《Cosmic Contingency》Chapter 8 - So Much To Learn
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As Cyziel walked with his new team, he was actually thinking what his other friends might be doing. Was Ortix making trouble? Volus is with him so it will be okay, won't it? And he was right to think of it. The fall out that his friend has caused would be the cause for some future troubles but it will be a story that he will learn a bit later.
His team has finally reached the school's gate which are now opened. Just in front of the gates, he saw what seemed to be some kind of a machine. It was also hovering above the ground. It was coated with a glossy black paint and its shape was similar to the nose of a bullet train. It seems to have a long couch at the back and two sits at the front. It was his first time seeing this kind of vehicle. Vehicles were not popular with his race. They are almost always used to just fly to go to another place. The vehicles that they have would have some special purpose like diving the ocean or mining minerals.
Ru opened the car door at the back then looked at Vera. "Are you riding with us Vera?"
"What's the point of bringing another car? I will be sitting at the front." Vera walked around the car and opened the right front door as she sat in.
Rika also walked around the car. "I'll be sitting with Ru!" She opened the back door and sat inside.
"Come on Cyziel!" Ru pulled Cyziel's jacket as she sat at the back beside Rika. "Come sit with me."
Cyziel entered the car and sat beside her and Jorak was left outside.
I guess I will be sitting today beside Vera. Jorak thought to himself before entering the car.
Cyziel didn't think that this car would not actually be just comfortable but also very advanced. In addition to the soft seat that he was sitting at, he could see a screen at the back of the chair in front of him. There was also an AI that Ru was talking with. It seems that it would be the one who would drive them to their location.
Ru looked at Cyziel who was seemingly puzzled. "Was it you first time riding a car Cyziel?"
"Honestly. Yes. We do not have something like this with my people." Cyziel meekly answered with a smile.
"Oh! I see. My great grandma said that cars were pretty popular in Earth but they were far more ancient compared to what we have today." Ru moved a little bit closer to Cyziel as her shoulders started to touch with him. " The old ones run on wheels and they are not powered by magic."
Cyziel was starting to be able to smell Ru and honestly he thought that she smells great but he really was trying to think of a topic to avoid them noticing that he was getting flustered. "Umm! Ru... How old was your great grandmother?"
"Oh! She is pretty old! Let me think!" Ru, paused for a bit, and placing her right finger on her chin. " probably more than 300 years old!"
Cyziel's body suddenly twitched. 300??? My family probably thinks that I am already dead! Calm down! Maybe she already arrived here with that age.
Ru who felt Cyziel's body move looked at him. "Is there something wrong?"
"No! No!" Cyziel immediately denied. "Do you know when did your race arrived here?"
"Oh that's actually common knowledge!" Rika, who was on the right of Ru, was actually listening to their topic. "Our race was actually the first humans to arrive here almost 300 years ago."
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"Yep! That also means that my great grandma was actually one of the few who arrived here first!" Ru puffed out her chest which made her already notable chest seemingly bigger. "Oh! Did you know that back on Earth, our race would usually die by 70 years old? This world is really a miracle!"
Cyziel did not want to believe it but it seems that he was not only 100 years away but it was three times that. Was he asleep and hidden in Daraksta? His age would make sense since time does not flow there naturally but he thinks that that was impossible. The abyssal creatures would not wait for him to wake up. As soon as those creatures could feel some living being, they would immediately kill them. His only hope right now is that his family would somehow know what happened to him.
Other than Vera who only talked when spoken to, the rest had quite a number of discussions. It was mostly the others talking to Cyziel. He learned that this car was actually pretty expensive and only a few families have them in the outskirt villages. He also learned the other 6 human races that arrived in this world.
Earthlings, known to be the first humans that arrived in this planet, were from the planet Earth. They were once strangers to magic but they make up for it by being the most technologically advanced of the six.
Ocarians, the water dwelling humans, were from the planet Ocarin. Their home planet was said to be only 5% land. They are able to live and breath underwater. They can easily be distinguished due to their blue or gray colored skin.
Lucrims, the magic blessed race, were from the planet Lucris. They are said to be wise and magically sensitive. They are also naturally attuned with the fire element. The colors of their hair range from yellow to red.
Varians, known to be the closest with nature, were from the planet Varic. They knew a little bit of magic and some of them have animal like characteristics like horns or tails.
Eleens and Dwims are two races that came from the same planet which is the planet of Teeny. Both races are short but they have their differences. Eleens are blessed by wind and are able to create wings of magic while Dwims are blessed by the Earth which gave them a strong body.
Corynis, which are the tallest of all the races, were from the planet Coryzanthuienplawontra or Coryn for short. They are the physically strongest of the human races. They use aether for combat arts instead of elemental magic.
These basic information were really important for Cyziel. He knew that he would need to adapt with the current world due to the big changes it had since he went away.
Their discussions only stopped when the car entered some kind of private subdivision. The houses that they passed by were not only large but their aesthetics were more modern. They were not the usual rectangular wooden houses or stone houses with hip roofs like he saw when he just entered the village. They were houses that come in different shapes. There were houses that are made of glass or metal. Some are even big enough to have their own pools or training grounds.
The car parked in front of a small white mansion. It was not the largest in the subdivision but it was large enough to have a small garden. In front of the house stood a woman wearing some black and white outfit. Cyziel learned that it was actually a house helper which he was familiar with because they had hundreds of them before. She greeted the group as they left the car and opened the house door for them to enter
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"You are finally here Ru. Your fa- " A middle aged looking woman noticed the group as they entered the house. "Oh! You brought your friends here again."
"Good afternoon Mrs. Yoshida!" The others greeted with the exception of Cyziel who was still standing by the door.
"We will be having our group meeting here again mom!" Ru stopped for a second as she took of her shoes and placed them on a rack in the side as the others followed suit. "Come in Cyziel! You can also place your shoes here. Oh! Mom is dad back?"
"Nope. He said that he might arrive a little bit later this week but enough of that." Mrs. Yoshida smiled and walked closer to Cyziel. "You haven't introduced this young man to me yet. Is he your new boyfriend?"
"Mom!!! Stop teasing him!!" Ru ran in between her mom and Cyziel and stretching her hands sideways as if blocking her mom. "He is our new classmate and groupmate!"
"Why are you being so defensive? I was just asking." Mrs. Yoshida chuckled and turned around. "But he really looks fine so you should think about it."
"Hmph! Let's go guys! Cy just ignore my mom." Ru stomped her feet as she went to a door leading to an underground room.
As Cyziel saw the room, it actually looked quite small. There were some shelves containing lots of books on the right. There were also shelves in the left that contain antiques that he doesn't recognize. He saw Ru touch the black wall in the back and it suddenly became transparent. The back wall was actually made from glass that could change color and the part that Ru touched was actually a door and it slid downwards and opened the way to the other side.
The other part of the room seemed to be a training room. There were circular targets and mechanical dummies that stood on the far side of the room. The walls also looked pretty sturdy. The team didn't come to practice though so they actually sat on a corner with an L-shaped sofa and couch. The three girls sat on the sofa while the two guys sat on the couch.
Vera straightened her body as she crossed her hands. "The flower of beginning won't be that much of a problem. They are not that rare that we won't be able to find one. The problem starts with the flower of hope. We do not know yet where to start looking for it."
"That would be a problem before but I think it won't be a problem now!" Ru who was sitting beside Vera placed her hands on her lap.
Rika stared at Ru who was on her right. "What do you mean Ru?"
Ru pointed at Cyziel. "Well because of Cyziel! He should know where the recent Aether storm formed! So we can look there first. Isn't that right?"
"Ah yes! That won't be a problem!" Cyziel actually thought that the first two are not really that much of a problem. He already know where they could be found. Assuming that nothing have changed much with regards to this planet's ecosystem.
"Then let's focus on the flower of destiny!" Vera, with her still straight body, looked at her left then her right. "Do anyone of you have any other idea of it?"
"Well! Isn't this one all due to luck?" Jorak leaned back. "What I think we should be focusing is the danger that we might encounter going there!"
"Hmph! If anyone dares to cross me!" Vera crossed her arms and raised her head showing a confident look.
"I'm not just talking about our classmates!" Jorak eyebrow creased seemingly got annoyed. "I meant the creatures and bandits who are said to live in the plains or the forests!"
"I thought the militia already wiped the bandits!" Rika interjected looking worried.
The conversation continued for more than an hour and Cyziel was mostly just listening to them because all their worries are superficial to what he really knows. They finally got tired and changed topics and Cyziel actually made the most out of it. Ru continued teaching him about the bracelet he lent him before. It is actually just an inferior version of the watch that most people use. This one can only store information and what was contained within was electronic copies of books from the different planets.
Unfortunately, the magic "harmony of speech" does not work with written text so he needed Ru and Rika to read some of it for him until he got a hang of the meaning of the words. Fortunately, they seemed to enjoy teaching him. Meanwhile Vera got bored and asked to spar with Jorak. Jorak, who of course wanted to refuse, didn't really have much of a choice.
In just a few hours, Cyziel actually learned a lot from them. He learned the current classification of magic and energies. There were 4 fundamental source of energy and existence. They were the Divine, the Void, the Aether and the Nether.
The Divine is said to be the source of everything. It was the most mysterious of all. True divine magic is almost non-accessible. It is said that the god particle was made using divine energy and the properties given to the god particle is what made the material world and gave the law of physics.
The Void is said to be the recycler of all of creation. Everything is said to be connected to it. Whether it was from a material plane or an elemental plane. Whether this universe or another universe. They would all end up in the void. The known people who are known to have an affinity with the void have all died due to not being able to control it.
The Aether is the most accessible and most popular source of magic for humans. It is said to be a byproduct of the divine energy when it came in contact with the void. Most living beings are creatures of Aether. They are a mix of materials produced from the god particle and Aether energy.
The Nether is said to be the opposite of Aether and also a byproduct of the divine energy. It is what most immaterial existences are made up of. Ghosts and Spirits are said to be nether creatures. Souls are also made up of Nether energy which makes humans both an Aether and a Nether creature.
They also told him of how the current humans apply this energy. One is of course magic which is combining this energy with elemental essences and the other is combining this energy with the body to create combat arts. They learned this from combining the knowledge of mages from worlds like Lucris and body cultivators from Coryn.
For example, a fireball is a combination of aether plus fire elemental essence. A soulburn is a combination of nether plus fire elemental essence. A reinforce body combat art is an aether based defensive skill while a mind barrier is a nether based defensive combat art.
Of course, Cyziel actually knows of magic and combat arts himself but it was not as organized and comprehensive as today's knowledge. They even have rankings for both mages and warriors. In the capital, the higher your rank, then the higher privilege you would have. The number of elements and the level of understanding you have with that element are usually the basis for mages. An Archmage is said to have a basic understanding of all 5 elements and mastery of at least 3 of those. For warriors, the strength of body, mind and soul are tested. Cyziel was still wondering how they actually test the levels and what he would get if he took it.
Vera who just finished sparring with Jorak walked towards the other three. "Cyziel! Your turn to spar with me! We still do not know how capable you really are. Your little competition with Draka is nothing to me."
Ru looked at Vera with worry in her eyes but it seems that she was actually more worried for Cyziel. "Uhmm! Are you not tired yet Vera?"
Rika also looked at Vera. "Are you going to fight him with magic? We do not even know if he knows how to use one then that would be unfair!"
"He knows magic. I am pretty sure of it!" Vera looked back at Cyziel. "I am right aren't I? and you will fight me. Won't you?"
"Well. If you really insist but lets just take it easy. Okay?" Cyziel stood up then looked back at the other two. "I will be fine don't worry!"
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