By the end of the day, they had a total of seven rainhorns. Without the two they had stolen from Delarde's group, it would have been much worse hunting than the previous day, even going into less hunted territory. While they returned to the city, Theo heard rumors that the court was going to trigger some kind of effect to flush out hiding rainhorns for the last day of the hunt.

Once they entered city limits, Theo let the others get ready for the evening while he went to sell what they'd hunted. This time he went to one of the Armeau family merchants, intending to extend an olive branch that might deflect a little hostility. He was given a doubled increased price, and politely tried to decline it, but equally politely accepted it in the end. Esaire might be angry that he was losing the wager so far, but his family needed contributions more than money.

Most importantly, they now had over 2000 Silver Crowns, which was a small fortune for first tier soulcrafters. Even if they did poorly on the final day, they had enough to purchase a reliable vehicle with enough left over for their travels. On top of that, they had kept the three best sets of antlers for themselves, though he wasn't completely sure how he'd use his.

Though it would be good to discuss strategy, when Theo returned to meet the others, he realized that it wasn't time for that yet. They'd joined a feast in a neutral courtyard and purchased some of the rainhorn meat, clearly desiring a rest. Considering that a major conflict was still possible, they needed to be at their best, so he decided not to press the issue.

Senka was with them, chomping one of the pieces of meat. Of course she was. The little brat disappeared most of the time, then showed up again when it was time to eat something, or just to annoy him. He'd tried using her to hunt rainhorns on the second day, but she'd been more than useless.

"You got the doubled price, didn't you?" Nauda smiled when he approached, uncovering a plate of steaming rainhorn venison.

"Yeah, I did. So we already have what we need."

"I figured that we would, so I ordered a version of the dish specially prepared for soulcrafters. They added spices and greens - uh, silvers - to improve the cantae generation. It's not extraordinary, but it certainly tastes good."

"We have enough even with that purchase, so good choice." Accepting that they didn't want to discuss strategy at the moment, Theo just sat down to eat alongside them.

For a time they ate in silence, just relishing the food. It really was remarkably savory, and the additions helped it slip right into his soulhome. He'd organize it later, for the moment focusing on the conversation. Some of it was about hunting, or when they might return to Tatian, but for the most part they simply enjoyed one another's company.

Since they had been silent during most of the hunts, Nauda and Fiyu took the opportunity to ask questions they'd apparently been holding back. Nauda said that there were places on Tatian where animals naturally wandered into villages when they were about to die, offering themselves up. He thought he'd heard corroborating stories of that, but was more interested in where she had learned to hunt. Fiyu was the only one to answer that question, explaining about stalking animals in the Moonscape along with her relative.

This was one area where they completely surpassed him, because Theo had concentrated on other skills during his time on Earth. He had developed basic survival skills, but he knew that his life in the Nine Worlds would ultimately come down to soulcrafting. Though he'd taken strong first steps, he remained at the mercy of far too many soulcrafters, much less Vistgil.

After the first course, a cheerful peasant delivered strangely cloth-wrapped items that Nauda had apparently ordered. The rough outer cloth contained a mix of different types of meat, heavily spiced - not really a sublime material at all, but when he picked out the pieces, he found them delicious.

"I've done a few favors for the villagers," Nauda explained, "and they suggested we try these. You can't live on sublime foods alone, so I thought this was a good time to try them."

"It is too spicy." Fiyu's face was flushed, but she kept returning to pull another piece into her mouth.

"Yummy, yummy!" Senka chimed in cheerfully, talking through a full mouth. Theo abruptly realized that she wasn't eating the meat out of its container, she was chewing straight through the cloth. He just stared, while Nauda reached over to extricate it from her grip.

"Senka, you're not supposed to eat that part..."

"Don't take Senka's yummies!"

The two of them squabbled over the wrap, which made Fiyu laugh and Theo roll his eyes. It would have been a better meal with just the three of them, but he could put up with the imp for now. After he'd ascended far enough, he would need to do experiments on inter-world travel, and having another outsider to test might provide useful data. Especially an expendable outsider.

Though Senka whined interminably about not getting to eat the cloth, the meal eventually came to an end. Fiyu licked some of the spices from her empty wrap, then experimentally took a bite, only to immediately remove it from her mouth. Theo supposed that he should commend her open-mindedness.

"Should we rest and get an early start tomorrow?" Nauda asked. Fiyu immediately shook her head.

"It's only just stopped being so bright. We should do something."

"Actually, we should discuss what we intend to do on the last day." Theo wiped his mouth and set the cloth aside, doing his best to ignore Senka and look only at the other two. "We have the option of purchasing a sleigh as soon as possible and departing. There are advantages to that, if we want to make sure to avoid any further conflict."

Nauda tapped her fingers along the table thoughtfully. "Our whole plan was to invest time here because the hunt is our best chance to earn money. I don't think that the additional risk of one more day hunting is so high that we should just give up that opportunity."

"I agree, but I wanted to ask you first. There's also an economic risk: lots of other soulcrafters will be temporarily wealthy after the hunt, so prices might go up. I've had to push to get the money immediately, so I think it's usually given among the prizes at the end."

"Can we buy our vehicle now?" Fiyu asked. "We could get a sleigh and use it to help on the last day."

"It's not a bad idea, but I think that's a bigger risk." When they turned to look at her, Nauda shrugged. "It would make us a bigger target, plus it could potentially be destroyed. Fiyu almost broke that sled with collateral damage, and there are a lot of Archcrafters or even Rulers participating. Another day of hunting is worth it, but not risking everything we've worked for."

"That is rational." Fiyu paused, nodding to herself for a time, then brightened. "Could we arrange the purchase tonight and acquire it later? Can that be done?"

Theo raised his eyebrows as he considered the idea. "The dealer might try to renege on our deal, but now that Nauda is an Archcrafter, she's due respect, unlike base soulcrafters. Plus, they don't sell sublime material vehicles so often that they can afford to just ignore a sale."

And so, they headed off to contact one of the sellers, even though it was already late. Some of the wealthier regions of the city remained lit up by ivory lanterns, but most were beginning to fade and the moon only cracked the horizon. With Fiyu moving at the head of the group, spreading her senses through the shadows, they were essentially safe. The dangers of Deuxan weren't bandits attacking in alleys, after all.

When they arrived at a likely store, the merchant and his family appeared to be getting ready for bed, but when they showed the number of Silver Crowns they were carrying, he hastened to accommodate them. Soon enough, they were the only ones in the display courtyard, free to choose among those they could afford.

That proved to be most of the most reliable versions, none of those gilded for nobles. Each was made custom, of course, so there were no standardized models or obvious patterns, but Theo quickly discerned that there was a logic to the construction. Different sleighs produced for different purposes, from narrow and highly efficient vehicles for leaders to defenseless sledges that could carry a great number.

Within their budget of 2000 Silver Crowns, Theo thought they could get a highly functional sleigh that could float with all three of them plus supplies. He dismissed attractiveness out of hand, but even looking at the most modest creations, they were going to need to choose between space, defenses, and agility.

"Given what we've seen, we might look for durability." Nauda stood in front of one of their options, a compact little sleigh with high reinforced sides. "This one looks like it could take a beating."

"It is very small." Fiyu stepped to the side and regarded the seating area dubiously, then looked to the owner. "May we try it?"

As soon as they received a confirmation from the owner, Fiyu hopped up into the sleigh, so there was no choice: they were testing it out. There was only one bench, so they needed to join Fiyu on it, which quickly proved that there wasn't enough space. Even with one person wedged into the space for supplies behind, their bodies ended up pressed together.

Fiyu shivered and shrank into herself, prompting Nauda to try to shift further away. "Are you okay, Fiyu? Is this too close for you?"

"It is okay." Fiyu's voice could hardly have been less convincing. "This is not intimate touching, it is necessary. It is okay."

"Clearly it isn't." Nauda hopped back out, for once not needing to restrain the urge to pat Fiyu. "We can pick something larger than this. A few sublime materials as defenses won't help if a Ruler or a dangerous sublime beast attacks us. If we pick a larger sleigh, we could effectively use it as a platform to fight."

"This is a good idea." Fiyu bobbed her head in such eager agreement that Nauda only barely restrained her smile long enough to redirect it toward Theo.

Regardless of the reasons for her decision, her logic was sound. If they continued advancing in the Nine Worlds, they would eventually leave behind even the most expensive sleighs offered in the city. They could grow better vehicles on Siata, and any priority would be better met by something else: Arbaian floating fortresses for defense, Ichili cloudships for stealth, Noveni wings for speed, and likely others he'd never even encountered.

Eventually they settled on a narrow sleigh that had three separate seats, as well as good speed and lift. It was lacking in defenses and maneuverability, but Theo managed to negotiate a deal with the owner: they could return the following day with their earnings from the hunt and purchase a more ideal sleigh. Allegedly without any markup, though Theo anticipated an argument about that.

Still, it had been a successful trip, and he felt confident that they would soon possess a reliable vehicle to take them north of Nlukoko. During his first life, he'd been given a far more expensive flying vessel by an impressed Deuxan lord, but Theo felt a sense of satisfaction that he had actually earned this one.

Though their business was done, Fiyu was clearly not ready to go to sleep yet, so they wandered further into the city. They came across a fountain in the center of a large square, the silver water spouting from the top rendered dreamlike in the moonlight. Most Deuxan nobles still awake were at bloodhouses or private mansions, so the square was almost shockingly empty.

While appreciating the fountain's beauty, Theo drifted into his soulhome. Ideally they would have a significant amount of time to soulcraft on their journey north, but he decided to operate on the assumption that it wouldn't go so easily. The question was what he could do to improve his efficacy in a short period of time.

First, he picked up the meal of rainhorn venison, placed it on a wooden plate from Tatian, and added it to his feasting table. The wooden plate didn't look quite right, but he didn't want to spend money on sublime dishes from Deuxan. Besides, the difference in strength between a perfectly set feasting table and one just piled high with powerful sublime food wasn't overwhelming. He did take some of the displaced flamefruit and tossed them into his singularity.

His chambers to create mass or anti-mass were functional, simply not powerful enough. It would take a lot of intricate work on the walls to improve them, which was time he didn't have. Spending all their money on the sleigh meant that he couldn't afford any dramatic new sublime materials, and those would be monopolized by the local court families anyway.

One thing he did have sitting unused was the impressive set of rainhorn antlers. They didn't generate much cantae, but they were filled with solidified strength, with a particularly sharp edge. If he was a swordsman like in his past life, they would have been perfect for hanging on the wall of a sword chamber. He could also add them to one of his empty rooms, letting it strengthen the cantae and hopefully improve its effect, but it wouldn't be ideal.

Ideal... Theo wandered through the corner rooms, examining each technique. What he needed to do was find a less than ideal solution that could serve as a stepping stone.

Eventually he decided on his torsion chamber, which was still nothing but carvings. Given time, it could become something truly dangerous, but at the moment it wasn't viable. However, if he changed his goal and turned it into a more ordinary cantae attack, he might be able to create something he could actually use.

Focusing his will, Theo drew out one of the solarstone blocks in the wall by spiritual force alone. He didn't have materials to create a window or anything more elaborate, but opening the hole made it easier to interact with the outside world. That could be the basis of a technique.

First he tried to just prop the rainhorn antlers in the hole, but it felt wrong. Instead he found some old hearthtree wood and built a hasty frame, with a place to attach the antlers. Not pretty, but it created a proper aperture to release a technique. The room would generate gravitational and twisting forces, which filtered through the horns to create a sharp bolt of cantae. He knew that he'd definitely need to replace it in the future, but it might actually work. Of course, he could refine the concept further...

"Senka found you!"

Of course she did. Theo could feel her running around the fountain and decided that he didn't notice her after all, just focusing on his soulcrafting.

"You're a bunch of fumpets, leaving Senka alone like that!"

"We didn't leave you," Nauda said. "You just wandered off."

Fiyu nodded her agreement. "You need to be careful, Senka. This world might be mostly safe, but there are other places where something might try to eat you up."

"That's scary!" Senka paused, then tilted her head. "Or not scary? What if Senka likes being eaten up?"

"You should still be cautious. We can't protect you if we don't know where you are!"

"What about Jake? Jakey jake. Jake jakey jake." Senka began spinning in circles around him, repeating the fake name in a singsong voice. He continued ignoring her right up to the point where she started clambering up his back. "Jake, hey, Jake. Do you like Senka, Jake? Why are you being so mean?"

"Let me soulcraft." He emerged just long enough to speak, but it didn't seem to stop her, climbing up onto his shoulders even while soulcrafting.

Eventually he'd had enough, leaving his soulhome and reaching back to grab her. She tried to scurry away from his grip, but he managed to pick her up. Standing, he held her in both hands in front of him, briefly surprised at how light she was. Senka beamed up at him.

"Jake does like Senka! Give Senka a kiss!"

Theo dropped her into the fountain.

At first Senka spluttered and thrashed wildly, leading Fiyu to stand up in alarm, but eventually she managed to begin swimming in a rough doggy paddle. "Now Senka has swimmies! Swimmies are fun!"

Fiyu laughed, Nauda smiled, and Theo decided that he could endure it for at least a little while. From a distance, perhaps with earplugs.

He moved away from the fountain to continue soulcrafting, but found himself looking over his shoulder at Senka's antics. Part of him still wondered if she might possibly be some sort of construct, perhaps a lost tool designed to sniff out certain materials. A more sinister explanation was that someone had sent her to track them, but he'd never seen her do anything particularly suspicious, or even any actions that benefited herself. If anything, she seemed designed to annoy him.

There was more soulcrafting to do, and Theo resolved to focus on it until they needed to sleep. The solution for today was refining his techniques, but he'd need to strengthen his body if he wanted to survive against Archcrafters. Perhaps it was time to begin an advanced technique in his empty western room...