Nate stood at a table waiting for the Crafting Tournament to begin. He was simultaneously apprehensive and excited. He felt apprehensive because some of his fellow contestants were almost certainly about to learn one of his secrets.

The details of the Crafting Tournament had been released and came as no surprise to Nate. The first round would involve identifying the Concepts within twenty different materials. Points would be awarded for speed and accuracy, with more points being awarded the closer the individual was to the true Concept. Recognising something was Water related, for example, would be worth a point or two, while identifying that it was specifically the Flow or Current Concept would be worth far more. Ultimately this meant balancing how much time the competitors spent on each material with how accurate their identifications were.

The round would be scored out of one-hundred, with twenty points assigned to speed and eighty to accuracy .Accuracy would be scored per item based on the specificity and level of relationship between the competitors’ answer and the true Concept within the material. Speed, however, would lose a point for every five seconds after twenty minutes.

It was this first round that left Nate with a pit of worry in his stomach. He wasn’t concerned about his capabilities. In fact, he was almost certain he could ace this portion and without seeing his competition, was confident in a top five finish. No, the issue was what he knew was going to happen every time he figured out a new Concept. With his Conceptual Embodiment, every time he recognised a new Concept he would be getting fed Divine Energy by Reality. The crowds were far enough away that they were unlikely to notice. The same couldn’t be said of his fellow competitors and the judges.

A part of him wanted to be cautious. To cruise through the first round with a middling score by opting for speed and not digging too deeply into the Concepts of the materials. But another part was telling him to be true to himself and to do his best, consequences be damned. In the end, it was the second voice that had won, and though he still worried about his decision, he had every intention of pushing through and trouncing his fellow competitors. His willingness to reveal his capabilities boiled down to a simple plan that he had hatched with Kiri. Still, that didn’t stop him from worrying.

As more of the competitors were led to their own benches, Nate did a quick count of the tables to get an idea of how many people he would be competing against. Unsurprisingly, there weren't many. Roughly a hundred crafters in his estimation, all competing for twenty spots.

The numbers were low, but he understood why. Most crafters who were competing to enter the World Reaping were Hybrid-Classed crafters. Because of that, many weren’t confident in the depth of their crafting Skills and so instead were entering into the Team Combat Tournament alongside their teammates. It made sense to Nate and he had gotten the feeling that the Crafting Tournament only existed because a few factions had pushed for it and so a token effort was made to accommodate it. That didn’t stop the crowds from gathering to watch and critique though.

While the first challenge was around Concept identification, the second, and final, was going to be an actual crafting challenge. The remaining competitors would be given identical mythic-tier materials to craft whatever they wanted. A set amount of mana would be provided which could be supplemented with the crafters own Mana Reserve, but that was the limit. Finally, there was to be no use of Divine Energy. That last rule was likely put in place because the final products would become the property of the hosting faction, in this case, The Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent. Obviously the ‘no Divine Energy’ rule was to prevent the locals from using Divine Energy on their items only to get reimbursed by their own faction while any visitors got shafted.

Even with the restrictions Nate was confident in his plan, and though he knew there was an element of ego in his decision not to hold back, he didn’t think he would regret doing his best and showing the Heartlands just what he was capable of.

As the judge took to the podium and quickly detailed the rules, Nate settled in, starting to draw on his Conceptual Sight ability.

*************

Perenthia bounced in her seat excitedly as she waited for the Crafting Tournament to begin. Her beloved, her wonderful Nate, was about to crush the competition into dust and leave them naught but memories! How did she know that? Well, she might have used Fated Confluence and Probability Assessment to determine the best way to help him. After all, helping the love of her life wasn’t cheating. Not at all. It was just… making sure he got into the World Reaping, where they could accidentally run into each other after his team unfortunately all died. He’d be so distraught, so heartbroken, and she would fill the gap they left and heal the wounds left behind by their loss.

The plan to help him gain entry to the World Reaping was a bust though. Not because she couldn’t help him. She could. She could even do it under the noses of these Greater Divine judges and they’d never be the wiser. Or if they were, they wouldn’t be dumb enough to accuse her. No, her plan was a bust because Nate would realise it. Her Nascent Mind was adamant about that. He’d notice, and he wouldn’t be happy about it. And she just couldn’t bear for him to be unhappy with her! Just the thought had made her want to wail and thrash her hands against her pillow while strangling something. Also, Nascent Mind had been clear that he didn’t need any help.

That alone had improved her mood. Of course he doesn’t need my help, she thought. He’s just the best. Just like me! We’re sooo perfect for each other! That was why she was bouncing in her seat. It was rare enough to find peers that could compete with her. But all the ones that could were old or boring. Or old and boring. Not her Nate though. He was young and vibrant and could make Reality bend to his will.

Perenthia finally started to calm down, leaning into the comfortable cushions in her private box. Her attendants had made sure she would have the best view and she may have even used a little Probability Manipulation to make sure that Nate’s table would be the one closest to her box. After all, no one would care about a little change like that.

Perenthia leaned forward. Nascent Mind was listening very closely to Fated Confluence and Probability Assessment was telling her something interesting was about to happen. The silly judge with his stupid hat and dumb pants finally finished waffling on about whatever it was that judges waffled on about, and the competition started.

She stared at her beloved and witnessed beauty. Not him, well at least not all of him. Just his eyes. They were glowing with rainbow lines that pulsed and shifted reminding her of her own Fate Lines, carved into her eyes and empowering her Fated Confluence Skill. He was just like her! Had a more perfect pairing ever existed?!

She had to know though. Had to know if this was how he had always been or if it was new. Her own eyes activated, threads of probability and change spiraling out that her Probability Assessment could latch onto. They spun a beautiful web, tracing backwards through time as they pulled in information from the Spiritual Realm.

The answer was unequivocal. His eyes were new. Specifically, they only appeared after she had gone to that restaurant where she had first witnessed him manipulate Reality and sensed the fated connection between them.

She gasped. He’d seen her. Actually seen her. Not just her perfect body. Not just her position as a Prime Seed of the Severing Blade Sect. No, he’d seen beneath the skin. Seen her eyes. And having seen her, had made a gesture to show her just how similar they were.

She was bouncing again, gushing with happiness, when the second surprise came. Divine Energy flowed down into the testing area below, and right into her Nate. She smiled at his little epiphany. Good for him. Just more proof that he was exceptional. Then it happened again and her eyes widened slightly.

Her Nascent Mind confirmed it within seconds. He was Second Evolution. Brazen. Brazen beyond belief, but fitting of her beloved. Unfortunately, it would present problems.

“Mistress, is he…?” asked one of the attendants.

“He must be,” answered Mutter. “We should inform the Patriarch. Such an individual, with such a straightforward method of accumulating Divine Energy would be a boon for the…”

Mutter’s words trailed off into silence as he saw the glare Perenthia was directing at him. Her other three attendants were already drawing away, towards the corners of the box.

“I didn’t mean… I just thought… please, Mistress, forgive me!” begged Mutter.

Perenthia tilted her head to the side, her heated glare transforming into a dead-eyed stare as she went cold all the way through. No one threatened her beloved. No one!

Probability Manipulation answered her call and she added enough Divine Energy to make sure Mutter couldn’t resist. The almost infinitesimally low chances of the enchanted choker around Mutter’s neck having a cascading failure suddenly became the only possible outcome. The explosion of the mythic materials severed Mutter’s head, the spray of blood from the neck washing over the side window of the box. Divine Energy flowed into Perenthia as she turned back to the window in front of her to watch her beloved.

“Clean up the mess and collect the Orb.”

“Yes, Mistress,” came the replies of her attendants.

Perenthia’s smile returned as she watched her Nate below. No one was going to take him away from her.

*************

Nate used his Conceptual Sight to look over the first piece as the items were placed on the table by an assistant as the tournament commenced. The material appeared wooden, and he got a sense of that from watching the way the mana flowed through the material. But as it flowed, it weaved back and forth, constantly crossing over itself as though… Woven. The Concept was Woven. Divine Energy flowed into him as he recognised what was before him. Noting down his answer he moved to the next while expanding his view to see how his competitors were doing.

One woman was using what was obviously a Familiar, in the form of a blue rat, who seemed to be sniffing at the items and conveying information to its master.

Jemima had a set of hundreds of potions in front of her and was using a bowl in front of her to test the materials by their reactions to her own creations.

There were others using Familiars, like a floating storm cloud and what looked like a fat cat crossed with a panda. Then there were the competitors using items. Most seemed like enchanted wands or in a few cases, entire enchanted slates that seemed to be trying to read the mana types within the wood. The first stand out was amongst the item users, though Nate was more than capable of recognising the difference between this individual's item and everyone else's. A Divine Artifact that could be used for sensing mana types was a powerful tool and Nate had to acknowledge that the individual was almost certainly a Seed of a Dynasty. The Worldforger Sect identifier on his robe was a dead giveaway.

The entire time Nate observed his competition, he continued to identify Concepts. There had been some dark blue water filled with Flow, a known quantity which hadn’t triggered a response from Reality. Then a burning ember that pulsed within. The outer layer hid the truth beneath and Nate realised it was in fact the Concept for Burst. That had triggered a second round of Divine Energy. The fourth had been another Concept he was aware of and while he started on the fifth item he made an interesting observation.

The odd thing he had noticed was how few of the competitors were using Skills. There were a handful and for the most part he thought they were out-performing most others. He said most, because the Seed of the Dynasty was hot on Nate’s heels, followed by the Blue Rat and Jemima whose hands were flashing through her literal hundreds of small potion bottles. As he identified Pressure, another known Concept, he realised why Skills were in short supply. These people were combatants. Sure, they were also Crafters, but where Nate and Jemima were both Crafters first and combatants second, these individuals were the opposite way round. He’d figured out long ago that there was a finite amount of space on a Class Core for Skills, even though he personally had never reached that cap, likely due to his early evolution to Divine. Since the others were combatants, it stood to reason that they prioritised the space on their Class Core for combat related Skills. Identification Skills like this were something they were less accustomed to doing personally and so relied on tools.

His suspicion was reinforced by the fact that all the competitors using Skills looked a little rougher around the edges. Likely unaffiliated or on the weaker end of the combat spectrum. The observation was interesting to Nate, but ultimately, unimportant when it came to the tournament outcome.

Nate blurred through the remaining fifteen items, triggering Divine Energy accumulation with another eight recognitions. He smiled as he finished, noting the Dynasty Seed was still on the eighteenth item. Jemima was already on her seventeenth and had overtaken the blue rat who was still on the sixteenth item. Everyone else was on their fourteenth or worse.

Nate checked the clock and saw he had finished in eighteen minutes and twelve seconds. Maximum points for speed of completion. Of course, speed wasn't even half the challenge. An assistant came over to collect Nate’s answers, taking them up to the judges. Thirty seconds later the Dynasty Seed finished, barely edging out Jemima by two seconds. As the laggards flowed in and answers were checked, tallied, and scored, the points started appearing on a leaderboard above them.

Nate’s name was yet to appear, and he could see the arguments taking place between two judges. He had a guess as to why. Finally, the two judges approached his table with his sheet.

“Contestant Nate Weber, you’ve noted down two Concepts for item number seventeen. You cannot give more than one answer and as such I am proposing that you should receive zero points for this question. However… my compatriot from the Golden Tide… seems to think we should ask you why you gave two answers instead of one?” asked the Dynasty Judge with a haughty smile.

“There’s an impurity in the item. Both Concepts are present so I noted both,” explained Nate.

“Preposterous,” snorted the Dynasty Judge. “I oversaw the preparations of these materials myself.”

The Golden Tide Marshal, a hulking female Orc, was displaying a smug smile as she moved to investigate. A tool appeared in her hand that looked like a pulsing orb of light around a small metal cube. Gliding it over the item the pulsing colours remained the same, showing whites and light blues, until it rolled over the imperfection. Then the light blue shifted to green.

“He’s right, Sect Leader Jair. There is an impurity in this item. I’d have suggested awarding him an extra point for identifying it but I doubt your leaderboard is capable of showing results over one-hundred.”

Sect Leader Jair looked like he’d swallowed a lemon, storming back to the Judge’s table as the results appeared above.

Jemima, in third place, with ninety-six. Kole Darkscale, in second place, with ninety-nine points. And in first place, with a perfect score, Nate Weber.

He’d taken the first step in proving himself. Now he just needed to wait for the sharks to start circling. After all, he’d shown them what he was capable of. Truly capable of. Now let those who coveted what he possessed throw themselves to the proverbial wolves and fuel his growth and freedom from the Class Core.