Though only some of the students had been present for the nighttime battle, it caused a shift in the atmosphere of the school. For a while everyone was trading stories of the fighting, more than a few of which Theo suspected were embellished. He and Fiyu stayed in darkened rooms and continued soulcrafting, their plans only slightly changed by the acid testing.

The biggest change for him was the sense that there was another time limit actively working against him. Whatever resources he had, Magnafor couldn't get through the barrier too quickly, but he was obviously trying. Talking to him directly would only antagonize him and reporting it was likely to cause backlash, so Theo merely watched for clues as to what timeline he had in mind.

His role in the battle might not have been dramatic, but he was allowed to request a sublime material for his trouble. He asked for some noonstone, a more intense version of solarstone, and did his best to chip away at it. Fiyu spoke with him regarding local options and decided that none of the materials were correct for her defensive chamber, so she instead requested something for her own soulcrafting.

As a more subtle reward, Nauda gave him more freedom about which classes he attended. That day he had volunteered to join one about sublime materials, in small part because he hoped it might be useful and in greater part because the instructor was the Archcrafter who had healed him long ago. Apparently she had come all the way to Myufuru to teach several classes about healing, but also a few subjects better suited to an ascended soulcrafter.

"Sublime materials are generally classified according to the same tiers as soulcrafters," she said, showing several simple materials. "But it is important to remember that, unlike with soulcrafting, these distinctions are artificial fences placed in the field. There is no significant difference between the strongest simple materials and the weakest Archcrafter materials. In fact, one or the other might be easier for you to use, depending on your personal inclinations."

So far, the lesson had been entirely simple facts he already knew. He worked on his soulhome while he listened with one ear, hoping everyone would assume that he was soulcrafting based on what the lesson said. Not every student was capable of doing both at once, but it was common enough that it didn't raise any eyebrows.

If nothing else, he hoped to get her opinion on the tree he was still attempting to grow. Despite his best efforts, and use of the sublime water he'd been given, it had only become a miserable little sapling. Whatever was wrong, it fell outside his knowledge and it was impeding his progress on the blueprint, so perhaps it was time to ask an expert opinion.

For a time he'd thought that his foundation was flawed in some way and put effort into it, watering the grass itself. Yet it had kept the yellowing aged look and only grown thicker and longer. He'd reluctantly asked Nauda and she'd said that his foundation seemed strong and uninjured, though too unfamiliar beyond that.

"Now, no doubt some of you are wondering why we're hoarding all the Archcrafter materials to ourselves instead of letting you use them. I thought that I might demonstrate the reasons why with a little challenge."

The words caught his attention and Theo rapidly left his soulhome, focusing fully on the class. At the head of the room, the old healer revealed a small box from her robes, undid the lock, and held it open. Within lay a single pearl, its luminescence overflowing the box. Definitely a powerful sublime material, and though it seemed attuned toward healing, he couldn't ignore it.

"This is a Pearl of the Falls, a somewhat rare Archcrafter material. Normally, it would be placed on a special altar within a healer's inner chambers, in order to focus their cantae. But as it happens, I already have one, so I thought I would let all of you... make an effort to take it."

A long time ago, Theo had gone through exactly the same lesson and proved himself incapable. This time, he had an idea. He threw himself back into his soulhome, pushed aside the noonstone, and rapidly began hammering at his newest boulder of solarstone. Soon enough he broke off an appropriately-sized chunk, but then he had to begin chiseling it out, which was no easy task.

Meanwhile, the healer continued speaking. "The challenge is this: if you are capable of using this pearl within your soulhome, it is yours. But if I teach you anything in this class, it is that this task is more difficult than you might think. I urge no one to take the challenge if their soulhome is unstable or if they are not confident in themselves."

Several students immediately rushed to make the effort, forced to stand in line. Most failed at the very first step, squeezing the pearl to try to draw it into their soul home and simply failing. One managed to pull it inside, but found it too heavy to carry. That led to a delay, as she had no way to remove sublime materials herself and the healer needed to carefully extract it.

Meanwhile, Theo worked furiously on the piece of stone, hollowing out the center. He could use another piece of stone as a lid, but he needed something to bind the pieces together, to make the spirit of the object clear. Perhaps one of the new minor materials that had been distributed...

"I did it!"

Theo recognized the voice and looked up to see Kuber raising a triumphant fist, but the old woman shook her head slowly. "You've drawn the pearl within yourself, but the challenge is to use it in your soulhome. You may be ready for that step, but all of us will observe your progress."

The instructor beckoned to Nauda, who stepped up and helped the class form a circle. Even among the instructors, her ability to look directly into soulhomes was rare, so more than a few made use of it. Theo set aside his work reluctantly to take part in the demonstration.

Since the last time he'd seen Kuber's soulhome, it had gained a section of thick stone wall... but also a wooden wall. It seemed he was working furiously to create his outer wall, with barely any chambers within. That seemed entirely irrational, since he could have built a more durable soulhome if he worked chamber by chamber. As far as Theo knew, several small chambers held as much cantae as a single large one, and they were sturdier.

Only Kuber had any concrete form, carrying the pearl with both hands onto his foundation. He started to pull it into one of the makeshift chambers, but the walls immediately began to vibrate. With a frown, he adjusted one of the boards and shored up the wall a little, but when he attempted to bring the pearl inside, once again the wood started to tremble.

"Do you see the difficulty?" The instructor's spirit floated closer, gesturing to the makeshift room. "As young soulcrafters, your souls lack the stability to endure more powerful materials. Trying to place the pearl into such a small room... the cantae it generates will overwhelm the walls and could even cause permanent damage."

"Then I need to use a bigger room." Kuber scowled down at his foundation, then moved to his pile of sublime materials and revealed a tarp. He began to string it across one of the outer edges, forming a new chamber of massive size. Their instructor frowned visibly, even in her spiritual form.

"I strongly advise against trying this, young man. Building a chamber around a sublime material is almost always unwise... there will be no time to change your mind if there is a poor reaction."

"Or the chamber will be able to contain the pearl's strength and I'll win your challenge."

The class shifted nervously, trading glances amongst themselves, but though the instructor took a step forward, she couldn't actually take action within his soulhome. It was theoretically possible, just not at the Archcrafter level. Theo found himself wincing, despite knowing that he couldn't be harmed since he wasn't truly present.

Soon enough, Kuber finished his new chamber. He closed off the last wall, then bent down to pick up the pearl. Even as he did so, the tarp began to flutter wildly, the air crackling with raw power. For an instant, his eyes widened in horror as he realized his mistake, but he only took one step toward the exit before the world exploded.

When Theo could see again, the tarp had been torn away, most of the wooden walls had collapsed, and even one of the stone walls had a large crack running through it. The pearl rolled innocently across the floor, harmless now that the pressure had been relieved.

Kuber sat on his knees, his spiritual body unharmed, but the damage that had been done to his soulhome was obvious in his slumped posture. Since the pearl was a healing material, it likely hadn't dealt any permanent injury to his foundation, but his attempt had destroyed many days of work. That wasn't even as bad as it could be: higher tier soulcrafters who failed to integrate a new material could see it crash down through lower levels, smashing all in its path.

"I'm sorry for this, my boy, I truly am." The healer floated beside him, trying to put a hand on his back and instead passing through. "Will you help me retrieve the pearl from your soulhome? You've given us a clear, if sorrowful, demonstration, so I'll do my best to make it up to you."

Soon enough she extracted the pearl and Nauda closed the link, returning them all to class. Only Kuber remained soulcrafting, no doubt still stunned and miserable. Theo noted with a final glance that his foundation was completely undamaged - the Tatian man might be overambitious, but he wasn't a fool. If he was desperate to reach Archcrafter, that could also explain why he was building such a simple room for his first floor.

"I hadn't wanted the demonstration to be so stark, but now you see it." Their instructor shook her head slowly. "This is why we ask that you trust your betters and not attempt to rush forward to sublime materials that you are not yet prepared for. Now, the nex-"

"I'd like to try." Theo spoke up for the first time that class and all eyes turned to him, most in surprise, and the old woman's eyes twinkling.

"Am I going to need to heal you again, young man? I thought you had a good head on your shoulders."

"I have something in mind." He stepped forward and, since she didn't stop him when he took the pearl, pulled it into his soulhome.

There, he ignored his simple buildings entirely and instead walked to the roughly hewn box, the shape and hinged lid making its purpose clear. Though it was no great masterpiece, it served a useful purpose: holding sublime materials without attempting to draw upon their power.

So Theo carried the pearl over to the box, dropped it inside, and closed the lid.

A few students winced, expecting it to explode, but the box held the pearl harmlessly. It granted him no strength, but the material was contained and technically part of his soulhome. Theo hefted the box inside his vestibule, set it down, and then gestured grandly.

Complete silence reigned until the old woman laughed loudly. "Well done, young man, well done. You've entirely missed the spirit of the exercise, but I suppose you've fulfilled the letter of the challenge. Are you really going to steal an old woman's pearl with a trick?"

"No, I won't." Theo carried the box back to her spirit, but his intent hadn't been to show off. When he drew closer, he spoke to her in a low voice. "But I've shown my ability to handle more powerful sublime materials safely, don't you think? This pearl would be better given to a healer, but could you help me find something more suited to me?"

"And I don't suppose you'll be interested in first tier materials, either." The old woman regarded him seriously, but as she took the box back and began the extraction process, she gave him a slight nod. "I will speak to Nanjuma and see what I can do."

That accomplished, Theo let her take the pearl and remained silent for the rest of class. That rough little box had been his most successful construction yet.