone that unquestionably projected gravitational force. The second was less obvious, but when Theo probed its cantae, he realized that it displayed mass far in excess of its size. Finally, there was an elaborate silver astrolabe, with gemstones set in place of planets. None of them were overwhelming, but Theo would have taken each in an instant.

"That was, I believe, a test. I assure you, I have a great many sublime materials that may be appropriate for your needs." Krimmile remained motionless for a time, inner light pulsing. "However, if you do wish to purchase them, their values are 3500 Silver Crowns, 6200, and 8550, respectively."

If Theo hadn't just decided that he didn't need to reinforce his gravitational rooms in the short term, he might have jumped at the opportunity. Instead he glanced toward his companions and made an indifferent gesture. Fiyu still looked slightly concerned, but Nauda took a step forward and cleared her throat.

"I need two things," she said. "One is an armament that could replace my staff. The other is a material that would reinforce the body like a Corporeal Floor, but could function on its own."

This request took longer, but in time Krimmile replaced the gravitational materials with a number of items. Most were weapons, including staves and a glove that projected binding energy. Those were valued between 10,000 and 15,000 Silver Crowns, so Theo wasn't inclined to buy them. Fortunately, Nauda seemed more interested in the small number of other items.

"What's this?" she asked as she picked up a heart-shaped stone.

"A fellheart, implanted in the body in lieu of a Corporeal Floor and capable of sustaining itself. 25,000 Silver Crowns."

"That's impressive, but I don't need it to integrate on its own."

"Presuming you have another method of incorporation, this might be of interest to you." Krimmile made a blue stone levitate into the air. "This is called an omphalos, and it is a treasured item from Siata. It resides within the body and elevates it, without unbalancing one's constitution, but generally requires some sort of Corporeal containment. 85,000 Silver Crowns."

Nauda whistled and shook her head. "I can't afford that now. Is it likely to be bought soon?"

"I have been holding it for the past eighteen years."

Based on her interest, that could definitely be useful for Nauda, maybe even the item she needed to fill her corporealbottle. Theo wasn't sure that was the best use of their money unless they started earning a lot more. He briefly pondered stealing everything, but aside from the ethical problem, it would be burning bridges with a useful individual who might be connected to a powerful organization. That would be the exact opposite of who he was trying to be.

"Do you have any Ichili materials?" Fiyu asked.

"Only these." Krimmile produced them and hummed oddly. "I keep them primarily as curiosities. They are highly attuned to darkness, but I believe you to be a connoisseur of such things and they may not fit your needs."

"What about a source of power for a light-based technique?"

Krimmile immediately produced several options, all of them under 10,000 Silver Crowns. Presumably Fiyu wanted one to fill her newly polished chambers, but that was a more general niche that could be filled by many other sublime materials. Apparently Fiyu agreed, because after observing them all carefully, she pressed her lips together and gave a slight shake of her head.

"Do you have anything effective for basements?" Theo asked.

"Some, but I am not a specialist." Krimmile paused for a time, but didn't produce any new items. "I am not an information broker, so I will tell you this as a courtesy: the top basement specialists on the continent are in Occoire Court. If you want materials or expertise, contact them."

Despite himself, Theo raised both eyebrows. Nourise, Chlira, and everyone else in Greater Ostic had known he was focused on basements and they hadn't once told him that was the specialty of their rival. No doubt they were concerned he might defect, but it was just another reminder that they didn't have his best interest at heart.

"What's the most valuable item you have?" Nauda asked the question brightly, then hesitated. "If that isn't inappropriate."

"I am proud to display it." Krimmile cleared the table and replaced everything with a single small bottle that contained a liquid that glowed white hot. "This is a desperatecatalyst, also known as a bottled ascension. It is the opposite of what you may be thinking: it does not produce an ascension without struggle, it produces struggle without ascension. Instead of raising a soulcrafter a tier, it forces them to undergo an ascension that, if endured, will reinforce the soulhome. I would not dream of letting it go for less than 250,000 Silver Crowns."

Given the potential of such a material, Theo could believe it. In theory, with a desperatecatalyst a failed Authority could undo much of the permanent damage. Then again, if it required enduring stress similar to an ascension, they might not be up to the challenge. It would have been an extraordinary material for Nauda after her soulhome's collapse and even now, Theo could imagine all three of them benefiting from it.

Since Krimmile seemed to know his business so well, Theo decided to make a real request. "I need a material that can bridge the gap between a Corporeal chamber that enhances the mind and an Ethereal chamber that enhances the spirit. Do you have anything like that?"

"A challenge, for once." Krimmile was silent for a long time before he placed a new item on the table: at first it appeared to be a ring of blackened steel, then it rotated to a different angle and looked like a column of ink, then it expanded into a marionette of oil, each form smooth and solid. "This is an exceptional Siatan material called a thought-made-flesh. I acquired it for an Arbaian client who, much to her distress, was unable to use it. Ordinarily I would suggest it was impossible, but given that you ate Arbaian crystals, perhaps you might use it. Your need is balanced by the difficulty in moving the item, so I think 55,000 Silver Crowns is more than fair."

Even though he logged the number, Theo barely thought about it, because his mind was filled by one thought: this was perfect. The thought-made-flesh was a bizarre sublime material that straddled the line between Corporeal and Ethereal, then on top of that it had a cognitive component. He could imagine it inside his soulhome that very instant.

Theo wanted that sublime material, more than he'd wanted anything in a long time. But he'd set aside theft, so... "Can you wait for us to assemble funds?"

"My business model does not rely on volume. I merely wanted you to be aware that this option is available to you. That said, if your war grows dire, prices may increase accordingly."

With that confirmed, it seemed that their business was concluded. Krimmile removed the last items and rolled back without saying farewell, then the door opened. They took the cue and stepped outside, retaining the silence of the place.

Theo couldn't help but think that after so long ignoring money, it finally mattered to him again. Opportunities to purchase materials of this strength came along so rarely, this couldn't be ignored. They had a fairly good chance to earn it in the form of challenges and duels, but he wasn't sure if they could reach the large numbers Krimmile's wares commanded.

Once back in their sleigh and inside Fiyu's stealth technique, she spoke up. "I do not like how he said he would extort us if things became difficult."

"He's being honest about his interests," Theo said with a smile. "Everyone here is out for themselves, he's just the only one telling us to our face."

Chapter 29

As Fiyu placed the final bricks atop the second tier of her shielding wall, she found herself pondering a strange question: how close was her strength to Relative Guchiro's?

She didn't mean it in a serious sense, of course, that would feel horribly improper. He had decades more wisdom and combat experience, and of course by the time they met again he would be a powerful Stronghold. Still, she felt as though she was moving from simply being nominally at the same tier as him to being within reach of the power that had always been so inspiring to her.

Despite the amount of time it took to polish stone at Authority, she had completely prepared her second pair of rooms. She even had secondary materials, she only lacked a material intense enough to improve her lightstorm. There had been several options available from the strange Arbaian, but Fiyu felt that this would be a poor use of their group's funds. This was a time to consider others over herself, particularly Friend Nauda.

Meanwhile, nothing stopped her from working on the final pair of rooms in her Authority floor. She lacked the materials for them, but having the walls polished ahead of time would be useful. Meanwhile she could continue using Friend Theo's tactic of deploying temporary materials. It was not something any relative had taught her, but it was useful when their lives were at stake.

Taking the next steps, however... Fiyu had considered both trying to open her basement and pushing toward a Stronghold ascension. She had rejected both as steps that would only hamper her in the long run.

Though the basement's additional cantae would be very helpful, Fiyu felt that her foundation was not quite ready at this time. She did not want to cripple her future soulcrafting, so she continued to nurture it. She had been attempting to farm Deuxan plants, and all but a few pale leaves died, but they could be fed back into her soil to enrich it. Friend Nauda could grow better sublime foods in this way, but Fiyu knew that she would be ready sooner.

In the long term, if she survived the Deuxan machinations, she could become not just a Stronghold but a powerful Stronghold. Ever since she had ascended to Authority, she had learned how wide each tier spread. Just as there were some Authorities who had cheated themselves for power, not all Strongholds were equal.

None of them were truly incompetent, but as she became able to endure the overwhelming cantae, she grasped the differences between them. Some had blueprints that were merely serviceable while others had cohesive soulhomes including Transcendent Monuments. Fiyu vowed to herself that she would not rush, so that she would become strong enough to assist her companions.

Friend Theo was pushing ahead, as he always did, but Fiyu was particularly proud of Friend Nauda at the moment. While she did her own soulcrafting, she occasionally looked at the other woman and her progress.

After so much work, Friend Nauda was prepared to finally lift her fourth floor arch into position. Between all of the lower supports and the bricks necessary to anchor the arch, she seemed to have already soulcrafted even more bricks at Authority than Fiyu had. When it was time, Fiyu entered the other woman's soulhome and watched eagerly.

"Don't look too closely," Friend Nauda said. "I'm anxious about this."

"You can do it, Nauda. You have spent a long time preparing."

Friend Nauda brought her staff into her soulhome and used it to bind the structure on the ground, then began lifting it into position. Unlike in the physical world, the air seemed to resist her, as if it understood how much of a change she was making to her soul. But eventually she raised the bricks high enough that she could set them down, resting atop both her life and death towers.

As soon as it was done, Friend Nauda leapt up to the top and began fusing more bricks into place, locking the arch into the strut as well as the formations prepared on both sides. There was still work to be done, but Fiyu admired the results: in one stroke, the soulhome had gone from two top-heavy towers to clearly the legs of a statue. They were connected to the staff by bridges, but the beautiful ambition was quite clear.

"And that's done." Friend Nauda flopped down against her new wall. "I don't want to create one more brick, but these rooms aren't done until I do..."

"It will not take so long," Fiyu said as she floated up to her position. "Because of all the work required to unify your towers, you have already half-completed the walls and you have many extra bricks. It is even possible you will finish polishing your fourth floor before I will."

"Oh, I can't imagine that will happen, not even the walls." Friend Nauda sat up and smiled warmly at her. "Thanks for being with me through all this, Fiyu. Will you help me test my new technique?"

"I would be happy to, Nauda."

They returned to their suite and walked to one of the larger rooms to experiment with Friend Nauda's foot technique. It possessed raw power, but was highly unformed because it was connected to no specific room. Instead of drawing cantae through a specific set of rooms out a window or door, all the cantae in the legs of her statue seemed to resonate at once. Fiyu considered mentioning this inefficiency, then saw her companion was aware and attempting to improve it.

Such moments together were precious, and Fiyu struggled to know how she could express her emotions. Everything was so wonderful when they worked together, she just never knew what to say. At least they had passed far beyond the days when their communication was slow and halting.

Unfortunately, they could not enjoy their time together fully or even finish Friend Nauda's technique, because the next week had elapsed. Friend Theo arrived the day before with tension all throughout his body and a grim expression on his face.

"Tomorrow is rumored to be pure combat," he told them. "I couldn't learn any details, but it sounds like it might be no-holds-barred. Esaire is probably hoping to disable one of us so he can close in after the armistice ends."

"We are ready, Theo," Fiyu said. If they were only going to fight Esaire and other Authorities, she felt confident in everything she had soulcrafted.

"Krikree fight?" The Slescan skittered into the room, hands twitching as if eager to retrieve her weapons.

"I think you'd better come, yeah." Friend Theo rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We don't know what we'll be facing, so we bring everyone except Senka. We need her in reserve for Strongholds."

"What about Nanjuma or Janne?" Friend Nauda asked.

"No, we should let them keep working. The Demon Court can't give Esaire any more allies, so he likely only has access to weaker Authorities. Better to take on the burden than let him pull our allies away from other positions."

Usually Friend Theo's judgment was sound, but in this case he was mistaken. When Fiyu and her companions left the palace and flew to a cleared hill outside the city, she felt that it was disturbingly occupied. There were Strongholds to keep order, and some nobles to observe, but a large group of Authorities clustered around Enemy Esaire.

"Everyone likes to forget that convocations mean war." It was an elder Stronghold with the armor of a warrior who had summoned them and now spoke. "Today, we find out who would win the fight if there were no Strongholds interrupting. Just the Authorities of both armies, using everything available to them, no rules except we stop short of killing. If this goes well enough, there won't be any need for all the rest of that nonsense."

"Isn't this still during the armistice?" Friend Theo objected.

"Yes, which is why this event is limited by time." The Stronghold brought forth from his soulhome a large Deuxan hourglass, where silver grains poured onto a metal plate until it turned over and rang the end of the fight.

Fiyu largely ignored the words as she examined the group of their enemies. It seemed that Enemy Esaire had assembled no fewer than eight Authorities, and she knew three of them: Enemy Esaire himself, Enemy Amaeli, and Adversary Lalye, who must have joined them from Occoire Court.

This was expected, but the other five troubled her. There were three Deuxans: one wearing Demon Court lacquered armor, one in multi-colored robes, and one who wore no shirt in order to reveal skin that glistened like metal. Aside from them, Enemy Esaire had recruited a Slescan who appeared like a royal guard and even a Siatan. The small inhuman form hovered behind the others, five large tendrils from the back of its head wrapping around the body.

"There's no point fussing around," the Stronghold said. "Why not get started?"

"Wait one minute." Enemy Esaire thrust a finger at their group. "You said this was a fight between Authorities, but one of them is a Ruler."

"That's a scout drone!" The Slescan Authority let out a grating laugh. "It'd be like a beetle to the slaughter. No point letting her fight."

"Not!" Associate Krikree insisted, but the Stronghold waved a hand.

"Authorities only. No more bickering over the rules, begin!"

All eight of the enemy Authorities leapt into action, as if they had been planning such an assault from the start. No doubt they had, but they were not true companions, and they could not compare to the instincts that had been developed through travel in dangerous lands. Fiyu barely needed to glance at her companions as they all moved to act.

Friend Theo began with a gravitational field that slammed the enemy's flying assault into the ground. Only Enemy Esaire and the Siatan were able to resist entirely, and the others were strong enough that they held themselves in place. That only left them open to Fiyu opening her arms wide and unleashing a lightstorm across the entire group.

Her explosion struck all eight and battered them backward quite effectively. Enemy Amaeli managed to escape the lightstorm, but was immediately intercepted by Friend Nauda before she could attack, leaving Fiyu free to continue. She almost felt confident before she noticed one figure moving.

It was the Deuxan man with bronzed skin. He wasn't even wincing as her light bolts slammed into him, instead he was walking forward as if her attack was no more than heavy rain. When she made eye contact he saw her and grinned. Each step coming faster than the last, he stomped directly toward her, his invincible skin flashing with her futile cantae.

When he leapt to attack, Fiyu dropped her lightstorm and summoned a more potent blade. Before she could find out whether it would pierce his skin, the cantae fizzled out. She stared in shock and traced the disturbance to the side: the Siatan Authority raised two hands toward her, extending some malign influence that completely suffocated her technique.

Then the fist struck her face and Fiyu tumbled backward.

The blow made her head ache, and if not for her Corporeal Floor, she was afraid it might have killed her outright. Worse, the bronzed Deuxan was still charging after her, having lost no time. Fiyu desperately sent several spikes of darkness toward him, only to be dismayed as they splintered uselessly off his skin. Her blade was still disrupted, and she was barely floating to her feet...

Friend Nauda dropped from the sky, her foot slamming into the ground. Her technique, which they had been working on so recently, unleashed a shockwave toward the others. It didn't harm the Deuxan with armored skin, but the impact sent him flipping back through the air.

But before he went far, Enemy Esaire caught him and turned him upright. He smirked as he directed his army of Authorities to attack and Fiyu felt a flicker of fear. She believed in the strength she had soulcrafted, but she wasn't sure she believed this much.

Then the attacks began and the battle dissolved into utter chaos.