Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.01.27]
The booth’s interior didn’t change a bit. The vast selection of maps and books was still littering the small room and he easily recognized the old man standing behind the counter.
The familiar smell of paper and old wood made him nostalgic when he entered.
“Welcome to the Mapmaker’s Guild, dear customer,” the guy welcomed him automatically, reluctantly taking his eyes away from the book he was reading.
He blinked fast a few times after looking at Zeph, a spark of recognition entering his gaze.
Instead of speaking, Zeph took out the medallion he was given. But the man didn’t wait to apprise it – he put his hand under the tabletop and, after a soft click, a localized Air Sphere was deployed even before Zeph got close to the counter.
This time, though, the Spell that rolled over his sensitive net of condensed Mana strings inside of his Veil felt different. The fact that some mechanism inside of his amulet activated as well was evidence enough, it wasn’t a simple privacy barrier. Something Mana-related shifted inside of it.
Which was a minor surprise, as this Guild didn’t use such methods when he last visited. It seemed that the old man was taking things seriously.
It was a good thing that he kept practicing his detection technique in his free time. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have noticed the difference. Or, at least, not as clearly.
“Welcome back, mister,” the man said, nodding deeply. “You are later than expected, but in the light of the latest events, I can’t say that I am much surprised.”
“Life has its ways to complicate things,” he answered politely. As expected, they shouldn’t use real names in this environment. He started to appreciate that custom – he now understood that it wasn’t as much for anonymity's sake as for making sure that people here could comfortably interact with each other. It felt good to leave behind and forget about one’s official position; to speak freely, and to be treated fairly. Meetings dealing with more official deals rarely were a public affair; this building was dedicated to more open commerce. “I want to ask for a favor after we finish.”
A speck of excitement crossed the man’s face after he heard that even as he snorted lightly.
In the past, Zeph would grimace at that reaction, but he already learned that people like that didn’t really mean anything malicious. He probably triggered another of those old, forgotten customs the old-timer seemed so fond of – just like the fluke with the ‘good greeting’ he had given when first interacting with the guy.
If it was a positive or a negative one, he didn’t care. Aisha has taught him that playing those games with the elders was nothing more than a waste of time. He would never be able to learn all the rules, even if they stopped leading him by the nose for their own amusement.
But one thing was clear – the man was pleased that he was asking for a favor. If his organization wants me to help and cooperate, so be it. Gaining some goodwill isn’t the worst idea, either way, he decided wearily.
“The meeting room is prepared and our Cartographer is stationed nearby… But am I understanding your plead correctly?”
Zeph shrugged. “Probably. Not to be disrespectful, but I don’t feel safe discussing that matter here.”
“Surely,” the old man nodded in understanding – the chances that today’s visit wouldn’t become a public knowledge in the following days was next to zero. “So, how do you prefer to go about this, mister Zeph?”
He almost rolled his eyes. That question was unnecessary, wasn’t it? “Can we skip the unpleasantries? You were just talking about a meeting room…” he stopped himself for a moment. He didn’t want to come out as rude, but he could play along a bit. “Well, assuming that your Guild is as old as your books were indicating, it should be readily available. Forgive me if I was wrong,” he jabbed.
Heh, it even worked? he thought with a little more energy after seeing the man frowning.
Zeph gave a shallow bow to accentuate his apology. Although, it was entirely unnecessary, seeing as it caused the man’s frown to deepen.
Bug off, old man. Trying to play stupid for the sake of it? And I won’t pay you for accommodating me if you don’t state it clearly and loudly.
“So, are we going to stand here all day?” he asked, straightening up and raising his eyebrow. “I can always just forward an invitation to the Cartographer to visit our headquarters…”
Surprisingly, after a moment, the man chuckled. “My apologies. At least now I understand that you are much more oblivious to our culture than I had initially thought. Also, people experiencing a quick rise in the city’s hierarchy tend to get drunk on their newfound power. It’s good to see you don’t sway that way,” he explained, returning a slightly deeper bow. Straightening up, he took out three metal plates from under the counter. “Please follow me,” he said, turning around.
Zeph tilted his head for a moment, wondering what the guy meant by that. Was he pleased that he was stingy? Happy that he played along? Disappointed that he didn’t know how to behave? A strange combination. Or, maybe, he simply wanted him to call that favor in, and the rest was just playing around to measure Zeph’s personality? That actually sounded more like an Aisha-sque behavior.
Shrugging, he looked around. There wasn’t any obvious way to get behind the counter – the aisles on both sides were blocked by stacks of books.
He had to jump over the counter to fall behind the man. By doing so, he crossed another barrier set vertically behind the furniture.
If it was a trap, it didn’t trigger when he passed it, but he couldn’t feel any reaction from his medallion or his gear either. It was a strong suggestion that the thing was manually operated, which would mean that the guy could use Advanced Mana Manipulation in some scope. It was hard to tell for sure, though. It could be a number of things – from an enchanted effect with a different purpose, through a dummy, to an original but dilapidated mechanism or enchantment that somehow survived the last few centuries.
The last option may have sounded oddly specific, but this place was really old. According to the Geographical Map for Tourists he bought in this very shop, the Mapmakers Guild owned quite a few historic buildings. And not because of some strange fetish – they simply never moved from those. That tendency was so strong, that he surrendered to his curiosity and checked if this booth was the same before coming here again.
And it was true. Albeit, it was one of the latest purchases.
They entered another hidden staircase and Zeph had to wonder if every booth here possessed one. Ciriyal’s place, he could understand. Her family was dealing with delicate topics more often than not, as most detectives did. But for the Mapmakers booth to possess a separate room on the upper floor seemed excessive, even with their renown.
Because almost every booth here had walls connecting the floor to the ceiling, it was really difficult to tell if it was just his wild imagination, or if it could be true. Of course, it was a ridiculous notion for the whole floor to play the role of an entry point to a more dedicated infrastructure – it was massive in its own right and the two samples were too little to really extrapolate. Not to mention, both establishments he visited were old and famous to some degree.
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But his worries evaporated as they finished ascending the stairs. It didn’t seem likely that the Guild owned this place.
The room looked entirely new. There weren’t any bookshelves, maps, or typical decorations on the walls. Only a table in the center looked antique. And it was large – one impressive mammoth of a furniture. Three old armchairs were standing beside it. There was also a bar on the far wall – they always were part of a guest room in these lands – but it all looked unassuming and empty in contrast to the ornate marvel of the grand table.
His inner thoughts and feelings had to show on his face because the Mapmaker started explaining himself almost immediately.
“Please don’t be discouraged by the state of the room. Renting the additional space here isn’t cheap and our Guild isn’t exactly prosperous right now.”
Zeph shook his head. “No, I was just surprised. You don’t use those often?” he asked, looking around.
“Certainly not. The only reason our Guild strained its funds as much, is because of the new uncovered locations you have mentioned,” he explained while gesturing to the armchairs encouragingly. “We would invite you to our main establishment if it wouldn’t turn heads our way. But the topic needs to be discussed in private even without that possibility.”
Getting the hint, he walked to the table and took a seat opposite the old man.
The table was heavily enchanted. He could tell as soon as his Veil touched the wooden surface. The density of Mana flowing inside was high enough to be noticeable to him, and that was telling much. What exactly those enchantments were doing, though, he couldn’t tell. But it was clear that, even without furnishing the room fully, the Mapmakers Guild prepared for this meeting thoroughly.
After his last visit, Zeph expected them to rather spread the word and openly show that he was cooperating with them – for the sake of promoting themselves and their wares. But the reality surprised him; this Guild no longer looked like an old fan club of a dying profession.
“Our Cartographer will be here soon. I would offer you a drink but I’m afraid this setup is quite foreign to me,” he said, glancing at the bar to his left. “There should be some snacks, though…”
“I’m good, old man. Is it time for introductions, at last?”
The grandpa shrugged. “Any name would do for me. I am not in a position to introduce myself. It may sound kind of rude because I know who you are, but we have our reasons.”
Zeph gaped at him with dead eyes for a moment. “What? Knowing your true name would grant me power over you or something?”
The man laughed a little while stroking his beard. “I wouldn’t say no to becoming a being so closely intertwined with pure information, but the reality is much more mundane. Let’s just say, it would be very inconvenient to remind anyone of who we are. Our Guild would rather sit in its dark corner than invite the unnecessary attention of the youngsters. Also, please address our Cartographer as such. It’s a sign of respect to call us by our position, especially during official assignments.”
Zeph couldn’t decide if he wanted to groan, roll his eyes, or facepalm. What is this? A secret Temple? Ninjas? Cultivation master’s coven?
“Okay, Bob. I will try to keep that in mind,” he said, nodding solemnly.
The man, Bob, sent him one of the most weathering glares he had ever experienced. It was quite refreshing.
“Anyway, about that favor,” he started to break the ice that suddenly manifested in the room, metaphorically speaking of course, “can you get me through the backdoor or something? I want a moment of peace after we finish here, Bob.”
The man’s new name was quite tasty when voiced aloud. He was quite proud of it.
The old man sighed loudly, the wrinkles on his face deepening visibly as he did so. “That would be a minor favor. Or… no, never mind.”
Zeph was quite sure he was about to ask if he would pay them immediately. Wisely – befitting his old age – he decided against that. Indeed, Zeph wouldn’t pay. Not when they were depending on him, for some odd reason that he had yet to understand.
“Do you have any disguise, La-Einar?” Bob asked, using his name for the first time.
“I do happen to be in possession of a horrible, yellow overcoat that I planned to wear later… But I don’t think that parading in it would be advised. Not here, at least.” It was packed in his bag. Walking around the whole city while wearing it would be tragically counterproductive.
Bob shook his head. “That won’t do, I will prepare something. Although you are of quite short stature, we just need to cover your features,” he said, standing up.
Yes, even this old fossil was taller than him. Life was truly unfair. Or, at least, the life on Corora.
“Before you go, do we have anything else planned before the Cartographer arrives?” Zeph asked, also standing up to fix himself something to eat. It seemed like he was going to spend here a while.
“If you have planned some travels in the near future, we will have to take that into account. It can wait, but I would like to prepare some initial analysis,” Bob said, not turning around.
“Ah, right. Indeed, I have planned a quite long journey to the south,” he said, walking to the bar. “But it’s hard to tell when it would happen. I have a lot to do in the city before that.”
“The schedule isn’t that important. Your geographical position, much more so,” the old man said from the doors to the staircase. “I will be back in a few minutes.”
~~~
The table turned out to be an old artifact; a marvel.
The thing was not only shielding them from stray eavesdroppers and observers, but it was a fricking full-fledged, 3D map display. The hologram – for the lack of a better world – that was projected on its surface was fully controllable. They could zoom in and out as they pleased.
The Cartographer warned him that the height representation wasn’t accurate at all, but Zeph was still shocked to the bone. With proper parameters—which the Guild lacked or didn’t want to present outside—this thing could be used for aeroplanning, city planning, and generally simplifying very difficult calculations that had to be done when building anything higher than a three-story building. Moreover, it supported animation, image and frame-by-frame smoothing, as well as model approximation… at least, if he understood the two guildmates correctly.
Better yet, external sensors could be linked to the device to map moving objects in real time. Mana currents, sea waves, and even cloud movement could be easily modelled if they had enough data, working settings, and a proper model.
It was a device that should be seen in the cockpit of a spaceship, not used as a simple map visualizer and calculation device!
He wanted very much to ask about it – to see if they really didn’t understand what could be done with it, but Bob warned him beforehand. It was a gift for their Guild. A very old one but not the only one they received. It wasn’t reproducible nor fully explored, but it was theirs and theirs alone. No questions about it would be answered. No help with studying was allowed. It was here only because they had to make a rather complex set of calculations for Zeph that had to take into account not only the planet’s curvature but also the movement of the flying continents. And those were depending on the movement of the moon and cyclic changes in Mana currents.
Zeph was even more stumped when he learned that the math and methodology of calculating those variables had been already discovered and developed before the System showed up. Aerial navigation has been taken seriously ever since the dawn of civilization, and there never was an easy answer to the equations describing the movement of floating islands.
It was then that he understood why they were using this artifact like nothing more than a glorified calculator. It also explained why they decided to show it to him. Truthfully, he wouldn’t be able to operate it even if they left it with him for years. Maybe if he had instructions, but exactly that was the problem – not only he was lacking the necessary theoretical knowledge to make any calculations and practical knowledge for operating the device, but the whole thing was working outside of his scope of understanding.
It was mostly because it contained a computer of some kind. It had to, there was no other way to implement calculation functions without it. Yet, he had no idea how to even start constructing a computer that would work on Mana. It was an idea so abstract that he couldn’t even start guessing if it was digital, analog, or biomimicking.
His rumination was sporadically interrupted when the Cartographer asked another of her questions. Thanks to Bob’s expertise, they have planned around his trip to the south quite fast. But it was only the tip of the iceberg. Triangulating in a dynamic environment wasn’t easy. Any information Zeph had about the locations he needed to find was being written down and thoroughly checked. Of course, the woman was using her knowledge Skills to search for possible leads, so it took time even if they were using the artifact to speed up the calculation part of the preparations. As so, Zeph had ample time to play with this piece of magical art while thinking about its possible applications.
As for the Cartographer herself, she wasn’t anything too special. A human blondie wearing something more appropriate for a savanna treasure hunter from the Earthen games than for a citizen of a city buried under the snow. She only lacked the hat. Her face was quite weathered, so it was obvious that she wandered a lot. Despite that, it was also clear that she was quite young taking into account Corora’s standards – maybe forty, maybe less. Definitely high-level, though, so she looked much younger than that. Her plain face and low-profile conduct could have deceived him if he couldn’t feel her Veil.
It was massively denser than his. She kept it contained and her Mana density gradual, but his detection method cut deep enough for him to ‘see’ what she was doing.
Indeed, she was actively using Advanced Mana Manipulation to keep it structured in an unassuming manner. Moreover, her Mana generation had to be close to what a level 100 Mana-inclined individual could achieve.
It was quite intimidating in a way. At that point, he was certain that Bob could also use Advanced Mana Manipulation; the old man was just better at hiding it.
What kind of freaks they were to achieve that much before level 100 in a Class that shouldn’t have anything to do with Manacasting?
Or maybe, just maybe, it was the other way around and he was being stupid. Maybe those people were descendants from a Tower that no longer existed. Who would know?
He wasn’t going to ask them directly, though, that’s for sure.