Nate sat on the deck of the Solaris painting the clouds above while rocky mountains blurred by below them. The sand dunes had slowly given way to stone, which in turn had given way to the limited shrubbery that decorated the mountainous area they now flew over.

This planet, Seventeenth Scale as they called it, was clearly bigger than Earth. Bigger than Galle as well. Nate could feel the difference in the pull of gravity against him, begging him to come closer to the ground below. It was strong enough that he’d been forced to invest just a little of his sequestered processed mana to temporarily increase his strength. Not by much, of course. But just enough so that walking around his flying ship felt normal. He’d considered making something to combat the gravity for him but that would have cost even more mana and could have been damaged in a fight.

Bringing up his Status he looked at the improvements he’d made to his Divine Vessel in the wake of the attempted assassination.

They’d truly underestimated both he and Kiri, and for that mistake they had paid the ultimate price and become just more fuel for their Paths. Well, theirs along with Wulfgar and Frick. Now that Frick was a Lesser Divine, the little Goblin Spirit had created a cave, a literal cave, within Nate’s spatial zone. Nate could see that within that cave Frick had continued to abuse his connection to Nate, utilising his rune and material manipulation Skills, to transform the hole in the dirt into what Nate assumed was meant to be some kind of goblin throne room.

For now, it looked like Frick was using it mostly for storing all his ‘treasure,’ which in this case were Divine Artifacts and Orbs. As for his ‘treasure’, Frick was apparently intending to trade them for Divine Artifacts that aligned with his own Path. Wulfgar was doing the same, though he chose to keep his within his own spatial storage, which he had bought while they were still on Serpent’s Wing. Nate and Kiri had taken the time to quietly inform Wulfgar of how to attain a Divine Vessel and the old warrior had been ecstatic at the idea of having access to more Divine Energy without having to go through his next evolution to Greater Divine.

As for Nate, while he suspected that finding artifacts that aligned with the Concepts of Creation, Destruction, or Space would be more beneficial to his growth, he could still improve himself through purified Divine Energy. Which was just another way of saying Divine Energy that had been filtered down to its base meaning, the energy of Reality. He lost a little through the process, but not enough to be concerned about.

Kiri of course had advanced her Divine Vessel as well. Only Jemima was left out. A problem Nate still took issue with. Not the leaving out, but her continued presence. Quietly, he hoped that she would flee. Because now that he had spent time with her, he had no desire for her to die by his hand. Even though he knew the crimes that she had committed, they felt abstract to him. Knowledge without awareness. Which resulted in him knowing she deserved to die, even if he no longer had any motivation to be the source of justice. So, he hoped she would flee, and soon, so that he no longer had to tolerate her presence or be the hypocrite he quietly felt that doing so made him.

To distract himself from his ruminations, he painted. The sky above was heavy with clouds and the breeze in his hair and on his skin made him feel like he was standing atop a windswept mountain peak rather than a flying airship. He was just putting the final touches on the rain-filled clouds when Kiri called for him.

“The Bowl of Divine Seeking is showing something weird, Nate!”

Packing away his painting supplies, he moved to join his sister near the Solaris’s main controls. The Bowl of Divine Seeking revealed a patch on the outer edge of the bowl that was the biggest glowing sign of Divine Energy they had seen yet. Normally each marker that appeared had been no bigger than a light touch of Nate’s fingertip. The one currently showing was bigger than his fingertip and, more importantly, was not a perfect circle.

“It could be one of the System Challenges,” hedged Nate. “But my guess is it’s one or more teams all clustered together. Maybe around one or more Divine Artifacts. Could be a pack of Divine Beasts as well.”

Nate just couldn’t be certain. The Bowl’s range was measured in kilometres and that meant that the area the glow covered indicated they could be spread out over fifty to a hundred metres. It was unusual to say the least.

“I vote we investigate,” stated Kiri, placing her hands on her hips for emphasis.

No one challenged her.

“Alright then. Frick, take us in,” said Nate.

Frick coughed theatrically before pointing to his feathered hat.

Nate sighed in response.

“Take us in, Captain Frick.”

“As you were, Second Mate.”

“Second Mate?” asked Nate with a raised eyebrow.

“Aye! First Mate Kiri beat you to the punch! Get it? Punch? Because she…”

Nate intentionally tuned Frick out, and, alongside Kiri, made his way to the front of the Solaris so that he could see what they were getting themselves into. As the location they were aiming for slowly came into focus on the horizon, Nate felt his eyebrows climb ever so slightly.

“Is that what I think it is?” asked Kiri.

“Certainly looks like a market to me,” replied Wulfgar as he joined them on the foredeck.

Swooping in from above, they brought the Solaris down on the edge of what appeared to be a makeshift market atop a flattened mountaintop. The shape was clearly not natural and Nate assumed at least one of those present was some sort of Earth or Stone Mage. The shopfronts themselves wouldn’t have looked out of place back on Serpent’s Wing and Nate guessed they were probably transported into the Reaping in spatial storage devices.

As their ship settled down, hovering a couple of metres over the flattened mountaintop, one of the Lesser Divines strolled out to meet them. Their erstwhile greeter was as wide as Nate was tall, and dressed in a flowing purple and dark blue robe, with a beard that sparkled like the night sky. Height wise the Lesser Divine would’ve barely reached Nate’s chin and Nate was guessing the individual was a dwarf of some description.

“I’d ask for introductions but I know exactly who you are. So, Nathaniel Weber, Kiri Beaufoy, and crew, let me be the first to welcome you to the Starbreaking Guild’s Reaping Bazaar. My name is Dorin Starbeard and I would be happy to show you around.”

“How about a quick explanation of how this all works?” asked Nate.

“Certainly! As I am sure you know, The Starbreaking Guild is a mercantile faction. We’re not overly interested in fighting for scraps. Our focus has been and will remain the advancement of The Heartlands and all within it. This is one of three Bazaars set up across Seventeenth Scale. However, we have devices to remain in communication with each other and to keep track of stock.”

“Stock?” asked Kiri.

“Of course! There will be many who find themselves in need of repairs, enhancements in the form of alchemicals. Perhaps enchantment arrays to protect themselves or to be better able to handle System Challenges. Perhaps they just wish to trade the Divine Artifacts they have… obtained, for ones more suited to their Embodiment or Path. We even have a couple of crafters who are capable of working with Mid-Grade Divine Artifacts and turning them into weapons or other useful devices. We also sell information, as we have some who are excellent Scouts and Seekers amongst us. Those capable of finding or divining, heh, the nature of System Challenges. Whatever our customers need.”

“And no one attacks you?” asked Nate.

“Oh, it’s happened once or twice. Every now and then. Most factions aren’t foolish enough to attack us though. After all, what’s the point in stealing from us when we’ve enough wealth and resources to hire the Golden Tide or perhaps even the Blackened Hand to make sure that any insult or aggression is repaid tenfold? Better to just do business don’t you think? Especially when we do not compete within the Reaping itself.”

“No? Isn’t one of your faction in the top ten on the leaderboard? Wu To’sama?” pressed Kiri.

“Yes, he is. That’s what happens when you trade. Head Merchant To’sama is leading this particular Reaping and, as such, all trades belong to him for its duration. His position is little more than a sign of how much some factions are already making use of us. Even the illustrious and vaunted Perenthia Illari’Svell has made use of our services. Would you like to know what she asked for?” teased Dorin, dangling the current number one’s use of the Starbreaking Guilds service before them.

“What will it cost us?” demanded Kiri.

“Two Divine Orbs or one Low-Grade Divine Artifact of a Common Concept.”

Nate tapped his lips in thought, “What about the quickest way to gain some points for the Leaderboard?”

“A contender are you? I’m not surprised, even if some others are. Two Prime Seeds on the same team is already an anomaly. I am sure you can see why, considering the Individual Leaderboard forces teams to focus their success on a single member. Normally you two would’ve been split up. But, then, with two Second Evolution Prime Seeds on the same team, how could any one team stand up to you?

“To answer your question, the best method is usually System Challenges. The System is generous with points and, given your capabilities, I suspect that you would outperform most other teams in them.”

“Does that mean there are some nearby?” pressed Nate.

“There are. It’ll cost you though. Six Low-Grade Artifacts for the information and details of the Challenges. There are two that we are aware of within the… vicinity, though you may struggle to find them on your own.”

Nate turned to whisper to Kiri, “It’ll mean a loss of points.”

“We’ll need some assurance that the loss of points for giving up the Low-Grade Artifacts will be more than offset by the points we could potentially get from the Challenges,” replied Kiri.

“I assure you, so long as you are as capable as you have so far appeared, the points you gain from completing these Challenges will dwarf… heh… the loss of points for the trade. That’s not to mention the rewards from The System itself. It is known to grant unique rewards for Challenges to those who perform exceptionally. After all, it’s interested in your growth, so long as you earn it.”

Nate kept his thoughts to himself on The System and its motivations. Dorin Starbeard wasn’t completely wrong in his assertion, even if Kali’Terra had ulterior motives for everything it did.

“I’m fine with it,” he said to Kiri, not lowering his voice.

“And the information the number one ranked Individual Leaderboard asked for? Can I interest you in that?” asked Dorin in an affable tone.

Nate shook his head.

“Just the Challenges for now,” answered Kiri.

As Kiri handed over the equivalent of six Low-Grade Artifacts in the form of Divine Orbs and one Mid-Grade Artifact, Nate checked the Leaderboard, knowing he was about to fall down the rankings on the bet that the System Challenges would repay the loss many times over.

Individual Leaderboard (Top 10)

• Perenthia Illari’svell - Severing Blade Sect (143)

• Kalin Silverscale - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (141)

• Kole Darkscale - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (132)

• Lunar Sylvin - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (123)

• Sel’kin Might - Flux Industries (121)

• Captain Borin Vaughn - The Golden Tide (117)

• Wu Tos’ama - The Starbreaking Guild (109)

• Drim Hall - The Eternium (105)

• Gee’k Dumma - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (103)

• Nathaniel Weber - Risen Sun Sect (102)

Nate frowned slightly. He’d slipped down the rankings quite a bit but from what he could see he was still one big fight away from the top spot. And if the System Challenges didn’t live up to the hype, then he’d be returning to the Bazaar to get a refund. He fully believed that it would be foolish for other factions to attack the Starbreaking Guild, but Nate wasn’t from a faction. He was more than willing to fight teams from the Golden Tide or Blackened Hand, if he thought they were being taken advantage of.

“Alright, everything seems to be in order,” interjected Dorin as he looked over the ‘merchandise.’ “Here you go.”

The dwarf handed over two enchanted slates to Nate. It was easy enough to work the enchantments as they seemed to simply store images and text much like a computer, if with a limited storage capacity. Nate wondered if an Information Concept would improve their functionality. Something to look into later, he decided.

The two enchanted slates detailed the locations of the two Challenges as well as their natures. One was a team challenge that involved surviving successive waves of enemies. The longer you lasted, the better the score. Nate couldn’t help but wonder how The System intended to use that one against them, since technically throwing Kiri into the meat grinder just tended to make her more powerful. The second was an individual challenge, and the way it was described was basically an obstacle course that was meant to test all three of the Stat brackets. Physical, Mental, and Magical. It would cycle through them, continually getting harder and harder until the individual failed a test.

“Which one first?” asked Kiri, though Nate could clearly see the hope in her eyes.

“Team Challenge,” muttered Nate with a small smile. He loved his sister and he couldn’t say no to her. He’d never been able to really and he was perfectly okay with that most of the time. Stupid Jemima..

As Kiri pumped her fist they bid their farewell to Dorin Starbeard and headed for the Solaris. The System Challenge was two days south, but Nate thought, with a little runic assistance, he could get that down to one day. After all, there was no time to waste.

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

Dorin Starbeard watched the flying ship take off with considerable speed. As a Masterful Grand Appraiser, he could easily see the quality and skill that had gone into the vessel. Another mark, as far as he was concerned, towards making inroads with the pair of Second Evolutions. Unlike many other factions, the Starbreaking Guild didn’t view such anomalies as a threat but rather, an opportunity. After all, a Second Evolution crafter could no doubt bring to bear enough Divine Energy to match the capability of a Greater Divine. The Blood Warrior’s armour and weapon had been proof of that.

Still, he had his orders, and as much as he would’ve liked to recruit the young Runecrafter, he had orders from Head Merchant To’sama to avoid offending the Severing Blade’s Prime Seed by any means necessary. That was one madwoman who might be more than willing to take a slice out of the Starbreaking Guild.

Activating the communication device on his wrist he lifted his hand to his mouth to give his orders.

“Inform the Head Merchant that we have the location of Nathaniel Weber in case she asks again.”