Chapter 43 The Censorship

“I see you’ve been busy.” Commented Meira upon arriving silently.

To Meira’s disappointment, her kitten didn’t even flinch. “Yeah, a lot of the information in those books I already knew. So I skimmed through them. I’m curious. Why did they omit a ton of stuff?” Evernya replied, setting the book titled the Northwest down on the bed to her right.

Meira sat in her usual spot on the couch, giving full attention to her kitten. “Go ahead. I’ll answer what I can. Those textbooks weren’t the best, but they work for a general idea of the subjects. However, they won’t make up for missing years of hands-on education.”

“I noticed, I’m guessing a variety of people use these textbooks to learn about the world,” Evernya commented.

Meira materialized an algebra textbook to point out a seal on the cover stating Sespina Tier 3 curriculum certified. “They are the standard textbooks for high school in all Tier 3 cities. Elizabeth’s niece is a high school teacher at Druth East high school, so I borrowed as many textbooks as I could get my hands on.”

“I noticed none of the books directly mentioned the wilds. Why is that?” inquired her ever-curious kitten.

Meira scowled as her kitten’s question triggered a rant. “A stupid and dangerous law forbids any mention of the wilds until a citizen awakens their magic. Why keep children in the dark about the outside world? What’s the harm when a citizen can’t exit the barrier until they awaken. It is especially dangerous in the outer ring of Sespina because of our proximity to the wilds. This law is one of the primary reasons all material taught in public schooling must have the proper seal, ensuring censorship of all the legal information. To access any information about the wilds from a Tier 3 location, you have to enter your citizen ID number, ensuring you have awakened. Of course, most kids have some knowledge about the wilds, but most parents keep it vague to protect their children. If caught having told a minor about the wilds, the adult could face large fines and the minor must have their mind wiped of any mention of the wilds.”

“That’s ridiculous! Everyone has the right to know about the outside world!” Evernya exclaimed, prompting Meira to continue her rant.

“I agree, and so do most adults. The law is relatively recent from ten years ago, so only the current generation has been affected, but it has led to a noticeable difference. Their goal was to create a utopian-like society where kids grow up without knowing monsters roam the surrounding land capable of destroying entire cities if they desired. The difference is noticeable as kids are much happier than previous generations. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I don’t agree with the law, but I have no say in the matter.”

“How don’t kids notice the enormous wall surrounding the city?” Evernya inquired upon remembering the stone wall surrounding Druth.

“They can’t. The inside of the wall has an enchantment, making it invisible to unawakened eyes. Instead, they see a censored version of outside the wall minus any roaming creatures and the slums.” Replied Meira.

“Wow, why go through so much effort? It had to be expensive to pull off an illusion of that scale.” Evernya questioned.

“It was, despite the cost-cutting measures. It isn’t illusion magic though, but instead a form of enchanted paint linked to the paint on the outside, creating a fake window. They covered most of the cost via a bump in taxes in the form of mana or money. Mana for the enchantments and money for the ingredients. Even though the public disagreed with the tax, the police forces violently squashed any protests, making an example of anyone who tried.” Meira explained to her curious kitten.

As an outside observer, Evernya had little reaction to the blatant strong-arming instead questioning, “What if an attack happens? Instead of learning about the wilds from a young age, most people my age will be a liability.”

Meira huffed in annoyance as she responded, “A majority of human mages are noncombatants the rest usually learn about the wilds from college or if they join the military. I agree they are setting themselves up for disaster, but there is nothing I can do. To make things worse, the latest High Mage’s council meeting talked about administering a geas on everyone. They want to prevent all citizens from talking about the wilds unless the other person is in the know. Luckily, the Mage’s councils considered the plan too extreme even for them. Not because they didn’t want to implement it. What stopped them was the resources required to implement that many geas.”

“Wow, what are they thinking? I don’t understand why they would intentionally weaken themselves.” Evernya commented with growing confusion.

“That’s the thing they aren’t thinking. The Mage’s council is so drunk on power. They think they can get away with anything. Unfortunately, they are right since Sespina is the only known human country.” Meira fumed.

Evernya glanced at the book she had just finished before returning her attention to Meira with a worried expression. “The scary part is from what I read, as long as the rest of their council agrees with them, they are untouchable. None of what I have read shows we can hold them accountable for their actions.”

“There are ways, but they rarely implement the checks on power since it requires a majority vote from all lower-tier mages councils under that council’s control.” Explained Meira, only adding fuel to Evernya’s worries of abuse of power.

After a few seconds to mull over the information, Evernya changed the subject. “What’s this law about silver tracking collars? Isn’t the discrimination enough?”

Expecting the question at some point, Meira answered, “About 50 years ago, The Cooke pack became fed up with their treatment, so they tried to take over the Tier 3 city of Linfield. Their originally peaceful plan turned violent, as most takeovers do, causing thousands of humans to die before reinforcements arrived. Almost immediately after the massacre, the Sespina High Mage’s Council unanimously voted to enact the silver tracking collars to safeguard against the same thing happening in the future. The silver tracking collar prevents a shifter from shifting and tracks their whereabouts at all times. To ensure compliance, the barrier of tier 1 and tier 2 cities prevents an uncollared shifter from entering, but Tier 3 and the area surrounding cities are exempt. A few years later, they added a shocking feature to incapacitate the shifter remotely.”

Before her raging kitten blew something up, Meira quickly continued to explain. “A shifter in animal form is faster and stronger, and resistant to magic. A novice or non-combative mage is at a significant disadvantage against an adult shifter in animal form. In a densely populated area, a shifter could kill dozens of innocents before naturalization. If you had an animal form and shifted during your mage’s test, you could have taken out at least a dozen of those teenagers, even though security was nearby.”

Evernya’s eyes land on the ripples of air surrounding her, prompting her to close her eyes and watch the flow of her mana while stroking her tail to calm down. She remained silent for several minutes until she properly reined in her temper before speaking. “so, is there any way to avoid wearing this collar?” Evernya asked, staring up into Meira’s eyes with desperate hope.

Meira’s heart ached, but she promised to answer all questions she could. “As much as I would love to see otherwise, even though you cannot fully shift, they would still force you to wear the collar because of the danger you could pose with your magic. The only exemption from collaring is an active bloodline.”

To Meira’s surprise, her kitten didn’t explode. “I figured, I guess I won’t be traveling by portal anytime soon.”

“Yes, you can. The portal station in every city is exempt from this law.” Informed Meira, causing her kitten to slump against her headboard in relief.

“I suppose I can understand the law after several deadly incidents caused by shifters. It just sucks that the rest of us have to suffer.” Commented Evernya, visibly more at ease knowing the portal network wasn’t off-limits.

“Unfortunately, the Cooke pack created worse treatment for shifters instead of better. One thing humans and shifters can both agree on is their hatred for the Cooke pack. Though few members remain to this day.” Stated Meira.

“They deserve any hatred coming their way. Why didn’t they establish their own settlement? It sounds easier than taking over a city?” Evernya questioned.

“For a pack of their size, it would be doable, but it would bankrupt them. A territory large enough to sustain several thousand shifters would require at least five times the territory I have. Even a small territory large enough to accommodate a small family costs a fortune. If I didn’t do most of the setup myself, I wouldn’t be able to afford such a large territory.” Explained Meira.

Several minutes passed in silence with Evernya deep in thought before Meira spoke. “Do you have any more questions? You need to eat and go to bed soon. Tomorrow will be a long day if you pass Elizabeth’s checkup. The only thing left to test is your base physical capabilities, which I hope to accomplish tomorrow if Elizabeth gives the green light.”

Evernya responded after a few seconds of thinking. “Not at the moment. I’m sure I’ll think of something later though. As for going to bed, I’m not tired yet. I think I’ll finish the last book instead.” A question suddenly popped into her head as her eyes scanned the remaining textbooks. “By the way, why didn’t you include any books on magic studies?”

Meira materialized her tablet with Evernya’s results, giving it a quick scan before she explained. “Most of the textbooks I had wouldn’t teach you anything new. Your current knowledge of magic seems to be close to the high school level. I reviewed your test, and you lost most of your points from historical facts, spells, and situational problems. Spells have little use for you beyond knowing what to expect, and I plan to teach you how to handle most situations myself. In my opinion, the textbook answers to situational problems would cause more harm than help, so even if you didn’t score as high as you did, I wouldn’t bother with the textbooks. The situations also focused on the mage to mage or mage to demi-human fighting when a majority of your fighting will be against creatures in the wilds. To be fair, they couldn’t put those types of situations in the test with the censorship law.”

“By the way, why don’t shifters shift away their ears and tail? I tried shifting my tail away, which work, but I felt uncomfortable so I immediately shifted it back.” Asked Evernya out of nowhere, interrupting Meira’s explanation.

Meira stared at her kitten with wide eyes. “You can shift your tail! That should be impossible. Unlike your claws, your tail is a permanent part of your body.” Meira exclaimed, scanning her kitten from head to toe to ensure everything was intact.

This time it’s Evernya’s turn to be amused at Meira’s reaction as she commented, “Yet another unusual quirk I have. Even though I can shift it, I could only handle it for a second before it became unbearable, so it’s not a useful ability. After I shifted my tail back, I made a promise to myself to never do it again. Even if my life depended on it. It felt like I was missing an important part of myself.”

Meira drilled into her kitten’s eyes before speaking in a serious tone. “I agree. Do not try that again. What if your tail didn’t return? I’ve heard stories of shifters going insane after losing their tails. Cutting off a shifter’s tail is one of the worst punishments you could inflict on a shifter. Even death would be preferable. The worst part is if a silver blade is used to cut the shifter’s tail or any other body part off, reattachment is impossible. An expensive magical procedure is the only option left, which few shifters can afford.”

Evernya lovingly strokes her tail as she said. “So what you’re saying is avoid sharp silver things at all cost? Just a second of being tailless was unbearable. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose my tail permanently.”

Meira silently battled with herself, but decided to warn her kitten. “You may not have a choice. There is a disgusting group of people who call themselves tail hunters. They compete with each other to see who can collect the most shifter tails.”

Evernya’s eyes flashed with power as she cradled her tail. “I will make it my mission to exterminate every single one of those vile animals!” Evernya vowed.

Meira smiled at her kitten’s proclamation. “The world will be a better place if you did. But please put off your crusade until you are stronger. Many shifters have tried to hunt these people down, but they all eventually fall victim to them.”

“I’ll try, but if they go after my tail I will destroy them!” Growled Evernya.

“They aren’t too active in this area, so you should be fine. You never know before they strike. They look like regular people by day, then turn into evil tail snatchers by night. Black tails are one of the most popular. Though you have a better chance than most because of your magic.” Informed Meira.

After a few minutes of silence with Evernya brainstorming torture methods of the tail hunters, Meira materialized her liquid diner. Evernya drank ten liters before Meira stowed the tank away and bid her kitten goodnight.

After Meira left, Evernya leaned back against her headboard while scanning through her stack of books. She decided on a textbook on economics since the remaining books focus on history and more geography. One telekinetic grab later in the book rested in her hands. She burned through the 200-page textbook within an hour, skimming over most of the sections.

The economy is similar to earth despite the differences in population distribution. There is even a stock market and a credit rating system. Sespina’s economy runs on a currency called Sespinian Crystals, which are crystals of various colors magic encrypted to prevent counterfeiting. Electronic transactions with credit and debit cards even exist, though they are magical instead of electronic. If it weren’t for the fact magic exists, this economy wouldn’t feel out of place on earth. Ironically, the color system follows a similar color scheme to typical fantasy metal coin currency. Copper-colored means one crystal, silver ten crystals, Gold hundred crystals, and platinum thousand crystals. At least it will be easy to remember what color is worth what. Though with my current memory, that shouldn’t be a problem. Sespina even has online shopping shipped via the portal network, but delivery is only available to those living within city walls.

Suddenly, a strong desire to sleep descended on her, banishing any further thoughts. Her eyelids drooped as her body turned into lead. Before she could push the book out of the way, she passed out right on top of it.