The conversation that he’d been having between himself, a professor who was surprisingly hard to focus on replying to, and a couple of students seemed to cut off all at once, and there were unintelligible excited noises outside of his egg. Now what? They had to be excited for a reason, right?

The cause didn’t take long to reveal itself.

Another, unfamiliar voice spoke in his mind, one that had very different qualities from the students and professor. This new voice was more like he was actually there talking to them. Normally telepathy, at least so far, seemed to have an unusual quality, not like the thoughts were your own but almost like a random, very disruptive intrusive thought. It never had a “sound” to it. This new one seemed to.

“Hello. Nice to meet you. Apologies for interrupting your conversation. My name is Lady Sar, the Lead Research Administrator here at Msavii Academy. As you might imagine, we’re quite curious about you, and whenever we heard you were in a communicative state, we simply had to come speak with you. Is there something you’d like to be called in particular? And are you male or female, sex-wise?” She asked, voice gentle and sophisticated but full of excited curiosity. As if she had just discovered the most fascinating person she’d yet met. As she spoke, it was like he could see her in his mind. She was what he guessed was a High Elf, with bright, clear peach skin and eyes that could only be described as golden. Her hair was in a giant ringette made up of many thinner ones, falling all the way down to her hips.

And what hips they were; she cut an absolutely stunning figure, a well balanced hourglass shape with hips, bust and shoulders all relatively large but fitting for her height.

Even someone as definitely-not-leaning-that-way as Lukas could tell there was something supernatural about her beauty. It was practically hypnotizing.

“Male!” He chirped in response, pleased to meet yet another person, “My name is Lukas Ruiz. Just Lukas or Luke is fine. I’m um... or... well... I was human before. I’m not sure what I am now, truth be told.”

This just led to her smiling and nodding, seeming to write something down, though he couldn't see what she was writing on, "Well nice to meet you Lukas. It's been some time since we've had an Outsider arrive here at so young an age. But from what we've seen of your intelligence stat, I think you'll fit right in once we have a tutor to guide you through some basic education. What was your previous profession, if you're comfortable with my asking?"

“Chemist,” he stated, grinning, “I got a degree for it and all that, too, but what I was doing was sort of... cutting edge research and development. Working with chemicals and compounds to various ends.” As he grinned, he realized that he was able to see his old body as well, and that there was a real environment around them, albeit it was only an open sky space with no visible ground or stars. Just open skies unto forever.

"I see. Well, we don't have chemists here, but we do have alchemists. It's a very similar idea, albeit we tend to be far behind the curve of some places low in magic. At least, I assume your home world was. Most Outsiders from places low in magic tend to have more advanced technology, and vice versa. We definitely fall into the latter category, but from what we've heard from the few extraplanar entities we've logged discussions with, we get exceptionally large amounts of Outsiders compared to most, so we have an... odd medley of available resources. Your education may well get you far here in that regard. It would also explain why the man who brought your egg here insisted you'd want books concerning alchemy. We suspect he was an Admin. A very curious thing, since they don't usually do such things. Ordinarily they just put you somewhere you won't likely die before getting settled into this world and leave you to see what you do. I don't imagine you have any ideas as to why that might be so?"

“I’m from somewhere called Earth. We don’t have magic there. At all, from what we know,” he explained, “The most magic I’ve ever seen was when I was dragged here... but then I don’t really remember much after I crashed. As for this admin thing... I’ve got no idea. I feel like I should know what you’re talking about but I can’t recall anything. I suppose I’m grateful they didn’t dump me in the wilderness, though.”

He looked around the fake landscape, not moving much, “So... magic. How strong are you? Or... powerful? Whatever is the correct term.”

"Earth you say..." the woman said, toying with her hair as she thought. She had Improved Memory Lvl 7 and read everything she could about the Outsider phenomena by this point, since this was a common stopping place for Outsiders, at least compared to most locations in this world... but the reports from them were few and far between concerning their homes. It was usually a sore point. But Earth did sound familiar. Perhaps one of the more common candidate pool locations?

"This sounds familiar, but I'll have to look into our files. Your not being able to recall is fairly common, it's typically quite some time before one recalls anything about them, and even then only if they actually work for them. As for magic, I am among the more lauded members of the school, yes. Not to boast, but I am among the more powerful magic users in this world. But that is not an uncommon feature of those in the higher ranks of this academy. Speaking of which... I imagine you have many questions. Please, do go ahead. I'll be happy to share with you what I can," she said as she gestured behind him to a patio set with two chairs and a table with an umbrella, albeit one made of stone. "Do understand that this world has many mysteries, of course, and those without much context often ask very broad questions, so if I seem to be avoiding questions, I'm afraid I must ask for your patience."

He stared at the chairs for a long moment, arms folded, before he eventually made his way over and sat down. In this headspace, he still looked "human", or what was human in his world anyhow. Lukas considered the multitude of questions he could ask, but perhaps starting with this school would be for the best. "Please explain the ranks you mentioned for this establishment," he stated, offering her another small smile, "If I start with basics of the world itself, we'd be here all day, and you sound like a busy person."

Sitting down at the tables, she snapped to indicate the use of magic as a tea set appeared on the table. They were different in basic shape than ones from Earth, almost more like a carafe, but the idea was the same. Container, spout, cups with handles out the side so as to not burn oneself. "Hmm. Your consideration is appreciated, Lukas, but don't worry. Even if I do wind up having to leave without answering everything now, I shall definitely return, and there are others around to answer in my stead. As for ranks, it is a rather straightforward system, but with some amount of nuance in places. We go through a series of ranks starting at tan robes, then sapphire, then mint green, then maroon. Other than that, purple robes indicate a noble heritage with embroidery of indicated rank, or gold instead of maroon. But don't worry, they acquiesce to nobles families demanding to be visually distinct but they get no special treatment here where it counts. In fact, it's generally uncommon for nobles to reach this rank because most can't stand being treated like the rest of the world for that long. That aside... our ranking structure is based around the amount of energy actively available to you, so don't judge too quickly by rank. My favorite assistant is a tan robe. She is indeed low in terms of overall power, but a brilliant mind, and very quick to learn. I suspect you will share this trait."

“Well then! I hope I can rise in rank quickly then!” He paused, tilting his head slightly, “Well... assuming I can join? Is there an entry cost? I figure the best place to learn of the world is a school.”

This made her smile brightly, clearly what she was aiming for, "Well, we were certainly hoping you'd want to. Not to pressure you, but Outsiders usually come with all kinds of advantages, like either greater xp rates or universal resistances, starting life with a potent skill set like your advanced Alchemy skills, along with a medley of skills. While this perhaps won't make you stand out as much here as it may in other places, you still start with a great advantage, and Outsiders often bring great repute to the places they're from. We'll see to arranging a dwelling for you upon hatching quite shortly."

His smile turned half grimace, “Yeah... hatching. I’ll uh... leave that to you guys. I don’t know much about eggs.” Lukas ran a hand through his hair, sighing, “Right... then I guess I should know a few more things. You’re a noble. So... that means your society is classist - er, no offense. My home doesn’t have that sort of thing anymore. The nation I called home kind of violently overthrew the royalty so it’s a whole thing. So... what about church? Is that a big thing here?”

The woman looked thoughtful for a moment. "Concerning hatching, we'll definitely do our best to figure out a good way to go about it for you, but most creatures have an instinctual knowledge of when that might be. It likely relates to your size," she explained, pouring them both a drink. A surprisingly tangy and light tea, that left one with a tingling sensation in the body. "We are a society with different classes as such, yes, but different than many Outsiders have described it. There are upper crust nobles like myself who start with something of an unfair edge, but our system of skills and the like are rather unusual. It makes class mobility a much more real possibility than we've heard of from many others. It's hard to deny one's right to land, wealth, or power when you have direct, undeniable values to measure against those of others. Of course that is the case for Oubern, the nation you're in, but we were founded by Outsiders and tend to be something of a hotspot for your kind. It's not always so even elsewhere, but it's unusual for a society to be so structured you are mostly certain to die in the cast you were born in if you're willing to do your best."

She took a sip, considering again for a moment. "As for the church... I assume you mean religion at large. It is definitely no small thing, to be sure, but it is very divided. As you might imagine for those in desolate, isolated areas with days of travel between settlements, religion can be very important, and directs the decisions of many. The Fae mix things up a great deal, causing all kinds of troubles for the gods and taking many worshipers they may have had. Combine this with the plethora of gods, their infighting, and the way they're mostly stuck up on their moons unlike quite some time ago, and they're not as powerful as once they were during the Orox Empire."

She sighed and shook her head, lamenting history, "This is especially good for you. Few Outsiders take up the Admin cause of god slaying, but it doesn't spread the best initial impression among the religious that most proud god slayers are Outsiders."

He nodded along, “So, multiple gods, then... That makes sense. Does this nation have a national relig-WAIT WHAT!? Did you say the moon? The... what? You guys believe your gods are on the moon??”

This just resulted in a confused look from the woman. "We do not have a national faith, no. Outsiders have poor relations with the divine, often, as do the Fae. This nation is founded and influenced heavily by both. But as far as them being on the moons go... ah. Perhaps I should explain. The world we are on is, itself, a moon to a much larger planet. A "gas giant" some enlightened Outsiders have called it. There are many others just like it. It's not... I wouldn't particularly call it a "belief" necessarily. Most who wind up getting confirmed deity kills wind up having to follow their teleports to these home moons. Not to mention devout followers are sometimes brought there when a deity deigns them special enough. It's not quite something that can be denied."

He was clearly stunned, hell, stunned silent even. Gods on the moon? Well, not even the moon! Moons, plural! They were on a moon right now!! How wild was that? The thought of how that would change life and day and nighttime and... wow. And on top of that, gods were supposed to be on the other moons? Crazy…