Chương 57: The Lord's Grid

"What?" I whispered.

"I mean, what siphon? I don't have anything like that."

"Levi, I may just be a Copper, but I've got some tricks up my sleeve," Shatter said.

"When you came and checked in with us and placed your equipment orders, and when you took out the soul crystal, I caught a glimpse in your bag. I don't think Drywsone noticed, but then, he rarely does."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No." Shatter crossed his arms.

"Why would I be doing that?"

"I dunno, but you're claiming to know a secret of mine, and you're being a bit cagey about it. What is even the punishment for owning a siphon?"

"No idea," Shatter replied.

"Something tells me there aren't many regulations about it because it hasn't happened before. Or if someone did make a siphon on their own, they didn't get caught. But someone somewhere might think you stole it—and that's the risk." I glanced around, making sure no one was watching, then pulled the siphon out of my bag and set it down on the counter.

"Alright, though, this thing is weak and ugly and not very effective. Who would I have stolen it from? Certainly not a sergeant." I paused.

"I am a sergeant." For the moment, we hadn't been equipped with siphons, because what was the point? We were only doing Labyrinth runs, where other staff would collect the bodies of the fallen enemies and reward us their Presences after all was said and done. Gathering the Presences mid-run would just slow us down.

"I want to upgrade it for you," Shatter said.

"That's my gift." I considered for a moment.

"Upgrade it?"

"Yeah."

"I don't mean to be doubtful, but what else could you do to make it better?" I wondered aloud.

"I mean, like, a siphon siphons. Once you get it working, what can you do to improve it? I'm sure you could probably make the rates better and all, and I wouldn't deny that, but wouldn't it be more effective to just get myself a standard-issue siphon? This lump of rock was just a temporary solution while I was out on the front, but I could probably just get rid of it to spare myself some trouble."

"No, don't do that," Shatter said.

"Aside from the fact that standard issue siphons aren't perfect either, your siphon possesses a relatively unique construction. It has lots of room on its inside, compared to other siphons. The standard-issue siphons are merely shadows of what a true siphon is capable of, and if you've ever seen a Path-walker's siphon—one from an important family, that is—you'll know that it's a lot more impressive than what the military has mass-produced."

"But what can they actually do?"

"Sorry," Shatter said. He was practically trembling with excitement.

"Well, if we upgrade it, it will have a better harvesting rate outside of Labyrinths. They condense larger Presences inside a Labyrinth. But they can obtain aspected Presences." I chewed the inside of my lip.

"Why would I need an aspected Presence, though? Our Arts are pure."

"You can sell them for a lot of money and trade them. With more sceats, you can get better equipment, and so on…" I nodded.

"And you think you can upgrade it?"

"It will take time," he said.

"But yeah, I can do it. I might need to borrow a little bit of scrap, and I'll probably need some other…uh, soul crystals or loot from the monsters in the Labyrinth. I'll update you once I've finished setting the copper into the runes and boring out the inside channel and adding a few extra flanks and cleaning up your runes."

"Would it be easier to start from scratch?"

"I—uh, no. The more history a siphon has, the better it works."

"Alright…" I said.

"Keep it here, then. Keep it in a safe spot and don't let anyone catch you working on it. And if they find out that you have been working on it, I'll disavow ever owning it. Got it?" The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Got it," Shatter nodded.

"Once again, thank you for everything." ~ ~ ~ A few nights later, while I was studying in the library, the door swung open. I glanced back, only to see Anchor, Brawl, and Sage rush in. They were moving quickly, and with some urgency.

"Levi, come with us," Anchor said, grabbing me by the shoulder. It was a friendly hold, and Brawl was there on the other side. Sage kept up the rear.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"What're we—you—up to."

"We need you, brother," Brawl said.

"I hate to admit it," Sage added, "but they're right. We do need you."

"What for?" They didn't explain as they pulled me out of the library. I sped up. Were they really telling the truth? Had they gotten in trouble with someone, or had they challenged someone to a duel? Or had the Subtle Men done something? But they led me out to a field in the outer wall, where a group of sapper trainees had gathered in a circle. I couldn't see what they surrounded, until Brawl pushed through the crowd and brought us to a pedestal at the center.

It was made of stone with a checkered top, and there were about ten carved pieces atop it. They were like chess pieces, but they were carved with far more detail, and they were organized in a different way. The white pieces were in the center, guarding their "king," and the black pieces were on all four sides, surrounding him.

"Lord's Grid," I muttered. It was a board game I'd seen a few of them playing.

"We return, brothers!" Brawl exclaimed. A Dupe sat at the opposite side of the table. He was a sapper trainee, but he had modified his helmet and painted orange antlers on its side—which, I was pretty sure was indicative of his name. Antlers.

"Sergeant," Anchor said.

"We've met our match."

"What did you guys do?" I whispered, trying to take stock of the board. White was in a bad position. Even from my limited experience watching them play"We challenged Antlers," Sage said.

"And…it turns out, he knew what he was doing."

"What did you bet on it?" I groaned.

"Nothing," Anchor said, and at the same time, Brawl said, "Not much." They both glared at each other. Brawl muttered something about a "slimy bastard," and I had no idea who he could be referring to. I knelt down behind the checkered table and said, "I take it we're white, then."

"You bet," Sage said.

"Challenger is always white."

"If we'd known we would've lost, we wouldn't have done it," Anchor told us.

"Yeah, that tends to be how it works," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Alright, Antlers. It's not over yet." The goal of Lord's Grid was to either get your king to the edge of the table, or to prevent white from escaping the 'ambush.'

"It's your turn," said Antlers. I nodded. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to win, but I knew I needed to bait him out and give us an opening. Sage, Anchor, and Brawl had played defensively so far. They'd just reacted to every move Antlers had made. I needed to actually force an opening. For a few moves, I stalled. I hadn't played before, but I had watched. I leveraged my Focus to memorize some strategies, and the moves that different types of pieces could make.

Even if I didn't have any of the best pieces left, I could still get my king to the edge… as long as Antlers eventually messed up. He was used to taking the initiative. He didn't suspect that I had a trap for him with one of my footmen. When he moved one of his footmen into place, I didn't bother taking it back and exchanging material. Instead, I made a dash for the opening he'd left me. His squad groaned, and the gathered crowd muttered, discussing the move I'd just made. But it wasn't over yet.

I'd visualized three turns in advance, and as long as Antlers fell into my trap, then it would work. He was a skilled player, too, though. He didn't blunder as badly as I hoped, and though I took a few of his valuable pieces, he took my last horseman—everything that wasn't just a footman or a king. I kept pushing to the exit. The others had gotten into a bad situation to start with—just like our first brawl with Plume's squad—but I wasn't going to let it cost me the victory this time.

I lost another footman, then gave another material trade, which technically benefited Antlers because of his overall material advantage, but my objective was clear, and I was overall being careful. In three more turns, I reached the edge, my king made it to the side of the board, and we won by a hair's breadth. I exhaled, and the crowd erupted in murmurs, before finally, Brawl cheered. Sage rushed over to me and used Morph to hold up my hand. Anchor jumped to his feet, eyes wide, and said, "On the Pillar, how?"

"Gotta look for your openings," I said, patting him on the back.

"This is why you guys called me, isn't it?"

"Of course…" Anchor said.

"It was a well-played game, Sergeant Levi," Antlers said. He held his hand up in a salute, and I matched the gesture.

"You as well, Sergeant Antlers," I replied, noting his pauldron.

"Shall I play you again some day?" Antlers asked.

"I think I might need to give it a little more practice," I said.

"So, yes. I should probably keep playing the others. And…" I glanced back at my squad, who were exchanging sceats with the losing squad's members.

"These guys are going to go broke if I don't lend them a hand, I'd say."