Ingaldria - a joined collection of continents, which are separated by channels but not ocean. Sometimes called a supercontinent, each ingaldria is assumed to have once been a single piece before seascourge divided them into their current forms. Few histories exist from such times, but the relative shallowness of the divisions between continents within an ingaldria and the unified color of their surrounding waters as seen from the moons do support these theories.

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Jair landed disorientingly back at the start, on the initiation stage in the central dome of the Astralla Mageblade Institute, standing opposite an unhappy Dalin Larenok. Gold light receded and silver flared to life as Maelstrom's ascendant soul raced down his arm to reshape its past vessel.

Jair's hand tightened on his sword as Larenok moved as though to claim it for himself.

"You?" the headmaster hissed with a deep scowl. "How? What is this?"

Jair didn't respond, mind already rushing ahead to plan through the coming encounters.

Someone in the audience coughed, as others broke into hushed whispers. Professor Derall pointedly cleared her throat.

Larenok shook himself out of his envious daze and recited, "Having received the class of Mageblade, now take your weapon and stand as one of us," eyes never leaving Maelstrom.

Jair bowed exactly according to specifications. "I gladly accept your greeting, honored master." He kept his tone level, though it was a perpetual struggle to keep from sniping at Larenok every chance he got. Not worth it. Another time, perhaps. Right now, his priority was getting through this ceremony with his sanity intact.

He bowed and walked across the stage to stand with the others, giving Maelstrom a few casual twirls as he did, its pulsing glow drawing eyes from across the gathered audience.

Headmaster Larenok scowled at him, but Jair ignored him. He took his position among the other new initiates.

"Wait until you see what it can really do," he leaned over to whisper to the girl beside him. Who happened to be Homiki Ielga.

She gave him an uncertain look.

Jair winked, then stepped back to his usual place toward the back. The next two hours passed with their usual excessive slowness. He had to fight off constant intrusive daydreams of variously running off to the desert to be alone, doing a violent reworking of Institute leadership, or simply screaming at the sky until he passed out. None of which would be helpful, and all of which would slow down his eventual escape from this tedious purgatory.

"Having received the class of Mageblade, now take your weapon and stand as one of us."

Applause broke Jair from his dull reverie, the longer-lasting variety that indicated the student initiations had concluded. The last speech began, every moment seeming to take longer than he'd imagined possible. Jair recited the speech under his breath in a silent countdown to its completion, the words long ago becoming meaningless to him.

Then, blessedly, it ended. Larenok stepped down from the stage with the last applause, waving the guests to the prepared tables, but his eyes were fixed on Jair. "Welburne, I want a word with you."

Thankfully, Larenok wasn't the only one making a beeline for Jair. Raina rushed over, Lady Ielga clearly had her eyes on him, and from the way Lord Veshin was arguing with his retainer Jair could tell his invitation would be coming soon.

"Congratulations!" Raina grinned, eyes fixed on Maelstrom's hilt. The ceremonial sheath contained the unstable weapon's glow, but having shifted itself to match the weapon’s unusually broad shape gave clear indication of something being non-standard. "I told you you had nothing to worry about. And your sword... What happened up there? I've never seen anything like it."

"I should never have doubted your wisdom." Jair gently steered her away from Larenok and in the general direction of Veshin. Thankfully, the babble of congratulations and gossip provided a sufficient excuse for not hearing the headmaster's repeated attempts to catch his attention. "If you'd like to see my new sword in action, you should have the chance in just a few hours." He nodded at Lord Veshin, who was still in heated discussion with his compatriot.

"You really think you have a chance?" Raina lowered her voice.

"I've been practicing."

"Practicing? When did you find the time?"

"I don’t fully remember. I am rather tired now." Jair laughed. "I'd suggest you get some soulspell meditation done in the meantime, there's a few people here who want to talk to me and I'd rather not keep them waiting."

"People?" Raina looked toward Homiki and her mother, who were pointedly looking in Jair's direction, then Matricia Eldren who hovered about ready to swoop in the moment Jair was alone. "Huh. Guess you are popular all of a sudden."

"I'll see you at the exhibition later. This is too important for me to ignore."

"Yes, go talk with all your new friends. I'll see you later." There was a faint note of sadness in her voice, one she tried to conceal, but Jair knew her too well.

"Don't worry, I'll get you in more trouble than you know what to do with before the week is out. This is just for appearances. I'd much rather spend the evening meditating with you, but..." he waved a hand at the gathered nobility. "Opportunities like this don't come every day."

Raina nodded, mollified. "I'll see you later, then. Good luck."

The moment she started for the tables, Matricia Eldren stepped forward to smoothly offer her hand. "Hello, young man, I don't think we've been introduced yet."

"Indeed not, Lady Eldren. I am Jair Welburne, Mageblade."

"So I witnessed." They spent some time in polite nothings as she asked after his progress in school and plans for the future, which he answered with equally polite nothing as he inquired about herself and her household.

The casual conversation quickly turned into a casual interrogation, as she delved deep into Jair's fictional family background and actual school background, as well as his plans for the future.

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Twice, someone tried to interrupt, but she waved them away imperiously and away they went.

He gave roughly the same answers as he had previously, shifting a few things to align a little better with her preferences, but otherwise leaving the conversation to its natural flow.

"I wonder if you'd be interested in joining us for Solaria in a few weeks? I'm hosting a modest gathering of some of my close friends and new acquaintances. I like your ambition, and I think you'd do well with us."

She wasn’t even waiting for Teretho to make the first move this time. Jair smiled. "I'll certainly consider it, Lady Eldren. I might have a business proposal for you before then, if you don’t mind my dropping in."

She slipped him a token stamped with the transit access for her family oasis, and Jair accepted it with a bow. Then she dismissed him and strode off to speak with her niece.

Kyson Teretho was the next to approach.

"Welburne, congratulations on your initiation."

"Thank you, Lord Teretho." The usual route was a careful dance of flattery, honesty, and eagerness. Jair didn’t feel like being careful at the moment.

"I'm sure you've met my son Lian by now?"

"We've met,” Jair admitted. “While his record is impressive, I find myself more confident in my own."

"Indeed?"

"Are you a gambling man, Lord Teretho?"

"Not ordinarily, but I have been known to make exceptions. What are you suggesting?"

"I'm looking to purchase an outfit worthy of my weapon, and to do that I need an exceptional amount of money. I'd wager my capabilities against as much as you're willing to risk."

"An open offer? That's certainly unusual for someone of your background."

"When I say I need an exceptional amount of money, I mean exceptional. Not only by my personal standards. And I am willing to bet a lot on my future performance."

"What performance would this be? I've not heard your name mentioned before now."

Jair nodded toward Lord Veshin, who was in the process of sealing an envelope.

Teretho's eyebrows drew together. "Indeed? I cannot fault your ambitions." He folded his arms. "I question the value of your offer, however. If you fail, what benefit will your favor do me?"

"I won't fail. If you need further proof, give me a number. How much are you willing to wager against my overconfidence?"

"And what benefit do I gain if you win?"

Jair smiled. "What do you want, and how much are you willing to spend on it?"

"I'd wager up to a thousand nirei that you'll not surpass Lian, and in return—"

Jair scoffed. "Apologies, Lord Teretho, but a thousand isn't worth my time, much less my loyalty. I was thinking somewhere around two hundred thousand."

Kyson Teretho all but choked. "Two hundred thousand? As a wager on a performance? Are you mad? Ten thousand, perhaps, if you were to attempt something truly exceptional, but otherwise…"

Now it was Jair's turn to cross his arms, confident. "I'll wager I can make it through the full intermediate tier."

"Impossible."

"Then you've nothing to lose."

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"Welburne!" Lord Curad Veshin, as round and ornamented as ever, bustled over to greet Jair with a warm double-handed grip. "It's high time we were acquainted, considering your friendship with little Raina and all."

"Lord Veshin! I don't suppose you'd be interested in a friendly little wager?"

If it worked once, maybe it would work again.

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The problem with coming up suddenly from nothing was that everyone knew he came up suddenly from nothing. If he'd been a foreigner who showed up with Maelstrom, a flawless victory record and nothing else, they'd be willing to throw their money at him a bit more freely.

As it was, they assumed that sums like two to five thousand nirei would be enough to wow the country kid, and at an event like this that was practically an insult. Sure, his reputation before this morning was utterly insignificant, nothing worth paying attention to, but that didn't mean he deserved to be overlooked so dramatically.

Words alone weren't doing nearly enough. Feeling reckless and irritated, Jair flashed Maelstrom to the next person he accosted—Ursia Domir, Boris’s mother.

"Want to make a bet? I'm willing to put this up against anything you care to offer. Minimum three hundred thousand nirei, but you know that's a bargain. This is priceless."

Ursia stared at the sword with confusion.

Jair sighed. "Inspect it, you'll see."

Ursia's mouth opened wordlessly as she stared. Then her lips went very pale and she toppled backwards in a dead faint.

Jair reflexively caught her and lowered her gently to the ground, then waited patiently for her to recover, leaning on Maelstrom's hilt while he loitered. It didn't take long, Ursia roused and sat up, staring wide-eyed up at Jair and the erratic silver glow of his sword.

"Y-you…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Legendary, ascended? How?"

Jair reached down and helped her to her feet, matching her secretive tone. "Secret training from an elusive master deep in the Oriad. I invited him to come, but he doesn't get out much. Even for his favourite student's initiation, he just threw a brobeg at me and said to get lost. Alas."

Ursia put a hand to her chest, and Jair put out a hand to steady her in case she were to faint again. "How can you wager a soulbound item? That's impossible to break."

"Yes, and no. Maelstrom is part of me, but so's my arm. I could cut that off and give it to you easily enough. It'd be hard and painful and require specific equipment, but it's very doable."

"And you'd risk that... maiming your soul... over a bet on an exhibition match?"

"I'm very confident in my capabilities. And those of my sword."

Ursia slowly shook her head. "I don't even know how to value something like that. It is indeed no ordinary weapon, but... it seems on the verge of falling apart."

"It's not."

"You may believe that, but can you ensure that it survives being severed from your soul?"

"I haven't done it before, so no, but--"

"Then you may be promising me a paper moon."

"If you contest the outcome of our arrangement, I'll submit to your best judgment on the matter of the results. If you'd prefer we add witnesses to the deal, go ahead. I'm that confident that I'll be able to perform beyond anyone's expectations."

"It's certainly possible, with a weapon like that... assuming it doesn't collapse altogether."

"If it does, you can require whatever other recompense you prefer."

Ursia tapped her chin, head tilted in consideration. "You really believe in it that much?"

"I do."

She took hold of his arm and leaned up to whisper in his ear. "Then I won't be betting against you."

Jair frowned. That... wasn't what he was aiming for. Overconfidence was supposed to make people more willing to jump into proving him wrong, not scare them off entirely.

But Ursia continued, "I'll be betting on you. If you're right, we'll split the profits. If you're wrong, I'll have sole custody over your future arrangements of any sort. Schooling, military placement, all of it goes through me."

"A safer bet than trying to sever my weapon from my soul, I see."

She smiled and leaned back, but didn’t release his arm. "And if, as you say, you'll definitely be winning, you have nothing to lose."

"Indeed. The arrangement is agreeable to me. Now, exactly how much are you willing to put on this, and who will we be able to convince to take it?"

"You leave that to me." Ursia's eyes flicked around the assemblage. "I can think of a few people who I'd be happy to see a little poorer tomorrow."

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