Chapter 26 Help

Yuelian

We went to see our family in the afternoon. They were given a vast land between the Queen’s tower and a lake inside the forest. Orc guards were walking around the area as we arrived. The location is extremely beautiful, with a flower field as far as the eye could see, and a blue shimmering lake nearby. Did the elves create this area for us? The city did not have a place like this. No matter how beautiful the location, going from watching TV while ordering delivery food to living like a middle-aged peasant will not be easy.

“Honey!” Both my mother and Miyong’s mother jumped on us as we walked towards the convoy of trucks. Uncle Hei is ordering his men to set up a temporary camp. I can see Jason moving about with Jackie. When did they get so close?

“Prince.” Uncle Heilong bowed his body low.

“Uncle, I will ask the dwarves to help set up a camp. We will have to consult them about building a long-term city as well. Did you bring the presents?” As my parents were hugging me, I started talking to my uncle. We don't have much time until the world falls completely. It would be awful to have potentially tens of thousands of people live in these shacks or those big trucks.

“Would they even help us? Is it wise to trust these aliens so much, prince?” Uncle’s experience should be taken into consideration.

“Uncle, if they wish us harm, would we even be able to put up a fight?” His old age has caught up with him, the elderly’s instinct is to worry, however that fear has blinded him from something so obvious.

“.......as you say, prince. Despite regaining my youth, my spirit has gotten old.” He chuckled to himself. Out of the corner of my eye, the queen with the princess on her shoulder walked towards the encampment from the queen's tower. I did not expect her to pay attention to us. She never cared about humans even when we stayed in the city for the last month.

“.......” The queen stopped in front of us and watched the people working. Princess jumped up and down happily. She is so excited to see so many humans.

“My queen……” She always makes me nervous.

“Princess!” Miyong ran up to the queen fearlessly as the princess jumped onto Miyong's head. I noticed the queen looked a bit sad. Is she sad that her daughter loves Miyong so much?

“Mom! This is the princess! Isn't she super cute?” Miyong introduced the princess to her mother. Aunty lightly rubs the princess’s chin with her finger as she chirps happily.

“What is that?” The queen points to the giant trailer trucks that came in with the caravan. Does she not know what a car is?

“My queen, that is one of humanity’s inventions. It is a vehicle that can also be used to transport massive amounts of goods.” It's surprising that out of all the endless dimensions and planets, someone as old as the dragon queen has never seen machines like a smartphone or a car.

“I want one……” The queen said and walked back to the tower. Everyone stopped everything they were doing and watched her walk away.

“Uncle, please clear out one of the trucks and send it to the tower.” I turned to see my family's shocked face.

“Son, are you close with the queen?” My mother asked me.

“Not really. She ignored everyone except her daughter most of the time.” This is one of the few times she shows interest in anything at all.

“It's surprising that she wants a truck. Why?” Miyong said while playing with the princess.

I can see the dwarves walking over. They probably can't resist their curiosity as inventors themselves. We need to recruit as many scientists as we can, as fast as possible.

—-------------------

The next day my training began. Eluvia called it Mana Circulation. It's a breathing exercise that helps to train mana control inside the body.

“.......”

“I was concerned that you would not be able to use our technique since our physiology is different from humans.” Eluvia’s voice came from somewhere in the forest. “What's wrong?”

“This meditation technique…….. it's extremely similar to my family’s ….” How could this be? There are many cases of different civilizations developing similar technology or even culture, however the way this breathing technique moves the mana around the body, it's the same as our shadow’s breathing technique, minus the mana control part. How could the elf have the same technique that we have?

It has been bothering me since mythological creatures started showing up in our world. At first, I thought the game was this all-powerful thing that creates life from our imagination. It's the only explanation for why we know all these creatures and monsters that have appeared so far. Then the dragon queen shows up and cuts off our world from a decent level of influence of the system. So clearly there are beings powerful enough to at least resist the system to some degree.

Based on what we have heard from the foreign races so far, it's clear that the system did not create these creatures. So how is it that creatures from Earth's fantasy and legends show up in real life? In many cases, the real things are quite different from Earth's legends but they are also undoubtedly fantasy creatures that we know. How is this possible?

Could it be that human dreams and fantasies are other dimensions leaking into our own?

The more I think, the more confused I become.

“Hm… interesting. This world is so different from anywhere we have ever been to before, and yet you have this technique that is unique to our culture?” Eluvia appears from the forest line. A smile on his face. He is holding a smartphone in his hand. “That's interesting. We will inform the queen of this.”

“Where did you get that?” I pointed at the phone.

“The orcs brought back loot from their conquests. We just trade with them.” Eluvia took out a handgun. “Your technology is fascinating. For a race that has been cut off from mana this whole time, you have managed to make some interesting things.” He was spinning the gun in his hands. In the past, I would feel unsafe if someone was doing this, but in the world of mana, traditional weapons have lost their sense of danger.

“Can I ask you a question?” There is so much we still don't know about this situation. A question came to my mind as I circulated mana around my body.

“What?” Eluvia has gone back to messing with the smartphone.

“Do you have humans where you came from?” I wasn't sure why I asked the question.

“.......... We do. But they are not like you people.” Eluvia’s eyes are mysterious.

“How?”

“Well, they can't speak for one. They don't wear clothes and eat raw meat.” The elf’s smile is wide. “They are more animalistic than sentient.”

“.....” Humans in other dimensions are even less primitive than Earth’s cavemen. Why?

—-----------------

Miyong

I came to spy on Yue’s training, but he is only talking to Eluvia and not training. Lazy!

Chirp!

The princess agreed!

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“Sturdy One, do not take the Flame Child far away from the tower.” The Green Knight came up behind us.

“My name is Miyong! Why do you keep using that name? It's awful.” The princess on my shoulder chirped happily like she was laughing at me.

“......” The knight did not respond and stood to the side to stand guard for the princess. I noticed a slab of blue mana metal on his back, it's taller than the gigantic orc himself and almost as thick as his body. His old, brutal greatsword is nowhere to be seen.

“What happened to your sword?” My curiosity got the better of me. Yue told me before, not to ask random questions like that. We don't know if anything might have significant meaning in their culture, but I want to know.

“It broke in our spar.” He chuckled at me.

“Why don't you ask the dwarves to make a new sword? Why use that slab?” I walked around him and looked at the lump of metal more closely. How could he use this in combat? Just clubbing people with it? The princess reached out with her small arms and patted the metal a few times.

“Orc’s foundation weapons can not be crafted by the hands of others. It must be personally forged.” He took the giant slab from his back and put it in the ground to show us.

“You know blacksmithing?” How talented are these orcs?

“No, we forge our weapons against the bodies of our enemies.” He ran his green hands along the blue slab. “The metal will chip away at the bones and blades of my enemies, slowly revealing the blade’s true form.”

“........ THAT’S AWESOME!. Let me do it too!”

Chirp!

—--------------------

Mali

“Jenny……… Jenny..” It was completely dark when I regained consciousness. I don't know if she can hear me. That last test did a number on us. Mana enhanced virus. If this agent were released into the world, ordinary people without mana would be eaten alive. These army scientists are monsters.

“Mali…… your eyes…….” I can hear Jenny's shaking voice.

“I see…… I thought they threw us into some dark hole, but my eyes ……..” A lump of sadness inside my throat stopped the words from coming out of my mouth. I can't cry now, not in front of her.

“...... Last test, what happens if a human enters the portal from this side?” I can hear that monster’s voice. General Connors. We never thought she would do this to her sister. I can feel mana coming from several soldiers around the room. We can't escape with this many mana users watching us.

“Sister…….. I mean nothing to you?..” Jenny was crying. I can feel massive amounts of mana in front of us. Is that a portal? We are strapped into some type of chair.

“Jenny, I love you more than my own life.” The general’s voice was cold, emotionless. “But the entire world's safety and freedom depends on us learning as much as we can about these new powers. You are my sister, but you two are also the only players we have that are not soldiers or scientists. You two are expendable. I love you, Jenny. But what is the life of two girls against the survival of the world? It is a noble sacrifice. Please make this sacrifice for the world.”

I can hear Jenny's wailing cry. The general’s footsteps leave the room. Some type of headset was put on my head and my chair moved towards the portal. Mana was so intense I felt like the hair on my body was scorched away.

……………

………

…

Is this death? So quiet, as if time was frozen. I can still feel my heartbeat. I can feel Jenny as well.

And…..something else.

“What a curious thing.” A voice? No, an echo in the mana. Deep like the ocean.

I tried to reply but couldn't.

“What is it? An elf?” Another echo, bright as the sun.

“No, a human.” The ocean answered.

“Where did it come from?” The sun shone with excitement

“That hole. It seems the clown started another game.” The ocean washed over me. “This thing is injured.”

“Are you going to help it? Poor thing.” The sun giggles.

I felt the warmth of the ocean. My body floating and drifting in that sea of mana. Then, something so bright. My eyes felt like it was soaked in water. The brightness, I could see again.

“Hello, poor human. It's cute.” I looked up, following the echo in the mana.

A gigantic black turtle and a pure white bird looked down at me. Beautiful and terrifying. Majestic and dreadful in equal parts. Both of them next to each other remind me of the yin and yang symbol.

“........” I could not speak. It feels so painful. What is happening?

“Oh, the poor thing can not exist here. We have to put it back.” The bird flaps its wings and we are gently blown towards the portal. Jenny was still unconscious.

“Go home, little human. Don't get lost in the elemental plain again.” The turtle covers us with its mana, healing and protecting us from this place.

“Thank you!” Using Echo, I was able to express that small sentiment before passing through the portal. I hope they could hear me.

—---------

“Did we get any footage? What!? Did they come back? That's great! How is the initial scan? Nothing? No, we can't send robots, most machines get crushed if they are exposed to a moderate amount of mana. Send them in again! See if the return is repeatable.” I could hear the footsteps of dozens of people running around. We will get pushed back in again.

I wish the gentle bird and turtle would take us in. Humans, I am sick of them.

Again, they put us into a chair, and some type of headset was put on our head. I can see the gigantic portal in front of us this time. Jenny is still unconscious in the chair next to me. They will experiment on us until we are dead.

The chair slowly moved towards the portal. I could do nothing but close my eyes. I found myself praying that we go back to the same place. Black turtle, white bird, please save us.

……..

Quiet. The sounds of machines and people disappear. Are we back inside the portal? As I open my eyes, the blue light of the portal is still in front of me.

But something else is there.

Two men stood in front of the portal, completely naked. The man on the left has dark skin, extremely muscular, with eyes as deep as the ocean. The man on the right looks like an energetic young man with white hair. They feel familiar.

“Cute human! We heard your call and we were worried. Are you being bullied?” The white hair young man said. He walked towards me. “We will help you, little human.”

“God?” A weak voice calls out next to me. Jenny reaches out to the two men.

The muscular man walked up to me and took me into his arms. The young man did the same for Jenny. Only now do I notice that everything else in the room was frozen in time?

The young man smiles at Jenny and waves his hand towards the frozen people in the room. White ashes bloom throughout the room. The people had disappeared. What happened?

“Are you two gods?” I could not help but look up to the man carrying me and ask.

“Gods? What is that?”