Chapter 91: Singled Out
“It finally happened. I knew being a dog owner would make me popular.”
Than barked in protest.
“I know Than, you aren’t my pet nor a dog. I’m just saying you’re very handsome and everybody loves you.”
John stared at the pitch-black wolf, the tips of his fur dissolving into wisps of black energy. Only his movement reminded those looking at him that he wasn’t a void on the side of reality.
John shook his head to clear the thought, and told himself not to think about it too hard. He had adapted well, but his sanity persevered through indifference.
The astral space aperture of the Stone Forest astral space looked like a rippling looking glass into another biome. A small building was constructed to enclose it, set up with array protections to prevent unauthorized access. Astral spaces were precious resources of every region, often locations that produced essences, awakening stones, quintessence, magic materials, and even real materials like water and plants in greater quantities. While Earth was struggling to adopt renewable technologies on a wider scale, Erras was blessed with them in pocket dimensions attached to reality like pills attached to clothing. The aperture was kept locked for most of the year, until it opened each time after the materials within the space had been replenished, their growth accelerated by the high densities of magic.
The group waited outside the aperture while the bronze and silver rankers entered the astral space first, securing a base of operations on the other side. A few array specialists set up protective arrays at the camp, creating a barrier that blocked monsters from entry. When it was their turn, the iron rankers entered.
The landscape of the Stone Forest Astral Space was that of a lush forest with towering trees that reminded Nara of the monolith tree forest she once fought in. Branches extended out overhead, creating bridges from tree to tree with how girthy the branches were. The trees were a variety of materials and colors: some were stone like with glowing sap hidden beneath hard bark, others were master works of marble with veins of gold and bronze streaked throughout. Some trees were entirely crystalline, with leaves that incongruously fluttered to the ground only to shatter like glass beneath their feet. Many trees were different varieties of ordinary trees, if not for their gargantuan size.
The crystalline trees were straws that sucked down sunlight passed the canopy, dispersing it throughout its branches, trunk, and roots. Plants grew thicker near these rainbow glowstick trees, basking in its light like it was energy ambrosia. Nara could spot them through the forest, rainbow prisms that cut through dark foliage.
The air was humid with low rank magic, so thick it prickled on Nara’s skin like storm static. Astral Spaces were reality bubbles; landscape did not represent anything of reality—a manifestation of magic itself, perhaps pulled from a reality diary like an Akashic Library. They were reflections of reality stored in the origin of magic, not unlike an AI generating false landscapes from samples of reality.
A clearing in the forest had been located and cleaned up, by essence abilities or otherwise. Brush was burned away, and the ground was flattened and dried. Impromptu buildings were constructed, risen from the ground itself with earth-shaping magic. Since Nara had mapping and communication abilities, she and others were sent out to scout for the resources the local government and societies wanted to acquire. The expedition also doubled as experience for the iron rankers, and this was a good chance for scouts to hone their skills. The guild knew the layout of the astral space, but its quick growth rates and volatile nature of astral spaces often accompanied quick changes, so some basic scouting was important. Over her months as an adventurer, Nara had reached a proficiency with scouting, her experience honed from both the trial and her day-to-day adventuring.
She was assigned to the east. In the distance, Nara spotted steep mountains covered in lush greenery. She utilized her aura manipulation abilities in full, her aura a misty breeze sweeping the landscape. Monsters in large packs traversed the forest floor below and hung from branches and vines. Occasionally, they roared into a melee, tearing each other apart. Completely undetected, Nara looted them when they died, dissolving them into rainbow smoke.
She hopped above the forest canopy from node to node instead of sling-shotting herself through the air with gravity. The task needed detailed attention, so she took her time, marking her map when she spotted resources. She would occasionally drop below, scanning her surroundings for several of the resources on her list. In the sky, packs of air born monsters cawed, sending a shiver down her spine over her last encounter with aerial enemies. Nara did not look forward to fighting them.
Many materials to be collected were plants. Tree wood that could be ground up and used in alchemy or as is in rituals and armor construction. Similarly, herbs that could be distilled and extracted as alchemical components. Sometimes, a stream, where quintessence and valuable awakening stones settled at if they weren’t worth their weight in gold coins. Just like that, Nara found an Essence of Water within a stream. The clear cube with bubbles rising as if from depths unseen.
As she ventured onwards, she picked up other essences.
“Oh? This is a new find,” Nara said, plucking an essence nestled at the roots of a massive tree. It was a Vast Essence, a legendary essence she had not seen before. She overturned the cube in her hand; each side depicted a landscape of majesty and vast size—the boundless ocean, a cliff overlooking a dense forest, a steep mountain face that stretched into clouds. She inched ever closer to a 100% completion rate, if she assumed the Magic Society’s records were comprehensive.
She also found a Growth, Plant, Crystal, Resolute, and a Tree Essence. Indeed, the expedition was a reward for those on good behavior. The adventurers were welcome to claim whatever they could find, if they did not damage the crafting resources. Either way, the essences and awakening stones would end up on the market. Prices would once again dip, and new essence users would rise. It was a system that benefitted struggling iron rankers and Sanshi’s reputation as a center for low rank adventurers.
She stopped at the foot of the mountain lining the edge of the astral space. She looked beyond the mountain, staring at the sky. With her Gaze of the Boundary, she could sense it—the indistinct boundary where astral and reality met, the edge of the reality bubble. It was visible to the naked eye: A warping of space marked with an almost static glitch effect, flashes of light and distorted images concealing the beyond.
Her goal was not the edge of the astral space. She pressed onward, spotting the large opening of a cave. Vines and foliage obscured the entrance. With a few quick slashes, Chrome dismantled the obstructing plant life before returning to her aura.
Nara had no method to see in the dark (unless she used Chrome as a lantern, or used her floating glow stone), but the cave was softly illuminated by bioluminescent moss and fungi—another important and rare alchemical ingredient. She ventured further into the cavern, her steps light and quiet on the slippery moss. Her Cosmic Path provided solid footing wherever she went, preventing her from slipping. This time, in the corner of her eye, an Awakening Stone of the Dark. A shade darker than the shadows of the cave, she had barely spotted its unnatural darkness. She sensed the magic of the stone before she saw it.
She kept a couple of each essences to give to her family back on earth. If she was going to give them magic powers, she wanted them to have options, like she had. The rest she would donate to students. These, since she had not looted, she couldn’t transform. She didn’t need to—most of these essences were popular or popular enough that there would be a student that wanted them.
Finally, the cave expanded into a large cavern. Glowing ore grew in hard crystalline clumps from the ceiling, spires, and ground. She could hear the regular drip-drop of water splashing down from stalactites. A small cave lake formed, the drops scaring the small, glowing, tadpole-like creatures swimming within it. Monsters roamed within the cave, but Nara breezed easily on past, the benefits of her superior aura strength and the effect of her Moonlight Raiment. Even in their eyesight, Nara was indistinct, part of the environment itself. The effect would fade should she attack anything, however (hard to ignore being stabbed). She could sense a continuation of the tunnel with the cave lake, and she debated exploring further. Dense material, such as water and stone, impeded aura senses. A bronze rank monster was escapable, but if she encountered a silver rank monster within the underwater tunnel, she could lose her life. A higher rank aura could punch through denser materials. Her aura range and strength pushed her aura sense further out into the stone than most of her rank, but she did not have the intrinsic quality that higher rank auras possessed to push further. Her aura was a high-quality stone drill pushing against stone walls, but a higher rank aura was a diamond tipped drill that’d punch right through.
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For now, she communicated the results of the exploration so far to Everett with voice chat. He could see what she had marked on the map (only she could alter her map), but she could communicate in more detail with spoken word. This astral space shifted over time, so it was important to re-survey the astral space every time the expedition was formed.
Nara stood in the cavern, debating how she should return. She could attempt an astral jump, but she had never tried to astral jump within an astral space. Astral spaces were bubbles of reality on the side of the world. Somehow different than a normal reality, relying on a world to anchor it.
She decided to give it a try. The consequences of failure were low—the aperture was still open, although guarded. If need be, she could re-enter on foot, although the explanation of how she left would be troublesome. She focused, drawing her mind and body through the membrane, rematerializing at the edge of the encampment.
*****
The camp was missing a few people from their group. Eufemia had also been sent out to survey her own slice of the astral space. The rest of the team had been assigned other tasks, such as setting up other facilities, moving supplies, cooking, and taking inventory. Normally these tasks would be handled by normal civilians, but their dangerous location meant that guild functionaries and adventurers had to handle the tasks themselves (and it doubled as job training). Thankfully, the tasks were rather basic and magic abilities simplified a lot of processes. After all of the scouts returned and the camp compiled their reports, the iron rankers would be assigned their craftspeople and gathering locations.
Finding herself with a bit of free time before the expedition began in earnest, Nara wandered the camp. She found a nice quiet place out of the way of preparations and began to play her lute.
She internally groaned when she felt a familiar and annoying aura group approach her. It was Zukai, the one who had been glaring at her on the boat, as well as a team leader of one of the teams within their combined group. She debated teleporting away and avoiding what would be an unpleasant event entirely.
If she left, the annoyance that was Zukai may keep trying to follow her. He didn’t have the cajónes to bother her while she was in her team, but anytime she was alone he may try to bother her. She might try to fight him if it wasn’t the expedition—they weren’t supposed to pick fights. Nara was starting to miss the free-to-brawl culture of Erras.
She decided to wait.
Zukai stopped in front of Nara, two other teammates hung behind him like trailing remoras.
“You’re that commoner that’s been hanging out with the greater nobles.”
“Nope,” Nara denied merrily.
“What?”
“You’ve got the wrong person,” she gestured around herself, “I’m hanging out alone right now.”
“Oh.”
“Yep.”
“...Do you think I’m stupid? That I don’t remember your face?” He said, seething, after he had recovered from the awkward pause that killed all momentum.
“Yes.” (Aiyah, she said that out loud, didn’t she? People should really stop asking questions they don’t want her to answer.)
He reached out to grab at her collar. She teleported to another seat in the area, staring at him.
“That was rude. I just answered your question honestly. Look,” she said, standing up and walking up to him, “Who I hang out with is none of your business. You can do nothing to stop me, and coming up here with two of your teammates isn’t going to intimidate me into stopping. So what now? You want to fight?”
(So much for not fighting.)
“Do you know who I am? I am going to make your life miserable. You’re overstepping your station. You think I don’t see you cozying up with all the great families? Go find a team that matches your birth.”
Nara initially wondered why she was being singled out in her team, but she soon realized why. Sen and Encio they would never bother. John was old enough that they would just look like complaining children if they bothered him. Eufemia wasn’t a Fenhu, but she looked like she was related to them; The current generation of Fenhu was well known for their red hair and celestine lineage. Aliyah shared a similar status as ‘adult’ to John and may be well enough known as Sen’s mentor. That left only her.
“Do I know who you are? But let’s start with you. I know a bit about you. I know that the people put in groups with people with loot powers are the poorest of the poor. Malik’s two teammates are from poor families, even if he financially supports them. But most likely, they tacked him on because his team is small, and it's difficult to place someone like him.”
If Malik’s team was in a group with only no-name, new adventurers, everyone would begin to follow his orders, one of the problems Encio had also encountered. The Adventure Society wanted to train their iron rankers, not have them only rely on their peers for direction.
“The other team with us is not wealthy. They don’t even have all their abilities. They were too new to make it to the trial, and it's probably best they didn’t.”
They only had two new members, John and Eufemia, but most adventurers didn’t have years of training like Encio and Arlang or outworlder powers to ease the transition. A full team of six new adventures would not have had everyone make it through in the mad scramble of the first day or make experienced decisions in the test of survival.
“With us, they’ll earn enough awakening stones to sell, use, or trade. So that leaves the conclusion for you—the Adventure Society didn’t want you with a bunch of normal, sane people so they put you in a group with heavy hitters that would keep you in your corner. But, crucially, I’ll bet this Vast Essence that you’re also dirt poor.” She swung it around in front of his face, just to drive the point home.
She stalked around him, “I talked with my friend Encio earlier, and he filled me in on who you are. Encio knows all~ about the local politics—he makes it his business to know. And he’s quite good with that business. You’re Zukai, of the destitute house Wangshen from Sanshi. Now I have a question for you, do you know who I am?” She threw her final words down like a gauntlet.
“Why would I bother to know the name of some commoner?”
“Do your teammates know?”
“You expect us to lower ourselves?”
“A little humility would do you all good, grasshoppers. There’s always bigger fish,” Nara patronized. “Now, I don’t like to play this card, but if we're going to be playing the ‘I’m better than you’ game, I have a hand of my own. Perhaps you recognize the name Edea? The local gold rank adventurer-inventor?”
“What’s lady Amara Edea got to do with you?”
“You tell me,” Nara said, removing her society badge from her inventory to show it to the three of them.
“Nara Edea,” one teammate hesitantly read out, “2-star adventurer.”
“You can read! That’s one more working mental faculty than I thought you had.”
Nara seemed to grow taller than them, her shadow elongating over the tree with the setting sun at her back. “Would the Wangshen family happen to have a gold ranker? An active one? A strong one? Stronger than Amara?”
Not only famous as an adventurer, Amara was also famously powerful in combat.
“Oh wait,” Nara said, channeling a bit of her inner Eufemia (everyone should have an inner Eufemia). “Your family doesn’t have a gold ranker at all, does it? I would know, I asked. That’s another skill you should learn—research.”
Silver rank was normally enough to stand at the top of a low magic zone. Gold rankers found low magic zones expensive and uncomfortable to live in due to the low-quality magic. Sanshi was special—it was the city of union for the great families and the perfect city for adventurers to train their children. Sanshi was a small pond surrounded by lakes. To the north, the Arlang territory was a silver rank zone. The other great families similarly had their places of power within silver rank zones. That was the norm of the world.
Silver rank zones meant higher quality materials and more ambient magic. As long as array protections were fueled and silver rank adventures were aplenty, they were safe and wealthy zones.
“Don’t you know, Zukai? Most adventurers don’t accept noble titles. They don’t need one.”
As Sen frequently protested, he wasn’t a noble, even if everyone thought he and his family were. Encio too, his family were honorary nobles, like getting an honorary degree from MIT or Harvard. The country benefitted more from claiming them.
“So, tell me again how I’m not a noble and I shouldn’t be hanging out with nobles. I’m not hanging out with any nobles at all. Even if I was, you have no business caring. Is that clear?”
She pushed out her aura just a bit, its weight settling on Zukai’s shoulders like the disapproving hand of his father. She let the hand squeeze and bruise, just a bit.
“...Clear,” he whispered back, wide-eyed.
*****
Sen sat down beside Nara, who had turned back to playing her lute. The neraby craftsmen enjoyed her songs, taking breaks before they returned to work.
“You handled that well.”
“I don’t think I handled it well,” she mused. “I bullied a kid. And I don’t like using Amara’s name like that.”
“She’s letting you use it for a reason. A family like the Wangshen is a stone by the wayside to her.”
“Yeah, I know that.”
“You didn’t actually fight him,” Sen said, “You gave him a way to disengage.”
“How would you have handled it?”
“I would have fought him. He insulted a teammate.”
“I'm sort of realizing you’re not a pacifist, Sen.”
“You were under the impression I was?”
“I guess your generally calm attitude and handle on diplomacy made me forget you fought Raja on the first day I met you. I’m realizing that rank means a lot in this world,” Nara said, “Even more than nobility.”
“Noble titles are what the weak give themselves to feel important,” Sen said, “The strong have power inherent.”
“Why have nobles at all then in this world?”
“The powerful are not always good at administration, but there are genuinely powerful nobles.”
“Like your family.”
Sen gave Nara a flat look.
“I’m kidding. How about we fill our stomachs, Sen? Happy first day of the expedition.”
“Is that something we celebrate?”
“We do today! Let’s go be a menace to our fellow workers. Maybe they’ll forgive me if I play a song.”
“I do not understand if you do or do not like picking fights.”