Chapter 149: The Unexceptional Choice

Before her, the Tier-Media was an inky black, the depths of space without stars, all light consumed by somnolent waves. The lights of the ship barely broke through the darkness, a feeble light unseen by anyone beyond. In the distant coastline, sparkles of light indicated seaside settlements, distant but precious. Across both worlds, civilization was built near water. A trans-universal truth. The thought was comforting; some common sense did still apply.

Nara was enjoying the night breeze, atop the mast on a conjured couch. With magic abilities, she dared to sit in precarious locations she would not have without. In her hand she held her lute, absentmindedly strumming a soft song appropriate for the deep night.

She sensed someone approach from below. The healer Miray, who she originally thought was soft spoken—he appearance certainly matched, a warm skin tone and hair of delicate, lunar hues. Within Nahir on her team, she had shown a will capable of reining him in. She nimbly ascended, aided by her own magic, until she was level with Nara.

“May I join you?”

Nara gestured with her hand and scooted over for Miray to sit on the couch. She bounced on it a few times, pinching it for comfort, and finding it surprisingly so. She settled, feet dangling off into the open night air.

“I’m sorry about Nahir. He was just taking out his anger on you.”

“I know,” Nara said, “but he’s not completely wrong either. When it came to my allies, I’ve killed people.”

“We’re adventurers. We know the risks. Nahir may still be learning them. We’re still learning them.”

“I’m trying to find a balance,” Nara said, heedless of her apologies, kind, but unnecessary. “I don’t know if it is a balance that can ever be found, or an ideal I’ll strive for in perpetuity.”

“A balance that we all need to find.” Miray emphasized. “Nahir is too quick to kill. He’s afraid of the consequences of leaving enemies alive.”

“And he saw that consequence realized through me, even if nothing happened.”

“No, he saw an adventurer that understood the realities of a situation he avoided. He saw an adventurer that managed risk accordingly, and reacted when the risk was realized. Lives were saved and families were reunited. Those he killed will never return to their families. He’s angry with himself too. He took the low and easy path.”

Miray gazed down towards the cabins in the ship below.

“He is not feeling so self-assured now. Those women and children are crying over the dead bodies of their loved ones. He won’t forget that.”

“He prioritized his comrades and the innocents on this boat, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Nara said, once again playing Devil’s Advocate with her own position on the opposite side.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Miray agreed, “but he isn’t proud of it, and rightly so. It is unexceptional.”

“And he wants to be an exceptional adventurer,” Nara was a bit sick of the idea of being exceptional, the phrase bringing unpleasant memories to her mind. Even so, it wouldn’t stop her from practicing and learning. She had a goal, distant as it was, both another lifetime and in another world.

“Most do. Adventuring is known for the fame, riches, power, and honor.”

“And you?”

“A healer can’t want fame, riches, power, and honor?” she asked, her head at a teasing tilt.

“I didn’t think you were the type,” Nara commented honestly. “No offense.”

“And you would be surprised. I like the feeling of praise and gratitude,” Miray admitted, unashamed. “People rely on me, and they need me. My worlds hold more weight and importance because I’m an adventurer and a healer.”

“You don’t have to speak loudly for others to listen.”

“Quite right. Except with Nahir.” She winked. “I have to yell at him.”

“You’re the party leader,” Nara concluded with a laugh.

Miray smiled wide. “What gave it away?”

*****

The night passed, washing away the blood of the previous with a new gentle day (and some judicious cleaning).

The former pirates were held below deck. Even if they were threatened, they were still criminals. The authorities at their destination would be lenient, especially with the normals. They weren’t expected to stand up to essence users. Those of the bronze and iron rankers that were unwilling pirates would not have the same leniency, but execution was unlikely. Unlike Graff and his crew, some of the essence-users-turned-pirates had not turned to piracy willingly.

The core using pirates didn’t have the forged auras capable of resisting the suppressive force of the collars. The adventurers still enacted shifts to watch over their captives, and the team resumed their training or restful activities until their port of call, Akripodia.

“This time you requested me for sparring, instead of the other way around,” Sen said, “What is it you want to practice?”

“I’ve had this idea for a while now, but it sort of solidified after the fight with the pirates. I use my Infinity Domain to redirect attacks so they will miss, but that’s not the most efficient use with my abilities. In a chaotic battle, I can trigger it off of projectiles, but in a one versus one…”

Waking Moment was a more temporary boon, compared to her others. Overture maintained the boon, but she would need to actively intercept attacks to grow the stacks, then eventually gain instances of Endless Dream, her true prize.

“You want to develop your fighting style to create intentional openings that your enemy will try to attack.”

“A combination of that and subtle space manipulation and light manipulation. I wanted to try dipping into The Way of the Charlatan. A lot of my avoidance comes from manipulation effects, but what if those don’t work? I know how you are about worst case scenarios. I want to try adding some deceit, not in abilities but in my swordplay.”

“In turn, you intercept and counter those attacks with ease.”

“Yeah. Since I’ve planned for attacks to land there in the first place. That’s the idea, but I don’t know if I can manage both a manipulation of my own fighting style and active manipulation of space simultaneously. You’ve been developing something similar with your weight manipulation abilities too, right?”

“That’s why you came to me,” he concluded, spinning his staff as if feeling the weight of her suggestion upon it.

“I plan to work through it later with Encio as well, but I figured you’d have the most personal experience with an idea like this.”

Sen mulled over her explanation. He didn’t think a deceitful fighting style fit Nara, but there was no harm in exploring it and integrating aspects of it into her style. It didn’t have to be all the time, but successful attacks were important for her fighting style, and having her opponent dance in the palm of her hand would help Nara completely control the battle.

*****

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The idea for now was just that, an idea. Working it through was like evolving her current fighting style, which was flowing, fast, and connected, weaving counters into attacks.

She felt as if she had been sent back to those beginning days, working through the moves of The Way of the Traveler. It was a combination of demonstration, light sparring, and discussion, as session of slow trial and error. Nara saw that Sen was growing his own nascent style evolution simultaneously. High strength and recovery attributes impeded Sen’s ability to affect the weight of others. High strength was common among brawler adventurers like himself, who he'd most likely be fighting as he served the frontline role. Nara was an expert at subtle but straightforward manipulation, and he devoured what he could of her own experience to apply it to himself.

“Speaking of, utilizing more aggressive spatial manipulation might also be an interesting evolution.”

“To surprise your opponent with sudden changes in space?”

“Yeah. With my subtle manipulation, it’s hard to notice, but it’s also easily compensated for. Occasionally concentrating the effect to artificially ‘stagger’ their attacks may throw them off.”

“That’s a lot to work on.”

“You’d say, ‘even if it’s a lot of work it is best to develop all avenues of strength’?”

Sen smiled. “That’s right. Encio would say to utilize my expertise for all my worth. I am at your disposal.”

“Here’s to a long time, sparring partner.”

“Prepare yourself. I am a thorough instructor.”

“I’d pay money to hear you say the opposite. I don’t think I’ve ever caught you slacking.”

“It’ll never happen,” Sen said resolutely.

“Want to bet?” Nara said. “Whether or not I’ll ever hear Sen Arlang say, ‘I don’t want to because I’m too tired’. Something along those lines.”

Sen smirked, “I accept, and accept your inevitable loss.”

*****

The magic near Atisalhaya was mid bronze. As the group neared the far end of the Tier-Media, towards Esmera-Mar and Aviensa, Nara could feel the shift in ambient magic quality, inching up towards silver. Their destination was Akripodia, a city built on the equivalent of the island of Sicily.

It lay at the edge of the bronze region, the final destination of traders where they must hire more expensive silver rank adventurer escorts if they were to proceed further. With higher magic quality came higher profits—high rank essence users lived in greater numbers, and essence users were the rich of this world.

The trading routes were generally safe; even their merchant vessel, while beset by pirates, didn’t have a single injury to their passengers. Of normal people, sailors were some of the few that most often saw adventurers and their work up close. The sailors still had their same cheerful attitude, not dampened by the incident. They cheered on Nara and Sen as they continued their regular spars on deck.

It was those who skipped the expense of adventurer escorts in pursuits of higher profits who suffered the greatest risk. They may have dozens of journeys with no big incidents, perhaps only close calls with sea and sky monsters. It only took one unfortunate incident such as an encounter with pirates to have all of those lives and goods consumed by the beautiful but unforgiving sea.

There was no further incident the rest of the journey, a few small monster skirmishes, but nothing unusual for the route.

The ship docked in the seas away from port of Akripodia, where a city official was dispatched from the city to greet them. The official engaged in standard proceedings with the captain—if he planned to unload his cargo, what goods they were carrying and what they wanted to unload, if he needed to post a new contract, if the ship needed to rent boats to transport supplies, and how they planned to pay their taxes and tariffs. Captain Kezo’s Tier-Media circuit was routine, and he was a familiar face with the local officers. Still, an inspector would ride out to verify the ship had no hidden compartments or illegal goods.

Together with Sen and Encio, he reported the matter of the pirates, which he held securely below deck; a mixture of true pirates and threatened essence users.

Official matters settled; Nara transformed her Nebula boat into its adaptive form. Over water, the construction was an actual boat, versus the flying ship that was created over land. She didn’t use its grand form. Since it was a nebula flask and not a cloud flask, she didn’t want to attract unnecessary attraction from those who knew it was non-standard.

The boat was a combination of a luxury yacht and sailing ship, a sailing yacht. The deck was low and long, the outside a sleek, dark blue that sparkled with small stars. Tall triangular sails unfurled into the air, a clean white against the emerald blue of shallow water. As usual, the deck and cabins were decorated with considerably more plant life than a sea-faring vessel would usually nurture, railings lined with leafy greens and blooming flowers.

She offered to take the other two teams with her, and surprisingly they agreed. She thought her relationship with Miray’s team was too strained for them to join her. The idea of waiting for the official transportation may have led them to choose the quicker and free option.

Nahir sat far back, nonchalant against a railing. Miray sat with him, sending Nara an apologetic smile when they made eye contact.

Sen and Encio would report to the local Adventure Society about the completion of the contract and the details of the pirate attack. The other teams split off as soon as Nara’s ship docked, Miray offering her one final wave. Nara doubted she’d ever see the team again, but that was the adventurer’s life. New events and connections, however brief: the team was her constant.

The city of Akripodia was not unlike a typical Ronan seaside city. The majority of the city was made of rectangular, sand colored buildings, occasionally painted with brighter colors. The activity of the city was considerably higher, a bustling port city and a center for trade, like Huxin. The ports of the city was considerably expanded. Far more buildings were built on top of water, boardwalks that expanded into the gentle waves of the Tier-Media. There was plenty of room for Nara’s water-top nebula house, and many others lived on water or anchored their houseboats. Not only houses but markets were set on top the water, a mixture of business, residential, and leisure as residents and wayfarers swam in the glimmering noon water. Skimmers and barges in a variety of sizes transported people and goods to and from trade ships anchored further out, where the water deepened.

Encio returned early from the report, leaving Sen at the Adventure Society to handle the rest as team leader. He toured the city with Nara, as had become tradition.

“An investigation will be conducted regarding the pirates.” Encio said, as the two discussed the outcome of the attack.

“An investigation? Aren’t pirate attacks pretty normal?” No offense to the security of the region of course.

“Taking hostages to force essence users to attack their own has crossed the line. Likely, a suppression force will be formed for the barbarian tribes south of the Tier-Media.”

“A suppression force?”

“A euphemism,” Encio said darkly. “The society will a large group of adventurers to massacre or capture the raiding clans, to reduce their power and influence for some years.”

“Straight to massacre…” No matter how she was used to killing monsters, there was an instinctual revulsion there. When one had the power of an essence user, ordinary lives became far too easy to reap, aversively so. “Is there no better solution, like financial support?”

“To provide free resources to a group that has stolen and killed for theirs? It would not sit well with the residents that have been affected so far. There may be solutions that could better help the southern tribes but…any ‘easy’ solution is unconscionable. There are only difficult, slow, and expensive solutions left.”

He trailed off, thinking of Erin Nise’s argument against the current methodologies of the Adventure Society and society as a whole. If these tribes wanted to establish a city and ask for protection against monster waves from the Adventure Society, the society would offer a contract and help. However, did these tribes know they had that option? And even if they did, would local adventurers want to help, who had grown up with those threats all their lives?

In the might-makes-right geo-politics of Erras, cities had no reason to provide financial support to their once-raiders. Nara wondered what would happen to the women and children left behind but decided there was no meaning in asking. She didn’t have the power to change anything about society here. If any change happened, it would occur naturally over a long time.

Nara knew the situation in Erras was already gradually changing. The eventual independence of Sanshi, the negotiations with Zariel’s world, the assassinated researchers and inventors, the objective of the Messengers, the tensions in Nekroz. As these situations evolved, so would Erras’ society. In any world, people lived through but a small phrase in a long song of change. Except essence users. They would see centuries of change.

For her own world too, the gears of change had never stopped turning.

*****

The group proceeded the rest of the way as passengers on a ship, rather than adventurer escorts. As bronze rankers, they weren’t qualified to do so in the west half of the Tier-Media. They’d be able to accept monster contracts, but escorts where lives were at stake usually required the higher tier of adventurers in the Tier-Media.

They witnessed for themselves the resilience of silver rank monsters as a team of silver rankers gradually tore apart a silver rank Kraken. The silver rankers dodged between a deadly forest of fleshy tentacles, and the ship was guided to safety some ways away as it waited for the obstacle to be cleared away. Geysers of water erupted from the water, evidence of the magic abilities monsters of higher ranks more often possessed.

In typical RPG terms, monsters traded magic for constitution; real life bullet-sponges. The more dangerous and insidious monsters were the opposite, those that were physically weaker but had complex magical abilities such as illusions, transformations, stealth, magic projectiles, and puppeteering abilities.

Those monsters could secretly infiltrate populations for years, picking off just enough people to avoid suspicion, in a way not dissimilar to Siyu, before his impatience had ruined things for him. At high tiers, stealth detection and investigation specialists became important to detect tricky and intelligent monsters.

Essences users in turn had balanced stats with no obvious weakness nor overwhelming strength. This meant at silver rank, casters like Aliyah became harder to pick off, where at iron and bronze rank they were relatively fragile without many defensive abilities and damage reduction.

Silver rank was the turning point where essence users shed their previous ‘human’ fragility. Silver rank essence users were like Spider-Man—actual, comic book accurate Spider-Man with inhuman toughness, reflexes, and strength at base.

Once Aliyah hit silver rank, without a single essence ability, she would be able to throw cars around. They could have car pillow-fights, smacking each other with tonnage and hard metal without inflicting almost any damage due to the normal rank of the objects.

That example was not just because Nara hated cars and wanted to see them destroyed. No, it was the most practical example.