Dellen still couldn’t see, but he could tell that the hairs on his arms still stood on end, and he could hear Elara’s footsteps less than five feet away.

“If I decide to blind a wretch like you, no one here would mourn your loss. I might even add to my mark.”

Dellen filed away the expression, ‘Add to my mark.’

“What if I called lightning, right here, and… Missed? Do you think anyone would be surprised if ‘A wretch like me’ missed? What would happen then?”

“Release the cloud.”

Dellen felt the hair on his arms lie flat. He let out a breath, as did the initiates around him.

The glare brightened enough that he was able to lower his arm and squint.

Elara stood, almost nose to nose with Ardentus. “This time is mine. Yield the roof.”

“If you insist,” he said, still sounding more amused than anything else, “Come,” he said, turning around and walking to the stairs.

Dellen’s gaze darted between Ardentus’s back and Elara. He gave a shallow bow as a gesture of respect and followed after Ardentus.

The door closed behind them, and Ardentus let out another of his uncomfortable laughs. “The gauntlet works well enough, though it was a strain to affect anything with such mild weather. I imagine they would not be anywhere near as effective for a wretch of the lower Trinities. Worse, stormglass is rare, and each use consumes the stormglass in the metal. It will still sell well.” He led them back to the training room. “You may all meditate until the bell.”

Dellen’s welcomed the opportunity to sit and relax after their work in the forge and the near confrontation of the roof. Eyes closed, sitting on the mat, he tried to meditate, but his thoughts kept drifting to the gauntlet. The process had been simple enough, heat the metal, infuse with Aether, implant the correct materials. As Ardentus had said, stormglass wasn’t common, which was a limiting factor, but there had been pleasure in watching the work. Ardentus’s words came back to him too, ‘A wretch of the lower Trinities,’ Dellen was one such ‘wretch,’ as were, he suspected, all of the initiates.

All too soon came the bell for lunch. After the bland repast, he spent the afternoon working in the laundry. Dinner came, then he raked the roof, under less tense circumstances and finally found sleep.

The next four days passed without incident, training sessions with Ardentus consisted of games of ‘catch’ or sitting on the training circles circulating Aether through his body.

Dellen began to wonder whether this loop would end, or if he had to cut it off. Then came a deviation in his schedule on the fifth day.

A woman in red walked into the training room and handed Ardentus a sealed scroll. Ardentus cracked the seal, then gave a short, sharp back of amusement. “We’re going to have exhibition matches against initiates within the order,”

Dellen felt his ears perk up.

“There are rules, no killing, no maiming.”

Dellen waited, but that was apparently the extent of the prohibitions. Lightning was not gentle, and everyone involved was going to have more power than any fighter he had met in Copperopolis.

“We will spend the remainder of today preparing you for the matches.”

Dellen rocked back. The remainder of the day? He was certain that any reasonable organization would have given a warning in a period measured in weeks if not months.

“There’s no information on what affinities you might find yourself facing. I suggest that you all bring darkened goggles against the probability that you will be facing an opponent with a Lumino affinity at least once.”

Dellen hadn’t been aware of the Lumino affinity before his capture, but he could guess it was the affinity that Elara possessed.

Ardentus stroked his chin, “Umbral Affinity is somewhat easier to manage, their ability to create shadow can be negated with some applications of Electrical Aether, if your opponent wields Pyro Aether, run until you can execute them.” Ardentus hesitated before correcting himself, “Before you can take them out of the tournament.”

“Can we bring tools into the matches?” Eldon asked.

Dellen assumed they could if they were allowed to bring goggles.

“Within reason, if one of you tried to bring my gauntlet, it would be confiscated.”

That was something of a relief. If someone had been able to bring in something as powerful as that gauntlet, then the matches would be a game of running away until Dellen eventually lost.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Is there a prize for winning your match?” Cassius asked.

“Materials suitable for Aetherforging.”

There was a group intake of breath. Every last one of them wanted to forge.

“How many materials, will they be enough to reach the next Trinity?” Ebert asked.

“Will all of us be able to participate?”

This was the first time Dellen had seen any of them get worked up enough to ask overlapping questions.

“Silence. An exhibition is not sufficient reason for this break in decorum.” Ardentus waited to make sure that each of them held their tongues.

“Each of you will participate, though,” his eyes lingered on Dellen, “I don’t expect all of you to do well.”

Dellen chose not to rise to the implied insult.

“If any of you lose to Lumino Aether, I will rescind meal privileges for three days.”

All of them nodded. Ardentus had already made clear his disdain for Aetherforged of that affinity.

“You will spend the day training with me. Tomorrow, the exhibition begins.”

They broke routine, returning to Ardentus after lunch, though once they were done Dellen still raked the gardens before surrendering to sleep.

The next morning, Dellen had a brief breakfast and climbed the stairs to the training room. Ardentus was alone. He saw Dellen and pointed at a training circle. Within two minutes, six training circles were occupied.

“I expect all of you to fight until victory or collapse.”

Dellen had expected no less. What he wondered was whether other participants were receiving similar instructions.

Ardentus handed each of them darkened goggles. “You will need these if you want any hope of winning an exchange with one of Elara’s brats.

The goggles had a pleasing weight in his hands. The strap was thick leather, the frame polished copper, and the lenses were dark amber in an octagonal setting. Dellen tried his on. They felt comfortable on his face, though he noticed that they cut into his peripheral vision.

A bell rang.

Ardentus looked up, “The exhibition is on the roof. Don’t get thrown over the edge.”

Dellen blinked; the tone had made it sound like a relaxed warning, but he could well imagine that such a fall would be a lethal accident for most.

Ardentus led them out the door, and up the stairs. The doors creaked open, and Dellen’s eyes widened. A lot of work had been done since he’d raked sand in the late evening. The rooftop was transformed into a sprawling exhibition ground, bustling with activity. A central sandpit was raked smooth, its borders lined with stones about three feet apart and three feet tall, conical, wider at the base with rounded tops.

Initiates were gathered under banners arrayed around the sandpit.

Dellen’s eyes were drawn to a banner decorated with a few simple lines that evoked the idea of fire. Pyro Aether.

The initiates beneath looked like any other members of the Order of the Red Truth. Crosshatched silver masks, crimson robes. Nearby was a woman with a silver symbol on her chest, who he assumed trained them.

Further along, the sandpit was another banner; the symbols upon it were reminiscent of stone. Terra Aether. Memories tickled the back of his mind. He had encountered their kind before. The symbols continued around sandpit, Aero, Cryo, Kinematic, Steam, Umbral, and Lumino Aether were all present. Ardentus led them to the banner decorated with a bolt of lightning.

Dellen took a deep breath, feeling the Electrical Aether flowing through him. Every initiate that he saw at the sandpit was of the Second Trinity. He would be lucky to eke out a draw against his first opponent.

Over the next fifteen or so minutes people gathered under all of the banners. He noticed a disparity in numbers. He was one of six under the Lightning Banner, there were five beneath the Lumino Banner, the Kinematic Banner held twenty, while the Umbral Banner had just two initiates beneath it, and the Cryo Banner had one initiate with one instructor.

An unfamiliar member of the order approached Ardentus. “Am I going to be pleased or disappointed with our performance today?”

The man was shorter than Ardentus, but the feeling of Electrical Aether coming off of him was unmistakable. Dellen examined him, the symbol on the centre of his chest was different from that on Ardentus’s robe. It was larger with a few extra lines. The skin on his chin was pale, crisscrossed with small fern-shaped scars. Dark hair framed the outside of his mask.

“There can only be one winner,” Ardentus said, his voice not as carefree as usual.

“I am aware. How will your initiates fare against Elara’s?”

It seemed that it was not just Ardentus that bore a grudge against Lumino Aether.

“I’ve given them all tinted goggles. That should negate their largest advantage.”

The man caught sight of Dellen. “First Trinity?” His voice was confused, “Why is there a First Trinity here?”

“He came with the unsullied, he’d already forged iron and copper. I had to bring him up to First Trinity,” Ardentus paused, his next words came out with grudging hesitation, “He is not entirely without skill, however, with the power differential between First Trinity and Second Trinity we shouldn’t expect much.”

Dellen’s cheeks burned. From Ardentus, that counted as both a compliment and praise, even with the dispassionate description of his coming failure. “Send him out first, let them develop a sense of false security.”

Ardentus ducked his head, “As you say, Master Tiberius.”

First, he was going to be fighting first.

Tiberius returned his attention to him. “Give me your hand.”

Unsure of himself, Dellen held his hand forth as though planning to shake.

Tiberius took his hand. The man’s steelskin was rough, despite his rank, he was no stranger to labour. A trickle of Electrical Aether fed into him.

“Excellent forging foundation. You hadn’t even reached First Trinity when you came to us,” his eyes narrowed and Dellen could see him examining his chin and neck, “No scars. Unusual. How did you come to be with the unsullied with a talent for forging, yet all but unforged?”

Dellen recalled Gilgamesh’s description of Copperopolis as a backwater. “I came from a place with very few Aetherforged, and none of the First Trinity or above.” His thoughts flickered to the Mercantile Guild, he realised now that all of their members would have been at least of the Second Trinity, with all of the advantages and extended lifespan that came with it. Watching people die of old age well before they had to. He swallowed his anger.

“Curious.” Tiberius leaned a little closer and examined him, “How unique.”

So much had changed for Dellen since he’d left Copperopolis, he wondered whether the city had the misfortune to receive visitors who could have wreaked havoc without breaking a sweat. For a moment, guilt threatened to crash over him, but he knew that if he hadn’t stopped the machine, Thaddeus would have, and that would have been worse.

Tiberius released his hand, “Send him first.”