Chương 24: The Idiots of the Golden Age

'Yeah… I really should have put that together sooner, because even if the answer was hardly obvious, I had more than enough clues staring me in the face,' Gloria thought as she studied the red-eyed girl, whose entirely human appearance had distracted her from considering what the title within her status actually meant. Grounded differed from nearly every other race, beginning with the complete absence of parents, bloodlines or any form of ordinary reproduction among their kind.

The word created had briefly encouraged an image of something assembled like a construct, perhaps an organic counterpart to a robot or golem, although the truth placed them far closer to spirits of nature, with each Grounded emerging from the surroundings that gave it life and carrying some portion of that environment within its body. Those born in the wilderness usually inherited traits from the creatures or landscape surrounding their place of creation.

As a result, many resembled the animalistic beings humans casually grouped beneath the convenient label of monsters, their bodies often shaped into forms perfectly suited for living and surviving within those environments, despite belonging to the same race as the perfectly human-looking woman standing before her.

Their forms tended to grow more humanoid as their place of creation approached civilization, however, with Grounded arising near populated regions displaying fewer claws, scales, horns or other obvious signs of their origin, and that suggested Iris had emerged somewhere remarkably close to a human settlement, perhaps even within the boundaries of a city.

Gloria had never heard of such a case during her years in DDO, and the possibility immediately filled her mind with questions concerning what sort of environment could have created Iris and whether the process had been influenced by the people living nearby.

She drew breath to begin what would undoubtedly become a lengthy interrogation, only for a tremendous horn to sound somewhere beyond the surrounding buildings before its deep cry swept across Ural with enough force to rattle shutters, tremble through the paving stones and silence nearly every conversation along the avenue.

The beasts drawing the nearby carriages tossed their heads and strained against their harnesses until their drivers pulled hard upon the reins, while a baggage beetle farther down the street spread its shell in alarm and nearly sent several sacks tumbling from its back.

Pedestrians paused throughout the avenue, some turning toward the distant docking grounds while others covered their ears and muttered complaints, although the loudest reaction came from a narrow-faced man who stared toward the source of the horn before shouting, "The Katamaran is arriving today? Damn it, I knew I had forgotten something!"

Most of the crowd recovered within moments and resumed whatever business had occupied them before the interruption, which suggested that the Katamaran's arrival was common enough to attract attention without bringing the city to a halt.

"That would be the Katamaran, which means we have considerably less time than I would prefer," Gloria said, then shifted her attention back to Iris.

"I am pleased by everything I have learned from you, Iris, although if you truly intend to place your training within my hands, I shall require you to obtain several things before our first lesson can begin." Iris nodded vigorously, though a trace of embarrassment soon entered her expression as she reached toward the purse at her belt.

"Whatever you require, Lady Gloria, I will find it, although I should warn you that my funds are presently rather limited, and after replacing my equipment, I doubt I could afford anything particularly rare or valuable." Gloria dismissed the concern with a sweep of her hand, having no intention of allowing something as mundane as poverty to interfere with the birth of an entirely new branch of magical study.

"Set that worry aside, for nothing upon my list should place any meaningful strain upon your purse; I require approximately fifty clean sheets of paper, three reliable pens and four kilograms of fermented slime meat, preferably cut into thin pieces small enough to hold comfortably in one hand." Both Echidna and Iris raised an eyebrow, although Echidna's uncertainty quickly hardened into contemplation. Iris continued staring for another moment before her expression brightened with relief and she nodded once more.

"Is that truly everything? Then consider it done, Lady Gloria, because even with my present funds, I can purchase those without difficulty."

"Excellent; Echidna and I shall visit the Adventurers' Guild while you gather the materials, after which you will proceed directly to the Katamaran's docking grounds and await our arrival," Gloria instructed as she raised one hand between them, extending a claw and tracing a circle so small that it resembled little more than a white point suspended within the air.

A single symbol formed at its center before she completed the spell with a quiet utterance of [Tick] sending an almost invisible mote toward Iris that settled upon the Archer before she could even notice that anything had crossed the space between them. Only Echidna's eyes followed the spell, while Iris remained attentive to Gloria and wholly unaware of the mark now resting upon her.

"I shall be able to find you once our business at the Guild is concluded, so there will be no need to waste time searching through the crowds around the docks; purchase everything I requested, keep the paper dry and meet us there as quickly as you can." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Yes, Lady Gloria, and I will not keep you waiting," Iris promised, offering a deep bow before turning toward the nearest row of shops with such enthusiasm that she nearly began hopping again, although one glance at Echidna persuaded her to preserve what remained of her dignity as she hurried into the crowd. Echidna watched Iris disappear before turning her attention back to Gloria.

"What a peculiar assortment of objects… Does the Mighty truly intend to accept that child as an apprentice, or are the items merely a test devised to measure how readily she obeys?" Gloria tilted her head back to meet the much taller woman's gaze and found herself briefly distracted by the distance between their eyes.

'Damn, she really is tall…' The thought left no trace upon her face.

"I was entirely serious, both in accepting Iris and in requesting those materials, for they belong to a method suited to someone who has never learned to perceive magic through circles, and their purpose will become clear once her instruction begins." She turned toward the avenue leading back to the Adventurers' Guild and began walking, following a route she remembered well, while Echidna fell into step beside her and continued glancing down with undisguised interest.

"We are both relics of an older world, Echidna, and much of what passed between us during our battle relied upon principles that were already simple to either of us," Gloria said as they entered a narrower street.

"You fought according to powers and instincts carried from that age, while I answered with spells whose structures I had studied long before either of us arrived here. Iris possesses none of that inherited familiarity, however. She cannot rely upon knowledge already embedded within her instincts or upon conveniences that allow her to skip the foundations entirely, which means I will have the opportunity to observe how someone approaches magic when forced to understand it from the beginning."

A faint crease appeared between Echidna's brows as Gloria's expression gradually darkened.

"And that distinction is considerably more important than you might imagine, for many of the beings this age remembers as Supreme never understood the foundations of their own power at all," Gloria continued.

"It may surprise you to learn that a remarkable number of them were complete idiots who reached their positions through little more than the good fortune of appearing at the proper moment."

"Truly?" Echidna asked, her eyebrows rising as though Gloria had just dismissed an entire pantheon as village fools.

"The stories known to Echidna describe the Supreme Beings as creatures whose wisdom stood as far beyond mortal understanding as their power. And all the encounters Echidna had with them made those stories belivable.

""Then those stories were exceedingly generous. A great many of them never bothered to examine the foundations of our world, question why its systems behaved as they did or understand what made its magic worthy of study, for the conveniences provided to them allowed power to be used without ever requiring proper study."

The autocast feature had been responsible for much of that laziness, since it constructed every circle on the caster's behalf and released the chosen spell through a perfectly functional yet painfully standardized sequence.

Its circles always followed the same patterns, demanded the same fixed casting time and produced an activation so mediocre that Gloria had once regarded the entire feature as an insult, while anyone willing to learn the proper proportions could draw the same spell with greater speed and shape its release with far more precision.

What irritated her most were the players who relied upon autocast for years, watched a practiced caster produce a superior version of the same spell and immediately fled to the forums to complain that the game was unfair, apparently convinced that selecting an identical name from a menu entitled them to identical results.

"... I would go far enough to call a considerable portion of them weak-willed fools," she continued aloud, her tail giving an irritated flick behind her.

"Even now, I find myself wondering how some of them survived after entering a world where no convenient force could protect them from the consequences of their ignorance." A snicker escaped Echidna before she could restrain it, and the goddess inclined her head in immediate agreement.

"Of course, for beings of such limited understanding must have appeared painfully dull when measured against one such as you, Lady—" Gloria moved closer and raised a claw before Echidna could finish, forcing the goddess to shut her mouth.

"Do not grant them the dignity of requiring comparison with me, because some were foolish enough to embarrass themselves before an attentive child, and you would be astonished by how little thought certain Supreme Beings devoted to the power upon which their lives depended." Echidna's amusement lingered for several moments before she realized Gloria was no longer walking beside her.

She slowed and turned, only to find the playful irritation that had accompanied Gloria's complaints gone entirely, replaced by a scrutiny directed squarely at her.

"There is another matter we must settle while we are speaking of power and the judgment required to wield it," Gloria said, keeping her gaze fixed upon the goddess.

"Since you began traveling beside me, I have seen you answer the people of this age with open hostility whenever their words displeased you, and on several occasions, that hostility came dangerously close to becoming violence." Echidna recoiled, her amusement vanishing while she pressed one hand against her chest.

"Mighty Gloria, those humans spoke your name without reverence, insulted your strength and addressed you as though they possessed the right to judge one who stands beyond their comprehension."

"They possess every right to speak foolishly, just as I possess every right to ignore them," Gloria answered, allowing no anger into her voice because none was required to make the boundary clear.

"You may express your disdain, correct their ignorance or make your displeasure known, and I shall not demand that you smile while lesser minds insult either of us, although no resident of this world will suffer harm merely for offending my pride." Echidna lowered her gaze, yet Gloria continued before obedience could be offered without full understanding.

"Should anyone lay an unwanted hand upon you, threaten you through action or endanger those under my protection, you may respond with whatever force you deem necessary, for they will have chosen the consequences by acting first; mockery, arrogance and stupidity, however, will never provide sufficient cause for bloodshed, regardless of how richly you believe the speaker deserves it.

Keep command of that impulse, Echidna, because if I am ever forced to restrain it on your behalf, you will deeply regret failing to heed me while the choice remained yours."