Though the group couldn't be considered regulars at the State of Rest, generally too focused on their work, when Theo led them into the darkly lit restaurant the guard only nodded at them. This time, they weren't present to acquire information or even to relax: Theo showed one of the staff the permission plate that House Blacksilver had given them and they were escorted to one of the back rooms.

Theo craned his neck as they walked, glancing over the board of notices, though not to look for new opportunities. It felt like a long time ago that he'd first been here and learned about the Chasm of Lamentations. Now, if all went well, they would be using this place to take steps closer in several different ways.

When they were seated in the small room, the server didn't depart or provide a menu slate, as usual. Instead, the young man gave them all a polite bow from the doorway. "Your pass specified that you receive our Ruler's Banquet, which is one of our finest meals made from purely Fithan ingredients. However, I need to warn you that the intensity of the cantae could potentially be disruptive to your soulhome, and if you spend more than three years at Archcrafter tier, the potency may fade."

"Thank you for the notice," Nauda said blandly. Theo had to resist the urge to snort, since those warnings would hardly apply to them. With another bow, the server stepped away and they were left alone.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Theo turned back to the others. "We have just under four months before we enter the Chasm of Lamentations. There aren't many specific steps we need to take beforehand, so our goal should be an overall improvement in our soulcrafting. Partial constructions could be a liability, so does everyone know what they want to focus on finishing?"

"I will begin by completing the mistsphere chamber," Fiyu said. "Combined with my barrier wall, my stealth technique should be as effective as it can be, at this tier. I hope that will be helpful?"

"Likely extremely helpful, but I hope you have other plans?"

"Yes. The darkburn bonsai cannot take a permanent place on my second floor, but I can temporarily integrate it and improve cantae flow."

"I wanted to ask about that," Nauda said. "You intended to keep the entire second tier empty for a Corporeal Floor, right? I'd never even heard of someone building one of those as an Archcrafter until I met Esaire, and I'm not sure it was a good idea in his case. Imagine if he'd dedicated all those chambers to new techniques to use against Theo, instead of reinforcing his body."

"Perhaps, but the fact that he rebuilt his body allowed for him to make full use of all his speed chambers. I thought that it was a reasonable decision. What do you think, Theo?"

He hadn't expected the conversation to turn to him and only shrugged. "I usually expect it later just because it feels so costly to spend an entire tier on a Corporeal Floor when you only have two, but I imagine there can be good reasons. Why did your relative's blueprint place it there?"

Despite everything they'd been through together, Fiyu hesitated before answering. Soon after, she generated a stealth sphere around the three of them and spoke in a low voice. "The blueprint was meant to be a secret, but I can tell trusted companions. The overall goal is for the first three tiers of my soulhome to be a self-contained unit."

"Not so different from my blueprint, then." He'd thought of it as a sandwich technique, though he'd never said it aloud because he wasn't sure if it would really translate. "Why is the Corporeal Floor in the middle?"

"It will build on everything I developed on the first floor. For example, my stealth technique currently projects cantae around me, which is much easier to detect. One of the chambers planned for the second floor will make my body itself take on the same characteristics. The third floor will include chambers that would be dangerous for an ordinary body, but possible for a body that has been altered. Then all three will be strengthened as a unit when I ascend to Authority. I believe that is the true objective of my relative's blueprint."

It was a good idea, which didn't surprise him since Fiyu's blueprint had always been solid. Trying to soulcraft that way did leave her weaker until the full plan was complete, far more drastically than any of his trade-offs. Not a risk he could have stomached, but a very Ichili way of thinking. By the time she reached Authority, she would have a body perfectly forged for her specific techniques.

"Aren't Corporeal Floors unusually difficult?" Nauda asked. "I don't even fully understand them, but I was always told that you need to consider every system of the body, every organ, even details like fingernails and hair. That seems difficult for an Archcrafter to design."

Fiyu bobbed her head as she released her stealth technique. "Yes, that is why I must wait for my relative to assist me in the details. I was given the layout and a few techniques, but it requires greater expertise."

"You don't actually need to include every organ," Theo said. "It's just that if you miss something, you'd either need to waste a lot of time remodeling, or you'd need to create another Corporeal section, which is extremely wasteful. I trust that Fiyu has a good blueprint... I just hope that you have other work to do in the meantime."

"I believe that I do. I intend to continue building my barrier wall as high as I can, so that I can hide myself entirely. If I finish such a thing, I would be able to explore any environment with somewhat lessened risk."

"What about armaments? Unless you intend to grow something into your body, there's no room for them on your second floor, and I thought those bracers of yours were quite powerful."

"Unfortunately, I must wait until my third floor. As a Ruler, my body will have adapted to use armaments more effectively."

"Actually, I have a different idea." Theo wished that he had paper to draw on, but Fiyu was intelligent, so he just sketched a few quick circles on the table. "It might strain the edges of your soul, but you could add a sort of gatehouse to your barrier wall. Usually that wouldn't be a good place for an armament, but since it controls the way you expel cantae, that's actually a good position."

"A gatehouse?" Fiyu tilted her head at him and eventually smiled. "I believe that is a good idea, and then the bracers would not take up a later chamber. Please teach me more about it later, Theo."

"I will, since I need to be putting a lot of time into a barrier wall myself. Speaking of which..." He glanced over at Nauda, but she immediately rolled her eyes at him.

"Believe me, I already know what you're going to say. But if my plans work out, I don't intend to be hiding my soulcrafting at all, so it'd be wasted time for now. Unless you have another brilliant idea for a special barrier wall that would work with my blueprint."

"Well... not really. Fiyu's case is unusual in that it might be able to include a secondary purpose. Generally you want your barrier to take up as little soul space as possible. But they're still essential t-"

"Do we really want to have this conversation again now?" Nauda started to say something else, but at that moment the staff returned with their food.

That had been much faster than Theo had expected, and he quickly understood why: only some of their food was fully processed, the rest composed of sublime materials that would develop in front of them. Several pots bubbled with cooking ingredients, ready to be eaten at the perfect moment. Trays were loaded with side dishes, notably buns stuffed with numerous different ingredients and pastries composed of hundreds of delicate layers of sublime foods.

At the heart of the meal, however, was an elaborate contraption put together in front of them. A plate of levitation stone lifted a plate that glowed hot blue. Somehow it radiated all its heat directly up, and pieces of meat were placed atop it. They bobbed and hovered over the plate, turning on their own and rapidly cooking. That explained the trays of uncooked meat being added.

"Your meal is served." Only one staff member remained, the same Fithan man from before. "Ordinarily I would explain every sublime food in detail, but it seems that you have much to discuss. Perhaps I should leave you to your meal?"

"Can anything about how we eat it affect the food's potency?" Theo asked. The server immediately gestured to the tray of meat.

"Most of these can be cooked to taste, but this section of rocklion meat is most potent when burned extensively. Otherwise, please observe that each of you has been given a container of sunsalt. This ingredient is somewhat less palatable than the others, but it will draw out other flavors, and if you consume the entire container by the end, it will complement the meal."

That was as elaborate as any meal Theo had eaten before - apparently House Blacksilver wasn't skimping on them here. Nauda thanked the server and dismissed him before they all turned inward to focus on the food.

Everything was delicious, the flavors enhanced by their souls' hunger for the cantae. It took a little time to learn how to hook the pieces of meat and place them above the hovering plate, but it soon became second nature. Nauda was skeptical about the rocklion meat until they discovered that it actually tasted better when burned, most pleasant when reduced to a pungent crisp.

Though he enjoyed the meal, Theo thought more about the potential argument with Nauda. In the end, he decided that he couldn't make the decision for her, even if he believed he was right. Once they had sated their hunger, he paused between bites and restarted the conversation on a milder note.

"Nauda, you said that you wanted to ascend to Ruler?"

"I'm sure that I can, it's just a question of how much I can build on my third floor." She waved her meat hook idly over the central plate. "Is the Chasm of Lamentations a safe place to soulcraft?"

"I think so, but I don't know if we'd have time. Traditionally it opens for roughly three days, though there are certain events that can reduce or prolong the time. Even if it's extended for an unexpected amount of time, it will likely be an intense struggle for sublime materials." Given the statements everyone in their House had made, he could only hope that it wouldn't turn even worse.

"In any case, ascending will be my top priority. However, I need to use all the craftgems we acquired to bind my most powerful sublime materials to my soulhome. They're currently straining my limits, but if they're firmly in place when I ascend, the new cantae should solidify the whole structure."

That was true, and it would certainly enhance the raw strength of her techniques. He still wanted to offer advice and settled for finding the right questions. "I assume you'll use the new space to strengthen your current techniques. Do you have something in mind?"

"I need a better armament chamber for my staff... actually I wish I'd designed that a little different." Nauda bit her lip, but moved on before he could say anything. "Once I have appropriate sublime materials, I also need several chambers dedicated to my warding techniques. At Ruler tier, they could transform the basic concept into several more useful forms."

"You have the potential to unlock new capabilities, then. Not bad. That's the sort of thing we need for the Chasm."

Fiyu carefully finished chewing on one of the pastries before wiping her mouth to speak. "Theo, did you not say that you intended to develop a primary sense? Or... I mean a non-physical sense, more like an Ichili."

"That's the plan, and I've found a material for it. We'll still rely on you, but given the dangers, we could use redundant security."

"I was thinking the same thing. Might Nauda be able to develop a sense as well?"

He hadn't considered it for long, since he thought that two overlapping senses were probably sufficient. She did have a point, however, and Nauda seemed receptive. She smiled at Fiyu and pushed another pastry to her. "I have an empty chamber that could be used for that. Would you be able to help me soulcraft it?"

"Me? Oh..." Fiyu picked up the pastry in both hands and examined it. "I do not know if my knowledge would be helpful. It would be heavily dependent on what type of sense you wanted to develop and what manner of chamber it would require."

"That, I'm not so sure. When we were in Ichil, I thought about trying to see heat. I think this is where I do want your magnanimity in wisdom, Theo."

Hastily swallowing his current bite, Theo pulled together his thoughts before answering. "You have options, since your soulhome has many different themes. I definitely wouldn't suggest adding a new one, such as copying Fiyu's. What about... a sense for life itself? So long as you took precautions for demons or constructs, it could be very powerful."

"I'm open to the idea, but what kind of sublime material would you need for that?"

"Good question. I've studied those chambers enough to tell you about the shape and cantae flow they require, but the material will need to be something appropriate to you. Might be hard to find life-based materials here in Norro Yorthin, so keep your eyes open when we travel elsewhere."

"It does not seem like Arbai would be a useful place either." Fiyu seemed disheartened on Nauda's behalf for a moment, then smiled again. "But perhaps Navim will be able to uncover aspects of Arbai that we did not see, or perhaps even imagine a new sense."

"Could be." The conversation lulled as Nauda finished off some of the last of their food, but when she finished, she stared at Theo with a more serious expression. "Setting all these soulcrafting issues aside, when are you going to tell us about the Chasm of Lamentations itself? We've been supposedly working toward it for a long time, but I don't know much about it other than the 'great danger and great reward' line that has never before been used to describe anything."

Theo stopped chewing a moment, surprised as he reflected how little information he'd given them. It wasn't that he'd been trying to withhold anything, he'd simply been so absorbed in his own plans that he hadn't fully considered how it would appear to them. Perhaps another legacy of his life on Earth, and another he'd have to think about... later.

"Sure, I can tell you more." He wiped his hands off on a napkin and began sketching a map in the grease on the hovering plate. "The Chasm is a small region, perhaps even a small world. It's a sort of jagged triangle, elongated like this. There's a plain on one side, but the rest is dominated by a... strange sort of river. It looks like pure white water, but as far as I can tell, anything that falls into it dies. Even Authorities might only have a short time to escape before it killed them."

"How can a river exist over only a small space?" Fiyu asked.

"I'm not sure. It seems like it mostly flows underground and only appears in the Chasm, but since water that lethal would have a huge impact, I assumed that it flows from somewhere outside the Nine Worlds. Anyway, the river is only one of the threats, but it's an example of how dangerous the Chasm can be if you don't understand it."

Nauda sat back, gripping her staff. "And you're confident that you know about these lesser threats?"

"I've asked around, and all the common knowledge shared from previous Chasm events matches mine. For example, there are flowers that can blind you if you look at them while they bloom, and rocks that produce a strange sound that causes bleeding."

"But you also have knowledge beyond what everyone knows? Because it sounds like we'll be competing with a bunch of Authorities, not just from Norro Yorthin but all over the continent."

"I'm fairly confident." Theo added several more details to the plate map. "Most say that navigating along the river is too dangerous, but I can take us along the cliffs all the way to the waterfalls, which will let us avoid other soulcrafters. Finally, at the far end of the river, there are ruins from some ancient civilization, which contain more dangerous traps but potentially even more valuable materials. Now, it's possible that others have gotten inside, but if not, I know specifically how to access some of those ruins."

"Huh." Nauda settled back, nodding slowly. "I guess you do have this thought through."

"Why is there a far end?" Fiyu asked. "Does that mean it is not possible to enter the Chasm from all sides?"

"We never did before," Theo said, "and I assume there must be a good reason for it. Given how the Chasm appeared on both Noven and now Fithe, it might be capable of moving, and we can only access it from a particular angle, regardless of how it might appear. Those rules don't seem to have changed at all, so we have a chance to sneak in ahead of everyone. The sublime materials there would be perfect for when we reach Authority, and there might even be ancient armaments or other valuables."

It seemed like he'd convinced both of them, but Theo increasingly wondered if he was able to convince himself. He believed that the risk was reasonable, especially given the reward, but so many other doubts lingered. Had he truly found the Chasm naturally, or had Vistgil been responsible for guiding him there? Was this still a part of his plan, moved to Fithe for reasons unknown?

More than the sublime materials, Theo hoped to find some answers.