Ulciscor and Vis return to the hall, where Ulciscor loudly declares he will adopt Vis. Vermes mocks the choice, prompting Ulciscor to publicly dissect Vermes’s character and warn him to change. Matron Atrox, rattled, brings the papers; Ulciscor sends Vis to gather his things and provides a satchel. When Vis returns, the matron—shaking—hands over a heavy purse of his wages. After the signing, Vis quietly promises the matron he will come back one day, leaving her terrified, and departs with Ulciscor.

They cross a rapidly transforming Letens of widened streets and rising warehouses, discussing Tensia’s treaty-driven resource split and the inefficiency of current Will use. On the outskirts, they approach a towering white column and a colossal, hovering Transvect prepared for departure to Deditia. At the platform, a Septimus official challenges them, then pales on reading papers that name Ulciscor “Magnus Quintus Telimus”; Ulciscor introduces “Vis Telimus,” and they board a private, unmanned compartment.

As the Transvect lifts and accelerates, Vis analyzes how much Will such a craft requires and deduces a strong Quintus could run it by harmonically locking and reactively pushing imbued stone cores. Ulciscor names the methods Harmonic and Reactive and confirms the power is distributed for safety. During the ascent, Ulciscor acknowledges he is a Military senator and notes the Senate must ratify the adoption.

Ulciscor reveals their destination is the Catenan Academy, where Will use is strictly forbidden, and offers Vis a path to avoid ceding—and potentially even receiving—Will if he finishes near the top. He outlines rare Will-free postings and emphasizes that top performance could secure Vis a tolerable future, which Vis cautiously accepts.

Ulciscor then explains the true mission: Military needs a covert observer inside the Religion-controlled Academy on Solivagus. They suspect secret work tied to pre-Cataclysm ruins—possibly a weapon—and focus on Principalis Quintus Veridius Julii, whose ascent followed a lethal Iudicium and was accompanied by relocations and unexplained “accidents” among his peers. Ulciscor chose Vis because he hasn’t ceded, provides leverage, and is motivated; failure would bring severe consequences. As Ulciscor probes Vis’s scars and self-denial, the Transvect shudders into an emergency stop—and the forward section suddenly explodes.