“True,” said Scorio. “But the terms of the agreement are now long expired. If we’re not working on a friendship, why haven’t you demanded more payment?”
She frowned. “You want me to?”
“No, I want you to take a damn dawn apple and enjoy it.” Scorio glared at her. “They’ve got little flecks of gold mana in them. They’re… I don’t know. Tasty. Nice.”
She stared at him, expression impassive, brows lowered, then finally rose to her feet. “Damn, Scorio, relax. Fine. I’ll eat a dawn apple. Happy?”
“Yes,” he said, watching as she padded silently over to the bag. “Thank you.”
She plucked a gold-flecked apple from within, held it up to the light of First Clay, and then moved back to her spot under the window. “All right. So tell me.”
“I met with Leonis and Lianshi, and they didn’t immediately turn me over to the Academy.”
The apple crunched crisply as she took a large bite from it. “Mighty sweet of them.”
“They’re going to find a way for me to access my locker. But in the meantime, I’ve begun working on getting two sunphires for Feiyan and more excitingly—”
“Two?” She chewed slowly, clearly enjoying the taste despite herself. “Mighty ambitious of you.”
“Well, that’s what she’s asking for in exchange for smuggling us out onto the Plains. But more excitingly, I used some of Leonis’s money to acquire that Black Star scroll from Jelan. And I’ve come up with a plan to create a potent stream of unending mana.”
“You’re still fixated on that idea?” She studied him, brows furrowed. “You do realize there’s a reason nobody attempts it.”
“Sure. Lots of good reasons. The ruins are too dangerous for normal citizens. Great Souls have access to better resources within the Academy or from their Houses, and so on. But I’m in a unique situation, and it makes sense for me.”
“Fine,” she said, waving the issue away. “If you insist. But when you realize it’s a lot of labor for very little reward, don’t come grousing to me.”
Scorio bit down his annoyance. “I won’t. But listen. Last night, while hunting for a way into the caverns below, I came within fifteen blocks or so of the old Academy.”
She took another crunching bite. “The one I told you was picked clean by looters before my great, great, great, great grandfather was born.”
“The same.” He leaned forward with a smile. “But what I realized is that there’s more than one kind of treasure. We’re planning to sneak out onto the Rascor Plains—”
“Remotely considering the possibility, you mean.”
“—in order to get access to higher quality mana. What if there’s high-quality mana in the Academy?” He smiled at her. “You can’t permanently remove a replenishing source, right? What if there’s, oh, I don’t know, rooms filled with Copper or Iron mana in there?”
She chewed the apple ruminatively, eyeing him.
“You said that the new Academy was built in its current location because of the abundance of Iron mana. What if that was the founding principle of the old one, too? What if we explore and find the old training rooms? We could camp out, train, advance, leap ahead of where we’d get otherwise, and all without going through the painful process of smuggling ourselves through security.”
Naomi took another slow bite. Her hazel eyes were thoughtful.
“If I can get within fifteen blocks, then with your help we can close the distance. What do we have to lose?”
“What do we have to lose?” She leaned her head back against the wall, her hair flattening against her shoulders. “The final stretch is dense with heavy Coal. It’s where the worst of the predators live. I’ll give you three guesses at what we’ll lose.”
“They’re not so bad,” said Scorio off-handedly. “I killed one of those blue lobster fiends myself last night. Wasn’t too hard. Should be easy for you.”
“Blue lobster fiend? You mean a kitursk? Those are scavengers, Scorio. They only attack when frightened or when defending their food.”
“Oh.” Scorio blinked. “Still, it was big and fast, and I dropped it by myself. Together—”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. “You made Cinder, what, a couple of weeks ago? And already you’re telling me we don’t need to fear the bigger predators in the ruins?”
“I’m saying it’s worth exploring—”
“And throwing our lives away over? You can keep your Heart aflame for—what—twenty seconds? You’re more durable now, sure, stronger, but that’s your newfound ability going to your head.”
Scorio reined in his temper. “Sure. Fine. But you’re not weak. In your nightmare form—”
“How do you think I’ve survived this long, Scorio?” She leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “By throwing myself at every wild idea that crosses my mind? By risking attention by visiting the most popular market in Bastion? By making highly illegal deals with virtual strangers?”
Scorio bit back his words.
Naomi rose to her feet. “Thank you for the dawn apple. Been a while since I’ve had one.” She tossed the core onto the recently brushed floor. “Let’s skip training for today. I’ll let you know when—and if—I’m ready to resume.”
“Naomi—” began Scorio, but she’d already leaped neatly out the window and was gone.
“Damn it,” he sighed, sinking back down. He stared at the apple core. Was she right? Was he moving too fast? Was he risking too much?
But what was the alternative? To sit in the ruins for a year or two, training with Coal mana while his peers advanced far beyond him? To wrap himself up in a blanket of comforting numbness and obscurity, and hope the world forgot him just as it had forgotten her?
No.
Scorio rose impatiently to his feet, took three steps, and plucked the apple core from the floor. He wanted to hurl it out of the window but instead placed it with exaggerated care onto a small pile of trash against the wall. He’d deposit it along his run that evening so as to not bring attention to his home. Then moved to the window, leaned his forearms on it, and gazed at the street below.
No sign of Naomi.
He took a deep breath and held it, then exhaled and shook his head.
She hadn’t even given him a chance to boast about his treasures or plans for a Black Star farm.
He stood and tugged firmly at his robes. Fine. She was overly cautious. He couldn’t change who she was, but he didn’t need to let her limitations curtail his own growth.
If she wouldn’t go to the Academy with him, then he’d find a way to get there by himself.
He’d train for a few days, gather his strength, and then venture forth to observe. Perhaps he’d find a solution to his farming problem. After all, he had time—he didn’t need to make a run at the Academy right away. He could afford a few evenings of simply watching the ruins. Seeing if he couldn’t learn something about the terrain.
Then, when he was ready, if he thought he’d found a safe approach, he’d give it his best shot.
1
The next day he was perhaps halfway through his Second Clay run when he reached a familiar stretch of street. A chasm up ahead was crossed by a brutal bridge like a toppled monolith, and when he reached its foot, he gazed down into the crimson depths.
The chasm walls were covered as before in rough ranks of large barnacles, over whose stone bodies milky-white spidercrabs big enough to ride on picked their way, the edges of their armored bodies lit a soft pink by the hellish glow from beneath.
But it was to the freestanding column that emerged from the flaming depths that his gaze was drawn, upon whose broad, flat surface grew a handful of Black Star flowers, their dark shapes barely visible against the shadows.
Scorio lowered himself into a crouch and considered the island. Hard to reach, but that would go for any casual scavenger, too.