Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1793.12.10]
The rays of the rising sun were glistering off the bronze hull of the enormous aerostat, Avianna, as it slowly drifted downwards. The quickly-changing Mana density caused tiny drops of water to condense on its metal surface, amplifying the effect. The sails were folded by its sides and inert, but still active. A few of the upward cylinder-engines were keeping the descent rate in check.
Below, the morning light played on polished, metal surfaces of the main aerostation of Lurona City. It was built on a small, lonesome mountain, sticking out from the west part of the city like an oblong stone from sand, forming an outcrop of a size that almost broke the laws of physics. It probably did, actually. The overhanging cliff – at least a four kilometers-long rock, flat as could be and slightly red in color – was shielding the buildings below from the touch of the sun. It had vertical surfaces on its sides, a perfect place for setting up the docks. The angled surface on top was being used extensively, too, but no platforms for the ships were placed there. Just buildings and scaffolding, maybe even shipyards, but no ship was visible.
More interestingly, Zeph could see rectangular shuttles moving to and fro between the mountain and high structures around it, placed in the city. From this distance, the shuttles seemed to just hover in the air above the city proper.
The second part of their journey allowed them to raise above the unstable Mana currents, around three kilometers above the ground level, making the flight much more bearable. Even at that altitude, the Mana density was lower than during the first part of the course. They were following the absolute edge of what the passengers could handle, back then. A few even caught a Mana-poisoning. The ship was still ways away from Mana-overflow, but it was not built to traverse those skies. That margin was more of an indication of the craftsmanship than the real functionality it possessed.
As the result, they were now slowly diving down from a kilometer above the port. For some reason, the pilots decided to keep the altitude all the way, until the ship was straight above the aerostation.
The city itself, stretching for kilometers on the lands below, was sparkling with random reflections, even if a huge part of it was covered by the mountain’s shadow at the moment. Zeph was observing it in amazement. This time, he was standing on the weather deck with Aisha and P’pfel. His basophobia degraded somewhat during the peaceful ride, to his relief. Even ignoring the air-thickening properties of Mana, the terminal velocity wouldn’t be enough to kill him after he invested another 200 points in Power and Flexibility. At least, according to Aisha.
Well, it was not an absolute immunity, but similarly to cats on Earth – the free-fall would no longer be a death sentence, only a risk of broken bones and damaged organs. Even if he was ways away from that threshold, it would be bad if he developed a fear of heights early on.
Though, he forgot all about that the moment he saw the city below.
It was more of a metropolis, growing not only on land but also out of all nearby islands. Although, most of them were mountain islands, sticking out from the surface of the sea like the fingers of a titan. Magnificent bridges made from stone connected them all, artificially escalating the scale of the structures placed directly on them.
The main part of the city was firmly grounded on the dry lands of the continent, but the constructs growing from the islands overshadowed the mundane nature of the buildings set there. It was evident that the islands were a place for the wealthy – everything there was made from stone or brick, and the higher of the mountain islands even spotted an aerostation or two, paced above or near harbors. Mundane ships of a multitude of sizes, all with sails strangely angled towards the back, crowded the waters around. A separate set of shuttles was flying between the islands, too. It was easily the most active part of the city, full of movement at all altitudes.
Also, the islands were a perfect defensive position, assuming nothing was attacking from the sea.
Zeph shook his head and once more evaluated the structure of the city, looking at the distant walls they passed half an hour ago. Well, maybe aquatic attacks aren’t that rare, after all… he thought, noticing once more that the villas of the wealthy were set close to the outskirts. But I wonder how the people outside are faring…
Even if the stronger of people preferred to be close to their best line of defense – the enormous, almost ten stories high walls – the lands beyond were populated by farmers. Even if the distance from the walls never exceeded ten kilometers, it was still a long way to the safety of the city. The farm animals could be the first line of defense, he understood that much, but if farms were abandoned and destroyed by an enemy, how could the city live through a siege? Not to mention, he couldn’t see any farms or farmhouses set inside the city. He knew some were inside the North Tarak, for obvious reasons, yet this enormous city didn’t seem to have a backup, or even a second set of walls.
It seems sloppy… But could it really be? he wondered idly. Aisha warned me multiple times that we wouldn’t be safe in a settlement, and not only because of the Netherlings planted inside or internal struggles. There has to be a reason for the high death rate she talked about, and those two can’t possibly be the cause…
His ears popped, distracting him. He used a small finger to get rid of the strange sensation still lingering in the right one, drilling inside with a grimace.
“Heh, isn’t it a small wonder that you are still able to stand?” Aisha asked lazily, observing his antics. She recovered fully, or at least she declared so, during the short flight. But the side effect was, her taunting mood skyrocketed. “You aren’t even able to accommodate your internal perception and Mana-flow to the environment. A small miracle, I would say,” she laughed.
He was tempted to ignore her entirely, but that actually struck a nerve. “Yes, yes, Miss I-worked-hard-for-decades,” he commented abrasively. “Not like I managed to achieve similar effects without your training…”
She pouted. “Maybe, but you are doing it all wrong, you know?”
“Actually,” P’pfel interjected, “for a Manacaster, he is above the curve in that regard. Even if he is a—” his head swiveled around, looking at their surroundings—“ahem, has a potential to use your methods, those are dedicated for internal manipulators.”
Haaah, and they said that being a Generalist isn’t a stigma… he thought irritatedly, noticing how the professor omitted his Class.
“Can you two stop already? It’s not even important,” he said in a deadpan voice, relaxing his mental grip on his Veil to account for dropping Mana density around and getting rid of the strange sensation. “I will have to train both, either way. You better tell me how long will it take to arrive at our temporary lodgings?”
“What, tired already? We didn’t even land yet,” she teased. “There is a whole city to tour, it would be a waste to just rush to your bed.”
Zeph shook his head. “Gru’s condition is getting worse. The faster we are in a safe place, the better.” He could feel Gru’s distress, the pulsating movements of its roots writhing inside his body adding to his own anxiety.
They shouldn’t talk about Gru in the public but the risk was minimal. Most would assume they were talking about Zeph’s animal bond. In the worst case, they would think it’s about his living armor.
“Still no information about the cause?” the professor asked, worried slightly. They were here to enjoy the views but the atmosphere became sour, quickly.
“No. Something is changing, but he is in no shape to observe what exactly.”
Professor’s glasses almost slid out of his nose as the Gremling shook his head slowly. “What a piss-poor timing. We could just bunker at Kwan’s…”
“I think he is reacting to lower Mana density,” Zeph explained, grimacing at the rising heartburn he could feel.
Aisha clicked her tongue. “We will take an express skyline,” she declared seriously. “Let’s go back and check out early.”
They all nodded and started walking to the nearest staircase. Avianna was descending slowly, so they had at least twenty minutes yet.
After taking their hand luggage from their quarters, they used a lift to go to the lower decks. Kwan would take care of the rest of their stuff – there was no reason to move the heavy equipment and materials around the city two times over – she would keep it safe until her group settled down in a permanent location.
On the reception deck, the crew was still in the middle of preparations. Documents were exchanged, the strange systems tested, and equipment set to efficiently process soon-to-be leaving passengers.
In normal circumstances, returning a stamp early and checking out was impossible. The ship required even more power right now, so people were encouraged to send more Mana for safety. But those rules weren’t absolute.
Aisha caught the closest worker who just left a service room with a stack of papers, and explained the situation. The guy was hesitating, even after seeing Zeph’s pale face, but was quickly berated and sent off by a woman in charge who saw them talking animatedly in the corridor.
She was absolutely infuriated at the guy for not recognizing Aisha’s status as a Warrior Priestess and the main organization. Not to mention, he didn’t know the emergency procedures.
“Don’t mind him, La-Zora. Please, follow me,” she said, quickly walking in the direction of the service window down the corridor. “We won’t charge you for it. Do you want me to send a call to the Temple?” he asked, rightfully assuming the ship’s doctors couldn’t help them.
“No, we need a controlled environment more than a specialist. And I would rather take care of the transportation myself.”
The woman looked at her with a slight surprise. It sounded like even Aisha didn’t know what was going on, but she didn’t press the matter.
In a minute they were ready, waiting near the ramp to disembark.
Zeph was feeling worse by the minute. He started exchanging resources between his Will and body to stabilize himself, but the Mana-flow inside his body was disrupted to the point it started to hurt him directly.
Gru’s Mana was wreaking havoc he was not prepared to counter…
===
Meanwhile, the kids on the streets of Lurona City were excitedly pointing up. Some started to sing loudly for the pilots and passengers of the magnificent aerostat in a childish belief that they could be heard by them. That provoked adults to also glance upwards with curiosity, but they were quick to return to their daily routine. At the end of the day, the view wasn’t anything new for them, even if it was a slightly surprising one.
Avianna was one of the bigger ships flying around, so it was natural it stole some attention. Especially because the coming winter halted the air-traffic almost entirely – the number of goods for transportation decreased significantly during that season. As such, it was the only big ship seen in almost a month. Its enormous wing was easily half a kilometer long, dwarfing every other aerostat currently docked at the station.
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Only four docks were big enough to accommodate the goliath. With a wingspan taking one-eight of the whole mountain slope, it required specialized structures to help it land safely. But Lurona port was equipped much better than the one in the North Tarak.
As the ship was closing to the platform set on the side of the mountain, cranes made from silver metal planks set in three-dimensional, trigonal patterns started to rise up along the ridge. The ship’s crew started to free some of the lines connected to the wing.
The metal ropes started swinging back and forth between the ship and the dock, caught easily by enchanted catcher-plates only to be immediately secured to the corresponding structures. As the main body of the ship started to dip below the slanted ridge of the mountain, the cranes moved forward like a wave, sneaking between the steel ropes still connected to the deck, to cover the space between its body and wing.
The ropes that were now connected to the cranes tightened, supporting the hull below and pulling on the wing.
Just as the bow of Avianna touched the first landing arm set on the platform, the wing touched the first crane.
In a flurry of winding up ropes, the wing was folding. At the same time, a thunderous sound of creaking metal echoed through a city as the cranes assisted the hull on its landing – in the embrace of supporting arms placed all around the platform.
In the next second, a loud hiss of pistons taking the brunt of Avianna’s weight drown out every other sound. Almost like in slow-motion, the enormous arms buckled, and even the platform itself tilted slightly – the forces so enormous, that the whole port felt the landing.
The last of the ropes on the ship were released all at once, and the hull slowly bounced back up, supported by the mechanical arms and cranes.
A silence ensued. Only distant echoes of the event still reverberated through the city, the sound reflecting from high buildings and mountain islands.
As the dock’s crew started to pat themselves on their back, congratulating themselves for the perfect landing of such a monstrosity, a ramp suddenly fell down from the ship’s side, and a high-pitched, pulsating sound filled the relatively quiet dock, momentarily shocking the workers.
The emergency signal.
Three people sprinted through the entrance, moving directly for the open-air lifts.
===
Zeph managed to make it to the lift before doubling down. The pain in his body only multiplied because of the quick movements. He started vomiting even before they started to move up.
His breakfast was tinted red.
“You alright?” Aisha asked worriedly. Placing a hand on his back.
“Give me a second,” he answered in a hoarse voice, closing his eyes. He tried to feel the insides of his body, using Soul perception and trying to feel the Mana flowing naturally in his body.
“Chasem!” Aisha suddenly exclaimed, “You are bruised and bleeding internally all over… How did it—”
“It’s not that bad,” he cut her off, slowly straightening up with her help and looking around. It should be impossible to eavesdrop here. “He finished folding his roots… Gru, what’s going on? We need information!” Zeph started to call out to his companion. He had to repeat himself a few times before a reply came.
“Gmmmaaa…” a low vibration, full of pain, emerged from the center of his chest.
For a moment, Zeph stood in stunned silence, his companions looking at him with a worry in their eyes.
“What?!” he finally shouted in disbelief. “Are you a girl or what?!” He could feel that the pulses were now originating from the center of his chest.
“Gre!” it spat out.
“Then what the fuck?!” Gru’s Mana was, thankfully, also conglomerating right there, giving his body the respite it needed.
“Umm, what is happening?” P’pfel asked hesitantly.
“Gru is going to… give a birth…” Zeph started explaining, not believing his own words.
“The what?!” his companions exclaimed in perfect sync.
“No!” he corrected himself. “Rather, it will birth something!”
But before he could elaborate, the lift reached the ridge of the mountain. Without a moment to spare, Aisha picked him up in a princess carry, holding him in an awkward position thanks to his backpack being in the way.
“Don’t worry, my friend, I am here for you! You are now in a very delicate state, you shouldn’t overextend yourself,” she said with an absolutely serious face, looking into a distance with a purpose radiating from her nearly-white eyes.
He felt that if he still had a beard, it would fall off of his face right about now. “Ugh, can we—”
The gate of the lift opened, and he could speak no more. Aisha bolted forward at full speed. P’pfel was dangling from her back, as he somehow managed to grab her pack in the last second, guessing what was to happen.
Zeph would scream like a girl from the sudden acceleration, but his pride won that one fight, powered by the ever-increasing embarrassment he felt. That didn’t stop his hands from reflexively clutching around Aisha’s neck, but he quickly rationalized that it was just a necessary safety measure.
Because it really was.
It seemed he never witnessed her true steed… Ahem, her speed potential. Now, that she was on hard ground and determined to transport him the fastest she could, the only thing he could do was hold for his dear life. Especially because she was more leaping than running.
Different from the North Tarak’s, the whole infrastructure of the port was set on the surface, not even one tunnel was visible on the cliff. Which probably was for the best, considering how the rock was hanging over the city, but it caused one major problem – the top of the mountain was crowded with equipment and people, and they were on a collision course with a group of workers.
The second scream was about to escape his lips to accompany the Gremling screeching coming from behind, when she suddenly jumped slightly to the side and over a brick wall.
He almost forgot she could jump a few meters up even with her equipment. The meter-and-a-half-high wall was no opponent for her.
Still keeping their speed, they landed on a wide and empty lane, separated from the rest of the port by the fences and walls trailing its sides. She started to speed up even more, soon overtaking people running ahead of them.
Some humanoids passed them with speeds reserved for cars, running in the opposite direction on their left side, and he finally understand that they were on a running highway. That actually made sense, considering that people could move much faster than carts pulled by animals.
It was bad for his heart nonetheless. If he had to guess, they were moving at least at 80 kilometers per hour.
Stone buildings flew by them, the lane never crossed by another road. Taking into account the occasional change in the angle, Zeph was sure they were moving above the ground level, even though the ground itself was still made from the same reddish rock. He would ask, but the speed wasn’t accommodating for opening his mouth. He already had to keep his eyes almost closed from the fear of a stray bug hitting his naked cornea.
Even if there weren’t many bugs in this world.
After a few minutes of cruising through the port, Aisha finally started to slow down. She, again, jumped above the wall in a seemingly randomly chosen place, only to land on an empty road that allowed her to slow down in peace.
Before them, a wide building without front and back walls could be seen. Wagons, similar to cable cars but more archaic in design, were hanging in rows from thick metal ropes.
Aisha trotted to a burly guy standing on the left side, decked fully in a leather labor suit and checking something on a black plate connected with cables to the interior of the building.
“Emergency fall! Give us an express ride to the Blackwind Tower! Send the message for a low-den—” she paused her tirade, looking down at Zeph. “Is it low, or high Mana density?” she asked quickly, unsure about what to do.
“High,” he answered without hesitation in a somehow dull and weak voice. He was compressing his Veil around his body for Gru for a few minutes now, as it alleviated the pain it felt. He was beating himself for not trying that earlier, but he noticed the positive effects only after trying to keep his Veil intact during the wild run. The physical side effects of using this method wouldn’t allow him to keep it up for long, though. He was starting to have problems with breathing already. “At least… the same as halfway… of the descent!”
She nodded. “Level 60 pressure room required! Bring the costs with the Tower,” she said to the skeptical guy, who just listened. “Possible mixed-birth event, don’t you dare delay me!” she threatened.
“Oh, frix!” The guy paled. Was that just her words, or an Effigy, Zeph wasn’t able to tell, but the guy changed his mannerism almost immediately. “Quickly, this way!” He started to run, and Aisha followed.
The guy was madly tapping on the black plate the whole way, not even looking where he was running. Zeph could hear mechanical sounds from up ahead, as their guide beelined for the open part of the building on the opposite side.
When they arrived, one of the wagons was ready. Made from wood set on a metal frame, it didn’t look stable at all. Without a word, Aisha jumped inside, sliding doors closing immediately behind her.
“I have sent the message already! Good luck!” they heard his muffled voice, before the gravity stopped working.
They were free-falling. Almost. Zeph looked above Aisha’s shoulder, who was still placed firmly on the… floor of the cabin, only to see the mountain moving away from them, faster with every second.
He even saw gigantic waterwheel-like structures placed under the gigantic rock outcrop. Is this how they… bring back the shuttles?... It’s not a fun at all… Heh, he thought, feeling dizzy. Black spots started covering a part of his sight.
“Stop keeping your Veil so stiff!” the professor suddenly hollered, startling them both. They have forgotten about him altogether. “What I told you on the ship?! Keep it moving around your mouth at least!” His words were serious, but the sight of the slowly ascending body of the Gremling almost made the oxygen-deprived Zeph laugh out loud.
Ah, right… he processed his words before that could happen, thankfully. I am suffocating right now…
Zeph started to slowly cycle the Veil near his face, creating a funnel ending inside his mouth. The next breath made him cover his mouth with a hand, as he started coughing uncontrollably. His mind was refreshing slowly, but his body spasmed from the exertion.
When it finally subsided, there was blood on his palm. He took a deep breath and looked around.
“Ugh, should I brace myself?” he asked, knowing that at some point they would have to lose their velocity. It could be easier if the shuttle had seats set in the opposing direction of their ‘flight’, but after experiencing first-hand how Aisha dealt with ‘people in a delicate state’, he wasn’t sure they would even help. The mentality here was quite different from Earth’s, and for a reason.
“Just don’t pass out,” she said. “I will take care of the rest, but I need you to stay conscious. P’pfel! Get into my pack already!”
Ugh, yea. I should brace myself… he thought, clasping his hands above his head to secure his spine.
They were waiting in silence for another few seconds. Aisha placed her feet widely in the direction of their movement, but twisted her upper body to the side so Zeph was facing the direction of the mountain.
Emergency exit my ass, this is just a pure hazard! Just as he thought that, a white blur flew by the windows.
The braking sails were up, and he almost blacked out from the deacceleration. He would, if he didn’t keep the resource exchanged with his Will.
The shuttle had its own ‘sails’. What they really were, was a primitive brake system. No one can fight with the air resistance, especially after the wagon started moving upwards on its ‘rail’, passing the lowest point the rope had.
It was unpleasant for too many reasons, but it was an emergency procedure, so Zeph decided to not judge it too harshly.
He coughed another mouthful of blood, though.
In the next few moments, which he didn’t really register as his body started to scream at him in pain, he found himself on a floor of a room with blue walls.
“GraaaaAA!” his companion vibrated through his chest, waking him up.
Did I black out, after all? was his first thought. Shiiiit, it hurts! was his second, true one.
“You are awake?” He could hear Aisha’s voice. “I have told you to not lose consciousness, didn’t I?”
“Fuck you, like I had any power over it…” He actually had, but not enough. “Why is my body hurting like hell?”
“Complications. Remove your Mana from the front of your chest. Also, stop the ambient Mana channeling, it’s interfering with the process,” she instructed him. Even if he wasn’t able to see her, his eyes closed shut from the pain, he could tell the situation was stable, at last. She didn’t seem to be in a panic or anything like that.
“Was I using the AMC during sleep?” he asked, shyly opening his eyes. “I didn’t know that was possible.” He deactivated the technique, trying to feel his own body, which only brought more pain. He grimaced but quickly moved his Veil out of the way.
“Don’t worry about that. It was actually quite natural reaction. Just concentrate on keeping your Mana away from now on,” she explained. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light. He could see her sitting beside him, keeping her hand on his shoulder. P’pfel was pacing around, more stressed than he ever was.
If that is how women feel when giving birth… Isn’t it quite terrifying? He thought, trying his best to follow Aisha’s instructions. Actually, I am not even the one—
He sat up immediately, ignoring the pain in his body. “Stop playing with me, you morons!” He screamed, checking his naked chest. Gru was growing something near his solar plexus. Well, his body was – the guy himself was unresponsive. He looked back up, noticing the smirks on the bastard’s faces. P’pfel was trying to hide it, like it was possible with the size of his head.
“Har. Har. Har. I hope you had your fun!” He managed to say before the next pulse of movement from Gru made him wince. It was more of a contraction, but he would rather omit its description. His pride took enough of the damage already. “Where are we, anyway?”
“In the underground facility of Makani’s Tower,” Aisha said, explaining nothing. “Just finish it already,” she said in slight irritation. “You were out of it for almost two hours, stopping the process!”
He opened his mouth to retort but stopped himself after feeling something new from Gru. He looked down at his sternum, moving all of his Veil away from the place by instinct.
A bulge started to show itself. “Oh, no,” he murmured with dread.
The bulge raised, causing a sting of pain. “NO!” he shouted.
His skin opened up, and suddenly a blooded, flesh-pink organism broke free in the center of his chest, spraying blood all around.
His spine bent backwards as he started screaming, stunning his two companions.
“NOOOOOO!” he cried from the mental pain, as the alien inside his body spat out a milky-white crystal from inside of his own body, absolutely ignoring the fact he dealt critical mental damage by recreating one of the most known scenes from sci-fi films.
Zeph has fallen back on his bed. His mental state deteriorating rapidly.
Meanwhile, his two companions stopped moving altogether, gaping at the stone with open mouths.
After a minute of silence, broken only by the painful breaths and pitiful groans of Zeph, P’pfel murmured in disbelief.
“Is that… a Manasolid?”