Chapter 61: The New Terra Village

The village is beautiful. I wondered why the Terrans would keep such massive trees in the middle of their village, but I had it all wrong. Houses, storehouses, and sheds are all part of these massive trees. Their roots spread out incredibly far, and the buildings are all attached to the roots like they’ve been grown. Each tree is encircled by houses, and the further into the village we go, the larger and more grand the trees and buildings become.

It’s like a tour through some historic place, except everyone we pass looks like they want to kill me. I’m pretty bummed out that all the fluffy people don’t like me. I saw a girl with a fox tail and orange ears on the way and considered proposing.

We arrive in the center of the village at a tree that far outstrips the others. It’s over 100 meters tall, and it’s quite thick; it reminds me of a skyscraper. I can sense a strong trace of magic from it.

“Sio, quit staring and follow me,” Mira commands.

My trance breaks, and I turn to follow her towards a large wooden house. It’s three stories tall, and the outside has carvings like an artisan spent their entire life making it. We walk inside, then up a flight of stairs. The second floor is a large assembly-like room. There’s a large board and a tabletop at the front, with multiple levels of semi-circular seating making up the rest of the room. Mira leads me through the center and opens a door towards the back. Inside is a small circular table with bench seating that seems to be carved into the floor. In fact, everything in this building seems that way, like a master craftsman carved the house from a single block of wood.

Mira and I sit at the circular table for a moment when the door swings open.

“So this is your guest, Mira,” an older woman says while standing in the doorway. Her golden hair is braided and held tight against her head. The woman’s animal features are modest – I only see small animal-like ears in front of her braids, but her eyes are the same color, and she’s wearing pajamas with red and gold patterns woven into them.

Mira stands and bows deeply.

“Great elder, I apologize for bringing him unannounced,” she says without lifting her head, but the old woman has a sweet smile on her face.

“I’m also your grandmother, Mira; you needn’t be so formal in private,” the woman says, then turns her eyes to me, “what’s your name, young man?” she asks.

“I go by Sio,” I reply while bowing my head from my seat, “it’s a pleasure.”

The woman looks me up and down before joining us at the circular table.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sio. My name is Orla, and I hope my granddaughter hasn’t caused you too much trouble,” she says cheerfully, then gives Mira a sideways glance.

“Mira’s been pleasant, though I can’t say the same of everyone in this village..” I reply, causing Orla to sigh.

“None are old enough to remember humans; you’re the first to enter this village as it is now,” she says.

“Right.. Mira called herself a Terran, but aside from a few features, everyone looks pretty human to me,” I say and lean forward over the table.

“Aha,” Orla chuckles, “we aren’t so different, but most in the village would feel insulted if you called them humans.” Orla turns back to her granddaughter, “I’m assuming you had a purpose in bringing him here?” she asks, and Mira gulps.

“Yes, grandmother, Sio came to this island to investigate the human church. He’s assisting a Terran he met in the outside world,” Mira says, and Orla’s eyes widen, but I interrupt.

“Hold on, I said I was helping someone like you, but I don’t think they’re from this continent,” I interject, and Mira whips her head to look at me.

“What do you mean? How can they be like us if they’re not from here?” she asks.

“The human church used some kind of green gem on her, and it made her grow wolf ears and a tail, but she’s lived on the southern continent for her whole life,” I explain.

Mira’s head tilts at the information, but Orla's face contorts. She has the look of someone with a pit in her stomach.

“Sio, the girl’s name isn’t Tanya, is it?” Orla asks, and I shake my head, “I see, that tells me quite a bit.”

The elder man from earlier enters the room and sits down next to Orla. He has the same stern expression, but up close, his features are soft. His pointy ears are the only thing that make him stand out, well, that and his shiny bald head.

“What have you learned, Orla?” he asks.

“Tanya was likely captured by the human church,” Orla says with a frown, “her fate must’ve been hell.”

The older man’s expression doesn’t break; he simply nods, then looks at me.

“Thank you for healing many of those who attacked you. It was more generosity than they deserved,” he says.

“It’s fine,” I reply with a tight face. I’m kinda irked that I let so many people who attacked me live.

“My name is Lark,” the man says, “I apologize for the lack of welcome you were shown by our people, though I hope you can understand their wariness.”

I understand nothing..

“I came to this continent with a church group so that I could learn more about what they’re doing. If you can give me information and answer a few other questions, then all is forgiven,” I reply with a smile.

Mira’s face is tense, likely from my bluntness. But I think Orla likes my disposition; her expression has recovered from whatever that Tanya thing was.

“Ask your questions,” Lark says, “we’ll answer to the best of our ability.”

“Do you understand the church’s goal in coming to this place, experimenting on humans with those gems, and collecting monster corpses?” I ask.

Lark hums for a moment, then places his hands together over the table.

“I can answer nearly all of that, but it will be a long story – is that alright?” he asks.

“That’s fine, I’m not due anywhere for a couple of weeks,” I answer, and Lark nods.

“I don’t know what is taught in the human world, but my great-grandfather lived through the times I’m about to speak of, so I believe this account will be accurate,” Lark says. “This continent was home to a kingdom that specialized in magical research and artifacts. A thousand years ago, they reached the pinnacle of this study and started to traverse between worlds.”

“Other worlds..” I repeat quietly.

“They brought back knowledge and artifacts that would satiate their hunger for research, including the green gems you mentioned,” Lark explains. “The old Terra was friendly with their human neighbors, and there was frequent trade. Then a new world was discovered, and a path to it was opened.”

“Is that where the monsters came from?” I ask, and Lark nods.

“Compared to the magic of that time, the monsters weren’t a real threat. But the world that path led to was fundamentally different from this one; the magic there was chaotic, and it started spilling into our own. The magic in this world became unstable as a result, and the ability of Terrans or humans to use it effectively was diminished. What’s more, the path to that world wouldn’t close, no matter how many times the spell to do so was attempted,” Lark explains, and my eyes go wide.

“Wait – does that mean it’s still open?” I ask.

“It does,” Lark answers and shifts his weight around, “the drop in magical ability made the monsters a real threat. Terra called upon its allies to send help while they worked on a solution, and the humans came in numbers. Their fiercest warriors marched down from the north. They weren’t as strong as Terrans, but they cleared most of the north in a matter of weeks. Then they came across a living nightmare, a fire dragon.”

“Is that different from the dragon I fought before?” I ask and scan everyone’s faces. Mira and Lark nod, but Orla looks surprised.

“Its breath could turn the ground to glass; even at their full strength, the Terrans would’ve experienced losses to defeat it, but those humans were brave. They fought relentlessly, with no regard for their own lives, and after days of battle, they defeated it. But the cost was immense; hardly any who came to Terra’s aid survived,” Lark says solemnly.

“Those humans bought ancient Terrans the time they needed, and the path to that world was shrunk down to not allow beasts of that size through. But magic in this world grew more and more unstable, until it was unusable by some, and artifacts failed to activate. The human nations that traded with Terra were furious and launched a war on the continent, but were swiftly killed by the monsters that continued to spill from the path to this world. Realizing that the world hated them, the ancient Terrans decided to rely on their research.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“Most artifacts lost their usefulness, but the green gems brought from another world grew in power. They could take the earth’s energy and turn it into magic that harmonized with Terrans. These gems were used to strengthen the body and increase its magic capacity, since doing so with one’s own magic became dangerous. With some strength recovered, the ancient Terrans decided to move their Kingdom out to sea. They understood how the ground beneath us works and created facilities all around the world. These were powered by those gems, and once activated, the land started to drift, but with some unexpected consequences..”

“The world shook, and this continent nearly turned upside down while it moved out to sea. Cities fell into the ground, mountains grew, and volcanoes erupted. Much of the population died as a result, but the continent and the path to that cursed world were separated from everyone else. Those who survived continued to cull the monsters and started a new civilization with the goal of one day closing the path, while the outside world came to believe god intervened to save them,” Lark says.

“That’s a pretty sick story.. but it doesn’t answer too many of my questions..” I mumble, and Lark sighs. Orla continues in his place.

“Some ancient Terrans believed that the continent would be destroyed when it moved to sea, so they left and chose to live somewhere in the wider world. Ten years ago, one of our researchers left this place to find their descendants, but never came back. Shortly thereafter, the human church started to increase its trips to the northern parts of this land. Therefore, we believed she was captured and forced to help the church, which would explain how they found the green gems and how they were able to bring out Terran features in descendants,” she explains.

“So the city-staters are all descendants of these ancient Terrans.. that lines up with the stories they pass down, but it still doesn’t help me understand what the church is bothering them for..” I say.

Everyone in the room is staring at me with serious expressions.

“You know where the descendants are?” Orla asks, and I nod.

“I’m friends with some of them, but they’ve had it pretty rough. When I met Mira, I considered bringing the one who grew wolf features here, but I don’t think this place is friendly enough for her,” I reply flatly, making Lark and Orla grimace.

“Sio, if the human church is after them, then nowhere in the world would be safer..” Mira says sadly.

“Maybe, but my friend and I will be killing everyone in the church who’s a prick, so it won’t be a problem for long,” I reply and turn back to Lark, “can you explain more about this magical beast bonding thing and magic cores? Mira was super cagey about answering my questions..”

“Aha,” he chuckles, “that’s because not many understand them, much of the knowledge is buried in the city beneath our feet.”

“Wha- why don’t you just dig down and get it?” I ask in shock, but Lark frowns.

“The path to that other world is underground. Every expedition we’ve ever sent has been slaughtered,” he says quietly.

“If I clear it out for you, can you get me some more information?” I ask.

“Young man, I could sense your strength when you fought, but those bea-“

The house shakes around us, and a loud crash echoes throughout the village.

“What was that?” Mira asks and looks towards the door. But the only response is Lark’s wind magic filling the room and carrying him out of it. Orla follows as Mira looks at me in a panic.

“Let’s follow them!” I yell.

Mira stands and runs out of the room, then out of the house with me in tow. Lark is in the air, barking orders, and Orla is staring up at the mountain's rim. Something up there is glowing like that dragon was. I focus my vision and see its outline. It looks like the frog that killed the orphan crew, but its magic is way more intense. How did it get so much?

Fuck. Norman’s gem.

“Ahem – Orla, what would happen if a monster ate one of those green gems?” I ask, and Orla turns to me with a horrified expression.

“Its magic and aggression would increase several times over; it would be a disaster if-” she notices me sucking my teeth and turns white.

“One of the people I came here with did a sort of suicide move with one of those gems when fighting that frog.. and I’m guessing it ate said gem..” I say awkwardly, and scratch my cheek.

Magic pours out of Orla, and she leaps into the air to inform Lark. I see his eyes go wide at the information.

“Sio..” Mira whispers from my side, “Does that mean you weren’t able to defeat it?” she asks, but I shake my head.

“The people I came here with told me about some disgusting things they’ve done for the church, so I let that frog up there eat most of them,” I answer.

Mira grimaces, but I think she understands what I’m saying. Overhead, a group is gathering. Terrans with bright magical glows and weapons surround Lark. This is going to be a show – I wish I had popcorn.