Westibule mountain chain [western part of the Torrent mountain range], local time [1793.11.01]
“No, no. You need to push it through,” she said.
“I am trying! But the entrance is too tight!”
“Just stop meandering about and PUSH, for gods’ sake!” she exclaimed, irritated.
An interesting scene was playing about on the wooden cart. Zeph was holding Aisha’s boot up in the air, trying as he could to insert any of his Mana into it, while Aisha was standing over him, impatiently tapping her naked foot with increasing frequency.
“You are so bad at it,” she said, gripping her head with one hand.
“It’s not my fault those enchantments aren’t working like they should!” he retorted in indignation, still concentrating on the garment. “Why do I even have to do this? I created Self-Sustaining enchantments long ago – it should just take in the Mana automatically and be done with it!”
She smirked. “What you created can hardly be called an enchantment, it’s basically your Spell imposed on a material. Not to mention, your method can work only for constructs with low Mana flow requirements, like low-budget Spells,” she said indifferently. “It won’t work with a proper enchantment. If it could, it would mean the enchantment is actively siphoning surrounding Mana… Just imagine what could we do with… how are you calling it? Manauoo?”
“Yes, the Mana-O,” he spelled, accenting the ending.
“That. Enchantments working on ManaOo don’t exist for a reason,” she continued, butchering the word again. “If we could create self-powering gear like that, we would conquer this planet three times over. It would be mayhem…” she finished in a dreamy tone.
After a moment, she noticed Zeph’s concerned face and shook her head. “Anyway!” she started, concentrating back again. “The proper enchantments have to be resistant to Mana for the material to not break, so it works only when you force a flow, a pressure difference!” she repeated for the tenth time. “And how many times do I need to explain this?!” she said in irritation, flipping up the imaginary table.
He mulled over the explanation for a moment this time. It suddenly sounds like an electric potential in electricity… he reasoned, trying to find an Earth’s analogy.
“So, that is how my Self-Sustaining Spells work?” he asked, looking at her.
“Yes. They use a natural pressure difference between two points in your Interference Veil, and strengthen the flow by consuming or ejecting the Mana on the other end, effectively decreasing the density locally. The process is consistent because you can manipulate your Mana on top of that, keeping the conditions stable. Countering external forces that change the Mana density is an instinctual, almost automatic, reaction. But ManaOo is like smoke in your Veil, it does what it wants… Just push it inside already!” she said in a cracked voice. “You need to learn how to concentrate your Mana properly! Our technology is placed around transfer amulets already, there is no choice,” she added, sighing again.
As it turned out, he wasn’t able to agglomerate his Mana enough, or maybe to move it with enough force. He wasn’t sure; they couldn’t directly observe what the other was doing with their Mana.
“Transfer amulets?” he asked, handing her the boot. He was done with the exercise until he would understand more.
“Haaaah,” she sighed, yanking it from his hands. “Every household is connected to the city’s Mananet. Every registered person in a city is obligated to send their Mana into the amulet that transfers it to the waypoint. There are some filtering shenanigans happening after that, don’t ask me for details, but the amount you are donating is counted. If you don’t send the minimal amount, some mighty fines will be imposed on you,” she elaborated, flipping the boot in the air. “I don’t understand,” she said, looking at the fancy footwear. “Even the kids with 10 Willpower are able to power the simpler enchantments. With your 58 in… it,” she stopped herself from speaking aloud about his Greater stat, “you should be able to manage the process easily…”
“Graaau!” it proposed. They both looked at Zeph’s torso in surprise.
“Oh, I didn’t think about that…” Zeph confessed.
“That would make a lot of sense,” she conferred. “Try it,” she said, handing back the boot.
He took it and for the first time in ages, he used his Willpower instead of pure Will to Manipulate his Mana. He was clumsy with using the Manipulation this way; he never really trained it, after all. But his Perk showed him exactly what he was doing wrong. ‘Precise Soul and Mana perception’ was no joke.
After a minute, he managed to concentrate his Mana to an unprecedented density. “Wow, it really works!” he exclaimed, stating the obvious. It seems like Will-powered Manipulation is much more… delicate? And precise. No wonder people have problems learning how to construct Spells if all they have is this brute and clumsy Willpower… he analyzed.
“Ha! At least one person here has a brain,” she laughed.
“Grururu,” it proudly vibrated.
Zeph concentrated on the condensed Mana and slightly pushed it in the direction of the enchantment’s input. At once, he could feel his Mana rushing ahead, thickening even more near the tight entrance. The density was so high it almost felt like a fluid.
“Don’t overdo it,” she said worriedly, looking closely. “I can feel the clump in your Veil…” she warned him.
Ok, Willpower IS useful… Now, to not get ahead of myself, he thought, decreasing the concentration. After modulating the density enough, he looked at Aisha. She nodded in confirmation.
So, he PUSHED, as previously instructed.
Immediately, he could feel the lightning-like traces of Mana firing through his Veil in all directions. After a moment, he could hear something hitting the underbelly of their cart, the soil was trying to move in the direction of the boot. Even some crates on the cart moved in his direction.
“You overloaded it! Stop!” she hollered.
He immediately abandoned the Mana Manipulation and after the final clamor of falling earth, the surroundings were once again bathed in silence. He looked at Aisha, consternation and awe clear on his face.
She closed her wide eyes and sighed for the tenth time today. “Yea, you talented moron, that is how you do it.”
He celebrated for the rest of the day, irrevocably irritating Aisha some more.
The fifth day of their travel finally brought some fruits. He was close to the final level-up before the last level reset. He gained two levels in his Profession and one in his Class. The changes weren’t enough to read higher levels of Tier 2 General Skills, but he was close to the big moment. Soon, he would be able to access the rest of his Matrices and learn something new instead of reinventing every Spell from scratch.
He already could use some of them, as his Mana Capacity has raised to almost 200, but they took too much out of his meager Matrix space. Zeph wanted to have some battle-ready Matrices available at all times, so he focused on just one new Spell, the absolute necessity. The Stabilization Spell.
The inability to move the already formed Mana constructs was the most restrictive bane of his, he had to get rid of this weakness as fast as possible. The learning process was quite difficult, the Spell required 50 Mana Capacity at the start, so that was good, but the upkeep was ridiculous when they were moving. Not to mention, part of his Mana Generation was reserved to power the actual Spell he was trying to Stabilize. So instead of observing the finished construct while keeping it active, he had to use the Stabilize Matrix, again and again, observing only during the construction process. It was important to keep his Interference Veil up and about, in case of an emergency. Not to mention, the Veil was necessary to keep his Power milestone EE in working condition. As so, he never used the Mana-Z from around him to power up the Spell.
On the plus side, he was getting better at influencing the speed at which the Matrix formed a Spell. He was sure it would pay back at some point.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As for the points from leveling up, all six of them were invested in Regeneration. He wanted the Energy Enhancement from achieving the 50-points milestone. Aisha already played the role of a warrior in their two-person team, so he decided some more survivability would do him good.
He also planned to try magical healing, but after their last argument, he kept that reason for himself. Reviewing the Class list confirmed, that Regeneration had to do with Healing Classes, so he planned to test that theory.
The rest of his time he spent trying to force the System to finish its Calculations about the ‘Lesser Metabolic enhancement’. He dedicated a lot of time to learning more about it and leveling it up. He also tried to use it with other EE, but the old enemy of his showed up again – he sucked at Internal Mana Manipulation. Badly.
He never gave up, but his morale was at its bottom.
At least, until today.
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They found the next village at noon of the next day.
The road was leading through the dense forest, the mountainous terrain slowly changing into more meek highlands as they progressed. Because of that, the sudden appearance of the settlement took them by surprise. Most of the trees were left alone, it seemed like people cleared just enough space to build the houses, sometimes even using the trees as additional support for the structures.
It reminded Zeph of Elf’s towns from fantasy books, a settlement hidden by the forest. Only, the buildings kept their foundations firmly on the ground, instead of dangling from said trees.
“Strange,” commented Aisha, looking at the hand-drawn map. “The locals never mentioned there would be another village along the way.” They were traveling through a shortcut, a newly formed passage.
The news of the new settlements were traveling quickly in the mountains, alongside the merchants fueling locals with necessary materials and additional food. It was indeed uncanny for one this big to be ignored by the community.
Before they could discuss it further, though, an armed man came out of a small cabin up ahead, waving to them to move in his direction.
They exchanged glances and shrugged. Aisha made the horse move to the right. The ground here was compact enough to move freely between the trees.
“Welcome to Barringstone,” started the militiaman after they stopped near the cabin. He was a huge guy – although still shorter than Aisha, he probably weighed twice as much. His spear was kept leisurely on his shoulder, but the strained leathers on his body threatened to explosively give way to the forces testing them. “Please identify yourself and state your business before coming inside.”
Aisha searched for their papers while speaking. “Surely, we are just passing through. But what is this village doing here? I never heard about it.”
“We built in only two weeks ago. Thanks to the generous donation by the Landlord Oric, we were able to finish in only three days,” he said, laughing jovially. “These here will be the next mining complex,” he added, taking the papers from Aisha. “Hydrargyrum veins were found under the mountain, just have to follow the caves…” he continued absentmindedly while reading the documents. “Oho! A Warrior Priestess graced us with her presence,” he suddenly exclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes. And absolutely ignoring Zeph’s identification documents.
“Ye, ye. Whatever, just direct us to the inn, if you have one,” she said dismissively with a sour face.
“And a humble one! Good fate indeed,” he said, laughing. “The council would like to speak with you for sure! Ah, but let’s not keep you here for too long,” he continued, handing the papers back. “For your lot, only the hall would be good enough! You can beat two mares in one hit with that. Just speak to the council, the hour is right. I think you will like what you hear.”
She packed everything without a word while the helpful guy explained the directions. They said their goodbyes after that and started to ride in the direction of the village’s hall.
Zeph was impressed. To build a village of this size under three days was ridiculous, going by his Earth’s standards. What they saw entering the thinned-out forest of the settlement wasn’t representing even one-tenth of the whole. It already was a small town.
Sadly, Aisha confirmed that the System Shrine would take at least two months to be constructed, so his hopes of spending some Universal Points were doused down. Fortunately, building a Mananet took even longer, so they didn't have to pay anything yet.
His head was swiveling around, perfectly fitting a country bumpkin coming for the first time into the town. The many shops all had a clear sign describing their purpose, but without any iconography. Thanks to the System, the civilization as a whole had immediate access to the knowledge about the writing system, so everyone was literate. Fortunately, they didn’t discover yet the logos and market names for companies. Or their economy just didn’t allow for them, but it was a plus nonetheless.
The forest canopy still shaded most of the area, creating a very serene atmosphere. There weren’t many people on the ‘streets’, if the compacted black ground could be called that way, but each of them looked relaxed and ignored them altogether.
Some remnants of the underbrush still stayed strong, directing their progress through the peaceful village.
After almost twenty minutes of slow riding, they finally saw the hall. Zeph was surprised by the sheer size of the structure. It used five huge trees as additional support, rising to the height of at least five stories. The center was dome-shaped, but additional supports and structures made it look more like a star. Some platforms were set on the nearby trees, the militiaman scanning the vicinity from above.
Aisha was utterly unimpressed at the view.
“Why are you so grumpy?” he asked.
“Every time I have to deal with the powers that be, they try to extort me.” She sighed. “Let’s just be done with it,” she said, parking near a building looking like stables. After a minute an older woman greeted them, coming out of the building nearby. After spending a good 20 minutes cataloging the contents of their cart, it was transported into the stables. Their horse was quite pleased with the new abode, its box was filled with water and hay. It could finally rest in civilized conditions.
The interior of the hall was underwhelming. As much as he would like to see some fancy furnishing, the simple interior wasn’t even elegant. Everything was crudely crafted from wood, similar to what they had found in other villages.
The older lady directed them to the stairs, and after going to the fourth floor, she instructed them to wait when she announces them.
Zeph felt his presence was unnecessary, but he was quite curious about what the council could want from his companion.
After 15 minutes, they were called into the spacious meeting room. The furniture here was of better quality, but not that far away from what Zeph saw downstairs. Five people were sitting behind three desks, placed to form a U-shape with the empty space directed at the door. Three older people were seated directly ahead, while two young people took each of the side desks.
“Greetings, Zora Leilatalo,” slowly said an older woman at the center, using an expression unknown to Zeph. It was, evidently, a shortened version of Aisha’s title. “And Einar Tabitalo,” she said nodding. “It’s in good fortune that you visited us at this time. I am Schaefer Nuri Machitaro Barringstone, the representative in our negotiations,” she said, taking out and handing them a metallic star.
They both nodded and greeted the council. Aisha examined the star in detail before giving it back. Nobody else introduced themselves, to Zeph’s relief. He had a hard time remembering the strange names.
“So, Nuriro,” started Aisha, yet again surprising him with a new language form. “I have heard you are in need of my services?”
“Yes, let’s not beat around the bush. We have a disease going around. Our Doctor and Healers are unable to explain its source or cure it. We are slowly starting to suspect Soul indisposition of some kind; it would be very helpfu—”
“The pay?” she interrupted brazenly.
Nori made a hard face for a moment but relaxed after a moment. “Yes, we can propose a curated Hydrargyrum stack for two people as a reward,” she said, closing her eyes. “We just want a diagnosis from a Priestess, there is no need to go into the detailed investigation.”
If he understood correctly, a stack should mean two times the weight of a person in the material. It sounded like much, but the actual value of the reward was unknown to him. He glanced at Aisha – she was making a sour face. So not that good of a deal, it seems…
“We require full hospitality for as long as we stay, but not longer than five days,” she finally countered. “That includes necessary shop services.” This time, Nori frowned a little.
The back and forth continued for a few minutes. After both sides became equally dissatisfied, the consensus was reached.
They got three days of stay in the city paid fully by the council, with some minor stipulations. The hall’s guest rooms would be their lodge. At least six hours per day would be spent on visiting the sick. Aisha was adamant about personally going to the patients, instead of allowing the council to prepare an inspection room, stating that she would have to scan the vicinity of their living space to make sure everything was in order.
But Zeph could tell that she just didn’t like the idea of being under constant surveillance.
After they said their goodbyes, the pair went to the kitchens to get some food.
“I’m sorry for that,” Aisha said suddenly when they left the hall. “I am obliged to seriously answer such calls from officials. No matter the rewards,” she said, frowning at the time lost.
“Eh, it’s not a big deal,” he said placatingly. “We need some rest either way. And the traveling provisions aren’t exactly enough for both of us,” he said laughingly.
She smiled a little at that.
As per usual, when near other people, they didn’t talk much. The dinner was a quick affair and after that, they strolled around the growing town.
All in all, it was a nice change of pace for both of them.
Only Gru stayed somewhat tense, wondering why all the people he met today had Classes so similar to each other.
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Interface:
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