Chương 85: [A Window to Other Worlds]

The air in the elder hall was heavy with woodsmoke and whatever Koss had cooking over the hearth. She had pulled the chairs into a loose circle near the fire, leaving the formal table empty. The three elders were mid-conversation when the door opened.

"Ah, you made it," Koss said, looking up with a smile.

"Come in. You didn't need to run. Are you in a hurry?"

"We need to get back before it gets too late," Rika said, still catching her breath slightly. Merin turned his pipe over.

"Trouble on the way here?"

"No," Rika said.

"But if we're back late, they might put the movie off another night, and that is not happening." Yara looked at Shai.

"We'll explain," Shai said, dropping into the nearest chair. The other two followed suit. Rika went straight for a chair near the fire while Torren settled into his, the wood creaking under his weight. Koss started handing out cups of tea.

"Okay, let's get to why we called you three here in person. The messages are fine," she said, "but they're brief. Tell me how you're actually finding it after a week of living there." Shai took a moment, letting the tea warm her hands.

"Welcoming. More than I expected, honestly. You can't walk down a street without someone stopping to say hello, asking how you're settling in, or whether you need anything. It isn't a performance either; that's just the way they are. They seem to have no concept of social barriers. They just speak to you like you've lived there your whole life."

"It feels easy," Rika said, nodding her head in agreement.

"Like the village does. No one seems to be wary of people they don't know, like you'd expect to see in people from the Core. Whether that's because they don't have the same history with other races or something else, I couldn't say, but it's the same for all of them."

"The children especially," Torren said.

"A girl came up to me yesterday and asked if I could lift her up. Her dad nodded and smiled, so I did. She laughed the whole time, then told me I looked like the friendly giant from one of their stories when I put her down." Koss chuckled at that.

"I'm glad they seem to be the same as when we met them at the meeting," Merin said, a warm smile on his face.

"How is their magic development going?"

"You see people out in the streets every morning working on it," Torren said.

"Not just combat magic either. There are probably more people trying to learn practical spells to help the town in other ways than there are those focusing on combat magic. Someone's already developed something that encourages plant growth. Another is working on resource detection for ores." He turned his cup.

"Their UI gives them a foundation, but the thinking is theirs. It's a strange but refreshing difference to how only combat magic is really praised in the Empire. They understand that everyone's magic has a place, a way to help contribute."

"The speed they're moving at is what's really impressive," Shai added.

"They recently discovered a new feature in the UI, a way to send messages back to their home world. But it requires a lot of mana, more than the small amount they start with when they get their first spell. Because of that, the whole town has focused heavily on magic. I've seen people practicing at all hours, hoping to get enough mana to tell their families they're okay."

"It's a powerful motivator," Koss murmured, her expression softening.

"To reach for home."

"It is," Shai agreed.

"But the combat training is moving just as fast. The five you met at the meeting especially. Ronan's already complaining that he wants his own solo student since Kai has Leo." Koss raised an eyebrow.

"Ronan wants a student?"

"He's been watching how fast they learn," Torren said.

"He wants to take someone on who has the potential to surpass him. The speed they learn has him thinking one of them could do it. He said he's never had a student who could come close, but the UI changes what's possible." He smiled slightly.

"He's also been winding Kai up about it since Leo started showing what he can do."

"It's curious, Kai training Leo. He's the one who gave you his watch, correct?" asked Koss, smirking.

"It's a coincidence. Leo chose the Sarren because it reminds him of a sword they have in his world, from their past. Apparently, it's popular in their stories," said Shai.

"Does Kai know Leo gave you his watch?"

"He knows more than that," said Rika, trying not to laugh. Shai glared at her friend, who looked away, still grinning.

"So he's not going easy on the boy, I take it?" asked Yara.

"He's not. I've never seen him go so hard on a fresh trainee before. The strange thing is, Leo took everything Kai threw at him and didn't complain once; he just got on with it. I think Kai's starting to warm up to him. He seemed a lot more helpful and less like he was trying to make him pass out this morning," said Torren.

"Good to know. I'll have to ask him about that," said Koss, who was looking at Shai. Shai shook her head.

"Can we get back to what we were talking about, please?"

"Oh, very well. Merin?" said Koss, passing the floor to him. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"How is their leadership? They seemed like good people when we met them, doing a fine job for people not in their natural role. Is that still the case?" asked Merin.

"They are," Shai said, glad to leave the topic of Leo and Kai behind.

"Mike and the Council are exactly as they seemed in that first meeting. There's no mask or deception there, if that's what you're wondering. They're just good people who happened to find themselves in charge because someone needed to step up, and they did. Mike was someone who put out fires back home, and Diane was a teacher. None of them were ever in a position to handle governance or war. But they're doing a better job of it than I'd expect given the circumstances.

We had a meeting after the goblins attacked a few days ago. They're taking the defense of the town seriously."

"And the town itself?" Yara asked, leaning back against the wall.

"Three thousand people in one spot... how do they keep it so clean? Usually, with a population that size, you can't escape the mess, no matter how hard you work at it."

"That's the strangest part," Shai said.

"It's cleaner than any city in the Core. Every house has its own dedicated room for it: a bathroom. They have a system of pipes buried deep underground that carries everything away instantly. There are no open gutters like you would expect to see in the cities in the Core. No need for people to raise slimes to get rid of any waste, either."

"I've seen their cleaning supplies, too," Rika added.

"These bottled liquids that vanish stains and smells the moment they touch them. They're kind of obsessive about it." Merin nodded slowly, tapping his pipe against his palm.

"It fits with the notes Gerald has been sending back. Apparently, when he isn't on duty, he's been spending his spare time with a woman named Kelly. She's been helping him translate their books and texts into something we can read. He sent over a few samples yesterday." Merin gestured to a small pile of papers along with some items on a side table.

"Tools we've never seen. Sharpening stones that don't seem to wear down, and saws with teeth so fine they cut through hardwood in half the time ours would need. Gerald says they have a large library filled with the 'how' of making these things. Simple stuff, but the quality is beyond anything our smiths can replicate without days of work."

"They're serious about the partnership," Shai added.

"They've already agreed to help us set up dual infrastructure. If we find a tool we like, they'll show us how to build the workshops to make it ourselves. They aren't looking to trade for what we have; they want to make sure we're as well-equipped as they are." Koss nodded, but her eyes twinkled with curiosity.

"It sounds like they are very focused on the practical. But I haven't forgotten what Rika said when you all burst in here." She leaned forward slightly.

"What, exactly, is a 'movie'? And why is it important enough that you want to leave as fast as you arrived?" Rika leaned forward, her hands animated.

"It's amazing. It's not magic, Koss; the lads explained it to us. They have these small discs called 'DVDs,' and each one holds a story. You watch them on a device called a TV. It's strange; the screen is much smaller than a theater stage, but the storytelling is so intense you completely stop noticing anything outside of the frame. It's like watching a real battle or a group of friends traveling, but you're seeing it through a window into another world.

You get sucked into the characters and the action in a way a play just can't match."

"It's the variety that's impressive," Shai added.

"They have things called 'documentaries,' which are detailed explorations of their world's nature and wildlife. We've only scratched the surface of what they have."

"And the history," Torren said, his voice taking on a more serious, analytical tone.

"They have movies based on their own past. Some are more for entertainment, focused on action, but they show their weapons in use. We'll actually get to see how their modern gear functions. Others go back thousands of years to when they didn't have all this technology. They used weapons similar to our own back then. It'll give us a chance to see where they came from." He paused, looking at Merin.

"When the lads were explaining them to us, we learned a few of them are about a war their world had less than one hundred years ago. Those weapons we heard about were used in this war. Millions died over the course of a few years."

"So while the movie we saw was entertaining, this is a way for people to learn that doesn't involve reading books or sitting in an academy," Shai added.

"They can be entertaining and educational, and I'm sure there are other things they can show us."

"I can see the benefit in these movies if that sort of thing is on show," Yara said, her arms crossed as she leaned against the stone wall.

"The idea that millions could die in such a short time, though... it's worrying. It speaks to a level of violence I don't think we've truly grasped yet." Merin nodded slowly, his pipe forgotten in his hand.

"To learn about a whole world's nature and history just by watching a screen... it is fascinating. But I agree with Yara. Our initial thoughts on the danger of their weapons were, if anything, understated. If they can kill by the millions..."

"There is some relief on that front," Shai interrupted.

"During the meeting about the goblin attack, where we were discussing the new town defenses, Diane, one of their council members, gave an update on her research. She's been trying to figure out why so much of their technology died the moment they arrived. She told us she thinks she's figured out why their 'cars' don't work, and she explained that it's the same reason 'guns' wouldn't work here either, even if they had brought them or tried to build new ones."

The Elders looked at her, the tension in the room shifting toward curiosity.

"Apparently, it has to do with how our world's mana reacts to theirs," Shai explained, relaying Diane's findings.

"Their most powerful tools rely on forcing a massive, rapid release of energy all at once. Diane believes the ambient mana here suppresses those kinds of forced reactions. It isn't strong enough to stop a simple match flame, but anything larger just fails. So, while their history is violent, those specific weapons are useless in our world." Koss let out a long breath, her shoulders visibly relaxing.

"Well, that is both a relief and a strange difference between our worlds. To think the very air we breathe protects us from such things."

"It is," Shai agreed.

"It's a strange comfort, knowing their most dangerous history can't repeat itself here." Koss smiled, the sharp, maternal glint returning to her eyes.

"So, these movies are for entertainment and for education. A way to see their history and their wildlife. What else do they have?" Rika perked up, her restraint finally snapping.

"Oh, they have some movies the lads said they wouldn't show us! I went to the shop where they found the DVDs with Parmo, and we found this—" Before she could finish, Shai's hand clamped firmly over Rika's mouth with a muffled thud. Koss's ears perked up instantly, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

"Apparently, there is something you don't want us hearing, Shai dear?"

"They have... other things," Shai said, her voice strained as she kept her hand locked over Rika's face.

"But I am not going to talk about it. Hearing about it once was bad enough." Torren let out a short, barking laugh, looking away to hide his own amusement.

"Very well," Koss said, her voice trailing off into a hum of pure curiosity. She didn't push further, but it was clear she was going to bring this up at some other point. Shai sighed. The amusement lingered for a second before Yara moved away from the wall. Her expression shifted, the soft glow of the fire catching the sharp lines of her face. The easy-going catch-up was over.

"One of the scout parties we sent north returned this morning," Yara said, her voice dropping an octave.

"They found signs of something moving in the lower wilds."