Chương 111: Aethra Primus

Ilunor's response… was not one I at all expected. Because out of all the reactions I had on my bingo card, clapping definitely wasn't on the list.

"And so the earthrealmer finally shows her true colors." The Vunerian responded with a prideful smirk and a slow purposeful clap, causing me, Thacea, and Thalmin to cock our heads in solidarity.

"I'm sorry?" I responded.

"You claim to have visited these so-called 'stars', correct?"

"Well, yes. But I don't see how—""My apologies." He interjected, a sarcastic smile plastered across his maw.

"I am mistaken. Because not only have you claimed to have 'visited' these 'stars'... but you likewise proclaim mastery over them, along with the so-called 'void' which 'hangs above' too, no?" He continued, stringing me along.

"Yeah, that's right." I took the bait.

"Then you may consider this conversation over." Ilunor proclaimed succinctly.

"For you have… as the merfolk say — taken the bait."

"Please just get to the point—""You've fallen into my trap, bitten off more than you can chew, made a dragon out of a wyrm!" He prattled on, bringing in adage after adage until he finally leveled his eyes towards me in a clear fit of frustration.

"To put it bluntly, earthrealmer, you've proven yourself an unreliable raconteur. You have fallen for the oldest trick in the book — the acknowledgement of an impossibility. What's more, you've gone so far as to have built off of this impossibility, firmly entering the realm of pure fantasy." I took a deep breath, matching the Vunerian's gaze even as he stepped off of his armchair, his feet click-clacking back onto the marble floors.

"Alright Ilunor, explain exactly what issues you have with my claims." I continued with a sigh, eliciting a twitch from one of the Vunerian's eyes.

"I asked, plainly, whether you have visited these so-called 'stars'. Your answer, twice now, was yes. Twice then, have you proved that you know nothing of the nature behind these specks of light. Twice now, have you taken the opportunity to inflate your ego, to act a contrarian whenever possible. Because twice now, you've claimed to have visited a nonexistent destination, a phantom object, a mirage — a mere artifact of light." The Vunerian turned towards Thalmin now, as if to invite him to his side.

"How can you claim to have visited what are merely tears in the fabric of the tapestry? By this logic, I could claim to have visited a desert mirage, or the end of a rainbow." The Vunerian paused, allowing those words to sink in. And sink in they did. As I finally determined exactly where his point of fundamental systemic incongruency was.

"To further claim mastery over them… is beyond ludicrous, akin to me claiming mastery over a rain cloud or a bolt of lightning!" Ilunor doubled-down, grabbing a piece of paper on the table as he spoke, proceeding to poke multiple holes in it with his claws, then finally holding it up to the fireplace.

"It's as outlandish of a prospect as me claiming to have both visited and declared ownership of the light poking through the holes of this parchment!" He announced through a run-on huff, prompting me to wrack my head around for a proper response. Or more specifically, as I used every ounce of empathy I could muster in order to see things from his perspective.

"Alright then, Ilunor." I began with a steady breath.

"Please enlighten me." I continued, garnering a wide look of surprise from all eyes present, including the Vunerian's.

"Explain to me exactly what you believe to be the tapestry. Tell me what these tears are, and what's actually behind them." I offered patiently, prompting a shift in the Vunerian's derisive persona as it evolved into something more ponderous.

"Prove me wrong." For once throughout this whole outburst, the man willingly stopped to take a moment to consider my request.

"I will require a half hour, Emma Booker." He spoke softly.

"I believe it would be best to show you. Moreover, I believe I can make use of this time to extinguish two phoenixes in a single storm." … 50 Minutes Later …

"Okay, so the Academy does have its own library, then? Like, in addition to THE library?" I reiterated, eliciting a nod from Thacea.

"Indeed, Emma. Though it is not as well known nor as prominent as The Library. Moreover, we have yet to require its services. Most of what is available in the Academy Repositories, is simply reference material and cultural works made available to complement the Academy's curriculum. This is where I assume Ilunor has gone."

"Right, and on that note—" SLAM!

"—there he is…" The Vunerian returned, his scales seemingly revitalized and rejuvenated, as if his intended destination had breathed life back into his skin.

"Wait, which library did you say you went to again?"

"Both, earthrealmer." The Vunerian muttered out under a grumble." The Library, and the Academy Repositories. The latter is where I managed to procure this." He gestured at the sight-seer gripped firmly in his hands. I nodded, reflecting on how silly it was of me to have assumed that the Academy wouldn't have its own internal library, instead relying on The Library for everything.

Then again, earthly expectations in the Nexus tended to always find a way to be overruled, so I didn't beat myself too much over that little revelation.

"So, considering you got that thing from the Academy Repositories, I'm assuming you went to the library in order to fulfil your mysterious weekly arrangement with it—""Let us focus on the task at hand, earthrealmer." Ilunor interjected, promptly slamming the door shut to prove his point, as he quickly got to work on the sight-seer.

This particular sight-seer appeared to be far more polished and refined as opposed to Thalmin's 'bear-trap clamps on a book' sight-seer, but not as sophisticated nor showy as Ilunor's sleek and gilded setup from last week's sight-seer trip. Because instead of the gilded hard-cover edges with seamless fold-over stitching, this book just seemed… normal. Like your regular everyday hard-cover textbook — complete with a title that looked more stenciled-on than it did hand-written or scribed-over.

This trend of relative functionality over aesthetics continued as Ilunor went to work, revealing the orrery within the pages as a dainty, yet clearly functional 'device' with little in the way of ornate compositing or gildwork.

"We're jumping ahead in the curriculum for this explanation." Ilunor began with a coy smile.

"From what I understand, this should be a subject firmly in Professor Articord's domain. Though as I stated before — extracurriculars are my forte." With a surge of mana radiation— ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 250% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS —the room was once more bathed in a light that started to 'melt away' the world.

The whimsical almost 'organic' nature of the hologram, clashing greatly with my expectations of the typical 'vector by vector' and 'block by block' holographic boot-up sequence found in the ZNK-19. The floors opened up to 'reveal' solid ground in the form of a grassy sand dune, while the walls and roof slowly faded away until all that remained around us was an open expanse of starless night sky.

"I must thank you, Cadet Emma Booker, for being so kind as to revel in your own downfall." He began.

"As it will be my honor to deconstruct your false claims, by demonstrating to you exactly how your assertions are but a fanciful impossibility." No sooner after he spoke were we introduced to a sight I hadn't at all expected. Because instead of the magical hologram simply raising our perspective 'upwards' towards the starless skies, we were instead met with a more 'interactive' lesson; a shadow hovering overhead signaled that we were about to begin our ascent in a more 'hands-on' way.

"A ride up to the skies on a mount? Can we at least pick our beast of choice?" I commented jokingly. Ilunor's shit-eating grin however, only grew wider with my response, as he took great pride in what he was about to say next.

"Oh earthrealmer, how quaint of you to assume that we're about to ride beasts up to the skies!" He paused for dramatic effect, as the shadow being cast from above grew larger and larger, until finally we were met with the source of the Vunerian's rekindled pride.

"Because in actuality — the Nexian Crownlands have long since freed noble civilized society from the shackles of beastly reliance." What sat in front of us, awaiting our 'entry' across a long red-carpeted gangway, was a literal airship. And this wasn't just an 'airship' in the traditional sense, nor even in the contemporary sense, but in the most literal sense of the word. Because awaiting our boarding…

was a ship that looked to be a cross between something out of the age of sail, and the most Jules Verne-meets-fantasy thing I could've ever imagined. The whole vessel looked like one of those extra-long sailing ships at the cusp of steam technology, with sails and rigging dominating the superstructure on deck; rising several stories tall and dominating our line of sight.

However, the lower my gaze went along the main body of the vessel, the more the anachronisms seemed to grow, as the ship tapered more aerodynamically the further down I looked. The mother of all anachronisms however didn't even require an ounce of scrutiny, as this aspect of the ship was just as, if not more prominent than its sails — its wings.

Or more accurately, its many sets of wood and brass wings, each ending in some sort of a glowing crystal encased in a rune-engraved brass cylinder that looked almost like a jet nacelle if I squinted my eyes right. I couldn't help but to stand there, too stunned to speak, my gaze ending up fixated on the bow of the ship, as the anachronisms ended at the overly-long bowsprit that dominated the very front of the vessel.

"Well come along now, earthrealmer! We haven't all day!" Ilunor announced with unrestrained glee. Though we didn't really have to physically 'move', considering the magical hologram did it all for us. We arrived on the ship's promenade deck to decorations and a deck-layout that seemed like something pulled straight out of the Titanic. Though amidst the decorations, the wood decking was interspersed with many pipes, funnels, and eclectic glowing artifices that looked more functional than they were decorative.

Or at least, I assumed that to be the case. The whole 'vessel' began its ascent soon enough, with Thacea and Thalmin's features displaying a sense of restrained awe, almost like they both wanted to ignore everything around them. Ilunor's unbridled ascent into superiority seemed to be unquestionable at this point. Though sadly, this wouldn't continue on indefinitely. At least, not with the sorts of questions I had in store for him.

"Alright, alright. I think we need a time-out before we ascend any further." I finally managed out, overcoming the shock and disbelief through a combination of both willpower and the burning curiosity welling within me. Dragon's Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30, Living Room. Local Time: 2245 Ilunor"What is it now, earthrealmer?" I managed out with a frustrated sigh.

"So, I know better than to doubt this thing's existence. It doesn't seem all too surprising given what the Nexus is capable of." The earthrealmer responded, and in a rare instance of lucidity — acknowledged what had always been the truth.

"But I have to ask, how exactly does this whole thing work?" That single question sparked an entirely new wave of realization deep within me. As conflicting notions of reality and posturing started to reshape my expectations of the earthrealmer for better or worse. It was clear, through both the manaless sight-seer and her flying golems, that the earthrealmer did possess the ability of flight. And as manaless as it was, I had no choice but to accept that as reality as I saw it.

Aethra-Primus, after all, could easily justify the existence of her 'drones' — its principles reflected in common beasts of flight. The disconnect however no longer stemmed from whether or not these manaless newrealmers were capable of producing artifices of magic-less flight, but instead, the extent to which this capability could be scaled to Nexian achievements. It was well understood that the principles of Aethra-Primus were limiting. This was reflected in both the natural order and the civilized world.

With regards to the former, it was clear there existed a functional… limit, where size and scale no longer allowed for non-magical flight. A dragon, after all, was only capable of flight through its innate use of magic. With regards to the latter, there simply existed no means of achieving flight without some form of magical imbuement. Whether this was in the power behind a vessel, or the defiance of leypull itself.

Simply put, there were principles of flight which could excuse and support the earthrealmer's current proven capabilities. Her flying artifices, merely being the absolute extent to manaless flight. Anything larger was an abject impossibility. This realization instantly casted doubt over the validity of the larger flying artifices seen in her sight-seer. All of this would explain why she was so awed by the sight of this most typical of flying craft.

It would explain her burning curiosities over a vessel otherwise only possible in the imaginations of a manaless world.

"Ah! Interested in flight now are we? I recall the previous week's conversation very well. You were just oh-so confident in your supposed mastery over flight." I began, taking a moment to consider my next words… ultimately deciding on committing to my stand.

"Your 'drones', along with your 'mothership' artifice are clearly the extent of it, yes? I believe we've now arrived at the point where you find yourself perplexed by the actual sight of more impressive constructs, prompting me to cast doubt over your grandiose claims; considering your need to inquire—""This thing cannot fly." The earthrealmer interrupted bluntly, completely disrupting any semblance of rhyme or conversational reason.

"I beg your pardon—" Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"Not using conventional flight mechanics anyways." The commoner continued her tactless assault.

"You're flying a literal ship, Ilunor. An ocean-faring ship, if that needed to be specified. Now, if I were back home, then I'd have called this bluff from the get-go. That's because under conventional flight mechanics, this thing would have no chance of getting off the ground." The earthrealmer paused, making a point of gesturing towards the Aetheric Leypushers. This was followed by yet more of her suspicious moments of purposeful conversational pauses — a social tool that she was surprisingly adept at.

"There's no way you're generating enough lift with those wings to keep this whole thing aloft, and most definitely not at the speeds we're currently traveling." She added suddenly, my eyes narrowing as she spoke.

"Now I don't know how much this whole thing is supposed to weigh, but it doesn't take an aeronautics engineer to take one quick look at this thing and say—""You're describing Aethra-Primum, Cadet Emma Booker." I interjected curiously, mildly impressed by the earthrealmer's intimate understanding of Aethra-Primum, but more so baffled by how she could be applying such base principles on a craft such as this. This left me…

conflicted, uncertain if she was grasping at straws at trying to analyze a craft beyond her capabilities, or whether she was truly hinting at the impossible — that vessels of this size and scale were possible without magic.

"Aethra-Primum?" She eventually responded.

"Natural flight." I replied cautiously.

"Unassisted and unaided by magical means. Or what you refer to archaically as…

'flight mechanics', though I cannot see why you would utilize such an overtly complicated descriptor for a phenomenon that is inherently unworthy of it. The term is part of the three fundamental avenues of flight, as observed in both the natural and civilized world." I gestured for the earthrealmer to follow, as I subconsciously directed the path of the sight-seer towards the wings.

"It is impossible for an Aethraship to fly using only the principles of Aethra-primum. For they are… limiting, if not impossibly binding in their restrictive rules. This is why instead of conforming to ' flight mechanics', we instead circumvent it, freeing ourselves from the natural order. This is the reason why all vessels utilize either the second or third fundamental avenues, rather than persisting with the limiting first."

I paused, considering my next words carefully, as I casually gestured towards the Aetheric Leypushers, or more specifically — the catalyst crystals within.

"The artifices you see in front of you are designed to circumvent the limitations of Aethra-Primum, granting this vessel the ability to defy the forces of leypull itself." The earthrealmer seemed particularly baffled by the latter term, her exaggerated body language hinting at the shock welling within. It was expected, after all. The knowledge of such fundamental principles are typically rarely understood in most newrealm—"And by 'leypull'... you mean a natural fundamental force, correct? The…

universal force of attraction between all bodies of matter? The one that 'pulls' you down to the ground?" I took a moment to pause. To gather my thoughts. To consider the implications of just how… casually the earthrealmer addressed an otherwise distant concept to most newrealm inductees.

"Yes, earthrealmer." I nodded, attempting to ignore the implications of this.

"How do you—""I just wanted to double check, because back home, we have another term for it — gravity." This confirmed it. The fact they had a local term for it outside of Nexian nomenclature, made it clear that this was a principle they discovered independently.

"So you do understand." I managed out reluctantly, before shifting the assault back towards the earthrealmer." But! Do you understand the concepts of Aethra-Secundum and Aethra-Tertius?" I inquired with a grin.

"No. But judging from what you were getting at with this ship, I'm assuming Aethra-Secundum and Aethra-Tertius refer to the principles of magically-augmented flight, right?"

"Correct, earthrealmer." I nodded, relieved not only at the earthrealmer's expected ignorance on the matter, but likewise at my efforts in wrestling back control of the conversation.

"But not entirely correct. For you see, both of these terms refer to the extent of magic being utilized for flight. Aethra-Secundum referring to magically assisted flight, and Aethra-Tertius referring to entirely magically-driven flight. The former utilizes magical means to augment all manner of worldly properties affecting lift; while its designs remain partially shackled to natural limitations. The latter, however, is completely unshackled from it."

"And given how ludicrous this ship is, I'm assuming it's entirely magically-driven then." The earthrealmer replied tentatively.

"Yes." I nodded pridefully.

"This vessel was designed from its onset as a complex symphony, to be performed by an orchestra of various enchantments, artifices, and spells, all at the beck and call of its conductor — the Shiplord." The earthrealmer paused, her whole body tensing, as if physically attempting to grapple with the leypull of the situation.

"So let me get this straight." She began with a shaky breath.

"Aethra-Tertius, amongst other things, involves a particular form of magic. Be it a rune, a spell, an artifice, or something, that's able to stably sustain the defiance of leypull — gravity — itself?" That particular question… wasn't what I was expecting, and it wasn't for the earthrealmer's typical bluster or foolishness — no. Instead, it was for its myopic focus.

"Yes, earthrealmer." I began with a furrowing of my brows.

"Though I do not see how that is in any way the most impressive aspect of this fine vessel, as there exists a wide plethora of spells and artifices that far surpass that particular enchantment." I offered, attempting to gauge just why this rather unassuming aspect of the ship was what caught the earthrealmer's undivided attention. Dragon's Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30, Living Room. Local Time: 2252 Emma I hit the mute button immediately after that confirmation, looking at the EVI with wide and excited eyes.

"EVI, designate additional primary objective — information gathering and active study on the potential for scalable artificial gravity."

"Acknowledged, Cadet Booker." This discovery… could change everything. If the principles behind this casual use of artificial gravity could be extracted or reverse-engineered, then we could be looking at a complete rewrite of space tech and industries as we knew it. Gravitics, and by extension, the manipulation of gravity through artificial means wasn't an immature field by any measure, in fact, it was at the heart of FTL and the key to its operation.

It was the only means through which warp bubbles could be formed and sustained. But it was not without its limitations. First and foremost, was its energy-intensive nature. A fact which kept gravitics from reaching the heights of science fiction, namely, in its application to recreating earth-like gravity en masse. This was why spin-gravity was still king across every ship, station, platform, moon and planet, even after all these years.

However, that wasn't the only functional cap we faced with the current model of applied gravitics. Simply put, there existed a sort of diminishing return when it came to gravitics in its application in FTL. As the energy requirements needed to sustain a warp bubble through gravitic manipulation lost all sense of efficiency past 800c. With an exponential increase of energy required the further you attempted to push past that 'sweet spot'.

This meant that whilst Alpha Centauri was a comfortable two-day journey away, a trip to Farpoint Station — the furthest claimed extent of GUN territory — took a whopping four months. Whilst the extranet did its part to keep every human merely an insta-call away, and despite most humans living comfortably clustered around Sol, this functional limitation proved to be restricting for far-flung space exploration and our reach into the wider galaxy.

Sure, there were ships purpose-built to brute-force higher velocities using ludicrous amounts of power. But those were exceedingly rare, and relegated to either experimental craft, or a few deep-exploratory and military roles. Thus, without a fundamental change in either the conventional model for warp-field generation, or an explosion in power-generation technology — the 800c 'cap' would remain. That was, until today. As an entirely new chapter in history could be written.

I was so lost in thought that the Vunerian had to physically kick me to pull me out of my reverie. At which point, he crossed his arms, gesturing towards the skies.

"We're arriving, earthrealmer. So before we continue, are there any questions you have regarding—""So how common are these ships?" I practically blurted out.

"Abundant. At least as it pertains to the crownlands." Ilunor responded warily, as if shocked by my sudden pique in interest.

"Uses? What do you use them for? I'm only asking because you keep mentioning how portals have effectively cut the distance between spaces, so given how easy portals are to access—""The transportium network still necessitates vehicles to replace the backs of the beasts of burden, eathrealmer; barring of course direct point-to-point teleportation. I believe the town's many bulk carriages are enough to go off by, no?"

"Right, okay, what else?" I shot out even more excitedly.

"Personal yachts, pleasure cruises, arcane research and study, exploratory endeavors into the deep farlands, as well as martial applications to name a few." The Vunerian responded, trying his best to keep up as my overactive imagination and burning desire for more kept the man backed up into a proverbial corner.

"And the means of generating artificial gravity utilizing magic. Just how common, easy, or accessible is—""Will you please save these questions for class, earthrealmer?!" The Vunerian managed out under a strained breath.

"We're very close to our destination, so will you please just focus on—""Okay okay… last question. You mentioned Aethra-Secundum and Aethra-Tertius as being something you observed in the natural world too, right?" I quickly asked, as hundreds more questions bombarded my brain.

"Yes? What about it earthrealmer—""So is this how dragons are able to fly?!" I shot out excitedly, taking even Thacea and Thalmin by surprise.

"Is this how magical creatures with questionable aerodynamics are capable of flight? By effectively circumventing the 'constraints' of conventional flight mechanics?" Excitement welled within me, prompting my curiosity and overactive imagination to take the driver's seat if only for a moment. This… clearly wasn't what Ilunor was expecting, which prompted Thacea to enter the fray, answering those questions on his behalf.

"Yes, Emma." The princess began.

"Indeed, this is how a large proportion of avinor are capable of flight, as the principles of Aethra-Primum are insufficient in granting us this natural gift." My eyes started to grow wide from all of these revelations hitting me all at once. An… indescribable magical feeling welled up inside of me, bringing out the child within me to the forefront if only for a moment.

"This makes sense." I admitted with a sense of wonder.

"Every being in the Nexus and the Adjacent realms evolved with magic, it'd only make sense to make use of it on an innate level."

"A topic which has already been covered by Professor Vanavan's first class, Cadet Emma Booker." Ilunor chided with frustration.

"That is, if you were even focusing in class — on the subject of magic use in mages and in beasts." With a shrug and a sudden slowdown of the vessel, to the point where it looked as if we were truly defying gravity now, we 'arrived' at our destination.

"Behold, earthrealmer." The Vunerian gestured… at what just seemed to be yet more patches of dark skies hanging ominously above us.

"I'm afraid I'm not really seeing what you're getting at here." I offered with a cock of my head.

"Then perhaps this will help." The Vunerian grinned widely, dematerializing the sails and thus allowing us to get even closer to the 'tapestry limit'.

"A caveat, earthrealmer: this maneuver is an artistic rendition, as performing such an act would be otherwise impossible. As any being or object that touches the tapestry would be instantly teleported into the transportium network. I've had a few of my fellow wing-mates confirm this through brazen and foolish temptations of fate during our drake-flights." Ilunor remarked, just as the ship stopped mere feet from the limit. At which point I finally saw it.

A vague, shadowy, almost wispy fog-like membrane covering what should have been even more endless expanses of night sky.

"What… the heck is that—""The grand tapestry, Cadet Emma Booker." Ilunor proclaimed proudly and with a wide grin. Looking down, the endless expanse of land seemed to stretch out in every possible direction, though the farthest 'edges' of this seemingly endless expanse didn't necessarily form a horizon, but instead a sort of foggy haziness. I tried not to focus on that right now however, instead, fixating on this otherworldly alien membrane that coated the skies.

"Alright Ilunor, assuming the veracity of this sight-seer is solid, all you've proven is that there is something covering the skies." I began.

"This doesn't answer my question of what lies beyond—" The Vunerian snapped his fingers, as several 'tears' began appearing in the wispy membrane. Soon enough, patches of light emerged, revealing what seemed to be an undulating… soup of pure white-yellowish matter.

"Beyond the tapestry is the Primavale — a realm of incomprehensible fullness and energy. It is from the Primavale that the Farlands are consistently formed, and the ceaseless process of Nexian expansion is maintained." Ilunor… had lost me at that point. Or at least, my more grounded side. Thankfully, I still had my suspension of disbelief, courtesy of my more imaginative side.

"Alright… the infinite Nexus theory is something to be touched upon later, so let's focus on the skies here. If your worldview is right, then what you're basically claiming here is that your 'stars' were once orbs of mana that were just… hanging around this physical tapestry? Like little lamps or spotlights?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes, Cadet Emma Booker." The Vunerian nodded pridefully.

"And so after your King defeated and consumed them, you were left with just an empty 'tapestry', without those balls of mana?"

"Correct again, earthrealmer!" He smiled brightly.

"And now you're saying that there's this…

'primavale' behind the tapestry. A Nexian phenomenon that you're trying to apply to all adjacent realms?"

"And with holes and imperfections in said tapestry allowing the light of the Primavale to come through, yes! I knew you'd understand, earthrealmer." Ilunor beamed brightly, standing tall and proud now.

"Moreover, unlike the Nexus, adjacent realms simply do not have the ability to naturally gain access to the Primavale. This is why adjacent realms are finite in nature, whereas the Nexus is infinite. The night tapestry teases you with what you could have, but that which is impossible to gain." The deluxe kobold had just about reached maximum ego saturation by this point.

"So now do you understand, earthrealmer? Now do you comprehend exactly why it is impossible to have 'reached' said 'stars'?"

"I mean—""They are merely tears in the fabric!" He interjected.

"Yeah, yeah… I understand Ilunor." I began.

"I see you finally admit your submission to reason—""I understand why you believe this to be the case, at least." I interjected, once more pulling the wind out of his sails.

"Earthrealmer, please, be reasonable—""I'll wait to cast judgement on the nature of the Nexus next time. I won't jump to conclusions just yet, especially considering how you are in an entirely different realm of existence with different universal rules." I finally admitted, the imaginative side of me willing to give him that much leeway, at least for now.

"However, I expect the same sort of respect in return. Because by that same logic, not every adjacent realm is going to be operating using the natural laws of the Nexus. Now I can't speak for all realms, but at least when it comes to my own, I can safely say that your natural laws simply do not apply." The Vunerian's features dropped to one of frustration once more, as he yanked us out of the sight-seer abruptly, and back onto solid ground.

"What you speak of is an impossibility which I cannot—""ENOUGH!" A loud growl suddenly drew both of our attention out from our fighting as we both turned to its source — Thalmin.

"I apologize for my brashness, but we are getting nowhere with mere words." He spoke sternly towards Ilunor before turning towards me.

"Emma, I am assuming you have evidence to support your claims?"

"Yeah, I do, actually." I beamed out, garnering a nod from Thacea and an anxious smile from Thalmin.

"Then let us see it." The wolf declared, prompting our move from the living room and into my dorm. Dragon's Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30, Thacea and Emma's Room. Local Time: 2300 Emma It took only a few minutes to prime up the ZNK-19, with my ARMS once more carrying out most of the grunt work in setting up the tarps.

"If I were to entertain such a preposterous claim, earthrealmer, then we must address the proverbial dragon in the room." Ilunor began with a skeptical breath.

"What is it, Ilunor?"

"It is clear we have reached a practical impasse. As discerned from our experiences in my sight-seer, you clearly lack the means to prove your claims." I let out a huge sigh, my ARMS stopping to accentuate my frustrations.

"Go on?"

"Whilst you have demonstrated a surprisingly robust understanding of Aethra Primum, and indeed, your drones demonstrate your people's ability to apply this understanding to an extent… I cannot help but to cast doubt over your ability to extend this beyond mere toys and golems." I paused, feeling my eyes twitching at that logic.

"Didn't you already see our planes in the presentation—""Indeed I did." Ilunor acknowledged.

"However, I have reasons to doubt the veracity of such sights. This is because I find no plausible means of suspending my disbelief with regards to manaless flight applied to such scales. Especially when such a prospect implies that such feats are possible using the limiting principles of Aethra Primum." I could practically feel the fundamental systemic incongruency in the air. Prompting me to take it slow, if only to make sure my answers could effectively address his remaining doubts.

"And why wouldn't it be, Ilunor?"

"Because many have tried and all have failed." Ilunor responded bluntly.

"There is no known means of manaless power capable of lifting a being larger than a tearplitter eagle off the ground. Anything larger requires at least the aid of enchanted wind-projectors in order to create the power necessary to achieve lift."

"So what I'm hearing here is that you simply don't believe that a manaless equivalent is possible?" I started to grin widely, as my inner speed demon cackled within.

"I am surprised that you would acknowledge your own folly, Cadet Emma Booker." Ilunor nodded with a smirk.

"And I'm surprised you'd be so brazen with your assumptions, Ilunor. Because my drones? They're nothing compared to what I'm about to show you." I paused, flicking on the ZNK-19, as its towers began whirring up.

"Our kind has been obsessed with reaching the skies for millennia. And where our lack of wings or mana has kept us from achieving it the easy way, we didn't just pack our things and called it a day — no. We were ravenous, relentless in our pursuits, determined to get there in spite of our 'limitations'—" I paused, as the scene around us slowly loaded up vector-line by vector-line, assembling together one of the most iconic scenes that started it all.

"—even if it meant we had to do it the hard way."