Avianna [north lands of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1793.11.29]
Zeph was observing the town from the deck as the aerostat circled above it, unhurriedly positioning itself southwest. No other ships tried to follow them – preparing one would take a few days even if they found pilots able to fly in these conditions.
He was looking down through a spyglass. The ship was fully equipped for tourists, borrowing one for the day cost him only one silver.
Someone here definitely has a nose for business… he thought idly, observing as the Guards some 60 meters below were pointing in their direction. He smiled slightly. Yes, yes. We are flying. Try to catch us now.
He had to give it to Aisha, this plan was much better than any other alternative. The ship wouldn’t travel fast, but it was still three to four times faster than a moving wagon. People could still keep up with it if they run on foot along the roads, but what could they do? The ship would fly all the way to the city, where they didn’t have any jurisdiction.
Chasing them was basically an impossibility. And no, the town didn’t have any cannons able to shoot them down. Long-range weaponry was inefficient, especially in aerial fights, so the natives preferred more direct methods in such battles. He had no knowledge of this kind, anyway – his ideas were backed by his common sense, but it didn’t hold any power here. All he had to do, was to believe in the plan.
The simple fact that they used the Mana currents to fly was enough to leave him clueless. They didn’t use aerodynamics at all here, except for the shape of the ship. No wings, no propelling blades, fans, engines, or anything. The technology was fully dependent on Mana, and Mana only.
There is a big gap left for Earth’s technology. Even the simple wing shape could revolutionize their technology. Not to mention, it would be stupidly easy to create a ‘wind’ power plant that uses the city’s vertical Mana currents. I would just need to create a big, horizontal fan…
His imagination was running wild as his mind was finding more and more uses for Earth’s flight technology. The main problem was electricity. He already knew that Mana liked to conglomerate around energy-intense reactions, basically fucking up any electronics by changing the electric currents. The question was, would that increase the potential power of the analog current, or would it only cause technical problems. Randomly changing voltage wasn’t something he would be able to harness. Although, he had big hopes for the local engineers. They weren’t stupid by any means; the best example was just around him.
Someone had to calculate the lifting force and the strain put on the steel lines to build this ship.
He was also sure they already knew of electricity, point in his last cantrip, but just didn’t know how to use it. An electric engine wasn’t something easily derived from one’s pure knowledge, even if the concept in itself was simplistic at best.
Actually, he wanted to learn more about the engines they were able to create. Someone surely got an idea to use Mana to propel a cart - horses were an idea as old as the civilization. He just hoped they didn’t stop on the ‘Mana jet engines’ like the ones on this ship. Using that on a cart would be… painful at best.
As he continued to muse about the future, the ship ascended to around 100 meters above the ground. The ride was surprisingly smooth, but he could feel the Mana density raising each second. Gru was working overtime to keep it at bay. He was probably the only pre-level-10 on this ship. Even with his level resets, he could still be considered pre-level-20, and his knowledge of how that influenced the resilience against Mana density was limited.
He even disabled the AMC for the first time in what felt like years.
They were crossing the line of walls, so he directed his spyglass to the front. He was curious how the farms looked like. It was getting dark, but the sun was still above the horizon, so he had time to observe.
As it turned out, the farms were totally different from the ones on Earth. Instead of monoculture or neat rows of planted vegetation, lush fields of mixed crops dotted the lands below. Some of them were even hidden under the canopy of sparsely placed trees.
And they were full of movement.
Small critters of different kinds, but mostly rakes, were fighting with wildlife on the field’s borders. He was surprised by the scale of it all. Especially because the road from which they entered the town was very peaceful. Instead, it seemed like the farms were also the first line of defense for the settlement.
Taking a closer look at the plants themselves, he could distinguish maybe two or three edible species. He would know, after all, he was reading his ‘Corora herbarium’ for a few months straight. It seemed that most of the plants were there to feed the herds of critters, not to be harvested. Also, it reminded him of milpa, the crop-growing system incorporating at least three different types of plants. The major advantage it provided laid in the fact that the soil wasn’t degrading. Fertilizers were unnecessary, and the field was self-sustaining. It was quite impressive, actually. Now, add to that the animals’ scat, and it becomes more than just self-sustaining.
“Hello! Corora to Zeph? We will have a meeting soon…” someone called from behind him.
He ignored the annoying pest and concentrated on the field’s border again. A group of rakes was fighting against a six-legged cat, abusing their aerial advantage to harass the animal and block its escape route. Another one was laying nearby, dead and slowly devoured by the rats.
Omnivores. Their units don’t exceed thirty individuals… At least one in the group is using Magicules, he analyzed. Tough to fight, reinforcements are coming in real-time as they die. No wonder hives are feared…
“I will smack you if you don’t answer…”
He moved the spyglass slightly higher, trying to see what was happening in the forest. He could see the birds, but the canopy was too dense to really distinguish anything below. He caught a sight of an avian similar to a hawk and quickly followed its movements, adjusting the focus. At least seven of them were flying ahead of the ship, and he was sure they were bonded to the pilots.
A clever way to map out the way through the Mana currents. They can not only estimate the number of animals underneath, but actually measure Mana density. Or, at least, carry the necessary equipment to do so…
A heavy sigh could be heard from behind. “Look, I am sorry. But you… No, just hear me out, please? We really don’t have time for that.”
Next, he looked at the walls. Indeed, they had something resembling cannons. The long cylinders were set in regular intervals along the whole wall, but he could already tell their reach didn’t exceed 40 meters. The fields beyond it never came this close to the walls, after all. Also, from the forest’s side, the trees were pruned for exactly that distance.
“I will compensate. I am really sorry,” she said in a submissive voice.
He slowly put the spyglass down. After a moment of silence, he looked back. Aisha was standing there, slumped and making an apologetic face.
“Compensate how?” he asked in a cold tone.
“Ugh, cooking for you for the next month?”
He started to turn back.
“Information…” he barely heard her murmur. Turning around entirely, he crossed his arms and looked her straight in the eyes.
“The what?”
“Information… That isn’t exactly public… And will help you in the future…” she explained hesitantly, breaking the eye contact and glancing to the right.
He sighed. It wasn’t clear if she wasn’t just acting it out, but if she could give him something tangible, he would at least try to believe that.
He understood intellectually that she just pranked him. And that the prank itself was even useful for him, in a sense. He got what he wanted. But being manhandled like that had hit his pride hard. Even if it wasn’t objectively reasonable, she did hurt his feelings. He would go as far, as to say that she betrayed his expectations. At least, that was his reasoning.
Looking at it from a more simplistic level, he was just angry. The reason for it didn’t matter much. When someone does something that depreciates you in your own view, objective facts land in the background of the natural, emotional reaction.
But she finally apologized, and maybe even meant it. He would have to reevaluate this ‘relationship’ of theirs, but he certainly wouldn’t burn bridges if she was reasonable.
“Don’t ever place me in such a pathetic position again. I may be young for you, but that was just…” he tried to find words to describe it, but none have come. He ended up gesticulating generically with his hands. Sighing angrily, he stopped. “You crossed the line,” he finally declared.
She just nodded. Zeph was sure she didn’t understand what part of her antics caused all this, but so was he.
“Then… Let’s go, Kwan is waiting,” she proposed with resignation in her voice. He hesitated for a moment before following.
Even if he would rather stay alone, for now, to cool down, he wasn’t doing anything meaningful – just distracting himself. Well, it did bring some interesting findings, but they indeed had more important matters to attend to.
While they traveled in silence to the lower decks using the stairs, he tried out the stamp. It didn’t activate until they walked through the doorframe to deck-2. A connection between black lines on the wooden surface and his stamp snapped into place, almost perfectly straight. Only then he was able to notice that something smaller was present inside his Veil. He didn’t pay attention earlier, so he was unsure which places sported the same mechanism, but some sort Mana construct in the shape of a grid was placed in the doorway. The lines were so thin, that he had problems discerning them as the grid moved smoothly through his Veil. Its straight lines started to bulge only near his body, snapping unnoticeably at the contact, but some of them had to touch the medallion on his neck as he passed.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Whatever the enchantment in the stamp did, it was breaking his connection to the Mana he pumped into it, so all he could feel was a cylindrical shape sneaking through his Veil, emerging from the tool.
Frowning, he burned a little of his Will and Will-Mana to cut it off, using his Veil. He felt somehow sad the Willforce constructs weren’t able to stay stable outside of his Soul influence. They decayed after leaving his body.
The connection broke easily enough. Looking around, he didn’t see any other passengers, only Aisha. She was looking at him with a small smile. Deciding it was safe, he took a few steps back, concentrating on his Mana perception. As soon as one line of the grid touched the stamp, a new Mana-transferring canal formed.
“Grrrruuummm,” it noticed, vibrating silently.
He hummed. It isn’t a bad idea, we rarely have an occasion, he thought, forcing himself to resonate with Gru. After gaining the ‘Resonation Suppression’ General Skill, he was able to learn how to do the opposite. Sadly, Gru’s ‘Resonating’ was a trait, not a Skill he could learn, so the effects were never as profound as a natural phenomenon and required them to be in a somehow similar mindset.
It was the first time they truly forced the Resonation outside of training, too. The situations up until now always provided some background for the act, but this time it was just their shared curiosity.
After concentrating on the Will-powered Soul perception and Mana perception that they used in tandem, he moved his hand closer to the empty space left by the foreign Mana. He tasted a Space-Mana caressing the tip of his finger. It was definitely a different type than his own, but the similarity could not be disregarded. Pushing his finger inside was difficult, as it repelled the construct aside. He had to burn some Will and Will-Mana on his Veil to keep the canal in place.
Metal-Mana, but very different from the types I had contact with up until now… I’m sure it helps with the conductivity of the cables. There is also… something resembling Crystal-Mana? And a lot of pure Mana, too…
He had a feeling there was more inside, but that much was enough for him. This level of Magicule sensitivity was already something he didn’t expect from himself, the System only confirming it. A new accomplishment brought new levels.
Congratulations! All requirements met for the [General Skill] [Mana perception] to cross the [Tier] threshold without [Specializing]!
No derivates are available. Do you want to proceed?
Oh, I just needed to use it like that to cross the line? I would have done it sooner if I knew… he thought ruefully, feeling guilty for not reading into the Skill deep enough. I am lucky, to keep it as the non-specialized version without proper training. Hmmm, according to Aisha, it should give me two standard levels worth of Soul fragments… It won’t be enough to level me up, doesn’t it?
“Sorry to disturb, but we should keep moving,” she interrupted his musing.
“Ah, right. Sorry,” he said, accepting the tier-up.
[Soul fragments] awarded!
[General Skill] [Mana perception] is now [T2] [L05]! (+7)
[General Skill] [Will-powered Soul perception] is now [T2] [L65]! (+3)
Yep, it isn’t enough. “I was just distracted…” He started walking in her direction, keeping his focus on the Mana-transferring connection. It was moving alongside him, tracing the black and silver lines on the ceiling, almost like a safety rope sliding across a railing.
Aisha nodded with understanding but didn’t comment.
Soon, they found Kwan’s quarters and knocked on the doors.
A fully geared guardian opened them. “Welcome, you two,” he said, opening the doors for them and moving aside. “Please follow me.”
A side entrance led to a much more spacious leisure room, evidently designed to receive guests. A few more doors were also connected to it, probably leading to more private quarters. Kwan was sitting relaxed on a big sofa, sipping a cold drink. Somehow, Zeph could tell she was mentally spent. Looking around, there was no trace of P’pfel. The old Gremling was probably in the middle of setting new workstation right now.
He noticed that the Mana-transferring construct was cut-off the moment he entered.
“How was the launch? A stunning sight, isn’t it?” Kwan asked teasingly.
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, it was. On many levels,” he said, giving Aisha a stink eye.
She just laughed awkwardly and changed the topic. “Anyway, I see the room is ready?”
“Indeed. Have a sit,” Kwan gestured to the armchairs, a slight disappointment visible in her eyes.
The familiar gentleman brought them snacks and cold, non-alcoholic drinks, which Aisha quickly fixed by gulping half of hers and refilling it from her own waterskin.
He just thanked the man and waited for them to start the discussion. He wasn’t really sure what they wanted to talk about.
“So,” Aisha started, slowly rotating her glass, “how are your people?”
“Not so bad, although I expected them to do better,” Kwan sighed, leaning back on the cushions. “Three of the seven newbies are showing symptoms of the first-blood syndrome. It will take a while to determine if they are suitable to stay as combatants. Except for them and people close to the deceased, everyone should recover by tomorrow. No one was crippled, thankfully. Waiting for almost two weeks for the access to the Exchange would be excruciating, and the spirit wasn’t high to begin with.”
Aisha raised her eyebrow. “Everyone has enough for an implant already?”
Kwan shrugged. “The town was too small to present many challenges, so I made sure they saved the points instead of wasting them on levels. Only one person declared the readiness for advancing, anyway. We are just waiting until he finishes with his contamination,” she explained, drinking some more. “I am more concerned about their mental fortitude… Speaking of which,” she suddenly said, squinting her eyes at Zeph, “You are surprisingly unperturbed for someone who directly caused at least seven deaths.”
Aisha kept silent. A sense of déjà vu punched him in the face.
Shit, here we go again – giving myself away while she just enjoys her drink… Eh, time to sell some white lies again… Gru didn’t send any warning about lie detectors, but there was no need to spill bullshit, anyway.
“And why exactly is it so surprising?” he started nonchalantly. “I don’t hold much sentiment for people even partially responsible for the Barringstone’s disease. And I know how to take care of myself.”
She wasn’t convinced, her eyes scanning him intensely. “You still killed seven strangers. I am trying to not pry too much but… I would be lying if I said that this isn’t concerning.”
Wrong answer… Well, I can sympathize. It’s probably the first symptom of Nether infection, he thought, remembering Xim and her lies. Although, suspecting I am infected is quite a stupid idea, he noticed, glancing at Aisha. She is probably just fishing for information… Let’s throw her a bone, I don’t need more scrutiny than I already have on me.
He took a deeper breath. “I no longer have Empathy Enhancement,” he brazenly declared, making the gentleman almost drop the glass he was clearing. “I am not sure how… resilient I am to the side effects of killing sentients now. I will have to see, but you… you will have to pay handsomely if you want to know any more,” he finished, slightly spooked by the floor creaking under Aisha’s weapon.
No, it had to be his imagination, she wasn’t even touching it. But her lessons on the topic of the value of knowledge were… deeply engraved in his mind. That has to be it, she definitely wasn’t preparing to bonk him in the head just now.
Maybe that week they spent in the inn wasn’t the best for his mental health, after all.
Kwan searched his face for a moment longer, then glanced at Aisha. Finally, she gave up. “I apologize,” she started, closing her eyes. “I will pay you for this information accordingly when we land.”
“About that,” he chimed in with renewed energy. “I know we are traveling to Lurona city, but what are plans for this ship after that? Also, when are we going to leave the area of unstable Mana currents?”
“Interested in business? Already thinking big?” Kwan asked, already in a better mood.
“More like trying to abuse the situation,” Aisha murmured, looking into her drink.
“You are not incorrect, Aisha,” Zeph laughed. “No, I don’t even know who is getting money for this course – I am too ignorant to start any form of a business. I just want to know how to plan for the future. I am assuming the pilots have something in mind if they agreed to this one-way flight, I just nurture a small hope for free travel or a partnership with them, that’s all.”
Kwan nodded at that. “At least you know where you stand. The ship will be sold at the aerostation, so you can bury down your idea of cheap transport. People riding with us are holding the majority of proprietors’ voices, so it will be done. The groups that want to go elsewhere will have to make do by themselves. As for the twins, they heard about a new type of avions and wanted to try them in the city. Its geographical location and bureaucratic openness made it a center of innovations years ago. The chaotic currents should subside halfway, and only then the twins will allow any meetings.”
Oh, this may get exciting! “Is there a chance for me to speak with them directly, then?” I need someone to test the planes, and they sound ideal.
Kwan laughed a little. “You sure are eager. But exotic knowledge wouldn’t be enough to make them waste their time. They are alternating in piloting this ship, each spending half a day on just that. For business-related meetings, both have to be present at the same time. It’s their own way of decreasing the number of scammers and wasted time – you have to have a solid offer. If you want to eke even half an hour, you would need much more than just promises, no matter how reliable a source of information you are.”
He deflated hearing that. Busy people doing busy things… He hoped it would be somehow different in this world.
“I would recommend going through us after we root ourselves in the city,” she continued. “I am sure the twins will stay there long enough for us to organize something… Assuming you don’t find more interesting pilots.”
She’s not wrong… Rushing things can harm me. A shame I never was the right person to do business, he thought. After a moment of consideration, he looked at Aisha.
She ignored him for a few seconds. Then started frowning, before finally snapping.
“What?” she asked in irritation.
“Can I—”
“No.”
“But you didn—”
“It doesn’t matter. You want your own business? Why don’t you take care of it?” she deadpanned, sipping from her drink.
He tilted his head and squinted his eyes.
“20%.”
“Deal.”
They shook their hands, to the Kwan’s amusement.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
“Be the business representative. I don’t know shit about all this.”
“Can do,” she answered, smiling.
~~~
He was looking at the ceiling of his room. The rest of the discussion was quite straightforward, just plans on what to do in the city once they get there.
Aisha took it upon herself to arrange an interview with the pilots. He had a really good feeling about them, which should mean something if their last talk about auguring was worth anything.
That aside, it was finally time to evolve his ‘Primitive enchanting’ into his first Passive Skill. He already warned everyone that it would probably take more than a day. Kwan even ordered one of her people to check on him regularly, to make sure he was hydrated. Later, Aisha promised to check if there weren’t any complications.
Are you sure you want [Primitive enchanting] to become a [Passive Skill]?
“Yep,” he said aloud. The darkness of unconsciousness taking him soon after.
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Interface: (updated tomorrow)