Chương 67: A Princess and a Knight

We returned to what was for all intents and purposes, the closest thing to a portal to earth, reentering the blackout tent in tentative silence. The entire space was quieter, more relaxed, as the burden of balancing belief from disbelief was removed from my shoulders, now replaced with only a giddy desire to show what was already accepted as fact by the sole patron of this cinematic experience.

The princess' eyes glistened and widened as the whirr of the projector arms reached its peak, hitting its operating speeds at about the same time its movements became an indistinct blurr. A white and featureless void quickly enveloped the pitch-black confines of the blackout tent, and with it came the return of a world that was just as fantastical to those in this realm of fantasy, as their realm of swords and sorcery was to us. Chunk by chunk, the space was carefully filled in.

The white void being replaced by the exact frame of view that we'd ended on not a few moments earlier - the rooftop park. The surround sound audio courtesy of Kolby Digital followed soon after, prompting the princess' feathers to ruffle, if only for a fraction of a second.

"Sorry." I started off sheepishly.

"No, no. It's quite alright." Thacea responded promptly.

"I'm assuming there's probably some… sensory confusion going on right? Judging by what Thalmin stated earlier, your sight-seers seem to have the ability to replicate a truly fully immersive experience, meaning smell and physical sensation probably accompany sights and sounds."

"That is correct, Emma." The avinor nodded.

"Which means only having some elements of the world rather than all of it, is probably going to cause a bit of sensory confusion. Such as in the case of hearing the wind without actually feeling the wind." I half-pondered, more or less letting my thoughts take control of the conversation if only for a moment, as Thacea confirmed my suspicions with another tactful nod.

"Yes, however, the physical senses are but one aspect of the… disorientation stemming from a conflict of the senses. There is also the lack of a replicable mana-stream to consider. Which colors your sight-seer in an almost lifeless haze." The princess expressed with a blunt honesty that was both surprising and refreshing in equal measures.

"Heh, well, there's not much I can do about that I suppose. But thankfully it seems like the other two took it quite well, despite the 'shortcomings' of the projector, and what's probably going to be seen by most as the reddest of red flags when it comes to the believability of the whole thing."

"The fact that the pair have had a full week of constant and unrepentant exposure to your manaless artifices may have aided in the suspension of disbelief." Thacea reasoned.

"Moreover, the delivery of information in a reductive and generalized manner, targeting the core controversies of a world of manaless predispositions, more than likely worked out for the better."

"The manaless thing was something we needed to clear up right off the bat, so that was my intent yeah. You gotta break through false preconceptions before addressing finer particularities." I shrugged.

"But reasoning aside, let's skip the business and work analytics to get to the heart of why we're here." I announced excitedly, gesturing to the skies above us, and the thin gray line that hovered above our heads ominously. With a wordless nod of approval from Thacea, I snapped my fingers once more, the EVI helpfully adding in the sounds of a snap to compensate for the auditory encumbrance of the glove. The world soon began to shift shortly after.

But instead of immediately swapping over to night, the EVI chose to gradually shift the time of day hour by hour, as the sun above us gradually began its journey across the skies, hopefully mitigating any sensory whiplash the sudden shift to night would've otherwise caused. This allowed the both of us to relax as the white noise that was the city's constant hustle and bustle faded into the distance, superimposed instead by the wind chimes of the rooftop park.

"EVI, some music? Start playlist: hifi beats to relax to, please."

"Acknowledged." Soon enough, the windchimes themselves were gradually replaced by the soft and cheery tunes of woodwinds and acoustic guitars playing a cover of some 29th century pop song. The music started up in sync to the arrival of a faceless band, the integrated omnidirectional audio system not simply playing the music over top of us like some cheap 25th century holo, but actually taking into account the perceived 'source' of the music, and directing the audio accordingly.

The faceless group, dressed in an assortment of eclectic clothes typical of your public patronage sponsored musical indie group, serenaded the arrival of the orange and red sunset over the harbor, as the 'lightshow' that was the city's transition from day to night truly began, with district after district lighting up in a brilliant display of artificial colors from fluorescent-white, to daytona-oranges, and everything in between; beating back the night with the power of electricity.

Thacea's eyes, whilst fixated on the skies above, occasionally looked over towards the recent additions to the scene, namely the band, and the rapidly brightening city. But just before night properly fell, her eyes shifted towards one of the park benches, as she gestured towards it with a polite, amicable smile.

"I don't suppose we can watch the sun setting from there, Emma?" I blinked rapidly, cocking my head in confusion.

"Unfortunately, the limitations of the projection means that everything you see isn't actually physically interactable-" I paused, interrupted by another surge of mana radiation that was dutifully reported to me courtesy of the newly-implemented mana radiation notification hub. Thacea walked wordlessly soon after towards the bench just to the right of us, and sat down. Her body… actually making contact with the hologram. It took me a few seconds to actually figure out what was happening.

But it didn't take me long to realize the clever use of magic here. And the strange marriage of technologically derived scenery and magically-derived physicality that came together to add just that extra level of immersiveness that wouldn't have been possible before.

"This is exceedingly clever, Thacea." I acknowledged with a smile, prompting the Princess to simply crane her head towards me, nodding and gesturing at the empty space next to her on the park bench.

"You know, I was almost going to suggest that we sit on the floor before you pulled this stunt."

"That would have been completely unacceptable, Emma." Thacea responded, her tone bordering somewhere between being offended and openly chastising me for even suggesting that. But just as quickly as those words were uttered, so too did the followup come, lacking any of that royal indignancy that'd come before.

"Of course, you would not have known that to be unacceptable given our cultural differences, so I do apologize for any insinuation of a lack of tact on your part."

"None taken, Princess. I admit, it would've been of extremely poor taste for me to have even offered that to a noble, let alone a princess no less." I responded with a cheeky smile.

"So I do beg for your forgiveness, your grace." I offered out teasingly. Thacea's features visibly shifted at that, her feathers ruffling, and her gaze immediately averting from me as if she'd been immediately flustered by that little jab. If she had cheeks to blush with, I was more than certain she'd have transitioned from bird of prey to cockatiel right about now, what with their signature bright-orange and red cheeks.

"I assure you, Emma, there is no need for such requests for amnesty, I truly did not wish to imply-""No no, you're fine Thacea. I meant that in jest." I interrupted with an awkward chuckle, raising both of my hands up for added effect as I attempted to defuse the very situation I'd incited. Though it was soon to become clear that wouldn't have been necessary at all. Because the simple act of sitting down would more or less act as the off-ramp for this whole awkwardness.

By bringing in some new awkwardness to focus on. As the moment I attempted to sit down on the seemingly solid bench courtesy of Thacea's magic, I was met not by the reassuring sturdiness of a seat, but by nothing at all. My heart immediately dropped to my stomach. And before I could even properly react, I was hit with that familiar feeling you get when you miss a step on a flight of stairs. With it, came the titular - oh shit oh crap oh no! - followed not a half second later by a loud metallic - ka-klank!

- as I just narrowly avoided hitting the rails just a helmet's length away from me. Thacea's flustered expressions immediately vanished, replaced instead by confusion, concern, and realization in that order, followed up closely in tow by an apologetic look of worry as she spoke.

"I should have known-""No." I began, picking myself up with little effort." I should've known." I offered with an awkward chuckle.

"Your suit is comprised up of a mana-resistant material, thus nullifying any pure-mana derived spells." Thacea surmised.

"Correct."

"Which explains why you simply… fell through a telekinetically derived solid-plane." The princess reasoned, as she conjured up something else entirely. Another mana radiation alert landed across my HUD. This one, seemingly being completely novel. As the OG alert landed across my HUD, without being immediately relegated to the shadow realm that was the notifications folder. ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 250% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS"What?" I turned towards the bench, which…

visually, was indistinct from before.

"I am… testing out a theory as it were, Emma. Provided of course that you are willing to try again?" I obliged with a curious nod of my head, sitting down once more, anticipating another fall… which never came.

Instead, by some miracle, I felt resistance against my bottom half, though it was shoddy, and felt as if it'd give in at any second; which prompted me to switch tactics as I attempted to force the suit to carry its own weight in this awkward position, spreading the load between this newfound cushion of air beneath me, and the various actuators and locking mechanisms of my suit.

"I am using a physical intermediary, Emma." Thacea finally explained.

"Considering mana itself cannot affect you by virtue of your suit's mana-resistant properties, I elected instead to use a physical property, shaped through mana. This being a pocket of air acting as a cushion beneath you."

"That explains why it feels real cushy and floaty. I'm assuming this is a new spell I haven't seen before right? Air… bending?" I replied, prompting Thacea to nod as we finally settled in just in time for the sun to fully set. With that awkwardness behind us now, we allowed the music from the band, the rustling of the leaves, and the various noises from the carefully tailored parkland creatures around us to usher in the arrival of the night.

Both of our eyes were now transfixed not on the city around us, but the skies that hung above us. As what Thacea had suspected, what her avian eyes had fixated on prior, finally peaked through the few stray clouds being simulated; its lights growing brighter and brighter the further into the night we went… until finally, it revealed itself in all of its artificial glory.

That thin gray line had, by virtue of the darkness of the night, transformed from a mere point of discrepancy set against a cloudless blue sky into a fixture of the night itself. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Set against the light of the city, it almost looked as if the artificial lights of the earth had somehow climbed upwards towards the heavens, forming an impossibly long line that stretched from one side of the horizon, over top of our heads, and landing somewhere behind us on the other side of the horizon.

This bedazzling display of lights that twinkled brighter than any star above the city seemed to capture the avinor in a trance, as she sat there, her back completely straight, and her body unmoving whilst the stars above acted as a sort of backdrop that gave Earthring 2 that extra sense of depth and closeness. Its form and structure seemingly 'framed' by both the darkness of space, and the brightness of the stars; giving it a sense of closeness which hinted at its true proximity to earth.

A fact which became all the more obvious the longer one sat and squinted at the finer details of its form, as several details popped out upon closer inspection. From its two indentations that ran parallel to one another along its main superstructure, to the industrial zones nestled within which helped to spare contemporary earth from the strains of heavy and dirty industry, this man-made extension to Earth's reach was all but highlighted for Thacea to see.

Moreover, unlike the stars that twinkled every few seconds, Earthring's lights remained consistently bright and unyielding. The effects of its closeness granted it this almost otherworldly prominence as it simply sat there, staring down on the earth below, and acting as a consistent reminder of humanity's permanent influence on the space beyond the confines of the homeworld.

Minutes passed as the acoustics and strings of the band were accompanied by the synth of electronic pianos and the jamming of tambourines, before finally, it reached its climax; culminating in a jazzy sing-along by all the members of the band.

"Stars above…" Thacea managed out under a hoarse whisper, after a good few minutes of utter silence, serenaded dutifully by the band.

"And this… this is only part of its circumference, isn't it?" I was taken aback by that question, doing a complete double take as Thacea looked on at me expectantly for an answer.

"Yes." I managed out truthfully.

"But how did you-""It spans across the horizon, Emma." She traced the lit-up line from one end of the horizon to the other behind us.

"This must mean it wraps around your world." Questions started erupting in my head left and right, questions of just how far the avinor's knowledge on their world actually extended to given the Nexus' meddling, but all of those thoughts were quelled when I realized that Thacea's kind were capable of flight… which meant such things would've been a given to them.

"Yeah, it does. Though that's just part of it. What you see above your head right now is EarthRing 2. The additional offshoot of EarthRing 1." Thacea's expressions did not shift from that look of absolute disbelief as she let out a slow sigh of acknowledgement.

"So your kind… have done this before… and succeeded."

"Yes." I answered with a confident nod.

"And we've done so around other stellar bodies as well." I allowed that to sink in for a few moments, allowing the silence to be taken up by the swells of the music, before continuing.

"As I told the library before Thacea, my kind has braved the inhospitable depths that lie beyond the heavens, and chose to thrive within its hostile conditions. Making the inhospitable, hospitable, by constructing and confining ourselves artificial bubbles of hospitable environments. In a way, we're taking a bit of home everywhere we go."

"Such as the tent you have brought to the Nexus, and the suit you are currently trapped within." Thacea reasoned.

"Correct." I nodded.

"The spirit of adventure, of pioneering exploration for the sake of discovery, is innate to our kind." I reasoned, prompting a small smile to form along the edges of the avian's beak.

"And so too ours, Emma." She acknowledged with a swell of optimism, only tempered by what she would say next.

"At least, prior to the Nexian reformations." There was another silence that punctuated that shift in tone, as Thacea let out a sigh of conflicting emotions.

"There are stories, kept within oral tradition within my tainted line, of knowledge of the abyss that envelops our world. We once had at least an inkling of what you speak of, and an intense fascination with breaking into that abyss, through the barrier that exists beyond the envelope of flight. It just so happens that we first developed the ability to pierce the space between realities before we were able to pierce the barrier between the skies and the abyss that lies beyond it." There was…

so much to unpack just from those statements alone, as I found myself the one that was questioning the nature of the narrative of things, instead of it being just Thacea to do so. It was clear now that the both of us were experiencing a world of revelations as we sat against the hologram, looking up at what lay beyond.

"Thank you, Emma, for showing me that those distant dreams, at least in one adjacent realm, have become a tangible reality. The whisps and echoes of a lost generation, may now finally rest knowing that their wild theories and eccentric aspirations were, in fact, not made in vain." Thacea managed out thoughtfully, through an emotional breath as she leaned closer towards both me and the stars, her eyes transfixed on that which no longer was an intangible dream.

"Thank you, for showing me that fantastical lands can still exist beyond the confines of the magical world." Dragon's Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30, Emma and Thacea's bedroom. Local Time: 23: 20 Hours. Emma Our stargazing went on for far longer than I'd anticipated. But not a single one of those minutes was time that I'd trade for anything else.

Even if the rest of that time was spent in silence, Thacea perhaps being too lost in her thoughts to truly commit to anything else of note she wanted to ask or discuss. Which was, probably, for the better. Considering those conversations could've led us down so many rabbit holes; jumping-off points best reserved for when we embarked on our trips to EarthRing itself, and the planets that lay beyond. More to the point, there was still the issue of the reports I had to file.

And considering everything that's happened thus far, there was going to be a lot of write ups to do.

"Alright, better get this over with before things inevitably get real busy tomorrow." I spoke to no one but myself as I moved to situate one of the foldable chairs in front of the field desk. Soon enough, I had myself a setup that would make a TSEC officer proud, with holographic virtual displays and environmental readouts appearing shortly thereafter following a quick donning of my augmented reality glasses. There, the EVI had more or less loaded up the same HUD-view from my helmet.

Except this time, there were a total of three distinct virtual-monitors confined to the desk-space, acting as my windows into the reality of a modern officer's life - military bureaucracy.

"Bring up the weekly report form, EVI."

"Acknowledged. Query: IAS, LREF, or UNA, Cadet Booker?"

"Right." I mentally chastised myself.

"They all require their own submission pathways don't they?"

"Correct, Cadet Booker."

"Right, I'm giving priority to the IAS report form. Then, the LREF. The contents of the two should be easy enough to transplant into the UNA's form."

"Acknowledged." The EVI responded affirmatively, pulling up all of the forms that were, thankfully, already partially filled-in by the EVI. All of those sections consisted of the complex sensor readings, and the pertinent scientific findings, accounting for a good eighty to ninety percent of the docs.

"And here I thought you'd refused to help me." I teased, referencing the EVI's response to my pleas for help with the reports from an earlier conversation at Sorecar's workshop.

"I was referring to what is explicitly the Mission Commander's section of the report, Cadet Booker." I nodded affirmatively at that. All that there was left for me to do now, was to file in my section of the report… and perhaps review some of the datasets the EVI had filled in.

"Alright, here goes nothing." Dear Diary,"Cadet Booker, that is improper-""I know, I was just joking around there, EVI." I offered with a teasing chuckle, before deleting that affront to academic register and professional cadence, and beginning the real report. EXTERNAL CORRESPONDENCE - UNSA - IAS - MISSION COMMANDER'S REPORT BENEATH DEMARCATED LINE… Preamble: Exoreality threshold successfully crossed. Sole agent and de facto mission commander status is nominal [REFER TO EVI CROSS-ANALYSIS CONFIRMATION HERE].

Mana-resistant equipment remains nominal. Contact established with designated handlers and representatives of the local authority. Local authorities belonging to the sole-contact prior to mission onset known as NEXUS to be preemptively and tentatively considered hostile, though full analysis is pending, and primary datasets to be compiled and compressed.

Theft of the ECS was noted by a confirmed representative of the NEXUS, and subsequent anti-tampering countermeasures were activated following a failure to reclaim and defuse within the allotted time. New priority mission to take precedence: reconstruction of the ECS utilizing local exotic materials. Discovery of new polities distinct and separate from NEXUS has been made; full details to follow within the report. New polities are to be referred to by the local designator: ADJACENT REALMS.

Threat assessment pending, more data is needed. Diplomatic channels have been opened with two, potentially three, ADJACENT REALMS via representatives with direct familial ties to incumbent dynastic ruling families; full details to follow within the report. Surveys of NEXUS to be- The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts. Betreyan's Hall. Local time: 23: 25. Professor Vanavan. Blue-Robed Assistant to the Dean.

-determined at a later time, as per the grace and mercy of the enlightened deliberations of her excellency, Anoyaruous Frital, Captain of the Inner Guard, Beholder of his Eternal Majesty's Enlightened Truth, and Steadholder of the Lands of the Eternal Rivers. I, as second to the Dean of the Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts, am to report on my personal and official experiences with the anomalous actor that shall henceforth be referred to as the blue knight; a moniker of convenience and not one of honor.

My experiences with the blue knight have thus far been nothing short of exceptional. Exceptional, with regards to her unconventional arrival. Exceptional, with regards to her unconventional character. Exceptional, with regards to her command of High Nexian. Exceptional, with regards to her capacity for tenacious resilience, and her commitment to her oaths of loyalty which remain at least to my experience - the purest and most resolute. Exceptional, as a result of her resistance in the face of overwhelming odds.

Exceptional, as a result of her anomalous proclivities. I shall refrain, as per my academic standing and my reluctance to reach conclusions without the wisdom of my betters and my peers, from commenting on the true nature of these anomalous proclivities. For I know not the rumors of manaless capabilities, born of unknown means, vested in the intent to do harm. I know only what I see, and report only on what I observe, with limitations stemming from those observations being a fault of my own oversight.

With that being said, it is important to note that the newrealmer… that her… that what she… that what it is that… I stopped myself from writing any further, as I placed both hands firmly on my head, squeezing my temples tight. The situation I now found myself in… is one that I wished never to have happened. For the situation… is delicate. The circumstances… are unprecedented. The actors involved and the machinations at play…

are beyond a shadow of a doubt the very type I thought I'd eluded following my voluntary exile away from such a life. However, I would be remiss to say that the Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts was never not a hotbed of political activity. It was, for all intents and purposes, established with the intent of facilitating the budding relationships between adjacent realms after all; with the careful and observant eye of the enlightened regime maintaining vigilance over every step.

But it was never truly a battlemap worth a crownland's eye. For nothing truly reality-shattering ever happened or developed within the walls of this esteemed academy. Making it the ideal place that I'd hoped would become my quiet and secluded slice of uncorrupted Academia. This week changed that. And I am not prepared.

I took a moment to step away from the papers that littered my desk, papers marked by the seals of institutions and the stamps of establishments that I'd wished never to associate myself with following the start of my tenure. My eyes all but glazed over at the sight of it all, my breath stuttering, and my heart remaining anything but calm before I attempted to regain focus - placing my sights instead on the room that lay before me. The lecture hall. My lecture hall.

I breathed in, focusing on both the air which nourished my body, and the mana which nourished my soul, as I allowed time itself to become the judge of the two worlds that threatened to tear me apart at the seams. The lecture hall was ready, with every inch of every surface polished and buffed to perfection. Spells born of my own creativity making certain that no dust or foreign particle would besmirch the first impressions of an impressionable group of young minds.

"The only thing that will be impressed upon them, will be the enlightened word of academia, and nothing else." I spoke to no one but myself, a pathetic habit that I'd grown accustomed to over the years, but a habit that kept me grounded no matter the challenge that faced me. I began walking, my steel-leather and dewinian-satin shoes generating a satisfying clack following each and every step I took, as I walked up and down the incline where each of the peer-group desks sat.

I walked further, now weaving through all of the rows of desks from the very top of the hall to the very bottom, all the while rehearsing my lessons, all to the worrisome tune of a nagging, gnawing feeling of regrettable responsibility that all stemmed from that human knight clad in blue. The earthrealmer, whom I failed. Her words following our brief and regrettable encounter immediately after the warehouse explosion still rang loud in my mind.

"You owe me an explanation, you owe me a lot more than that even." Her screams of betrayal.

"You… you made a promise when I arrived that-" Of trust having been ripped and torn. I stopped at the foot of my desk, looking up at the blackboard that stretched up high towards the ceiling, before settling down at my desk once more to complete that which needed to be done. That was, until I heard the unlatching of the rear entrance, and the arrival of the black robed professor's apprentice.

"Professor." Larial uttered with a tired, haggard breath.

"Your presence is required in the healing chambers." A pit quickly formed in my stomach, as if more could form given the circumstances…

"Of course." I acknowledged, standing up, and leaving the room without so much as another word uttered. My pace was brisk, and so too was the apprentice's as she tried to keep up in spite of her recent injuries.

"Professor, I… I must request a point of personal privilege."

"Go ahead, Apprentice Larial." I acknowledged.

"I am not ready." The elf uttered out emphatically, or as much as she could given her tired state.

"I am not ready to take on his responsibilities."

"But you must be." I responded, offering little in the way of aid or help… because it was not my place to offer such things.

"Because I know for a fact that you are ready." I attempted to reassure the girl as best as I could.

"Tomorrow's classes are my own responsibility. You still have a day left to prepare for that which you have been training for." I attempted to reason with her, as we finally arrived in front of the otherwise unmarked chambers, to the scores of chanting that lie therein.

"Are you at least ready to enter, Apprentice?"

"Yes." Larial responded, though not without a good degree of apprehension.

"Good." I responded with confidence, as I tried to muster up a brave face for the prospective academic.

"Then let us witness that which is our regrettable, but necessary duty."