Pushing the cattail into the arc suit’s glove, I prepare to turn the key. ‘I shan’t hesitate, though. Let us see what the coffin holds within.’

I know that this coffin contains a Kiln known for its acid, so I will back away as soon as the lock clicks and the seal around the coffin’s door is broken. With a quick glance behind me, I confirm that Terra and Lorcan are both at the ready in case something goes wrong. I also confirm that Gen and the Elderly Rats are still distracted by a patch of flowers a few hundred feet away.

Using the cattail and what little force my arms can also produce, I twist. A blue shimmer appears around the coffin, but this shimmer is expected. 

When Earl informed me that there were two Kiln in the coffin, she also clarified that when she stated it was ‘sealed,’ she meant it in the magical sense. She does not think it is a dangerous seal, just a seal that kept mana from leaking from the coffin and liquids from making contact with the coffin’s surface. Which makes sense because my own mana used to leak quite heavily, and any acid should undoubtedly be eating away at the coffin’s interior.

The blue shimmer around the coffin fades, and there is a metallic clank. Looking down, I find a handle has popped out of the coffin around halfway down its front. I take the opportunity to back away as some liquid drips from around the gaps at the base of the coffin’s door. The liquid dribbles onto the ground and sizzles as it eats through the green grass.

Seeing only a few drops leaking from the casket, Terra’s shoulders relax. {Well, it’s as we expected; there was only a small amount of liquid inside,} she says to me telepathically.

Watching the liquid melting a blade of grass, I nod. {Aye, I have moved this coffin several times, and nothing was sloshing around inside, so I was relatively certain there could not be much liquid within.}

{I still think you should have waited for me to get someone to at least try to drill a drain hole into it.}

{I appreciate thy worry, but I am ready to solve this mystery.} Staring at a drop of dew run down the front of the coffin, and onto the melting blade of grass, I continue, {Moreover, if people are meant to start coming inside the Tower, they will see it and attempt to investigate it, which is unwanted attention.}

Terra raises an eyebrow. {You’re worried people will see it? But didn’t you say the coffin was stuck in the hedges, and you couldn’t get it out of the briers to set it down before opening it?}

{I did, and I could not get it out without a lot of time and effort.} I point toward the bushes that envelope the sides of the coffin. Every nook and cranny of the coffin has briers running through or around it. {The briers and hedges are thick and have a poisonous nightshade plant called ‘purple devil’ wound into them, so I would have to do it alone without my arc suit on... The Glasswing Butterflies like nightshades and also need them to breed.}

{Yeah, the purple devil is the one that grows that inedible fruit...} Shaking her head, she continues, {Anyway, that’s not my point. My point is people will still investigate this casket because it’s a casket that’s just sitting in some bushes in an otherwise ordinary place.}

{Aye, but an open coffin is an oddity and landmark, while a closed coffin is an unsettling mystery. The latter begets further investigation and more questions.}

{If you say so,} she says with a shrug. Preparing her tome, she motions at the coffin. {It looks like the last of the acid has leaked out. You can go ahead and open it if you’re ready.}

I approach the coffin, watching my feet to avoid stepping on drops of acid, and then grip the handle with my glove that has the cattail. Tugging at it, it does not seem to make a difference, so I try twisting. When I apply so much force, I am worried it will break the handle, it turns, and I can hear each of the mechanisms inside clanking into place. 

I yank at the handle, causing the door to swing open. While the door is coming to a slow stop, I take several steps back.

“What in the…?” Lorcan says aloud.

Staring at what appears to be a scene frozen in time, I cannot help but ask myself, ‘How did something like this happen?’

As Earl told me, there appears to have been two Kiln within the coffin. Their bodies, if one can call them that, are damaged, heavily damaged. There is one on the left side that looks to have been a female and one on the right that has a sex that I cannot determine. Both of Kiln have one of their shoulders against the coffin’s interior. It seems clear that the Kiln were standing when they ended up like they are now and then placed in the coffin at a later time.

The unknown Kiln on the right has their right shoulder against the coffin’s interior, and they are facing the other Kiln. The Kiln’s body looks to be constructed of slices of white rock stacked one atop another until it vaguely looks human in shape. The head lacks ears or a mouth, and the eyes seem to just be rock stacked a bit more loosely than the rest of the body. I would compare the eyes to the eyeholes of a mask that someone needed to peep through, but they did not want anyone to know exactly where their eyes were in the mask.

Inspecting the body of the Kiln, I find that both legs are missing, and their left hand seems to be buried in the upper belly of the female Kiln across from it. At the bottom of the coffin, I notice there is also a clump of ashy sludge. This could mean the rock Kiln might have been wearing some type of clothing at one point.

I change focus to the female Kiln on the left. The reason I can tell she was female is because her body still has a feminine figure. She is in much better shape than the Kiln on the right, despite some of the bust looking to have scorch marks burned around it.

As far as I can tell, her body seems to be made up of two-thirds of one thing and a third of another. From her right shoulder diagonally to where the belly button would be and then straight down their right leg is a white chalky substance while the rest of the body is an orange chalk-like material. Actually, I think I recognize both substances as acerb and acrid, the refined acid and base I discovered back in the Bishop’s and Consortium’s bases.

My eyes drift up and down the arms of the female Kiln. It becomes fairly obvious how the stone Kiln lost their legs because there is a bow saw in the right hand of the female Kiln. Not an ordinary bow saw, but an ornamental medical one that is dyed a mix of orange and white. It almost looks like she used the bow saw to amputate the other Kilns limbs. As for her left hand, it is wrapped tightly around the neck of the stone Kiln.

“Okay, I wasn’t going to say anything, because I expected one of you to ask first, but what are these things?” Lorcan asks, scratching his cheek and squinting his eyes. “Were they actually alive at some point? They look too real and too fake at the same time, so it kinda gives me a weird vibe. Like I’m looking at two dolls or something.” When no one makes an effort to answer him, he continues on his own, “The one on the left looks like it was winning pretty one-sidedly. So... how did they both end up in a coffin stuck in that pose?”

After his words, a few drops of chalky dust fall from the face of the female Kiln and drift downward.

“No way, is it still alive?” Lorcan asks with wide eyes.

There is a cracking sound, and the female Kiln’s foot snaps away from the body. Together, the pair of Kiln fall out and away from the coffin, and together. I watch as they both shatter upon impacting the hard ground of Tenebrous. The rubble of their bodies bounces and spreads out and between the green vegetation. Everything around the coffin is now covered in dry acrid, acerb, and whatever the other Kiln was constructed of.

“O-oh, it was just unbalanced,” Lorcan murmurs. “I guess they were both pretty damaged to begin with, so it’s not that surprising.”

I take a few steps forward and crouch where some different and larger chunks of material remain. There in the debris lays two semi-round orbs. The two orbs look to have been intertwined with one another but separated in the fall and collapse of the Kiln bodies.

Staring at them the cattail wiggles and my hand drifts to my belly. ‘This is their shells and kiln.’

One shell resembles a rough, jagged white stone. The surface is covered in cracks, like the bottom of a dry lake, and there are clear acid burns on the outside. 

The other is chalky, also rough, and is half orange and half white. The shell’s surface shows signs of bubbling, especially where the two halves meet. In fact, I can still see bubbles rising from in between the two pieces from time to time. It reminds me of the reaction that comes after mixing acerb and acrid together when at least after it has settled a bit.

Two other things catch my attention. The bow saw has collapsed into chalk, but another item I overlooked earlier seems relatively sturdy. That item appears to be a rather sharp pickaxe. This pickaxe looks to be made of the same material as the body of the unknown Kiln. Unlike the Kiln’s body, wherever the pickaxe touches, the ground sizzles underneath, and the drops of dew turn to steam.

I pluck a few blades of grass, run them over the pickaxe, and then inspect them. ‘Nay, I do not believe it is acid. Is it making that noise because of its temperature? Is it truly hot enough for that?’

There is a metallic squeak as a soft light appears next to me. Looking over, I find Earl holding her lantern over the rubble that was once the bodies of the two Kiln. “Statement: The acidic Kiln choked on their own meal. The Mistress will profit from this Kilns careless error.”

{Choked?} I look the acidic Kiln over and tilt my head. {I cannot see anything.}

Earl leans down and spins the shell of the acid Kiln around. 

“Wow!” Lorcan points and says, “Did that rock just move on its own?”

“Lorcan, Nightingale, and I need a moment alone to discuss something privately. Can you take Gen and the Elderly Rats to pick berries? Especially the Elderly Rats, I’ve seen them overeat and then vomit a few times this week, and I’d rather not see it again,” Terra says, gesturing at the group of hairy people who are eating grass off in the distance. “They seem hungry.”

He looks toward Terra as if he is about to say something, but once he remembers who it is he’s talking to, he glances at me and then nods. “...Yeah,” Lorcan says, turning around and walking away. “I don’t mind finding them some berries to eat, I guess.”

While Lorcan walks away, Earl points at a small tube of white rock that juts from the side of the acid Kiln’s shell. “Response: The rock Kiln was still conscious enough to fight back when the other attempted absorption. In their death throes, the rock Kiln filled the shell of the acidic Kiln with their own refined material, crippling the acidic Kiln.”

With Lorcan gone, Terra walks up behind Earl and me and then asks aloud, “Just crippled, not dead?”

Earl ignores Terra and continues, “Recommendation: The Mistress should learn from the mistake of the novice Kiln and make sure that a Kiln’s flame is adequately snuffed before attempting consumption.”

{Are both Kiln snuffed?}

She purses her lips and thinks for a moment. Hesitating as if she is not certain she wants to tell me, she sighs and then says, “Statement: Please standby.” She crouches and reaches out to the pair of Kiln, touching one and then the other with the end of her finger. The blue veins in her eyes spread across her pupils and then retreat back to their original positions. “Subsequent Statement: Kiln recognized, no resistance offered.” Tossing some of her blood into the flame of the lantern, she continues, “Displaying basic information.”

A pair of purple walls appear, one above the other.

I read the two walls and then look toward Earl.

“Answer: The Flint Kiln is smothered, the Dualistic Kiln is heavily crippled.” She closes the door on her lantern and continues, “And the Dualistic Kiln isn’t going to wake up without outside intervention. The shell is full of white-hot flint, but more importantly, the shell is unstable, and this one believes it was like that even before the scuffle between the two Kiln.”

Reaching out, I take the pair of Kiln in hand—one dead and one comatose. {Now what?}

“Recommendation: Devour the Flint Kiln; smother and then devour the Dualistic Kiln.”

I stare at the Flint Kiln. It feels different than the other, more like a rock than anything. That being said, it looks like the most delicious fruit I could imagine. {I… I do not have any qualms against absorbing the Flint Kiln in all honesty, but snuffing the Dualistic Kiln seems…}

“Wasteful?” Once again interjecting, Terra looks at me with a serious expression. “It’s not my decision or anything, but how often do you think an opportunity like this might come?”

{Opportunity?} I question.

“If I recall, you said you needed to eat other Kiln to gain strength, but what’s more valuable, a single level or perhaps a Kiln that is…” She pauses, clearly looking for the right words. “...your vassal? I mean, that Kiln is totally at your mercy; it has no room to negotiate.”

{My vassal? What doth thou mean? How would I do that?}

“Statement: This one thinks the Acolyte should just say what she means.” Earl looks at me and taps on the surface of the Kiln. “Explanation: The Acolyte wishes for the Mistress to take advantage of the Kiln’s weakened state and attempt a domination contract with the Dualistic Kiln.”

‘Domination contract?’ 

I think back to the time that Emily the Spirit Scribe from the Hex Church attempted a contract like that one me. It was a bit scary, but it failed miserably because it basically asked me if I accepted the contract beforehand. Of course, I would never accept a contract that makes me subservient to a woman that yelled her name at me and then told me to be hers or whatever. Furthermore, if I remember, the only stipulation on that contract was that Emily would have ‘Complete and absolute authority over Constance.’ That was one of the few things that the contract actually had written on it.

Terra nods while staring at me. “Yes, a domination contract is what I mean. It’s the easiest way to ensure your own safety… Besides eating it, I guess.”

{Is that the contract that would give me complete and absolute authority over this Kiln?}

Raising an eyebrow, Terra shakes her head. “By default, a domination contract is a master-servant relationship unless you add a stipulation like that, then it’s closer to a master-slave relationship. Almost worse in a way since they wouldn’t even be allowed to die without permission.” 

{But… I read one of the Hex Church’s books, and it said that’s what a domination contract was.}

She frowns and shakes her head. “It’s not. That’s just how the Hex Church teaches their Spirit Scribes, like how they taught Emily, who tried that on you. From what I was able to discover, a default domination contract doesn’t go out of its way to name ‘offers or requests.’ Instead, it just asks if you accept the domination contract and then has a small blurb at the bottom that hints at what it means to accept.”

{Is that true?} I think back to the book titled, ‘Gospel of the Hexed: Contracting Man’s Past’ and realize how unwise it was to take the word of a book from the Hex Church as truth. {How didst thou find that out?}

“I experimented with it on my own by erasing a few things that seemed unnecessary and then used it over and over again on my butler….” She pauses and says, “On Caldwell, to see if anything changed between each use. Then one day, I had a particularly strong moment of clarity, and erased almost half of the original contract spell, and tried it again.”

{Oh… that honestly feels a bit… Never mind, what was this ‘blurb’ thing?}

“Caldwell told me it was a panel that said something like, ‘Terra Iris Galtry of the material plane is attempting to contract you to walk upon the material world as her servant and familiar. Your spirits will be bound together, and you will be subject to her commands regardless of your own feelings. In exchange, she will care for you without malice and allow you to grow in both experience and power in her service. So say the...’”

{...So say ‘The?’}

“There name wasn’t ‘Thee,’ it was just the word ‘the.’ After that, it was unreadable.” Terra smiles. “Caldwell had to take medicine to get his headache to go away after that. It failed so many times before that it surprised him when something happened, and he was a little peeved about the headache, but he was the one that offered to help.”

{So it said nothing more?}

After thinking for a moment, she shakes her head, saying, “No, I did manage to get a slightly different version to go through one more time, but it just altered the blurb to something that sounded more like I was contracting Caldwell as a beast rather than a spirit. That one made his head hurt even more too. Anyway, those were the only two times I got it to work. I’m fairly certain this should be both less intrusive than the Hex Church’s version, allowing the Kiln some freedom, and protect the Master or Mistress from any overt maliciousness the servant may be carrying.”

This time Earl interjects with a shake of her lantern before saying, “Statement: But since it’s a master-servant relationship, it means that the Mistress becomes responsible for at least the bare minimum care of this Kiln. Which means the Mistress wouldn’t be able to absorb them since devouring a dominated Kiln would be a breach of the master-servant relationship.”

“Constance could do whatever she wants with what’s left of the Kiln if it died in some other way in the future.” Terra sighs, looking a bit uncomfortable with her own words, before shaking her head and continuing, “But regardless of that, is it really such a bad trade? Give up a level today for a huge, potential asset tomorrow?”

“Response: It’s a critical time for the Mistress. A single level today and at this point in the Mistress’s development may indeed be better than an asset the Mistress may never get to reap.” Tilting her head, Earl asks, “Suggestion: Why does the Mistress not use the master-slave contract instead?”

Terra does not say anything; instead, she looks at me as if indicating it’s my decision, but I can see a hint of disapproval in her eyes.

I shake my head. {Nay, I do not see the point of the slave relationship. I do not plan to be so wicked to the Kiln that I would require a stipulation that gives me absolute power over them. Frankly, I am not interested in having someone around who both deeply despises me and requires permission to do everything.}

“Query: The Mistress is certain? A contract with another Kiln would come with additional strings.”

{The Kiln’s Interface is what thou mean? When contracting with a Kiln, it’s also a contract with the Interface in a way, correct?}

Earl smiles at Terra and nods. “Answer: It is indeed. Not only will the contract require the Interface’s approval, but it will also allow the Interface to learn the Mistress’s location.”

Terra frowns and rolls her eyes.

{Did something happen?}

“It’s nothing. I was just passing by the Tower last night, and Earl poofed into existence behind me and tried to scare me,” Terra replies, shaking her hand dismissively. 

Hugging her lantern, Earl looks at Terra with big eyes. “Response: This one was just curious why the Acolyte was passing through the Domain.”

“I was going to the bathroom,” Terra says. A moment after those words leave her mouth, she begins blinking.

Earl’s grin grows wider. “Statement: A contract with a Kiln is also a contract with its Interface, meaning the Acolyte can’t lie to this one either.”

{Prithee, Earl, I shall talk to Terra in private later. Right now, I wish to discuss the Kiln.} I glance at Terra, who looks away before I then turn back to Earl. {If I contract this Dualistic Kiln, is it even repairable? Also, what does it mean to be found by another Kiln’s Interface?}

“Answer: As long as its flame burns, its shell has integrity, and it has Essence flowing in, then yes, it is repairable. Though, when it can be repaired depends on several things. I guess the answer to that would be maybe tomorrow, maybe next month, or maybe decades. It’s a question that should be addressed to the Kiln’s Interface.”

I nod. {And what does it mean to be found by another Kiln’s Interface and how long until it finds us?}

She thinks for a moment, tapping her long nails against the side of her lantern. “Answer: That depends on the Interface, but with a domination contract, it’s more of a one-way road. That means it would be able to receive information but not send anything; however, this one can block that connection. As for when will the Interface find us? I guess that answer would be, maybe tomorrow, maybe next month, or maybe a few years. It’s a question of that Interface’s competency.”

Standing with the two Kiln in my hand, my eyes pause on the pair of Kiln as a hunger rises from the pit of my own kiln. I shake my head and look toward the ground. The grass seems to be having some reaction with the acid as it mixes with drops of water. {Aye, let’s leave this area and set up camp. I shall give my answer on the Dualistic Kiln after thinking on it for a few hours.}

---

Several hours later, I sit in a hidden field of purple, pink, red, and yellow flowers beneath a fig tree. Next to me are the two unmoving Kiln and my empty arc suit. At the top of the fig tree, Earl kicks her feet, humming and inspecting the fig fruit curiously. On the side of the tree opposite me, I can hear the scribbling of Terra’s quill in her tome. Lorcan, Gen, and the Elderly Rats went exploring, so I can hear them squeaking and oohing off in the distance.

I took off my arc suit because I want a clear view of what happens when I absorb the Flint Kiln. {I am going to consume the Kiln, Earl. Is there anything I should be prepared for?}

Earl stops humming. “Answer: The user should expect a small amount of residual or embedded images and information, but they’re harmless. Query: Did the Mistress ever look over the options in the Spiritual Realm Interior section of the options?”

{Nay, I have been rather busy since I left the Tower nearly two days ago now.}

Shrugging, Earl opens her lantern, cuts her finger, and tosses in a bit of her own blood.

A purple wall appears.

“Recommendation: Open the Topographies and Raw sections near the bottom. The remaining can wait until they are relevant.” 

Looking toward the Interface Message, I recall that I meant to change that as well. In fact, I meant to change it before allowing anyone in but had forgotten. 

“Statement: Before the Mistress says anything, this one has disabled the greeting and message board the Mistress Interface displays until the Mistress has reset the message. It’s also functioning better than it was before if the Mistress was curious.”

{Aye, good, I thank thee. I was just about to ask why Terra and Lorcan did not say anything.} I point at the two options just above ‘Seed Bank.’ {Prithee, show me a wall with the two sections thou recommended.}

The first wall vanishes and the requested wall appears in its place.

After reading the wall, I push it away and then look between the two Kiln. ‘So there is something more than just a level I can get from eating Kiln. I can make use of their types and variants inside my Tower. Like I can make monoliths because I am Tower and it’s glass because that is my variant, so I could get some variant of a quarry and catacomb if I ate these two.’

Next to me, I hear Earl’s voice. “Query: Does the Mistress intend to make a contract with the Dualistic Kiln?”

I hesitate to answer at first, having just learned this new information, but I decide to stick to the decision I made earlier after thinking about it for a while. {Aye, I do. Whether it works out or not, I believe it is worth the gamble. Particularly since some of the other Kiln seem to be working together. Doth thou believe otherwise?}

“Answer: This one thinks the Mistress could use the strength and the added variety in the tower. Yet this one knows a subjugated Kiln could be more useful, but this one is more worried that the Dualistic Kiln isn’t capable of being useful.”

I nod, running my hazy fingers over the surface of the Dualistic Kiln. While I watch bits of my black haze run through the cracks of the shell, I respond to Earl, {That is certainly a concern. I cannot afford to take in a Kiln that will always be a burden. However, the way I see it is, if they are incapable, the world is so dangerous right now that it will sort itself out. That sounds cruel, but it is the truth.}

Earl stares at the Kiln and then shrugs. “Response: This one trusts in the Mistress’s decision.”

Removing my finger from the Dualistic Kiln my attention turns to Flint Kiln. {Then, I am going to... eat now.}

“Statement: This one is ready as well.” With a smile, Earl hugs the lantern and says, “The Mistress is hungry and this one can also feel the Mistress’s desire to eat. Request: So please, enjoy and savor the meal, Mistress.”

Though I wish to deny her claims, seeing the Flint Kiln sitting there makes me uncomfortably ravenous. It’s like sitting at a table with a hard-cooked meal is growing cold in front of me. So I do not respond. 

Instead, I begin unraveling the cattail from around my torso. With the cattail eager for its meal, I reach for the Flint Kiln while spreading the cattail’s tendrils. When the tendrils reach the Kiln, they wrap around the shell and then run themselves into every crack and crevice before pulling the Kiln in. The Kiln does not dissolve like I was expecting but instead just floats into the cattail. As it works its way up and through my neck, I notice pieces of glass form on its outside as it approaches my own Kiln.

My Kiln cracks open, and a tiny spark exits, floating toward the Flint Kiln. When the spark contacts the Flint Kiln, it bursts into violet flames. A sweet, savory feeling spreads all across me.

An image appears in my mind of a man in white garb. From the man’s brow, drops of sweat drip as his face shows an expression of obvious concern. In his left hand, he wields a pickaxe, and it seems his attention is concentrated on his right hand. The reason becomes evident as I notice his hand appears to be made of a white rock from which blood oozes through cracks that litter its surface.

The images fade.

Between the images and the flavor, I find myself unable to think, but I still manage to watch as the molten Flint Kiln crashes into my own. The molten flint revolves around my kiln, forming a ring that carves at the rougher edges of my own glass shell. Embers separate from the molten flint and are pulled into the interior of my shell. Once the embers are inside, they combine and stoke my violet flame. The violet flame grows a notch in size and intensity.

Noticing a shadow, I look up to find Earl staring down at me. The blue veins in her eyes flow as she says, “Statement: This one thinks the Mistress is enjoying her meal.”

Both a blue and a purple wall appear in front of her face.