“Avis, it’s your turn next,” Kiev said, looking at his brother, the gentle melody of the piano humming in their backdrop.
“I-I’ve built this p-prototype for long-range communication,” Avis said and took out two bulky wooden blocks from his ring, their soft cloth-covered bottom thumped on the table—it tilted under their weights. “Anyone can use this as long as they have Anima Crystals, y-you don’t need to be Severy...Ashevas. It works based on dark and light element Anima. They have some special characteristics like all other Anima in nature. They interact with each other in a specific way, following some unknown rules and patterns. I studied them and found a way to modulate and demodulate messages and send them across large distances. I’ve also studied the specific pattern, and the possibilities seem to be quite large. I’m also planning on….”
“Avis.” Kiev interrupted his brother’s ramblings. “Give us a demo, show us how it works, it’ll be easier for us to understand that way,” he said.
“O-Of course,” Avis said and tinkered with the bulky boxes.
His ‘drivel’ interested Ewan; that was information he didn’t have about elements. Even though the dark and light elements were stranger to him now, their peculiar interaction in the nature could help him understand the behavior of other elements. But since Kiev stopped him, he couldn’t say anything either and only looked at the reticent-man-turned-chatterbox flipping switches and connecting wires. He’d nigh panicked and fumbled with trembling hands when all the eyes in the room rested on him.
Finally, Avis separated the boxes after he finished and started the demo. He whispered some sentences into the left box, and after a few minutes of awkward wait, as he twiddled his thumb while sweating profusely, and when the nonplussed gazes met each other, a mechanical voice read out those same sentences from the right box.
A smile sneaked up on Ewan’s lips and threatened to turn into a snicker, but he suppressed it and pursed his lips. The process had amused him. It resembled a failed product of Obria a lot, that children used to played around with—radio transceivers, as it had received its name in its infancy. The abundance of Anima hindered its applications. Thus, it forever remained a gimmick. Its successor—phones—on the other hand soared in the market, it changed the way communication worked in his colony.
The medium of travel it used limited it to the colony’s perimeter only, but the basic technology was miles ahead of these boxes. It skirted around the issue of dense Anima blocking the waves and succeeded in connecting two or more devices.
If Avis planned on further developing this prototype, he had a long way to go. From securing the messages to increasing accuracy, from designating the destination of the messages among many boxes to reducing the risk of interruption. Especially, making it more convenient and cheaper than using other means of communication that were already available on the hub.
All in all, this trade was bound to fail. The only thing that could make these people trade for the boxes was Avis’s status—it even tantalized Ewan to do so.
“I-I want to trade a healing potion recipe for them,” Avis said.
Kiev closed his eyes and heaved a sigh.
Ewan leaned back on the sofa, giving up on the trade. If it was just the potion, he could trade to strengthen his relationship with Kiev, the Ensils. But Avis asked for a recipe. Even though he had several recipes in his journal, he couldn’t just hand them out for charity. For many, even one of these recipes could become a heritage.
Same as him, no one else showed any initiative in trading for the boxes.
“I have this recipe here; do you want to trade with me?” Kiev asked.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“O-Okay.” Avis nodded and passed the boxes to Kiev, taking the recipe paper from him. His home’s recipe stayed in home, and Avis too dodged the embarrassment. Though he didn’t know of it, his happy grin iterated so.
…..
“I want to trade for a spell. A support-type of earth element,” Trask said, taking out a wooden box with an orange Astylind-Core pillowed on the velvet cloth—it was his turn next. The core gave off a gentle but unyielding warmth and hued off a tint of sunshine with dense Fire-Anima dancing around it.
“A core for a spell, it’s not an equal trade at all, even with a Step-1 core,” Mize said.
“It hasn’t lost any of its soul essence, it should be enough to trade for a spell with low max Anima point,” Trask said.
Mize shrugged and leaned back with his hands crossed and resting on his chest.
Ewan too had no intention of participating. Today or tomorrow, if and when he broke through to Step-1, he would be able to buy or hunt Step-1 cores. There was no reason for him to share his precious spell knowledge for a consumable.
“It’s better to trade a spell for a spell, Trask,” Kiev said. “I have one that fits your need, but I’ll only trade for another spell.”
The room hushed, and the faint piano sound took the front stage. Ewan chilled the flattened ale with Ice-Anima and took a sip, munching on the snacks on the side—the salted cashews were a delight.
“So, you’re staying in the city?” Sheree asked, looking at Ewan.
“Hmm, up the mountain,” Ewan said, putting the pint down, licking his lips. The sweetness it should’ve had eluded him still…
“Remember to join our group when the tide hits,” Mize said. “We’re also new so we can stay together and help each other.”
“I’ve been here for about two weeks, but I’ve only seen some small scuffles on the outskirts so far. When do we need to act?” Ewan asked.
“Those are just either individual or small groups of Astylinds, the guards can handle them. We’ll move when a big tide comes or when the war breaks out again,” Sheree said. “Which happens a lot here I’ve heard.”
“Drarith is the only flourishing port city in the area. You control the city, you control the largest trade point, and can also heavily influence the trade routes. It’s an enticing half-naked girl, there’s no wonder everyone drools for it,” Mize said.
Ewan chuckled at the analogy while Sheree glared at Mize, provoking a grin and a wink from him.
Trask moved his lips on the side and talked with Kiev through Ryvia. Soon they exchanged a couple of papers, and their trade was over.
“Let’s end the meet here,” Kiev said, putting the papers in his ring, his storage artifact. “I’ll contact you all when I set up the meet again. I’ll invite the whole group then, so prepare whatever you want to trade by then.”
“Just a sec,” Ewan said and stopped everyone as they were all getting up. “I have a request to make. Please keep an eye out for any mystic-element material. I know they’re beyond rare, but just in case.”
Everyone agreed with a nod and the meet ended with the piano’s last note.
----------------------------------------
Status: Healthy
Step-0 [8th Awakening]
Name: Ewan Ayres
Species: Human
Vitality: 1.9
Spirit: 16.9
Anima: [Fire – 16.9 | Ice – 16.9 | Blood – 16.9]
Astylinds: 4 [Potential: 0]
Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-0 [8th Awakening]
----------------------------------------
Fire Monkey [Orange]: Step-0 [Level-8] [Grade-B]
----------------------------------------
Imp [Frost]: Step-0 [Level-8] [Grade-B]
----------------------------------------
Blood Lotus [Iris]: Step-0 [Level-8] [Grade-C]
Equipment: Common Clothes; Yurn [Neck Gaiter].
Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Anima-Crystals; Obsidian Dagger; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.
Novas: 6
Crelith: 4596