Yinari Delk looked at the line of vulcanites in front of her with a tightly concealed distaste. She hadn't been known for her patience even before she'd toured every backwater from here to the Everdeep but after months of trekking through the continent's weakest cities, she'd gone from merely fiery to an all-encompassing blaze. In her rare moments of self-reflection, she was disappointed with what she'd become. But she hadn't met another proper vulcanite in close to half a year, and she could feel her crucible cooling more and more with the passing days.

Haegren Xhanner was a genius, a fact no one with any shred of sanity could dispute. But with genius often came some... eccentricities. And the Winterforge had gotten it in his head that there was an untapped resource in Tuwallo and other cities like it. What was the insight of one man, he asked, next to the knowledge of thousands? If Xhanner couldn't find other minds on a level with his, perhaps he could supplant quality with quantity. And so he had summoned her, and other vulcanites sworn to his name, and given her the obelisk.

"Take this, and tell me what the people of Asin see in it," he had said, an amused light dancing in his eyes. "You might be surprised what you find about yourself in the process."

Each new city was a set of horrors. Poverty, indecency, crime, and above all else a distinct lack of knowledge concerning the anima arts preceded her every step into these dens of depravity. She had even heard a rumor that a Hollow had beaten a vulcanite in the city's fighting pits the evening before. A Hollow.

Yinari sighed, and she saw all those near her stiffen as her tightly-held animus slipped her grasp for a tenth of a second. All those, that was, save for a young boy near the front of the line. Yinari focused on him, her crucible heating as she turned her senses towards him.

The boy was half a head shorter than the rest of the crowd, and his skin was a rare pale in a seaside city like Tuwallo. Pale and red. The boy was clearly sunburnt, though whatever discomfort he felt must have been minimal. His dark, curly hair sat in a haphazard pile on top of his head, the sides shaved close to the skin in a rough approximation of the style more popular in southern Terundra. His arms were covered in scars and bandages, and despite the fact he was obviously a laborer he had little in the way of mass. He was built, more than anything else, like a snake one might find in Omata's jungles. But what Yinari noticed most of all was that the boy's crucible was a black hole to her senses.

Her mind raced at the prospect. A vulcanite strong enough to hide his crucible, in a city like Tuwallo? The chances were... remote. Yinari was capable of crushing this city's military on her own. The odds of someone else of her level - or higher, if they were hiding from her - were so slim as to be practically obsolete. She'd reached the first galvanization years ago, so when she ran the numbers they were clear. Practically impossible.

Then she realized that there was a far simpler explanation.

The boy was a Hollow.

At his age, he should have been wilting under the scrutiny of her animus. Much less the rest of those in the line. But if he couldn't feel it, then that was another matter entirely. And when she realized that, everything else moved into place.

The boy was a Hollow, most likely one of the carnacle harvesters that worked in Tuwallo's waters if the scars were any indication, and he'd joined the line on a whim. Yinari's temper redoubled, and the line shifted again as they felt it.

"You." She hissed, the word sliding out of her in a way she was not proud of. "What do you think you're doing?"

The boy had the audacity to look surprised. "Waiting as instructed, Lady Vulcanite," he responded, clasping his hands in front of him in this city's equivalent of a bow.

"What makes you think that the Winterforge would find value in anything a Hollow has to say on the subject of anima artefacts?"

The boy tilted his head, seemingly in confusion. "I can read just as well as any vulcanite, my lady. Better than some, I'm sure. Is it hard to believe I might study animus before wielding it myself? Should only fish know the tides? Besides, you didn't say any vulcanite could view it without repercussions. You swore on your crucible that anyone who examined the artefact could do so freely and without fear."

Yinari suppressed a flare of irritation at the boy's words and used some of the iron will brought on by years of vulcanization to reign herself in. She shuffled through her memories and found the boy to be right. She had never specified that only vulcanites might look at the obelisk.

She hadn't needed to. Everyone knew that studying animus without being able to sense it was like a blind man critiquing a painting. Trying to understand animus as purely a hypothetical was... insane. Bordering on suicidal, considering how likely it was that the boy would step on some vulcanite's toes in the process. But Yinari thought for a moment, and understanding struck her like a slap to the face.

It was insane. It was suicidal. It was also completely, utterly unique. No Lutetium had ever asked what a Hollow thought of the anima arts. Yin was sure of it. Why would they? One did not ask an infant about philosophy. But Haegren Xhanner knew everything there was to know about animus as a vulcanite. There wasn't anyone alive who eclipsed him. He'd been born a genius, and his father had ignited him before he could walk. Haegren Xhanner had never been where this boy now stood. And the Winterforge had always told her looking at a problem from a new direction was the best way to solve it. This boy likely had no insight at all for a vulcanite of Xhanner's caliber, or even her own, but she couldn't help a small swell of hope.

"You are correct," Yinari replied, a careful exhalation releasing the anger she'd felt moments before. She clasped her hands in the Tuwallin style, unable to stop herself from bowing slightly to accompany the motion. "Please, examine the artefact and tell me what you see."

The boy smiled, giving her a brief nod, and stepped forward to view the obelisk. She watched as his eyes roamed the structure, noting the runes etched into its surface, and the boy took a few breaths before he spoke. "Well first, I'm pretty sure half of these runes are whaleshit."

Yinari started, her eyebrows rising. "Elaborate."

"I mean, I'm pretty sure they make light and nothing else. They don't follow the same general logic as the rest of the runes that I recognize here, and even if they did the light has a different quality to it. Like it's a design instead of a byproduct. I may not have anima senses, but I do have eyes," he smiled.

Yin let the disrespect flow around her like the tides, too focused on the truth of his words to take offense. "Go on. What else do you see?"

"Well, based on what I see here, this seems like it's the artefact equivalent of a condenser. It pulls environmental animus to solidify it for use in other artefacts. If I had to guess, there's a compartment towards the top you can open to extract the crystals. Ranges maybe... Here to that stall?" He continued, gesturing towards a gillfolk stall perhaps 75 meters away.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Yinari sat there in silence for a moment, her mind whirling at a speed several times that of a Hollow. "I see," she replied, trying to keep her face impassive. "Is that all?"

"Pretty much. I mean, you could make it more efficient. But other than that I don't see much. It's an effective anima condenser with a ton of obfuscation to prevent theft of the design."

If Yin didn't now exert near-flawless control over her body, she imagined her eyebrow might have twitched. "More efficient?"

"I think so. If you structure this as an inverted spiral, you'd create currents in the local anima that would allow you to pull in a larger range with the same runes. Also, since anima has mass, gravity would help you bring it down the spiral. Harder to build, but you'd make up the difference in effort pretty quickly. Get a little extra density out of the anima crystals too." The boy looked at her, the light that had been in his eyes before now dulling. "Of course, I could be wrong on all that. But if I am I think I'm pretty close. Does that count as 'divining the artefact's secrets'?"

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Seph finished talking to the vulcanite, and it was all he could do not to scream. She'd been watching him like a bird of prey for the past few minutes, which hadn't been too much of an issue while he was lost in examining the work in front of him.

And it truly was a work of art. Masterfully crafted, Seph could see the difference between the public structures here in Tuwallo and the condenser in front of him. Hewn from a single slab of some stone Seph didn't know, the obelisk was a masterwork. And if he didn't miss his guess, the Winterforge had put it together on a whim.

When Seph had suggested what he would improve, he thought the vulcanite might pull his head from his spine. But 500 chips... he couldn't help but ask. That was months of work for him and Nax. He had to try.

After an eternity, the woman spoke not to him but to the rest of the crowd. "Disperse! This contest is over! The Winterforge thanks you for your time!"

There was some grumbling from the crowd that quickly stilled when she gave some of the more vocal offenders pointed looks, and before long the flow of traffic through the market resumed its inexorable march. Only once the last of the waiting vulcanites left the vicinity did she turn and speak to Seph.

"Tell me the truth. Are you a vulcanite hiding your strength, or are you truly a Hollow?"

"A Hollow," he sighed. "Believe me, if I were a vulcanite I wouldn't be in this city another day."

The vulcanite snorted, her eyes dancing. "Fair enough. My name is Yinari. You can call me Yin. Congratulations, young man. Everything you said was true. I cannot speak to the improvements you suggested, but as far as the artefact's current properties, you were correct on all counts. You were even right about the range to within a meter."

"Seph," the boy said, holding his hand out to clasp forearms in the Omatan style. "Well met, Lady Yin."

She returned the gesture, the shock of today's events leaving her to abandon decorum just like she'd abandoned her rage at the task Xhanner had set before her. "Five hundred chips, young Seph. I hope you spend them well." She brought forth a bag from a nearby trunk, and Seph heard the clink of chips jostling against one another.

"I'm trying to pay for a friend of mine's ignition," Seph explained. "Thank you, Lady Yin," he said, clasping his hands together. "It's been slow going, but a little faster after today.."

"A friend? Why not yourself?"

"Nax is the best fighter I've ever seen," he shrugged, pocketing the pouch she'd given him. "Seems like a waste to ignite myself when he'll go farther than I ever could. Besides, once he has enough animus to ignite me he'll return the favor."

Yin looked at Seph like he'd just said Nax would fight the Sunscourge to a stalemate. She shook her head, her long hair swaying around her face. "I envy your optimism Seph. Good luck on your journey, and may your faith be repaid."

With that the two parted ways, Lady Yin disappearing into the throng behind him as Seph walked towards him and Nax's home.

Seph was accosted before he'd left the market.

"If it isn't the Tarmin boy, making trouble for the rest of us as always."

Seph turned, shoulders tensing at what he saw in the nearby alley the voice emerged from. Taller than most anyone Seph knew save Nax, Durge was infamous in the poorer districts of Tuwallo. The man was a menace, the type of person Seph had learned to avoid a decade ago. Built like one of the thunder apes in the nearby jungles, Durge had used his fists to terrorize Seph, alongside others like him, up until Nax had made him eat his teeth. A few years and scars later, Durge was surlier than a carnacle and had the intelligence to match. Seph thought that his last run-in with Nax would have put him off making trouble for the two of them anymore, but it seemed that 500 chips was enough of a pull for Durge's limited intellect to set aside the beating he knew would be in his future. Seph would be surprised if the man stretched the money past a few hours.

"This is a mistake, Durge. I won those chips from a Lutetium's representative. You think they take kindly to theft?" Seph grasped the blade tucked into his pack before thinking better of it. If Durge decided to rob him, he'd live. If it turned into a fight to the death, Seph wouldn't be the one making it out.

"I think I'll take my chances. The Winterforge caring about a Hollow?" The man chuckled, his dark laugh eliciting similar sounds from a few goons he had in tow. "That bitch forgot who you were soon as you stepped out of eyesight."

Seph sighed. "Why is today the day you decide to have your first thought?"

That turned out to be a mistake.

A few minutes later, Seph was lying in a market alley 500 some chips poorer and missing his work equipment. Durge probably would have left him his gear without the last insult, but Seph had always had a problem with his mouth getting him in trouble. It was the only way he'd ever hurt a man like Durge in the first place.

Once he dragged himself to his feet, he started the trek back to his and Nax's home. He couldn't recover the money, but maybe Nax could if he got to him fast enough.

Seph rushed home at a stumbling walk, his feet carrying him through Tuwallo's streets painfully slowly. When he got back to the apartment he and Nax shared, he was greeted at the door.

Nax's eyes were wide as he brandished the bag of chips in his hand. "Short vulcanite, long dark hair, looked like she could run through a castle wall. Friend of yours?"

Seph collapsed onto his bed, groaning, and the similarity to Nax the night before didn't escape him. "I see you met Lady Yinari." He knew he should be more relieved, but all he could feel was a burning anger at the fact a man like Durge had been able to take the chips in the first place.

"She didn't get my harvesting tools by any chance, did she?"

A pack hit his chest, and Seph wheezed at the impact.

"I can't tell if you're the luckiest or unluckiest man I've ever met." Nax sat on the bed next to him and handed over a letter, stamped with the twin hammers and frostwarden skull present on all of the Winterforge's iconography.

"She left you a note. Said next time you should try to hang on to your prize for more than a few minutes. How much is in the bag?"

Seph opened an eye and grabbed the letter with a groan. "You didn't look?"

"You're asking me if I looked in the bag a vulcanite delivered for you? No, Seph, I didn't look. I preferred waking up tomorrow."

That was an unfortunately fair concern. "Five hundred chips, courtesy of the Winterforge. One step closer to igniting you."

"One step? More like a hundred, Seph! We could have me ignited inside this cycle if we play our shells right!" The larger boy stood, pacing around their small apartment in thought. "How in the Fortress' wrinkled ass did you manage it? I heard something about a contest in the market for vulcanites. Don't tell me you competed."

Seph smiled, and for once the pain of his bruises faded behind his pride. "You're damn right I did. Beat a whole host of vulcanites, too. The Winterforge's own artefact, functions divined by yours truly"

Nax clapped a hand on his shoulder before pulling back after seeing Seph's wince. "Sorry. But Seph! A representative of the Winterforge himself! Don't you always say he's the real genius of the Lutetiums? And not only that, she cared enough to return what was stolen from you!" Nax stopped his pacing and stared at Seph. "This is incredible. Once we're both ignited, maybe you could turn this into admittance to Gorunhold. Imagine what you could do with actual resources instead of scraps of paper filled with vague nonsense."

"You just described most books on artificing," Seph chuckled, sitting upright. "And you're overly optimistic. I was a passing curiosity for them, nothing more. But," and here he stood, shuffling his way over to open the bag of chips and show Nax. "It's certainly a start."

Nax grinned, and the boys clasped forearms. "I'll repay what you've done for me, Seph. My future crucible on it."

Seph shook his head. "We've been over this. No debts between brothers."

"Not a debt," Nax replied. "A promise."