A/N - So, it took me forever to write this chapter. I already had the idea of how to build the world written down, but I had to finalize it as well as plan out the next few chapters. Huge pain in the ass! but also kind of fun. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It explains how power's work on this planet, as well as giving you a general idea of what the main plot is going to be (other than eventual immortality).
Chit
Volume One - Chapter Eight: Faerie’s
I looked around with wide eyes, body rigid, and jaw slack. The room we had reappeared in was gigantic; big enough to fit three of my parent's house in with extra space left over. It was ornately decorated, with gold and silver lining the red oak walls. An enormous chandelier hung from the ceiling, made entirely precious gems. But, what made me stare slack jawed wasn't the ornaments, or even the size of the room. Rather, it was the inhabitants. An overwhelming number of, let's call them people for now, where crammed into the space. Even this enormous room seemed cramped with all these... people here.
They were of many sizes, from less than an inch tall to over 10 feet. All of them had wings, although the larger ones seemed to be unable to fly. The wings were one of eight distinct colors (green, blue, yellow, purple, red, black, clear, and pink). The amazing kaleidoscope of colors, and the buzzing of wings as the smaller ones flew combined to create an atmosphere similar to a dubstep concert.
A small person, maybe 2 inches tall, flew up to Great-Granny Kingsly and asked in a high-pitched voice, "Any orders mistress?" She was wearing a business suit and tiny glasses, while carrying an equally tiny notebook in one arm. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen.
"Just ready a room and some clothes for David. Also, throw him in the bath and don't let him out for at least an hour, his stench is horrendous"
"Yes, mistress." She replied. Then she waved over a giant guy with green wings; he looked like he wanted to use me to pick his teeth. "Take him to the VIP baths." He just nodded, and before I even knew what was happening I was already out the door and up four flights of stairs. Finally recovering from my shock, I had no clue what was going on. I had so many questions to ask, but before I had the chance I'd already been rushed into the bathroom. Sighing, I stripped and jumped in the shower figuring that I’d get my answers quicker if I just cleaned up. In all the excitement, I’d forgotten just how dirty I was. There was a trail of mud leading to the shower, I was covered from head to toe in the stuff. Guess that’s what I get for diving into a river and then rolling around on the ground.
After I got out of the extremely refreshing shower, I saw that my clothes had disappeared, replaced by a training GI. Shrugging, I started to put it on then realized, there isn’t any underwear. The idea of free-balling it in front of Great-Granny Kingsly didn’t sound fun. So, I asked the guide who was still standing at the door. He looked at me quizzically before asking, “What is underwear?” I guess these people only wore robes… great.
Since I was as clean as I was going to get at that point, I told him I was done. He led me to a bedroom and told me that this was my room. He also said that Great-Granny Kingsly ordered me to get a good night's sleep, because I’ll need it. I could just hear her cackling as she said it, that woman has permanently scarred me. The room was fairly spacious, with a bed that was way too big for six-year old me. At least it was nice and bouncy, perfect to play around on. Since I was actually fairly tired, being unconscious after hitting your head does not count as sleep, I only jumped around for a few minutes before falling asleep.
The next day, I was thrown from my bed at the break of dawn. I was completely naked since the GI was uncomfortable to lay down in, and I didn’t have any underwear. Great-Granny Kingsly was standing over me with a look of disdain, “Can’t even bother to wear some knickers when you sleep? Get yourself dressed then follow me.” She threw the same GI I’d worn last night in my face then started walking away. I hurriedly got dressed and followed, afraid to think of what would happen if I got lost. Great-Granny Kingsly doesn’t have much in the way of patience.
I’d been following her for what seemed like hours, but in reality was just 10 minutes or so, when we finally arrived at our destination. She pushed the door open to reveal an amazing view, the mansion we were in was at the top of the mountain overlooking the vast forest I’d been thrown into yesterday. We were standing on an amazing deck, about 50 feet off the ground that allowed for the most beautiful view I’d ever seen. “Welcome to my home, boy.” I turned to look at Great-Granny Kingsly, and was amazed to see her with a peaceful smile as she looked out over the forest. “I own everything in sight. Took a while to convince the former owners to vacate the premises, but I never liked them anyway.” The smile had turned from peaceful to full on evil, there’s the Great-Granny Kingsly that I know and fear.
“Sit, boy. We have much to discuss.” She pointed to a pair of comfortable looking deck chairs. “I know you must have a lot of questions, just keep your mouth shut until I’m done unless you want me to throw you back down there.” She pointed to the forest again, and I instantly restrained all the questions I was about to ask. “Hmm, where to start, hmm. O yes, the original plan was to leave you down there until you awoke. I figured it’d take at least six months and by then I’d have been ready to train you properly. But, then you went and awoke after less than a day you rascal!”
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At that point I just couldn’t help it, I asked, “What did I do? I awoke?”
“I told you to keep your mouth shut! As for awakening, it means that your body has absorbed enough energy for you to contract a faerie. It transforms your body and brain. By sending the energy you’ve gathered into your brain-stem you increase your mental acuity, unlock your affinities, and gain the ability to make a contract with a faerie if you are strong enough. The energy you have left over after that transforms your body, increasing muscle density, bone density, and it strengthens your internal organs. It also forms a reservoir where you can store energy just below your navel.”
“Usually, people in our clan come here when they turn sixteen, and stay down there until they awaken. But, I didn’t want to spend all this time training you without seeing any real results. So, I fed you some dragon meat to overload your system with faerie energy then threw you down there to get some exercise. Worked even better than I thought it would! I’m a genius, aren’t I?” At that point, she looked at me expectantly. It took me a few seconds to catch on, but eventually I got it, “Of course you are Great-Granny Kingsly!”
“Kekekekeke. Smart, talented, and a brown-noser. You’ll go far kiddo. Kekekekeke.” I wanted to ask what a “brown-noser” is, but didn’t want her to yell at me again, so I kept my mouth shut. She continued on, “Where was I... O yes, so you awoke last night. Normally, when someone awakens they have been training their entire lives for the moment, and know what to do. But, I didn’t expect you to awaken so fast, so I didn’t get the chance to teach you. Which is why you nearly died last night, good thing my spies told me about it quickly enough. Kekekeke.”
“Anyway, now that you have awakened, you need to know a few things. In this world, there are two types of energy, Mana and Faerie. Mana is simply elemental energy. It is created by the world, and consumed by every living creature on it. What people mean when they say that mana is leaving this world isn’t that mana has disappeared. Just, that the number of living things on this world has nearly reached its equilibrium. So, there aren’t excess amounts of it just waiting to be manipulated anymore. This has many consequences, the most obvious being that people who specialize in the manipulation of mana, what most people call mages, can’t use mana anymore. Because of this, technology has become important on this world. When most people read the old books explaining how mana was used, they either think its total nonsense, or a fictional, fantasy story.”
“While the world itself creates mana, faerie energy is created by all living things. Basically, it is a purified version of mana. We refine it automatically in our bodies, by taking a small amount mana and breaking it down into the elements it is comprised of; fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, electric, and psionic. The reason it’s called faerie energy is because by using this energy, we can enter into a contract with a faerie. It requires you to be strong enough, the stronger the faerie, the stronger you have to be. Also, you can only contract one faerie per element. Most people focus on only one element, because unless you have an attunement to an element it takes an extremely long time to refine any energy. The more attuned you are to an element the better, and with an intermediate attunement you can start to refine that element. Most are born with at least one intermediate level attunement, however the most important thing for you to know is that it is possible to increase your attunement through hard work. Because you are so young, you will find it comparatively easy to attune to the elements. My hope is for you to reach at least an intermediate attunement to all eight elements by the time you are sixteen.”
“This is extremely important, because the faeries are dying off. They are beings made purely of a single element, which means they require either an extremely mana-rich environment to live in, or a contractor strong enough to support them. Faerie’s are incredibly powerful, and give their contractors access to their incredible powers, as well as extending their lifetimes by hundreds of years. For millennia, humans and faeries have existed in a symbiotic relationship. Unfortunately, there are no more mana-rich environments for the faeries to live in. Also, with the disappearance of magic users, the number of people strong enough to form contracts with faeries has dwindled.”
“Those of us who know of the faerie’s plight have spent the last several centuries protecting as many as we can. Creating artificially mana-rich environments like this mountain. Unfortunately, they are beginning to fail. In another century, faeries will be all but extinct unless we can figure out a way to help them. Which is why I forced your awakening so young, you have the potential to be incredibly strong if you work hard enough. For the next three years, you will spend all day increasing your physical strength and stamina. At night, instead of sleeping, you will enter into a special kind of meditative state that allows you to slowly increase your attunement to all of the elements at once. It is your duty as a member of my clan to contract with as many spirits as possible!”