That evening in the mess hall, Rix and Luna were officially welcomed to the Shadow Runner table. Rix met a lot of new faces and did his best to remember a lot of new names. That actually seemed to come a little more easily than it used to. Those points in acuity seemed to be paying off in more ways than one.

Every Iron Hand member seemed to be making it their mission to let the Shadow Runners know they hadn't been forgotten. The looks flung across the room could have punched through steel. But nonetheless, the mood at their table was high. Wing even produced a packet of sweet rice balls from somewhere under the table, which she broke open to share.

"We're selective when it comes to new members," she said, by way of explanation. "So, when someone makes the cut, we like to celebrate."

As they talked, he and Luna learned more about the organisation. All in all, the Shadow Runners numbered thirty members, almost all of whom dived. This made them bigger than all the other factions in Spiritlock. However, while they were martially strong, their divers tended to focus more on treasures than fighting fades, which meant that pound for pound they were perhaps a little weaker than the Iron Hand in terms of combat potential.

"So why are they afraid of you?" Rix asked.

It was Huan who answered. "Martial strength is one of Cloudpiercer's main languages, but it isn't the only one. They might be our rivals, but they also use our services." He gestured to the rice balls. "Most people want at least a little something like this now and again. Takes the edge off in here."

Wing dragged her chopsticks through her dinner dramatically. It was some kind of brownish stew of onion and root vegetables. "When you can make sure the only thing others eat is this, well, that earns you more than a little respect. No offence to Tolson. Heavens bless him, he tries."

"Why do you think I was so eager to join?" Luna asked him. "I think I may literally die if I don't get some fruit soon."

Rix looked down at his own bowl. "I didn't even think about that."

"Not everyone has a sweet tooth," said Huan, "but most people have a vice of some sort. Drugs, books, whatever it is, we're the ones who can get it."

Wing spread her hands. "The grease in the wheels of commerce. In here, at least."

"That's not to say we can't fight," added Huan. "We might not have the same raw muscle as some others, but we have a few toys we don't share." The man grinned and looked around conspiratorially. "We'll show you before lights out."

Wing explained their dive setup. They required a two-treasure minimum donation at the end of each dive — basically the cost of membership — but more could be given and used as currency to barter for other things. For something like the entropy pearl, the equivalent value would be exceptional. That was on top of the two-treasure minimum the prison demanded. It did mean they'd have to keep treasures front of mind when diving, but Rix had typically found he'd come home with four or five most days without really trying.

When actually diving, they operated in pairs for efficiency and safety. The expectation was obviously that he and Luna would dive together. Despite coming in here intending to remain unfettered, Rix found that he felt pretty good about that. Luna had proved herself a capable and trustworthy partner several times over, even when she didn't have to. Also, it was clear at this point that having someone to dive and train with was only going to be a benefit to his progress. To ignore that just to avoid interaction was the height of stubbornness. He reminded himself that none of this was forever. Spiritlock was just the first step of his journey, and he had to do everything he could to maximise it.

When the meal was over, Huan addressed Rix with a grin. "If you follow me, I'll take you on a tour of the toy shop and get you your welcome gift."

Rix glanced at Luna, but Wing chimed in. "She'll get hers later. There's something I very much want to discuss with her right now."

Despite her subtle choice of language, Rix understood. He'd asked Luna about her mysterious little exchange with Wing during their initial recruitment, and she'd confirmed his suspicions. The Shadow Runner leader had thoughts about how Luna's bloodline could be turned to smuggling things through prison security. It was one of the rare situations he was happy to have no bloodline of his own. He felt spread too thin as it was.

Huan led him through Spiritlock's corridors until they wound up in the last place Rix had been expecting.

The library.

The counter was manned by the same prisoner as the last time Rix had visited. He smiled at them both. "Evening, gents. Interested in a little bedtime story, are we?"

Huan kept his tone neutral. "Actually, I was hoping you might have some of Lai Shim's poetry. A little stuffy, I know, but I'm feeling nostalgic."

There were several other prisoners reading around the room, and none so much as looked up, but a knowing smile spread across the desk clerk's face. "I think we might have something in the back. Not very popular, you understand?"

Huan nodded. "Of course."

There was a door behind the librarian's desk, and Rix followed the two men inside. The room looked unremarkable. More shelves, more books, more dust; storage for forgotten stories.

The librarian looked Rix up and down. "A new member?" he asked Huan.

The Shadow Runner nodded. "Proved himself today. Got Han and his team in a proper rage in the process too."

The librarian laughed. "Always a nice bonus. I remember you from the other day, asking after books on the fades."

Rix nodded. "They helped a lot, thanks. I'm Zao Rixian."

"Ling Wuxxian," the man replied.

"Wux is one of our few operatives who keeps his nose out of the realm," said Huan.

Rix nodded. "Diving into a good book, if memory serves."

Wux's face reddened slightly, though Rix had meant it as a joke. Nonetheless, Huan came to his rescue. "Don't underestimate him. Remember what I said at dinner about the languages of Cloudpiercer? Well, Wux speaks the other one fluently."

"Oh, I don't know about that," said Wux bashfully. "I'm just a humble inventory manager."

"You're quite a bit more than that," replied Huan, "as we're about to see shortly."

He gestured to the shelves around them. "Everything we sell runs through here. As a member, you get premium access to a lot of products we don't share often. Things that can give you all sorts of little edges where you might need them."

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"Sounds useful," Rix said, working to contain his excitement. Any leg-up, particularly one Han may not have access to, was welcome.

He glanced around at the overflowing shelves. "I'm assuming there's more to it than just what you see."

Wux raised a conspiratorial eyebrow, then wandered to the back of the room to remove a book from a low-lying shelf. Doing so exposed some kind of flap that allowed him to rotate the entire shelf forward on a hinge, books and all. Behind the dummy shelf were several more stacks of books.

"I believe I told you last time that there's not a problem books can't solve," he said, handing one to Rix. It felt normal enough, but when Rix opened it, he found it hollowed out at the centre. In that gap sat a fistful of small sharp leaves the colour of ice. Though they gave off no obvious cold, the air around them seemed misty, like morning frost.

"Phantom's Breath," said Huan, from over his shoulder. "Dramatically increases breathing and mana circulation. Great for long physical training sessions, but terrible for combat."

"Why?" Rix asked.

"Dulls the spirit eye. You don't realise how much you use it until it's gone. I tried it once on a dive. A fade damn near bowled me over before I knew it was there."

Rix opened the next book.

Wux weighed in this time. "Mindroot extract. Even I've tried that one. Makes you sharper than a tack for a while. Most people use it because it makes techniques improve faster, but I'll tell you, I've never got through a Chronicle so fast."

Rix looked to Huan. "I assume this has a downside too?"

He nodded. "The hyperfocus can be dangerous, and it leaves you with these dreams that make it difficult to sleep. People say long-term use actually drives you insane, though I haven't seen it happen myself."

"Are these natural treasures?" Rix asked.

"You think we'd waste good saleable treasures on the likes of you? Hah." He slapped the book in his hand. "What we have here are good old-fashioned drugs, or versions of them anyway, grown with mana to be specifically for Martial Souls. They often tap into your existing pool as they work, but the effect they have is purely physiological. Nothing here will enhance your Path directly like a treasure-fuelled pill. They'll just give your body a little boost if you need it."

"That feels like cheating," said Rix, "In a good way, I mean."

Huan shrugged. "They have their benefits. But like I said, they all come with a cost too. Used in moderation, they're manageable, but like all good things, you can't overindulge. Everything here has the ability to cause long-term problems if you abuse it."

They spent a little while going through the options. There were all manner of herbs and roots and delicate leaves, each stranger than the last. There was a dark purple root called Midnight's Mercy that seemed to absorb nearby light. It apparently allowed you to go long periods without sleep by burning your mana to keep you alert. Then there were the Bloodthistle Seeds, small crimson kernels that glowed like embers. Taking them caused rapid acceleration of the heart and enhanced healing, but at the cost of fever-like symptoms the following day.

Everything he was shown seemed useful, but the cost was worrying. It felt like every benefit was at least partially undone by the side effects.

Eventually, Huan paused over one particularly large book, his fingers drumming on the cover. "Now this, this is the most potent thing we have. Unlike the rest, this isn't a drug. This is something a little more…direct."

Rix stared hungrily as the man opened it, revealing a strange set of tools. There was a little vial of dark, thick paste; a small block of wood with two tiny arrays etched on it; a set of bone needles of varying thicknesses; and a stick of something that looked vaguely like chalk, but that glowed faintly in the dim light.

"What's all that for?" Rix asked.

Huan grinned. "A flesh array."

"A simple one," added Wux. "I'm no array master, but I can tattoo a basic two-rune setup onto a man's body."

"He's the only one in the Farm that can right now," added Huan. "And we don't give anyone but members access."

"What does it do?" Rix asked.

Huan's expression turned nostalgic. "You know how there's always that gap between what your mind wants to do and what your body can actually manage? This little friend here...it closes that gap. For a few moments, you just become better: faster, sharper, stronger. Don't get me wrong, you won't be suddenly beating up Novas on this baby, but it's as close as you can get to actually cheating."

Rix stared at him in wonder. There was no doubt this was the sort of thing the Quartermaster had been talking about. Something that could actually improve you in combat.

"I had no idea you even could create arrays on people," said Rix.

"Can you? Absolutely," replied Huan. "But should you? Well, that's a subject of some debate. Keep them small, and they sort of work. But even then, they're dangerous."

"Dangerous how?" asked Rix.

"It varies. For most people, the next day is like the most brutal hangover they ever had. For some, it can be worse though. I know at least a few people who permanently damaged their meridians."

Wux chimed in: "There was a prisoner in the Cauldron a year back who destroyed his Path altogether by using one over and over."

"Soul haemorrhage," Rix said, quoting the Quartermaster. Both men looked at him strangely. "I was warned about this stuff by someone. She said the consequences for overuse were dire."

"I believe it," said Huan. "For that reason, as much as I enjoyed those brief, fleeting moments of feeling like a Chronicle hero, these can't be treated like a toy. You should only use yours in an absolute emergency."

Rix blinked several times. "Mine?"

Huan grinned. "In light of the current…tensions we have with the Iron Hand, all our members are currently packing a little extra heat, just in case. It's not free, mind you. Think of this like a loan. You'll pay it all back as you dive."

"That's very generous," said Rix. Despite the warnings, there was no way he was going to turn down anything that could offer a boost in power.

"Open your robe," said Wux. "They're most effective on the chest."

Rix did as he was asked.

"Is it just like a regular tattoo?" he asked.

"Sort of," replied Wux, brandishing a needle. "The actual drawing works the same, but I also need to charge it with mana as I go. That's the tricky bit. Out in corpo world, they use techniques to fill their arrays, but they're also working with inert material." He shot Rix a smile. "Working on something living is a mite bit more difficult. The human body doesn't seem to like being a vessel for mana anywhere other than your meridians. It tends to fight it, which can get messy if you don't know what you're doing. I've gotta basically trick it by being real subtle."

Rix drew a steadying breath. In the grand scheme of risks he'd taken, this was fairly low on the list.

"Okay, let's do it."

And so, Wux began, talking Rix through the process as he went. First, he used the strange chalk to sketch two vaguely circular symbols on Rix's chest. They had various accents and embellishments, and they folded in on themselves several times. Though they were somewhat crudely drawn thanks to being etched on an elastic surface, they were at least vaguely recognisable as array symbols.

Then, with slow breath and steady hands, Wux got to work with the needles. The ink was apparently the most expensive part of the process because it was made with a combination of crushed heartstones and ground ash from the wood of a certain variety of sacred tree.

First, Wux laid down the main conduits of the array — the thicker lines that would act as crude reservoirs for his mana. It turned out that the small wooden block was an enchanted striker that helped him find consistent depth. The tool allowed him to work exceptionally fast, the needle dancing rhythmically across Rix's flesh like a woodpecker's beak. With every strike, there was a tiny pulse as Wux fed his mana through the the bone shard with perfect synchronicity. Though Rix couldn't see the weaves like Luna could, just the rudimentary sensation coming from his spirit eye told him it was deft work.

When he'd finished the conduits, Wux moved on to the rest of the line work, filling in the bulk of the shape, which guided the overall effect of the array, and the accents, which lent it specificity. The process hurt, but not enough to bother him. Between his Martial Soul constitution and his various near-death experiences, it took more than a few jabs to cause him real discomfort.

"All done," the man said eventually, withdrawing the needle.

Rix flexed his body slowly. The tattoo had been etched on his right pectoral muscle. The area ached a little, and there was a faint buzzing warmth there against his skin, but it felt relatively benign.

"How do I use it?" asked Rix.

"You know how you bonded your weapon by reaching out with your mana?" asked Wux.

Rix nodded.

"Well, you just do that, but reach out to the tattoo. That'll trigger a flood of mana directly into your body."

"And how long does it last?"

Huan jumped in. "You'll get maybe six or seven seconds out of what's in there, but the last few are really going to suck. Think of it like a cigarette. The closer you get to the bottom, the harsher the pull."

"Got it," Rix said.

Despite the myriad warnings, Rix couldn't entirely contain his thrill as he thought about what he'd just been given. The urge to activate it the moment he stepped through for his next dive was a tangible thing in his chest. He wasn't stupid. He understood the risks, and he wouldn't push himself to the point of real harm. But after years of scrabbling for every shred of power, having a piece sitting there against his skin waiting to be triggered was intoxicating.

Perhaps joining the Shadow Runners would turn out to be a boon after all.

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