Mikella noticed Zeke holding onto the middle of his nose, looking more distressed than anything. She also felt nervous, but the best she could do was hold onto Clara.
She and Clara were in this same situation before being transported to another world. They were on a subway almost like this, running away from home and their parents to live on their own. Of course, that didn’t go well at all, and now being in the same situation again made her nervous.
She glanced over at Clara who looked just as nervous, her face frowning as she looked around herself. Grasping onto her hand, Mikella spoke softly.
“Don’t worry, Clara, it won’t happen again. This time, we’re not alone.”
“...Okay.”
Clara said minutely, almost returning back to her quiet, awkward self. It made her heart ache at the sight, but she can’t blame her for feeling nervous again. Even Mikella wasn’t completely unaffected by this, her hands almost shivering.
When Zeke realized what was happening and asked, Mikella assured him that it was just the jitters. Zeke was already trying to keep up with all this just like her, but knowing that the girls were in trouble, that instantly put him into protective mode.
It was good for Mikella. It made her think that everything would be fine no matter where they go. And as soon as the jetstream started to run, the engines almost as quiet as air breathing, Mikella offered Clara to look above to see the window to the outside.
In the next few minutes, Clara had completely forgotten about her situation. And if she was honest, so did Mikella. The jetstream worked just like a train, but the way it moved was like moving through different dimensions in a heartbeat. Flashing lights went and passed by in a dizzying array, leaving Clara to mostly exclaim in joy.
Mikella worried that she was bothering the leaders with her excitement, but Cronus just looked pleased while Isabelle smiled enthusiastically at her. They look like an old married couple that were just fond of children playing around. Zeke, however, was the opposite. He worried and clamored over Clara moving around too much in a moving vehicle, despite the inside being as still like his Bus Barrier. She wondered whether Zeke just didn’t trust anything magical as long as it wasn’t made by him, getting her to giggle at the sight.
Of course, when Clara pulled out the classic puppy dog eyed stare to keep going, Zeke relented, making sure to keep an eye on her as she moved around frantically to see more of the sights outside.
And what sights they were. The jetstream moved along the made pathways, but it was like seeing the train flying across the air and traveling at a fast speed across the purplish pink sky above. The buildings that made up the city they were entering whipped past in a slow drawl, either some in white marbled stone or in a differing array of colors that were precisely what a city would look like.
Rather than being a magical city, Mikella only saw a city filled with life and purpose. Her Mana Manipulation helped her see the magical energy swirling around everywhere. Not at much as Zeke at least, but she could tell that despite the massive size of the buildings and the population that filled it, a lot of careful work was put in designing the metropolis below.
With her sight she could see several railways and machinery that would help others go around the city with ease, but some obviously decided to go the natural way by flying on their own. They rode on either their own personalized vehicles, some ranging from small disks to the classic broom sticks like witches, something that easily caught Clara’s excitement with ease.
She would also marvel at the beauty of flying around in a broom or vehicle, knowing just how wonderful it was to fly herself. However, the adult in her realized that if you plan on flying in this city, you need to get the proper license for it.
Goes to show that even if you can fly, you still gotta be responsible and get proper documents, Mikella huffed mentally, unable to escape from reality.
Still, it was enough to rouse her inner child as even Zeke watched with amazement. In fact, he kept staring at some of the railways and parts of the buildings with such astonishment that he couldn’t help but exclaim himself.
“Just how many runists worked on those runes, and how did they make it work for so long…?” He uttered to himself.
“Anything interesting about those runes, Zeke?” Mikella asked.
“It’s just… I can’t even fathom just how anyone can manage to make them work like that. I could see it all,” Zeke said, his eyes already glowing with the color of his mana. She wondered if his Battle Runecraft skill was working overtime to see all the runes. “The flow of it all is all marginally precise, being directed to and from different locations. It just connects to everything, and makes everything just work, like that,” He snapped his fingers, proving his point.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“So… sort of like the electricity in our world?” Mikella whispered, getting Zeke to nod in approval. “Wow, and that’s all with mana…”
Even Mikella was impressed with that. She saw how Cloud and Zeke worked on the runes to make the simple appliances to make their home life easier, such as the sink and the stove, but to find that those runes made the entire city… she can’t fathom the time and materials sunk into it.
“Electricity, huh?” Cronus suddenly spoke, catching their attention. “Is that the energy used in your world?”
Mikella panicked, wanting to strangle the master no matter how pointless it was to say that out loud in front of all the…
Now that she noticed, all the knights were gone from the compartment. it looked like during their distraction, they were either sent away or were put to go around the jetstream for their work.
“Yes, at least part of it,” Zeke said. He shifted himself to sit properly in front of Cronus and Isabelle. “Where we came from, we have no mana to make magic, so we worked with electricity using tools and machinery.”
“How peculiar,” Cronus said with interest. “But how do they come up with such energy? Surely it would run out at some point? And wouldn’t it damage the planet they all share?”
“That, uhh… that is definitely a debate they’re having even now, but…” Zeke winced. It wasn’t exactly the sort of topic people in their world really cared about, except for the environmentally friendly types. “If I’m honest, I’m not entirely sure of the process. I do at least know that electricity is created using fossil fuel from the earth, and we developed ways to use it as efficiently as possible. Still, there are always limits. Isn’t mana the same way?”
“In a sense,” Cronus said. “Mana is derived from everything–from the air, the sea, the earth itself. As one generates life, one generates mana. As a society, we know that mana is the most usable form of energy for daily usage, so this city is created under the ideal of magic, and its uses. I suppose while you have the chance, do you wish to know more about our country?”
Cronus asked, getting the rest of the otherworlders to stand at attention. Even Clara took special notice and sat back down, listening to the wise Master.
“I read a lot about the country, but not everything,” Zeke said. “All we know is that it’s a country that lives in a pocket dimension away from the world. It’s completely isolated, and has policies that said nobody can come and leave without proper procedures.”
“And do you know why?” Cronus asked like a teacher would.
“Because the magic being trained and cultivated here can be dangerous, and it’s mostly used to keep Arcelot as a powerful country against the others, right?”
Cronus nodded his head. “That is how Arcelot was made and intended to be. But it’s more than that. Why do you think this country was built on a pocket dimension rather than on the world itself?”
Zeke paused, furrowing his brows. Mikella wondered if she should even try to answer. Figuring that there was no harm, she opted to ask instead.
“Is it because all the mana here helps the country stay stable? Like… the Mana helps the runes that Zeke pointed out easier to function?”
“You are half right, my child,” Cronus said with a grin. That certainly surprised her since she didn’t expect the answer to be at least half right. “And the other half is also because of the Studded Star.”
“The Studded Star?” Mikella asked in disbelief. “What’s that fake sun got to do with anything?”
As soon as she said that, she clamped her mouth shut, her lips pressed tightly together. Zeke, who’s usually not good at reading social cues, actually looked back at her with that tilt of his head as if saying ‘what the hell are you doing?’. Even Clara had the nerve to do that very thing to her.
“Fake sun…?” Cronus asked with clear interest. “You must tell me more about that later. As for the reason why the star is mentioned, its creation from long ago is the reason why dungeons, biodomes, and all sorts of natural habitats are created. At least those that are not under the control of one nation’s powerful Unity Core. There is no clear direction, but the Star’s influence across Tarial heavily affects all forms of life that lives there.”
“Huh…” Zeke put down Mikella’s mistake and looked back at Cronus, getting Mikella to breathe in relief. “So it’s the Studded Star’s influence that makes the world go round, so to speak?”
“Precisely,” Cronus nodded.
“But you also said that the star is also the reason why Arcelot is made. Wait…”
Zeke’s narrowed his eyes, rubbing his chin as his thoughts whirled.
“The star affects everything including dungeons and biodomes. It has a passive, or maybe extremely finite effect on anything magical. With the pocket dimension’s special characteristics, it’s possible that the studded star is affecting the dimension in a way that benefits the city and…”
“Sissy, Bobo’s muttering to himself again,” Clara pointed out, staring at Bobo like he was a spectacle.
“Don’t worry about it. Just let him have his moment and ignore it like usual.”
“Kay…”
The girls were used to Zeke heading off into his own world while making his adjustments. She knew that his Parallel Thought was already going at a way faster rate than even he could keep up, getting her to shake her head as she spotted Cronus smiling sweetly at the trio.
“As you might have guessed, everything is created together to create this wonderful country of ours. In this carefully crafted environment, we have pushed control over mana far beyond any other country. No matter what size, it is the reason why we take the top spot of natural forces of the world order. Even the kingdom respects Arcelot as it is. And of course, I plan to keep it that way as the leader. And you two will help us in that pursuit.”