Making Better Tomorrows

"So.....what you are saying is......"

Sitting over a massive piece of shattered rock with one leg dangling off the edge and the other right by her side, looking like a delinquent girl straight out of a shojo story, Lera twisted her eyebrows and glared at Wu, "That fucker broke the rules for all Casters, and he couldn't live with the consequences, and now......he planned to fuck around with everybody's life?!"
"Harsh, but kind of......" Wu said as Lera lets out a phew and jumped down from the rock, reprising her previous kind farm-house girl persona, "But that's not it......It's strange.....but he also showed me something.....he taught me that failure, pain, and regrets will always be alongside us......but just because that happens, it doesn't mean it's okay to just give up, you know? Even if I am powerless......or especially if I am powerless."

"Yeah.....I have already learned that lesson yesterday!" Lera said, throwing her hands up before turning her attention to the little girl that's been sitting quietly in the corner, "Hey, you. Wanna get out of here?"
"Scary lady......" She murmured and hid her head in between her arms.
"Speaking of which......" Wu turned and looked at the scenes of destruction all around them, "How did you....."
"That thing isn't going to hold me forever." Lera said, sounding slightly pissed off that Wu just left her behind to face the remnant alone, "Didn't we just say we will be together yesterday?!"
"Yeah, but this is different, right?" Wu said, raising his hands out to his side innocently, "He only wanted to talk to me."
"Hmmmmm......." Puffing her cheeks out and glaring right at Wu, Lera couldn't help but agree with him deep down. However, this doesn't make it any less mad, and seeing her annoyed red face is somewhat amusing to Wu. He smiled and walked towards Lera, patting her on the head.
"Come on come on.....I am sorry. I will make it up to you."
"You'd better!" Lera crossed her arms, "I will forgive you this time since you forgave me yesterday."

And here I thought we are the same age range. Wu laughed quietly and turned his attention towards the girl, "Do you want to.....get out of here?"

She raised her head, and light returned to her eyes as he said that.

As it turns out, all Lera did was conjuring and storing enough amount of Wave within her before overloading the blue glowing lines that bound her initially. Wu has no idea how that feat of power measures up to other things in this world, but it is nonetheless really impressive.

With how mad she was at being captured and Wu leaving her behind, she let out her anger on the remainders of the Structure Cast itself, and she destroyed it with outbursts of Wave. Without the help of her Book of Casts, she was a lot more brutish and forceful when unleashing her Wave, but because the Structure Cast was designed so its exterior is extremely durable, the interior was disrupted rather easily by her rampage.

Seeing the calm and book-worm looking girl go all crazy at the lines of Cast, screaming and cursing Wu's name has scarred the little girl, though she became a lot calmer when she's holding Wu's hand as the two of them walked out of the pit through a hole created by Lera's rampage.

For the rest of their walk back, Wu can still feel Lera glaring at his back, and he'll just have to trust that Lera will let it go soon.

Seeing the sun again after such a long time, the little girl initially covered her eyes. Then, the set of village guards around the suddenly appearing hole came running towards the three of them, stopping just short of a few meters away.

"Tell......tell the chief! She has returned! SHE HAS RETURNED!" One of the closest of guards seemed overjoyed as his voice shakes out of excitement. Wu let go of the girl's arm and took a step back as the guard ran towards her, "I......I am so sorry......I can never forgive myself for......"

"It's okay." The girl said, comforting the guard, "Wu and Lera saved me."
"They did......" The guard said, looking up to them with teary eyes, "They saved me too."

The chief ran towards the pit moments later, and as he saw the girl's face once more, he nearly collapsed onto the ground. Overjoyed by her arrival, he wrapped his hands around her, apologizing even as the girl's acting far beyond her age.

"I......I just can't believe people think the use of sacrifices can make their problems go away." Wu said quietly to Lera as she watched the teary reunion.
"This world is..... still governed by gods." Lera said, turning to face Wu, "Living......breathing......walking gods among us. But those gods are not responsible for these people's troubles......people are."

"Please......" The chief said, kneeling and bowing towards Wu and Lera with his forehead firmly dug into the dirt, "Thank you for saving my daughter......please allow me to make up for everything....."
"Well, perhaps now would be nice to learn all about the Dwellers." Wu shrugged before he walked towards the elder.

All living beings on the Olympus Prime are capable of interacting with the Wave, and the users are categorized generally based on their capacity and affinity for the wave. However, instead of using absolute measures of capacity and affinity, it is really a matter of ratios between the two that was able to put the individual at their most suitable quadrant.

On the matter of absolute measures, the humans are then divided into further categories of High Humans, Basics, sub-humans and Dwellers. For this, the categories are formed based on a combination of capacity and affinity in absolute terms, those with the highest capacity and affinity are classed as the High Humans because of how in tune with the Wave they are. The Basics are the everyday people with an average level of capacity and affinity, and the sub-humans are those with poor affinity and capacity.

"Can't say I enjoy this terminology at all." Wu said honestly, and Lera agreed.
"These terms originated from before even the War of the First Millennium when it was literally a battle between the select groups of High Humans and the rest." Lera said before moving onto the topic of Dwellers.

The Dwellers are analogous to the Outliers, as they are typically a nomadic culture existing outside of the conventional system of classifications, and each of them has their own set of cultures and interpretations of the Wave. Within a single Dwellers tribe, there can be a range of affinities for the Wave, going from the low High Humans level to low Sub-humans level.

"Right......" Wu said as the elder guided them through the Dweller's settlement towards his tent. Wu cannot honestly say that their living conditions are any good at all, with dirty stinky dead ponds of still water scattered on the outskirts of the settlement in which children's play in.

There are various bugs flying in the air, and one almost bit onto Lera's legs until she blasted it away with a shot of the Wave.

The elder's tent was built off the ground with some elevation, and he welcomed both Wu and Lera in.

"So.....my name is Lono, and I am the chief of this tribe." The elder said, cleaning his face with drops from a wooden bowl at the door. Despite his age, his shoulders looked strong and healthy, and he moved with steadiness not seen in many others of his age. In vast contrast from Wu, Lera can feel the power of the Wave within Lono, "I......apologize for drugging you and sacrificing you into the Pit.....I know that it may be hard to believe, but I am a Channeler, and recently, I have been haunted by strange visions every time I used my power......It was also when the water nearby begins to go bad, and a strange sickness is spread through the tribe.
"We cannot afford to travel in this condition, and the visions promised a resolution should sacrifice be made." He continued, his eyes filled with pain and regret, "I asked the vision what is needed, and he.....asked for the most valuable thing in the world. I love my tribe, and my daughter, and they are both the most valuable things....."

Wu and Lera remained silent, as neither can imagine the pain of having to give up your child just so there might be a chance of things getting better. However, they know that it's not the case.
"I.....I cannot defy the gods, not when the lives of my people are at stake......" He said.
"It's going to be okay now." Lera said, looking towards Wu and nodding slightly, "The gods have forgiven you, and the source of the trouble had been dealt with."
"Really?" Lono asked, looking up at them, "How can it be that-"
"No, it's not."

Lera turned and looked at Wu in shock, and Lono looked at him with confusion.
She glared at him and was about to tell him that she got this handled when Wu stood up and walked towards the edge of the tent.

"The sickness is independent of the visions." Wu said, looking and pointing at the stale pond, "Your source of water is contaminated, and you are living in proximity with one another. Without the basic infrastructure and hygiene in place......"
"What is this infrastructure you speak of?" Lono asked, and Lera also looked at him with confusion, "We have often utilized what we have near us."
"Wait.....didn't you know?" Wu asked, his eyes looking towards Lera, "What about the city?!"
"We had city-wide structure casts that deals with water movements if that's what you are saying......" She said, and Wu sighed.

This world has had the use of Wave for thousands of years, and it is only natural that all of them will naturally fall back to using various casts instead of developing their engineering and science. However, gravity works all the same here, and water is still water.

"In that case, let's do some works of engineering then." Wu said, turning towards Lono, "Chief Lono, you may have felt that I have no power on me at all, but that doesn't mean I cannot help save your people."
"How......how do you plan to do that?" Lono asked, his eyes looking up at him.

"Through the use of hydro-engineering!" Wu said excitedly as he raised a fist into the air, "If the Romans can make a semi-functioning aqueduct, then I am sure we can make something happen for you. Together, we will build a better tomorrow. How's that sound?