"Jade! Welcome to Verilia!" Laurel stood on the Via Merista, just outside the wall that was rapidly rising. She could still see over the top, but that was quite impressive for a workforce of one. Martin's speed was mostly hampered by the timing on which they could get stone shipments at this point.

"Laurel, thank you for having us." The stately woman nodded and nudged forward the four youths behind her.

The Core's reach was such that Laurel had known for a few days that the party was approaching, the small delegation having traveled at a mortal's speed. With no veils in place, she knew one of them was an adept, and the other three initiates. She was thrilled. Her students needed the competition.

"You're the first group here," she said. "Will you be using the Guest Residences or did you make other plans?"

"The Guest House will be lovely, thank you."

Laurel towed them off, chatting with Jade while the others trailed behind, heads whipping back and forth as they took in the city. It was a short walk to the Guest Residence. A relatively cheap City Perk, they were just apartments with slightly better cultivation rooms, concentrating the mana flows, and near-perfect soundproofing. Staying in such a place was something of a right of passage for young people visiting new sects. Especially as they were always placed only a short distance from the local sect house. She was excited to see just how everything went with her own students. So much of their history had been erased, Laurel was glad to be able to bring this back, even as small as it was.

***********

Rebecca stared across at one of their guests. Then looked to one side and then the other to survey all three potential opponents at once. Their mana felt like hers. Not exactly, but far closer than anyone else in the Eternal Archive. Or in Verilia at all.

Dinner was a stilted, awkward affair. The mix of languages and not knowing how to interact left her and the others unsure how to handle the visitors. All she knew about these new cultivators was that in a couple of weeks, they were supposed to fight. Which seemed like an odd way to make new friends.

Unbidden, she recalled the great many challenges she and Gabrielle had issued and answered over the years. Maybe it wasn't that unusual a method.

The other end of the table wasn't having the same problem. Her sect leaders had welcomed Jade and were now laughing and joking in three languages. A sneaking suspicion was growing inside her that the initiates and their inability to handle visitors might have been the butt of those jokes. Especially when the master cultivators would look at them every few moments and giggle.

After the meal, no one knew where to go. Usually they would traipse upstairs, but that was not really a place for guests.

Gabrielle appeared at her side and grabbed her elbow. The brash young woman smiled across at the Somorins. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Either because they were also hoping to escape the gaze of their too-knowing instructor, or were uncomfortable lingering, the trio followed Gabrielle as she dragged Rebecca towards the front door. Cooper was already there, along with Eric, Helene, and Leander.

"We're going out!" Gabrielle announced.

Everyone duly trailed behind. When Gabby got an idea it was better to let it happen than try to fight it. For whatever reason, they ended up at the Rifle and Crown. Getting there required walking past five identical pubs, but some people claimed it had better beer than anywhere else nearby. Rebecca thought early days of celebrating there had more to do with it, and cultivators were creatures of habit sometimes. The pub had been one of the first institutions to welcome the sect with open arms and was more than happy to host them of an evening. The year prior, there had even been talk of the name changing to Rifle and Wand, though nothing ever came of it.

It turned out, their new friendly rivals were much less shy after a few tankards of ale. They complained at the heavy texture and taste, but Rebecca noticed it didn't stop them from ordering another few rounds. And another. And another.

She woke the next morning with a groan. Rolling over, she found not her usual bedroom in the sect house, but an unfamiliar sitting area. Pleasant, but bland, like a showroom instead of an actual house. Then the memories hit. They had stayed late at the Rifle and Crown, and were too tired to return to the sect house. The others were passed out on various surfaces nearby. All except Leander, who was meditating in a corner.

His eyes blinked open, and he smiled and nodded, then went right back to meditating. He really did make them all look lazy. She groaned and closed her eyes again. Life would hurt less in a few hours.

**********

"You know the drill. Start running laps until I say stop. If I see anyone slacking you'll just be going that much farther."

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Leander didn't wait for Martin to tell them twice. This was the easy part of their exercises, and he kind of liked it as a start to the day. Technically, Leander could skip the group workouts now, as long as he kept up his fitness routine and sparring. Some of the others did, Eric and Helene hated the early mornings and would instead exercise before dinner. But Leander had never minded, and he liked it when everyone was together.

What he didn't like was when outsiders were invited to participate. Two of the visiting groups had shown up already, the Somorins, and Devon's sect members. As part of some weird tradition, they had been invited to join in with the sect exercises. By some weirder tradition, about half of them had accepted.

All throughout the running and squats and push ups and the dozen other exercises Martin liked to drill them with, the outsiders followed. His eye focused on three of them. They not only kept up, but seemed to find the whole thing boring, completing each task with neither complaint nor show of effort. The others were struggling a bit, in line with most of the Archive participants as well.

That was fine. Anyone could get strong if they practiced. It didn't mean they were impressive.

When Martin told them to get ready for sparring, Leander couldn't take it anymore. He walked over to Martin. Crossed arms and a stern expression were warding off most comers, but Leander was aware an honestly asked question would usually get an answer. And he had questions.

When he got close enough he looked at Martin, then meaningfully shifted his gaze to the visitors, then the sect members, then back to Martin.

"Very good, you're the first one who's asked. No, I'm not kicking them out. Yes, it's a good way for them to gather information for the tournament. No it's not particularly fair. Up to you what you do with it."

Leander nodded and jogged back, finding Cooper had waited for him to pair up. He dragged them both to an open patch of ground, near but not too close to the others. Where he could see and be seen. A cultivator did not shy away from a challenge.

***********

Laurel finished pouring the pot of tea and leaned back, gesturing everyone to their cups. It was a bold blend from one of their newest initiates, all ginger and spice. Perfect for dragons, a cultivator from the tropics, and making Devon uncomfortable, all at once.

"I want to hear all about the dungeon and how it evolved when you officially reached a City," Laurel opened the conversation.

"I admit to the same curiosity," Jade murmured. "For such a legend to come to life in front of us…"

"Ahem. Quite right." Oro's hands shook just the smallest bit as he picked up his own cup. The lad would learn in time, confidence was the best way to deal with people stronger than you in a situation such as this. "Oh that is good," he said after taking a sip.

"So. Araxis has evolved into a City. As you predicted, the changes are quite impressive." He took another fortifying breath of the steam coming out of his teacup.

"I have found myself able to send some of the dungeon creatures outside, while maintaining full control. As such, Araxis now has a band of roaming guardians that can protect the city and explore the desert nearby. It has made up for some of the lack of vision which you all have access to with the wider domains."

"It's balancing," Devon interrupted. The man had taken one sip of his tea and firmly placed it back down. Her prank slightly undermined when he pulled out a flask and drank from that instead. "Most do it naturally, but it seems like even a mutated Core follows the same principles. If you lack in one area, another is strengthened.

"Quite so, Master Devon, quite so."

The heatless flames flickered through a rainbow of colors in the hearth as Oro drank deeply of his own mug.

"Is that all? Though such a force would be quite a boon, I can imagine."

"Indeed, Madame Treeborn. In fact, they were able to find and defeat a few pressing threats in the nearby wilderness. Along with a few of the Laskarians, who I can only imagine were up to no good. But to answer your question, it is not all."

He leaned back on the settee, relaxing just a bit in the presence of the masters in front of him. "The loot generated by the Core has increased in quality, and the breadth of challenges is increasing apace. Though none of you have visited recently, I suspect you would no longer find it so easy to reach the Core.

"Other benefits seem to mirror your own perks. There is a magical forge, where one of my new students has begun experimenting. Rooms of the dungeon act as safe cultivation chambers. There is even one area we believe to be intended for healing."

"Impressive," Laurel said. "You'll be able to mimic everything then, just without the freedom of placement."

"Mostly, I think." Oro replied. "However, entrants must still reach the rooms. I am working on a way to get Araxis to allow more visitors free passage, without my oversight, but it is slow progress."

Laurel waved him off. "Better too strict than too permissive. I've recently found that out the hard way."

The dragon dipped his head but didn't respond, and the other masters had the grace to avoid the topic as well. She shouldn't have brought it up if she wanted to be a good host, but the attack still bothered her. Not seeing it as it happened was even worse. Fantasies about some of the Order members showing their faces for her to take the rage out on had not stopped since the event itself.

"I believe I have more information that will be useful to all of you, however since you have implored me to keep Araxis's true nature quiet, I did not want to write it down."

"Oh?" What a great way to change the topic. Distract from Laurel's own faux pas and offer a gift all at once. She knew Oro was a good lad.

"In addition to the new benefits, Araxis has been more aware as it has advanced. Not so much as you or I, individuals, but more of a dual-form being. Both the Core and the City. I still do not fully understand…but I digress. Better communication has revealed some aspects of advancing the Core that were heretofore unclear.

"Not the least of which is a confirmation of your own theories, Madame Stormblade, and that of your fallen sect members. Each Core appears to be different in what it requires to advance. Araxis, for example, will never advance by expanded territory, not as other Cores do.

"How does your City seek to advance then?" Jade said with interest.

"Ah. Stronger challengers. Something about their own mana resonating with the cosmic flows to a greater extent helps to improve Araxis's own level. I'm afraid I still do not fully grasp the intricacies."

"Roundabout way of asking us to visit." Devon interjected.

"Perhaps when things have settled with Laskar," Oro said. It was more openly optimistic than the rest of them were able to be about an eventual resolution to their conflict, but Laurel was glad the young man had not been too quickly jaded.

"However our communion has implied that this is not unique. In fact, that most Cores require subtle differences in their advancement. That is both driven by and perhaps related to the bonded cultivators."

"Huh, that is interesting," Laurel said. Behind the bland words, her mind was reeling. It followed her own experiences, to be sure. The Core had certain urges. Not quite strong enough to be called true desire, but she could tell it wanted to expand. Connect to more Cities, more Cores, until it spread like a spiderweb throughout the mana infrastructure. She could live without the implication that such a goal had something to do with her.

The Citadel of her youth, she was mostly sure, had not advanced in such a way. The last Sectmaster had been dreadful with his notes, but she did not recall the same kind of network. Laurel wasn't sure it had even been possible, when the global population was so much smaller.

"If I'm hearing you right, Oro, that means our options have opened up." She spoke slowly, finding her way through the new idea. "We can dig in further to what Laskar City needs, and make sure they don't get it. Rather than cutting off some of the expansion paths and hoping that is enough."

"I don't doubt it will be so easy, but yes."

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