The next day, Mr. Hendricks, Ms. Cardoza and some other teachers were granted an audience with the Jenusian Emperor. On the journey to Krilos, Kuvira managed to gain a primitive understanding of English while Ms. Cardoza, being a foreign language teacher, made great strides in learning the local tongue which she discovered was called Rahlian. As such there was now a possibility of primitive communication between the summoned and the locals and Mr. Hendricks intended to make use of that to ask the questions that kept bugging him for the last few days. Leaving the compound where they were being housed, the scene remained the same as it was yesterday. There was no sign of any industrialized civilization in sight, and being in a ‘primitive’ agriculture based society was very unnerving for all from America. Mr. Hendricks wondered if they would even understand his questions and whether he would have to change his behavior. None of those present have ever had to interact with anyone who was nobility, as nobles were not a social class in America. He figured if he spoke to the monarch of the land he now found himself in with respect and made only requests, not demands, that things should go fine. The group was escorted by soldiers to the center of the city, about ten minutes away on foot from their compound, and reached a glorious marble palace with floral gardens surrounding it. It was truly a sight to behold as there were barely any people walking through them, with only the occasional patrol of soldiers walking through them with stiff postures.
Entering the palace, the ceiling was so high that it disoriented Mr. Hendricks a little as the voices of the teachers speaking traveled much farther than they did outside. The only comparable thing he could think of was being in a train station or a very large church, but the paintings visible on the walls did not impress him as much. The quality of the art was on a level of an amateur painter, with many works in the school's art exhibits being of higher quality than those hung up on the walls, with ornate gilded frames surrounding them. Their long trek through the palace finally ended before a set of large wooden doors, with soldiers wearing shining armor standing guard. They noticed Kuvira leading the group and proceeded to open the hulking doors revealing a massive throne room with an old man sitting on a golden throne.
Kuvira gestured for them to follow her and the group obliged, walking on unsteady feet to about the edge of the stairs leading up to the elevated throne, where Kuvira took a knee and bowed her head. Noticing that she had done so, while also knowing that she was a person of importance in this land, Mr. Hendricks decided to play it safe and did the same, the other teachers following suit.
The monarch on the throne began to converse with Kuvira, but they were speaking faster than Kuvira usually did, meaning that only Ms. Cardoza could understand tidbits here and there. She heard the Rahlian words for ‘daughter’, ‘friend’, and ‘danger’. The other words were unknown to her, but after hearing the first word she decided to ask later if Kuvira was the daughter of the monarch of these lands, and if she was what she was doing in the middle of the forest when they met.
After a few minutes of conversation between Kuvira and the Monarch, the old man turned his stern gaze towards Mr. Hendricks and examined him. He did not know what the Emperor found so interesting that he kept his eyes on him for so long, but he decided to remain quiet until the ruler of the Jenusian Empire initiated the conversation.
The Emperor said something to Mr. Hendricks, but he did not understand the meaning of his words, he turned his eyes to Kuvira with a confused expression on his face after which she began to translate their conversation.
“His Majesty wishes to know your name and where you come from” Kuvira said.
“My name is Ryan Hendricks and I am from Cincinnati, in the United States of America” he replied.
Kuvira was not surprised by his words as she had known beforehand, but she understood that the Emperor wanted them to come out of his own mouth, and as such began to relay the information to the monarch. After hearing his daughter’s words, Blyn Jenusia took on a thoughtful expression, the land from which the summoned came from was unknown to him, now answering some of his questions regarding the summoning. The records of previous summonings provided limited information in regards to who would be summoned, but the strange word ‘otherworlder’ was present on multiple occasions. The court magicians theorized that the summoned would be demons from the underworld or angels from the sky but the man in front of him did not look much different from any peasant that could be found in his Empire. A few of the summoned had very different skin tones from the native Jenusians, and the red hair of one of the women was quite rare, but not unheard of in Jenusia. He replied to his daughter and decided to continue playing the act of the concerned monarch.
“His Majesty has not heard of Cincinnati, or the United States of America before, which part of Euphelia is your land found on?” Kuvira translated.
Mr. Hendricks did not know how to respond to such a question and as such began to converse with his colleagues. Eventually they stopped conversing and he returned his gaze to the Emperor.
“I am sorry but I have not heard of Euphelia before, the United States of America is found on the continent of North America, forgive me for asking if this is an impertinent question, but what do you call the world you live in?” Mr Hendricks replied, hoping he could get the answer to the question that was the most crucial at the moment.
Kuvira translated his words and the Emperor replied to him a few moments later.
“We do not understand what you mean by our name for the world, we just call the world we live in ‘the land’. The Emperor also does not believe you could not have heard of Euphelia as it is the largest continent in these lands, the same continent you are standing on right now, the Emperor wishes to know how you came to be in his lands” Kuvira eventually said in a polite tone.
“We do not know the answer to your question, three days ago we were in America, after which a very bright light appeared, it caused all of us to close our eyes reflexively, and when we opened them we found ourselves in the forest where we met you Kuvira” Mr. Hendricks decided to give the truthful reply hoping that the Jenusians would be able to make more sense of the situation than he could.
Kuvira translated his words once more after which the Emperor asked a short question.
“Are any of you who arrived in Jenusia magi or magisters?” She asked him.
To this question, all the teachers took on confused expressions. This word did not mean anything to them and as such Ms. Cardoza decided to ask for clarification.
“Sorry Kuvira, but we do not understand what those words mean, could you explain them to us?” She requested politely.
“A magi or a magister is one who can control mana, and as such create natural phenomena artificially, such as this” She ended her words by sticking out her hand with her palm facing the ceiling at which point fire began to sprout out from her palm.
Mr. Hendricks and the other teachers had shocked expressions on their faces, with some pinching themselves to make sure they were not in a dream of some sort. Kuvira noticed their shocked expressions at seeing just a rudimentary spell that takes barely any mana for someone of her level to control, she drew back her hand and decided to ask a question of her own.
“Do you perhaps not have any magi or magisters in your land?” She asked with a smile on her face.
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Mr. Hendricks did a double take as the fire went out and replied.
“No, this is the first time I have seen such a thing, is this something that everyone can do in this land?” He asked timidly.
“From what we understand only one person in many has the potential to be a mage, and even fewer can reach the level of a magister.” She replied.
The Jenusians now had confirmation that none of the summoned were hiding any of their magical abilities, and as such, posed no threat to them and their plans. Kuvira and Emperor Blyn shared a look for a moment, he signaled for her to continue their conversation.
“We understand that you must be feeling lost at the moment, and as such, we will provide for you and your people until such a time when we can find you a way home. We don’t have any clues as to why you came to our land at the moment, but the Emperor will task our scholars to search for a way for you to return to your homeland. In the meantime, we beseech you to remain in Krilos as our honored guests where you can be safe and acclimate to Jenusia” She resolutely stated.
Mr. Hendricks decided to converse with the other teachers on their next course of action. They were unaware of the geography of Jenusia and Euphelia as a whole, and did not speak Rahlian that well so they should definitely not be rash, it is probably prudent to accept Kuvira’s offer and stay in the compound where they could learn the language, and be relatively safe.
“We accept your offer Kuvira, thank you for granting us an audience with the Emperor as I'm sure he must be very busy, how would you go about teaching us and the kids Rahlian?” he asked.
“We will be sending some of our court scholars to hold classes in your mansion daily, we hope that over time you will be able to learn to read and write. We encourage everyone no matter their age to learn as the sooner you learn the language, the better” She said demurely.
Mr. Hendricks nodded to her words, and bowed to the Emperor in gratitude, before turning around and leaving the throne room chamber, ending his group’s audience.
***
The first morning in Krilos began much better than I expected. I managed to get a good night’s sleep without worrying about my safety, Mr. Reuter came by our room to tell us that we will be having breakfast in the main hall which we passed by on our way to the room yesterday. When I entered the hall which now had many tables with benches attached. Myself and my roommates were some of the last to arrive, Max spotted some free seats nearby and we went to claim them. The food we were served today was much better than expected. I remembered the gruel and stale bread we were given over the past few days and became pleasantly surprised when every table was brought pots of soup and plates full of meat and vegetables. It certainly smelled better than yesterday's gruel, and it had been some time since I'd eaten so I dug in enthusiastically.
At the end of breakfast we were told to remain in the hall by the teachers to await the return of those who went to have an audience with the Emperor. The students began to discuss what Mr. Hendricks and others would be able to find out about our situation, and some optimistically began to speculate when we would be able to return home. I did not wish to ruin their ignorant bliss with my own theory, and began to think about what we would be doing going forward. I set it as my personal goal to learn enough Rahlian to be able to speak to those who are not connected to the local government. I hoped that the locals would be able to give me another perspective on Jenusia and would let me explore my options. Being in a different world I no longer needed to think in terms of what would be expected of me by my mother in life, but here I could have a lot more freedom.
As my mind went on planning what I would do in the future, Mr. Hendricks and the others returned and began to make an announcement to the rest of us.
“Attention everyone, we have just come back from an audience with the local government and unfortunately the Jenusians don’t know where we come from, nor have they ever heard of America. They offered to look into the circumstances of our spontaneous arrival in the forest a few days ago, from what we understand this is not a common occurrence, and they are just as confused by our arrival as we are. While they try to find a way for us to make it back home they will provide for us and they will be sending people to teach us Rahlian so that we won’t be as helpless as we are now.” He said.
This news was received quite badly by the students, some of whom began to cry, finding themselves in a strange land with no prospects of returning home in the near future. This was not as shocking to me who was already aware of us being in another world, but I was sure now that some people began to think that way too. I was thankful that the Jenusians would provide teachers to us, and I would make use of them as much as possible.
The rest of the day was spent with teachers arranging the groups we would be studying Rahlian in. For the sake of organization they decided we would stay grouped up as classes so I was going to be in 10-B, my usual class. When the teachers asked Kuvira at what hour we would begin learning tomorrow she was slightly confused. Apparently there was not a widespread usage of clocks in this world, and the most accurate clock available was a sundial in the palace gardens. Instead of giving us a specific time for the classes, she just said the teachers would arrive after we had eaten breakfast, and that we should wake up at dawn.
After the arrangements were made, I retreated back into my room for some quiet contemplation. It was coming as a surprise to me how easily I could adapt to present circumstances. I do not have as much tethering me to Earth as I once thought, and being in this new environment was equally exciting and terrifying. Now that we were in Krilos I could let my guard down in regards to the beasts that might be lurking elsewhere, and by being at the heart of the Jenusian Empire I could learn a whole lot of things that would be further away back home. My only regret is that I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to my mother. We aren’t close by any means but she is family and at the end of the day that must count for something.
When Max, Louis, and the other freshman who I found out was called Leigh came back we spent some time discussing our classes tomorrow morning. Louis wondered if there was even a point in learning Rahlian if we would eventually make our way back to America, but Max made a good argument pointing out that we did not know exactly when we could make it back, if ever. At this comment the other two freshmen became sullen, not daring to continue this line of thought. I watched their conversation with interest, seeing how other more ‘normal’ people would come to terms with our fate of staying in this land.
The conversation continued centered on more benign topics such as the local fashion and architecture, which gave all of us a brief reprieve from the rest of our thoughts. I found some of the local architecture to be similar to those I have seen from depictions of historical medieval societies in Europe but also from some of the fantasy media back on Earth. When I thought about this similarity I was reminded that the Jenusians used Arabic numerals which are a sure sign that there was some contact between Earth and the locals. The chances that this was a coincidence is almost nil, as to naturally come to the same form of numerology as Earth would require for a large set of coincidences to all happen simultaneously. Did this mean that we are not the first to stumble our way into this world then?
If someone from our world did come here, then why was this world still in such a ‘primitive’ state of development. From what I can tell, even the average person in the US could make real change happen in Jenusia. Then again pushing for aggressive change in the structure of a society will inevitably result in some deaths along the way, so perhaps the nobility in Jenusia would not see these changes as favorably since industrialization leads to social tensions, as the smarter the average person becomes the more conscious they are of their position on the social ladder.
I stopped myself from overthinking these things as I still didn’t know the history of Jenusia and perhaps they already were industrialized in the past but reverted back to their current state due to other circumstances. Dinner was much like our breakfast with all the students and teachers sitting in the main hall, conversation was much quieter with a lot of people turning inwards to deal with our stay in Krilos. Max, Louis, and Leigh were much more chipper and from what I can tell they see our situation as an adventure of some kind, I can see the appeal of such a viewpoint but I decided to hold off judgment until the Jenusians made their intentions clear.
Our first class would be tomorrow morning so I forced myself to try and go to sleep early, convincing my roommates that this would be the proper course of action. Even though I had a very good memory, I would still find it much easier to learn new things if I was well rested and with it currently not being winter the nights were shorter than the days, therefore we would need to get as much shut-eye as we could.
In the morning we rose and this time around Mr. Phillips came by and told us that there was a place where we could wash up. This was welcome news as it had been a while since I last had a shower or bath. I did not expect there to be plumbing but considering the level of development in Krilos, a basin of warm water and a cloth to wipe myself down was a nice change. I ate as much as I could yesterday not knowing how often we would be able to receive good food so I hadn’t lost much weight but the rough journey with the limited rations of gruel and stale bread made me feel somewhat lighter. I did not notice many overweight people in Jenusia, and the few that I did lived in the wealthy district of Krilos. That would mean that food prices are certainly a large expense for the average Jenusian, perhaps this would present a good opportunity for me to get in shape too.
We had breakfast in the usual hall and then all of us were led to an adjacent building in the compound that was about the same size as the mansion where we were staying. The rooms in this building were much larger than our own, here we were divided into our class groups and led to one of the rooms on the ground floor. There were chairs and tables positioned in a semicircle where we were gestured to take a seat and wait for those who would be teaching us Rahlian to arrive. Everyone from my class except for Brian were here and we patiently waited for about 10 minutes until they arrived. There was no paper or writing utensils present so I assumed we would only be learning the basics of spoken Rahlian today.
A well-dressed man in what looked to be his late-thirties arrived and introduced himself to us through Mr. Phillips as ‘Goer’, he brought with him many pieces of parchment and some ink to write with. He proceeded to take out the largest piece on which he wrote thirty eight symbols with a quill. Some of them were familiar to me like an upside down ‘m’ and a weirdly shaped ‘t’ but the others I only saw on the piece of parchment back in Thacks or not at all. Goer spoke to us in a similar way to Kuvira and I noticed that the educated Jenusians had a distinct way of speaking compared to most soldiers we met so far. He explained that he would be our teacher of Rahlian, Jenusian History, and ‘proper manners’. I finally had someone to ask about the history of Jenusia!