Crimson Anima, Chapter 9: Connections
Meara set down a pile of firewood in the back corner of the inn's dining room. "There you go. I've gotta run." She turned and made to leave.
"Thanks, Meara," Piaras replied, not looking up from his ledger.
Time to walk three hours to Dunbarton again, she thought, crossing the bridges across Adelia Stream. For two weeks now, she'd run down to Dunbarton every morning, coming back to the inn by Moongate in the evenings.
I knew what I was getting into, but—wait, what's this?
Three people were near the idle Moongate, doing...something to it. Two men in matching brown uniforms seemed to be setting up what looked like pedestals to the sides of the gateway. The older third man, in a white robe with bushy gray hair, seemed to be directing the work. Nearby lay a pile of crates, some of which were lying open.
"There. The connection's been established, Berched." one of the workers said to the older man.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Meara walked over for a closer look.
"Excuse me...what's going on here?"
The older man turned to look at Meara when when he heard her speak.
"Oh, hello! We're installing these Mana Condensers onto the Moongate." He pointed at one of the crates, which contained a pair of crescent moon-shaped crystalline objects. "They'll gather extra Mana at night, and use it to power this Moongate throughout the day. Quite exciting work, if I say so myself."
Meara's eyes went wide. "So...the Moongate will always be on?" Is this because of what I discussed with Lassar a couple weeks ago?
"Precisely. Our initial tests with the Moongates near Tailteann were a great success, so we're going to be enhancing every Moongate in Uladh. It'll take a while, but we'll get to them all...eventually. If you'll excuse me, now, my dear, this is the most important step..."
The two workmen picked the crystalline moons out of the crate, carrying them to the pedestals.
"Oh… I'll leave you to it, then."
"Good day." He turned back to the workmen. "All right, now to mount the condensers. Be careful with those, they took hours to synthesize..."
Meara walked away from the gate and across the south meadow, heading for the long road south to Dunbarton.
Wow. All this started with an offhand question born out of laziness, and now here it is actually happening. If they can actually do it though, it'll drastically change the world.
I really need to be more careful with what I suggest.
Her line of thought was disrupted by a growl from the trees on the side of the road. She turned to face in the direction it had come from, and saw a wolf standing among the trees, its teeth bared in a snarl.
Wolf!? Stay calm, stay calm… She channeled Mana into a Lightning Bolt spell. A sphere of energy flickered to life, orbiting around her.
"Bad dog. Go away." Her voice was far from calm.
The wolf barked loudly, then charged at Meara.
"You brought this on yourself..."
She unleashed the spell on the charging wolf. With a clap of thunder and a yelp from the enraged canine, it toppled over mid-stride and fell unconscious.
This has been happening more and more lately, she thought, hurrying away from the still-twitching disabled wolf. Maybe this'll be the last time I have to take this three-hour walk...
—
A while later, Meara reached the logging camp. Two workers were smoothing out the sides of a long log that had sharpened into a point at each end, and a large pile of similarly prepared logs lay nearby.
Near the large tree in the middle of camp, two people seemed to be arguing; one a rugged-looking man with a beard wearing a raccoon cap, the other a tall woman with brown hair. Both wore plain and practical brown clothing.
As Meara passed, she couldn't help but overhear their raised voices. Do these big ears help me hear better? I have no way to tell...
"Look, Alexina, I have every intention to fill your order, but at the rate we're going it's probably going to take us another four weeks to finish it," the man shouted.
"What do you mean it's going to take another month? What's the problem now?!" The tall woman glared at the man, hands on her hips.
"Really; I'm sorry, but we're not going to be able to get it done any sooner than that." He waved an arm, gesturing at still-bloodstained patches of dirt. "That bear attack wrecked my operation! Half my men got badly torn up, a few got killed, and now most of 'em are too scared of it happening again to come back to work."
"Ooh! My expedition's never going to get started at this rate! First Erskin Bank withdraws my funding, and now this?"
"Hey, you'll get your three hundred palisade stakes, you're just gonna have to wait for 'em! I don't have time for this. If you want it done faster, get off my back and find me some new lumberjacks! Preferably some real men!"
The man turned away, picking up a lumber axe and storming off into the woods.
Looks like the hostile wildlife is giving everyone a bad time. There was nothing natural about this rampant hostility from the creatures of the forest, as evident from the Fomorian scrolls being found everywhere. It's getting worse. This can't go on...
—
By the time Meara reached Dunbarton, her feet hurt, her legs hurt, and her back felt stiff and sore. She walked into the school, trudged up to the second floor lecture hall, and sighed with relief when she sat down on one of the stools.
I guess I'm early, she thought. Stewart wasn't in the room. Well, at least I can rest a bit. I must really be out of shape. Every day I feel worse at the end of these walks than I did the day before…
Meara picked up the book on the table in front of her, an old tome on potions, and browsed through it for a few minutes until she heard footsteps on the stairs. It was a book on the basics of formulating potions from medicinal herbs. She put the book down again as Stewart entered the room.
"Ah, interested in potions, are you?" He adjusted his glasses. "It might be a good idea for you to take up potion making, actually. Ever give much thought to it?"
"...a little. Um...I finished the assignment you gave me."
"I'll take your word for it. Well, then, here's what I'd like to have you do next. I want you to go through a longer dungeon. For example, Math Dungeon northeast of town. It'll serve two purposes: to give you practice managing your Mana for a prolonged period, as well as being able to focus on casting in dangerous situations..."
"I see..." Right. When the bear attacked me, all I could think to do was run...
"Also...it would be best if you didn't go there alone," Stewart continued. "Fomors aren't going to politely wait for you to cast spells, and neither will a maddened wild animal. Sometimes you just need someone else there to cover you while you're casting."
"...I can't disagree with that…but...who would I be going with?"
"You'll just have to make some friends then. That's also part of the assignment." Stewart chuckled. "That's all I'll ask of you for now. As usual, take all the time you need, and let me know when you've done it."
"...it might take a while."
"I'll wait. Be careful out there." He turned away, dismissing Meara.
—
Meara sat down under the tree at the corner of Dunbarton's crossroad, watching the world go by.
...make some friends, huh? He made that sound a lot easier than I think it's going to be. Did I ever even have any friends in my...previous life?
She sat watching people go about their business, most of them other Milletians, while she pondered the task that had been given to her.
I may have been brought to this world...but I don't feel like I have any connection to it. And I'm not sure how to make one...
Dozens of Milletians came and went here every day, talking, playing music, practicing crafts, even sparring. For all that was going on, though, Meara was just sitting on the sidelines, feeling like a spectator to the everyday life around her.
A mischievous-looking young man, and a woman with a dog on a leash, both dressed in white, came walking down the road. The woman was clearly in a hurry and looked rather irritated with the man following her.
"Would you please hurry, Merlin? I'm going to be late for my concert," the woman snapped.
The young man followed, flailing his arms around in an attempt to strike a triumphant pose while keeping pace. "No worries, you'll get there with plenty of time! There's new upgraded Moongates! They work all day! I helped with the idea, you know? And I did it all for your sake, Starlet!"
"Really now?" She sighed, looking down at her dog. "Come along, boy, let's see these fancy new Moongates this big jerk came up with."
"Aww. You love that dog more than me!"
"Correct."
"Oh, come on, I change the world for you and you don't even care? At least you can admire my work! Hey, wait up!"
...What was that all about? Meara thought. All his idea to upgrade the Moongates, huh? Whatever. I can live with not getting credit for them, as long I get to use them. Walking three hours a day is wearing my shoes out fast.
Meara sat a while longer, watching various people go about their business.
I don't feel like I belong here. I'm...different. I wish I didn't feel that way. I wish I was just...normal.
Two Milletians, a boy and girl in their late teens, walked out of the healer's house. They had similar faces, and their hair and eyes were the same colors. They were arguing with one another. Their bickering resolved as they drew closer, walking in Meara's general direction.
"...wouldn't have happened if there had been someone else there with us. I really think we need a third person," the girl protested. She was in a green and teal-colored martial artist suit with a black ribbon wrapped around her waist.
"Oh, fine, have it your way, sis," replied the young man with her, clad in gray leather armor over white clothing. "Let's see...wait a minute...is that…?"
He looked right at Meara, then pointed at her. "Look over there! It's her; that elf from magic class! Let's ask her. She'll be awesome!"
Meara's eyes went wide. Wait, what? Does he mean me?
"Huh? Wow, I think it is her," the girl replied. "...and I think she heard us."
Having been called out, Meara stood up as the pair approached, staring at them. A spark of recognition fired in her small collection of memories.
Ah...I remember them. They were at Lassar's lecture on Firebolt when I wrecked the training dummy. And he was at the archery lesson…
"...well, you go ask, then," the girl said, in a quieter voice. She nudged him forward.
They seem surprised I overheard. Huh. Maybe I do hear better than humans...
Once they realized Meara had overheard them, and knew that she knew they were talking about her, they closed the distance and walked up to her. The young man extended a hand in greeting.
"Um, hello there. Meara, was it? We were wondering, uh, would you, um, like to...?" the boy said, fuddling with his words.
The girl pushed him aside and continued for him. "Ugh, let me do it! Hi. I'm Vivian. This is my brother, Devin. We were going to go explore Math Dungeon, and we wanted a third person to come along with us. Safety in numbers, you know?"
Devin shot her an annoyed look.
"So Devin spotted you and thought to ask. Or rather, he was gonna ask, but he gets tongue-tied around pretty girls," she added, jabbing her brother in the ribs with her elbow.
"I do not!" he fumed.
Meara raised an eyebrow. Pretty? I'm...pretty? I wouldn't know...
"Anyway," Vivian continued, "you're good with magic, right? Since I mostly just hit things, and Devin's an archer, you'd...you know, balance things out?" She shrugs.
"I guess so..." Meara responded, not sure what exactly to make of these two.
"We'll keep things off you so you can focus on casting," Devin added, finding it in him to speak properly. "Don't worry, we'll keep you safe."
Well, Stewart did want me to go to Math Dungeon with other people, and here I was fretting about how to go about it, but this sounds like just what I needed...
"Sure. Why not?" Meara said.
This might be an interesting experience.