From what Grey told me, we only had days before the main host of the Uprising would reach Silvercrest. We needed to get our individual projects finished by the time they reached us, or they would just get harder. For Grey, Azarus, and me, we might be able to draft and forge my new arm using Azarus’s mobile forge while traveling in a carriage. But we sure as hell wouldn’t be able to perform the surgery to graft it to my body and soul.

With Honoka and Sylvia, I was told they would need to get the Ascension Ritual done now, or else they would just have to wait until they were in a major city again. Apparently, a major component of an Ascension Rite was the usage of what they called an Isolation Chamber. From what I was told, these were specially prepared rooms that required exacting construction. Supposedly, they were rooms created to block out all forms of external mystical energy and make Rituals more likely to succeed. You could perform an Ascension without one, but it had a high chance of going wrong without it.

To my surprise, I learned that the room in the Church where I’d had my failed Rite of Regeneration was an Isolation Chamber. In retrospect, that made sense. Grey told me over breakfast the next day that the Church was open to letting others use the Chamber. For a modest fee, of course.

During breakfast, I tried not to let the sight of Sylvia embarrass me. I think it was only thanks to my long neglected Acting talent letting me keep a straight face. Sylvia herself was acting like nothing had happened at all though, so I followed her lead and tried to treat her like normal. I mean, it’s not like anything important had happened.

I’d only literally seen the shape of her soul, after all.

Still, Grey and Honoka must have some kind of supernatural sense about this kind of thing. Grey kept shooting the two of us mildly puzzled looks, while Honoka was nearly glaring at me over her plate of eggs and ham. I did my best not to pay her any mind.

I didn’t see Azarus again until we had broken up into our own individual groups. Grey and I found him waiting for us in his tent, already working on the design for my arm. Sitting next to him on the desk he was hunching over were two bars of bright silver metal, shining in a familiar way. He barely acknowledged us with a grunt when we stepped into the tent.

Grey and I decided to leave him to it, and got to work on the enchantment side of things.

When I showed my mentor the brainstorming about the Sculpted enchantment structure I’d done the other night, he was impressed.

“These are some interesting insights, Nathan,” Grey said, pouring over the notes I had brought with me. He looked up at me with a mildly puzzled look on his face when he was finished. “I must admit, I did not believe yesterday was productive towards your goal. You seemed frustrated when we separated. Did you simply need time to collect your thoughts?”

I coughed into my fist. “Yeah, something like that,” I said, with as straight of a face as I could manage. “Do you get where I’m going with this now? You think this is enough?”

Grey’s gaze lingered on me for a moment, before he looked back down at my notes. He nodded slowly. “Yes, I do believe we have what we need. There are some observations about the Sculpted enchantment structure here that not even I had considered before. With this…I can see a path forward. Let us begin, shall we?”

We got to work.

Sylvia and Honoka finished their work on the design of the Ascension Ritual that day. Grey and I had only just started to put together the framework of my new arm’s enchantment by that point. An excited Honoka barged into the tent midday, with a more composed Sylvia following along behind her.

Grey and I looked up at their entrance, startled. We had been pretty deep into rune sketching, and had barely noticed the passage of time. Azarus didn’t even look up at all. He just kept his head down and kept working.

Honoka didn’t care about the interruption. “We’re done! We have the design, and we have the materials. Get up. We’re getting this done now.”

“Ah? Oh!” Grey said, standing up from his stool at the drafting table rapidly. He looked over at me. “Apologies, Nathan. We’ll have to continue this another time.”

I blinked at him and shook my head, standing up myself. “No, no. I understand,” I paused for a moment, flicking my eyes over towards Sylvia. She tilted her head curiously, causing me to hurriedly look back over at Grey and Honoka. “Is it all right…if I come along too?”

Honoka narrowed her eyes at me.

“Of course it is,” Grey said, curiously. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Oh,” I said, glancing at Honoka. “No reason. Let’s go then, yeah?”

Before we could leave, Azarus finally spoke up, nevertheless not looking up from his drafting. “Congrats.” I heard him float Sylvia’s way.

Sylvia smiled slightly at the dwarf’s back. “Thank you, Azarus. We’ll leave you to your work.”

Azarus grunted in reply.

Our group of four left the tent, Grey and Honoka leading the way into town. Meanwhile, Sylvia and I trailed behind the two of them in somewhat uncomfortable silence. I cleared my throat, desperate to break it. “So,” I said, glancing at her. “Are you excited?”

Sylvia hummed and nodded. “To a degree, yes. I’m…curious as to what it will feel like, to have my own Ki. Some other changes will supposedly occur once the Ritual is complete, but Honoka has told me they’re hard to put into words. She says that I’ll understand when the time comes.”

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“Huh. Cool,” I said lamely. Silence fell on us again, before Sylvia broke it this time.

“Did…” She started, glancing over at me. “Last night help any?”

I flushed slightly, but nodded. “Yeah. It…did. I think Grey and I have it now. We just need time to finalize the runework.”

“That’s good,” Sylvia said softly, eyes drifting away. “I’m glad I was able to help.”

For the rest of the walk into Silvercrest, the silence between the two of us was more comfortable. I relaxed, only to be startled when Fade popped up out of nowhere before we reached the gate. He was gnawing on a bone but fell into step with our group with no problem. He gave me a smug look when he noticed my glance.

Whatever, you little glutton.

We reached the Church before too long, and I stood back as Grey and Honoka approached Preceptor Josha. He looked startled and wary to see us again so soon, but brightened up at what the two elders were saying. He nodded and then accepted a pouch of payment from Grey. Honoka turned around and waved Sylvia forward. My Sculpted friend excused herself and followed Honoka into the back room into the Isolation Chamber where my Rite had failed. Grey walked back over to me, to my surprise. Oddly enough, Honoka accepted a large bucket of what looked to be soap, water, and a sponge from Preceptor Josha.

Wonder what that was about.

“Not going in with them?” I asked Grey when he reached me as the two of us took a seat in one of the empty pews. Fade hopped up to sit with me, and began to lick his paws.

Grey shook his head. “No, I have no place in a Cultivator’s Ascension Ritual. My presence alone would interfere with the needed energy balance in the room. We’ll have to wait here to greet Sylvia when it’s done. It should only be about an hour.”

I nodded to show my understanding, and then sat back to wait.

Grey wasn’t wrong. A little over an hour later, Honoka opened the door to the Isolation Chamber and stepped out with a proud grin on her face. Two things seeped out of the room with her, neither of them Sylvia. The first was an almost visible wave of a deep green energy that flowed around her form in whorls and spirals. It dissipated into the air of the Church, just barely reaching my waiting form.

That must be Ki. I had no experience with it, not like I did with Mana. I may not have any of my own, but I was used to working with the energy by now during my time as Grey’s apprentice. To my senses, Mana was cool, pliable and eager. It wanted to be shaped to the user’s every desire. Ki felt like the opposite to me. It was hot with purpose, and yet stubborn. I almost got the sense that the very energy itself wanted to challenge the world around it.

The second thing that creeped out from around Honoka was an ungodly smell. I had no idea what it was, but it was almost like rotten metal, if such a thing was possible. It was like I was smelling an intense combination of rust, spoiled oil, and choking coal. I doubled over in my seat, pinching my nose closed with my one good hand. To my side, I saw Fade whine and cover his as well with his paws. Oddly enough, Grey seemed to be unaffected by the noxious scent. He just seemed proud, for some reason.

Grey looked at my hunched-over form and just laughed. “If you think this is bad, you should smell the Vitriol from Cultivators that aren’t Sculpted.” He shook his head, still laughing, and stood up just in time to see Sylvia walk out of the Isolation Chamber.

Vitriol?

I stood up to greet her, still pinching my nose, only to stop in surprise.

Sylvia looked…different.

Small imperfections I had noticed on her over the months looked like they had been…smoothed away. Her Mithril skin was smoother, small tool marks that had been nearly imperceptible before were simply gone. It shone even brighter in the diffuse light of the church, cast from the stained glass windows. Her golden hair somehow looked to have somehow grown more than a few inches, for the first time since I’d met her.

I didn’t think that was possible for Sculpted ‘hair’ to grow. How does that happen?

But the biggest change had to be with her construction itself. The nearly invisible small gaps in her face that allowed the plates to articulate against each other and form expressions were gone. They had fused together to form a solid Mithril surface. However, it wasn’t immobile now. It just looked like a normal woman's face, only composed of Mithril. I watched as Sylvia stared down at her own hands in wonder, flexing them and marveling at something. More and more, she looked like she was just a human woman with silver skin and golden hair.

To my dismay, I thought she was even more beautiful now.

The smell in the Church was starting to dissipate, helped in part by Preceptor Josha waving around a censor of strongly smelling incense. He stopped when Sylvia stepped into the Church proper and made the sign of the Gyre. “Blessings be upon you, Cultivator.” He said, smiling.

Sylvia inclined her head at him. “Thank you, Preceptor.”

God, even her voice was a little different. It was clearer, and it was as if a note of metallic dissonance had disappeared. It was still silvery and chiming, but smoother somehow.

Grey rapidly approached his daughter and wrapped her in a hug, which she returned. After a moment, they separated, Grey stepping back to hold her at arm's length. “Will you look at that,” He said in wonderment. He shook his head. “It’s always fascinating to me, seeing the results of a Cultivator Ascension Rite on a Sculpted. So few seem to go that route. Well done, my dear. Well done indeed.”

“Hers went really well,” Honoka cut in before Sylvia could respond, approaching the Father and Daughter. She had a beaming grin on her face as she clapped Sylvia on the back. “I haven’t done this for many Sculpted, but I’m more than happy with the results.”

“Thank you. Both for your help, Honoka,” Sylvia said, nodding at Honoka, before turning back to Grey. “And your support, Father. It was…an experience, I can say that much.”

I tentatively approached the small family unit. “So, how’s it feel to have your own Ki? Everything you expected?” I asked, half teasingly, half serious.

Sylvia took my question more seriously than I expected. She turned her gaze up to look at the stained glass window on the far wall contemplatively. “It is…” She started slowly, before stopping. She took a deep breath, even though I knew she didn’t need to.

At least, I thought she didn’t.

I swear that I felt a slight disturbance in the Aether around me, as if it was being drawn toward her.

“They are correct,” Sylvia finally said. “I cannot describe it in words.” She shook her head, smiling at me helplessly. “It will be different, but perhaps you will understand when your own time comes, Nathan.”

I nodded slowly in response. “I guess I will.”

After that, our group left the Church. It was late enough that we weren’t getting any more work done on my own project, so after a brief celebratory dinner back in camp, we all went to sleep.

Well, presumably Azarus went to sleep.

Hopefully not at the drafting desk in Grey’s tent.

Because the next day, we finished my new arm.