Chapter 128: The Joy of Giving Gifts

It had been awhile since her last visit to Innovation’s Retreat, and Nara had, together with Henri’s eccentric genius and Lawrence’s slightly unwilling aid, gathered all of her gifts for Amara, Chelsea, Redell, and Laius.

It felt a bit like Christmas, except she was Santa Claus. She could have waited for December; the 12th month was fast approaching, but Sanshi didn’t have any gift-giving holidays during that time, although they did celebrate the new year. However, adventurers lived on the move, and Nara couldn’t wait.

She found Amara first—rather, Amara found her first but let Nara come to her. She was in her workshop as usual, dressed in rough work pants and a casual shirt combo. Nara glanced at the large ritual laid out on the floor.

“That doesn’t look like your magic to matter conversion ritual,” Nara observed. She had seen it many times before. The ritual changed wildly depending on what object it was trying to create, with greater complexity with more complex items. At Nara’s advice, Amara was prioritizing uniform materials like metals.

“Your ability to identify rituals has improved, well done!” Amara praised, “I’m working on improvements to the astral space detection ritual. Astral spaces have always been a blind spot for both gods and our detection spaces, free for cultists and invaders to hole up and scheme.”

“Huh.”

Amara sighed, hands on her hips and gazing down at the ritual with dissatisfaction, “It’s a project for the Adventure and Magic Societies, but I can’t say I’m making much more progress than I managed with that iron ranker, Lawrence Ruffolk. I need to borrow him again. His knowledge is impressive and makes for a great research partner.”

It was high praise for Amara to consider him her equal.

“He is a priest of Knowledge,” Nara said matter-of-factly.

“I can tell when a priest of Knowledge is actually knowledgeable versus those just parroting their goddess. He’s one of the former.”

“Speaking of Lawrence, I collaborated with this crafter I know, Henri, to make something for you.”

“What does Lawrence have anything to do with this crafter?”

“Ah, Henri helped me make my gift to Lawrence.”

“And you have a gift for me?”

“I have a gift for everyone. But this one is specifically for you. Here.” Nara held out a thin wand. Wands were used by spell-caster types in Erras. Staves were the popular choice for their higher self-defensive capabilities.

“It isn’t for combat. It isn’t for anything much, really--It’s just a prototype. You can channel magic with it, and as you move it, it will draw out magic lines in the air. Unfortunately, we couldn’t figure out how to get it to actually cast ritual magic yet. Hence, prototype.”

“You want anyone to be able to cast ritual magic by drawing it with magic.”

“You’ve mentioned that you don’t have an ability to do it. I’ve seen Aliyah cast magic that way, so I thought it’d be nice if anyone could. We haven’t finished it, but I have the research and work we’ve done so far here,” Nara pulled out a neat binder of papers, “Feel free to work on it on your own or with Henri. He’s excited about the project too, and more qualified for artifice than I am. I’m just the idea gal.”

Amara held the wand in her hand, marveling at it, “Have you thought of a name for it?”

“Yeah. I was thinking of borrowing a term from my world. I’ve been calling it the Ritual Stylus.”

Amara flashed forward pulling Nara into a warm hug.

“Amara, Amara, gentle, gentle, gentle. You’re going to crack the ribs,” Nara squeezed out form Amara’s gorilla hug aptly named for its crushing strength.

Amara rolled her eyes, “I’m not hurting you. I have perfect control.”

“Okay,” she said, her voice constricted like it was pushed through a kinked plastic straw, “If you say so.”

*****

The next was Laius, who she found in the living room. He wasn’t cooking. Judging by his twitching tail, he was impatient for his gift and had moved somewhere where he could be easily found. Being gold rank didn’t make body language unreadable—Eufemia had a point.

“Hey Laius,” she greeted.

“Your aura needs more training. Bronze rank,” he noted.

“Yeah, I’ll come back. I promise. I wouldn’t miss your training for the world.”

He narrowed his eyes, his expression quietly sly.

“I might…you know, for the actual fate of the world.”

She pulled out a thick book from her inventory and set it upon the coffee table. The top read: Stolen Flavors: An Outworlder’s Recipe Book. Chrome manifested from her aura, sitting on the couch next to her in his usual better-than-you cross-legged posture.

“This is a little collaboration between Lawrence, Chrome, and I. I’ve got my Guide which will tell me google search result-like answers. Wikipedia and all that. You may not understand, but the point is it has recipes from my world. Moreover, those Celestial Book people had their fair share of cooking magic, and Chrome has been making me read it. He can’t cast ritual magic, so I need to do it for him.”

“Those who don’t help don’t eat,” he said, “How else will you enjoy the complex flavors of twilight spirit wood and Esmera-Mar salt for smoked and brined bolo meat?”

“Anyway, Lawrence helped record what I could think to look up. Chrome and I have been testing what recipes we could. Then, John, the professional pencil pusher, praise be, helped sort it all for us. Lawrence neatened and re-printed the recipe sheets with his ability, and we got them to a book binder, who wrapped up the whole package.”

She held out her arms in joyous accomplishment.

“So, Tada! My and Chrome’s first publication as joint authors! So, I say, but I haven’t any thoughts of selling it as a recipe book, so it’s not actually published. You have the have the sole and only 1st edition of Stolen Flavors. Needs refinement, but I wanted to give you something first. Feel free to change or improve any recipes, and I can reprint the book by bribing Lawrence again. Turns out he does like tea—specially, my fancy tea.”

He picked up the large book and gingerly opened it on his lap. There were vibrant photographs of the recipes they made—courtesy of John. The paper was glossy and high quality, and the book was enchanted with self-cleaning, self-repair, and water-proof properties.

“I haven’t given you a gift.” He hadn’t worked on the lute Amara, Chelsea, and Redell had given to Nara.

“You have, your friendship. You all have. I just wanted to show my appreciation for the training and advice you’ve all given me.”

Laius’ appreciation was just as quiet as he was, but she felt it nonetheless as his tail brushed against her softly, just once.

*****

Chelsea was next. She had a vehicle garage, where she worked on her projects, situated near the ritual workshop. It looked like a small aircraft hangar, but with the same jungle resort architecture that the rest of the compound shared. The garage door was open. Chelsea wore matching work clothes as Amara did which caused Nara to internally giggle as if she was witnessing a sweetheart romance of adolescent years.

“I’ve heard you’re handing out gifts,” Chelsea said, waving her in. She looked much like a veteran mechanic in posture and ambience, except that her clothes were spotless. They had the usual self-cleaning enchantments, no doubt. Her garage held a plethora of ritual magic tools and craftsmen tools. Since she was an artifice who worked on larger, unique vehicles, she had to make some custom tools herself, ordinary magic tools didn’t cut it for her like it did for Amara.

She was working on some sort of skimmer. While a lot of Chelsea’s crafts had themes of wood and the forest, this one did not. It had a pearlescent body, like the interior of a seashell.

“It’s an underwater skimmer,” Chelsea explained. She pointed to the open top, “It’s supposed to generate an air bubble, but I’m not satisfied with its protective properties. A hard top obstructs visibility and mobility, but a bubble poses no inherent obstruction for monsters.”

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“How about a barrier?”

Chelsea sighed, setting down the work tool she held in her hand. “I’m trying things out. A barrier, glass, air bubble…It’s a work in progress.”

“Speaking of works in progress…I have a work in progress for you.”

“I can’t say I’m not excited, although I’m hardly in need of another project. What is it?”

Nara removed from her inventory what looked like a bicycle.

“It’s based off a non-magic mode of personal transportation from my world, the bicycle. This one isn’t so non-magic. I just don’t have those engineering capabilities. Magic must unfortunately sub in for my lack of hard knowledge.”

Chelsea grumbled something about missing fundamentals and half-baked knowledge.

The bicycle had two wheels, but they were made of some white material.

“This world doesn’t have the mastery of rubber my world has, so the tire of this bike is made of condensed cloud-stuff. It’s not Henri’s material of choice…well, he’ll work with anything through. It’s supposed to have the firmness of a tire filled with air, but I digress. It is unfortunately, a single-speed bike in physical construction. The chain and gears are simple magical artifacts, where their speed can be adjusted with another magical artifact at the handlebars. Overall, a lot of simple magical artifacts to accomplish what you guys do with way less effort already. Like those hover-plates, those are nifty.”

Nara tapped the bike, “The only thing it has going for it is its insanely efficient. Motion is generated by pedaling, and the magical artifacts can work on just ambient magic. I’ve replicated a barren magical world in my Astral Domain, and it works for a surprisingly long time without spirit coins. Even then it just needs lesser or iron spirit coins. The most expensive part is the cloud quintessence you need to occasionally repair the tires. We haven’t run into a need for it yet, but it’s a projected cost.”

She pointed down to the wheels, “The brakes are rudimentary. They press against the wheel to slow it down. This is part of the wear and tear, and if you press too hard and fast, you’ll launch yourself off the bike. I couldn’t replicate hydraulic brakes; I have no idea what’s going on there. And I checked in with Lawrence and his goddess. All this stuff was a-okay. It’s mostly magical artifacts with some mild applied kinematics. Nothing this world doesn’t know—just organized in an entirely fanciful and impractical way.”

“Aside from the efficiency,” Chelsea pointed out, “That’s a notable benefit.”

“Sure, but the upfront cost of the cloud wheels makes it more expensive than those Rona hover plates. It’s just a style item. Other than that, Henri, in his mad ways, found he could configure it to ride over still water. Waves will do it in, but you can make it over calm rivers and lakes. He said something like ‘Clouds can float so they should too’, but I had to tell them the point was it doesn’t float, it rolls. So, we comprised. It water-rolls.”

“Floating would have massively reduced efficiency,” Chelsea said, “Flying reduces efficiency even further. Keeping the device self-powered and limited to land travel is greatly reducing its mana consumption.”

“I guess that’s why Henri likes my projects. The clashing of common sense creates something new. It’s a smooth ride too, at least. The cloud wheels have nice shock absorbent properties. I’m not even going to try to make shock absorbers yet.”

“The Rowen Kingdom has greater advances in areas of physical artifice than Sanshi,” Chelsea said, “If you chose to continue this project.”

“Well, it’s your gift, with the same deal as Amara. I’m sure you heard it. Research papers, Henri at your disposal. Idea gal.”

“Yes”, she admitted, “I’ve heard.”

Chelsea swung onto the bike. In no time at all she was riding without her hands on the handlebars and testing the magical speed adjustment system of the bike. Nara was right in her conclusions; it was vastly impractical compared to Erras other personal transportation options. Hover plates required some balance but kept the hands otherwise free. Skimmers had greater comfort and capacity, but also much greater size.

However, Chelsea was surprised with its speed. Hover plates did not move very fast. She had to watch her own pedaling so she’d not break the normal rank device. At max speed and flat ground, it could be pushed almost to the speed of skimmers. Skimmers also ate spirit coins constantly, so the bike was orders of magnitudes cheaper to use, even with the upfront cost of the cloud wheels, which still wasn’t up to the price of a full skimmer. It was a little expensive for a personal vehicle, but vastly saved in operating costs over the long term.

“This is sellable,” Chelsea concluded, hands on her hips.

“What? You’re going to sell it?” Nara pouted dramatically.

“No!” Chelsea exclaimed, exasperated. “You can register this invention with the Invention Society, and have a workshop manufacture more. Production will raise the price of cloud quintessence, which is the only issue. It is a popular component of magical furniture. We could look for alternative materials. Water? Hm. Dust? That’s a cheaper option. Shadow? Not as cheap but more aesthetic. The aesthetics are important.”

She stopped her train running at full steam to stare at Nara, “If you leave this with me, I’ll make some improvements then register the invention under the three of us.”

“Look, it’s your gift, do what you want. I’m not leaving it with you, I’m giving it to you.”

Chelsea arched an eyebrow. “Then I will.” She paused, staring Nara down. “Thank you, it’s a thoughtful gift.”

Nara exasperation cracked into a smile. “I try.”

*****

The last gift was for Redell, who was at the church in Sanshi. It seemed that churches had greater ambient magic yet didn’t manifest monsters, so it was comfortable for those like Redell who were high rank. She was glad he wasn’t starving magically while he spent time in Sanshi. He could stop by his church to top up his magic reserves before a musical performance or his other work.

She came to see Redell regularly at the church as well as the group therapy sessions the church held. Since adventuring and fighting monsters was an ingrained part of Erras’ society, their mental health services were impressive both for essence users and the civilians that suffered disaster. There were many Healer priests who were trauma experts, and worked with people to manage their mental health in healthy ways. It wasn’t just that adventurers were hardcore, but they were well adjusted by the support systems in their society to handle the issues and horrors they encountered. There was no stigma of mental health in Erras, and many adventurers sought help if they needed it, or were strongly encouraged to do so by the Adventure Society after traumatic events.

The Adventure Society, Magic Society, and Church of the Healer had a close working relationship. Adventurers needed the mental health, healing, and cleansing services that healer priests provided. For managing disasters, healers were integral to recovery and life saving measures. Since the church of the healer was permitted to work on topics that bordered otherwise restricted topics, they also had a close relationship with the Magic Society.

Nara was already familiar with the layout of the church grounds. Every time she crossed the boundary into the spirit domain, the notification on her guide appeared. She was instinctually aware that a spirit domain was the complete version of what she could temporarily do with her Astral Domain. Her complete construction of her Astral Domain she rarely used. With a portal, it was more convenient to enter the real thing. She was always aware of Healer’s presence when she entered, and had gotten used to the sensation at this point.

Healer must have told Redell of her arrival, because he was waiting for her at their usual spot beside the pond.

“Hey Redell.”

“Nara, are you here for another session?”

“Actually, I have a gift for you. I’ve already given a gift to the other three. Do you have a place with a nice, hard floor? Not like the grass here. I need to bang something against it—won’t damage the floor, I promise.”

He led her into an annex with large glass windows that boasted a clear view of the pond and gardens outside. There were some tables set up—it seemed more of a rest area than anything healing related.

Nara conjured a cushion for herself and Redell, and they sat upon the floor.

“These…” she said with dramatic pause, “Are boom whackers.”

Between the two was a full set of boom whackers made of treated and dyed weed wood. There were 25, one for each half step in a two octave scale.

“Boom whackers?” Redell said, his eyes glittering with curiosity. “What do they do?”

“You seem to have an idea already. You have that look about you. Give it a try.”

Redell picked one up to observe it. A symbol ‘A’ was painted upon it, although he had no idea what the symbol meant. The color of the cylindrical tube was a beautiful vibrant violet. He wacked it gently to the ground, and it produced a cheerful tropical tone between a marimba and a bamboo xylophone.

“Ohhh?” He was a child again. There were sticks on the floor, and what else did a child do with sticks on the floor? They banged them. They were easy to use and fit nicely in the palm of his hand. His hands were large, so they were slightly on the small size for him. The only other notable feature of the simplistic tube was a button at the bottom.

“Ah, that’s the octave change. You can activate it to either tune the sound up one octave or down. I made the set a bit fancy since it’s for you. Normally, if you want to keep it cheap and accessible, you just wouldn’t add that function.”

He played the boom whackers, the melodious sounds echoing through the small annex. It felt joyous, lighthearted and simplistic.

He set them down, “My only regret is I only have two hands.” He was envious of Amara’s ability to manifest a suite of arms, although their power may break these delicate tubes instead.

“That’s the neat part, it’s meant for a group to play together. You make a lot of really cheap sets, divide a group into roles, and teach them their part of a song. It’s used for therapy and enrichment in my world. You guys don’t have those with mobility impediments, but you do still have elderly with declining mental faculties.”

Redell nodded, “There are natural declines magic can only alleviate but not prevent.”

“So, I thought what better gift for you than a therapy instrument! Truth is, I couldn’t make anything more complex than that that this world didn’t already have.”

“Thank you, Nara, I love it!” Redell said, enveloping Nara in a far gentler bear hug than Amara’s vice grip. She wheezed out a breath dramatically.

She explained who Henri was and what his role was in the creation of the boom whackers. With an absentminded thought, she realized that she may have just sent three zealous gold rankers Henri’s way.

Eh, he’ll be fine, she thought as she and Redell played a jaunty song together on the boom whackers. Before long, other priests and patients had gathered to join them, and the tables in the annex were pushed aside for some impromptu folk dancing. Nara conjured temporary replicas to expand the boom whacker circle. A matronly priestess looked on dissatisfied with the commotion, while Healer chuckled at her displeasure that she begrudgingly held-back, skulking instead at the entryway.

Healer knew that joy and fun were important to recovery. Although she kept herself to a strict standard, Healer knew Vanessa’s foot was tapping beneath her robe. Joy was infectious. With an invitation from Redell, ever the gentleman, she reluctantly danced an energetic waltz with him.

*****

“Henri,” Nara said. The two sat in the doorway of his workshop, looking outside at the setting autumn light. “Why are you eating a cloud potato?”

Heri looked up, roasted potato between his hands that he at least picked apart with a spoon. He quickly hid the potato behind his back, “What potato?”

“Henri, I gave you three gold coins last time. A cloud potato is the cheapest iron rank food item you can eat! Go buy some real cooking for once! It’s not even a dent in the money I gave you.”

“No! Never!”

“Henri, I pay for all the materials you use for my projects, and then I pay you for the actual project. What I gave you is your living expenses and its god damned more than enough to live richly for a year.”

“Innovation is my food.”

She sighed, rubbing her brow with her fingers.

She stood up suddenly. “By the way three gold rankers are going to visit you soon about those projects. Good luck.” And with that, she sprinted away.

“Wait! What are you talking about! They were gold rank!?” Henri called out to her, dropping his potato. He stared at it on the oil-stained workshop, then quickly shoved it into his mouth anyway. Wasting food was wasting money.

“You handled a goddess you can handle them!” She called back.

“I wouldn’t say I handled the goddess!” He shouted with ramping anxiety, but she was long gone.