The new camp was harder to live in than the first one and considerably safer, which Ethan had decided was the correct trade-off even on the days when the correct trade-off was also the uncomfortable one.The section of the Wastes Vera had led him to was six kilometres deeper than his original position, in a shallow valley where the qi discharge activity ran at roughly twice the frequency of the outer perimeter. The discharges were not dangerous if you knew where to stand and when to move, and he had learned both of those things within the first week through the straightforward method of paying close attention and making a few mistakes that were instructive rather than serious. The ambient environment was noisier and more unpredictable than he was used to, but the void frequency at the valley's base was correspondingly clearer — the erratic elemental qi that surrounded it acted almost like contrast, making the deeper layer easier to locate and hold.Vera had been right that it would no