A soothing curl of steam rose from the clay spout of the kettle.
Kaelen Vance settled deeper into the hemp weave of his hammock, pulling his quilted cotton blanket up to his chest. The damp chill of the Sector Four boiler room could not reach him here. The brazier beneath the iron kettle radiated a steady, comfortable warmth that smelled of dry pine needles and toasted barley.
Beneath his black silk blindfold, his eyes stayed peacefully closed.
His Fallow Slate hovered in the tranquil depths of his sea of consciousness. The numbers moved with steady, mechanical beauty.
[STAGE 3 ACTIVE TRACK ACCUMULATION REPORT] [TRACK 1 (CULTIVATION VESSEL): 985h 09m (9,860x; 7,210x MILESTONE SEAL LOCKED)] [TRACK 2 (MARTIAL COMBAT): 996h 10m (9,970x, 7,210x MILESTONE SEAL LOCKED)] [TRACK 3 (ALCHEMY & COMPREHENSION): 20h 00m (21x)] [STATUS: True Fallow State ACTIVE]
Two locked multipliers, Kaelen thought, feeling a wave of deep satisfaction. Two seventy-two-hundred-fold strikes sitting safely in the vault.
The Stage 3 Valve had done its job without leaking a single drop of spiritual pressure. Grand Regent Malakor’s detection arrays remained none the wiser.
Now came the easiest part of the entire campaign.
