358 Lifespan

Incidentally, around that time, Darian and Ling Yun were fighting a mob of zombies and skeletons for mana. Mindy was having tea with Rou'khan-dras with a pile of shopping bags by their table in a high class boutique. Tim had snuck back into the Underground and was scheming all sorts of profitable plans with his henchmen in the Dragon Empire.

Juni and Jamie were at Dragon Lake training with Fel. Siti and Isabella were at Craggy Falls studying with Phoebe. And Gary… Gary had snuck off to a pleasant hillside and was dozing off under a tree. Happily for him, there was no dragon princess suddenly jumping onto his back.

Then there were Xiao Yan and Eriane, both of whom were at Fal'Herim, playing around with airships in Mindy's shipyard. Well, actually Xiao Yan was inscribing Qi Formations into gas envelopes. Eriane was… testing their durability. With a flintlock. At extreme range.

Some people might say it was dangerous since she was shooting over the heads of the shipyard crews from all across the other side of the drydocks, but it was okay, because Raven said it was okay, and Mindy pretty much left her in charge, so there! Arnold and Jim could only let her keep shooting and hope nobody got hit.

But of course, nobody did. Eriane had become quite a skilled shot, with a flintlock, at least.

***

It took a while, but finally, Nai'khan's energy was worn down. She stood there, panting, wrapped up from nect to ankles in rubber-like gel ropes.

"No fair!" Nai'khan protested. "That's not your own strength!"

Nai'khan, it seemed, became more articulate when she was less excited.

"No, it's not. It's my Comrade's power." Alani freely admitted. "That's how it is between me and my Comrade. We share strengths, because we both want to. That's the way it should be. I can't just make him do what I want him to do whether he likes it or not. He's not my servant or my property."

"But… but…" Nai'khan darted a glance at the shivering Chubs. "He didn't run away…"

"He was asleep. You know it's not right." Alani stated firmly. "Let him go."

"But… nobody else would stay with me…" Tears formed up in Nai'khan's eyes again. "Nobody else would play with me… all the other Doggies don't want me…"

She started crying. Several onlookers felt a bit sorry for her, but Alani, who had received several punches from that girl that ranged in force from half a ton to two tons or so, had no such sympathy.

Still, Chubs was one of those sympathetic souls. He went over to her and pawed her softly. [If you only wanted to play, you could have just asked. I don't mind.]

"Well." Alani scratched her head. "I guess… that's not too bad?"

"Not too bad indeed." Zor'khan suddenly appeared behind her. He nodded. "It was a good fight."

"A good fight? We half-destroyed Kara-Goth!" Alani groaned.

George sighed. "I guess it's time to renovate? We wanted to make some changes anyway."

"The Dragon Empire will, of course, be happy to financially support your efforts." Zor'khan-dras said smoothly. "As well as any medical services your people might require from this incident."

"Of course." George grimaced, but he didn't complain.

"Still. We need to give that girl a thorough talking to." Alani said, eyes narrowing at Nai'khan-dras.

"Oh? And when do you plan to do that?" Zor'khan asked, eyeing her.

"When she wakes up, of course. I won't disturb her nap." Alani said graciously.

"Would you, now?" Zor'khan chuckled. "You may have to wait a long time, you know."

"How long a time?" Alani frowned. "How long does she nap?"

"Oh, I'd say, about… a hundred years." Zor'khan shrugged.

"A h-hundred… years?!" Alani spluttered. "But… by then, she would be…"

"Four hundred? Yeah." Zor'khan nodded. "Children her age need a lot of sleep. She's already been awake for almost a year now. It's about time."

One year awake. One hundred years asleep. Alani stared at the little girl who had only been conscious for three years while having lived for three hundred. At this point even she was feeling sympathy.

[So… I don't need to be her Comrade?] Chubs asked, yawning.

[No, Chubs, you won't live anywhere near that long.] Alani sighed. [In fact, I'm not sure even I will last that long.]

But from the distance and from near, Reef cut in. [You will.]

[Really? How come?]

[Because I happen to have a lot of longevity. I may be the oldest Wild in the world, but I still have many centuries left in me. Trust me. As long as nothing crazy happens to us, you will be able to talk to that dragon girl again.]

Alani paused. [What about Mindy…? And Darian? Tim?]

[They'll probably be there too. Unless something crazy happens.]

***

At this time, the average expected lifespan of a human in Kara-Goth was 60 years. Some of it was due to warfare but other than that, according to Lydia, was because of diet. Many of them hunted and ate non-friendly Wilds, whose meat differed greatly from 'normal' animals. Something to do with mana and magic engineering. Phoebe disagreed and said that such meats were likely to increase lifespan instead of decrease it, but Lydia said that anything unnatural must certainly be detrimental to health.

The average natural lifespan of someone at Three Pines, on the other hand, was supposed to be 90 years. This is due to fresher air, a more active lifestyle, and a whole lot more fruit-eating.

Outlying towns and villages were rated at 80. Somehow, Lydia's calculations included Craggy Falls into this cagetory.

Dragon Lake rated at 140, because most of the population there were Qi experts who all had eaten body-boosting supplements, elixirs, herbs and fruit. The lake itself was home to several amazing herbs and fruits that increased one's life force, vigor, and physical abilities. Lydia suspect the dragons living there had something to do with that, but wouldn't share why for fear of grossing people out.

For comparison, life expectancy at the current Midlands, filled with fear and anarchy, was now 40 and if the rumors of things getting worse were true, that might very well drop to 30. The Brotherhood of Six also had expectancies around 40 due to warfare.

On the western continent, the south regions had expectancies of around 50-60. The northern regions, which meant Libertaria and Torres, rated at 70-80 due to superior medical technology, even though they lost out due to increasing pollution.

Ashdale used to rate that high, but their pollution had completely shrouded their entire island by now, dropping life expectancy to 60 despite their high levels of medical knowledge and technology. Ecclesia had once boasted average lifespans of 150 to 160, but now there was chaos. Lydia estimated their lifespans to be about 40. Phoebe thought perhaps 60 if they could stop fighting each other. But so far, without the Church, their squabbling only seemed to be getting worse.

Mendez and the northern regions of the East continent had expectancies of 60-70. It had to do with their food supplies, Lydia said. A lot of them didn't have access to enough varieties of food to have balanced diets. Many regions flat out didn't have access to fresh food, period. But at least their lands were stable if only because everyone would rather raid the richer Dragon Empire for their bounty than fight each other for measly scraps.

As for the Dragon Empire itself… their life expectancy rated at an astounding 200. This was due to the availability of magic and mana, as well as the draconians who all had unnaturally long lifespans. Life magic was still practiced by the top experts at the Imperial Hospitals. All of the rich people in the Empire could survive ills, hurts, and dangers that would easily have killed anyone without access to top class magical treatment. The reason why the average lifespans weren't higher was because a lot of the people in the Empire weren't rich. Many of them were in the same situation as the refugees, piled up with debt that they would take their entire lives to repay. They would also be able to get reasonable medical care with the graciousness of the Dras Clan, but doing so would simply incur more debt… at this point, the vast majority of the Empire directly or indirectly served the Dras Clan, who owned the land they walked upon, the homes they lived in, hired them for the jobs they worked at, paid their salaries and took it all back in rentals, taxes, sales of food and such.

Clearly, Kara-Goth was likely to go the same route, with most of its populace actually in debt to the government. This didn't seem to affect longevity very much as long as their needs were supplied and their healthcare ensured. And, of course, assuming that the Wilds didn't suddenly try to kill everybody for misbehaving in their territory.

"And mine? What's my life expectancy?" Remian asked Lydia that evening.

"Ten years." Lydia summarized.