I still wanted communication items more than anything else, and I spent some time digging into how to make them. Most of them were based around variations of Wayfarer spells, and many of the functions I wanted were higher level than I could handle.
The other problem was getting a communication item to send a message where I wanted it to go.
Most of them worked by sending a message to another item that was enchanted at the same time, similar to how Keras had described the pair of earrings that sent sounds back and forth.
That wasn’t very flexible, though. For any member of my team to communicate with any other member of my team, I would have to make pairs for each combination of team members, and that was both prohibitively expensive and time consuming.
I wrote up a rough design for a single item that could connect to five others by using different runes to activate different communication functions. Unfortunately, the runes involved were too advanced for me to manage, and I didn’t have a Wayfarer friend to help me with them.
I focused on other items instead, trying to prepare a couple things that would both be useful for the test itself and for future ventures into the spires. I had limited time to work with, so I had to prioritize, but I was pleased with my results.
I wasn’t sure what my other final exams would consist of yet. I tried asking around, but the teachers were being pretty tight lipped. Apparently, each individual teacher had quite a bit of flexibility in choosing how to run their finals, as long as it covered certain basics.
Aside from final exams, we only had two real activities left before the end of the school year.
The first, I’d almost forgotten about entirely: Spider Division.
The second, I’d been deliberately ignoring as much as possible: the winter ball.
I briefly went through my list of suspects for spiders, but I hadn’t gathered enough information on anyone.
Roland missing classes was unusual for his personality, and it could have easily been because he was doing special Spider Division activities, but I had no evidence.
Jin was almost too suspicious, to the point where I doubted he was actually a spider.
Beyond that, I hadn’t noticed anyone behaving too unusually. I knew I’d need to make an effort to start investigating soon.
While the whole situation with Katashi and Tenjin was obviously a bigger issue, I still needed to make certain I passed my classes. I couldn’t help anyone if I was kicked out of the school and sent home. I was still determined to score well and get assigned to being a climber.
I checked Trials of Judgment to see if Tristan had sent me any further replies, but there was nothing new.
With worrying about Tristan deferred to another time, that meant I had to confront the one thing I’d been looking forward to the least.
I’d planned on willfully ignoring it right up until the day before, but Patrick never let me get away with doing anything easily.
The following day, I had a surprise visitor.
I was reading about artificial attunements at the time, from what little I’d been able to scrounge from the library. The publicly available information was scarce, but it was still worth researching.
“Your friend is at the door for you,” Derek informed me. “You know, the one who almost killed you.”
I didn’t have to clarify who he meant. “Thanks.”
“Just keep an eye on that one. I don’t want to deal with any more trouble than I already am. Understand?”
I nodded to Derek. “I’ll make this quick.”
I headed to the door.
Jin stood in the entryway. He still had a visible bandage on his right arm, but aside from that, he looked reasonably recovered. He’d shaved and brushed his hair, which went a long way toward making him look more like typical Jin. “Corin. I’d like to talk, if you have a bit of time.”
I frowned, then pointed at the floor. “Leave your weapons here.”
Jin raised an eyebrow. “No weapons allowed inside?” He reached into his coat, removing the two pistols I’d enchanted for him.
“No, there are plenty of weapons in here. I’m just not comfortable with you carrying them.”
Jin’s mouth opened, then closed again. Slowly, he set the pistols on the ground without complaint.
“The dagger too,” I said, waving my hand toward it and ignoring the hurt in his expression.
He tilted his head back, breathing in slowly through his nose “Didn’t think you’d remember that.” He unbuckled his belt and set it on the ground. A scabbard carrying a dagger was attached to the back portion, where it had been concealed within his coat. “Satisfied?”
“For now. Come on.”
I took him upstairs, drawing a concerned look from Sera as we walked by her.
We settled in my room. I offered him a chair while I sat on the bed. “What did you want?”
“I know you probably still haven’t forgiven me—”
“Correct.”
He looked irritated at my interruption, but paused only briefly before continuing. “But we’re still supposed to be on a team for the next fake spire test.”
“Skip it. We can handle it without you.”
Jin shook his head. “That’s not acceptable.”
I folded my arms. “Why? Aren’t you a Sunstone-level attuned? How is any of this even applicable to you? Why are you even bothering with classes like ours, at your level?”
Jin relaxed, seeming more prepared for that question. “I performed well enough in my first few years of service to Edria that I was selected to spend two years here as part of an exchange program. Ironically, my main role is to make positive relationships with powerful families here, mostly to help foster good relationships for trade and diplomacy. Unfortunately, I still need to maintain my grades, or they’d just send me back home.”
“I find myself lacking sympathy for your situation. If your goal was to make friends here, you’ve clearly failed.”
Jin’s expression sank. “Look, I know you’re still angry, but can we just find a way to take the tests, at least? You know I can be useful to you. We make a good team.”
“We did make a good team. At this point, how can you expect me to trust that you wouldn’t put a bullet in me the moment I turned my back?”
I didn’t think it was likely that Jin would actually try to attack me again, but there was still a nagging suspicion that he could. Maybe one day he’d decide one day that he needed to clean up any witnesses for his assault on Vera. I didn’t know if I’d ever get over feeling that way.
“I…never wanted to hurt you, Corin. Not physically or otherwise.”
My laugh was tinged with an uncharacteristic bit of spite. “Well, you did both. Congratulations. Now, are we done talking?”
Jin shook his head. “I’m serious about needing to take the exam. And I do think you’ll need me. They’re going to make the final one harder. And I know that getting good grades is important to you, too.”
He was right about that. Good grades were a key to unlock my future freedom. And I couldn’t deny that having a Sunstone-level attuned on my team was a benefit. “It’s not up to me,” I decided.
“Sera will defer to you on this matter, we both know that.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Fine. You can help with the exam. But you’ll be with me. I’m not risking letting you harm the others.”
Jin nodded. “That is acceptable.”
“Good. Now, was that all you needed?”
Jin shook his head. “One last thing. Have you, or any of the others, reported my actions to the authorities?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “I haven’t, and I don’t intend to. I don’t agree with what you did, but you’ve made it clear enough that members of the Valian government were deeply involved with starting all this mess. I’m not turning you over to them.”
“Good.” Jin let out a sigh of relief. I hadn’t processed just how tense he’d looked before, but when he changed his posture after that breath, I started to register how nervous he must have been. “Thank you.”
“You can thank me by performing well in the test, and by being honest if you come across any relevant information in the future.”
Jin pursed his lips for a moment, considering. “I can do that.”
With that, I escorted him out of the house.