《Modded Magic》Chapter 15 Invitation
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Olley dragged me into another portion of the district. This place was filled with different huts that looked like they were selling wildlife products. Some creature's species looked familiar and I've seen before on different planets while others were unrecognizable. Others were chopped off into segments so even that I still wouldn't recognize them. Well it's either them or us. We continued on to what I'll call a hunter's market then in front of a small metal plated hut. Unlike the other huts I've seen so far, this one used partly metal materials. It's roof was covered with metal boards while the exterior walls were still made from crudely cut wood. Olley's eyes sparkled even during the dark but I think that's just one of the features of being a Plauxian. She seemed pretty excited to bring me to her parents. Though I didn't know what to make of it. Was this some kind of elaborate trap? This does feel a bit suspicious. I'm just suddenly letting a local take me to their kind. I don't know anything about the types of people that live in this area of Plaux. To me, these people could be my death and I just unknowingly walked into it. My eyes began surging from fear.
Olley: WOAH! You can change your eyes too! Are you sure you're not Plauxian?
Arc: This is just what it looks like when I'm about to do some magic. Forgive me because if you do anything funny I'm going to blow this district apart with the winds of a thousand hurricanes.
Olley: A bit over dramatic aren't you? You know that kind of stuff is embarrassing to say. It's like you're acting like some kind of weirdo.
Arc: Nevermind…
Olley: Oooh! Can you change that color at will instead of just blue? And does it have any optical changing properties?
Arc: I don't need to answer any of that.
Olley: Hmph! I take you to my parents and this is the thanks I get.
Arc: I don't see a good reason to tell you.
Olley: Geez, just get in already…
She opened the door in an annoying manner then went in. I followed her into the small hut that had a bunch of small furniture and cramped walls. I guess this is what it's like living in a small house. There weren't a lot of rooms built probably because of the small total size of the place. As I walked a few more inches in, we were already in the living room and dining room. There didn't seem to be a distinction between those mentioned as well as the kitchen. Everything was cramped in the main room except what I'm assuming to be the bathroom or bedrooms. Weapons were also littered on the walls of the place, a bit primitive too. Bows, shields with a coats, spears, and quivers filled with arrows. The table wasn't sturdy looking either so it made me hesitant to place something on it. This place was clearly a wreck! Olley lives in this kind of place? Do most of everyone live in this place? Olley entered another room to take someone out of it. It was a much older Plauxian female. She had long hair that seemed to change color. I guess that's a feature of a Plaxian too. One of their body attributes tends to change appearance in random intervals. She wasn't wearing garbs like Olley but normal tribal garments. It seemed to be a long robe with various colors to symbolize something. Though I had no clue because I wasn't clued into what type of things they seem offensive or not. Her features were quite similar to Olley's except for the changing eye color. She was also much taller than Olley, at around the same height Terra would be. Her eyes were much more sleepy looking compared to the energetic one to her right. Posture more refined which matched what she wore.
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Older lady: Oh my, who's this captivating young man you brought Olley?
Olley: This is Arc! The 24th Arc, he's an Adamian that father said was bad luck.
Older lady: Scary hehehe.
Olley: Arc! This is my mother! You can call her mom too if you want.
Arc: Mom?
Mom: Oh my, it does feel quite different when a stranger says it. But I guess it should be fine for now. My name is Kristana. I'm Olley's mother.
Arc: Where did you get your name from?
Mom: Oh so you're aware already of our naming culture! That's a surprise. An Adamian that knows something about Plauxian culture. Well if you're curious, I picked up a crystal when I was an infant. I've taken a fascination since then. Oh but what brings you here Adamian?
Olley: He's here to eat dinner with us! I invited him here!
Mom: Oh my, did my daughter drag you here?
Olley: Mom! Stop asking questions!
Arc: She did. I was supposed to do something but she wouldn't leave me alone.
Mom: Olley! How many times have I told you not to bother strangers like that. Plus he's an Adamian. You know the stories of those people.
Arc: Those people? What's that supposed to mean?
Mom: Oh it means that your people are always here because of something wrong. It's usually a bad omen in the galaxy if an Adamian arrives in your city or planet. Be it a political thing or simply a disaster coming.
Arc: Are we really known for that?
Mom: Your species does have a reputation for always coming when something terrible is about to come. I've heard stories of what happened in Itopa. That planet's capital is barely even recognizable now.
Arc: Itopa… I've heard of the class that happened there.
Mom: So forgive me if I sounded rude. I didn't mean anything bad about it. It just means that trouble is to come to us. Olley please don't involve yourself in this man's affairs anymore okay? I'm already worried about you running off into cave mines alone and finding Moliaths. Your father already told you before to keep things to yourself.
Olley: I can take care of myself mom! I did keep up with him when he was running around! My legs are much faster!
Mom: You're such a cute and ignorant child you know that. It breaks my heart whenever you do something so strange. My cute child hehehehe.
Olley: But mom!
Arc: But she is right though. It does feel like we are nothing but trouble whenever we visit a planet or city. Olley, you should just follow your mother's advice. Stay away from my affairs or it'll be trouble.
Olley: Arc! You're such a big dummy you know.
Mom: Now, now. He's already made things clear. We just don't want you to get hurt honey. Now, come and help me make dinner for all of us.
Arc: All of us?
Mom: Of course! It's not everyday that you make something for an Adamian.
Arc: But what about your husband? Won't he be surprised that there's an Adamian in the house?
Her expression turned a bit dark then made a pained smile. She moved Olley towards the kitchen then came to me.
Mom: Her father… well, he never returned. Has Olley mentioned anything about him?
Arc: Yeah… just bits… My condolences.
Mom: Hm, I'm sorry for bringing this mood. She's much like her father when he was young. Sometimes I forget that I have a daughter instead of a son.
Olley: Mom! That's embarrassing! You can't say those things about your daughter! I have feminine qualities too you know!
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Mom: Sure you do honey hehehe.
They both went on to take some things from the cabinets to prepare for dinner. I didn't know where to stay but I didn't want to sit on those feeble looking chairs. There was only one option for me to go and that was the roof. There seemed to be a makeshift ladder on the side, I'm heading upwards. I took it until it led me to a hatch on the roof. As I opened it, I was greeted with some cold winds. Guess this will do until I'm done here. What was I even doing here? I told myself that I wouldn't involve myself with the locals. Something is just probably wrong with me. Nitra and Nex, I hope they're doing fine without me. I'll be sure to hear their signals when the platform beacon comes up. Until then, I need to find a way back to Talos. The only things I have one me are just a couple of things. A metal ball, an information dock, some gadgets, and my pellets. It's best that I take inventory of these things so I don't miss out on anything advantageous. The night was fully in full swing. It was almost pitch black out here if it weren't for my contacts. It has special programmings to make it seem like it was clear as day for me. Though I'm not sure how Plauxians deal with this darkness. They seem to have torches while other districts already have lights. As I started to hold on to the metal ball, I could start to feel something strange about it. My mind was sharpening! This could be the feeling I'm looking for to manipulate metal! However, as soon as I concentrated on it, the feeling just suddenly vanished. Frustration started to slowly build again. I just needed to calm down a bit. Being frustrated about it won't do me any good but it sure is annoying. Maybe I was just getting tired again, I was dragged here by the winds for hours. Laying down on this rooftop felt a bit nostalgic of the times I was on the platform. Back then, the stars were pretty common to see through a window. Now I have to look up to see them. Strange…
Olley: Hey! Whatcha up to?
Arc: You're annoying aren't you? Don't you have to help out your mother in cooking or something. Just let me rest here for a bit. This night cycle is going to be a long one.
Olley: Is it night? I wouldn't know.
Arc: What do you mean? Of course it would be night.
Olley: Hm? Really? I wouldn't know. My eyes are always adjusting to the setting. To me, it's always daytime. That's why I don't sleep often.
Arc: Is that a Plauxian thing?
Olley: Not really, I think it's just the adaptation feature we have. Depending on your body part, it gives you a special adapting property. My mother's hair doesn't age or get cut easily. It also protects her head from heating up. My eyes are perfect! They don't see the dark. Maybe that's why my dad would always bring me to the mines.
Arc: What kind of dad brings her daughter to the mines?
Olley: The one that wants to find crystals for his wife. It seems like I'm the only one with these kinds of eyes. Everyone else has common things like limbs. Some are even more unique like tongue or lungs.
Arc: Plauxians sure have a strange evolutionary adaptation compared to other planets. The ones in Modus grew exoskeletons to survive. Wonder how long those take.
Olley: You sure are interesting Arc. Everyone else here is pretty boring. You're also a softie!
Arc: Not really. I guess it's just the perks of being an Adamian. You have to travel to places like those. Though sometimes you don't have a choice. It has nothing to do with being soft.
Olley: Still It would be cool to travel. I've only been within these walls all my life.
Arc: Guess it's different for you. Some lives are too good to be true. Ever heard the saying that the pastures are always greener on the other side?
Olley: Still, I'd like to go out of these walls someday. Even to other districts. Or maybe outside the planet.
Arc: I'm sure you can get out.
Olley: It's not that easy for us. We're not allowed to leave out districts. Personally, I wished I was living on outside Hyer. Live in the woods. Or the restricted area filled with hunters.
Arc: Why?
Olley: Why so curious now? Aren't you just going to leave anyway?
Arc: Nevermind then…
Olley: You're so cute Arc hahahaha. Well dinner is going to be finished soon. We better get back down or mother will come up herself.
Arc: Wait, before you leave. Does it matter if your house is bigger than the rest?
Olley: Not really, we just don't build often because our materials are scarce. If this district could build better housing we would. Besides, this area of the district doesn't have some kind of land taxes or anything.
Arc: You know about taxes?
Olley: Well of course we do. We're not that primitive. The districts depend on the cultures and era to preserve the ideals of Plauxians.
Arc: What?
Olley: It means that each part of the district has to live in a certain era to preserve our culture. This district is to preserve the hunting era of Plauxians. That's why we don't have a lot of things to advance our technology.
Arc: That's quite strange. Don't you think that's limiting people?
Olley: For people like us, then yes. But the people in the capitol are enjoying themselves. They're scared that us people will forget where we came from. Honestly this feels like a prison. But that's just me. Some people don't think so.
Arc: Don't you think your house is cramped?
Olley: Of course it's cramped! You'd be dumb to think it wasn't. But what can we do about it. Father hasn't returned yet to make renovations.
Arc: I see…
Dinner was a bit awkward because the meat had this strange fishy taste to it. I knew that eating local food would be interesting but this is out of nowhere. The look of it was clearly something like a wild game. However, the texture was clearly fish. It didn't seem to bother both of the girls so I tried my best to enjoy it. Olley left the table to do something. She seemed to be in a rush. It even made the table feel like it was going to fall apart. How unsturdy built was this thing?! The bowls were crudely made that it made it hard to scoop the food. There were spoons but it was still difficult. After dinner, I said my goodbyes to Olley's mother then started to walk off.
Mom: Wait, Arc. Before you go take this with you. I feel like everyone in the village or districts will know that trouble is coming if they see your outfit. I wouldn't want to cause a major panic.
Arc: Does it really stand out?
Mom: Well the stories usually include the things that Adamians wear. Your people seem to have the same kinds of clothes. It might not be much but it should at least disguise you from suspicion.
She held out a red short leather style open coat with different pockets and straps. It also had short sleeves to make sure that the person still had some kind of mobility. I wore it to cover my uniform, it wasn't half as heavy as I thought. The coat was also quite cool.
Arc: I'm sorry for not having anything in return. Thank you for your hospitality.
Mom: It's quite alright. That thing was just collecting dust anyway. No one was going to wear it anyway. It's best I give it to someone who might need it. It is going to get a bit cold after all.
Arc: Thanks. Wait, where's Olley?
Mom: She hasn't returned yet. I think she said she wanted to run off somewhere important. My child is always like that. I'm sorry she didn't see you off. I'll be sure to give her a good scolding when she returns.
Arc: You seem to be a good mother.
Mom: I wish I could say that to myself. It's hard being a parent hahaha. Most of the time, you don't know whether what you're doing is the right thing or not.
Arc: I see. Thanks again for your hospitality.
Mom: Good luck.
Arc: Adam be with us.
I continued on to walk into the night. Though it wasn't long till something happened. When I meant something happened I meant that Olley was already next to me. I thought we told her not to get involved in my matters. Her smile told me that she didn't care but if she loses an arm then it's not going to be my fault. I modified my boots and hers then ran towards the wall's direction. She flashed a big grin then kept accelerating. Moments later on, we got to the side of the wall she stopped. Amatuer! I started to scale the walls like some kind of normal terrain. This would usually be the case if I wanted to be a bit more quiet. However, I looked behind me to see a split second of Olley! She jumped! She backflipped to make her landing a bit more dramatic as I finally managed to get to the first platform of the wall.
Olley: This magic stuff is pretty cool! What else can these mods do?
I ignored that question then continued on. There were some guards patrolling some of the platforms but they seemed to be asleep. Guess nothing really happens on this side of the wall. They wouldn't think that someone would scale the walls like this. The guards started to approach so I planted another air mine to boost us up. It's initial burst surprised Olley that it made her belly up for a while but I grabbed her leg to throw her up onto another platform. I made it up to see that she was already looking at the view from up here.
Olley: Wow… The village lights look really pretty from up here. The last time I was this high up to see anything, I was on top of the ancient tree.
I placed another air mine to reach the third platform, this time it had a couple of guards on active duty. We both stepped on the boost to get us to reach the ledge to the third platform. I jumped on the first guard then Olley did the same. With a quick hit to their jaws, we both knocked them out. So she knew how to fight. Though it shouldn't be a big surprise to me since she lives in the hunter era. She landed a clean hit too. Not a lot of people can successfully knock someone out like that without proper training. The last high platform was coming and this would get us a clear view of the next district. This should be a good real vantage point of what I should expect. This concrete was mostly filled with dirt compared to the other materials. I should be able to manipulate it. My hand touched the walls and it didn't seem to be that different from dirt. Different but the same? I'm not quite sure. After a couple seconds, I bursted us to the top of the wall. There were a bunch of guards that saw us and came at us with primitive weapons.
Guard: Stop right there! You're in violation of trespassing without a border visa! You two are coming with us!
Olley: I don't think so. Bleh!
Guard: Why you little brat!
The two guards rushed us but as they approached, I threw a swift hook kick to break the spear! It seemed to shock him then with my other leg I threw a fast roundhouse knocking him out. Olley just straight up shot a dart at the guy. They fell quite easily. These must be the guards for this district. Olley gave me a thumbs up as she sat down by the wall's edge. There weren't any railings for these walls so it was quite dangerous for untrained people. However, it didn't seem like that at all for Olley. The guards seemed primitive but looking around the area felt strange. Some of the bridge artillery were quite advanced. Plasma harpoons for anti air vehicles? Motion turrets? All of it was hidden in the outposts nearby. I wasn't sure how long the night cycle was but it shouldn't be as long as the day's. I walked up to Olley while she was mesmerized by the flashing lights of the city district in front of her. To her, it was like some kind of new planet. To me, it was just another fight.
Olley: The wind is pretty cold here huh? But I guess that's what it's like when you're so high up the wall. This is my first time up here. It's definitely not like a Moliath. The view is just overwhelming.
Arc: This is my last warning. I'm asking you one last time Olley. As some sort of courtesy for your mother's hospitality. If you follow, you're just going to be in the way. I've tolerated your company for a while because it was just in your district but this is different now. You already know what my people do. It's going to be dangerous and leaving your mother alone like that would be a shame. Take it from someone who doesn't even know his parents.
Olley: You don't know me Arc. And I think that's a good thing. I'll go with you whether you like it or not. I have my own reasons, you have yours. I've been confined there for too long. I'm sure my dad would take this chance if he could. If I get into trouble then just leave me. It's always been me wanting to go on an adventure anyway. To me, you're just a reason to leave. So don't mind me. I wouldn't want to bother you anyway.
She started to put on her goggles revealing a scar on her forehead. I guess she has her problems. Was she running from it too? But she is right. Personally, I'd want to do things my way. However, if she wants to play like this then I shouldn't complain. I could use her for bait for some skirmishes and she wouldn't mind. I'd never want to trust a local. It's a bad habit. If this is her deathwish then so be it. I have my objectives to follow. If only Nex was here. The next city looked like it was about to enter it's new era. Though it didn't look like much. It's houses were modeled with bricks along with other materials. Much more advanced than the hunter era of Plaux. Though it was enough to impress this girl. Her eyes glimmered at the science of everything. I stepped on the edge as well. It was like watching progress throughout the century of this planet. Though what were the capitol leaders thinking on preserving their culture this way.
Arc: You're pretty annoying, you know that. This is basically an invitation to trouble.
Olley: I know. But I'm the one in charge of what I want to do. So where to first?
Arc: I need to find the scientist. He should be in the capital, so we need to keep moving districts. From there, we can decide.
Olley: Roger that captain!
She saluted me then I jumped! As I turned mid air, her smile was the brightest part about her. She didn't even know if I had something that would help us in the fall, but she jumped anyway. It was nothing short of a leap of faith. Something started to buzz in my head. The feeling was somewhat similar to deja vu. I reached out my hand to her. This feeling… It felt just like her. Wasn't it? I wouldn't remember would I? The wind was cold from the drop but the distance between us made it feel warm. My hand touched hers then I blasted the ground with an air modification again. We landed softly this time but it did make a lot of noise. Maybe I just wanted to show off there. I wasn't quite sure myself.
Olley: Golly! Magic sure does look destructive.
Arc: Destructive magic is easy because you can just throw it out. It takes more skill doing micro skills like air mines that are used to boost friends. Making an air mines that don't explode and kill your class is important. Magicians that only invest in destructive skills are usually the lowest class.
Olley: Cool!
Arc: So give me an idea on where to look.
Olley: Why don't we ask the police or security! They usually have an idea on where to look!
Arc: That sounds like a good idea if you want to fight a city.
Olley: I can take care of myself you know!
Arc: I know but still. I can't just take every fight. It's annoying to deal with. I might be a magician but our bodies are still fragile as any other person. Protective magic is rare y'know.
Olley: That's strange. Well either way we don't really have a choice.
Arc: What makes you say that?
Olley: Everyone's here already.
Arc: Huh?
Olley pointed towards the swarm of guards that were now approaching us with medieval equipment like short bows, crossbows, iron shields, and knightly armor. Seeing this is really weird for me now. They all formed ranks against us, pointing crossbows at a distance. Olley was just smiling without a care in the world.
Olley: See?
Arc: What do you mean see?
Captain of the guards: Stop right there. You are in clear violation of border procedures. Come with us quietly and we won't fire.
Arc: Can they really stop us though?
Olley: You said it's best that we don't fight after all. This is our chance to get better info!
Captain: Stop talking! Come quietly!
Arc: Man, this sucks.
Olley: This was your idea you know that right?
We held out our hands to the guards as they approached. They cuffed us in iron cuffs that seemed way too old for the timeline. Everyone was also really stinky for some reason. I guess this was the start of another strange adventure. Though strangely enough this is something that would actually happen in classes. Usually it would be our team that would be captured on purpose. Nothing out of the ordinary. Olley was cuffed in a bit then we made our way towards the station.
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