Sorry about the wall of text last time, for some reason it doesn't like copy pasting...
The girl was once more alone in the room, the last of the 'Heroes' had just left to go join the feast. Her arms ached from the laborious task of holding the orb out for half an hour, even after she infused mana into her arms. She let out a sigh of relief that she had not been one of those unfortunate people chosen to belong to those children. She did not want to waste her life obeying the commands of horny lust driven teenagers such as those. The only one who really drew her eye was the last one with his indifference. She merely passed it on as shock though and started walking back to where the orb belonged on the far side of the castle.
She glanced down at the mysterious thing once more pondering how it worked. She never really cared enough to look it up, but still decided to try and piece together how it worked anyway. As her thoughts went off on this tangent something caught her eye. A small metallic object was still in the side of the sphere...
??? : *Did he forget his card?*
She reached out and looked at it. Normally looking at someone else s status card without permission was a grave crime that could result in death, however in the case of lost cards it was necessary to ascertain who the original owner was so that the card could be returned to them. What she saw shocked her. This wasn't a primary card, but a legendary secondary card.
A secondary card was only distributed to those who fulfill special requirements, and this one was special even amongst those secondary cards...
Whosoever's card this is shall be henceforth declared the Primus of EarthConditionsClass 42 Limiter; Class X Limiter; Memory Wipe; Immortality DecreaseTrue RaceStratovian High Primus of Universe LL971501222Secondary ConditionsClass 12 Limiter, Class F LimiterPassive Allele repair Inactive; Automated Repair InactiveStratovian Uplink Inactive; Passive Immunity Inactive; Special Status : A Crack in the wall...Crack %.03% Of trueTotal Limiter99.97%
She gasped and dropped the card in her shock.
??? : *A PRIMUS... HERE???? Did we accidentally summon their planets primus? What have we done? Has the king doomed us all???*
She frantically picked up the card again, put the sphere on a nearby shelf and ran as fast as she could in her dress to a lone tower on the edge of the castle...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
He could hear shouts as he followed his teacher into the hall where the feast was. He really didn't care much for the excitement but even he had to eat so he sat down on a bench in the corner, trying his best to be alone. The room was crowded however and being alone was practically impossible, leading to him having four other people within arms reach of him. He simply ignored them as he ate the hot glazed chicken in front of him. It was very good by his standards, but he quickly came to the conclusion that this was a king's castle, with royal chefs, and it had the best ingredients and spices available. Especially when in an environment such as this where they were welcoming the new heroes to their "humble" abode.
He was immersed in his thoughts when someone called out to him.
??? : "Cornelius, what are you doing all the way over there, come over here!!"
The random someone who he was referring too was one of his acquaintances from this class. A teenage boy about the age of sixteen, his name was Fred. He was gathered around a table with all of the other boys, they seemed to be talking about something exciting as all of their faces showed broad smiles.
He picked up his chicken, not wanting to let it sit and get cold, and walked over to them. He grabbed a seat at the end on the far side from Fred, just so that he could listen in on their conversation.
??? : "So that's how it goes huh? Alright Fred and I get that brown haired one, Mark and Victor, get the other brown haired one, Vincent and Damon wanted that one right? So that leaves four girls left and nine people. Before we go too far, since we have already heard everyone elses opinions, Cornelius, which one do you want?"
Cornelius : "None of them, they aren't to my tastes..."
His comment caused great shock amongst those around him. He was handed a golden opportunity to get not only laid but also to keep a permanent pet, and yet he denied it. This truly shocked them but they soon overcame it and continued...
??? : "Alright more for us then" At this, everyone else broke out laughing.
Fred : "Well that certainly solves the problem of the numbers, now we only have to determine the last four groups..."
Their conversation went on like this until it was decided who got which girls. The girls in question were standing quietly to the side of the room, eyes downcast. Perhaps they were regretting their lot in life, to be given away to some people they have never met to be pets. Perhaps they were simply waiting quietly to become sex slaves for the saviors of their country. Who knows what they were really thinking...
Meanwhile in another part of the castle...
---------------------------------------------------------------
Stolen story; please report.
??? : "Where did you get this???"
Girl : "It was left in *huf huf* the sphere... I think it was the last one, He might have been the Stratovian, otherwise someone would have *huf huf*noticed the card beforehand."
??? : "Whoever it was, you must find out. Should any harm come to him our entire country faces obliteration by the twins..."
The source of the voice was an old man, dressed in long dark blue robes. The grand mage of the court. He knew more about the world then most people in the entire country. When the girl had found the card she instantly went to the most trustworthy and wise person she knew, and here she was, still tired from sprinting for so long...
Girl : "But how do we find *huf* him, judging from this card, the primus has no memory of being a primus, and all of his Stratovian traits are either locked or inactive right now. *huf* He is, with all due respect to him 'normal'. "
Wizard : "No, there has always, and will always be, one thing which sets him apart. Stratovians do not have the inherent ability to use mana. It was not built into them by their creator."
Girl : "what does that mean?"
Wizard : "Oh thats right, it isnt common knowledge. Well allow me to enlighten you, Stratovians as you know, are not human. They are in every way possible "better" then humans. They were created by a unique human millions of years ago and have since spread throughout the universes and planets. Every planet, whether or not it has life is irrelevant, has its own version of the original Stratovian city. The city watches over the planet, shielding it from threats which it would not be able to defend against. But for the most part they are passive in the affairs of man.
That is, until a Stratovian wishes to decend and integrate themself into our world. These are refered to as "decended Stratovians" and generally they are "weak" among their race, or they have reached the pinacle of their field. The former is more common, however the latter is, while exponentially rarer, far more dangerous, as once they have nothing better to do they request a mind whipe and choose to live amongst us. Even the weak ones are still worlds beyond us even while constrained by limiters on their intellect.
Even I in all of my two hundred years of living have only ever met one decended Stratovian, that was where I learned this. In fact, I think she is still hanging around somewhere..."
Girl : "So how does that help me find him?"
Wizard : "Ah right! You must wait until they are trying to use spells, as the Stratovian will be unable to do it. At that time it would be confirmed that he is without a doubt, the Stratovian we are looking for.
In the meantime, you thought he was the last one right? Keep an eye on the one you think is the Stratovian. I will contact some friends and try and track down the decended Stratovian which I know of. Hopefully we can get this child away from this political nightmare of a kingdom before he is drawn in, for if he is, the twins will not let us off lightly..."
And with that the wizard twirled and walked out the door, presumably heading off to go find some people at this late hour.
The girl, left alone now, decided to heed his advice and try to find that boy she had taken an interest in. She headed off to the Heroes rooms, trying as hard as she could to be stealthy....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well this is taking longer then I thought...
Spoilers about the cities under the tags,
Spoiler :
The Primary Stratovian City per world is run by a set of AI's referred to as "The Twins"
The City operates like a cell around its matter destabilization core. This core takes the surrounding atoms from the planets atmosphere, or anything really, as it has the power to decompose any atom and convert it into pure protons neutrons and electrons. It uses these decomposed atoms to create whatever the city needs. This process takes a rather long time, but since Stratovians live for seven hundred years on the short end its fine by them.
Anyway, The city works like a cell. Every city start off with a population of five thousand, each one genetically different from the rest but all sharing Stratovian genes. These genes are different then human genes, as a Stratovians "low" IQ is upwards of four hundred. The more intelligent ones are in excess of six hundred. Stratovians are all naturally good looking but that is irrelevant to them, as they chose their mates for intellect. They are a polygamous society due to low birth rates and the desire to increase their genetic purity.
IE a stratovian male with an IQ over 600 gets any female he wants assuming she doesn't already have a husband. While a Stratovian male with an IQ of 400 essentially doesn't get any pussy. This is genetically in place to continuously use the upper outliers to increase their species as a whole. Rather cool right? Even better, Stratovian Females are aggressive with higher intellect males, they will seek them out in order to create offspring of a higher pedigree.
Even Even better, the Stratovians are all fine with this system, as it was put in place by their Creator, and is constantly monitored by the City. Yes, the City is alive...
More on the Stratovians Cities next chapter :D