Thursday, November 6th, 314 years since Start

Journal entry 31

Alas, though I said I would not write again until I attained a class, here I find myself. I reached level twenty-five today. There were no class options. When everyone asked what options I got, I just laughed it off. I told them that not everyone gets a class at level twenty-five. They agreed, and we shared a meal at the tavern.

I'm not ok though. I'm writing because I need to think through this. Ninety percent of Reforms get their class by this point. The class they choose they continue with for the rest of their lives. They may upgrade, they may find a special event to change, but usually the decision is for life. What about myself? The highest recorded level that someone could still get a class was level twenty-nine. There are thousands of people levels thirty and above who will never get one.

It wouldn’t be the worst to not get a class. I have the faction system which some members exclusively use. Those members enjoy that luxury. However, if it weren't for people like Olania, they would be weaker than a Reform child. They get strength and abilities because individuals in the faction have them. But I am in the inner circle. Right now I’m the weakest of the leaders. Abel even has a class. He just has to see someone to limit their abilities. He can even go toe to toe with Lani.

I should ask what options Abel got. Maybe he did something special which gave him certain choices. If I can replicate that, perhaps Abel and I can be a research and a combat team. A part of me doesn't want to give up on a memory based class though. If I had that, I wouldn't need to be strong. I would take our research further than it has ever gone.

Tpuk mbggf tltvyplz hyl ilp— what was that? I must’ve completely blanked for a second. What did I write? I hope it wasn’t the after effects of an experiment. I really should find a lab partner. Doing these experiments alone is dangerous. I should talk to Olania about getting another member on the research team. I know it is an unorthodox method, but we could improve the… faction outside of the system. We have another empty tower to offer as payment, I should ask around.

“So this human swung on vines?” Isencia asked the man strapped to her back as she pulled the two through the forest.

“It wasn't as efficient as you, but he would use them to travel around. He was raised by apes so he thought he was one of them.” Yuclaus responded from his spot as Isencia’s backpack. The two figures slingshotted through the canopy, the tinier one pulling the much larger one around like a toddler. The comical view was completed with a massive tumbleweed shaking the earth as it followed.

“Like the Earthen Primate who pummeled you in the street?”

“...Too soon.” There was a moment of awkward silence as Yuclaus thought about how to change the subject. Sen beat him to it, continuing the conversation.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Yuclaus had half a heart to take her up on her offer. However, getting deep and emotional when they barely knew each other didn’t appeal to him. That is fancy to say he didnt want to cry in front of a cute nymph.

“No, I really don't.”

“Ok.” There was a lull in the conversation. The two had left immediately at Isencia’s earlier declaration, Cause not having much of a choice in the matter. She would explain later, her mother was watching. Though Isencia’s mother was a kind woman, she wouldn’t hesitate to do what was necessary to protect Sen. If Isencia had said their reason for fleeing, her mother would have heard. Her mother would then come to the only logical conclusion: killing Yuclaus.

Now Yuclaus was unaware of the inner machinations of the forest. The only thing he was aware of was being wrapped up in vines, told not to ask questions, and that his tumbleweed was slow. Rude, rude, ouch. It's okay Gourami, he thought to himself, I think you're plenty fast. She is just jealous of your curves. Luckily for Cause, he did not say that out loud. Their new friendship had limits.

As if God photoshopped the world, the color palette of the forest turned immediately warmer. The light green, and occasional blue fantasy forest turned to one of pink and purple. The change between the two was abrupt, as if there was an invisible boundary separating the two forests. Yuclaus was easily able to see the transition, as he was relegated to “watch their backs”. He also needed to guide Gourami, the lug couldn’t navigate for the life of it. It also couldn't move at all without Cause.

The trees looked like a pine forest. Pretty basic for a pink forest. As Yuclaus thought that, the trees seemed to stretch. The scene shifted from a pine forest to a series of interlocking trees. Their branches reached to one another, creating platforms one could build a house on.

The leaves danced in the wind, but they didn’t move. Rather they would change opacity. Like they were pulsing. The scene was truly the definition of ephemeral. Quite literally as multiple times Sen went straight through a tree that was in their path. There was no explosion of rose pink bark as they passed. No, she would simply launch them through the interlocking roots. The moment she would touch them, they would disappear as if they had never been.

After the first abrupt jerk, Cause looked over to see what was happening. Fortunately, his voice caught in his throat before he could yell. After five times of not splattering on the trunks like a gnat on a windshield, Yuclaus went back to looking behind them.

When he did, he saw that the scene behind them was completely different than what he saw moments ago over Sen’s shoulder. From the back they had traversed through an open clearing with a purple pond in the middle. Hold on a second. Gourami? It's a fake! There's an imposter behind us! Yuclaus railed against the purple and pink Gourami sitting in the pond behind them. The real Gourami did not deign to respond. Yuclaus decided dark-Gourami was the last straw.

“What's up with this weird forest?” He asked demurely from the back of the NTA bus —the Nymph Transportation Authority.

“Oh, this is Tifa’s plot. She has been working on a personal project based on the ruins in my territory. She had thought that she could take the gems that were scattered around and use them to grow her Soul Spore. Tifa is my favorite sister, so of course I let her have them.” Isencia said over her shoulder, a warm smell flowing in the wind behind the two.

“Ok by why is the forest...fake?” Yuclaus followed up.

“She couldn’t figure out how to use it on her spore. I guess she was also worried about what would happen to her spore since she didn't know what it did. Hm, maybe she also wanted to know exactly what they were. Whatever her reasoning, she decided to test it on the flora in her territory. I forced the plants to break the gems with their roots. Nothing happened at first, but the next day the whole forest was like this. Tifa has been studying the effects since.”

“Gems… did you…were they...?” Yuclaus had nothing to go by, but from how the trees were acting he had to ask.

“Now that I’m thinking about it, probably. We probably fed these trees crystallized memories. So maybe they got a system? I thought only the thirteen races could get systems.”

“I don’t think I can emphasize this enough Isencia,” Yucluas said, “I am literally the worst person to ask.” Cause collected his thoughts before continuing, “So you think feeding memories to the forest made them like this? Why didn't you try breaking them yourselves?”

“I feel like squeezing a gem, one that turns trees pink, is not the smartest thing to do,” Isencia said, though she wished she had. If she had this system for longer, she would have much more skill with it. Isencia was what you would call a jack-of-all-trades. Lucky bi—

A thought came to her as they continued through the forest, “was there a gem left in the city, and you got your system from that?” —racial, that was what I, the pure hearted narrator, meant.

“No I had it when I got here.”

“When did you get here? Your memories showed you're from somewhere else, but there's no timeline.” She didn't mention the inconsistencies.

“I think around a day or two before we met. I really hadn’t been here long.”

“So when you first showed up in the city?”

“Yep,” Yuclaus went back to staring at the trees behind them. He was wondering if he threw something at the trees, whether it would also go through, or if somehow it would change. Important questions. He also wondered how Isencia knew what was real or not. Sen on the other hand, was wondering if some of her assumptions about Yuclaus were accurate or not. She had gotten somewhat of an image about him, only to have it turned around during their heart to heart.

While they were both lost in their own thoughts, the ground started to slope upwards. The otherworldly trees started to thin out. They crested a peak, and a beautiful scene was laid bare. A scene that was astounding, astonishing, breathtaking, awe-inspiring. Isencia kept going down the other side.

“WAIT! Sen go back! Sen please, you need to go back!” The nymph, somehow, immediately stopped at Cause’s exclamation. The abrupt change in momentum caused stars to fill Yuclaus’ vision.

“Is something wrong?” Isencia tensed, her Soul Spore at the ready. It was a good thing she was prepared as a tumbleweed weighing a couple tons finally caught up to them.

“Wait Gourami stop!” Yuclaus begged his Spore. But Gourami did not stop. Gourami could not stop. Gourami had crested the peak. Gourami was rolling down the peak. No intense situation where the tumbleweed almost crushed them occurred. It was stopped immediately at Cause’s outburst by a net of vines.

“Why did you tell me to stop?” Sen asked. She was trying to be more like herself, but it was hard after a few days of acting mysterious.

“Did you not see that amazing view? What was that massive tower? Can we go back? It’s my first view that is not surrounded by trees.” Sen was a little worried about time, but a few minutes wouldn't hurt them. Also, the way Yuclaus was so curious was a little endearing. How could she say no to such an earnest request. So she attempted to respond in a way that resembled her inner dialogue.

“Ok. Just for a little.” She didn't need to look to know that Yuclaus’ smile stretched across his face.

“Let me down! I can’t wait any longer.” Had Yuclaus’ friend from the bus heard him say that, he would mercilessly mock him. He was acting like a toddler wanting out of his mother’s arms. How quaint. Isencia undid the vines binding them, forgetting that they were hanging a good distance above the ground. She was about to send a vine to catch him, but he calmly crouched as he hit the ground, then started sprinting up the short distance to the peak. There were still a few trees around, so Yuclaus kept himself from looking just yet, and searched for a higher point. First impressions are important. There was a small trail off to the side that led higher.

He followed it, keeping his eyes focused on where he walked. The trail was cut off on the left side, and as he kept walking, it turned into a sheer drop. Finally, there was nothing else in front of him. He looked up at the fantasy before him.

The immediate center of attention was a large tower reaching into the sky. The size of it was incredible, incomprehensible. Even though it looked large from where he was, the bottom was nowhere to be seen. It must be larger than it looked. It was already monstrous from this distance. The planets seemed so much closer; they wrapped around the planet like a necklace of pearls, a thin line connecting them all.

The tower looked like the Tower of Pizza, but it was hard to tell from this distance. It looked ancient, a relic that has withstood the trial of time. Finally prying his eyes away from the centerpiece, Yuclaus saw the pink forest around and below him. Beyond the pink forest, in the valley, he could see an empty pond, and the ruins nearby. The darker forest surrounded the rest of the valley. Truly it was a beautiful birdseye view of where he had been. From up here, he could truly appreciate the beauty of this world.

“Sen, what is that massive tower?” He asked her. She was a few feet behind him to his left, raised off of the ground by her vines. She had never taken the time to truly appreciate the view before now. Without Yuclaus, she would never have been able to enjoy such a splendid scene. And somehow, Yuclaus being in the scene made it even better. The idea of exploring the world like this excited her. Exploring it with her first friend even more so.

“That's the elevator to the Pearl Necklace.” Yuclaus was inwardly delighted that his analogy for the planets was the actual name. That was before he realized she said elevator.

“You can go up there?” He asked, pointing at the heavenly bodies.

“Yes. That is, in fact, where we are currently headed.”

“Then why are we going the opposite direction of the elevator? I’m assuming it takes us to the other planets right? Is it like a space elevator?”

“I don’t want to ‘poke the bear’ so to speak,” Isencia ignored his other questions, “Right now mother knows we are leaving, but is letting us go. She hasn't asked us any questions, but I have no doubt if we go towards her, she will. So we are heading out of Environ territory before circling around.”

“So she is in the center of the valley somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“And she’s strong?”

“Yes.”

“She's just letting us go?” Isencia looked at Yuclaus, not saying a word. “Oh, well then, thanks mother,” Yuclaus said to the air. Had Sen been able to blush she would have. Instead, a small scent wafted from Sen. And if you listened closely enough, you could almost hear the leaves dance in amusement.