The look on Auris Ping’s face made one thing very clear to me; and that was that he clearly didn’t share the same degree of shock, confusion, nor disbelief I was currently experiencing.
Which was to be expected, all things considered.
Moreover, he seemed all too happy to address my sudden and abrupt question, if that smug toothy grin was of any indication.
“He consumed them, Cadet Emma Booker.” The bull responded by simply repeating his words, though this time with an increasing glut of haughtiness. “Was the aim of your question for me to elaborate further, or did you simply require me to repeat myself?” He continued, feigning a thinly-veiled theatrical ignorance that wouldn’t have been out of place in your typical telenovela. “I assume your intent might’ve been the former, considering the word choice involved.” The bull paused, before shifting his posture, crossing his arms in a sort of dismissive arrogance. “Though I wouldn’t discount the latter option either, considering your propensity for wearing that eccentric form of dress, would more than likely result in a fair share of regrettably practical shortcomings - such as the ability to hear properly, for instance.”
I could practically feel that renewed sense of haughtiness radiating from the bull’s face alone. His body stood tall and proud, towering over his peers, as if basking in the comeback he’d made in Articord’s class. A comeback propelled almost entirely by zealotry, by simply sticking to his guns, and maintaining that unwavering dogma that at this point benefitted him rather than detracted from his class participation.
Every fiber of my being was telling me to find some sort of witty comeback, some way to slap this bull back to reality.
But I didn’t.
As I simply resolved myself to one of Thacea’s many, many talking points last night.
One that simply boiled down to a rather obvious fact that I often overlooked — that winning isn’t always about outright defeating an enemy. Sometimes, it’s just about depriving your enemy of what they want. Which in this case simply meant, not to react to the obvious bait.
“Right. So, all of that aside, can we get back to the point? All I wanted to know was exactly what you meant by the whole ‘consume the gods’ comment. Like, do you mean that in a metaphorical sense? Like did he take their place in the divine pecking order or something? Or is it something a bit more metaphysical? Like, did he ascend to godhood and is now like running things from the ‘realm of the divine’? Or is it like, something weirdly literal like… the gods manifesting themselves into physical forms and then like… after being defeated, being carved up for a one-man all-you-can-eat Sunday Roast or something?”
That entire pile of questions seemed to be just what was needed to trip up the raging bull right off of his game. As he glared at me now more with annoyance than blatant superiority.
“You needn’t be so… common with your oddly-specific descriptors, newrealmer. But alas, it is my duty to address those points all the same. You see, it’s quite simple, His-”
Auris stopped in his tracks, rudely interrupted by the doors to the class shuddering in place, the locks placed upon it rattling along with its chains.
Articord could do nothing but to sigh at the sight, as the faintest hints of music could be heard just from behind the threshold of the door.
“You are all dismissed for lunch.” She spoke to the entire class, before turning towards me specifically. “Cadet Emma Booker?”
“Yes Professor?”
“Your question need not warrant an entire period’s worth of explanation. I advise that you seek the answers to your questions from your peers. But do not worry. I will not allow this venture to go unchecked or unaided. For this shall be your homework for the next class. This way, I can attest to the veracity and the fidelity of the answers you find-” The professor paused, before eying the rest of the students. “-and gauge just how well-informed the rest of your peers actually are.”
“Understood.” I responded with a nod, before standing up in the order of peer group points, out and into lunch.
----------------------------------------
The Grand Dining Hall. Local Time: 1215
Emma
“So, let me get this straight.” I began, maintaining eye contact and a dead-pan expression despite no one outside of the armor being capable of reciprocating. “First, he started a war against the gods.”
“Correct.” Ilunor nodded impatiently.
“And then he defeated them… somehow, with lots of magic and social trickery and a whole bunch of followers in an apocalyptic battle that literally and I quote: ‘shattered the world in two’.”
“Yes.” He nodded once more.
“And after defeating them… he just… up and consumed them? Like, you said it was one by one, sure, great, that’s a cool detail. But like, how exactly did he do that?”
The Vunerian exhaled deeply through a look of utter frustration, before presenting me with his lunch, a spread of beautifully presented meats and vegetables, and what looked to be a leavened flatbread.
“These are the gods.” He pointed at the meat spread.
“And this is the vessel by which he ensnared their essences.” He pointed at the flatbread.
“And now, if you’ll entertain this analogy, imagine I was His Eternal Majesty.” Ilunor continued, carefully and daintily placing the various meats and vegetables into a neat little pile onto his fluffy flatbread that kept getting larger, and larger… and larger still; until it looked like the flatbread itself couldn’t was about to lose all semblances of structural integrity. “I perform various rituals, probably taking days if not weeks.” He continued, stretching this analogy further by folding the bread into a neat envelope-style parcel.
Creating something halfway between a burrito and a pita wrap.
“And then finally, after all that endless work, I consume.” The blue thing did not hold back as he politely, yet firmly, stuffed that entire self-constructed sandwich into his gaping maw.
A feat that I was not prepared to witness.
A feat that immediately broke something in my brain, as I felt like I needed a hard reboot following that stunt.
Soon enough, with bulged cheeks and a ravenous, yet somehow polite and reserved chew sequence, he spoke. “And that’s that, earthrealmer.”
To say I was taken aback, would’ve been the understatement of the century, as I turned towards both Thacea and Thalmin who each seemed to share a similar sentiment. “Is that… literally what happened?”
“Not literally, Emma.” Thacea spoke. “But if the stories, scriptures, and historical texts are to be believed, then this… analogy is surprisingly apt. Down to the collection of powerful immortal god-like essences which were in effect, absorbed into His Eternal Majesty by way of nth-tier spells and rituals which spanned entire realms.”
“I couldn’t have summarized it better myself.” Thalmin acknowledged Thacea with a respectful nod, before turning towards me. “For as much as I have my… reservations on the truth behind the scripture, if I were to speak purely from what historical records show, this is exactly how things developed Emma. And likewise, this is one of the reasons why the Nexus has maintained its primacy for so very long. Because as much as I hate to say it, His Eternal Majesty’s well… eternal existence, and the power of the gods he has absorbed, has in effect acted as a palpable threat that keeps everyone in line. We saw this first hand on multiple occasions, the most cataclysmic of which was in the Last Great War.”
“Whilst your crediting of His Eternal Majesty’s divine powers and raw unbridled magical potential is much appreciated Thalmin, you underestimate the role the Nexus itself played during the conflict.” The Vunerian spoke politely, and not belittingly, towards the lupinor. Before shifting his sights back towards me. “For you see, Emma, it is important to note that His Eternal Majesty’s aims, of the crystallization of society at its peak, has worked wonders in maintaining the Nexus’ unwavering superiority. By retaking the fate of the mortals back from the gods, His Eternal Majesty has now fully embraced maintaining the mortal realm at its precipice, ad infinitum. Which means that any war, or any use of force, will always and forever be at its optimum. And any opponent that dares face the Nexus, will always be facing it at its height.” The Vunerian paused, taking a moment to completely destroy another pita wrap, before continuing. “Never a wilt, never a falter.”
I took a moment to pause at that, to regard everything the Vunerian was saying through a critical lens.
“This makes more sense the more we talk about anything outside of his mythos.” I began, muttering out in open thought, garnering the curious and critical eyes of the rest of the gang. “His Eternal Majesty seems to have done his homework in statecraft, and then some. Because in order to have maintained… this, in any capacity, for this amount of time, is to have transitioned away from the temptation of simply resorting to the blanket use of the threat of violence in order to solve everything; which is probably something really tempting given all of his power - and into a more advanced set of social controls. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the threat of violence is still there, no doubt, but all of this?” I gestured around us. “The layer upon layers of social decorum, the adherence to the state religion, the cult of personality, and the institutionalization of cultural normative values that enshrines the participation of major keys to power within a system of his own making? He’s built a system. And a system that people, like yourself Ilunor, subscribes to, at that.”
I eventually went back into deep thought, as another unsettling realization came to mind. “And… he’s immortal too, right? Like, it hasn’t been clarified yet whether or not he’s-”
“Of course he’s immortal, earthrealmer.” Ilunor rebutted, finally regaining his footing. “It’s in the name. His Eternal Majesty, the eternal aspect of it referring to an eternality following the founding of the contemporary Nexus proper.”
Then it’s not just a system that’s subject to change due to the gradual and unavoidable ebbs and flows of a dynasty or family… it’s set in stone by virtue of a truly eternal figurehead. I thought to myself darkly.
“I don’t see why you’re more fascinated with this aspect of His Eternal Majesty, as opposed to his raw unbridled power, or the resultant boons of his reign, Earthrealmer.” Ilunor pulled me out of that thought with a genuine and earnest question.
“Because it’s a key aspect of this whole system that allows it to work as it does.” I muttered out in deep thought. “His continued existence is the keystone by which everything rests. It’s not so much only about his power, but what his continued existence represents, and the fact that presumably he’s still the one calling the shots, ensuring a sort of fidelity throughout an endless reign. I’m sure his power is impressive, Ilunor, but when you’ve lived with your people possessing the same sort of power, that particular aspect of him becomes less impressive to me just by me being jaded to it honestly.”
The Vunerian responded by eying me a look of cautious doubt. I had no doubt that he was tentatively considering my words, especially those latter ones, with a dose of heavy skepticism. But unlike before where he’d just dismiss it all on account of my manalessness, it was clear that he was at least actively considering it this time around.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
I clicked my speakers off.
“EVI.”
“Yes, Cadet Booker?”
“Set up some roadmaps for me on what you calculate to be the best trajectory forwards in the slow and gradual reveal of humanity’s ‘power’. We’ve started with the basics, with civilian stuff for a reason. But let’s maybe consider something more tangible as we go on with next week’s sight-seeing adventure.”
“Acknowledged, Cadet Booker.”
With the EVI running in the background now, I simply sat there watching everyone eating their lunches within their respective privacy fields, ruminating on the information I was being fed from the mouth of the Nexus itself; and dissecting each and every aspect of it for what it was worth.
I knew for a fact my brain was in denial right now.
That was probably why I’d chosen to think about what I knew was real (the whole political situation), rather than what I was struggling to treat as equally true — His Eternal Majesty, and the whole ‘god’ situation.
The fantasy fiction loving side of me could easily understand it, and was willing to go for it.
But the practical real world minded side of me just couldn’t fully process it.
My two sides simply refused to cooperate right now, especially with something this insane.
“You’re simply in denial, Earthrealmer.” Ilunor managed out, as if he was reading my mind.
“What?” I responded, clicking my speakers back on in the process.
“His Eternal Majesty is a lot to take in, in just one lesson. Just give it time, and soon enough, you shall see the light of enlightenment as the rest of us have.” The Vunerian spoke confidently, but not so much in the Auris Ping sense. Moreso, it was clear his faith wasn’t as overly zealous.
Which was just another fascinating thing to take note of.
----------------------------------------
The Grand Concourse of Learning. His Majesty’s Hall. Local Time: 1545.
Emma
The return to class, and indeed the entirety of the rest of class, was marked by a radical shift in the flow of information and the vibe of the class as a whole.
No longer was it fixated on a deep and rich lore-filled narrative, presented in a way that was emotionally engaging; instead it’d taken a sort of dryer academic approach.
It was as if the professor had decided that the theater of history was enough for one day, and was now compensating for it by pivoting hard towards a Vanavan-approved blackboard lecture.
Moreover, it was sort of a foundation class similar to Vanavan’s attempt at laying down the ‘basics’ of his subject.
Which in this case, was Adjacent Realm History and Politics.
There was, however, a lot of good that came from this particular period. And by good, I meant sweet, sweet intel. Because unlike the first period that was filled with more alleged facts than a 26th century corpo exec’s self-biographical exploits, the second period was thankfully a lot more cut and dry with it being a straightforward foundational class.
Because it primarily focused on describing and analyzing exactly what an ‘adjacent realm’ was, and all of its associated historical and political implications.
“As a matter of fact, the term Adjacent Realm is a vague and nebulous one when one tries to view it from a geographical or planar lens. For all it truly is, is an abstract catch-all term that describes any ‘realm’ of peoples united by the commonality that is species, and to an extent, shared cultures. There have been some instances where several ‘realms’ have existed beneath the same skies and atop of the same dirt. And other instances where they may share the same greater plane of existence, whilst disconnected to one another’s dirt and skies. For the most part however, a ‘realm’ typically remains disconnected from any other, united only by the creation of portals, through the Nexus itself. Which brings me to my next point: the Nexus. Which, as you might imagine, acts as a natural hub through which all inter-realm and interdimensional travel flows. Indeed, if one views it from this lens, the term ‘adjacent realm’ starts to make an increasing amount of sense. As its ‘adjacency’ stems from its orbit around the Nexus. Moreover, its ‘adjacency’ likewise stems from its secondary status as an entity. Creation myths aside, it is a known fact that an adjacent realm is lacking in all the primary characteristics that defines the Nexus. Anything from the richness of mana, to the breadth and depth of its physical size, remains almost entirely subordinate to that of the Nexus. Indeed, the further one analyzes this trend, the more and more apt the term ‘adjacent realm’ truly becomes. But that is where I will leave it. Your homework is to find at least one more example of a way in which the term ‘Adjacent Realm’ is an apt descriptor, when compared to that of the Nexus.”
That nugget of information was a heck of a lot denser and more useful than the entirety of one of Vanavan’s ‘nomenclature’ classes already.
The class continued further after that point, but after a good while of listening, my mind couldn’t help but to continue zoning in and out of my obsession over the whole ‘Eternal Majesty’ situation.
That particular aspect of the Nexus’ lore still didn’t sit right with me.
Before I knew it however, class abruptly ended, once more to the tune of the band that came and went with a frustrated look from the fox professor.
“Class dismissed.” She spoke through a tired exhale. “And do not forget your homework. That counts for a not-so-insignificant portion of your grades.”
We found ourselves once more, exiting the class based on points.
The results of which, was nothing short of surprising. With Auris Ping’s group taking the lead, Qiv’s group falling two levels behind him… and our group somehow taking second place thanks to Ilunor.
This… came much to the chagrin of the gorn-like lizard who glared at us every step of the way back to the dorms.
----------------------------------------
Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30, Living Room. Local Time: 1620 Hours.
Emma
There was one question that didn’t leave my mind, even as we arrived back in the dorms, and an automatic privacy field was erected by someone in the gang.
“Do you guys actually believe in what Articord is preaching? Because from what I can see, it’s clear that the mileage of belief kinda varies. You got true believers like Ping, that one’s obvious enough. But I can’t put my finger on whether or not even bootlickers like Qiv really believe. There’s a vibe that I can’t really explain away, but it feels like there’s some disconnect between them.”
“And you’re curious where we fall in that hypothetical sliding scale of belief, Emma?” Thacea clarified.
“Yes.”
“Belief… is a complicated beast, Emma.” Thalmin began, showing a clear distaste in the question itself; one I half-expected yet still felt sorry for having asked now.
“What I do believe, that the rest of you ought to believe in as well, is that out of all the paths a civilization may or could ever take, that this is the assured path to salvation.” Ilunor continued from Thalmin, and unlike the former’s more reserved answer, it was clear Ilunor wasn’t going to hold back when it came to his own beliefs. “And I don’t mean salvation in the theological or metaphysical sense, but salvation as it pertains to civilization itself. For underneath all of the scripture and mythos, lies the cold and hard truth — that a civilization is ultimately meant to sustain those within it, and the legacies built throughout its course. Without it, we’re no better than animals fending for each and every one of ourselves in the forests, beholden to the laws of nature. Civilization, is a sapient’s attempt at enforcing the will of himself over the laws of nature. With that being said, civilization is also about making everyone immortal, defeating death itself by virtue of the arts and the maintenance of legacy. If a civilization falls, everyone falls with it, past, present, and future. Fidelity is needed across the unimaginable stretch of eternity and a mere man, or a single dynasty simply cannot do that. We’ve seen it happen over and over and over again, even you saw the sights, did you not, Earthrealmer?”
“Just get to the point, Ilunor.” I muttered out.
The Vunerian sighed instinctively in response. “What I’m getting at, earthrealmer, is that whether or not you believe is irrelevant so long as you subscribe to the most basic of objective truths — that this system is the only system capable of meaningful longevity. And ultimately, as rulers of our own civilizations, we must subscribe to this notion if we are to succeed in the ultimate goal of enlightened rule — continuity. Anything less will not suffice. It’ll simply be a subscription to either tested paths of assured destruction, or untested paths paved with unnecessary risks.” The Vunerian paused following that, turning to both Thacea and Thalmin as if expecting them to back him up. The latter of which, actually addressed me in the most candid way possible.
“Your system of governance is an anomaly, Emma.” Thalmin finally uttered out. “Either due to the lack of mana and the diversification of those with the keys to civilization, or a plethora of other variables I’m clearly not taking into account, it is difficult to truly imagine how it continues without collapsing.”
“Maybe that’s because it’s only a matter of time-”
“Then it would’ve collapsed already, Ilunor.” Thalmin snapped back. “There have been Kingdoms and Empires that lasted for only a fraction of the time Earthrealm has maintained its current iteration. Which, you’ve mentioned, is what, at a thousand or so years, Emma?”
“Roughly thereabouts, yes.” I acknowledged with a nod. “At least, depending on how you define our actual founding date. It’s very much debated but… it’s safe to say that it’s very much around the millennium mark now yeah.”
“The fact remains, Ilunor, that Emma’s realm demonstrates that there is perhaps an alternative to the model His Eternal Majesty provides. A secondary path, which whilst more precarious, is somehow self-correcting.” Thalmin offered.
“That’s to be expected coming from what is ostensibly an ostracized self-anointed family, Prince Thalmin.” Ilunor shot back, prompting Thalmin to ignore him entirely as he refocused his attention squarely on me.
“To answer your question, Emma? I do not worship His Eternal Majesty as a god. Moreover, I simply see him as a god, by virtue of his actions of having both defeated and consuming the old gods. In all honesty, my faith lies in the old beliefs of my realm, and it is as simple as that.” Thalmin reasoned.
Ilunor didn’t respond to this. But the look on his face was more or less enough for me to guestimate what he was pondering deep within.
“I… hold a similar view to that of Thalmin’s.” Thacea quickly added. “However, with that being said, both of our realms and their relatively recent Nexian Reformations, probably contribute to this mentality. With more time comes more acceptance of the reformations, and thus more faith in the eternal truths, as seen by Lord Qiv.”
“And Lord Ping? Why didn’t you bring him up as an example?”
“Simple, Emma. His realm is an exception. Moreover, even his family is an exception. Both of which constitute a rather eccentric take on the Nexian Reformations, whereby the uplifting of the lives of the people coincided with several miracles that truly did benefit their realm. They herald His Eternal Majesty as a savior for he truly did save them from a far more malicious regime. Or at least, that’s what is publicly known.”
I paused, taking everything into consideration, before Thalmin hit me with a rather unexpected question.
“So what about you, Emma. You were quite vague with your beliefs in class, what is it you believe in?”
“Ah, oh, that’s quite a big question you’re asking me there, Thalmin.” I acknowledged with a nervous chuckle.
“It’s only fair to ask since you asked us about our faiths on His Eternal Majesty after all.” The wolf raised a brow of curiosity, prompting Thacea to side-eye him, as if in doubt of his social tact.
“Prince Thalmin, if Emma is uncomfortable with divulging that sort of information, she needn’t-”
“It’s alright, Thacea.” I cut the princess off with a single raise of my hand. “Right, so, on paper? I’m Buddhist. It’s one of the many religions present in my realm right now, but long story short, I’m not that much of a devout believer. Like, yeah, I believe, but it’s sort of like a comforting sorta thing you know? It’s nice to have something to believe in after certain events that rattle you, and it’s nice to have something comforting, even if it is a personal belief.” I shrugged.
The wolf pondered this for a moment, and his next question came as a rather interesting surprise. “So there are multiple faiths in your realm, Emma?”
“Yup. The UN’s whole thing is personal freedoms, so that also extends to freedom of religion.” I paused, trying my best to gauge Thalmin’s current expression. “I’m assuming that’s not really a thing here, then.”
“Not in the Nexus, no. And most certainly not after the Nexian Reformations in an adjacent realm.” Thalmin answered with a thoughtful gaze, before shifting to a sullen smile. “But I should’ve expected as much. This is, after all, coming from a realm with multiple accepted languages as the norm.”
“In any case-” Thacea began, trying her best to bridge the conversation off of where it was headed, and towards something more productive. “-I needn’t remind you all of our expectant duties this evening.” She paused, bringing out her little magical timepiece that once more pinged the mana notification folder on my HUD.
“Dinner?” I offered.
“Yes, Emma.”
“Well, I sorta had something I really wanted to do. Something that Ilunor here had more or less made impossible the other night.” I snapped back, eyeing the little blue thing with an annoyed glare.
“Your absence yesterday, coupled with the events following it, is enough to cause undue scrutiny on your reputation, Emma. I suggest that we all commit to our personal quests and responsibilities after tonight’s dinner.” Thacea spoke firmly, eyeing everyone, from Thalmin, to Ilunor, and even myself. Acting almost like the group’s unofficial mother once again.
“Alright, as long as we get to leave as quickly as possible.” I offered.
“Indeed, I have been falling short of my own martial discipline as of late, considering everything we’ve had to go through.” Thalmin quickly added. “I will depart for the gymnasium following the conclusion of tonight’s dinner.”
“Please tell me the gymnasium is just a normal gym and not like The Library’s equivalent, with lions and sports instead of owls and books?” I asked out loud, my filters failing for a moment as that intrusive idea blasted itself towards the forefront of my mind.
This elicited something of a befuddled look to form on Thalmin’s face, as he responded in a dead-pan tone of voice. “No, Emma. It is not. It is simply the school’s gymnasium, a designated area for physical activities and sports, such as spencing for instance.”
“Right.” I acknowledged with a self-deprecating laugh. “I definitely knew that.”
“Your imagination really knows no bounds sometimes, Earthrealmer.” Ilunor offered, before turning towards the door wordlessly, and dangerously side-stepping towards the food cart.
“Hey, hey! No touching! That’s for me and my experiments!” I announced loudly, hopping towards the Vunerian as both Thacea and Thalmin followed shortly thereafter, both of them practically rolling their eyes at my shenanigans as we all eventually filed out and into the hall towards an early dinner.
I will eat something half-decent soon. I promised myself, as the EVI began running through all of the recommended M-REDD experiment protocols one by one.