After the unanimous vote, it was approved. Nest Dungeonstalker would be the lord of the first new noble house in the mountain for a thousand years.

  “Your own noble house, huh? That’s a new one.” Nest’s mother had taken the news in stride when she found out about her Nesty’s fate. “I hope you understand what that means, lad. Not only will people begin to treat you differently because you’re a sinner now, but you’re also going to be elevated to a higher station in the clan. In time, the council will have to let you join. Lot’s of folk are going to come to you for your favor. They’ll offer you things-” She trailed off, allowing Nest to discern what she was saying for himself.

  The young man nodded his head, agreeing with his mother putting his thoughts to words. “Bribing is the fastest way to corruption in Greed,” Nest agreed. “But something’s changed.” He spent a moment trying to put his words together in a way that made sense. “I’ve spent my entire life suppressing the influence of Greed. Watching my every action, mostly for your sake.” He held out a hand. “Not saying that in a bad way, but you and the Order of the Forest have been such a big part of my life and I understand the value of what you do. But now-” He shook his head for a moment, trying to verbalize the feelings of the last few days. “Now it’s like that thing that I’ve always fought against is fading. Like the greed I’ve always innate felt is slowly giving way to something else. To everything else.”

  Nest’s mother nodded as her son spoke. She’d expected this and as a mother and a member of the order was happy to hear it. “Do you know why the order put the council in charge those centuries ago? Why, even in a place like Greed, we allowed others to take the position of leadership which we created and defended?”

  “Because the council is made up of nobles and A-Ranked sinners?” Nest replied. “Not much of a choice, even for the order.”

  His mother nodded her head. “Aye, a lot of people think that’s what happened, because that’s what people who are influenced by Greed would think. But, no.” She shook her head. “We gave up our authority, because we wanted that authority. We are not an order of cultivators- of sinners. Our order is largely made up of saints. People without connection to ardite- with no ability to cultivate and no ability to cleanse ourselves of the influence of sin the same way you now can, lad.”

  “I can?” Nest asked. This was the first time he’d heard of this sort of thing. “How can I cleanse myself of Greed?”

  “You do it naturally, simply because you are now bound to that knife.” She pointed to the small carving knife at his waist. “Ardite doesn’t just allow you to cultivate power. It connects you to something bigger. Your soul.”

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  Nest looked at her incredulously for a moment. “My soul?” he deadpanned. “Wasn’t I always connected to my soul? Isn’t that what makes it my soul?”

  His mother simply smiled. Most saints didn’t truly understand the nature of the soul. It was only the teachings of her order that allowed her to speak knowledgeably about it. “Yes- Everyone has a soul that exists in the realm of souls. It mirrors our realm, but is separated by a veil.” She walked behind her son. “When you bound yourself to the blade, did you feel something here?” She tapped at the back of his neck, where his spine met the base of his skull. “Something changed?”

  Nest thought about that for a moment. “I did.” He nodded. “It was like a wall fell. Like all the spirit energy in my body was called to that spot.”

  She returned to Nest’s view. “Like a veil was pierced?” She asked, giving him a moment to nod his agreement. “That was the power of Ardite, connecting your body to something greater. Connecting your physical self to the realm of souls.”

  “Soul Steal.” Nest pulled out his knife and looked it over.

  She nodded slowly. “That’s right. A sinner is a person that has bound their soul to ardite. In doing so, that soul physically connects to the flesh of that person. As you grow in strength and cultivation, more of your body will become infused, increasing the area where that soul can touch.” She gave him a moment to process the information before continuing. “The reason the order gave leadership to a council of sinners is because the soul does not like impurities. Over time and through cultivation, the impurity we call influence is scrubbed away from the spirit energy that flows through a sinner. You will no longer be influenced as easily by the zone you live in. Your soul is burning away the greed you used to fight against.”

  ***

  The relief Nest had felt after his conversation with his mother carried into his remaining two days in the mountain. At first, he had felt upset about leaving his shop behind. About the profit he would be losing out on, even if he had always told himself he wasn’t just there for profit.

  As his body was cleansed and his greed was lanced away by the power of his soul, he had begun to understand how thoroughly he had been fooling himself.

  He cared not one lick about that shop.

  Truthfully, if it hadn’t lined his pocket so well, he would have given it up long ago. Dwarves like Tjork had always driven him absolutely crazy. Constantly thinking of ways to line their own pockets. Buying more than they were allotted and storing it away to sell to other crews when there was a shortage. Tjork focused so heavily on trying to steal goods, that he constantly ended up forgetting to buy everything he actually needed. His foreman was no better. That’s how Tjork had been allowed to get away with it. The foreman was doing the same thing. Every job that was done in the mountain required half as much additional material on top of the actual material needed.

  Nest was finally done with that life. No more shop. No more scam artists. Freedom.

  Freedom from Greed- freedom from dwarves taking advantage of each other at every turn- and, even if only for a while, freedom from the mountain.

  For the first time in his life, Nest stepped into the sun.