Avianna [north lands of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1793.11.32]
Zeph spent the rest of the day in the infirmary, giving his body the time necessary to recover fully.
After chatting a bit more and double-checking his body for any problems, Pavail left to deal with other patients. Thankfully, after seeing his frown, she started avoiding the topic of Aisha. Zeph could tell she was curious, obviously so, and was grateful that she restrained herself. It wasn’t that he had a problem with telling her some stories, but he dreaded the possibility of listening to the over-energetic girl’s enthusiastic monologue without a hope to stop her. That would be mentally draining, for many reasons.
As to who else needed her help, obviously the seasick. He was surprised their enhanced bodies weren’t able to negate this simple affliction. It was more related to how the brain works, though, so maybe it wasn’t that strange? The ship certainly was rocking erratically, if gently.
After Pavail left him to his own devices, he immediately evacuated to the bathroom with the intention of purging the foul smell from the surface of his body.
It took him two hours.
It was a blessing, even if the ship never ceased in its attempts to knock him down. The ride was definitely more wild after they made some distance from the town. It seemed that the Mana currents above it were quite docile in comparison.
He found his muscles stiff after three days of stillness, so for the next few hours, he did light exercises and stretches. The familiar movements were relaxing, and Zeph allowed his mind to wander, to meditate a little on his past. Gru was listening intently when he talked to himself. Somehow, the action of speaking out loud brought more weight to his thoughts – he noticed that long ago, when the depression was really starting to kick in after his employment started. But it was even more evident right now.
Was that the physical action itself? The necessary brain activity? The fact, that he could hear himself, so it was easier to remember?
He didn’t know, but he could feel it had a potential. To be exact – Magical potential, as he came to name all of the supernatural effects happening in this world. Well, here they weren’t ‘supernatural’, but instead of fighting with semantics, he focused on his memories, as he promised himself to do.
Which wasn’t as easily done, as he expected.
From time to time, he could feel the lightness indicating they were losing altitude and the ship’s movements right after that were generally more aggressive – probably the result of correcting the sails and wing.
But the most confusing were moments when the ship floated at an angle in relation to the direction of its motion. ‘Drifting’ in air, to say colloquially, or yawing, to say technically. Every time this happened it either started to deaccelerate sharply or kept accelerating to change the course. Zeph’s inertia was trying to throw him at the walls at odd angles and because he had no way of orienting himself in relation to the direction of their motion beforehand, it was always a surprise attack.
The follow-up correction of the ship’s alignment was another can of worms. People near the back and front of the ship had it the worst, as the behemoth rotated horizontally. Then, the sails’ movements, preventing them from overcorrecting, were forcing the ship to tilt, causing it to roll for a few moments after. Of course, the further away one was from the deck at the center of the mass, the worse it was.
Well, because the ship was this big, none of those movements were too fast or extreme. The forces weren’t enough to throw him off his feet, but the unexpected changes made him land on his backside way too frequently. It was especially irritating when he was eating or using the bathroom.
But there was a rhythm to it all, which he slowly started to recognize. The maneuvers have predictable outcomes, the ship’s reactions to the changing environment varied only so much. His body started to accommodate naturally, as the slight movements of the ship forecasted one of a few possible outcomes. It would take at least a few days to get used to, but he felt like he was starting to… understand the ship. It felt a little like riding an enormous animal, learning how it moves, how it behaves.
He soon realized why the high-class quarters were placed at the center of the ship, on the deck-5. It was a place least influenced by the ship’s movements. Not only that, it had direct lifts to the superstructure and its sun decks, as well as leisure rooms placed above and below. Also, it was least influenced by fluctuations in the ambient Mana density.
Zeph couldn’t have imagined what problems a quickly-changing ambient Mana density can cause. The density in his room was, for the most part, stable. The stamp, inserted in its slot in a metal contraption sticking out of the wall near his bed, was sucking out Mana after it reached a certain threshold. He was always producing Mana, so the ‘pressure’ building up in his room was enough to ‘push’ the excess into the stamp. It was the same mechanism as when he manipulated his Veil – as Aisha explained to him… not so long ago, the whole trick was in creating enough ‘pressure’. It brought to mind the electromotive force, they just needed a controlled ‘potential difference’ and everything would flow as intended.
But when he walked out of the infirmary room that evening to stroll a little, the problem became obvious.
The coming and going of Mana, evidently seeping in from the weather deck above, contracted and dispersed his Veil in unpredictable patterns. It was nauseating in a strange way. After the months he spent in this world, feeling through his Mana has become second nature. He could tell when a solid object entered his Veil, when foreign Mana disturbed its structure, when someone was getting near him. He even started to subconsciously modify the shape of the AMC to better accommodate those sensations, although it was inactive right now. But now, his Veil was sneakily changing radius, shape, and the ‘solidness’ of Mana around was fluctuating.
He felt as if he was underwater, just without the resistance it brought. Then, he started to have difficulties with measuring the distances from solid objects, as his Veil’s range fluctuated inconspicuously. The movements of Mana around faked the sensation of going faster or slower, hindering his bodily coordination or startling him.
To summarize, he was staggering like a drunk person. On a ship that was swaying. This, obviously, didn’t end well. Hugging the walls of the corridor was the only way to move forward, until he decided he had enough and forcefully compressed his Veil to tightly hug around his body.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
If sobering instantly was possible, this was how it would feel.
Now I know why Aisha looked so eager to take the highest quarters. A fucking free training environment, isn’t it? She doesn’t have my Willpower, so I am sure she likes the challenge, he thought, slightly irritated that no one warned him. At least I don’t have to go through the same. Well… he reconsidered and tried to construct a heat cantrip. It was surprisingly hard to do – he actually had to coordinate his Willpower and Will usage because his Veil was too stiff. Yea, I give it back. It’s actually a good training environment for me, too.
===============================
Pavail visited him the next morning to do a quick check-up, bringing a light breakfast along. He already took a shower after doing some light exercises, the same as yesterday, so he was ready to do some touring.
At his prompt, she explained the way to his quarters. Then, she surprised him by taking out his armor from a wooden closet standing just beside his bed.
“Aisha brought it here. She said it has to stay in your Veil,” she explained, placing it on the bed. “I am surprised you already have linked weaponry. It’s really rare at your… Um, our levels,” she corrected herself halfway, trying to not sound judgmental.
“Ugh, good call. I forgot about it, totally….” a cold shiver run down his spine. If the Phleya inside died out because of a simple mistake… “I need to take care of it more,” he sighed with resignation. If he wasn’t wearing it at all times, it would be hard to assure the Phleya's survivability. Maybe I can place a part of the colony in a medallion, or something… Will they even remember the shape of the armor then? No, it’s more important to not lose all those UP I have spent on it! They need to survive. Maybe an internal implant that could store some part of them?
Gru was on the brink of vibrating, Zeph could almost feel it physically. He evidently had an idea, but vibrating near people wasn’t a smart move.
“Also, don’t worry about me, I know my level is quite inadequate,” he said to the girl’s relief. “I am more surprised you were able to tell.”
She shrugged with indifference. “External Soul perception is quite important to us, doctors. Especially for me… How are you able to endure this Mana density, by the way?” she asked, curious.
“I have made sure to be resilient to it… Both ways.”
“Oh!” She nodded to herself as if she just solved a mystery.
She’s probably assuming I spent all my time gathering UP for ‘body updates’ instead of leveling up… Which isn’t exactly untrue. Technically. “Any idea when Aisha will be available?”
“In two days. I don’t believe she could endure any longer, either way. And the herbals are already losing effectiveness…”
After a few days? What is she? A biological weapon? “Tell her to find me when she gets out. I will probably spend my days looking around the ship, though.”
“No worry!” she said, smiling. “I will also be coming. We need to discuss the details, to not interfere with the contract I have sighed already. Ok, I will leave you alone. See you soon!”
“See ya,” Zeph said to the closing doors. As energetic as always, I see…
“Grraaa!” his chest vibrated in amusement.
“Don’t even start. If she starts fangirling, I will just leave the room,” he declared, donning his armor. But Gru evidently forgot about something. “You wanted to say something about the Phleya?”
“Gra! Grrrurrr ggrra…” it exclaimed and started to explain. It took a minute because the idea wasn’t exactly tested and could have many outcomes.
Zeph thought about it while putting up his clothes, but there were too many unknowns to really evaluate the possibilities.
“And how exactly are you going to communicate? It doesn’t have a Soul,” he asked skeptically. “Not to mention, your interior isn’t very habitable, isn’t it?”
“Graau!” it vibrated stubbornly. “Greeeeh.”
“Well…” he hesitated. “Okay, let’s put that part away until we visit a shrine. Even if I can upgrade it in such a way, there are just too many unknowns.” The idea of making them live in mercury or its derivatives is quite ingenious, though. It reminds me of how Prana batteries are built… But getting rid of Gru’s capacity problem is one thing. If Phleya could live in enchantments or form them… he shook his head. He would need a true laboratory to help in testing things out. Gru could only do as much by himself. “As for the communication – we will need to test the chemicals you can produce on isolated parts. Compromising the whole armor because you triggered some strange reaction would be devastating.”
“Gra!” it vibrated in satisfaction, already drilling through his skin to look for possible gaps in the armor to touch the green ‘slime mould’ inside.
Zeph ignored the discomfort he felt and walked out of the room.
After making sure everything was in order in his place, he took the stair to the weather deck.
The view was even more breathtaking than during the launch. He took his time examining every part of the ship in detail.
The steel lines were constantly adjusted by the crew. They were sneaking through a multitude of pulleys and ended near rotating levers, operated manually to balance the tension on the ropes. The attachment points were scattered all over the deck, but the majority were present along the ship’s axis and sides. The clinking sound of locking mechanisms was obscured by the hum of the ship and wind.
He walked closer to one of the sails, curious as to how they managed to keep such gigantic Mana construct in place between its ‘fingers’. The barely blueish surface was surprisingly stable in the face of the wind, even if the sails were staying at around a ten-degree angle to the surface.
The answer was surprisingly simple – thin metal lines were stretched between the fingers, evidently enchanted and the center of the Mana construct. He was sure even that much would produce a tremendous air resistance, which would explain the tilt when they moved, but the magical effect itself wasn’t interacting with the air much.
Seeing that the fingers were raised upwards at the ends, he guessed that the main functionality of those contraptions was to direct Mana upwards – into the wing above.
It was quite different from the white ‘sails’ further back, forming the keel/rudder of the ship. He was sure those ones sported a physical fabric, even if they were enchanted in some ways.
Walking leisurely in their direction and looking around like the tourist that he was, he passed the superstructure. The ship was at least 300 meters long, probably more, so it took him a few minutes to get there.
His heart skipped a beat when the ship suddenly lurched downwards, causing him to lose his footing altogether for a moment. But even after, they were still losing altitude.
The sails reacted with delay, moving slowly, like webbed hands trying to push them backwards. A few moments later, he more felt than saw as the wing above stretched out, pulling them upwards again. They slowed down slightly and Zeph fought for balance for the next minute as the aftereffects rocked the ship.
Breathing deeply to calm his nerves, nervously holding a railing bolted to the side of a higher deck, he analyzed what just happened.
That sail movement… They are pushing passing ambient Mana upwards… If we ever lose all speed, they would be useless! We would fall! The realization shook him, but he quickly started to rationalize the situation. No… we still have those upward engines that helped us start… Ugh, I feel sick a little.
It seemed his body still needed some time to recover. A small injection of adrenaline and it already reacted.
Instead of continuing his trip to the back of the ship to see the ‘jet engines’, he followed the wall, helping his weak knees by leaning on the rail, to find the stairs to the dock+1.
The dock naming system was slightly different than on Earth, but for many reasons less confusing.
After climbing up, he was met with a sight of a small village worth of shops, all with glassed fronts, set just under the floor of the next deck. Booths and restaurant tables sparsely populated the vast terrace filled with people. Some of them looked quite disheveled, but he ignored them and the slight atmosphere of uneasiness.
The crowd of people and the enclosed space he could see ahead were a balm to his frightened soul. Zeph immediately started marching in the direction of the closest entrance leading to the deeper parts of the deck, regaining some control over his wobbly lower limbs with each step.
There was nothing more terrifying than losing your footing, the contact with the ground even, while standing on a surface deck of a flying airship, being stuck between a wall and a not-so-high railing.
A railing that was the only barrier between you and the rest of the sky.
Definitely, nothing.