As the moon flew across the sky, the stories about the plane where Jacob came from went on and Asya couldn't help but be fascinated at the various foodstuffs that they had back in their plane- "These... chips, you say- are eaten by so many people every day?" She asked, her question seemingly mundane compared to those that had been asked by those before her, whereas she asked about the potential of populations as well as the capabilities of said population being able to feed themselves, the merchants and servants and even the knights had questioned Jacob about their own personal if not selfish curiosities.

And thankfully, Jacob seemed intent on keeping a few things censored, like how they fought wars when he said that the soldiers didn't need magic in order to kill in long distances. She assumed that it was because of crossbows or perhaps some form of longbow but Jacob's expression told her that wasn't the case. She saw the worried look her friend had when that question was asked and that was all she needed to know about that particular topic.

Jacob possessing dangerous or banned knowledge doesn't surprise her, what does, though, is that even he is afraid of it.

Whatever's behind that wall of knowledge that Jacob seems to gatekeep, Asya prefers not to know.

Jacob's nod got her to focus back on him, "Yeah. As I said, the factories create things by the dozens." He answered, "And because of that, even with our large numbers, the population can still get fed."

"You said that your people have millions within their cities," says one of the Knights, Asya didn't know his name to be honest. She only knew Kaxa among them and that's only because the man had offered her his name back when they went to her small- Town so that they can escort her to this village. And in the end, it turns out that her journey was useless because the ghost had been eliminated way before she could make a move against it.

Quite unfortunate, really, she wanted that prestige for herself though Jacob seems to be putting it to good use.

When Jacob nodded at the Knight, he continued with what he wanted to ask, "What's it like? Isn't it too cramped?"

A knowing smile bloomed on Jacob's face and Asya furrowed her eyebrows when she saw one of the maids at the back blush, though she quickly calmed her features when Jacob answered, "Not really." He answered, "We built things specifically meant to counter that situation," his explanation got a series of raised eyebrows though since no one voiced a question, Jacob continued talking, "And even in one country- China, their... capital, I guess, is filled with such buildings because the population there is so large that they numbered in the tens of millions."

In all her life, Asya would've never thought that she could conceive such a large number let alone hear it but life is like that, it'll throw you a surprise that'll shatter your worldview- and it's up to you to keep going.

Dead parents or not.

"Just tell us what they are already!" One of the younger male servants said much to the glare of everyone, he wilted though quickly recovered when Jacob's chuckle broke out.

Her friend shook his head with mirth, "Alright, I guess I've kept the suspense for long enough- the houses in my world touch the skies."

That answer threw everyone for a loop- What? - Did she hear that right? Just to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating, Asya pinched her cheeks and then proceeded to slap them. Jacob turned his eyes on her and in response, she locked her gaze with his, the orbs of blackness that were his irises didn't even shine underneath the warm light of the campfire, and the [Scholar] in Asya found itself attracted to them and that attraction led her to wonder, what kind of situation creates such eyes?

They looked beautiful...

Jacob cleared his throat and she flinched, "you okay?" he asked softly.

"Yes." She shook her head and felt her face heating up from embarrassment, "I'm sorry- it's just... you said that the houses in your plane touch the skies?"

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Jacob nodded, "Yep! They're like trees of stone, growing out of the ground and touching the clouds."

... that sounded ethereal. Asya stared at her friend with narrowed eyes, "are you playing it up?"

"I wish." He said, "But I was probably being a bit flowery with my words, they weren't touching the clouds, they were just very, very tall."

"Tall? How?" Asked the Knight again.

Jacob hummed, "Well you see the regular houses back in the village?" The Knight nodded at that, "Imagine if hundreds of them stacked on top of each other- well, actual buildings don't really have the width of houses, they're usually much wider."

"That's how you all solved it didn't you?" One of the merchants asked, "By building up instead of around."

"Pretty much." Jacob confirmed with a nod.

"You said that your buildings are made of stone," asked someone and Jacob nodded in their direction to show that he acknowledged the question. The man became much more confident and gestured all around him, "How... do you all do it?"

The smile on Jacob's face told Asya that no one was getting an answer out of him, "secret." That was all he said.

"Magic." Asya said the most obvious. Jacob is a powerful mage at such a young age and obviously, he wouldn't be the only one. When Jacob didn't confirm nor deny her suspicions, she held back a huff and thought about a series of questions that'll give her an answer, however partial. She started with the most obvious first: Education. "How is education in your plane?"

"Well..." Her friend started rubbing his nape, his discomfort evident, "hard." He answered then to Asya's pleasant surprise, he also decided to elaborate further, "Usually... for the uh, less strict places, we spend most of our days inside schools so that we can learn stuff,"

"Most of your days?" Asked someone, "How much? A week? A month?"

"Years. Actually." Jacob answered.

"Now I call lies." Says one of them which got a chuckle from the guy he called out, "There's no way that your people can pay for that much."

"Maybe." Jacob answered vaguely, "But that's really what's happening back in my old world, and hell, I've only recently left school."

"Sorry-" Now it was Asya that was shocked, "I know that you're probably in a position of power back in your plane and all that but why are you speaking as if leaving school at your age is common back in your plane?" Asya was both hopeful and expectant of what her friend is going to answer. Was... education back there free? And for everyone?

"Well yeah." Asya felt something crawling up her neck and goosebumps formed on her hands, "Education is mandatory for everyone back there and if you're not educated, then you won't get a job."

"A world of Scholars." Someone from the crowd whispered, much to the agreement of everyone around said person, judging by the heated conversation going on there. "What does it feel like?"

"Hm?" Jacob turned to the speaker, though Asya knew he probably didn't spot that person. "Nothing much, I guess. Almost everyone there knows the basics- you know, math and the like." Jacob shrugged, "Honestly, it's the wider world that you should pay attention to because like I said, there's simply too much of us back there and a lot of things are happening everywhere every minute." He said, "Information is pretty free there too and except for the ones that have been blocked by actual paywalls, you can pretty much learn anything you want."

Jacob sighed, "Honestly, none of you will probably believe me when I describe what my world is really like because what I'm telling all of you?" A shark-like grin formed on his face, "that's just the tip of the iceberg."

Asya sat next to her friend, "Now you've gotten my attention, what can possibly your world have that makes it so unbelievable?"

"Remember the factories?" Asya nodded, "Well when I said that they produce food, that's just the start- they produce everything that's needed, from clothes to tools to other machines to even mundane stuff like toys." Jacob said, "Everything that can be a profession here for one man?" He asked them to which they nodded, "Factories do it better and they produce more every day than any man could."

Someone raised their hands and Jacob faced the kid doing so, "I have a question," the kid asked when everyone was paying attention to him, Jacob gestured for him to go on and so he did, "if jobs like that are taken by these factories, what do people do back there?"

"They man the machines, of course." He said with a shrug, "And besides, it's not like machines are all that efficient, sometimes using regular old humans can be cheaper than using machines," he explained, "take chicken Factories for example-"

"Your Factories can make living beings?" A tense Knight asked. He relaxed when Jacob shook his head.

"What? No- it's basically a Factory that kills chickens. removes their feathers, and then their organs- that sort of thing." He replied.

"So why does it need people?" Asks someone.

"Well, even when machines can easily clean the chickens and check for missed feathers, adding more can be expensive and that's when other humans come in, they check for anything out of the ordinary." Was his answer. "And in some cases, humans themselves replace the machines, doing all the things that machines usually do."

Asya nodded and absorbed the actual function of factories. 'Automatic' stuff huh? It'd be neat if all she needed to do was wait and things will get done for her.