“I get that I was in charge and that we were in my office and this was a job interview of sorts, but my verdict felt offensively unnecessary. It was as if he had destroyed a mountain peak with an arrow and asked if he was strong enough to join the army.

  It didn't help that my students were going wild and asking questions after they saw flabbergasted. And once they started talking about me being flustered, I became even more flustered, embarrassed, annoyed to the point that I just blurted out a stupid bluff like, “Why did you ink the mistakes?”

  And he said… with his pompous exactness, “Because I follow instructions.”

  “Then don’t follow instructions,” I snapped. “Fix it!”

  He flashed me a charming smile, terribly amused, eating up the attention. I suddenly got why Fera warned me he was an arrogant narcissist, but it's hard to fault someone for their ego when they’re right. And then he doubled down.

  “I will, if there are any,” he said. “Though, to know what to do, I must see the lock.”

  Arrays have two circles—the one that did the operation, known as the lock, and the one that activated it, known as the key. We do this to prevent anyone with a paintbrush from stealing arrays.

  In the Outer Court we inked keys, but Kain was right, without seeing the lock you can't do anything about it.

  That said, I couldn't show anyone the key haphazardly so I turned to my disciples and said:

  “As of this moment, this demonstration is of the highest clearance. Unless you’re speaking to an elder, if there’s a single leak about my guest, I will dismiss all of you. One leak—all of you. Do you understand?”

  My eyes must’ve been ruthless because they exchanged glances of firm horror and nodded, standing without prompting—awaiting my orders.

  “Now leave, I said.

  Kain smirked when everyone but Fera left and that pissed me off. So I said, “This is against the rules, so it better be worth it.”

  I inked out a key, with tools, mortified to go after him. Yet I finished and said, “Fix it.”

  I felt bold and almost blasphemous for saying that, considering it was an official array, but Kain didn't react. He just smiled his infuriating smile.”

  “There’s the magic word,” Halkan said.

  Flora’s mouth twitched and she scoffed. “He gave me that displeasing smile and said, “As you wish.”

  Next thing I know, I’m watching as this man created a fortification array I had never seen. Or rather, it was the same array, but it had so many modifications I could barely read it. Everything just felt wrong and backward but also right. I know this all sounds like a contradiction, but… Okay, that's how I'll explain it. Imagine you’re at a restaurant and order a dish. It’s a classic dish. Normal. But it comes out and it’s… different. You’ve never seen that color of sauce or the spices, and it has a weirdish smell. It looks… different. But you can see that the steak is a perfect medium rare and the breading on the vegetables is perfectly crisp and the sides are not only obviously correct but they’re elegantly composed. And it smells good. Sure, you don’t know what the new things are, but you can at least tell they knew what they were doing. You know?

  That's what it was like to look at his work—close enough to confirm it was a fortification array, skilled enough to build trust. Perfection.

  I just… stared at it for a good while and whispered, “What?”

  And Kain… he turned to me earnestly and said:

  “The purpose of this array is to create a protective lining around an object. It’s the first layer of a multilayered scheme that’s being used as a full fortification array—for whatever reason, sinister or otherwise. These runes represent the object…”

  Dear Aliana, bless me then… this man started lecturing me on the purpose of runes. I've never been one to faunt my status, but come on. Kain was an ex-communicated Spiritless who was working in the {Mines}. Having him lecture me was like me auditioning for a job with {Sect Leader}—that was the sect leader back then—and giving him a lecture. That's how big the difference was. But I kept silent and listened, if only because I was so stunned. And I didn't break through that trance until I heard him say something like:

  “So why would the object remain a fixed variable? That makes little sense. You’re already aware this rune maps out the object, so why wouldn’t you use it as the adapting blueprint? It’s so obvious that the only explanation is that the sect utilizes these flaws for inferior products so that each stage increases in value substantially, despite the work remaining the same.”

  Those words made me feel furious. Shamed. Humiliated. I almost told him to leave, but his next words changed my life forever.

  “Or… you’re unaware of this because your teacher was jealous and tried to cripple your foundations when you became an Inner Court disciple. By the time you left, you were working with locks and no one saw these flaws, and this couldn't correct them.”

  My world spun. Kain’s words were so logical that it was hard to refute. My Inner Court teacher was a jealous, vindictive man who was notorious for sabotaging students and colleagues. And by the time I left, I was working on locks, and no one saw the inefficiencies he taught me.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Just getting confirmation left me devastated, and Fera and Kain could tell.

  “That’s what I thought,” Kain said. He scanned his gaze on every array in the room. “Because I know a woman of your pride wouldn’t resort to such petty tricks.”

  He looked me in the eyes and for the first time I felt true sincerity. The thing about Kain was that he regularly lied because he , but when he was genuine—when he got to know you or was put into a position where lying was not an option—his word was law. There was never a thing he said to me that he didn’t fulfill with absolute completion and I could tell just by the way he spoke. So I listened and he said:

  “But I can help you. If you help me and you put aside your pride—I can help you. Not only become a better arraymaster—but also take revenge on the elder that wronged you.”

  I felt an icy shiver crawled down my spine. I must’ve looked very scared because he scoffed and said:

  “Not through violence—strategy. I can teach you a way to reclaim your status as an elder while destroying their career.”

  I felt so naked as he spoke, like a little girl again. Young and insignificant, listening to my parents fight and scream… helpless to stop it. And I swallowed as he said, “I'll help you.”

  I answered, “I’ll try”—and did. I spoke to my elder and got permission to bring him in. He showed up hungover and in a foul mood to my workshop to see the lock Kain painted. I said I gave him a reference, of course, just to see what he would say, and the man then issued demands to my students to recount the event. I gave them the go ahead, and they told him. And once they were done, he scratched his cheek and said:

  “I’ll allow it. I want him here by next cycle. Whatever his circumstances or contracts—I don’t care. I want him here by next cycle.”

  I remember feeling so amused that my sect elder said he’d “allow it” and then make timeline demands. But I understood it. Kain Reskco… whoever he was… he wasn’t a nobody and everyone was looking forward to working with him.

  But Kain… Aliana must’ve shaped that man from hot coals and burned her hands in the process. Because when I sat Kain down and said, “All right, let’s sign a soul pact.” This… infuriating prick… You know what he said? He looked me straight in the eye and said: “Absolutely not.”

  —------

  Swapping your soul into another’s body does not release a soul pact. If it did, more people would practice the forbidden arts.

  Yet lo and behold, my double death, both as {Restan last} and as Kain Reskco, had relinquished such ties—and there was no way that I would commit to another hundred year contract when my lover was dying in the Immortal Plane.

  That's why I refused Flora’s soul pact.

  I suppose we should discuss the situation with Rena so you can better understand my position and motivations. Returning to her may feel like a foregone conclusion, since we clearly reunited, but in reality, the fact that we reunited is a dance of fate and ironies.

  There is severe time dilation between planets and universes. One hour on one planet is a year on another, so time is a disturbing problem that plagues our lives as Celestial Gods and Immortals. Sometimes you set up a colony on a planet and disappear for a year, only to return and find them all dead, or having torn down your statues for abandoning them. It's a cruel and destructive concept that makes Immortals act in strange and disorienting ways that Mortals would never understand. And in my case, Rena's remaining life span could've ended in seconds or millennia. That said, it wasn't hopeless. My only saving grace was that Immortals tend to inhabit planets with slow time. That way, the once in a millennia instances when Celestial Gods ascend the Immortal Plane occur once a year. That way, you have chances to meet new people for your armies, and find lovers in a sparsely inhabited universe.

  Rena was either in such a place or dead. And that's what it was.

  My position was that fortune favors those who live lives with convictions, always working toward their goals, and to go after the people they love. As long as there was a chance Rena lived, I would fight to return as quickly as possible without risking my life unnecessarily or compromising my character or integrity in the process.

  That's the motivation that drove so many decisions. The fact that you know now that I succeeded in reuniting is nothing but dramatic irony. And by the time you hear about the Immortal Plane, you'll learn that it's a miracle that we ever did. Every second counted, and I stayed true to my convictions.

  Never forget—I had the power, at any second, to reveal arrays and alchemy that would earn me riches, resources, and protection. It was an option and if necessary, I would use it. But unless I was in danger, unless I had a strong reason, I would not do it. And at that point, speaking to Flora, hearing about what I assumed was an enhanced soul pact, there was no dire need for me to play my cards.

  I didn't need Flora or her calligrapher position—but she did need me. And I knew that she would wager everything for me. And she did.

  When I denied her soul pact, she said:

  “Excuse me?”

  And:

  “If you think I won’t kill you, you’re sorely mistaken.”

  And:

  “If you humiliate me before my sect elder, I will obliterate your remaining meridians so you feel absolute despair before your torture session begins.”

  And finally:

  “Kain… don’t do this to me. I don’t make the rules. If you want in, you need a soul pact. And what? It’ll add another ten years to your sentence? Are you seriously going to go back to being a mindless laborer if you do this?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Have you forgotten that I was an outer court disciple before I was a mindless slave?”

  She looked away.

  “I’m finishing out my pact—and that’s all they’ll get. If anyone cannot understand why I wouldn’t want to make a pact with them after they did , ” I traced my danitan and meridians, “to me for saving a friend from … they’re mistaken. Make sure to tell them that. If they’re offended or try to coerce me, they’ll just prove my point.”

  She grimaced.

  “You’ll find a way,” I said. “And if you cannot bring me in as an Outer Court calligrapher, you can abuse me as an external sect contractor. I seek resources and freedom not comfort or luxuries. I’m sure you can negotiate something.”

  I left that day and an hour after I returned, Fera was pounding on my door, saying, “Oh, boy! I’m going to beat your ass!”

  “I’m not home,” I said.

  “Open this door!” She jiggled the handle and it didn’t turn. “Gah! At least move. I didn't want the door to hit you when I kick it in.”

  I sneered at the door and then opened it.

  “Yes?” I asked.

  “What do you mean, ” Feea barged in and thrust her butt on my bed. “This’s your last day. day. If you think that Flora’s gonna just pull out some contracts out of her ass in one day, you’re wrong!”

  “Are you done?” I asked.

  “Absolutely not!”

  I rolled my eyes and let her vent. She vented until the lowering sun turned to sunset, and when she was done, she said:

  “Kain…”

  “Hoh? Do you actually wish for me to speak?”

  “No. Just… listen. Renly…” She winced. “I wasn't quite honest with you. He wasn’t a stalker.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “Wait, no! I wasn’t bangin’ the guy, you creep!” Her eyes flickered with ire and she turned away. “I was just gonna say that he wasn’t a stalker. He was a marker. I’m pretty sure he was working for the person kidnapping people.”