“Remind me to show you a seer battle sometime when we’re past the dragon thing. I think there’s a few at the first vampire invasion, before they take over Celsin entirely. There should be time to get out, as long as we don’t kill anyone.”

“You’ll have to do the reminding, I’m afraid. But wouldn’t it be people standing staring at each other?”

“The opposite. I once tried to intervene in one, but my foreknowledge can’t keep up with the speed of their iterations. Battle seers are truly terrifying.”

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Jair followed Lord Veshin out to the underground preparation halls at the back of the arena, doing his best to appear interested as he gazed about the oasis.

Veshin Oasis wasn't much to look at from an artistic perspective, though Jair found even the low blocky structures of underground production facilities beautiful when surrounded by the proliferation of grass and trees and blue-glowing manalight. Compared to the dead desert that filled most of the continent, this was a paradise.

If not for the fact that sleeping in an oasis would cause long-term damage to his manabody, he'd be tempted to camp out in one of them simply to enjoy the atmosphere of life and growth. It wouldn't be the same, even then. The openness of Veor made it too easy to see anything coming; there was no uncertainty, no vibrancy.

He missed Orard, with its constant edge of danger, always close and unpredictable. Sleeping carelessly in the Oriad was a good way to wake up to something eating your face.

At the Astralla Institute, the dome did its best to provide exotic plants and an air of life and growth, but it was hard to forget that everywhere else was sand or rock or packed dust, dull and sparse shrubbery at best.

Here, one could stand entirely surrounded by growing things. The low groundcover was lush and vibrant, the occasional trees tall and in full bloom.

Inside was the usual combination of wood and stone, and Jair was surprised by how quickly the training rooms had started to feel comfortable. Like he belonged.

Curad gave him the basic tour, during which Jair did his best to feel out the man's willingness to create the custom armor Jair needed.

The necessary timeline was, as always, the biggest holdup. Veshin workshops were already fully booked for months, and to cut the line so drastically required a good bit more influence than Jair could hope to scrape together, regardless of how many bets he made.

No one had been willing to gamble a proper fortune against him. Several of the others made decent offers, while others declined and bet on him instead.

Still, even assuming he got the most possible from everyone he'd wagered with, that left him with barely over a million. Enough to set up any ordinary prodigy for years, even living in decadence. But for Jair’s purposes, not even close. It would cover material and manufacturing costs, but not enough to convince Lord Veshin to push other people out of the way.

"I'm curious, who else orders from you?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised. We have orders from the coastal front on multiple continents, Terluna wardens,” he raised his chin, puffing out his chest in pride, “even Nuprima explorers have requested House Veshin’s expertise. Nuprima conditions are the biggest challenge, even more so than frontline. At least with seascourge you have something to actively avoid. Nuprima just does its best to kill you."

"I like it."

"You…what?"

"Nuprima. It's harsh, but it's also one of the best places for training the manabody."

Veshin rubbed at his sizable chin, regarding Jair warily. "It’ll tear you apart."

"But as long as you can keep yourself together, it'll only make you stronger.” Jair shrugged away the topic, since it was clearly confusing Veshin, and shifted back to business. “Do you have any off-planet orders in queue at the moment?"

"Not for this cycle. Have a few long-term requests to get to after Solaria. Most of this cycle's are for Ardent Shield, the adventuring company. They're going to be passing through Veor on Terlunia, so it's essential the armor is done on time."

Well, so much for that plan. If it had been locals, he could try offering them bribes, favors, or gamble against their slots in the waitlist, but traveling adventurers wouldn't even be on the continent until far too late.

That would explain the steep price to push them out of the priority queue though. Outfitting a whole group like that would be a major contract, not the kind of thing to lightly risk.

Curad left him to his own devices shortly after showing him the way to the arena balconies. Denor and Raina should be arriving at some point, but before that he had a few more connections to re-establish.

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“Lord Teretho! Imagine seeing you here. I don’t suppose I can convince you to increase your wager? Now that we’re in private I can demonstrate exactly why I’m convinced I’m worth more than a mere forty thousand.”

Kyson Teretho's eyes flicked to Maelstrom's hilt.

Jair patted it affectionately. "I'm that confident. Meet my number, and I'll show you why."

"All of the intermediate tier? Round ten?"

"Yes."

"And if you fail...? I know you cannot match that amount."

"I'm yours to do with as you please. Service contract, personal squire, toilet cleaner, front-line messenger; whatever you wish of me, I will do without complaint."

"Two hundred thousand? It’s madness. I could buy a half dozen houses for that."

Jair waited, allowing their bubble of quiet to stretch, the pressure to build.

"You're willing to go that far?" Kyson Teretho would know the value of someone of Jair’s caliber. Even just being at the exhibition set him apart, even before showing his performance. To have Jair in his debt indefinitely was a tempting offer.

"I am."

Teretho nodded and held out his hand. "Two hundred thousand. Show me your proof."

Jair clasped his hand, then drew Maelstrom, holding it up in both hands. "Go ahead."

Kyson Teretho's expression shifted first to confusion at the state of the blade, then to wide-eyed shock as the Inspect returned the weapon's stats. "Legendary... I've never even seen..." Teretho's gaze snapped up to Jair's face. "How? You've had no time to become Ascendant."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I've had as much time as I need. Not all ascensions are the same, Lord Teretho, and my path is not one that can be imitated."

"That's what you did. Up on the stage, in front of everyone. You performed an ascension ritual. Somehow." He looked back down at Maelstrom's hilt, resting innocently at Jair's waist. "An ascension without a reforging, so the weapon is flawed, but the power..."

Jair didn't correct him. People were much better at convincing themselves of a perceived truth than at being persuaded of mere facts.

"What if I were to demand the sword?" Kyson Teretho asked. "As my side of the bet."

"I won't lose. Demand what you wish."

"I never thought I'd feel as though I were being cheap to offer a half million nirei, but I cannot gamble more than that."

"Half a million? You already met my demands."

"Having seen what you're willing to risk, I cannot in good conscience offer any less. Even this is insufficient, but however valuable your weapon is, I cannot risk ruining my house. As extreme as your challenge may be, I'm not convinced you'll fail."

Jair smiled. "Then you're as intelligent as you are wise. I thank you for the offer, and will look forward to collecting my winnings. Please do not betray my trust. No one can know the truth of Maelstrom's power, or those less honorable than yourself would be tempted to turn to dishonest methods of forcing it from me."

"You have my word. Your weapon's secret is safe with me." And with the twenty other people Jair had shown it to, but it was important to at least pretend to be discreet.

They exchanged parting pleasantries, then Jair left Teretho sitting in his box, still looking vaguely dazed.

He may have gotten as much as he could out of the Astralla parents crowd, but the other attendees here were much more likely to be willing to gamble. It would likely be a lot more small amounts, even if he was blatant about flashing Maelstrom to anyone who could be persuaded by its quality. Few had Kyson Teretho's sense of honor, and fewer still had the recklessness to wager that kind of money on a student exhibition.

He didn't bother to seek out Anna Deladan right now, her family connections weren't something he ended up using and her political influence would only be helpful in the later months. He needed to focus on more immediate concerns at the moment.

The focus on money necessitated a different approach, but playing up his confidence and seeming overreaching with his boasts of finishing the entire intermediate tier, he was able to secure an impressive number of wagers.

One other major gambler was willing to take him up on his hundred-thousand offer, but even with that he'd wind up far short. Unless Ursia Domir had managed to set up a lot more bets than Jair himself, he’d end the night at only around a third of what he needed. A staggering sum under normal circumstances, utterly meaningless without reaching the necessary threshold.

With his more focused and direct approach, Jair finished his necessary introductions and social preparations with almost an hour to spare. He collected food to nibble and headed down to the practice rooms for a more extensive warmup.

Even the few days’ difference left his body unprepared and stiff compared to later in the week. That was one of the worst parts of starting over, alongside the soul-draining boredom of the initiation ceremony.

He did his best with the time he had, stretching and massaging as necessary, but there was only so much to be done.

He wasn't looking forward to the exhibition matches. Even knowing Maelstrom could shatter nearly all of the adversaries, he still needed to be able to position himself well enough to capitalize on that.

"Oh, hello." Homiki Ielga, one of the other competitors, walked in with her sword in hand. "I didn't know this room was in use."

"You're welcome to join me." Jair smiled. “In fact, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

“Oh?” She blushed faintly and smiled. “If you’d like to practice together, I’m always happy to spar.”

"Would you be terribly offended if I were to kidnap you for ransom?"

Her smile didn’t waver, but her brow furrowed as she tried to parse his cheerful suggestion. "Pardon?"

"I'd like to kidnap you against your father's fortune. I only need about twelve percent of it, so you'll have plenty of inheritance left over, but it's rather urgent."

"That's what I thought I heard. I... feel like I should be offended, but maybe I'm just flattered you think I'm worth that much?"

"I could offer to marry you instead, if that would make you happier. I figure you'd likely prefer a brief altercation to a lifetime commitment, though."

"Again, I find myself perplexed. What are you hoping to accomplish here?"

"I need money very quickly. Your family is one of those to have the highest amount of viable currency on hand at any given time. The obvious avenues of obtaining it are through you."

Homiki placed a hand over her eyes, breathing with forced calm for several seconds as her brow furrowed more and more deeply. Then she looked up at Jair again. "If you're trying to ask me out, you're going about it in a very... unique way."

"Sure. Call it what you will. A kidnapping date. As long as it gets me what I need."

"And why do you need so much money so suddenly, pray tell?"

"Custom armor design with Veshin."

Homiki lit up immediately. "You made a custom armor design? Can I see it?"

Now it was Jair's turn to be confused. She'd never once shown an interest in anything he did in the past. "You don't have to pretend to care."

"No, I want to look. I've been considering getting a custom armor myself, but it's never been a high priority." A blatant lie. Homiki’s family were mageblade purists, and armor would be antithetical to her nature. But if she wanted to pretend, he could play along. From curiosity if nothing else.

"Then come on over to the house after class tomorrow, I can show you. And if you decide to play along with the kidnapping, I have a few ideas for that too."

Homiki laughed and raised her sword. “All the more reason for me to learn how to fight.”

Remembering some of her performance flaws, Jair guided her through a few specific practices to help offset her weaknesses, and advised her to move more quickly. The remaining half hour disappeared in no time, and then it was time to take their places in the arena.

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"Greetings friends!" Lord Veshin shouted from atop his pillar of blue light, arms spread wide to the arena and its surrounding viewers. "Welcome to the seventy-fifth annual Mageblade Exhibition!"

Jair waited in silence as Veshin went through the rules and did his quick demonstration of how the hardlight simulacrums worked.

"First to demonstrate for us today will be Homiki Ielga!"

Jair leaned over toward her and whispered, "Remember, be careful for its leg sweep, it's a lot stronger than you'd expect."

Homiki stepped forward, giving Jair a nod and confident smile as she slid forward to the center of the arena.

She waited for the call to begin, then struck out with her soulsword. The simulacrum smoothly blocked, unhurried and without taking precautions. Homiki locked their blades together and shoved, but the construct's other arm came up to intercept even as it crouched and swung its leg around to knock her feet out from under her.

Homiki jumped back before it could connect the strike, disengaging and putting distance between herself and the simulacrum. It walked steadily forward, blade sweeping in casual swings in front of it. Homiki circled and the simulacrum turned, keeping its weapon raised between them.

She darted forward and slammed her sword against that of the construct, trying to shatter it and buy herself a clear opening.

The simulacrum shifted to a two-handed stance and retaliated with a steady barrage of heavy strikes. Homiki matched it blow for blow, turning and retreating, feeling out the rhythm of the fight.

Without warning, she snapped out a quick stab to its thigh, smoothly returning to defence mode to deflect its followup attack even as the '1' lit up above her enemy's head.

This rhythm became the flow of the fight, block and retreat, circle, block and retreat, strike. She succeeded in accruing the necessary five strikes without its attacks so much as ruffling her robes.

Applause greeted her success, considerably more enthusiastic than the previous time, Jair noted. The lack of her initial stumble made the audience much more attentive.

"Will she be advancing to the second round?"

"I will."

Homiki continued her cautious approach, but as before the protracted method didn't do her stamina any favors. By the time she finished the second round, she was out of breath and declined to continue.

Jair watched her as she returned to the wall, considering. His brief tutoring session hadn’t been enough to increase her tempo noticeably. Was there anything he could say or do to change that, or was she doomed to be a two-round player forever?

Given her sudden interest in him, she might be a route worth considering.

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