Chapter 90: The Day of the Expedition
The day of the expedition finally dawned upon the team after a busy month of training, preparation, and leisure activities.
The Adventure Society was always busy, but on this day the stone tiles of the marshalling yard was completely obstructed by adventurers like a celebrity had made a surprised appearance, except if everyone in the crowd was wearing expensive, realistic, and practical cosplay.
The team settled at the edge of the group, waiting for the typical announcements to begin. The Adventure Society always tried to maintain punctuality (as much as it could for wrangling an expansive age group starting from hyperactive teens to leisurely adults), and soon an Adventure Society official stood on a podium at the front of the crowd in a timely manner. The official cleared his throat, quieting the crowd. The magical artifact pinned to his chest rippled his words across the crowd as almost a physical vibration, instantly catching their attention.
“Listen up, Iron Rankers! Many of you are excited. Rightly so. Keep it contained. Your primary objective is to protect. There will be no infighting, no stealing. I can and will find out, and it will be punished. Harshly. If I see anyone putting their own greed and fat ego above the safety of your charges, you will be immediately expelled. If I have any say, I will have your adventure society membership revoked. I am not joking. Expedition groups assignments are posted on the notice board. Follow the instructions of your group leader. They are your liaison! Your communicator! They will have final judgements, and they are well trusted, especially over you inexperienced lot. No, I don’t care who your father is! Two hours until departure! Get moving!”
With a tap on the artifact, the voice amplification crackled off and he turned to one of his aides to further preparations.
The team did as he asked, checking the notice board for the name of their group leader: Everett Stone. They found him off to the side of the marshalling yard. He was a particularly dark skinned runic, smooth obsidian skin contrasting with moon-silver runic tattoos. He had a chiseled jawline and straight nose; overall handsome features that balanced masculine power and elegance. Thick dark eyebrows framed his captivating silver-ringed irises. His head was clean shaven and showed off the full complexity of his tattoos. He stood with the finesse of a fit male fashion model, the cut of his outfit tailored complimentarily to his musculature.
Nara was more and more thankful Encio took her to buy clothes. She could at least pretend she had taste, even if it was really her tailor with the mind behind the lines.
“Sen Arlang.”
“Everett Stone.”
The two exchanged Sanshi greetings, and discussed matters of the expedition.
Sen stood forward and introduced himself and his team. Everett took stock, and the team waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Three more teams were part of the group.
Surprisingly, the second team was Malik’s. He did the same for his three-person team, greeting the group leader then settling in the area quietly. The two teams mingled and settled into comfortable chatting, catching up on events. Nara hadn’t seen Malik since her adventure society certification. He and his teammates knew Sen. Malik spoke with contention, but could tell by his posture he was friendly, and Sen didn’t seem to mind him either (one-sided rivalry indeed). Nara was content with people watching, too overwhelmed with the number of people to socially engage unless she had to.
The two final teams arrived—another team of six, and a final team of four. The team of six was an academy team. A few faces were familiar to Nara, but she always struggled to remember names. They waved to her, and Nara awkwardly smiled, racking her brains. Chrome didn’t bother to interject, probably because he didn’t think they were important enough to remember their names himself, that ass. She’d have to ask again. She didn’t intentionally forget names but…
When the teams had fully assembled, Everett addressed the group. “Does anyone have a communication ability?”
It seemed Sen had brought it up, but he asked the full team anyway.
Nara raised her hand, “I can fit ten. Six slots are used on my team.”
He nodded. “If you would, one for each team leader, including myself.”
She did so, inviting each team leader and Everett to her party. They all looked in surprise as an interface message manifested in front of their face.
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[Nara Edea] has invited you to join her party.
[Join? Y/N]
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Since it was her ability, a function of her soul, no voice chat was private to her if she wanted to peek, but she didn’t divulge that to any of others. Aside from her team, no one else needed to know.
Nara assumed that anyone worth their rank already knew the drawbacks of communication abilities. If someone discussed sensitive information over another person’s ability, it demonstrated a severe lack of common sense. It would be like posting sensitive information on social media. No one with sense would do that, right?
The expedition set off, an impressive force of twenty-five iron rank teams, a few bronze rank teams, various crafters and gatherers, and support staff. The large group split into three boats that traveled through the region’s largest river, the Blue Jade River, named for the pieces of blue river jade that formed at its banks. It was a quintessential gemstone used in Sanshi crafts and jewelry.
With no pollution to muddy up the water, the rivers around Sanshi were slow-moving and clear. Crystalline, icy water was an indication of their northern mountain origins. Along the river in workcamps, workers harvested clear blue stones that resembled dewdrops after rain—the water quintessence that manifested in rivers. The worksites were attended every 2 weeks or so, to allow quintessence to regather. Perhaps, a lucky laborer would discover a Water Essence in its depths, changing their life for the better or for the worse.
As an important transportation route, the Blue Jade River was regularly cleared of monsters. With over one hundred adventurers in the convoy, the journey was uneventful. Any foolish monsters that deigned to make their presence known were slaughtered unceremoniously on sight, their magic smoke sparkling over clear blue.
As the hours melted away, the various teams and independents mingled. Those without teams that were invited into the expedition were placed in relatively balanced teams by the adventure guild. They would have to put up with any grievances with their impromptu team members if they had any.
Everett Stone went to greet a few other bronze rankers on his ship. Turns out, they were part of the same team, split up to watch over the iron rankers. His was a team of five, and they made up the five bronze rank group members. Oher bronze rankers were on staff, to be dispatched to any group should problems arise. Finally, two society silver rankers oversaw the whole expedition.
The one who had given the speech was a grey-furred leonid named Tyrion Snow. His co-leader was Zelle Elyria, a disciplined elf with long black hair and piercing dark violet eyes. The elf had the sort of appearance and facial expressions that Nara would call an ‘ice queen’. Both had the unreal perfection that essence users began to develop at silver rank. Nara was sure Tyrion was considered attractive for his race, but her human synapses didn’t spark when she looked at him.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
(Only that she wanted to touch his fur, but she held that in.)
Thanatos whined at her, sensing her thoughts.
“Oh please, you know you are my favorite.”
He whined again.
“Yes, if I could only feel one entity’s fur for the rest of my life it would be yours. I swear it.”
Satisfied, the familiar rested his head back on Nara’s lap.
“…That sounded like they were having a conversation,” Malik stood beside Sen, arms folded. He put aside his rivalry with his fellow noble peer to ask about Nara.
“She’s an outworlder. She understands every language.”
“Every language?”
Sen shrugged, “No exceptions.”
“A wolf can’t possibly communicate that much in a single sound.”
“I speculate not the language logic of familiars,” He stared at Malik, “Besides, we speak telepathically with our bonds. How is Belenox?”
“Belenox is fine. He’s not for you to worry about.”
“I see.”
Sen’s response was perfunctory and calm. This part of Sen had always infuriated Malik. Sen had always drawn a stark line between those he cared to engage with, and those he did not. More than anything, Malik’s dislike of Sen stemmed from the frustration of wanting to get along with a peer in a similar social position that held nothing but polite acquaintance for him.
Malik was upset that Sen had no interest in being his friend. (It sounded childish in his head, but Malik couldn’t help it.) This frustration fed his standoffishness, which created an unfortunate feedback loop that made it hard to get along with others. He wasn’t malicious, just hiding social awkwardness with harshness.
Nara had gotten better at reading Sen’s lack of facial expressions, and she cracked a smile, realizing that he was amused by Malik.
She settled on a comfortable cushion she conjured, shifting into meditation with Thanatos still resting on her lap.
*****
Her mind was in her Astral Domain, her soul. Over the course of a few months, her approach to meditation had evolved, integrating it with her Astral Domain, which was an aspect of her soul.
Within her soul, she could sense the influence of her essences. She could shift the appearance of her domain in any which way she wanted, but it held themes in all of its forms. However, when she did not alter it, it maintained a ‘default’ or base form, the landscape of her soul.
Her Mystic Essence seemed to embody the moonlight and the night sky. Even during the day, water in her domain seemed to shimmer as if it reflected moonlight. Sand of stars shimmered at riverbanks and lake edges. As she walked along her domain’s path, the ground gently glowed, each grain and stone a soft pale gold.
Her Dimension Essence was tricky. There was no fixed concept of space in her domain to begin with, but she could still traverse the domain and walk, or appear where she wanted. However, buildings that were small revealed themselves to be much larger on the inside. Lakes that were shallow, could contain pensive depths, yet light illuminated to the bottom. Relaxing paths and trails could lengthen or shorten, but none of it felt nauseating or uncomfortable. Rather, she felt a sense of freedom in the malleable space. The road she traveled was as long or as short as she wanted it to be. It felt like freedom.
Her Harmonic Essence seemed to sing with song and time. The babbling of brooks, the tapping of her footsteps: each was pleasant and harmonic. The wind and leaves whispered in song. It balanced the perfect and imperfect, avoiding uncanny manufactured perfection. She was sure that was it’s influence, yet it was hard to describe. Pleasant, but not forced, like the wind against the sails—your hand still controlled the rudder.
The Balance Essence tempered all others. No aspect overwhelming, no light too bright. The city of her soul balanced infrastructure with nature. In many ways, the ideal city she wanted to live in. (It was obvious, of course: That her living soul scape would embody what she most liked.)
At the center of her city was a pagoda. Its form and function resembled that of the arrival pagodas in cities. Then, surrounding the pagoda was her Essence Garden, which reflected the growth of her abilities, rather than her essences as a whole.
A lake, filled with lotus flowers and lily pads, despite the clarity of the water. The petals of the lotus flowers seemed to catch moonlight despite the daytime, the edges shimmering with a silver light. If you walked within the lake, you’d be able to witness a water wonderland. Tendrils and flowers growing underwater, lighting up the water with their internal glow, resembling stars in the still water reflection in the night sky. The water regions represented her Mystic Essence.
Large trees grew in the garden, offering gentle shade that dappled the ground with patterns of sunlight and shadow. Nara felt, if she focused, she could make out a meaning in the patterns, but the meaning always seemed to escape her, just beyond her understanding. The light and darkness seemed to bend the dimensions of the garden, but it was always pleasant, never nauseating. The trees grew gentle flowers, sometimes stretching down in tendrils like wisteria. As she looked up, the trees seemed to stretch ever upwards, no end in sight. As she climbed one, it was clear that were was an end. The arboreal regions represented her Dimension Essence.
She walked to a different part of her Essence Garden, a field filled with vibrant flowers. Normally, such wild colors and varieties would strain their eyes, but instead it felt joyous and energizing. Empowering. The wind sang to the flowers, and the flowers sang back, swaying their petals in a garden harmony. This was the floral gardens of the Harmonic Essence.
The last garden was tame in comparison. Trellises and archways covered the pathways, providing shade. On them, grew jewel-like fruits. The flowers were fruit-bearing flowers, a balance between function and appearance. On the ground grew squashes and other vegetables, their brilliant flowers on full display. The garden was humble in appearance, as if grown by a home gardener, with cobblestone paths set upon the fertile dirt. However, it was clear that the trellises and archways took considerable skill to set up. The home garden of her Balance Essence.
The garden surrounding the pagoda was still small, just like her rank. She wondered if by diamond, they’d encompass the entire city? Lilies growing in the rivers, dimension trees shading walkways, with denser spaces as parks where the four comingled.
As she meditated, she gently watered her gardens. Today, she cultivated her Balance Garden, nurturing the plants of her Boon Conversion ability. The plants basked in her attention, dew drops of her experience rolling down its leaves and soaking into the dirt. She felt the ability change, crossing the boundary from Iron 5 to Iron 6. With it, her Recovery Attribute advanced to Iron 6, advancing with her least advanced ability.
She awakened from her meditation, breathing out a sigh of relief. Her body felt refreshed, and her mind felt clear, as if she had changed from a once too-tight pair of shoes to something more comfortable.
Nara had sensed her approach in her meditation, but she was still surprised to see the silver rank elf Zelle, sitting a little too close and gazing intently at Nara’s face.
“You can do that at iron?”
“Do what?”
“Guide the progress of your abilities.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“You don’t know?”
Nara pondered, recalling what she had seen from others as their attributes and abilities advanced. They always looked strained, like withstanding growing pains, rather than the clarity and refreshment she felt now.
After the first few times Nara had advanced her abilities, she found a better way. She didn’t like the uncomfortable pain of what felt like squeezing her abilities past a boundary, like a chick fighting to burst out of its shell. Since she had an intimate connection to her own soul, she utilized it.
“Silver rankers do it this way?”
Zelle stared at her, nodding. “Most figure it out, either by then or before then. It’s not something that can be taught.”
“Oh. Well. That’s good. The other way sucks.”
Zelle agreed, completely serious. “It does suck.”
“Riiiight.”
She expected the silver ranker to leave, but she fidgeted in place. Zelle’s violet eyes peeked at Thanatos, lying comfortably in Nara’s lap. He cracked open a moonglow eye at Zelle’s presence.
She fidgeted again. Nara found herself oddly anticipatory: was this finally the moment?
“Can I?”
It was!
Underneath her icy exterior, it turned out Zelle was an animal lover. Nara could cross off that cliché, and she’d finally get someone other than a friend to pet Thanatos. He wouldn’t hurt nobody; strangers should totally approach her wolf and ask to pet him.
Nara looked down to Thanatos lying in her lap.
“Can she?” she asked him.
Thanatos looked up at Nara, then Zelle, and nodded his head. Zelle reached her hand forward, running her slender fingers though Thanatos’ silky and soft fur. Her expression would be the picture of bliss if her emotions outwardly showed.
And I was wondering how long it would take before someone asked to pet Thanatos. Nara thought. I was starting to think it was me.
Off to the side, she felt the piercing and hateful gaze of Zukai, one of the iron rankers in her group.
“Is he going to be an issue?” Zelle asked, too absorbed in Thanatos’s fur to even meet her eyes. What Nara noticed, there was no way a silver or bronze ranker didn’t notice. Their group leader Everett likely noticed Zukai’s animosity as well, keeping check of him.
“It’s not a big issue. He’s just a jealous kid.”
Zelle hummed her agreement.
Both Sen and Malik were friends, and local powerhouses. Her own last name, lent from Amara, had its own power, although that was her last resort. If all else failed, there wasn’t an iron ranker that could catch her.
“Let him stew.”