Author’s Corner: Greetings all, and happy reading! *runs off to write before the slave driver gets angry*
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I feel like a bit of backstory is needed here before we begin. So… the first monsters to spawn in this world were, like on Earth, slimes. With this world’s tech in weapons, they had almost no method to defeat them aside from point blank shots from their tesla guns. And even these weapons had been improvised quickly when they found out that physical damage did nothing, and that the slimes had no genetic makeup that could be targeted by their biological weapons.
Each planet has a single ‘high queen’, which governs the entire planet, while the planets themselves have local queens, such as the Queen of the Woods that I was being taken to now. Roughly a week prior to our arrival, the former Queen of the Woods for this area had been assassinated by monsters. Well… that’s what their network called it, anyways. From the sounds of things, a mimic slime had eaten her throne while she was in the bathroom, and when she came back and sat down it ate her. Do natural mimic slimes have the ability to change their colors, or was the queen just careless?
Anyways, after that, the queen’s daughter had to take the throne, despite being underage. Well… underage by elf standards, but she was still almost fifty years old. Thankfully, the retainers and other queens have been helping her get adjusted. But in this matriarchal society, she still held the highest level of authority for the area where Celeste had sent us.
This information had been transmitted to me as we were being led into a large stone palace within the forest. Unlike in NeoLife, it seems that they have not yet mastered the art of making the trees become buildings, and have typical stone houses. The Queen of the Woods sat on her throne, looking at us with excited eyes as someone next to her whispered to her. Sharon was just about to bow, but suddenly stopped. When I got curious as to why, Celeste sent me some information.
“In this culture, bowing is a show of guilt, seen as lowering your head to beg forgiveness of the cycle while avoiding eye contact with the one you wronged. I managed to warn Jeeves to let her know before she did something wrong.”
Ahh.. thanks.. Cultural differences… well, at least they don’t have something more hostile as shows of respect, like challenging the opposing party to an honorable duel.
“Nope, nothing like that!” After Celeste reassured me of that, it looked like the queen was done getting the information from her retainer. The Queen of the Woods looked to be in her late teens, just barely above the size one would consider a loli. She had long platinum hair, bright red eyes, and wore a silver gown. No, really, the gown itself was made of silver thread. I even confirmed it with my Mana Sense.
“I am told that you have saved my people in the battle to the west. For that, you have my gratitude.” The queen spoke slowly, as if confused by her own words. “However, when we scanned you at the entrance, your genetic profile does not match any known elven citizens. Your race would seem to be of the forest elves, but we do not have any record of you. I--We would like to demand an explanation of this, and how you can wield the power of the cycle, that which our enemies have used against us.”
Well… looks like it’s my turn to speak. “Your elfness, we do not come from this planet. Or this star, we have journeyed quite a long ways to help.” She seemed a bit annoyed by the title I had given her, but I continued. “The planet we come from was the first to be afflicted with what you have been fighting. However, I guess that you could say we had the help of what you call the cycle in dealing with it.”
“The cycle has aided your world?” The queen suddenly looked far less annoyed by what I had called her previously. “Do you have any way to prove your words, aside from the power your friend’s animals displayed earlier?”
Ah… she wants me to use some magic… Well, might as well go flashy. I closed my eyes and focused. First, a set of four angelic wings burst out of my back, ripping my shirt to shreds(why did I forget to enchant everything I wear with adaptable enchantments again?) before a bright light shined down on me from above. Really, this was just me activating my Aspect of the Bird and using Light Manipulation to put myself in the spotlight, but still. It seemed to have an effect.
Several elves drew back from me, muttering beneath their breath. Even the Queen herself stood up in shock at the sight. “You… you can change your body at at whim. It seems your words were true. Still, you are but two people, and we are three worlds. What could you alone do that would save us?”
“Well.. you have seen the blue panels appear, yes?” When she nodded her head, I continued. “Can you tell me what is listed next to the box of your status that says ‘Class’?”
She paused for a moment before she answered. “It says I am a novice. This is so for all, but we do not know what it refers to.”
I had thought that this might happen. For us, being in the Seeds essentially put us in the presence of the system pantheon, thus we were granted a class easily. However, they have no such luck, so they have been unable to gain their classes. “In this new age, and you can consider it as such, there are special classes which give powers that could help you. For example, my class is druid, and allows me to control the elements, or in my friend’s case to control animals. There are also several types of magic you will be able to discover, and we can help with.”
Slowly, the queen sat back in her chair, still looking eagerly at us. “Please… how do we gain these classes? If it is as you say, they will prove extremely beneficial to helping us combat these strange foes.”
One of the retainers next to the queen leaned over and seemed to be whispering to her, sending harsh glances towards us. However, the queen brushed him off. “We will hear none of that. If these people wished us harm, they have displayed more than enough capability to fight on their own.”
I nodded my thanks, before trying to think of how to word this. However, it was Sharon that spoke up, rescuing me from my dilemma. “Your Royal Elfness.” The queen was still annoyed by that manner of address, but at least Sharon added ‘royal’ to it. “In order to gain a class, it is required to visit a temple towards a powerful group of people that have already passed and returned to the cycle. We can help you construct this quickly, and then all you will need to do is visit and kneel before one of the statues. Anyone that does so will be granted the ability to choose a class.”
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I muttered a silent thanks to Sharon, and the queen thought this over. “We will grant you a small plot of land to construct this temple. However, be warned that if your words turn out to be false, you will have the entire elven empire against you. Now go, I must discuss this with the High Queen.”
With that, we were quickly led out of the castle. On the way, I kept an eye out for the scanners that the little queen had mentioned, since I didn’t recall seeing anything scan me on the way in. At the outer gates of the castle, there were a series of small black dots lining the floor and ceiling, likely acting as genetic scanners. Really, this race could be scary if they used their genetic technology the wrong way.
The guards that had escorted us out of the castle led us off back towards the plains where we had been found. “Since this is where you first appeared, this shall be the site of your so-called temple.” The guard that spoke had long black hair and a slim athletic build, and didn’t seem to appreciate our involvement as much as the queen did. Well, it didn’t really matter as long as he didn’t get in the way.
Looking over to Sharon, I sighed slightly. “Mind setting up a defensive perimeter while I get working? I don’t want any monsters to spawn and interrupt me.” She nodded, and several streams of light emerged from her chest, surrounding her and turning into a hundred fluffy white rabbits, each with a single horn on her head.
“Form a circle, little ones.” She spoke gently to them, and the rabbits rushed off at a frightening speed, startling the guards. They ended up making a circle roughly fifty meters wide, which was plenty for me to work with. “Think that’s enough, or should I spread them out more?”
“That’ll be fine.” I nodded my head, and sat down on the ground. I still had my wings spread out, so I might as well make use of them. Celeste, give me the plans for a small temple. And please make it as racially inoffensive as possible to the elves.
I heard a faint giggle in my mind, before the information was transmitted to me. At the same time, I activated my Aspect of the Mana Leech to start absorbing all of the ambient mana, my wings turning into a myriad of colors. Reaching out with this mana, I used my Earth Manipulation to begin constructing the temple that Celeste had sent me. The rock walls rose slowly, but it was enough to get the guards and Sharon to move out of the way.
There was a great shaking in the ground around us as I did my best to bring in the rock from the surrounding soil to use to reinforce the foundation of this temple. The building plans that Celeste had sent me were for a temple fifteen meters wide, and eight meters tall. Since I wasn’t that confident in making glass, I just left empty holes for the windows, and did the same for the doorway as well. The important part was to put three statues inside of it. Thankfully, these statues all appeared to have distinctive elven characteristics.
The first was of an annoyingly familiar woman, the one who first introduced me to NeoLife, though a few characteristics seemed to differ. The second was an elven male, wearing a suit of full plate armor and having a sword at his side. The third looked like an elven man in rogue attire, a simple shirt and leggings, with multiple daggers strapped to his sides.
Making the building was easy, that only took me about fifteen minutes. However, the three statues were far more difficult, as I had to make them as accurate as possible. If they were not recognizable as the three patrons, then their existence here would be meaningless. As such, I spent over two hours on each, following Celeste’s instructions to work and rework the facial features until they were just right.
Finally, there was a plaque at the bottom of each statue, for which I had to write their name and ‘domains’. The first was Aria, patron deity of fashion. I really wished that wasn’t true, but Celeste informed me it was. The second was Halen, patron deity of elves. Part of me wondered why he was the only one of the three with that title, but neither I nor Celeste had the answer to that. Finally, there was Draxin, patron deity of hidden blades.
You have created the first Temple of the Gods
Have a shiny gold piece to remember us by!
-Aria
Sure enough, a gold coin, similar to what had been used as a currency in NeoLife, fell down onto my lap out of nowhere. “This is totally unfair teasing.”
Maybe! Thanks for doing me first, though~. Makes me feel all warm of fuzzy. I remember back when you were just a naked man embarrassing himself in front of me. Though I must say, you look far better now that you’ve slimmed down.
Note to self, it is possible to talk to gods inside of a temple. Second note to self, never devote a temple to Aria again.
Awww, that's mean! I'm taking that coin back now!
And with that, the gold coin that had appeared in my lap was whisked away. Having nothing else to say to that, I stood up and walked out of the temple, cancelling the Aspect of the Bird so that I could announce that it was done. “You can go on in now.” I sighed to the two guards, who were standing nearby with cautious expressions. The one who had been rather rude earlier was the first to walk in, glancing at me as if to say that he would be back when this all failed.
Shortly after he entered, there was a brief cry of shock before he came rushing back out. He ran over towards the other guard and whispered to him. My new theory as to why elves have long ears… so that they can better hear when they whisper to each other.