“Forgive my…impertinence, My Lord, but this region is so rich in æther…it doesn’t seem possible for you to not notice it,” Sikadi said, hesitating a couple times.
“I’ve heard the word before,” Chase said. “A few centuries back it was thought that space was filled with something called æther, but that was pretty quickly disproven and not it only shows up in fiction.”
“My Lord…” Sikadi glanced at the other dokkalfar, Haka having climbed back into his chair. “There is no way to put into words how little it makes sense. This much…it would be as if not knowing what air is…”
“So start with the basics,” Ricardo suggested. “What does it do, how is it used, where it comes from, so on.”
Tahlia took over, “Æther is an energy that permeates reality and in certain circumstances it will materialize in a variety of forms, most commonly crystals. It is used to power and fuel magic, and when left alone it slowly causes reality itself to stretch and expand. Without it, reality would eventually collapse in upon itself, destroying everything within and causing all of reality to be compressed into a single point. The amount present in the world varies depending on a myriad of factors, the greatest being the presence of sentient life, with the most common method of gathering and storing it being through the tapping and utilization of ley lines. A ley line is a line of æther that stretches from the surface to a node deep beneath the ground, with some believing that there is a node within a planet's core that acts as the planet's heart.”
Chase was somewhat interested, but he couldn’t help but notice how Ricardo’s eyes were widening as they shot back and forth, the gears visibly churning in his brain. Clearly he was figuring something out, and Chase held up a hand to halt Tahlia’s explanation to give Ricardo time to put organize his thoughts.
“You said it causes reality to expand…” Ricardo slowly said. “Would it be accurate to say that it’s responsible for the expansion of the universe?”
“I…suppose?” Tahlia allowed, not seeing where Ricardo was going with his question.
Ricardo fell back into his seat, his eyes wide, before turning to his side and pulling out another notebook, flipping through it rapidly. Finally, he came to the point he was looking for and set the notebook on the table.
“When the Network first came to Earth,” he began. “It stated that certain physical laws were changed, do you remember?”
Chase nodded, while Sikadi said, “It was the same for us.”
“Well, based on the description, I think that our universe always had æther, but one of the laws of our reality prevented life from interacting with it,” Ricardo said, starting to pace as he grew more energized. “Scientists had noticed that the universe was growing faster than the maths accounted for, and that there was more mass in the universe than they could see, so they called the forces responsible Dark Energy and Dark Matter because they could only find it indirectly! None of their instruments coulddirectlytellthattherewasanythingtherebutthenumbers-”
“Ricardo! Breathe,” Chase snapped, jolting Ricardo out of his word vomit. Turning back to the dokkalfar, he continued, “So, regardless of whether or not Ricardo’s idea is correct or not, the most important thing is that prior to the Network, magic wasn’t a thing. Everything involving magic, assume I have the knowledge of a newborn. Now, what about that particular hill is so good?”
Sikadi, her eyes still wide, picked up her presentation, her voice sounding a bit distant. Chase was starting to wonder if there was some sort of mental break in their society when the subject of æther was introduced. It didn't take long for her to recover, and she went on to talk about the specifics, from the quality and abundance of the local timber to the fertility of the soil and how easy it would be to build and maintain the outpost. The biggest point in its favor though was that it apparently would allow for better magical defenses than almost anything on their homeworld.
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She went on and on for several minutes, extolling the virtues of the location, before finally coming to a close. Chase leaned back in his chair, mulling over everything Sikadi had said. The hill did seem perfect for what they needed – easily defensible, abundant resources, and apparently brimming with this æther energy that was so important to the dokkalfar. He glanced over at Ricardo who was still scribbling furiously in his notebook, no doubt trying to reconcile this new information with everything he knew about physics.
“Alright, I think I have a decent grasp on the situation now,” Chase said, drawing the attention of the room. “This location checks all the boxes for what you need in an outpost. I assume you've already begun drawing up plans for construction?”
Haka nodded, “Yes, My Lord. We have several designs prepared that will maximize both the defensive capabilities and the æther channeling potential of the site. With your approval, we can begin work immediately.”
“I have one concern before giving approval,” Chase said, and the dokkalfar all subtly tensed. “Would I be correct in assuming that corpses will be a primary building component?”
Haka hesitated for a brief moment before nodding, his voice containing a hunt of nervousness, “Yes, My Lord. We can replace some of it with lumber, but the majority of our skills and magics are optimized for working with corpses.”
Chase sighed, noting how Sikadi looked down, away from his face when he did so. Considering his words carefully, Chase slowly began, “Let me finish without interrupting. I do not like it. Every natural instinct I have says to avoid corpses, as they are likely to contain diseases or parasites that could threaten my life and that of those around me. Everything I was raised to believe views it as a desecration. That having been said…in the time before the Network, it was possible for people to provide consent prior to their deaths for their bodies to be given to researchers or for their organs to be given to people who needed replacements.
“I will put more thought into this matter, but for the moment, if you believe it likely that the individual would have consented in life, then I do not see an issue with using their body. The remains of animals that were not raised for food are also acceptable. I will endeavor to have an answer in regards to the remains of enemy forces by the time we encounter them.”
“What of the materials we brought with us?” Uthrik asked. “They’re combined into condensed elements to make the logistics simpler.”
Letting out an explosive breath, Chase considered before saying, “If it’s practical, I would prefer the human remains separated for burial, but if not, then I won’t forbid it.”
“Thank you, My Lord,” Haka said, cheering up and the jitteriness that had been part of him the entire morning vanished.
The next one to speak was Uthrik, “If I may, My Lord. While the outpost is under construction, I suggest we send out additional scouting parties to survey the surrounding area. The scouting parties prior to now were focused on finding a location for the outpost, but now we need to establish a perimeter and identify any potential threats or additional resources in the vicinity.”
Chase nodded, “Good idea. Put together a few teams and have them report back their findings. If they find something they can’t handle, have them fall back and make damn sure that we’re informed. Dead scouts can’t pass on information.”
“Understood, My Lord,” Uthrik replied crisply. “I will handpick our best scouts and trackers for the task.”
“On an unrelated matter, Sire,” Katsu chimed in, having pulled out a knife and currently sharpening it. “Some of the soldiers were curious about your choice of arms and armor, more specifically the…crude construction methods utilized.”
The other four dokkalfar all glared at Katsu, apparently not happy about me hearing that some of their people were asking pointed, probably derisive questions about my choice of equipment. Instead of verbally answering, Chase smirked and pulled up his character screen, highlighted a specific element, and then flexed a mental muscle that Ricardo had shown him how to do the day before in order to allow all of them to see it.
Echoes of the Hunt (Passive): Any item worn, wielded, or otherwise used by the Trophy Hunter that they made from the remains of something that they were the one to kill has its strength, durability, and overall efficiency improved by 10% of the Trophy Hunter’s Cunning.
“Does that answer the question?” Chase drawled as the five dokkalfar looked at the Class Perk in surprise.
The meeting lasted for several more hours, before the dokkalfar departed, and Chase turned to Ricardo, who’d been quiet almost the entire time.
“I’m going to be honest, I kind of expected you to object to their using bodies for construction material,” Chase said.
Ricardo gave Chase a look over the reading glasses he’d donned, “I am not the one in charge. If you wish it, I am quite content to be a simple advisor and angel on your shoulder. But while I would object to them manipulating the immortal soul, from everything I have seen and studied I do not believe that they do. Oh they can fake it quite convincingly, and may even believe that they do, but there is a certain spark in people that the shades and ghosts they work with lack. Since they do not use living people, only bodies whose immortal soul has left, I have no faith-based reason to protest.”
“And your opinion on the compromise I made?”
“A good one, I believe,” Ricardo said, before shrugging. “As I said, I merely wish to provide advice and guidance. With that in mind, have you decided what you are going to do with your shield? I imagine it will be difficult to repair.”
Chase sighed, “No kiddi-”
Class Quests Gained