Chapter 41: He and I Chat
“These are the preliminary results of our investigation,” John said, gently placing a stack of folders onto Miss Nisei's table for her to see.
She picked them up, her eyebrows furrowed with thought as she flipped through the three folders. She read them thoroughly, pausing for the longest time on the third folder.
“I see my judgement was correct to enlist your help, but I’m not sure I understand all your findings.”
“I will explain my findings. The targeted research can be divided into three general groups. Group one is in the first folder: these are researchers researching astral magic. These are the hardest for them to kill, since astral magic is a well-respected and established field, even if it’s famously difficult. They aren’t isolated for their research and are often kept on staff by specialty essence user teams, adventure society branches, and magic society branches. The ones most at risk here are the low rank astral magic specialists.”
“That’s the case for all three groups,” Miss Nisei said, “A logical action by the enemy. Iron rankers aren’t powerful and usually don’t garner special attention.”
“This is just the case for Sanshi,” John said. “In a provincial city, the difficulty of killing or kidnapping targets from group one decreases. But, there’s also very few astral magic researchers in provincial cities. They tend to research more practical fields, like agricultural ritual magic, construction ritual magic, lifestyle ritual magic, and array defenses.”
“I’ll send you the results from our concurrent investigations,” Erin offered.
“The next folder, group two: non-society inventors. They can invent any object. While the Inventor Society exists, it is incomparable in power to Adventure and Magic Societies. The smart saboteurs pay off the inventors through official channels, and they live easy lives without doing much more. The plans are then scrapped, and nothing is gained—for a period of time. They really want to prevent the registration of inventions to begin with, since it adds the information to the Inventor Soceity’s registry. Any uncooperative inventor gets dealt with.”
“And what about group three?”
Group three would be the one you didn’t understand.”
“Yes.”
“These are the highest priority targets. They are those researching fundamental physics and other subjects like basic chemistry, magnetism, and electricity. You do have the concept of physics in this world?”
“Of course, John. I am curious what would invite such a question. My interest in you…and your world only grows.”
John ignored her casual flirtation, “From what I’ve seen, it’s basic, no offense, miss Nisei. I don’t even know that much magic, and I know physics goes out the window when magic is involved. That ritual magic that reduces the weight of objects for easier transportation is a neat trick. I would have loved that for moving houses, a weight off my back—literally! Miss Nisei, I’ve mentioned my world before. What do you remember?”
“All of it John, I’m silver rank. I don’t forget anything I want to remember. Your world has no magic and is instead technologically advanced?”
“I won’t go into details, but whoever is killing off your researchers doesn’t want you developing your technology or your astral magic.”
“I’ve tried to be as thorough as possible in the notes for group three. Send one of your people over and I’ll try to describe as much as I can. But Miss Nisei, I believe it is time to fulfill our initial agreement?”
“Ahh…you will no longer help until you have the information you want? I’m a little hurt.”
“You need me now, Miss Nisei.”
Miss Nisei smiled, her expression unreadable, “...Around two months ago a single outworlder appeared in Sanshi.” She pushed a folder in front of John, “Now, don’t be mistaken. I haven’t been keeping this information from you. Her first appearance is an estimate; we only really discovered her when she applied to the Adventure Society.”
“They’re the only one in the whole city?”
“Outworlders aren’t supposed to be common, John,” Eufemia said. “Nekroz is abnormal. In many ways.”
He opened the file, reading off the contents for Eufemia.
“Nara Edea, outworlder, age unknown (estimated 20s), female, iron rank, Adventure Society member, student at the Sanshi Adventure Academy. Essences: Dimension, Harmonic, Balance, Mystic. Team members: Enciodes Aciano.”
There were some additional details that were unnecessary to John. She had no notable accomplishments and had not completed any notable contracts. She got along with a good number of essence users around her age that were a part of the foundational families, but that wasn’t unusual for someone attending the academy. Other details such as height, eye color, skin color, hair color, registration date, were just standard bookkeeping results.
A picture was attached to her files. European features, with something else, likely mixed ethnicity. She didn’t look like the locals, which was a hopeful sign, but her name was native to Erras.
“There are a couple things of note. Her surname was granted to her by her guarantor, Miss Amara Edea. She’s a well-known gold rank adventurer-inventor, mostly specialized in day-to-day artifacts.”
“So safe from the unknown enemy,” Eufemia remarked.
“No doubt. To successfully abduct or kill a well-known gold ranker like Lady Edea would require considerable resources. Not only is she famed for her convenient creations, but well-known for her battle prowess. Any attempt at a discrete abducting or assassination would not remain so the moment they attack her.”
“Why is that? Can’t manage to keep her quiet?”
“Lightning, Might, Potent and Onslaught—a combination not known for its discretion, either visually or auditory. The other notable detail about the outworlder is her current teammate, Enciodes Aciano.”
Eufemia tapped a finger to her chin, “That name...Aciano. It is very familiar.”
“As it should be, mainly for essence users or those of the Rona Kingdom. I’m surprised you’ve heard of it.”
“We passed through Rona on our way here. Rowan to Rona—that was an expensive ticket.”
“So, who is this Enciodes Aciano?”
“He’s the grandson of a diamond ranker. He himself isn’t much of note—typical for scion of a rich family. Handpicked essences and awakening stones, high quality training, comprehensive education, the best equipment available.”
“But he’s iron rank and doesn’t matter?” Eufemia asked.
“Beyond his family, that is the case. Like all iron rankers, unproven and untested. The curiosity is his relation to Nara Edea.”
“What do you mean?”
“Surely, this is so difficult to figure out, now, is it Eufemia?”
Eufemia scowled.
“If his family is from Rona, how did he meet Nara in Sanshi?” John concluded.
“Not even I have the answer to this question, but it matters not for your purposes. Amara Edea is known for her relationship with Chelsea Hayeth, a fellow gold ranker with a portal power. She could have been portaled to Rona.”
“There’s some additional details in that folder. I’ll contact you if anything of note additionally arises. It’s my promise to you, John.”
*****
Back at their Shanyin office, John and Eufemia discussed their results further.
“What now John, how do we approach this? How likely is this woman the one we’re looking for?”
“There’s been no change in the ability.”
“A suspicion and a name isn’t enough then.”
“Nothing left to do but contact her,” He flipped through the information, “She seems pretty friendly, good evaluations of her personality in her society examination. Honesty is likely the best approach.”
“And the approach you’re best at,” Eufemia agreed. “The other thing we need to discuss is our current situation.
“It’s why miss Nisei was so reluctant to give us this information.”
“According to the files, they didn’t know about her until she applied to the Adventure Society,” Eufemia said, “But I won’t give that woman the benefit of the doubt.”
“It’s likely she wanted to leverage the information for our services as long as possible.” John agreed.
“I thought you’d have a more positive assessment of her.”
“I like to see the best in others and offer my best in turn,” John said, “but I’m not foolish.”
He gazed outside the window to the city shaded with shadow like a valley city covered in fog.
“Until we find new employment, our relationship won’t change.”
“But if your ability holds true, we can seek new employment soon. Three essences is a whole new life. The other outworlder already figured it out.”
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*****
Nara was on her way back from the academy together with Encio after another sparring session with Encio and Vallis, her frequent partners. They tried a three-way battle that inevitably ended as a duel when Nara was knocked out first. Until she improved further, that was the only possible result.
“Please excuse me, are you Nara Edea?”
They were headed to his hotel when they were interrupted by two people, a human and a celestine.
The human was an ordinary middle-aged man. He was tall, a little over six feet, with dirty blond hair and hazel green eyes. He had a narrow face, with a strong crooked nose and a pronounced jawline. The stubble on his face showed his age, but his eyes were light with enthusiasm and kindness, emphasized by his friendly smile. What surprised her was not his unusual features for the locals, but his British accent. He was speaking English. Did he have a translation power, or something else?
She could see it in his aura, which was an open book to her: Kind, insightful, yet determined. All normal people had auras, but they could not feel it nor control it. It was like the surface of water, rippling with their emotions and reflecting their inner self.
The woman with him was stunning. Wine-ruby hair and eyes and alabaster skin. She was very much the iconic imagine of a vampire queen or a femme fatale. Her face was that of a resting-bitch-face, a beauty only enhanced with her frown. She looked the type of woman online degenerates would beg to step on them or look at them like trash. Her aura said otherwise, prickly on the outside but well-meaning on the inside, a rose with thorns.
“I am Nara. And the two of you are…?”
He held his hand out for a handshake, an unusual custom for the area, “I’m John Aurelius, outworlder. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The group settled in some outside seating at a nearby café. As they waited for their drinks and small eats, the conversation began again after another round of introductions.
“I am Eufemia Teresina,” the celestine with John said.
“Enciodes Aciano, teammate,” Encio said, sticking to the background of the conversation, for now.
“You say you’re an outworlder, but I don’t see that in your aura.” Nara remarked. From his aura, he wasn’t lying or intending to trick her, so she waited for an explanation before jumping to conclusions. John was only normal rank, so she could read his aura like how a higher ranker could read hers for information.
“There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for that,” John said. “I have a racial ability that allows me to disguise my outward appearance and aura.” He conjured a piece of paper and slid it before her.
-------
Racial Ability: [Innocuous Disguise]
Can completely disguise your appearance and aura of that of another race. This disguise cannot be seen through. You can additionally manipulate your physical features and aura a small amount.
Race selected: Human
-------
“That’s definitely an outworlder ability,” Encio confirmed. “I haven’t heard of a race with a racial ability like that.”
“Alright, outworlder to outworlder, I guess. What business do you have with me?”
John slid another printout before her. It depicted another two racial abilities, along with a related effect.
-------
Ability: [Magic Record]
You can take images with your mind of objects, locations, abilities, spells, people, and other entities. Imaged objects, locations, abilities, spells, people, and other entities will return descriptions. Higher ranked objects and entities will return less information. Consent can override blocking abilities and rank restrictions. Images are saved in a [Photo Library]. Images can be recalled from the [Photo Library] for later observation. Images can be printed into physical form. Information from [Magic Record] can be added to [Case Files]
* Language Adaptation.
* Essence, awakening stone, and skill book absorption.
Ability: [Case Files]
Receive cases related to your situation and surroundings. Can manifest magic into physical objects as reward for completing cases. Gain the ability to loot enemies.
Essence Case 2: Find and identify [???]
-[???] may possess the method of interdimensional travel and the method to return to Earth.
-[???] has an anti-identification ability and cannot be identified.
-[???] has an anti-tracking ability and cannot be tracked.
Rewards:
[John Aurelius]: Renewal Essence
[Eufemia Teresina]: Light Essence
-------
She scanned the papers, “What’s this got to do with me?”
“We suspect you are the subject of my racial ability. I don’t know the details of how my racial abilities work, but I suspect these special cases—Essence Cases—are generated from my goal of returning to Earth. To my family. You are, from Earth?”
“Covid-19, Ukranian war, Australian Wildfire, 2020 Administration—I’m American, and only the greatest movie made, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once?”
“Oh! I have watched that movie. I don’t know how to feel about it, now that I’m in another world myself. You like it that much?”
“Oh yeah. Brilliant acting and explaining a serious topic with a silly premise. Plus, I relate to a lot of the Asian-American heritage. Mixed race myself, even if I don’t much look it. My sister apparently got most of the Chinese genes from my mom.”
“I’m British myself,” John said, “Nothing that interesting in my family, except maybe accidental inbreeding.”
“Well hey, now you’re plenty interesting yourself. You’ve tripped into another world.”
“That’s for sure. I wonder what my family is going to think. How do I even begin to explain this?” He gestured to the city around him. Skimmers cruised in the sky and hovered above the ground. Heidels, the two headed and scaled burden beast, tugged wooden carts along to their destination. Bird familiars soared through the sky, delivering messages to their destination.
“John,” Eufemia said slowly, “I know you’re very excited right now but how about the two of you focus? You’ve established you’re from the same world? Good. Move on.”
He corrected his posture after realizing he had leaned forward from his excitement, “If you could let me identify you, I would be very grateful. I need your consent to bypass your anti-identification ability.”
“Go ahead then.”
He manifested a camera in his hands. It looked like one of those Canon or Nikon professional cameras, but without the zoom lens attachment, and small enough to be handheld.
----------------------------------------
Overview
Name: Nara Edea / Unknown
Race: Outworlder (Human)
Rank: Iron
Age: 23
Titles
Spirit Warrior
Unbounded
Astral Shaper
Attributes
[Speed] (Dimension): Iron 0
[Power] (Harmonic): Iron 0
[Recovery] (Balance): Iron 0
[Spirit] (Mystic): Iron 0
Racial Abilities
Guide
Traveler’s Bounty
Resilient
Astral Traveler
Astral Domain
Free Spirit
Essence Abilities
Dimension [4/5]: Phase Shift (Iron 1, 02%), Blade of the Boundary (Iron 1, 15%), Dimension Node (Iron 1, 11%), Infinity Domain (Iron 0, 20%), N/A.
Harmonic [3/5]: Astral Blessing (Iron 1, 20%), Entropy (Iron 1, 04%), Overture, (Iron 1, 05%), N/A, N/A.
Balance [3/5]: Refresh (Iron 1, 19%), Astral Return (Iron 1, 08%), Dream’s Wake (Iron 1, 10%), N/A, N/A.
Mystic [4/5]: Cosmic Path (Iron 1, 12%), Gaze of the Boundary (Iron 1, 22%), Moonlight Raiment (Iron 1, 13%), Umbral Wolf (Iron 1, 07%), N/A.
----------------------------------------
The moment he saw Nara’s Overview, his Essence Case from his racial ability updated. There were some curiosities in her identification—her name was Nara Edea, but also unknown. What did that mean? Also, these titles, he had not seen before. At least, not on anybody he could identify without consent. He could confirm neither Eufemia nor he had any. He printed out another sheet for the group to see.
-------
-[Essence Case 2] has been updated.
Essence Case 2: Find and Identify [Nara Edea]
-[Nara Edea] may possess the method of interdimensional travel and the method to return to Earth.
Rewards:
[John Aurelius]: Renewal Essence
[Eufemia Teresina]: Light Essence
-Rewards have been added to [Detective’s Stash].
-New [Essence Case].
Essence Case 3: Join [Nara Edea]
-[Nara Edea] may possess the method of interdimensional travel and the method to return to Earth.
Rewards:
[John Aurelius]: Magic Essence
[Eufemia Teresina]: Adept Essence
External Rewards:
[Nara Edea]: Racial Ability Evolution
-------
“Wait a damn moment. Why in the world does your ability think I have the method to travel dimensions?” Nara said, pointing at the sheet.
“You don’t?”
“I don’t! Would I still be here if I did?”
“You said you liked this world better,” Encio pointed out. “I think you’d still be here.”
“Okay, I do!” Nara admitted, “But the point is I wouldn’t be searching for it if I did!”
“You like this world better?”
“Hello? It has magic? Plus, my looting ability makes money out of thin air? And, I’ve got a cool wolf familiar.” She pointed to the floor where Thanatos lay, his ears perking up at the mention of his name.
“I was wondering what that was,” Eufemia said, “And why nobody was saying anything.”
“I thought magic dogs were normal?” John suggested in a questioning voice.
“No John, dogs aren’t normally magic. You thought a dog with black flame rising from its fur was normal?”
He shrugged, “I assume everything is normal. It’s not like I have the best baseline.”
Thanatos barked at the two.
“He says he’s a wolf, not a dog, and would appreciate it if the two of you stopped calling him a dog.”
“Oh my bad, sorry bud. What’s your name?”
Thanatos barked in response.
John raised an eyebrow, “You named your wolf familiar after the Greek god of death?”
“I thought it was appropriate. And you try naming a familiar—I found it very difficult to think of a nice name.”
“I’m a parent I’ve done it before. Hoping the name you just gave your son and daughter is something they’ll like for the rest of their lives is something I understand very well.”
“Oh? That’s nice. What are their names?”
“Noah and Sienna.”
“Classic, sounds lovely.”
“I thought it was maybe too uncreative, but my wife said I was a worrier, and she didn’t want to spend another week listening to my indecision.”
“Back. To. The. Topic.” Eufemia said, clapping her hands together to refocus attention, “You don’t have a way back to your original world.”
“As far as I know, no. But I am researching a way back, and I’ve got a lead.”
“You have a lead?”
“Yeah, Traveler, the god of travelers said that there’s this astral space that was once the trial location for this cult called the Cult of the Celestial Book, which is some sort of dimensional-outer-god of all knowledge, and there may be a library within this astral space that contains the secrets of the universe, or something.”
Eufemia closed her eyes, and leaned her head back, “I wish I ordered some alcohol.”
“Day drinking already? That isn’t healthy for you,” John said.
“John, did you understand a single word of what she just said?”
“No, of course not. I think I’ll feel saner if I never do.”
“Did you say Traveler, the god of travelers?” Encio asked.
“Yeah, he and I chat.”
“You chat with a god?”
“I don’t have much of a choice, he just shows up. I guess I could astral jump somewhere else, but if I had to bet money on what god could follow me around the world, I’d bet money on the god of travelers. Want to bet? Next time, I can try dodging him.”
“Is this revenge for suggesting a one-sided bet last time?”
She stared at him, “Yay or nay?”
“No, I’m not going to take that bet.”
“John, you’ve been here for a year, why does she seem more assimilated than you are?”
“To be fair, I got my essence on like, my second day or something.”
“From a racial ability? John, you really drew the short end of the stick.”
“Oh no, got all of mine from a friend. My racial ability did suggest the combination.”
“Speaking of, is that what my ability is doing, suggesting a combination?”
“What do we have once we complete this final case?”
“Life, Renewal, Magic for me and Mirror, Light, Adept for you.”
“Your ability couldn’t even give you a five-star essence? What a cheap ability.”
“I don’t have one either,” John pointed out.
“You like cheap stuff.”
“That’s the Immortal Confluence for John, and the Refracting Confluence for you, Eufemia,” Encio said.
“Sounds powerful! Immortal...what does that do?” John asked. Despite spending a long time on Erras so far, he knew little about essence users. For any normal resident of the world, it wasn’t something they had to know beyond their local powers.
“Your particular combination is a confluence used by healers,” Encio said, “While Eufemia’s is a bit more complex. It’s known for abilities that modify or copy other abilities.”
“How’s that?” John asked, “Do you need a healer?”
Nara looked at Encio. “Do we need a healer?”
“Every team needs a healer,” he said matter-of-factly, “And if we need a healer, why not another outworlder?”