Willow ducked beside the common space window, hiding next to the curtains. Gripping her spear tightly, Willow heard the argument continue.
“The Nimble Outpost is under Danglawan’s jurisdiction! If you do not comply, we will be forced to take action.”
“Not anymore. We were allies with the Governor Ricordo, not Plux or Seraquinn. It is you and your men who should leave before things escalate. Can your parties really afford losses here when you barely have Danglawan under control?”
There was a long, tense silence before Willow could hear the sounds of footsteps backing away. The delegate from Danglawan replied, “Do not expect this conversation to end here. You will be hearing from us in the future.”
“I look forward to it.”
Willow closed her eyes and breathed as quietly as possible. There would be no fighting today, but she didn’t know long they could avoid it.
----------------------------------------
Elle doesn’t see Ferrum’s argument with Thermal, but she does hear it through the shelves. Shouting used to scare her into hiding, so she’s a bit surprised by her relatively minimal reaction. Perhaps the awakening of her aura left her more confidence in her safety. She’s a master at going unnoticed during her parents’ fights, so she continues reading with only slightly tensed shoulders.
She finds information on Bleck’s necklace which seems to be commonly worn by clerics of Cravallus. Like Thermal said, it’s made of enchanted agrave silver which can burn the undead and fey. Elle remembers that Nola’s necklace also appeared to be made of silver, so it’s possible that they’re dealing with one of those.
Cravallus doesn’t seem to be worshipped as much by the general public, but the book describes symbols used by thieves and other criminals. Before performing illegal acts, people will draw a circle containing a closed eye on a wall and pray for success. Due to their poor reputation among the common people, most shrines for Cravallus tend to be near academic institutions.
Although she still has more books to read, Elle feels uncomfortable staying in the Archives for too long. Not wanting to push her luck, she returns the items and returns to the Hunter’s Guild. She notices that the snow has finally stopped falling, letting her remove her hood.
When she arrives at the guildhall, Serena opens the door for her. She doesn’t see Tiami at the receptionist’s desk as they walk past it. Thermal waits for them in the meeting room, sitting by a map on the table. He looks up from his book. “Good to see you again. Did you manage to find everything?”
“Mostly just things about Cravallus.” Elle takes a seat. “What about you two?”
“I found out some stuff that kind of makes sense when I combine it with his.” Serena glances at Thermal. “I guess we should start there?”
Thermal clears his throat, “A good place as any. The Temple offered to buy a staff from who we assumed to be Bleck. Archivist Ferrum seemed enraged at the idea that someone else bought it before they did, so the staff must be powerful or very valuable.”
Elle folds her arms in thought. “So Bleck’s group might have been selling a staff they got from Una City… Who got the staff in the end?”
Serena replies, “Nobody knows. There were at least two bidders including the Temple, but both are complaining about not receiving it. Apparently, Bleck was supposed to show up at a meeting spot but never did. Maybe he went missing before he could close the sale.”
She frowns. “He already had buyers, yet they still went back to Una City… Either that staff was fake or he promised both of them a staff. Assuming the Temple would at least recognize the real thing, I think it’s the latter. I guess any kind of magical artefact has gotten exponentially more valuable since the Calamities has made it difficult to source the materials.”
Thermal nods. “Indeed, I could see a buyer potentially accepting a different staff if they did not specifically need that particular one. If they were only looking for a powerful magical focus, then Bleck’s group could have made a larger profit by satisfying two clients.”
Taking out an arrow, Serena begins to polish it. Elle has noticed that the half-elf seems more comfortable when she’s moving around. As she’s running a rag over the blade, Serena says, “I heard there’s a lot of competition for magical foci. By taking the first staff with them into Una City, they’d have an easier time getting a second one and making a shit ton of money.”
Thermal pushes a small chalkboard towards Elle. On a first glance, it seems to be a rough sketch of a maze, but she gradually notices the labels indicating the danger levels of different sections. “The Temple has maps of the ruins which the Hunter’s Guild does not possess in their collection. I suspect they may have been deliberately removed to deter hunters from exploring the ruins. Unfortunately, the archivist interrupted me before I could find more on the deeper sections of the ruins.”
Elle scans the chalkboard and sees a sector simply labelled as ‘The Pit’. “Based on my own research, I think Bleck performed some kind of protection ritual on Mt. Aspirash before heading into the ruins. It said that Cravallus would bless explorers of the unknown which does fit with our speculation. Also, I think there’s a chance that we’re dealing with either the fey or undead.”
Both of them look at her in surprise, so she explains the discovery of Nola’s necklace and the magical properties of silver against these types of monsters.
Thermal adjusts his glasses. “I see, I had not considered other beings outside of the corrupted monsters as the perpetrators. Unfortunately, I have no experience with fighting monsters outside of the ones we currently face, so I do not have more to say about the silver. Serena, do you have any thoughts?”
Serena shakes her head. “I’ve never fought one before. They weren’t really common to my area. As for the silver, it was too expensive to be sold in the stores around me, so I never bothered to look into it.”
Elle bites the inside of her cheek. “Okay, I guess we might want to take a look into it before we head out, just in case. I wonder if the Hunter’s Guild has any materials; I don’t want to go back to the Archives… Where is Tiami, by the way?”
Thermal responds, “She said she had urgent business at the city hall. Considering the upcoming festival, I suspect that the Danglawan leaders have arrived or are close to arriving.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Are they that important? I know Danglawan is a major city, but I didn’t think the Hunter’s guild master would need to greet them.”
“I think it is less about greeting them and more about tightening security. Seraquinn and Plux are infamous for overthrowing the previous governor of Danglawan in a violent manner.” Thermal grimaces, his violet eyes dark with worry. “I left the city not long after they established their administration, so I cannot personally comment on their government. However, I do not have faith in those who would cut down all of their political opponents.”
Serena shrugs. “Well, I doubt that their factions are very stable if they’re both coming here. Shows a lack of trust in each other, don’t you think?”
His eyes widen. “I-I suppose not… Hmm, I assume that Vinayre’s council will take it into consideration.”
Elle frowns. “Are tensions that bad between all the city states?”
“From my understanding, the cities are trying to avoid inter-city conflict, even Danglawan. However, Vinayre is rich with minerals and other mining exports. I expect some form of deal to be discussed between the leaders.”
Elle hopes that her journey won’t take her up north, dreading the possibility of getting involved with politics. “That’s good to know. Since we can’t do anything about it, we should focus on completing the mission. I know there isn’t a lot of information about the other missing hunters, but maybe we could try asking around?”
“I concur. We should try to rule out disappearances unrelated to the current situation. I can reach out to my contacts in the Arcanist’s guild tomorrow.”
Serena tucks away her rag. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll talk to some people I know as well.”
Elle awkwardly folds her hands on the table. “Um, I know nobody.” A thought occurs to her. Since the Alchemist’s guild is connected to the hospital, maybe they would know of any unusual injuries? She can ask Dana for more information. “Actually, I might know one person in the Alchemist’s Guild, but that’s about it.”
It’s almost too quick to notice, but Elle sees Serena’s eyes narrow for a moment at the mention of the Alchemist’s Guild. Thermal doesn’t seem to notice it and says, “Any amount of information would help. Might I also suggest talking to Tiami? We should cover more ground by separating.”
Serena and Elle agree to this. He looks mildly relieved that something is going right and continues, “Very well then. Since we have established an agenda for tomorrow, shall we part ways for now?”
Elle pipes up, “Actually, do you have time to help me experiment with my powers?”
He frowns. “You were recently released from the hospital. It would be wise to rest.”
“I opened my inventory earlier, and it was fine! No problems at all.” It’s true. Besides feeling a bit weaker than normal, she hasn’t run into any issues with accessing her powers. More importantly, the deadline for the mission is in three days, so she doesn’t want to waste any time.
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Thermal scrutinises her for a moment before relenting. “If you feel well enough, then I am available to assist. Please pay attention to your condition and let us know if you start feeling sick again. I have been looking forward to learning more about your powers.”
“Sounds good, let’s go.” She pushes down her swelling anxiety, and they follow Serena to the underground gym. While descending down the concrete steps, Elle notices the large cavern is well-supported with beams, resembling a bunker more than a gym. A thin layer of mats covers one half of the room while the other just has exposed earth. Elle can already feel the bruises she’ll get in the future. On one wall, there is a row of chalkboards. True to Tiami’s word, nobody is using this area today besides them.
Thermal guides them to the half of the room without mats, standing by a chalkboard. He looks at Elle expectantly. “To begin, may you please describe your powers in your own words?”
She thinks, trying to put all her observations into a coherent descriptions. “It’s some kind of spatial manipulation. I have a heightened sense of space, and I know where everything is within a 100 metres of me. The space that I can sense — I can move a small part of it with my mind. I found that I can open a rectangle into a subspace where I can store things.”
Serena tilts her head. “Why a rectangle? That seems weirdly specific.”
“Okay, I’m oversimplifying it a bit. I can do other shapes if I really wanted to, but the rectangle is the easiest. It’s like pushing up a window.” She focuses and imagines twisting the air like a wire loop. Next to them, her inventory pops into existence with its entrance appearing like a circle.
Walking closer to the inventory, Serena leans forward to inspect it. “Huh, I can’t see anything. How do you find stuff?”
Elle feels nervous as her teammate almost puts her face into the opening. She instinctively tries to pull the inventory back from Serena, but it takes more effort than expected. “Careful, things that go in there don’t come out alive.”
The half-elf takes a large step back from it. “Ever thought about mentioning that before you open it?”
“Then where would I get my daily entertainment?” Elle jokes outwardly but does the mental equivalent of wiping away sweat.
Thermal walks around the inventory. “Strange, I cannot see it from behind. Can you change the size of the opening?”
“I can shrink it, but I can’t make it bigger than this.” She finds that it’s mentally harder to change the opening after it’s been created.
Serena says, “That’s too bad. You could’ve had a portable room for yourself in there.”
“Yeah, then my inventory would’ve been a live-in-tory.” Elle cracks up at that, and Serena follows suit a moment later.
Thermal looks like he can’t decide whether to be amused or unimpressed. He raises his eyebrows at Serena before looking away. “...Putting that aside, does your inventory have a limit?”
“Not as far as I can tell, but things have to be small enough to fit through the opening. I can only open one portal at a time.”
“Do you think you can store an infinite amount of water in there?”
Elle opens her mouth to answer but then closes it in thought. “...I don’t know if there’s a limit to how much I put in, but I think there is an upper limit to what I can take out of the storage. When I grab things from my inventory, I have to know exactly what I’m looking for. It’s hard for me to picture every individual grain of sand or molecule of water.”
He muses, “It seems like you mainly rely on your intuition to use your powers. To be clear, that is not a bad thing, but we may be able to improve your capabilities by expanding your understanding. What do you know about subspaces or other kinds of spatial distortions?”
“My world didn’t have magic, but we had ideas about theoretical occurrences like wormholes.” Judging by their blank expressions, she assumes that jargon doesn’t translate well into Universal. “It’s like a tunnel between two separate points in spacetime. By folding space, you could connect two distant places. Nobody actually managed to make or see one, but people thought that they could be possible if they had enough energy and stabilising forces.” Listening to herself give such a vague explanation, Elle almost regrets majoring in architecture instead of physics.
Thermal looks curious. “What an interesting concept! It is quite different from the leading school of thought in Arishelm.”
“School of thought? Like it hasn’t been confirmed or proven then? I thought it’d be easier to figure things out when your world interacts with gods frequently.”
Thermal shakes his head. “The gods are not omnipotent. They have knowledge specific to their domains. Furthermore, they have no obligation to share their secrets. If you pursue research in areas related to the fundamental forces of the world, you will find that answers become far and few between. But I digress, let us return to the topic of space.”
He begins to draw a circle on the chalkboard. “As you may know from your research into the divine, Arishelm is the world created by the god Aris. They formed our planet in a realms originally void of stars.” Thermal continues to draw other shapes connected to the circle. “Of course, there are other realms with their own gods. We typically call them ‘outer gods’ since there is little known about them. It is extremely difficult to travel to other realms due to the vast distance.”
Switching to another colour, Thermal draws over the original circle. “Aside from realms, we also have planes which exist on different layers of reality but within the same space as we know it. That makes teleportation to another plane easier than to another realm.”
From his description, it sounds like planes occupy the same 3D space but have different coordinates in the higher dimensions. One year ago, Elle couldn’t have imagined discussing the multiverse like it directly applied to her life. It’s fascinating to see her life turn so weird, so quickly. She asks, “Have either of you been to a different plane before?”
Serena crosses her arms. “Where I lived, we were taught to stay on the material plane. There are all sorts of stories about people losing themselves and never returning.”
“Like they can’t find their way back? But if the same point on one plane is the same on another, I thought it’d be easy to get where you need to be.”
“No, like they became part of the plane itself.” She looks off into the distance as if trying to recall the stories. “Since we are of the material plane, our bodies follow the laws set by the Creator. But those laws get all wonky in other planes, so we break down. People liked to scare kids from oversleeping by saying we’d dissolve in the dream plane if we spent too long there.”
Elle holds back a laugh. “Wow, that’s one way to do it… Is that true or just something they made up?”
Thermal makes a sort-of gesture with his hand. “The dream plane is real, and it is possible to lose yourself in it. However, that would only happen if the mind’s connection to the body was somehow severed. When it comes to regular sleep, the mind enters only the dream plane’s shallows. In general, deep planar travel requires the conversion of a material being into one that belongs to the plane. For example, the mind must become an astral projection to traverse the dream plane, leaving behind the mortal body.”
Elle recalls those strange thoughts after she overused her powers. “Do you remember when I went super out of it after fighting that great worm? I felt like my mind was merging with the environment, and it was so hard to focus.”
His violet eyes widen. “Intriguing. If we were to apply the same concept, this would imply that you were violating the laws which keep your mind intact. Since you are a rift-diver from a world without magic, it is possible that there are rules of this realm which are incompatible with you.”
Equinox gave her the power to understand every language. Did the goddess mess with her somehow? “Esterra and Kinonn didn’t have magic either. In that case, I would guess that aura shields us from the problem of conflicting rules. If aura is energy from the soul, we would still have miniscule amounts of it left in our body even when we think we’ve run out. It’s like a defence mechanism to stop us from accidentally killing ourselves.”
Thermal nods, looking a bit impressed. “It is an interesting theory discussed by my colleagues, even if it is difficult to prove. However, we are moving away from my desired line of thought. Suppose you have two teleportation spells: one which transports you to a different plane and one which transports you to a different area on the same plane. Which do you think consumes more energy?”
Elle scrunches her brow in thought. “I guess it depends on how the second teleportation spell works? You said that we have to transform our body to reach another plane which sounds pretty costly, but how does someone end up in a far-away spot? Do we fold space to create a tunnel, or do we destroy our bodies and then remake them on the other side?”
He stares at her with horrified expression. “The latter sounds very alarming. I shudder to imagine the experimental results of creating that spell, but I digress. You touched on a fascinating point with your first suggestion. There is a plane called the In-Between because it consists entirely of mana currents which mages have learned to use. A teleportation spell creates a sphere of mana around the user which is sent into the mana currents to float to their destination.”
She tilts her head. “...And how fast are the currents? I’m imagining people with bad timing ending up in the middle of the ocean.” This takes missing a bus stop to whole new level.
Thermal coughs, “Well, there is a certain amount of luck involved. Although teleportation spells are written to be as safe and accurate as possible, the spell’s implemented margin of error can only go so far. A more responsible and intelligent mage will consult charts of plane movement to adjust the spell’s parameters. However, short-distance teleportation is generally very accurate.”
“Huh, that’s cool to know.” Elle turns to Serena. “Do elves use teleportation magic differently?”
She looks confused for a moment but understanding dawns on her face quickly. “I’m not an elf. I’m a half-nymph.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.” Elle wants to ask for clarification, but the discomfort on Serena’s face stops her from that line of questioning. “Do you know of any different methods for teleportation?”
Serena thinks for a moment. “...The gods can make beings exist somewhere else. They do not move them so much as twisting reality to match their desires.”
“Okay, so like the creating/destroying-a-body thing. Wonderful!” Elle doesn’t want to probe that line of thought right now. “Going back to my inventory, I wonder if it’s accessing another plane. Maybe I can try opening a portal into the one with currents.”
Thermal nods. “I believe that is a hypothesis worth testing. However, I do not know if the In-Between still exists after the Calamities.”
“Hmm, I can give it a shot.” Elle closes her eyes and tries to imagine opening her inventory into a river of energy. She grasps at the space, pulls it open, and then opens her eyes.
It’s just her regular inventory. She closes it and thinks harder.
When Elle awoke her aura, she severed the spine of that bear-monstrosity by tearing apart space. She discovered her inventory by trying to open a portal in an empty spot. She wanted to stabilise it…
“Oh!” Elle blinks, annoyed that she missed something so obvious. “Each part of my power reflects a distinct purpose. When I open my inventory, I want to store things, so the portal leads to a plane which preserves things. Its appearance matches that stability. So if I want to move around, I have to manipulate space so that I’m moving. Maybe if I imagine a revolving door…”
Before she can try it, Thermal grabs her shoulder. “Wait, what is the first rule of experimenting with magic?”
“Define your variables?”
“No, test it on an object that you will not miss first.”
“Oh, right.” This is why she wouldn’t have survived a science degree. Elle takes a piece of chalk. Picturing the other side of the room, she mentally grasps at the space in front of her and spins it. She immediately shoves the piece of chalk into the spinning space.
A loud bang echoes across the room. Elle opens her eyes to see a cloud of dust rising from the floor. At the spot that she envisioned, powdered chalk litters the floor.
Serena laughs nervously, “You might want to work on your landing.”