In the end, he gained a better understanding of where he stood.

His hunger arm could absorb the full power of a Remnant now with very little waste, but he had nothing to do with that power. He could catch it and release it. He needed a technique to process and control the energy inside his body, rather than trying to grab anything he could directly.

Eithan’s Path of the Hollow King emphasized the property of pure madra that the Seven Principles called Emptiness. Pure madra diluted other aspects, effectively emptying them out and taking their place.

Lindon could integrate that into his own Path. The Empty Palm already worked that way, and he doubted it would change the Soul Cloak much. More importantly, the principle gave him the idea for a new technique.

He had seen other sacred artists use Ruler techniques to duplicate boundary fields, controlling aura to create certain effects inside a certain radius. Why couldn’t he flood an area around himself with pure madra, preventing anyone else from using techniques?

It would take an astronomical amount of madra, and he hadn’t been able to figure out a stable structure, but the theory was sound. Dross was able to simulate different versions of the technique, and Lindon had already begun testing several of them.

It was in working on that technique and consulting his Path of Twin Stars manual that he realized the solution to his hunger madra problem.

He needed a technique that worked inside of himself, filtering and separating madra. That would be a spirit Enforcer technique, and he had started looking through the Arelius technique library before an idea occurred to him.

He had a technique like that.

The Heart of Twin Stars.

It had been designed to split one core into two, but it was a spirit Enforcer technique compatible with pure madra. With a few modifications, he and Dross were sure they could get it to work.

Which left him, on the evening of the fifth day, with three projects: develop the Heart of Twin Stars into a proper filter, continue simulating the pure madra boundary field technique until he found a version he was comfortable practicing, and assemble a set of armor for testing.

Lindon wrote as much into his notes and sat back in his chair, satisfied. He had made great progress, and he had plenty in front of him. To occupy his time.

While he was alone.

His satisfaction waned.

Little Blue rolled a scale across the desk in front him, and Dross spoke into his mind in an encouraging fashion. [Don’t worry, don’t worry! This should be plenty to keep you busy for three more weeks. Who needs a Sage?]

It wasn’t the lack of a Sage that bothered him, and it wasn’t entirely loneliness. It was that they were out there fighting for something, while he was only preparing.

Other people were fighting over Dreadgods, or training to stop an invasion of the Blackflame Empire. Meanwhile, he couldn’t help.

At least not yet.

“Two more days,” he said aloud. Northstrider had borrowed Dross twice in the last five days, but neither time had he given Lindon more useful advice. But he had reiterated that Fury was scheduled to arrive at the Wandering Titan’s location in two more days.

Charity was supposed to visit before that, and he could try to convince her to send him along.

He could wait two days. It wasn’t as though he didn’t enjoy Soulsmithing, research, and practice, but none of that could compare to actually stealing power from enemies.

If he could get the Consume technique working, he could be an Overlord before the next round began. Or at least a peak Underlord.

A knock echoed at the door, startling Little Blue so that she let her pure scale fall off the edge of the table. She pouted a moment before scampering down to go get it.

Lindon stretched his spiritual perception outside, and when he felt the identity of the person at the door, he used a brief burst of the Soul Cloak to leap across the room and open it.

Akura Charity stood there, dressed like a peasant worker. She wore simple brown with a stained smock, her hair frizzy and tied behind her with a rag.

The outfit tugged on something in Lindon’s memory, but he didn’t chase it down, inviting her in.

She drifted inside after him. “I have come to discuss your reward,” she said, but of course Lindon knew what he wanted.

“If it’s not too much to ask, could you bring me to help your father around the Dreadgod? If you could send me there and bring me back for the Uncrowned matches, I would be grateful.”

Ideally, she would transport him to the Wandering Titan battlefield in between each round, bringing him back for every fight, but that might be pushing his luck.

Charity was silent for a moment as she considered. “I had intended to offer you the inheritance of an Archlord Soulsmith, but if you would prefer transportation, I can agree to that instead.”

Lindon’s certainty came crumbling down.

A true inheritance was a dream tablet that a Soulsmith spent years working on, containing their life’s knowledge of Soulsmithing. They contained such depth, detail, and complexity that they could only be fully integrated by one person, and so they were created to pass on a Soulsmith’s knowledge to an heir.

It could also take years to digest the experience in an inheritance, although with Dross’ help, Lindon suspected he could make that process much, much shorter.

With an Archlord inheritance, Lindon could go from a talented Soulsmith with a miraculous dream-spirit to a true expert almost overnight.

“I’m…certain,” Lindon said, though the words scraped his heart raw. “As long as I will have more opportunity to earn advancement resources on the battlefield.”

“That you will. And I must visit Sky’s Edge periodically anyway, but taking you along will cost me more of my time and attention. Given that, this will be your only compensation for the tournament.”

“I understand.”

“Very well. I will be ready to depart in three hours. Prepare yourself.” She turned to leave before adding, “Most of our vassal factions are helping us secure this territory. Including the Seishen Kingdom. They may have already arrived.”

Lindon remembered the fury of their Overlord king when he had discovered the death of his eldest son. That pressure still felt like it was choking now.

He remembered Kiro’s Remnant rising from the floor of the Akura storehouse. A scythe of green flame that had cut short Yerin’s life, and the gray-eyed woman who wielded it.

“Gratitude, but that does not change my answer.”

He had known he was stepping into danger as soon as he’d chosen to step into a war zone around a Dreadgod. He could accept a little more risk.

And he had overcome the Seishen Underlords when he was a Truegold. He might not be Uncrowned, but he didn’t have to cower before them.

If the Consume technique worked as he hoped it would, they might have to cower before him.

A vague hint of a smile crossed Charity’s lips before she left. “Three hours. Be ready.”

It took Lindon that long to finish packing.

When Charity finally ushered Lindon away from the Ninecloud Court, he was swallowed up by shadows.

Unlike some other times he had been transported, he didn’t see blue light. He felt only darkness swallowing him whole.

[Don’t worry about the dark, I’ll light things up for you,] Dross said.

A bright light shone straight into Lindon’s eyes. Though he flinched and turned away, he couldn’t escape the glare.