Autumn Forest

The ship pops into existence as if from nothing, this is of course nothing new as it’s happening over the horizon constantly. They ferry students to and from the world, and likely bring in supplies. I’m yet to learn where these supplies are coming from, but at a guess, there are worlds which are made into farms and factories like this one is made into academies.

Back to the point, our ship is now lowering to the landing, and I’m rather loath to board it.

“Say, is there any chance we can take a rocket? Or maybe just use a teleport spell of some kind?” I ask, grinding my teeth and very much unhappy with our decided method of transport.

“It’ll be fine, Kyra.” Adler reassures me, “It won’t crash.”

Of course, saying that has startled the rest of the combat students and stirred them into anxious frenzy where the word crash can practically be heard echoing through their hollow skulls. A few simply pale and freeze up, but that’s a rather common response to literally anything in this class. Ensuring we were all properly traumatised was the first thing they did for us.

The girls and I, are all ahead of the curve on that one. Straight A’s in trauma and how not to deal with it.

The side of the ship folds down and thunks against the stone pier, startling the students who weren’t paying much attention. Vii and Eshya are the first to race ahead but the rest of my group are swift to follow, getting seats right by the emergency escape—which just so happens to be the only escape—is a critical means to survival when boarding a flying cruise liner.

Who knows when an iceberg won’t fall from space and crash into your unsinkable flying titanic? And the designers never think to add lifeboats, do they?

For some reason, which may or may not have to do with the word ‘crash’ being liberally brandied about, the others in our combat course are rather slow to follow us. Their loss. Their deaths, too, if they’re this slow when we’ve got to jump ship.

“I got our seats.” Vii says already seated at the table closest to the door, and right by the windows to watch for the next disaster to strike.

“You really don’t like flying, do you?” Eshya asks, sitting beside me with the casual ease of someone completely unconcerned about the flying death-trap that may be their tomb. Though if it’s to be my tomb, I’d much rather have my name inscribed on the hull. When I become an empress, I’m definitely naming my ship after myself, so that it doubles as my gravestone when it inevitably kills me.

“Flying’s not so bad,” I reply, my voice a little wispy to my own ears, “But these primitive craft aren’t really to my liking. I’d feel much safer if you’d just strap me to a rocket, say what you will about von Braun, but at least his rockets only tended to kill those they were pointed at. With a few exceptions, of course.

“Oh, I said that bit out loud, didn’t I?” I sip at the water that the waitress delivered at some point.

“You did, you did.” Vii chirps nervously as the doors close behind the chatting students that are shoved most forcefully on board. “Who’s this von Braun? What’s a rocket?”

“Ah, von Braun was a guy famous for designing rockets. Rockets are vehicles and/or weapons.”

“Vehicles, and weapons?” Adler asks in horrified confusion, interrupting me.

“You know explosions?” They nod, “Okay, real simple? Pack a tube full of explosives, design it to only explode on one end and light the fuse. Strap yourself to it and it’s a vehicle, point it at someone and it’s a weapon.”

I earn myself a few good moments of silence as they try to unpack my description. Already the ship is rising up into the sky, a few more moments and we’ll be shifting realms, hopefully not to crash into another war-torn hellscape.

“That’s the craziest idea I think I’ve ever heard.” Vii says, the first to recover, “Using explosions like that to try and achieve high-speed flight is a massive waste of energy. Then, the idea of strapping yourself to something like that. Can you even control where they fly?”

“Eh. Some smart people made them so you can. Or they can, anyway.” I reply, “And it’s not stupid if it works. Moving fast is a little more difficult when you can’t use any magic, mana, or miracles. Speaking of…”

This time the mana wave passing through me doesn’t hurt at all. It’s a strange sensation but that’s about all. Instead, I’m focused on the world outside the window, which is… rather boring.

Not a criticism, an observation, and a glad one at that. Though, I can’t entirely deny that a part of me is disappointed. Some sick and twisted part of me that, just a little, wanted the ship to appear upside down over a world filled with the screams of the damned.

Heck, I wouldn’t have to restrain myself and pretend to play by the rules anymore. I’d just be doing all I can to survive, again.

Crushing that line of thought, I gaze out over the rolling hills covered in rust-coloured, autumn forestry. The orange-red leaves consume the land beneath, hiding all beneath layers of rust orange. A few hills wanting to be mountains are sheer and rocky enough that the trees don’t fully cover them.

I shift my observations from the autumn forest to the small city that seems to be trying to pretend that it’s just a large town. It’s spread out and filled with the same breed of trees and as a whole, just as rust coloured as the world beyond it.

Freid, of course doesn’t give us time to gawk without another tiresome speech, and I’m beginning to suspect that he might be paid by the word, if not in physical renumerations then at least in our suffering.

“This world is a wild and beastly world. If you stray from the town, expect wild beasts to attack you. Inside the towns boundaries you should likely remain safe but do mind that this world is unsecured and thus even then your safety is not guaranteed.”

“Like the ruins under the academy?” He chokes as I shout my question, “How would you rate the beasts here compared to the ones in the ruins?”

He glares at me for a few moments, opening his mouth as if to say something, but closing it again as he glances at Adler, whose elbow is firmly placed deep in my side. He turns away.

“Here you will be taking practical classes for tactics and survival lessons, you will also be continuing your normal combat classes as on schedule. Your elective classes will not be available here, so keep that in mind for the future of your studies.” He explains to the few students still listening to him. Even staying silent I command most of their attention. A result of my outburst, I’m sure.

“It is important to strive to be the best you can be. To perfect your talents and make the most of every resource that you use.” He explains, his frustrations clear in the deepening scowl on his dog-like face, “So there is a competition running for this week, you will be scored for your performances in class, and you will be expected to compete to the best of your abilities.”

As he chatters on, the ship makes its final decent and for only the second time in my life, I get to walk off of a magic ship. I do hope this becomes a trend.

“So, on that note. Welcome to Ysmor.”

Rust coloured leaves scatter on the breeze, they’re cracked and dry, and when they hit my skin, I feel no mana in them, or at least no more than what’s in the air. The atmospheric mana pressure is itself lighter and weaker than I’ve felt since leaving earth, it’s surprisingly unpleasant.

Civilisation spreads out before us, only a short stroll from the stone landing where we’ve disembarked. The buildings are made of some sort of large red brick rather than stone, while the roofs are shingled in a lighter orange colour. Paint has been used sparingly, and there is precious little artistry to the functional form of homes and streets.

This is both literally and figuratively a world apart from the one that we’ve left behind. Even the overwhelming diversity of the academy world is not present here. The people I see in the streets are all of the same species, which I suppose makes sense from a survival standpoint. A small community needs mating pairs if it hopes to last, and I get the feeling that the luxury of travel is something offered most only to us lucky few students.

The species that calls this world home is of a fox-like nature, and while they stand mostly a head shorter than me, their tall ears, some blonde, some red make up near half that difference. They’re more similar to Freid than to elves or humans in that they’re furred all over, but still stand and walk on two legs. The back of my brain itches as again I feel that nature has been overruled when it came to their design.

“Ysmor is the home world of a number of second grade civilisations.” Freid says, “This is the tribe of the Foxen, but you won’t really have the time to make friends here, so you don’t need to mind their unusual customs.” I have to wonder if Chips lack of naming creativity is my fault.

“We’ll be hosted in this community for a week. While here, you’ll have practical training in your tactical command and wilderness survival classes. We intend to use this opportunity to further ingrain what you’ve learned from your other combat classes, so be prepared for anything, and be ready to put your all into training.”

As he’s making his speech a nervous gathering of Foxen stand at the edge of the stone ground of the port. They look towards Freid cautiously, unwilling to interrupt him.

“Please wait here while I discuss your living arrangements with the village leaders.” He says, turning away from us and addressing the waiting townspeople.

“This isn’t what I was expecting.” I say, as soon as his back is turned. “Is this what second grade civilisations are like?”

“Sometimes.” Vii says, “While there’s less variety among the second grade compared to the third grade civilisations, each still has to deal with their own issues; beasts and war, natural resources, or harsh climates. First grade civilisations are all almost exclusively made up of curated worlds like the academy.”

“So, these people have their own government?”

“They do,” Vii affirms, “Only first grade civilisations are fully influenced by the welfare officers. Second grade civilisations all have their own unique governing structures, but they are more gently influenced by welfare officers.”

“And third grade?” I ask.

“As far as I know, just monitored.” Vii replies, “But I don’t know everything.”

“How do you know so much?”

Vii laughs a little nervously.

“I just learned it all back home… Hey, it looks like Freid is saying something important. We should listen.” She insists, so very suspiciously. She’s not even good at pretending otherwise.

I hate to think it, but for some reason she’s keeping secrets, and she’s not even doing a good job hiding it. Is she somehow involved with the welfare officers? A secret agent?

No, that makes absolutely no sense.

But how does she know so much that no one else seems to know?

I forcefully set aside these concerns for later and turn my attention towards Freid.

“You will be accommodated in houses on the outskirts of town. It is as safe as is to be expected, but as combat students, I do hope that you take precautions and react carefully if any dangerous situation does arise. I’ll give you a little time to settle in, but we will be having a tactics class this afternoon, and I expect you to be appropriately prepared for it.”

Expecting much worse, my own preparations, few as they may be, have already largely been taken care of.

I’m currently wearing my dress rather than the clothes I’d intentionally gotten for the sake of combat. A bad idea? Fighting in the ruins on behalf of a certain songbird, I learned otherwise. It turns out, that not only is the outfit surprisingly durable, but it’s also simply better for fighting in.

It’s something I could have figured out by considering the issue more seriously, but even with the superior mana pressure in the fabric, I never imagined that that they’d prove so durable. In fact, when I consumed more mana than I was able to fully hold, what escaped me was drawn into the fabric, further reinforcing it.

After some experimentation I was able to feed mana into the dress until it started tingling and dragging a little against my movements. Now it’s more resistant to attacks, and I’ve even noticed it self-repairing using the mana it’s absorbed. If this was what I found in an everyday store, I have to wonder what the best of the best will be like.

Something to look forwards to.

As it is, it won’t survive a fireball, let alone protect me from such an attack, so my trashy clothes are still good for a backup set. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see real battle armour, but I’m sure I can get something made for me, and for the others too, after I develop our underground community.

The red brick town is a strange confliction of medieval and magic, the streets are redbrick, though of a darker and seemingly slightly different sort to the buildings. They’re surprisingly clean, well swept and even washed I suspect by the slight residue of water discolouring the brick.

It’s not some special treatment for our arrival, not unless they prepared all of the town that might be seen. Though one frustration for a street sweeper than I glance upon, is the ever-falling leaves of autumn. For every leaf gathered another two fall, an endless exercise; his own boulder to be rolled up hill.

We walk through the town, led by Freid, who’s led by the town leaders. The people give way to us and some even go so far as to bow their heads, even to us students. While I’m not at all averse to being shown respect, even bowing and such is fine by me, the fact that they bow not to me but to the Unified States causes a stirring dissatisfaction.

“Is this normal behaviour?” I ask the others.

“Not where I’m from.” Eshya replies, with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a bit strange.” Adler says.

“I don’t know.” Vii admits, looking deeply between the gathered townsfolk as if to try and get a read on them. She flips out her little notebook and scribbles a quick note as we walk. I glance down at the words, but they may as well be chicken scratchings even to Chip.

No, I’ll press her on my concerns later.

I swallow the anxiety building inside.

The red stone houses around us grow more deteriorated the further we walk until we reach the outskirts of town, where the rust-coloured forest lies just beyond us. Here the buildings are clearly unused and uncared for, repairs are basic and functional where they’re done at all.

Yet, for all of this the streets, have still been recently swept. Something unchanged through the whole of the small, spread-out city.

“This is all we have to spare at the moment. They may not look like much, but we have made efforts to make them as pleasant as our own homes.” One of the Foxen in the middle says respectfully.

I find his claim rather dubious, but I’m not in a position to judge them for giving us a free roof. What’s more, we’re here representing the Unified States, so it’s likely a good sign that they’re so unhappy with us. Anyone dissatisfied with the Unified States could be considered a potential ally.

“They are acceptable,” Freid says with barely a glance inside of one. “We’ll need food for three days, including today.”

That doesn’t bode well for the latter half of the week.

“Understood.” The Foxen group leader says before leading his people away, without another glance spared for us. It’s strange, they seem both fearful, and yet wanting to offend us.

“Find a house and put away what you need to. Be careful, this is only a second grade civilisation so you might encounter thieves. Meet me back here afterwards.”

Eshya quickly runs to claim a nearby house for us, though I can’t tell the difference between it and the other places on offer. The roof has two clear holes that have been haphazardly patched, but which will surely still leak if we’re misfortunate enough to get rain.

The cracks in the red bricks of the walls are wide enough to see clean through to the other side, offering us no privacy. With how damaged these bricks are, I’m glad to see that the roof doesn’t seem to weigh much, else I’d fear for a collapse.

“Should I go find a better one?” Eshya asks, slowly taking in all the flaws.

“We’re not here to throw families out of their homes, and we’re not getting better housing unless we go so far.” I say, “We’ll make do. Though, it’s best to assume that we don’t have any privacy. We should live like there’s always someone looking.”

“Good thinking.” Vii says, staring out one of the holes in the wall, “Do you think they’re going to try and steal things?”

“Freid suggested as much. It’ll be best to assume that they are.” I reply, “You have that enchanted figure?”

“I do, I do!” She chirps happily, pulling out the stature of herself. Considering its state of undress, we had to make some changes in order to bring it around with us without fear. In other words, we found someone to make some clothes to fit it.

Thankfully it wasn’t too much of a task, and it was over quickly, but it consequently shows in the quality of the clothing. Our little potato sack Vii sits happily on the half hands of the flesh and feathers Vii.

“I can see through it pretty good now.” She says, “I got a Skill for it. One of the teachers is convinced that I might be able to develop the Skill so that I can use it even when asleep.”

“Now that is something special.” I say, looking down into the face of the little Vii. I wonder what secrets she keeps, and the danger she might pose to us…

I shake the thought from my head and sit on the dusty bedding. It’s little more than a hardwood plank sitting slightly off of the ground, I think there’s supposed to be something soft laid on top but we’re missing that part.

“I wonder what Nel is up to.” I say, a stirring fear deep inside me. Being so far away from our new base and the chaotic blend of people I’ve just thrown together… Perhaps Nel can build something out of the pieces that I’ve just littered into that hole. Maybe she can’t. Either case, I hope she doesn’t get hurt.

“She’ll be alright.” Eshya says sitting beside me with a small huff, “She’s strong, and she’s well prepared.”

“She is, but I’m still worried.” I reply, “I’m not there. I have no control, and no idea what’s happening.”

“We should worry on what we can do.” Vii says, “Nel will be fine.”

“That’s right, there’s plenty that we can learn here, so let’s not waste too much time worrying about what we can’t do.” Eshya says, rubbing at my shoulder, before leaning close to give me a kiss on the cheek.

“I just wish we had more time…” I sigh, leaning into her. Vii settles on my other side before laying down and resting her head on my lap, looking up at me.

“We have plenty of time,” Vii says, blushing slightly before she shivers and looks distantly sad, “There’s many, many years still ahead of us.”

“Forever, when I’ve sorted out this mana thing and make us immortal.” I say, sitting up straighter and shifting around my mana form to stretch it out yet again, “We’ll have forever to sort out the little things, to build our grand romance… We’ve barely had the chance to even start, but forever sounds nice.”

Vii squirms, looking uncertain for some reason before she turns her gaze away and to the door, “Yeah… forever sounds like it would be perfect…”

“It seems the others are starting to gather.” Eshya says.

“Let’s go. Bring everything with us. It’s not like it’s much anyway.” I say, standing and leading the girls back out.

“Just know that I’m only here to watch.” Adler says, walking by my side, “I will try to keep from interfering with your classes, unless I believe that it will help you to develop.”

“Got it.” I say.

“Good.” Alder seems rather nervous about all of this, which I can only feel is a bad sign.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~Mana Form:

Current goal: Develop your mana form.

Current mana density: 559 units

~Mana distribution:

Skin: 22%

Muscle: 10%

Mind: 17%

Cardiovascular: 10%

Misc.: 9%

Efficiency: 68%

~Skills:

-Mana drain touch

-Mana skin

-Mana shield.

-Mana surge strike

-Mana surge kick

-Flame burst

-Fireball

-Infused delayed casting

-Harsh petting

-Chaos dance

-Multi-mind messenger