“So there are truly no wars anymore?”
“Well there are wars, but most conflicts are resolved discreetly by fights between two nations experts. Mostly Ancestors. It’s super rare for a real actual war to happen. The last one happened three hundred years ago between the Covenant and the Empire.”
There were five main powers on the continent : Brightheart Covenant, considered the last stronghold of faith where people truly worshipped the gods. The Pyrax Empire, the Covenant’s opposite, a firmly militaristic faction who was extremely against the gods.
The Northern Alliance which Sofya was from, seemed to be an alliance between the Gnomes, Giants, Dwarves and some Orcish tribes. Then came the Mer Luminaries, the name of kingdoms of the mermaids and octopis in the center of Zenthia’s sea.
And finally the rather mysterious Clouded Kingdom. No one really knew what happened there. Even in Sofya's school, the Academy, would hide which student came from there.
“Can’t you guess based on races?”
“Not all members of a race are members of their corresponding alliances, a lot of gnomes prefer the Brightheart Covenant to worship our Goddess, or go to the Pyrax Empire for more lax rules around our technology. Wasn’t that the case in your days?”
“That makes sense. And no, during the days of the Eldest War, all races would exclusively fight for their own god. Even if they were allies, they still mainly lived amongst each other. Very few exceptions existed.”
Akhenamen wasn’t just saying lies, he had checked with Ascylla, so that was actually the truth. His aura of secrets allowed him to easily appear as a mysterious yet extremely old and knowledgeable being.
“Now tell me… do you know where the Gnomish-High Factorum and the Mirror Mountains are located?”
“Of course! The High Factorum is one of our proudest achievements! It’s one of the only workshops where the Mechanists or Machinists have all successfully built an Ancestor level construct.”
Sofya’s eyes twinkled with eagerness, happiness and deep envy at the thought of being able to one day enter this place.
“It would be a dream to be allowed there! But mom isn’t an Ancestor yet so she can’t go.”
[That could complicate things, it seems to be a very restricted place.]
“Has there been any other beings that were allowed to enter the High Factorum despite not being a Mechanist or Machinist?”
Sofya seemed to think for a bit.
“I don’t really know, sorry Lord Akhenamen! I don’t really know much, my mom is very careful with those secrets, there's a lot of rumors though. From the High Factorum guarding a Dominion class Proth-...Cygilite to a secret project to build the Northern Alliance’s first Authority’s construct!”
Sofya kept rambling a lot about all the possibilities of what the High Factorum contained. Frankly David didn’t know what to think about all that. This was clearly gonna be a hard place to get in without triggering the entire Northern Alliance to strike back. Akhenamen would have to be discreet and infiltrate the facility or obtain a permit one way or another.
“What about the Mirror Mountains?”
He decided to interrupt her as she was about to start telling her sixth theory on what the High Factorum could contain. Acting a bit embarrassed at having rambled on in front of a Beyonder, she swiftly answered.
“The Mirror Mountains are said to be in the Thundereater territory, it’s a well known place as it’s one of the Danger Zone of the continent nowadays. There’s a powerful Throne ranked Thunder Roc and its tribe living around it. There’s at least three Beyonder Thunder Rocs too.”
“That seems to be a pretty dangerous place, how do you know about it?”
“I have a best friend who’s the heir to Thormunda Thundereater’s legacy. One of the oldest Thrones on the continent. The Thunder Roc are their neighbors so she often talks about them.”
Another troublesome place to reach then.
[Wait. You have Thormund’s Banner! That means we could negotiate with the Thundereater’s matriarch and try to enter the Mirror Mountains without triggering a battle.]
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Akhenamen silently praised Syllena for her good memory, he had completely forgotten he had that. For now, in order of easiest to hardest, he would say Cygislax might be the easiest with the High Factorum being the most complex place to get into. Something else attracted his attention in Sofya’s words.
“You said the Thunder Rocs are a tribe now? Are they not just beasts?”
“They belong to one of the Ancestral Bloodlines.”
[She’s talking about the six pure blooded beasts bloodlines that do not descend from the death of a god. They are Zenthia’s first inhabitants even before the gods. They are as smart or sentient as any humans.]
“Which races does that include?”
[Thunder Rocs, all Dragons, the Lamias, the Phoenixes, the Deep Sea Mermaids and the Jade Ants.]
Akhenamen swiftly caught himself and simply laughed. Having finished his internal conversation with Ascylla.
“Ah yes! That’s right. I had forgotten about those guys. So they are still alive and kicking? But no matter. I did promise you to answer one answer for each three questions I ask you. So do ask.”
Instantly Sofya pulled out a notebook, coughed softly in her hand, opened it as she pulled out a pen from one of her leather apron’s pockets. And as she opened her mouth, Akhenamen’s mind went blank.
“How many words were in that sentence….?”
[Precisely 4506 words, Hierarch.]
How is a mentally stable being even supposed to be able to think about that? Sofya’s question involved many many many extremely precise details about gnome’s current mechanical developpement and how would he improve it further. Then it was about Cygilites and Protheans technologies and how they functioned or were built. And finally about Prothean and Cygilites history.
Lucky for Akhenamen his faithful new assistant already had an answer to two thirds of the question. Akhenamen and Ascylla both knew about Prothean and Cygilites History, Ascylla had the technical details and blueprints on how to craft 90% of the Protheans technologies.
But the Cygilites caches of blueprints was most likely kept locked and protected in Cygislax and neither had any idea about what the gnome’s current level of scientific advancement could be improved upon.
“I can tell you about my people’s story, but I warn you that it is a long tale. And sadly, I cannot divulge the secrets of my people’s technology and scientific achievements. As for how to improve gnomish technologies… I would have to look at them to know, and I do not have the time anymore to do so.”
While Sofya was clearly disappointed at being barred from so many answers, she did understand.
“It’s alright, it would be too unrealistic for me to obtain Cygilites and Protheans constructs secrets when I have nothing to offer in return. But I’m still very excited to know about your people’s story, Lord Akhenamen!”
He leaned back a bit, his Living Silver back resting against the silver wall behind him, he and Sofya had sat down close to the entrance of the Prothean ruins, it was still too hot for Sofya out of the ruins so they used the occasion to talk.
Sofya casually pulled out some food and drinks from thin air, making Akhenamen aware that he was indeed right in believing the people of this world had access to the Inventory feature of the System. And most likely even more. They might even have Quest Journal, Dungeons and the like too.
As Sofya would write in her notebook, only taking a break to snack on some food, writing down the Prothean and Cygilite’s story. Akhenamen was instead thinking of his own questions.
This world was so vast and yet so mysterious. He knew next to nothing about it until a few minutes ago. He had learned about the main powers of this world. Even about the Ancestral Bloodlines with some luck.
But now one very important question remains. How did this world see, view and use the System? A System that allowed pretty much everyone to become a powerful Transcendent being.
“So that is how my people, the Cygilites, got betrayed. We were made… to be harvested. Slain. Nothing more than childrens discarded in favour of the “purer” child.”
That is how Akhenamen finished his tale. He hid nothing other than the existence of the Color. Everything else, from their travels through the cosmos to their betrayal of their first creation by creating the System, he revealed everything.
It was better to be honest, his people’s true story? They had survived despite all the odds stacked against them. They had fought the gods to a standstill until the Betrayal. He was proud of their story. And he knew it was still just the beginning of it.
He had learned it with Saphirra, the first step to heal was to accept your situation. The Cygilites were unwanted, rejected, harvested and betrayed. They could not change the past, but they had to learn from it. And to learn, they couldn’t hide or deny it.
“Well, the sun is about to go down, so let’s finish this conversation. What happened to mortals after the arrival of the System? How is your current society organised?”
Sofya looked almost… drunk? It was like she was getting the biggest high of her life, even if Akhenamen’s fatherly side hoped she had never taken any drugs, but she looked happier than anyone he had ever seen.
“Uh? What did you say, Lord Akhenamen? Sorry I was still writing your people’s story! It’s so…amazing! Like a real mythical tale! I knew the Protheans had an amazing History!”
Her face went slightly pale as she realised what she said.
“I..I’m sorry! I didn’t m..mean to insult or ridicule your people’s plight, Lord Akhenamen! I swear.”
“Do not be worried, Sofya, I’m not offended. You’re correct that their History is fascinating. Even I do not deny that.
Akhenamen wasn't gonna get upset over a sixteen years old girl who got too enthusiastic to finally satisfy her curiosity. He simply repeated his question. Sofya stared at him slightly sheepish.
“Well the arrival of the System was welcomed by most, it is said that even the gods soon realised that working with the System would favor everyone, or maybe they had no choice? No one really knows, at least I believe so.”
“As for how we use it? Well, the System allows to train our stats up to ten naturally, then only through level up to we gain stats. It is possible to level up by gaining experience, however it can take years to level up at higher levels. I know my mom is around level 64 and she hasn’t gained a level in two years.”
Akhenamen asked a few more questions, it seemed Sofya did feel bad about the slip up as she didn’t even stop answering him for the next ten minutes despite him owing her multiple answers.
It seemed like the System imposed a breakthrough feature anytime someone reached a multiple of ten. Someone would have to gather increasingly rare and difficult to obtain monster materials, herbs, potions or even manuals the higher someone leveled up. And to make it fair, the System only counted items obtained by your own hands, so the rich and powerful couldn’t just buy their way into power.
Sofya also precised that most people didn’t go past level 20, the difficulty often becoming too high for most common people. As for how they obtain traits? They trained and accomplished great achievements. This is why Sofya had such a low level despite being in the Academy, they were forbidden from leveling too much to gather as many powerful traits as possible.
“Thank you for all these answers Sofya. It’s nighttime, let’s go back to Kork, I’ll escort you there then you’ll take that gate you went through to exit the Academy, your mom must be worried sick.”
“C..can I be honest with you Lord Akhenamen?”
“Of course.”
“I want to come with you on your travels! To see Cygislax, to see the world! I’ve stayed in the Academy and under my mother’s protection for so long. I’ve only read about this world in books and from my teacher’s words! Please take me with you!”
Akhenamen sigh mentally, while he did understand wishing to see and explore the world, if he had the occasion at her age he would have also loved to go and actually travel and see all of Earth’s marvelous plants and cultures.
But he couldn’t just take a young girl under his wing when she had a family that might even believe her to be dead. So why… Why did his instincts tell him to take her with him? Why did he know that this would be the best choice?
A long silence fell over them both. He knew this wasn't’ a choice to make lightly and even if he agreed to take her along, his morals would never let her come without warning her mom first. He was at a crossroad, and as light as the choice might be right now, he felt it would have heavy consequences later.