Transcendence, page 43
part #6 of The Beginning After The End Series
“I see—no pun intended,” I quickly corrected myself.
“Don’t worry about it. I came to terms with it fairly quickly,” he said, dismissing my concerns.
I hesitated. “Do you… ever miss it?” Of course he’d miss it, you dolt. Who wouldn’t miss having one of their senses?
“At times,” he said mildly. “But at the same time, the last thing I ever saw with my eyes was my wife. That fact allows me to keep her intact inside me.”
Do not cry, Arthur. Do not cry.
“That’s sad but… sweet,” I managed, struggling to keep my voice from trembling. “I’d love to hear your story sometime.”
“You’re young, General Arthur. Nothing good comes out of hearing tragic stories when there’s a whole war ahead of you,” Camus replied, clearing his throat. “Now off you go. Get some rest and come back tomorrow with a clear head.”
I carefully got to my feet. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
Camus waved directly at me, giving no sign that his vision was impaired. “And if I catch so much as a whiff of you thinking about going easy on me now that you know, I will knock you down so hard—”
“Don’t worry,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m actually a little more scared of you now.”
The elf’s lips curved into a contented smile. “Good.”
My sister and her bond followed Alanis and Emily to the artificer’s work station at the castle, saying her bow needed some repairs and fine tuning. Alanis had been taking extensive notes on a daily basis during the training, but had refused to share them with me. She said that the training was going the way she had intended, and any information she shared with me might derail my training at this point. She promised to reveal her findings on my mana flow growth next week, after more data from Emily’s artifacts has been gathered.
Walking down the empty halls in the dead of night these last days had been a time for my own thoughts to wander. I thought a lot about the memories from my past life that had been resurfacing, which made me think more deeply about the even bigger question: What was I doing in this world?
My skeptical self refused to believe that it was all a coincidence, but I had nowhere near enough information to find out how I had come to this world or dimension.
I knew that the asuras—mainly Lord Indrath—knew more about me than he had shared, but I’d never get any sort of answers from him without offering something in return. I had some hope that if Dicathen came out of this war victorious, Lord Indrath would be more inclined to share some insights about me, but that was only a hope. A surer way to get some answers—and also the reason I had refused to accept the artifact given to Lances—was by surpassing the white core stage and unlocking more of the message Sylvia had left for me after we’d parted ways.
Hopefully, extracting the mana from Uto’s horn will lead to a breakthrough into the white core stage, I thought, though I had my doubts. Sylvie had been in a near-comatose state while she hungrily extracted the mana from her horn. I had been worried about her at first, but I could feel the relaxed state of her mind through our mental transmissions.
When I unlocked and opened the door to my room, however, I found myself questioning that line of thought.
Sylvie—or rather, her silhouette—was glowing with an obsidian light. What shocked me, though, was that her form was shifting erratically. Her wings grew and shrank suddenly, and her tail convulsed before contracting. Sylvie’s small limbs elongated and her paws stretched out into something that vaguely resembled a… hand.
“S-Sylvie?” I muttered, unsure whether I should try and hold her or keep some distance.
After what seemed like an hour, the erratic changes in my bond’s body slowed down and she gradually shifted back to her vulpine form.
I held my breath, waiting for Sylvie to do something—anything.
Just then, her eyes shot open, revealing two clear orbs of topaz. Breathing deeply, Sylvie tilted her head. “Arthur? What’s wrong?”
“With me?” I asked. “Nothing… Are you okay?”
“What do you mean?” she replied, obviously confused.
“You—your body was changing.” I motioned with my hands, unable to form an accurate description of what I witnessed.
“I’m fine,” she said dismissively. “I actually feel really good. The mana in this horn is really potent.”
I scratched my head. “Well at least you’re making some progress. I’ve been having a hard time absorbing the mana.”
“Really? The mana has been flowing inside me naturally—almost like it was my own.”
I was perplexed by the difference between Sylvie’s progress and mine, but my fatigue overpowered any notion of investigating more deeply. “All right. Well, try and get some rest.”
My bond shook her little head. “No need. I can get by with fewer hours of sleep than lessers—even more so while absorbing this mana, actually.”
I fell flat on my bed. “Well, this lesser needs his sleep. I suspect I won’t even be able to come back up to my room over the next few weeks of training, so I need to relish the feeling of this bed while I can.”
“I can tell your training is going well,” my bond said. “I can feel the level of your strength rising steadily.”
“Mhmm. With my training progressing how it is, I should be able to hit white core soon, if I can extract the mana from Uto’s horn,” I mumbled drowsily.
“That’s great,” Sylvie replied, her clear voice lulling me into sleep. “Get some rest.”
“You… too,” I managed to say before drifting off to sleep.
Chapter 51
Inside the Vault
My thoughts veered back to the sight of Sylvie’s form changing as she absorbed the mana from Uto’s horn. It had been a few days since that night, but her unexplainable shift in form still worried me. My days had been hectic; if I wasn’t training, I was either in a meeting, advising Gideon with the train project, or personally advising Virion on various aspects of the war. Even then, my thoughts always drifted back to what I had seen that night.
Sylvie didn’t seem to feel like anything was wrong—just the opposite, in fact. My bond had become deeply infatuated with the horn and the mana it provided for her. After that night, she had asked me for a private space so that she could continue absorbing the retainer’s mana without interruptions. I hadn’t seen her since then—my only comfort came from the calm traces of her mental state I detected through our bond connection.
“—neral Arthur!”
I jolted upright in my seat at the booming voice, only to see that the eyes of everyone in the room were on me. Around the large round table that had replaced its smaller predecessor, seated in large cushioned chairs, were myself, the other three remaining Lances, and the five members of the Council. Also joining us today for the exciting and fun-filled meeting was Gideon, who seemed to be wholly concentrated on picking something out of his left ear.
Oh right, I’m in a meeting.
“Are you feeling well, General Arthur?” King Glayder asked, his expression laced more with irritation than concern.
I shifted in my seat. “Of course.”
The king lowered his gaze to my hand. I followed his eyes, only to realize that the quill I held in my hand had snapped in half from my grip.
Clearing my throat, I faced everyone. “My apologies. I was lost in thought for a moment. Please continue.”
“We were moving on to the topic of this so-called ‘train’ that you and Artificer Gideon are planning. We were hoping the two of you would be able to give us an update on how that’s coming along,” Queen Eralith stated, her gaze switching between me and Gideon, who was sitting a few seats to my left.
Just the day before, Gideon and I had discussed the final details of the project. We were ready to move on to actually building the vehicle in order to secure a safe and fast supply route from Blackbend City to the Wall.
“Ah, yes.” The artificer smoothed out a crease on his dirty lab coat. “The landsh—I mean the train will be able to hold at least twenty times more supplies than the squads of carriages we have utilized until now.”
“What about the potential dangers while traveling between Blackbend and the Wall?” Varay asked with an inquisitive look. “From what I read, this ‘train’ seems to be limited to a set path. Won’t this make it easy for bandits, or even Alacryans, to attack and lay siege to our supply line?”
“I agree. I imagine it would be easy to destroy a portion of the track that the train relies on,” Aya added casually.
“Both good points, generals!” Gideon exclaimed. “Arth—General Arthur and I saw that as one of the pitfalls as well, and came up with a solution.”
“Oh? And what would that be?” Virion asked with a raised brow.
The artificer replied with a snarky grin. “To put it underground, Commander!”
There was a moment of silence where the royals and Lances present pondered the solution before King Glayder spoke up with a gruff tone. “The cost of doing all this would be excessive, don’t you think?”
Gideon coughed and looked to me, his eyes practically begging me to take over. Being the renowned artificer that he was, Gideon usually had the wealth and influence to build whatever inventions he wanted, but actually calculating the cost and benefit of creating something as large-scale as this was foreign to him.
Luckily, having read numerous books on economics and being personally taught by the shrewd and resourceful leader of the Council in my previous world, Marlorn, I had the answer. “You’re thinking about it the wrong way, King Glayder. The initial costs might seem high, but this project serves to potentially solve three problems at once.”
“I’m listening,” he replied with a raised brow. Everyone else leaned just a bit closer.
I took a breath and gathered my thoughts. “Aside from the main problem we’re trying to resolve, which is finding a more efficient way to transport supplies for soldiers stationed at the Wall, building the train helps to address two peripheral issues. One is the rising cost of purchasing domesticated mana beasts, which as you know is necessary because of the current state of the Beast Glades; the other is the increasing poverty.”
“Increasing poverty? What nonsense,” Bairon blurted. “Because of the war, business is booming!”
“Let General Arthur finish!” Queen Glayder said sharply, surprising me.
“Thank you,” I said, addressing Kathyln’s mother, before continuing. “Not to sound cold but ‘booming business’ mostly benefits business owners and highly skilled patrons, not the lower class citizens. Queen Glayder, I’d imagine that your reports from various cities mention an increasing number of riots due to the increase in taxes and prices of basic goods because of the demand from the war, correct?”
She flipped through several pages of the neat stack of papers in front of her. “How did you know that?”
Explaining everything would become cumbersome so I merely shrugged. “Simple cause and effect. This war is taking precedence over everything else, which means that priority will be given to those who are taking part. For everyone else, this means an increase in the cost of living, while their wage might not necessarily increase. More than that, because of the various attacks near the coasts and borders, fishermen aren’t able to fish and farmlands have been destroyed.”
“So you’re saying that this project will be a means to create jobs for those people?” King Eralith finished for me.
I nodded. “This underground path for the train will be a big project that can’t be finished with just a few competent earth mages. And while mages will be necessary for security of the tracks in predetermined locations, there will be many duties available for normal workers during the building process, and for maintenance.”
“Those are good points, General Arthur, but what about just using slaves?” King Glayder argued. “Wouldn’t it be more efficient and cost-effective to have slaves doing the labor instead of paying workers?”
Rather than answering, I glanced at Virion. Slavery was one of the many topics we had discussed, and Blaine’s question fell into one of the explanations I had given the commander.
“Slave labor has its limits as work becomes more skilled, King Glayder. I don’t think we should think of this train project as a one-off venture, but rather as the beginning of a new era. The introduction of the steam engine provides a new line of work for laborers, one that does not require magic. This too—whether it’s the workers actually building the tracks, or the designers planning the routes from one city to another—will require skills that will never stem from what a slave is forced to do,” he stated with confidence.
The meeting room was quiet for the first time in what seemed like hours, until a white-sleeved hand shot up.
Everyone turned to Gideon, who was leaning his head on one hand while he raised the other. “I didn’t know if it was appropriate to speak in this rather uncomfortable silence. Anyway, I just wanted to say that this project will indeed be the beginning of many, and it’ll be a breeding ground for fostering new skill sets. If possible, I’d prefer not to work with slaves. If they’re forced to be there, they’ll no doubt be doing the bare minimum—which will cut into productivity of this urgent project.”
With that, the discussion came to a close, and everyone cast their vote anonymously on a piece of paper. After going over the results, I was glad that the hours of discussion on the issue hadn’t been for naught. The project to build the underground route and train was approved, along with several policies pertaining to it—one of which was the ban on slave labor. I trusted Gideon, who would be the head on this project, to be able to properly manage and teach the people working with him in the upcoming months so that they would be able to work—if not lead—the next train route project.
It was interesting to see a new era—one that had existed only in textbooks in my old world—begin to unfold here. This ‘industrial revolution,’ that had perhaps started with my introduction of the steam engine, was undoubtedly being hastened by the war with Alacrya. And while I would never be one to support war, I had to admit it did bring some favorable aspects to the table.
“Our little talks seem to be bearing fruit,” Virion noted as we walked down a narrow hallway, barely wide enough to fit three people abreast. Two armored guards followed closely behind us, while one led the way just a few steps ahead.
“You mean my insightful lectures on war and economics?” I corrected him.
“Oh, shush. I consider it payment for housing you for over three years while you were a wee child,” the old elf retorted.
I shrugged. “I don’t mind. I’m sure you would’ve come to a similar conclusion about using slave labor anyway.”
“Probably not as eloquently as I put it in the meeting, though,” Virion admitted. “Elves have prohibited slavery for over a hundred years now, but it was for moral reasons. I hadn’t thought about the economic benefits until you pointed it out last week.”
“Well, in a world where people are mainly divided according to who can use magic and who can’t, it’s hard to see past a lot of things,” I said.
“You sound as if you’ve been in a world that isn’t divided into magic users and normal people,” Virion teased.
I replied with a forced smile, opting for silence instead. That lasted until we reached a thick metal door with only one guard present.
The young guard—an elf, as evidenced by the long ears sticking out from his cropped hair—was small-framed but toned, his lean muscles minimally protected by armor. I could tell by his rich yellow aura that, like me, any form of thick armor would be more of a hindrance than protection. Two unadorned short swords, curved at the tip, hung by his waist, as opposed to the gaudy spears of the soldiers accompanying us, but even at a glance I could tell that he would easily wipe out all three soldiers ‘protecting’ us.
His eyes were glazed with boredom, but he perked up when he spotted Virion and me. “Good evening, Commander Virion and… General Arthur. Or is it morning already? My apologies; there are no windows here for me to tell.”
“It hasn’t been that long, Albold,” Virion replied with a smile before turning to me. “Arthur, this is Albold Chaffer of Chaffer House. He is from a strong military family, which has served the Eralith family for generations. Albold, I’m sure you’ve heard of Arthur Leywin.”
“I’ve been told that he might become the new Eralith family heir,” Albold said, his sharp eyes sparkling with interest.
I coughed in surprise, shooting a sharp glare at Virion. “New heir?”
“Well you see, General Arthur, when the royal family doesn’t have a son, the man marrying into the—”
I put out a hand. “I get it.”
“I’ve always wanted to meet you in person, General, but I’ve been stuc—entrusted with the paramount duty of guarding this door,” he said, motioning at the thick metal door. “I guessed it might be you coming here. It’s hard to believe, but you’re even more imposing than I’d imagined.”
I tilted my head. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been holding back my presence.”
“The Chaffer family are known for their eerily keen senses,” Virion explained.
“What’s he doing here then?” I inquired, regarding the elf, who was not much older than myself. “Your skills would be better suited for the field, no?”
“Albold was out in the Beast Glades until he defied a direct order from his head,” Virion answered for him. “Usually, he would have been given a demotion and strict punishment, but I know the boy and I happened to be at the scene, so I picked him up and placed him here.”
“And my appreciation for that gesture is as boundless as the northern sea!” Albold beamed, bowing deeply.
The guards behind us muttered a few words of disapproval but stopped when Albold’s gaze bored into them.
“Anyway, enough about this troublemaker,” Virion said dryly. “Albold, let us inside and lock the door after us.”
“Aye aye, Commander!” The elf saluted before unlocking the door and pulling it open.
