“I quite understand. In the original language of my homeland, ‘Eithan’ also means ‘tiny fish.’”

She leaned forward. “Really?”

“No. It means ‘embodiment of impossible perfection.’”

Jai Long didn’t believe that either.

“Speaking of my homeland, I seem to recall that you were able to use a version of my bloodline power. Can you still see things through strands of madra around you?”

Jai Long shifted, trying to get his sister’s attention to signal her not to answer the question. Eithan was pushing them, questing for their weaknesses. The less she told these strangers, the better.

“Only if I concentrate,” Jai Chen said happily, and Jai Long cursed his own failure. He had raised her to be too trusting.

She gestured to her dragon. “He’s better at it. If he really tries, he can see things over a mile away.”

“Then he is very talented,” Eithan said, and the sincerity in his voice convinced Jai Long that he must be lying. Of course, Jai Long thought the same about every word from Eithan’s mouth.

The Underlord inclined his head to the pink dragon, and Fingerling preened under the attention.

“And how about you, Jai Long?” Eithan asked. “I hear you’ve been having quite the adventures here in Sacred Valley.”

Jai Long had known this was coming, and he had an ironclad defense ready.

“Not by choice. I have nothing left to do with the sacred arts. I’m done.”

If he made a vague statement, the Arelius Patriarch would interpret it however he wanted. Jai Long would leave no doubt: he wanted nothing to do with the world of sacred artists anymore.

Eithan nodded along as though he understood. “A wise decision. Who needs to sprint from advancement to advancement? Stay as an Underlord, I say.”

Jai Long had to keep himself from snorting in disdain. Eithan had made it to Underlord young enough that he would almost certainly reach Overlord one day, especially considering how strong he was and how many resources he had access to. There was no way he would be content as an Underlord.

Eithan snapped his fingers. “You’re not an Underlord yet, are you? But you made it so close. Surely you’d want to stay somewhere with stronger aura for a while, just to see if you could take that last step.”

“I would not dare to take the leap to Underlord so lightly, Patriarch Arelius.” He hoped his tone would shut Eithan up, but if it didn’t, he could stonewall the conversation all day.

In fact, he had been tempted to go stay outside Sacred Valley for a few months, to test himself and see if he could reach Underlord.

But that temptation was nothing weighed against safety. And Sacred Valley, while not exactly welcoming, was at least filled with weaklings.

“Patriarch Arelius?” Eithan repeated. “We’re old friends at this point, Jai Long. By all means, relax.”

“If you insist.” It would be wiser to keep his mouth shut, but Jai Long saw the opportunity to strike back. “You must be proud to have trained another Underlord so young. Perhaps he’ll even reach Overlord soon. Isn’t the dream of every master to be surpassed by their student?”

Jai Long had known enough Underlords. They all said they wanted their disciples to surpass them, but every time someone showed greater talent than theirs, they erupted out of wounded pride.

That should be enough of a jab that he would get to enjoy some discomfort on Eithan’s face, but not enough that he’d display open anger in front of all these Akura Golds.

Instead, Eithan’s eyebrows shot up.

“Underlord? Haven’t you heard? Lindon’s a Sage.”

This time, Jai Long did snort in disbelief. He didn’t say anything, but his contempt should be clear. Joking around was one thing, but Eithan would have to make his lies more believable if he wanted to deceive Jai Long.

But Jai Long didn’t like the look of the smile that slowly widened on Eithan’s face. “Waaaaait a moment. Have you not scanned Yerin?”

He hadn’t, but only because he’d been trying to stay away from Yerin as much as possible. Even if Lindon didn’t hold a grudge—which Jai Long still doubted—the Sword Sage’s apprentice certainly would.

“I did,” Jai Chen put in. “I don’t mean to be rude, but is there something wrong with her? Her spirit was…strange.”

“How so?” Eithan asked, in the tone of a man who already knew the exact answer to his question.

“It felt like her spirit was all tangled up with her body. Like her madra channels had melted into her, if that makes sense.” Jai Chen lowered her voice. “Was she injured? Is that why she’s so weak now?”

“That is not why,” Eithan said. “Young lady, you have done well to keep your eyes open. Your brother is…woefully uninformed.”

Eithan was clearly implying something, but if he expected Jai Long to display any curiosity whatsoever, then he was hoping in vain. This would all end with the Underlord trying to get something out of them, he was sure, and Jai Long wasn’t about to fall for it.

Eithan waved a hand, and a Truegold in Akura colors quickly sped up to catch up with him. “Yes, Eithan?”

“Ikari, if you don’t mind, would you address me by title? Just once.”

“Of course, Archlord. In fact, I would be happy to continue—”

“You can go back to before, thank you, Ikari.”

The Truegold woman gave a bow and fell back among her fellows, but Jai Long was staring at Eithan.

Archlord.

There was no way it was true.

Jai Long hadn’t thoroughly scanned Eithan, that being a good way to start a fight, but he had been close enough to the man to get a good sense of his power. He was still an Underlord, Jai Long was sure.

Even accounting for the curse of Sacred Valley, which left them all little better than Jades, he was certain that Eithan hadn’t grown any stronger than before.

He was…almost certain.

Eithan spread his arms wide. “By all means, Jai Long, I invite you to scan me and confirm for yourself.”

With the feeling that he was falling for some kind of trap, Jai Long extended his spiritual perception.

He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, exactly. He had never had the chance to personally sense an Overlord, much less an Archlord. If he could feel the full force of Eithan’s spirit, he could be certain, but everyone was suppressed here.

Certainly, Eithan’s body had been thoroughly reforged in soulfire. It felt like a perfect conduit for energy, even more so than the Underlords Jai Long had sensed before. But did that mean he had advanced, or just that he was above average in this one aspect?

Jai Long couldn’t tell if the man was truly an Archlord or simply a peak Underlord, and was about to say so.

“Ah, excuse me, I forgot a veil.”

Then a dim part of Eithan’s spirit became clear, and Jai Long felt the pool of soulfire at the center of his spirit. A dense flame of reflective chrome, like quicksilver imitating fire.

Archlord soulfire. It had to be.

Jai Long had never seen it before, but it was unmistakable. This was at least two grades higher than the soulfire he held in his own spirit.

He withdrew his perception as though the silver flame had burned him and fell to one knee. He was breathing unnaturally quickly, but he couldn’t keep it under control.