Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1793.12.--] [New Year Celebrations]

As expected, the days were getting short. The few hours of light that the first day of winter allowed them, they used up almost entirely hunting Undead in the streets.

That didn’t mean the hour was early, quite the opposite. If Zeph had to guess, it was around Corora’s 25th hour of the day, an equivalent of 8 pm on Earth. In 15 more Corora hours, the 40-hour period of New Year celebrations would end and Wadokeis all around the city would start counting time once again.

In around 20 Corora hours, Lurona city would witness the first daybreak of the year 1794. Most people would take a day off but from that point forward, and for the next three months, most will switch their working schedule to evenings – to unburden the early, bright mornings and work only after dusk.

It would also be the time for him and Makani to leave the city.

Now, though, the nightfall was drawing close as was visible from the windows of the meeting room on the third floor of the headquarters.

The mist, as much as it was persistent, didn’t reach high. If they weren’t in a valley surrounding a river, Zeph was sure the visibility would become almost normal by now. The weather was also peaceful – the almost-cloudless sky allowing the dying-out rays of the sun to illuminate the world below for the last few minutes.

Zeph was sitting in a cozy armchair right before a large window panel that was uncovered for the occasion. Uncovered by a moving portion of the building’s external wall, that is. The Guild talks finished a good while ago, so he was just relaxing and mentally recharging – the view making wonders in that regard.

As he kept admiring the sight of the main avenue of their not-so-small ‘village’, illuminated by warm light from the myriad of lamps decorating the buildings all around, he scooped the last fork-load of the dish from his fifth plate of goodies and filled his mouth with the meaty bless that he composed himself while abusing the buffet.

The people below were in much more festive moods now, as they should. He was surprised by the number of guests arriving despite the constant fights going all around, but Corora’s inhabitants were a stubborn and hearty bunch. It also turned out to be a good decision on their part.

The Undead already stopped being a problem, at least in the Roaming Onsen Village. Only small critters and a random aquatic animal roamed the less frequented streets. The risk of assault from a third party was also minimal at this point. The constant patrols alleviated some of the apprehension the younger of their guests could potentially feel, making sure the area was safe. Even now, he could spot members of the fast-reacting force roaming the rooftops of the nearby buildings.

“Are you finished stuffing yourself?” he heard Makani’s voice coming from behind.

Zeph lazily looked back. Indeed, it was Makani. In a much better shape than the last time he saw the man, which was probably going both ways.

He gulped down the last bit of food before answering. “I am not really finished yet, though?” he said, sending a longing glance at the tables buckling under the oh-so-delicious burden. He started to respect the Chiropterida’s taste in marine creatures, as well as the city’s eagerness to host them every ear.

“You finally started to savor the taste of what you eat, so I know you are full,” Makani said dismissively, moving one of the nearby chairs beside him and unceremoniously plopping down. His elegant, green-and-gold robes flailed delicately in the air for far longer than they should. A new masterpiece of their Guild’s alchemy-and-enchanting duo of master craftsmen. “When are we going to leave the city?” he lightly asked.

“Tomorrow morning would be the best. After I talk with Lelucia in her Shrine,” Zeph said, still looking longingly at the tables.

“Can do. We will visit my Tower along the way, is that all right?”

That, at last, made him avert his gaze and look back at his companion. “Are you sure we can’t train that outside? As much as I am willing, if something happens again…”

Indeed, Zeph was quite scared at this point of another random event preventing him from advancing his ‘Ambient Mana channeling’ Skill. Between their last excursion into the Tower and the current time, days of struggle have passed.

Makani snorted. “I already told you it’s impossible. And you heard Ghrughah-jiji. We won’t be getting any environmental chambers in at least a few months, so deal with it.”

Zeph sighed with resignation and started ruminating on the discussion that took place half an hour ago.

The first hour of the meeting was dedicated to updating all core members on the current status of their Guild. Ghrughah and P’pfel’s ™ security system managed to catch seventeen people, five of whom survived or didn’t commit suicide, and were now interrogated. An unfortunate side-effect was, they had to activate all lockdown protocols.

Their current inaccessibility aside, the crucial underground facilities and tunnels were already built and operational. All that was left, was to create ‘disposable’ rooms for less important activities of the members of their Guild, like construction, testing, and training facilities.

On another note, the Hannyajin troops started behaving after witnessing just how many infiltrators managed to pass through manned checkpoints. The fact that some of the members of their own squads were either traitors or mentally manipulated only escalated that behavior. As a result, they finally started acting like the organized military that they were, making Kwan especially grateful. Also, for the first time ever, all of them started to implement all security protocols, and with such paranoid detail that even Zeph was impressed.

Woongar was in a secure room, kept in a coma by their medical team and awaiting interrogation.

Despite the many attempts of forced entry, none of the crucial infrastructure was compromised. They were sure because only entities that could phase through walls could ever hope to escape the labyrinth created by the Guild’s craftiest of minds. Especially when the aforementioned great minds were fed by Zeph’s notes from Earth’s advancements on the topic.

To Zeph’s joy, the infiltrators who managed to escape took the fake files from the staged rooms. They would have a hell of a great time experimenting with those, he was sure.

Of course, information like that was of too high a security level to communicate directly, even in the meeting room. He only learned about that fact through the uncanny Veil-communication he established with Ghrughah. It was a work in progress, of course, but they were close to forming a separate language here. By pushing against their Veils, they could be sure that no one would be able to monitor the communication, not even mentioning deciphering it.

No matter what had happened until now, neither of them believed that the meeting room was absolutely free of possible eavesdrop devices or methods, so communicating in this manner was a must.

Thinking about Ghrughah reminded Zeph of something different, though.

“Mana-L is working quite good with Fullerene alloy, though…” he sulked, idly scraping his empty plate to gather the sad remnants of the sauce.

“Oh no… You are NOT going to make the same mistake as our ancestors!” Makani hissed, suddenly much more serious. “Even ignoring the fact that moving foreign Mana-L, as you call it, is nigh impossible, what do you think it would do to your Soul if you managed to re-connect some?”

“… Not sure. Actually, that was one of the questions I had for you?”

Makani kept glaring at him, searching for something on Zeph’s face, but he really didn’t have anything more to say on the topic.

Finally, Makani relented and started explaining. “In normal circumstances, you can’t even work with the Ambient Organic Magicules,” he stated. “In our circumstances right now, though, it can be done.”

“Undead?” Zeph asked.

“And the Ambient from aquatic lifeforms,” Makani shook his head. “Some people have tried to practice re-connecting Organic Magicules, and do you know what they ended up with? Serious mental and physical issues, that’s what,” he paused dramatically. “Trying to cycle that kind of Mana through your Soul is not only technically problematic but directly harmful to the Soul. Don’t believe anyone who says otherwise. It’s also a sure method of increasing your body-related Soul contaminations – like the Blood, Tissue, Neural, and others. But people chasing these kinds of contaminations never end up sane. Even while scrupulously choosing their killings instead of using advanced ‘Ambient Mana channeling’ as a shortcut.” He leaned forward, getting closer to Zeph’s face, his eyes crazed a little. “Those contaminations can be responsible for the first kind of direct matter manipulation humanity ever used, long before the System Onji arrived on these lands, but never underestimate the risk of re-connecting Magicules coupled with anything other than a Soul! Such Mana should only be used during Spellcasting; after you form it yourself!” His face got so close that Zeph could feel his breath on his chin. “Even if our predecessor could manipulate their own bodies, it doesn’t me—”

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Zeph pushed his face away in irritation. “Give me a break! And stop panting right into my face!” Makani swept away his hand, but Zeph just changed his hold and pushed his shoulder instead. “I was asking for fucking training method of my AMC! Not how to become a ‘flesh sculptor’, or whatever!”

Makani smirked, pulling back a little. “Yeah, like that makes a difference. Organic Magicules are only usable because they are yours; don’t you dare to change into a bloodthirsty Fleshmancer on me!”

I can recognize a dark backstory when I see one… Zeph thought, grimacing. Not like I am interested in one right now. “Yes, yes, I won’t play with them! Cool down already!”

Makani huffed, seemingly not satisfied with his half-hearted answer. He was about to comment some more but…

“Jeez! Kiss already!” came the woman’s voice from behind.

They paused and slowly looked back, straining their necks. There, Irra stood in all her glory, looking down on them as if they were an unfinished work of art. She breathed out through her nose with displeasure after seeing their disgusted gazes.

“You need something?” Makani asked, even as he was making some more distance from Zeph.

“Yes! I told you to see me after the meeting, dolts,” she said, exasperated. “Zora is already in the room, why aren’t you?” She said pointedly and turned away, not waiting for them.

After a quick glance, they stood up and followed after her.

They had to walk outside from the main hall, as the smaller meeting room was quite a way away, but that was normal. They weren’t the first of the participants to talk privately, far from it.

Aisha was indeed waiting there, but going by her expression, Zeph was sure she wouldn’t react to anything except, maybe, a direct attack. She was even salivating slightly from the corner of her mouth; her half-closed eyes gazing blindly into the space above as her bulging stomach forced her body to lean backward on the sofa.

The room was nothing new. A lavish, comfortable space for people to speak about more confidential topics. It wasn’t small, but was geared only with soft sofas and a table. There was no bar nor any other decorations, like plants. Simple, but comfy.

Irra closed the door behind them and activated the protective enchantments. Zeph knew them well at this point and thus was quite surprised by the new additions that washed over his Veil.

“I have to confess something,” Irra said, turning away from the panel to look at them. Her cheeks were slightly red as she did so, but she was looking straight into their eyes despite that. “You have… presented a great opportunity to me…” she started with difficulty, her artificial cat ears leaning down on her head. “So, I… I want to return your trust… I-I…” She took a deep breath. “I am not going to work with you indefinitely!” she exclaimed finally, bowing a little.

Makani glanced at Zeph with an expression best translated as ‘I’ve told you’.

Meanwhile, Irra deepened her bow even more. “I will leave your Guild after the fights. I am deeply sorry for not—”

“Isn’t that irrelevant?” Zeph suddenly said, evidently startling both her and Makani.

Aisha’s husk didn’t even twitch, though. Now, that’s a little problematic, he thought and squinted his eyes. He stepped closer while explaining what he meant.

“I don’t want to take away your ideas. I want you to work on mine,” he declared. “As long as you can push our technology,” he started, using an old Rui word for a ‘construct’, “and my Spellwork forward, I don’t care about your inventions, the knowledge you find here, or your future plans. I just want to cooperate, to further both of our crafts at the same time. So stay as long as you feel comfortable.”

Irra looked up at him in confusion. It seemed the very idea was alien to her. Meanwhile, he tried to wake Aisha up by chopping at her head with his hand. It didn’t work, though.

“You have a logically-inclined mind, don’t you?” he asked after an awkward pause, looking back at Irra.

“I-I… maybe,” she said, looking down once again.

Zeph just nodded and tried to pull Aisha’s cheeks.

“I can mathematically prove that working for the combined cause of everyone involved will provide better results and more resources in the long run than working for your own interest alone. I can also prove, mathematically and biologically, that it’s an optimal solution for developing society and species—”

“As if I care about the well-being of society,” she protested nonchalantly, only slightly irritated. “Onjis should work on that, not me! Not you! But…” she gave his words some consideration. “What did you mean by the… better results?”

“It’s an old song of efficiency and perceived value, basically.” He sighed depressingly. “I will take a step back and present an extreme example – how do you think people two thousand years ago lived?” he asked, looking straight at her, abandoning his unsuccessful attempts at returning Aisha to the world of living. “Do you think they were valuing materials the same we are now? Do you think their most wealthy possessed as much as ours are right now?” The current calendar started with the appearance of the System Onji, so it was a question about the times prior.

“That’s more of a guess and a philosophical question,” she pointed out. “It’s just—”

Zeph interrupted her. “Just answer the question. Did they have a monetary system similar to ours even?”

That made her pause for a moment, but in the end, she just crossed her arms and soldiered up. “They had to, didn’t they? Ruins of whole civilizations from that time were found, after all, alongside the remnants of their currency. Of course, they didn’t have our wealth of knowledge, but I would say their sovereigns had even more material wealth than our leaders. What are you trying to say, exactly?” She shook her head.

“That the ‘wealth’ can only be measured in the context of your civilization’s development level,” he said with conviction. “Even if the currency stayed the same over the millennia, what was worth the gold of old kings in their times? Millions of gold spent to build a boat? A town? We can build aerostats and powerful infrastructure for the same ‘price’. Currency only represents the relative value of goods that are being produced and are available. But we can’t buy something that simply wasn’t developed yet. I am sure even our poorest could afford a weapon unimaginable for people in the past. But to achieve that…”

She smirked. “Are you trying to convince me that working for others is better for me? Using these arguments? You mismatched scales a bit, we don’t have that much influence over the world! And it doesn’t work if the society doesn’t support you back!” She pointed a finger at him. Zeph understood her last point quite well.

“I am not trying to convince you of anything, only to present my worldview. Of course, working alone is always an option, especially because of System Onji and the access to Skills. But you are missing a more important point,” he crossed his arms. “If you need certain materials to further your craft, you need to either create them yourself or make sure they are readily available on the market. The situation will get the more convoluted the more advanced the technology becomes. A chain of manufactories feeding into each step of production – producing parts, components, materials, and reagents – isn’t something easily achievable for one person, especially in the technology fields you have chosen. That’s why I don’t care much about our losses, or about keeping a monopoly. I care much more about efficiency and time spent on unnecessary steps. Take what knowledge and support you can and propagate our inventions, I want to see more manufacturers of the things we are going to use after further development. I want those tools and materials to be easily available on the market.”

Irra frowned a little. “You say it like you have bottomless coffers.”

He shook his head. “That’s only because it’s between us, humans. I am not working this… frivolously with organizations – gods know how greedy they can become. Also, one person, like you, can’t bankrupt us anymore. I will be satisfied if the initial profits from introducing the inventions to the market would pay for the research and development, leaving something for the next step.”

“The never-ending push for new inventions…” she mused.

“As it should and as it always was. Isn’t that the whole purpose of our Professions?”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Pretty words. So, you are good with me disappearing suddenly? Even if I won’t be able to balance out the costs of my experiments?”

“As long as you don’t steal our money, heh,” he laughed. “If our cooperation will speed up our overall progress even half a step for every ten taken, I will call that a success. Just make sure to inform Aisha and Kwan to prepare for that eventuality. Also,” he squinted his eyes, “it would be in your best interest to allow the Guild to help you with the… old issues you have left behind.”

She laughed abashedly, scratching her head. “Yeah… if they are going to hit you eventually, maybe I should…”

“Why am I even here?” Makani asked from the side. He was sitting on the sofa, lazily observing them.

“Ah… I thought you two may have some objections…” she said, glancing in Aisha’s direction.

“It’s his idea and his decision for his department,” Makani shrugged, putting his head in his hand. “Do what you want, you two. It’s his money, after all. Well… mostly.”

“Um…”

“Don’t worry about it now,” Zeph interjected. “Besides, all we are doing here is just the groundwork before moving to a higher stratum. Don’t forget about that,” he reminded them. The long journey was lying before them.

Both nodded resolutely.

“I will remember about you guys if we go our separate ways. If we meet again, I will give you a discount,” Irra said, a small hope bleeding into her voice for the first time.

“Don’t jinx it,” Zeph said mirthfully, confusing them. “But I will gladly visit your shop after you reach mastery in your crafts. Anyway, any plans for the evening, or are we going to sit here and brood over trust issues all night long?”

“No… I will have to talk with Zora later, but it’s not urgent anymore,” Irra said.

“Finally! Let’s see what Kwan’s group prepared for the visitors!” Makani exclaimed, jumping back to his feet. “I propose we start with the gaming center!”

“Heh, sure!” Zeph was also curious about how his ideas were implemented in the final products. “I suggest visiting an onsen before midnight, though. My whole body I sore after today…”

Chatting excitedly about trivial things, the trio left the room with the comatose Aisha inside. Everyone was eager to spend at least a few hours of the New Year festivities as they should have been spent – playing around and having fun.