Chương 103: Chapter 101 - Reggy.

"That is another question and while it is your turn I suggest you pick what you ask very wisely" Her voice carried an edge.

"Well the land of mist and pillars has more worlds, this is a commonly known fact, and that means that…" He looked up at her "I never imagined people from another world would find Aelthyr first, tell me how advanced they are? If they are already here they must be quite powerful." Nythera's eyes widened. One hand reached for her dagger and her flux roiled within her, ready to surge forth at a moment's notice. The cat is out of the bag now. He reasoned from that all the way to this?

Valerius' looked up at her, eyes locking.

"I will not tell a soul, do not fear. Perhaps we can work together, you may have what my people desperately need." All she could find in his eyes was a mixture of fear and hope.

"How advanced are the people from Vathrial?" She clarified his question. He nodded.

"Not especially, far less advanced than here" she shrugged. Valerius wore an annoyed look "Then how are you here, unless you didn't come from Vathrial but from another point… the source of the Aetherite shouldn't be another world then but something in between worlds…" His eyes lit up at the revelation. He glanced up at her, "Well there is my answer, you should learn to keep your emotions off your face. Tell me about your homeland! I must know how it is, do Monoformics dominate the center of your world?"

This Cat is ridiculously sharp, I wonder if Rowen would find it funny or degrading to be replaced by a cat. Our little game seems to have reached its end.

"I guess we are ditching the question game, fine. But I expect equal knowledge back" Nythera's eyes swooped up to the dark sky above her and the white wall of mist in the distance.

"We have no monoformics, I am honestly not even sure what they are. Textbooks describe something like giant, very smart ants, but it's hard to imagine. No, the lands of Vathrial are entirely human controlled, and the center is no hotter than the edge." Valerius looked at her like she was some kind of angel "A land without those murderous ants…" he sighed wistfully. She chuckled. He thinks it's paradise, but he could not be further from the truth.

"Huge swaths of land are torn and devastated from war after war, there is a region called the Cinderscorch, probably bigger than Tesset, that is nothing but sharp pieces of tiny glass that blow across blasted rocks. A massive empire in the west is continually at war with most of their neighbors. It is no paradise." Nythera's voice carried a sad note.

"Then how did you reach here… this doesn't make much sense unless the lands between Vathrial and Aelthyr are independent…" Valerius wore a dangerous look in his eyes. Seriously, is it a class or a profession? His insights and logic jumps are ridiculous.

"You won't tell anyone, correct? Not a soul?" Nythera confirmed, holding her breath.

"Not a soul, but you must understand that a Cat's curiosity is impossible to quench, that is a common saying from my land. Rather I think maybe there is a chance we can help each other. Maybe…" Valerius let his voice trail out into thought. He started speaking slowly.

"We want safety, a reconnection to the wider everplane. You need information, resources, and allies. I'd say this would be a most fruitful alliance…" Valerius let the idea hang in the air. Maybe he is right, maybe we can work together. Or maybe he will try to exploit Myrraval for the benefit of Feltonia, I cannot be certain. I don't even know what their capabilities are.

"Valerius, if you had an ally, hypothetically speaking, that had a bunch of powerful ships and a safe and fruitful land, what would you ask of them?" Nythera asked.

"I would ask either for them to defeat the Monoformic Empire or space and transportation for my people to flee. Feltonia sits on the border with them now. Our lands are warmer and gentler than that of Tesset, perfect for the ants to colonize. Only the cold can truly stop them." Valerius answered. He paced back and forth on the stone ledge next to Nythera.

"If they have enough aetherite, perhaps there is a way for us to one day return to the Greater Everplane where our people wait."

"Let's talk about this again in the future, alright? I need to contact my uh, superiors. My land is ruled by a great and powerful Queen, who rules Feltonia?" Nythera asked.

"A Queen huh? Feltonia is ruled by several Cat Clans, ancient families that control certain economic sectors and run different branches of the government. I too must carefully contact my clanscats" Valerius teleported over to the furnace grill and packed away his supplies. A knocking sound came from the door as it was shoved open "Hey! Who is up here! I smelled someone cooking!" A gruff voice came through "You are in so much trouble, stealing a furnace from the alchemical students!"

"Shit! Nythera, follow me quick! They ratted me out!" Valerius hissed leading her over to another part of the roof. Valerius threw open a hatch with his paws and shot down into a chute in the darkness.

"Damn it, did you barricade the door! You are in so much trouble when I get through this!" the pounding from the door increased. She jumped down and pulled the hatch shut. … Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Spars raged through the arena, having grown significantly in both intensity and ferocity since the start of the semester.

"Miss Aurendor, please come down from the stands!" Professor Valek shouted. When she reached the bottom she found Vargan and Valek waiting for her.

"You will spar today, against Vargan, who has graciously volunteered to be your partner."

"I can take this, don't worry" Vargan huffed.

"Professor, I mean no disrespect, but do you remember what happened to Gladius? I am worried I might accidentally kill my roommate."

"It's fine, Vargan here has put on an outright absurd amount of armor, I doubt even you can finish him off before our healers get to him." Professor Valek gestured at Vargan. Now that I take a closer look, he's completely covered in it, is that three layers of metal plating and leather? And two shields? Is he insane?

"I am completely prepared for your every move, it's not me you need to worry about" Vargan stuck his head up and locked eyes. The pair lined up on opposite ends of an arena courtyard outlined in the stone. Most of the other spars had stopped to watch. Gladius had his eyes locked on Vargan. I hope he doesn't die too fast, I need to be really careful not to accidentally kill him.

"READY" the professor held his hand up, glancing at both of them.

"BEGIN" his hand carved an arc down. Vargan stood there, waiting "Come on with it!" he goaded. This is gonna hurt. She held one arm "FIRE" and launched a shell with little decorum. An explosion of dirt and dust obscured everything a moment later. What? As the dust settled Vargan stood, unmarred, not a dent in his shields.

"Missed me! Is that the best you got?" he clacked his shields together. Fine, you want to play it hard then? I can do that. Her left arm swelled with heat and energy "FIRE" she commanded. Her shell rocketed straight for his core, dead center. He smirked. With a tiny, barely perceptible kick, he shifted to the side. The shell whistled by and detonated in the arena, sending rock debris flying.

"Heh, not so much now are you little lady? can't hit me if I know where you're going to fire, now can you?" Vargan took a step forward.

"Time to cement myself as the strongest in class." he huffed.

"Alright Vargan, just remember you asked for this" she grumbled back, preparing another shot. I've got you right where I want you, he won't see this coming.

"In the name of Dunsteel, I will claim the top position in this class!" Vargan hollered and began to charge.

"FIRE" She yelled, with a tug she jammed the flux with Authority, preventing the energy from releasing. Vargan leapt to the side. Her arm followed. Fire. Vargan's eyes lit with panic as the shell rocketed forth. He motioned to leap again. He did not make it. Vargan flew back into the wall, one of his shields completely smashed to pieces and his armor dented. Shouts came from the professor and assistants "Medics! Now! This fight is over!"

"Nythera, you are once again completely forbidden from sparring in this class" Professor Valek said in a hurry as he examined Vargan's crumpled form. Yeah, well back to the usual then, doing nothing… Classes went by faster as she settled into school life. Cantrip class, despite her affinity issues, still left her lording over her classmates. History of Aelthyr proved to be incredibly boring once it delved into specifics.

System Guidance was the most disappointing class by far, covering almost entirely stuff she already knew. Valerius had yet to bring up the prior conversation again, and Lance was reporting "All ok" in Myrraval, though migration rates had slowed down in favor of more and more stone runs to Karaveth. Rowen, what has he even been up to this entire time? No new information thus far, he's spent nearly all his time on sword practice or that Merelda girl. Did he get distracted? Whatever, I'll do it myself then.

Gladius had run at every subsequent encounter within the halls of the academy. Life was good. Once again she was at a library, this time a different one of the lot. One out of sixteen. Alright, this time I'll finally get that damn school map. No more vague direction shit. Aetherite information has to be somewhere in this school.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find information on Aetherite or a map of the school?" She asked with her best etiquette. The librarian, an upperclassman student, rolled her eyes "Both of those are restricted" And turned back down to her book. Fine, I'll scrape it up myself. Nythera forged a path through the shelves of books, deeper and deeper into the library, it seemed to go on and on, new arrangement of shelves appearing and disappearing.

Each connected to the ceiling and only dim lights allowed her to navigate. The shelves gradually became more coated in dust and the books, progressively more run down. Welp, I have no idea where I am. She sighed, looking around and trying to remember where she had come from. Footsteps, a clack of metal on stone came from somewhere distant. Clack... Clack… Clack… Slowly they got louder. Shit, was I followed? But who would be after me? Who could possibly have a problem with… a lot of people. Time to go.

Nythera fled as silently as possible down several rows of book shelves at random, moving away from the noise. Clack.. Clack.. Clack.. The footsteps came faster and louder. SHIT Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a dark red cloak fluttering through the bookshelves. GOGOGO She darted swiftly, crisscrossing between shelves. Duck, twist, sprint, pulling herself around with the edges of the bookshelves to maintain speed. Ah fuck. Face to face with a wall of books and two shelves on either side. Nowhere to go.

She turned to face her pursuer. If I need to, I'll pull out all my aces.

"Well well, finally caught up to you. You are a hard person to catch. We need to have a talk." The cloaked figure reached the end of her trapped hallway. Elaborate and expensive magical artifacts adorned him, his cloak and its symbol stood out. Tesset royalty, so one of Gladius' brothers.

"Yes? What do you need?" Nythera chuckled nervously.

"I need to know what you did to my brother, What did you do to Gladius?" He sneered.