An electric streetlamp cast a soft yellow mood over the sloped moss-lawn. The golden moments of twilight flickered across the shredded Abyssal sky, tightly built slopes of Half-Valley, and the gray roundpole fence separating the Anderson residence from their neighbors.

Hannes inspected Bii’s note under the light of his torch. “Hm.”

“Have you heard of the place?” Felix inquired.

“Hollow Conservatory. No.” Hannes folded the note neatly and returned it to Felix. “It does remind me of some delver cyphers, though this could be written by a traitor, considering the allegation against our Abyssal Lord. I could ask my teammates, if you’d like. Their discretion can be trusted.”

“Thank you. Please do,” said Felix.

Bii hugged Hannes’ boot, pinging with gratitude.

Hannes’ attention remained fixed on Felix. “Now. Let’s see your relic.”

Felix exhaled, closing his eyes. His mind flew inward speeding to the familiar place, a safe corner of his soul where Felix kept his relic. A wintery shiver passed through his bones. He grabbed hold of it. Where he would’ve merely mentally tugged on the relic to manifest it, Felix instead yanked it out as fast as he could imagine and tore it from his soul. Felix opened his eyes and caught the object emerging from his chest.

Unbound, the relic appeared as a child-sized doll carved from ice blue wood. White sticky webs wrapped around its limbs, imitating muscles. Before the numbing coldness could seep through his fingers, Felix set the relic on the ground. Hannes, Linda, and Bii gathered around it.

“The design was inspired by the logs of Marianne North. She had great ideas for using inert plant-themed relics as cheaper substitutes for body enhancement relics. For the bones, I used depleted icewood from broken refrigerators. For the muscles, I bought a whole bunch of absorbshroom webbing from a sale. It was ten chips a bucket!

“Since trees and mushrooms are often symbiotic, the two relics get along on a conceptual level. Furthermore, the core of a tree is kinda like the bone of the tree, which reduces the conceptual dissonance of using them as my bones. I had some troubles getting the webbing to work as a muscle substitute, until I wrapped it around the limbs like this.

“Icewood offers great durability, but absorbshroom is the star here. The webbing absorbs kinetic energy, from both impacts and movement, and releases it in one big burst.” Felix puffed his chest with pride.

“It’s ability is physical enhancement type, under natural category,” said Linda, like it was a part of her class report.

“That’s right. Thank you Linda.”

“Hm.” Hannes knelt closer to inspect the tendons connecting the web to wood. “It’s a composite relic.”

“Yup. I’m really proud of the seams. They haven’t fully fused yet though, so far it’s stable.”

“Good craftsmanship,” said Hannes.

A surge of joy lifted Felix’s smile. “Thanks.”

“You should break it into an ensemble.”

“What?” Felix stood back. “But the efficiency is way higher as a composite.”

“True.” Hannes nodded purposefully.

Felix cocked his head, confused. “Soooo, you want me to make it worse?”

“Yes.”

“Er. Okay. You lost me completely.”

“Worse only in the short term. Composites are some of the most powerful relics out there. A well fused composite will improve the inherent synergy of the relics, but there’s a good reason you rarely see younger delvers with them. When you delve into the Abyss, you’ll discover new relics and dangers at a rapid rate. You need to stay adaptable. To overcome the Abyss, delvers often have to switch out relics every delve. Only once you’re a lead torch, you start to see people with composite relics, and more permanent ensembles, unless, of course, they were fortunate enough to be gifted a composite heirloom.”

Felix hadn’t considered that, but realized that most every log he’d ever read did mention switching out relics. He felt as if a small truth about delving clicked. “Okay. Makes sense.”

“Bind and manifest it. Show me what it can do.” Hannes took a few steps back.

Felix touched his relic. It slid into his soul as easily as a foot slides into a well worn boot, simply disappearing into his body. After binding, Felix manifested the relic. Familiar coldness suffused his bones.

“You didn’t mention its name,” Hannes said, while manifesting his.

Gray liquid gushed from under his clothes and exposed skin, enveloping Hannes in a transparent blob with short arms and legs. Like whispers of fog, off-white swirls appeared on its surface, gathering into islands atop the blob. Most dispersed into a small cloak of fog behind Hannes. Others solidified. A moustache of tentacles and two droopy eye-stalks with their eyes closed protruded from the head of the relic. Finally, a flat hat-shaped spiral shell grew atop his head.

“Whoa,” said Linda. “Cute.”

Felix was doing squats to reload the webs on his legs. “Name? Maybe something like Scrappy, or Scrapwood Doll, or Springload Dancer. I haven’t decided what I want it to be just yet.”

“Hm. You should always name them fast, and stick with it. They say it can affect how the relic works. I call mine Dream Sentinel. It is technically sentient, but behaves more akin to feeling, due to being asleep. The abilities are natural physical enhancement, conceptual physical enhancement, and limited conceptual creation. You may read the full description in my logs later.”

“Okay. How do we do this? A spar?”

“Let’s do something slightly different. I’ll try to catch you, and pin you down. You can do anything to repel me, as long as you do not damage the lawn.”

“Sounds good. When do we—”

Felix dove to the left, barely evading a hugging grab. Hannes-blob’s momentum slowed abnormally quickly for such a huge being, as if he was floating in honey. He pivoted on one leg, and sprang after Felix with unhurried, softly floating, deceptively slow looking movements.

A soft blob brushed Felix’s arm. Hannes tried to grab his wrist. Felix released the movement stored in that arm in a wide backhand sweep. Gray jelly indented before his knuckles. The recoil launched Felix stumbling, and threw Hannes backwards for the whole total of ten… twenty centimeters?

“Hm. Impressive,” noted Hannes.

Felix laughed wryly. “Is this sarcasm? Who is this stranger that returned from the Abyss, and where did he leave Hannes?”

“I wasn’t mocking you. Punching Dream Sentinel without conceptual backup has roughly the same effect as punching dreams.”

“Oh, that’s so fair!” Felix released the momentum from his left leg to hop back and dodge Hannes’ charge. Felix realized he was being herded against the corner of the yard.

Hannes’ voice darkened. “The Abyss is never fair.”

Felix sensed the shift in his brother, and released the momentum left in his right leg to jump over Hannes. A blobby arm reached for his leg, but Felix tucked in. He landed on the lawn in an awkward roll, absorbing part of the impact.

Hannes spread his arms wide. Dream Sentinel’s body spread further, tips of its blobby arms nearly brushing the house and fence poles.

Felix’s legs were out of juice. His legs weren’t going to cut it. The punch he had loaded was useless against Hannes turning attacks into dream punches, but... What if he turned movements into dream movements? There was a form of dream movement in which Felix was a master. If his theory—and to be fair it was a far-fetched theory—held out, he was thousand percent certain that he could slip past Hannes.

With a grin, Felix met his brother’s charge to punch him. “Taste my...”

Hannes slowed down, assuming a defensive stance.

“FLIGHT!” At the last moment, Felix leapt with both arms thrust forward and flew through Hannes’ relic.

Whump. Felix sank into Dream Sentinel’s gray mass. Hannes dropped into a crouch to dodge him.

“It works?” Felix shouted, laughing with delight.

Hannes grabbed his ankle. A split second later, sky and ground swapped places, as Hannes threw him on the ground. Felix absorbed part of the impact with his arms. Before he could move, he was in an armlock, with Hannes’ knee pressing on his back.

“Give up. I give up!” Felix tapped the ground. Hannes helped him up, and both withdrew their relics.

“That was a clever move,” Hannes admitted.

“Well, it was fun.”

“Can I fly too?” Linda came over, eyes sparkling with hope.

“Later,” Hannes promised. “Although… No. You might break your bones.”

Linda’s smile deflated.

“Felix has a physical enhancement relic,” said Hannes. It didn’t fix Linda’s frown.

“So, what’s the verdict on my relic, Hannes? Suck, mega-suck, medium-suck, maybe suck with a dash of kinda-alright?”

“It has some severe limitations, though I can see why you designed it this way. Many of the interviews include sections testing physical burst speed and combat ability. May I be frank?”

Felix felt like a house about to get demolished, but nodded. “Sure. Hit me.”

Hannes drew a long breath. “Exercise more. You’re completely reliant on your relic, when backed into a corner. Get a relic with a reliable power output. Though being able to release five times your strength in a burst is useful, it has limited uses in day-to-day delving. I understand the desire for a relic that gives physical strength to punch and toughness to take punches, but those aren’t vital for survival in the Abyss.

“It is more likely that you’ll die from exhaustion, malnutrition, or a conceptual effect, rather than lack of punching power. And those who do specialize in combat strength need magnitudes more than what your current relic offers. Very few such relics have inert sentience, which makes the role unsuited for you.”

Oof.

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to exercise more...” Felix scratched his head, while avoiding Hannes’ gaze. “It’s just… Yep. I need to exercise more.”

“One more thing.”

“Lay it on me. I’m already dead.”

“The stiffness of your movements, was that the icewood’s drawback?”

“Yeah, I still haven’t figured out how to cancel it. But, on the flip side, if I ever delve into a hot place, I have have an inbuilt cooling system. Pretty neat huh?”

“No need for that,” Hannes said flatly. “With the right clothes, humans can endure most temperatures found in the Abyss. However, I have something that might help you.” He pulled out that small package of foil and string, and gave it to Felix.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Felix unwrapped it. His eyes drew wide, mouth falling open. Half the size of his palm, the gray-white object resembled an overstuffed bas-relief of sleeping figures, beds, and pillows. Felix recognized it instantly. He had seen it depicted in the same list of currencies as the potency orb, though far lower on the list.

“A domain fragment…” Felix whispered.

Linda gasped in awe. “How many thousands of chips is that worth?”

“Three,” answered Hannes.

Where potency fragments boosted the raw potency of relic’s abilities, domain fragments were concentrations of an Abyssal domain’s identity. For example, a domain fragment of the Crushing Abyss could transform the relic into something related to the ocean depths, changing its abilities to match the domain’s identity, or even grant new abilities. Domain fragments opened a whole host of exciting relicwrighting opportunities.

“Hannes, are you sure I can have this?” Felix looked at his brother, wowed by the gift.

Hannes patted Felix’s shoulder. “Certain.”

“What domain is it?” asked Linda.

“The Dreaming Abyss,” said Hannes. “There are a number of abilities it might generate. I’m sure you can find documentation on them from the library, but the main draw is the sleeping effect it places on the relic’s consciousness.”

“Oh…” Felix’s mouth fell open again. Excitement built up in him. “Wow.”

“So it’s very good for Felix?” Linda asked.

“It’s excellent for those who cannot bind relics with strong consciousnesses,” Hannes confirmed.

Excellent didn’t cut it. Felix was on the verge of dancing with joy. Before his body began to bust moves at random, Felix rushed up to Hannes and gave the old brother a hug. “Thank you. This is the best gift. Thank you, thank you.”

Hannes returned the embrace. “I am glad you like it. I hope it will help you achieve your dream.”

“Yeah. I think it might, one day.”

Hannes’ solemn resting expression grew ever so slightly more serious. “Speaking of which, have you considered applying to the Knights of the End? Their interviews come up in two weeks.”

“Naah.” Felix waved dismissively as he turned away. “They’re too serious. One of the guilds would be a better fit for me. Besides, the interview is on Reclaiming Day, so I can’t.”

“Hm.” After a pause, Hannes asked, “That’s not the real reason, is it?”

Felix grumbled internally, pretending to enjoy the rapidly diminishing twilight. He kept Saga’s name from slipping out. Felix was fine being a bit of a fool and goofball, but he didn’t want Hannes to think he was childish.

Hannes continued, “Everyone will understand if you miss half of the Reclaiming Day. Furthermore, the Half-Valley branch of Knights are more relaxed than most. Scandie ways have rubbed off on them, or the other way around. Transferring to a guild is also always an option after earning your torch, if they don’t end up being a good match for you. I think you should seriously consider them. The Abyss isn’t going to stop and wait for you, nor will your life. A year is a long time to wait, when you could already be living your dream.”

“Eh,” Felix shrugged, smiling weakly. “Another year isn’t so bad.”

“You’ll be competing in adults’ interviews next year. Many of them could already be considered copper torches in terms of ability. Mother might not say this out loud, but she is concerned about your future.”

Felix scoffed. “Believe me, I know. I got the hint after the third newspaper left open at the ‘now hiring’ section.”

Hannes’ lips pursed apologetically. “She told me to ‘talk sense into you’.”

“Felix,” Linda chimed, “Why not become a relicwright, your seams are good. Or maybe someone handling delving logs? You like researching them.”

Felix sighed. Byss bless her precious little heart. “Anyone can read logs. And while I’m decent with hands-on crafting, I’m nothing awesome as a designer.”

“That’s not right. You’re awesome,” Linda insisted.

“I’m alright. You’ll catch up to me in no time. Besides, I want to see the Abyss, not just read about it.”

“Then your decision should be an easy one,” said Hannes. “Give Knights of the End another thought. I’ll be staying on the surface for three months. If you need any help in preparations, let me know. Either way, consider all your options carefully, or mother might get forceful.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. Thanks.”

“Hm.” Striding past him, Hannes patted Felix’s shoulder and returned indoors.

Felix manifested his relic and began calisthenics to recharge the limbs, while mulling over Hannes’ words. Linda lingered beside him in the cooling evening, holding Bii.

“I don’t think being a relicwright would be so bad,” said Linda.

“It could be fun. I like it sometimes. But I want to go into the Abyss.”

Bii pinged in approval, gesturing something with its stubby paws.

“Hannes might be right,” said Felix as he charged his arms with pushups. “I should try the Knights. If I really wanna be a delver, I can’t be picky about how I get there.”

Linda nodded, excitement tugging at her lips. “Hey hey. When you use the fragment. Can I… I may not be as good as you, but can I help with the relic?”

“What are you saying? You’re the Anderson who inherited all the brains. Of course I’ll accept the help.” Felix grinned, releasing his relic as he stood.

“Yay! I’ll write a small report on it, if it’s okay,” said Linda, clapping her hands with glee. Bii rejoiced with her, until Linda continued, “So, do you have ideas for how to improve it?”

“Do I have ideas?” Felix chuckled. Street Lights lit up all over Half-Valley. “Oh dearest sister, I have ideas like old men have farts.”

The domain fragment of Dreaming Abyss opened up upgrade plans he had never dared to imagine. Add Linda’s and Hannes’ aid on top of that and a whole world of ideas turned from impossible to possible. Linda could help him figure out where his ideas erred on the conceptually unstable side, and Hannes could escort him around the safe zones for extra materials.

The relic was going to be unrecognizable in two weeks. Finally, Felix felt like he had a real chance of earning a torch, so long as he didn’t mind joining the Knights with Saga.