Chapter 95: The Illusae
Students of the Adventure Academy often embarked on long expeditions, especially those that were certified adventurers: John, Eufemia, and Nara were no exception. Since it was common, the Academy was long prepared for these instances. Upon request, the academy would provide a book of all missed lectures and a rack of recording crystals of past lectures of the same class. The recording crystals were expensive and incurred an out-of-pocket fee. If they were returned intact, the fee was returned.
There were no tests, quizzes, or homework: Adventuring was a profession of self-motivation. Either you studied and practiced, or you did not. The teachers were not there to motivate you, but to instruct. For most, the motivation not to die a pitiful and early death was motivation enough.
Most did, anyway. Those that didn’t attend the academy at all were exceptions.
An interesting cultural quirk for essence users was that many did not pursue wealth—by silver rank, they had no need. Even without looting powers, adventurers earned well enough in iron rank, were well-off by bronze rank, and rich by silver rank. Some essence users pursued business enterprise, much like the Fenhu at their inception. Most pursued their passions.
The instructors at the academy were semi-retired adventurers that chose the path of instruction because they enjoyed it, not because it paid well (although, it did pay well, just not as well as full-time adventuring). Because of this, tuition at the academy was relatively low for the instruction, services, and facilities provided. Moreover, the academies were a rare instance of government funded education in Erras. They provided free tuition to most within a low income bracket. John, Eufemia, and Nara didn’t qualify, as they weren’t residents of Sanshi, but they also had no need for tuition support. Who was and wasn’t a resident was blurry in a world that had no birth records or government-issued IDs (although there were citizenship applications). Should they have applied for it, they may have even received tuition exemptions. Outworlders weren’t known for their wild wealth and deep pockets, arriving in world penniless and hairless, confused like naked mole rats exposed to the sun.
Most education was provided by priests of Knowledge, who taught basic reading and writing, but nobles worldwide pushed back against general education. Sanshi, Saggia, and the Rowan Kingdom as a whole were exceptions to the norm, with a highly literate populace.
By their example, the nobility that pushed back against literacy were losing ground. These locations were shining stars that heralded a new age for Erras, with clashing interests of sabotaging or supporting this transition.
*****
Two weeks had passed since the start of the expedition. They had settled into a new routine with Zariel-laat. First, they journeyed to their assigned gathering point for that day. First, they cleared out the local monsters in that area. Nara and John waited to loot the monsters while Zariel-laat set up his mana collectors. Once they were set up, they activated their looting abilities. As they waited for the collection to finish, they split off into their individual teams, protecting the gatherers from the odd monster. Zariel-laat protected his mana collector, incessantly gathering information through Nara’s Guide all the while. The team finished at that location, Zariel-laat gathered his supplies, packed up his collected, and they moved on. Several other Outers had appeared, working with the other teams. To Zelle and Tyrion’s unspoken horror, many of them were bronze and silver rank. Had they chosen the violent path, the situation could have quickly evolved into combat, and they were unquestionably the losing side.
Luckily, the outers were famous for their pacifism. They sent their sincere thanks to the goddess of Peace.
Nara’s sword style was progressing smoothly. In between monster battles, she practiced sparring with both Encio and Sen simultaneously. They were going easy on her; she couldn’t even beat one of them alone yet without powers. However, she needed two people to simulate the conditions for The Way of the Dancer.
She generally used the styles of Dancer and Hunter separately. She began to slowly fuse the two, breaking flow to launch into sharp attacks. This change broke her smooth flow, resulting in a punishing attack to the back by Sen or Encio. She needed the two to blend seamlessly. In its perfect combined form, the enemy would not even realize the deadly attack coming for them.
Combining unpredictability and fluid motion was harder than she thought. She felt like a Chinese xianxia protagonist trying to combine aspects of the world into power, like the pulse of the earth and the weightlessness of the wind. But this wasn’t a martial arts fantasy world, and she wasn’t Linley from Coiling Dragon.
“Wait. Is it a martial arts fantasy world?” She mused, “It’s sort of a JRPG and cultivation fusion, isn’t it? Battle and use skills to gain exp, then meditate to consolidate?”
Chrome shook his head with a scoff, “I don’t even want to know.”
“I mean, if anyone is Linley, it’s Sen, right? He’s got gravity manipulation powers.”
“You have gravity manipulation powers too,” Chrome pointed out.
“Oh that’s right I do. But it’s only gravity up, not down. And, its my whole body, not weapon or body separately.”
Chrome shook his head and rolled his eyes, “You can’t even remember your own abilities properly.”
“I didn’t forget. Technicalities, you know. Magic powers is still new to me.”
“You can’t use that as an excuse soon.”
“But I can still use it now.”
*****
“I was wondering, Zariel,” Nara said, once again crouching near him curiously, “If you aren’t human, is this what you look like?”
Nara had found out that Zariel-laat’s name was actually just Zariel. The suffix laat was used to differentiate rank. Their very rank was a part of his name, in this case ‘laat’ indicated his silver rank. Rank was so important on Erras that she wondered why they didn’t do it that way here. In the subtleties of social interaction, maybe it was overkill? She imagined if everyone on Erras casually strolled around with a graphic tee that said “I am an Iron Ranker” in bold white on black letters.
“No. As you have surmised, my race is capable of transformation.”
“So…what do you look like?” She did her best to bat curious, irresistible blinks. Thanatos far surpassed her with puppy-dog eyes.
“Would you like to see?” Zariel replied, not falling for the eyes but obliging anyway.
“If you are willing, I would. You don’t mind? It’s not like, a form you only show your loved one or something?”
He gave her a strange look, “It is not.”
“Why don’t you use it then?”
“It is not covert.”
Zariel first stripped off his clothes, respectfully folding them and placing it in a neat square on the ground. They seemed to treat all their possessions with respect.
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His skin darkened, then brightened with flecks of light. His body was as if a potter had scooped up the reflection of a nebula from water and molded that clay into the shape of a person. His hair was light and dust, a comet trail to his body-galaxy. The sclera of his eyes were void black, with orbs of light as if cosmic light poured out from within. When he opened his mouth to speak, it was similarly illuminated.
The attention of everyone at the camp was arrested. Nara was too busy in her own amazement to feel the satisfaction of others staring like country bumpkins like the first time she had seen a leonid or a dragonid.
“Can I…touch your hair?”
He chuckled as he knelt down.
It was almost taboo to ask others to touch their hair on Earth, and Nara had thought she grew out of that phase of hers back in high school. Surely, this was permissible. She couldn’t be blamed for this!
She hesitantly reached forward, her fingers brushing upon his cosmic hair. It was warm, light passing her fingers through warm sunlight. The hair moved around her fingers, as if her movement generated air that pushed away its flame-light.
“What do you call yourselves?” Nara breathlessly asked.
“We call ourselves the Illusae.”
“You’re right.”
He inclined his head. “About what?”
“You’re not stealthy at all. About as stealthy as a meteor shower.”
For the Illusae, the stealth was in the details.
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-[Illusae Racial Abilities]
Racial Ability: [Illusae’s Wisdom]
Increased learning speed and memory.
Racial Ability: [Shifting Cosmos]
Transform into any appearance. Aura will match the race mimicked, if mimicking a known race.
Racial Ability: [Star Lineage]
Affinity to darkness, light, or astral, dependent on heritage.
Racial Ability: [Void Being]
Gain a personal dimensional storage space. Immunity to tracking and identification effects.
Racial Ability: [Mystic Bloodline]
Increased maximum mana.
Racial Ability: [Sixth Sense]
Increased perception, aura strength, and spatial awareness.
-------
“I am surprised you aren’t a magic race,” Aliyah said to Zariel.
“Aren’t we all magic races?”
“Ah, you aren’t aware of the difference.”
Nara settled for an impromptu lecture. True to form, Aliyah launched into one.
“Inherently magical races can no longer use essences. The magic within their body is beyond a threshold of concentration, which blocks the absorption of essences. In exchange, they all have magic abilities, and rank up naturally over time, although combat still speeds this process up.”
“The messengers are notorious for being born at silver rank,” Encio reminded.
“No,” Zariel strongly denied, “We are not an inherently magical race.”
“It has been theorized that outworlders are the natural non-inherent limit,” Aliyah said, “You’re as magical as you can get without losing the ability to absorb essences. This correlates to the outwardly magical racial abilities outworlders tend to have as well—transformations, inventories, looting, and conjurations.”
“That makes sense. We’re literally making ourselves out of crude magic.”
“It’s theorized that the order of decreasing magical concentration is: dragonids, merfolk, smoulders, leonids, runics, celestines, elves, then humans. It’s not an exact order, although humans are the agreed upon least magic race. For the Illusae, I’d place you towards the front of the list with the dragonids.”
Zariel transformed back into a human, slipping back into his casual clothes.
“Who are you transformed into anyway?” Nara asked, “Is that a real person?”
“It is not,” Zariel said, “We create and live our identities.”
He handed her an Adventure Society badge.
“Vigo Claes, silver rank, 2-star adventurer,” Nara read out. “Wow, you guys are like, deep undercover.”
He shrugged. “Adventuring is lucrative.”
Very true.
“You send the money—er, spirit coins back home then?”
“Yes. Additionally, this…’deep cover’ helps to train the young ones. During a mana drought, there are no monsters on our world to defeat.”
“So killing two birds with one stone. Actually, its like, five birds with one stone. Earn spirit coins, build a reputation, defend the population, learn information and obtain important positions, and train.”
“Why would you want to kill five birds with one stone?”
“Because it’s efficient!”
He tilted his head for a moment, “It is,” he conceded.
Tyrion heaved a sigh. “This means the Adventure Society cannot see through your auras.”
“Your aura registration for your badges is non-intrusive,” Zariel pointed out, “If you used an aura projection ritual, you will detect us.”
Tyrion’s large bodybuilder shoulders drooped further. “We can’t just do that to everyone.”
“Oh? Why not?” Nara asked.
“Nara, an aura projection ritual shows everyone is a pretty large area what your soul looks and feels like. It’s a very vulnerable experience to complete strangers,” Aliyah said.
“Outside of extreme circumstances, the society rarely uses it,” Encio explained. “It’s used to detect if you are being controlled or otherwise influenced. Or, if you serve a god of discord or a cult.”
“Some live their whole lives and have families here,” Zariel said.
“They do?” Tyrion said, ears literally perking up.
“Our world is inhospitable. This world is pleasant. We have no intention to damage it nor conquer it. Illusae are just one of many races of our world, just like yours. We have humans and celestines as well, among others.”
Tyrion suddenly threw his head back boisterously laughing.
“I was worried over nothing.”
Their commitment to live on Erras as a part of Erras was reassuring. Tyrion distilled their objectives into 2 main objectives: restore their home world and live out their lives here. Unlike the messengers that sought to conquer worlds, the Outers wanted to preserve their original world. They did not have the manpower to conquer this world, and they did not want to abandon the population of their home world either.
Tough, persistent bastards: Tyrion admired them. The Messengers had sic’d multiple apocalypse beasts on them, and the Edelster-josians were determined to come back from it all like a cockroach that just would not die.
He stood up, and thumped Zariel on the back a few times, causing him to grimace. The power of a leonid was nothing to scoff at, especially at silver rank.
“Everything is nice and settled in here, so I’m making my rounds again.”
“See ya,” Nara said.
*****
The people of Erras, as it turns out, were not concerned with aliens living in their midst. For worlds of magic, dimensional wanderers were normal. Outworlders often were not just ‘human’ outworlders like John and Nara. There were all kinds of outworlders of races that did not exist on Erras naturally.
If Zariel and his people lived normally lives on Erras, working as others normally did as adventurers or otherwise to send supplies back to their home world, Tyrion saw no issue with it. They had ties here and motivations to protect this world. They were no better or worse than any other normal person on Erras. They weren’t a special threat. In Nara’s eyes, they were the equivalent of migrant workers.
Although, they may have a special intelligence spy network.
It wasn’t for Tyrion to decide. He would pass on his observations and conclusions to the Continental Congress, the decision making body of all Adventure Societies. The Continental Congress was made up of reputable and elected gold rank adventurers that intervened in local branches to eradicate corruption or enact policy changes.
This was a matter for the Continental Congress, but Tyrion saw the advantages of what Zariel proposed. Even though Tyrion was unaware of The Advent threat, the benefits they wished to exchange for an official cooperation was tilted significantly in favor of the people of Erras. The long term goal of Zariel and his world was the sort of enduring, long term cooperation that they needed to continually harvest magic for their world. A slight loss now was acceptable for the enduring alliance they hoped to forge in the future.
A messenger had already been sent outside the astral space to pass on a message. Tyrion expected a representative of the Continental Congress to meet them outside.
*****
The days rolled by, and the expedition approached its end. At Sen’s insistence, Nara additionally started to practice hand-to-hand combat. Nara would always have her Nirvana on her, she didn’t even need to take it out of her inventory. It hung on her ear as an accessory, ever present. But it was a good way to practice a new way of fighting. It forced her to think differently about positioning, distance, and force.
Besides Nara, Aliyah was the most taken with Zariel. She was curious of all the strange artifacts he possessed, how they converted the raw monster magic into usable materials, what they did to survive the incessant monster waves of mana surges, and other questions. Her questions would not end, and more than once even Zariel, who was generous with information, discreetly disappeared to escape her.
Aliyah had never been more excited. She became an adventurer to not only earn money for experimental supplies, but also for hand on experience with strange encounters and magic. While normally she was calm and collected, she had recently been inundated with more discoveries than she could research in a lifetime. She didn’t know what to do with herself, what she should start on. She was so inundated with potential projects bouncing around her mind like a buckshot in a vacuum, that she had no idea how to pick one idea out and set it aside.
If she was only a researcher at the Magic Society, she wouldn’t have these opportunities. Aliyah knew that danger followed discovery. She was loathe to do so, but she set down her notes, tidied up her tools, and changed into a sparring outfit.
She was reluctant, but her mutual tutelage with Sen had taught her that she also needed to do what was necessary.
“I could use some instruction too, my dear student,” she told Sen.
“What do you want to practice today? The staff or the fist?”
“I’ll stick to the staff for now. I am but a researcher.” She twirled her stave in a non-entirely fumbling way. “You’ll defend me properly, Sen.”
“There are never guarantees, but I’ll do my best, mentor.” He moved forward, crossing his stave with hers in a starting position.
“You always do.”