“No. I recently arrived from Grandis so everything’s new to me.” Frost played dumb. “I’m in the City of Hearts, right?”

“Clubs. Sector C-6. Not that there’s anything special to note about it. It’s more that you’re…” The Elf didn’t have a way to describe what was on the tip of her mind as she brought a hand to her chin. Soon, her face contorted before she clutched her head and rested over the counter with her elbows. “… Is this a test from the Goddess of Colors? Or Myrthra?”

Goddess of Colors

< The name given to a worshipped deity that once existed in Spiritas >

Mythra

< A widely worshiped deity of love and lust. One of the major Goddesses in Elven theocracy. It is undoubtedly the Abyssal Mother >

Frost never would have dreamt of finding a namesake of that missing Beholder from here of all places. The Goddess of Colors didn’t seem to correlate with the Incandescent Colors, although, this was largely because the Colors were largely independent.

Suddenly, the Elf slammed both her fists onto the counter and thrust her face towards Frost inquisitively.

“Your mana. Does yours even exist?” She had to ask.

The root of her concern came from Frost’s mana. Some species and races were able to sense it, similar to how the Blessed were able to see it in a numerical form. Frost was aware that every living and non-living thing had at least trace amounts of mana on them, so for Frost to not exude any meant one of two things.

The first was that she was a special exception. Corrupted also fell into this category, and the Blessed did to some extent. The second was that she was able to conceal her mana. As useful as this was against regular people, the Blessed were able to see right through it.

Not that there were many Blessed out there to begin with, but it was one such quality that made them so fascinating.

So normal people have a way of detecting the Corrupted too. It must be a rare ability.

“That is the likely answer.”

“Are you some kind of… dare I say, Master of magic? A professor!? A high-tier Adventurer!? To conceal your mana like this is incredible!”

Frost was praised for something she had never once considered. Ever. To see someone so giddy about it caused her to feel a little guilty.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“No. Don’t tell me your secrets. I knew it. Brandar has all the best people in the world holed up together. This place really is a cauldron.” The now satisfied Elf retreated into the stall, reverting to her disciplined, dignified manner.

Frost had several questions to ask now that she had the opportunity to, and the Elf was more than happy to answer. In the meantime, the horny Elf hung paper lanterns around the street alongside a brigade of Demi-Humans and Aquatids. Avians trivialized the process by temporarily flying to places just out of reach. With the Eyes out of the sky Dragonids and Avians alike were able to spread their wings, although not in any meaningful way in fear of being struck down.

“An Elf is rarely born with special eyes. Look past the green. You can see a hint of red. Right there.” The woman pointed at her eye as Frost took a closer look.

She’s right. There’s some red in there.

“It lets us detect mana. Really useful when it comes to finding Corrupted. There’s not many Blessed from where we’re from, so we’re considered invaluable.”

“So, what brought you here?” Frost asked, enjoying their conversation.

“Ask my sister. She was tired of copulating with everything that moved in our forests and wanted to expand her horizons. The followers of Mythra bring nothing but trouble to us. Still, that’s my sister. The least I could do was come with her.”

Frost could only imagine what that Elf had committed to those poor denizens.

“That means you crossed the oceans, huh. Must’ve been difficult.” Frost mentally shook her head like a wet dog, hoping that such thought would never return.

“Yep. And it never gets better. We tried bringing over bird but with no place to rest everything that flies end up as shark bait. If they’re lucky then a snack for something bigger. Imagine our surprise the first time we arrived in Brander only to find that the shores were swarming with monsters. At least things look like they’re improving. Aside from the war.”

It was interesting hearing this from an outsider. It put into perspective just how big the world was. What was normal to so many here was, as expected, a nightmare to people elsewhere. Although the same could be said vice versa.

In any case, she came out of was at first a mishap with more knowledge under her belt. She asked about what Spiritas was like as one final question and the woman couldn’t give her a definitive answer, aside from:

“It’s whatever it wants to be, I guess. It’s stable now thanks to the Founding Branch.”

“Justica Arms was founded there?”

“It was. Before Justica Arms we had the Goddess of Color. They called her the Colorless Incandescent. She was ruthless but kind. Our parents are first generation Justicers. There can’t be any greater honor. What runs in my blood is the beginning of a legendary linage that must spread. So imagine how they feel to have a daughter like that. She’s wasting her womb away.”

Galia was the Incandescent Color, huh. A Color that hunted other Colors if what we heard from the Expositionist is to be believed. Just what kind of life did Galia live before she became a Beholder?

“Not one dissimilar to yours, and neither one you will envy. The Archivist remembers the desperate Galia. To cut the middleman and lag of justice was the very idea that gave birth to the Warped Stone.”

So justice can never stray behind judgement. Do you think Galia will be willing to talk about her past over some coffee?

“I’d say it depends on how good the brew is.” Nav jokingly said, although Frost legitimately considered this as a possibility.

I guess I’ll go looking for a good barista in the meantime. On top of finding a place to bring Jury on New Years Eve. Cool that they celebrate it here too.

< Side Quests Gained >

< Learn to make the perfect cup of coffee [Incomplete] >

< Reunite with the triplets [0/3] >

< Find a place to watch the fireworks with Jury in 5 days [Incomplete] >

< Collect presents for friends [0/Infinitas] >

< Give Nav a hug [Incomplete :C] >

Frost laughed to herself.

Nav’s antics never got old.