Chapter 230: Mission Briefing

Chapter 230: Mission Briefing

A crowd gathers as my airship splashes down in the harbor. I maneuver the airship until it lines up with the piers, and Lin ties it down so the river doesnt carry it away. One of the Oathbound orders the bystanders to stand back and sets up a safe perimeter.

The bystanders aren't just humans; there are several other races among the crowd, of which I only recognize Humans and what looks to be Lunaleyans, although they look slightly different. They look more closely related to Kayafe and Lunaleyans, but they have more muscle, slender ears, and shorter tails.

The Emperor and the other non-human he was with stand in wait with an entourage of Oathbound Knights behind them. Its a little intimidating seeing so many legendary beings in one place, waiting for me, but I suppose they intend it for my safety.

I walk down the gangplank, not wanting the Emperor to wait any longer.

I welcome you, Alysara, to the ancient city of Starport, the capital of my Empire. I am Alexander; this is TkThalim. The Emperor says, motioning to the person next to him. Lin must be using his powers since I can understand the intent of the Emperors words.

Alexander? Isnt that the name of Kayafes Human companion? It could be his descendant who is named after him, but he is also really powerful, so maybe he is the same person?

I am delighted to make your acquaintance, TkThalim says, holding his head up high.

I am pleased to be here, Your Majesty, and you too TkThalim, I say, adopting a diplomatic role with [Acting].

The Emperor is a tall man, taller than Lin, with a herculean build just like all the other Oathbound. His Bond exudes Justice essence, but I can see he and the other Oathbound are holding back so as not to endanger the nearby people.

It isnt just that the Oathbound are tall. Humans, on average, seem to be half a head taller than me. I never really gave it any thought, but Runalymo, and the variant already here, are a little shorter than humans.

I notice you arent here in person; I take it you have means of completing our request? Alexander asks.

I do, I reply.

Well then. Lin tells me you have some important matters to discuss, but we should talk about that in the palace. TkThalim, will you do the honors?

TkThalim nods wordlessly, and the world shifts as if I was always fated to be here instead. I am in the Palace, an immaculately clean place with cultivated foliage in vases lining the room. There is a tangle of vines wrapped around the chandelier that has hanging bulbs that give off Light mana. Since I dont see any other sources of light, I assume the vines bulbs serve that function.

In the room, there is an ornate round table with enough seats for all of us. Lin, TkThalim, Alexander, and three other Oathbound are here. Outside there is a group of Knights in the same armor as the Oathbound and judging from their Bonds, over half of them are Mind mages.

You already know Lin, captain of counter-intelligence, Alexander says. This is Elizabeth, my quartermaster. Ryan, captain of intelligence. And Jordan, my right hand.

Elizabeth has short hair and is dressed in simple, functional clothes. She holds a strict, no-nonsense air about her. Ryan is the opposite, with long hair and a lax atmosphere about him, but with formal garments like one would wear at a high-class event. Jordan seems like the most professional, dressed in military-style formal wear, clean-shaven, and with short hair that wouldnt get in the way during a battle.

I must apologize to you, Alysara, Alexander says, bowing deeply before taking a seat. Under normal circumstances, I would let you rest and explore the city for a few days before getting into business, but we have no idea when the dwarves will attack; plus, Lin says theres another urgent matter to discuss.

I understand, and I hold you at no fault, I say, taking my seat too.

Once everyone has taken their seat, I explain the Calamity Egg, although I dont directly mention its a Calamity Egg, but rather just an egg-like thing made of Miasma, which is still the truth.

After my testimony, all eyes turn toward TkThalim.

Yes, that does sound like my dream, but its fate still lies in the future; it is not an immediate threat.

What matters is that we now know what the dream was implying, and now that we know, we can begin to prepare for it, Alexander says. We have time, so we can put our efforts into the more immediate threat, but before we talk about that, Alysara, from what you currently know, is there anything we can do about the Egg?

No, I shake my head. Its probably too late to prevent it from hatching. I can ask Safyr if she knows or has heard of anything, though.

I can probably dig into my memories of the Archive of Eternity, but due to Yranias efforts, I cant just automatically remember relevant information. Its like she compressed the information like compressed files on a computer. The information needs to be decompressed first before it can be read.

Id rather her not know of this. I cant risk her thinking our destruction is the solution, Jordan jumps in.

Safyr is cautious, I try to reassure him. Plus, theres a strong chance that your destruction will be a catalyst for its hatching, so you have greater chances of her coming to your aid to prevent that.

We may need all the help we can get. If the egg is a world-ending threat, as implied by TkThalims dream, then it may very well be a Fabled-tier threat; regardless, I have a contingency should it ever hatch. Make sure Safyr knows that if you do tell her. Now before we move onto the next topic, Tkthalim, is there any question you wish to ask?

I do indeed, Alexander. The Orc says before turning toward me. Alysara, there was another dream I had, not directly related to the Egg but one that you may be able to give us insight on. It is of a Library an eternity old and infinite in size. There is a night sky in place of a ceiling in which an immaterial eye dwells, staring at me with the weight of Okyurion behind its gaze. Each book is endless if flipped through with contents written in an unknown language. Accompanying me is a beautiful lone soul, and when I follow it, it leads me to a Cursed Being consuming the library.

Okyurion? I ask.

That is the name we Orcs give the world, He answers.

I know exactly what that dream is implying. The library is my status as the Archive of Eternity, the eye directly refers to my sight, and the soul possibly refers to mine, but it might be referencing Myrou. The Cursed Being either refers to my curses or the Reality Eater. But what does it all mean when put together? Its about me, me, me, and me; why? Why are so many things pointing to me? This would give more credit to the other meanings where its about me being the Archive of Eternity, my sight, Myrou, and the Reality Eater. This assumes both interpretations are exclusive, but maybe both are right.

Ultimately I think the point of that dream is a warning about the Reality Eater, but why does it so heavily imply me? Will my status as a Primordial Soul not be able to survive the Reality Eater? From what Kayafe says, even if the soul is utterly destroyed, it should eventually regenerate, but maybe the Reality Eater prevents that. But why would that matter to TkThalim? The only reason I can think of is that my status as the Archive of Eternity plays a major role in all of this, or maybe I do.

Alysara? TkThalim asks, interrupting my thoughts.

Yes? I ask, turning toward him.

I take it you know something?

I do. I know what that dream is about.

He waits for me to explain, but I dont.

Are you going to tell us? He asks after a minute.

No. Its a personal matter.

TkThalim doesnt look like he believes me.

I have two item proxies; one is my Eyewraps, and the other is the star tree. But even before that, those should only trace back to my perceptive eyes, which I can have outside of my body, so I shouldnt even need them. Plus, I might be able to reroute my perceptive vectors through their defense items as a front-line defense.

Whats your most powerful scapegoat or proxys tier? Lin asks.

I have an exalted item and one heroic proxy that also serves as a very robust scapegoat; plus, I can easily make as many additional scapegoats as I need.

Thats quite adequate, Ryan nods in approval.

Then I dont see why we should use ours, Elizabeth finally speaks up, crossing her arms.

Because we are asking for her service, so its our duty to keep her safe, even if its redundant, Jordan snaps at her.

Quite so, plus I made an Oath to ensure her safety, Lin says.

Jordan is right, Alysaras safety is our responsibility, Alexander says. I understand you mean well, Elizabeth, and as my quartermaster, its your duty to safeguard our treasures, but its more important to safeguard our allies.

Sorry, Elizabeth says, bashfully.

Accepted. Now that we all know the plan, there is one last question to ask. Alysara, can you scry the Dwarves from here? Alexander asks.

I told Lin that I can scry using my clone, not that my range is just this ridiculous, so I should stick to that story. Then again, he knows my scrying ability is very good, so I should give an answer he would expect.

From close to the border, I answer.

He leans forward. Are you sure that's all?

Did I underestimate his expectations? The Dwarves should be at least a thousand kilometers from the border. Wait, Lin hasnt told him anything yet, so maybe he thinks that I am scrying from the Nexus?

I understand you want to keep your abilities secret, Alexander says. You hardly know us; this level of caution is perfectly natural in your position, but you should also understand that I have a duty to make sure my people are safe, and the borders are dangerous. Id prefer they are in a safer location.

Im not sure how to respond. My role from [Acting] isnt much help either. It could be that he is testing me, but if hes not, then sticking to my story could make him distrust me. I have reasons to distrust him, but not the other way around, so I should play it safe.

I apologize. I had felt a need to hold back information on my true scrying range, as I imagine knowing my range exceeds the size of a nation and that I can even use it through my clones such that they have the same range as though I were using my abilities through my real body would make many people uncomfortable. As such, I'd chosen to reveal only the latter of those points and gave you a range that I felt balanced the needs of not placing your men in undue danger but also withholding the true extent of my range. It seems I miscalculated the degree of danger in regards to the figure I had given, however, and for that I apologize once again, I finally say, using [Acting] to find the right words.

I accept. However, you should come to expect that having powers that scale entire nations isnt unheard of. Many of the most powerful legendary beings are capable of such influence. Safyr herself sank a region larger than this nation, so you need not worry about making us uncomfortable. You may have just entered the legendary tier, but you have two enhanced Skills, so people will expect more from you.

So thats how he knew I wasnt being entirely forthcoming with him.

Thank you for your wisdom, I bow.

No need to thank me. Alexander then addresses the room. Well commence the mission in three days. Lin and Alysara need time to rest after their travels. In the meantime, make sure our guest feels welcome and show her the city.

Yes, Emperor!

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Back in the Lunaleyan Lands:

So, how do you like our city? Lanya asks.

She had just finished giving us a tour, and I am very impressed by the dedication to the healing arts and developing it in so many different and unique ways. From medicinal herbs and elixirs, to healing spells and everything in-between. The first stop was the Grand Academy which takes only the best of the best, but that wasnt their only school. They also have specialized schools for every form of healing they have developed.

I havent seen any hints of herbs being used anywhere else, but here they are commonplace.

We cant always rely on our spells, and medicinal herbs and potions are quite profitable when there are wars, one of the tour guides explained.

In wars, there arent enough healers, so their efforts are reserved for the mortally wounded. Injuries that arent life-threatening are treated by other means. The Orders also use potions and herbs from Helikan since they cant always employ a healer on their missions, so even if there arent any wars, Helikan still has a steady flow of profits.

The next destination of the tour showed us around the National Park, which is a dense forest grown with the aid of nature healers. However, the nature healers dont just make plants grow; they use their powers to alter them. Everything from genetic traits to form is molded painstakingly through trial and error. Apparently, the magical racial traits cant be directly molded, but through careful selective cultivation, one can change them.

A competition is held every year, and the winner gets to add their plant to the park. Due to this, the park is a wild display of plants that, according to the reactions of others, and from the mana they produce, sometimes glow with a pale light.

The plants also range in forms, from large flowers with dazzling petals, to silvery and golden vines growing in intricate shapes. How they managed to make metallic plants, I dont even know, but I suspect a large part of it is the Silver and Gold Bonds the plants have.

However, the most impressive part isnt the plants, not even the flaming rose-like flower, but rather the entire park itself. Theyve managed to create a self-sustaining ecosystem, and I suspect thats the primary goal of the competition judges. They dont want one plant introduced that will out-compete all the others.

The next stop is at the craftsmen district, where many items focused around healing such as a focusing lens that heals surface injuries when light is shone through are being made, studied, and developed. They, too, have a competition, but its among themselves and held every month.

I notice a group of craftsmen huddled around one of my Lifedrop Necklaces, deep in conversation. They must have gotten one from Vocana somehow.

The last two places we visited were the Grand Coliseum, where fighter healers compete, and the dungeon entrance.

The Grand Coliseum is massive and always has fights, day and night. Apparently, anyone can join, and it isnt to the death, although, in a country built upon healing, one can get much closer to dying.

Many fighters dont even use weapons; they fight with their hands, legs, and sometimes even their tails. I see that most of them employ some sort of reverse healing upon contact with their opponent. There was even one woman who augmented herself with ash and used many ashen tentacles to deliver reverse healing. Everyone ganged up on her, and she still came out on top.

At the dungeon, it is explained that only those with permission are able to enter and that it is illegal to enter without it. Otherwise, the entrance stands inside a stone building. The massive double doors are made with some sort of ironwood and trimmed with steel. They have golden decorations and it takes two people per door to open. I suppose trespassers cant get into the dungeon if they cant even get past the door, so it makes sense.

After the tour, we went back to the Embassy for dinner.

Its quite impressive, I answer Lanyas question. I especially love the park; it must have taken hundreds of years to get to where it is now. And having it ecologically stable is even more of an impressive feat!

Seeing everything that Helikan, and the other countries, even the Human Empire, has to offer, I cant help but want something impressive for the Nexus as well. We dont have much, but with my current abilities, I should be able to make something; but what should I make?