Matthias could feel a surge within himself. He knew he should save up for his next rarity, but he really wanted to set up his fourth floor. He had a gut feeling that just getting the basics down would vastly profit him. But as he hollowed out a space for his fourth floor, something nagged at him.

  Sylt and Rey had been very expensive and intensive to make. But the general foot soldiers of the fey stories he knew were a simpler kind of thing. To put it simply, fey armies were made of soldiers that had not yet found a niche—individuals who had not yet found a narrative. To Matthias’s mind, that meant those forces were young.

  As Matthias contemplated how he wanted to go about this, his attention fell upon Cedric. The sapient slime happily burbled away as they further mastered their craft and body. Then it clicked. Matthias needed an enchantment.

  "Cedric, would you like to help me with a project?" he asked excitedly.

  "A commission or a collaboration?" Cedric asked as they set aside what they were working on to give him their full attention.

  "Collaboration," Matthias mused. "I need to make four artifacts of power. They will be simple in concept but grow more complex as they reach their full potential."

  "That sounds like a challenge," Cedric burbled, jiggling in excitement.

  "Basically, they will be four massive bowl shapes," Matthias explained. "They need to function like a cultivation aid, in a sense. They need to gather and focus energy."

  "What kinds of energy?" Cedric asked—the all-important question.

  "One for each season," Matthias answered truthfully.

  This grabbed the attention of Sylt and Rey, but they said nothing yet.

  "I think I can do that, but what will these things become? Will they stay bowls?" Cedric asked.

  "They will be wellsprings," Matthias stated. "They need to become self-sufficient. These things need to be powerful enough that they don’t just gather power—they generate it. They overflow with it."

  "Simple etchings won’t be able to hold that kind of power," Cedric informed him. "Show me some materials. We will need to fill the etchings with something to help channel that kind of power."

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  Instead of giving Cedric one of everything, Matthias manifested only two items. One was a violet thread; the other was a vial of red liquid. Cedric paused as they inspected the pair.

  "Wow," Cedric marveled. "You should lace this thread through whatever you make the bowls out of. It will help amplify what we set up. This liquid, though—it is too much. I don’t think I could make an enchantment that could contain that."

  So Matthias set out some other precious metals. Cedric ended up choosing silver to fill the etchings with, claiming its purity would help alleviate some of the strain that would be placed on the enchantments.

  Matthias set aside four massive marble bowls for Cedric to begin etching. Meanwhile, Matthias had a floor to map out.

  He decided to keep most of the floor empty, certain that fey nobles would have their own ideas of what they wanted their estates to be. Only exceptional fey soldiers would rise to become fey nobles, but any fey who was not a patron of war would instead be a patron of an art or craft. That meant cities and beautiful locales to explore. He could not simply set up a checkerboard or box canyon and call it good enough.

  Matthias lost himself in his work as he crafted soaring peaks, peaceful valleys, forgotten grottos, and sun-kissed hilltops. Waterfalls, lakes, rivers, and streams followed. He meticulously set up each smaller ecosystem.

  Then he turned his attention to the castles.

  Winter’s castle was where he began. Ice and basalt formed the base materials for the home of the Unseelie Court. Summer’s castle grew from a massive world tree, groomed and guided into the shape of a fortress. Every room was not carved but grown into its desired form. Spring’s castle was smaller than Summer’s, but no less mystical—the foundation was a massive crystal. The castle was shaped first, then allowed to be overgrown with the bounty of spring. Fall’s castle matched Spring’s in grandeur, but it felt more solemn. With its mix of marble, granite, and basalt, it carried the weight of a crypt.

  It was while Matthias was adding fine detail to the castles that Cedric finished etching the first bowl. Matthias took it, filled the etchings with silver, and carefully wove Bios threads through the structure. It hummed with power, but Matthias knew it was not yet complete.

  He placed it underground as the centerpiece of Winter’s forbidden garden. A fountain was built atop the bowl, and Matthias carefully added mana-infused water. The etchings began to glow, but he could feel it was still not quite right.

  So he listened to his gut.

  He added a small amount of the red liquid. Despite Cedric's warnings, Matthias knew this item needed more if it was to behave the way he wanted.

  The reaction was immediate. There was a surge of power as the liquid made contact. It nearly got out of hand until the threads of Bios began guiding the reaction. Channeling the explosion of power towards a goal.

  A winter storm exploded outward from Winter’s castle. The wind howled, snow fell in blinding sheets, and ice spread across nearly every surface in moments. From a nearby snowbank, the first Unseelie fey soldier rose. They simply strode out, fully formed, looking around in wonder.

  With giddy excitement, Matthias quickly installed the remaining wellsprings and watched as his new floor came to life.