“Why are you wanting to visit here, anyway?” Manny asks as he leads us through the teleporter to his cavern. “We haven’t really got much here. We’re not anything like the proper caverns.”

“If we’re going to be allies, I want to see just who I’m working with.” I say, “You’re free to come visit my lands if you’re ever interested.”

He shrugs in disinterest.

“No one here cares about politics, or trade, or any of that stuff and it’s not like anyone is going to stop us if we want to leave. Everyone here is just floating around, doing what they want.” He says, waving his hand around.

Much like Gales cavern, there are no palaces or homes here, at least nothing I’d consider a home. A few stumps are fashioned into functioning seats, surrounding the burnt-out remains of a campfire. Dribbling currents of water flow down from the ceiling all around the cavern, nothing as terrible as the larger whirlwinds covering the lakes in my own home, but enough for drinking purposes.

Aside from this, there are a handful of makeshift shelters scattered around the clearing, but most people seem to just lay on the dirt and sleep there instead. I know this because there are a dozen people around us doing just that.

The people gathered near us don’t even bother glancing our direction, they’re focused on their training, sleeping, or meditating. One pair is even battling to the side of us, exchanging tremendous blows as they move faster than I can keep up with.

Neither is especially powerful in raw mana density from what I can surmise by their effects on their environment, but they’re moving with a surety and confidence that leaves me a little awestruck. For some reason, this isn’t enough to break the meditation of those who are quietly resting here, their meditation remains unbroken.

“Can we join in on that?” Red asks, gazing at the pair of warriors with a fanged smile rising on her lips. Eshya is bouncing on her heels right at my side, her eyes shining bright as she takes in the same scene. I’m starting to regret coming here with these two, but I thought they might get along with the ‘battle crazed warriors’ which is how Malea described these people.

“Not likely.” Our guide says, shaking his head at the sight of them. “You don’t have the spirit for it.”

“Huh?” Eshya looks at the man like he just insulted her family.

“You’re too keen.” He explains. “Watch them, do they look vicious? Angry? Worked up at all?”

I take a closer look at the pair, tempted to get a glance into their minds when I get the chance. Just from their expressions alone, I can tell that there’s an immense calm air filling the air about them.

Each movement is sharp as a blade, and they don’t act slowly, but even as energetic as they are in their exchange of attacks, there’s a terrible stillness to it all. It’s as if they both know the outcome already and are simply moving through the actions. Indeed, the closer I look the surer I am that they’ve been through this exact fight before.

“This is who we are,” Manny says, settling down on a stump. “We train, meditate, and perfect our Skills. Many here aren’t interested in the fighting itself, but rather they seek mastery over their own body. Rathis over there is a runner, trying to perfect movement through every environment and with every step. Senri here is focused on refining her spear fighting, and Iridith wants to master his own mind, whatever that means.”

Catching a flow of water from the ceiling, Manny takes a drink and settles his breathing as he looks toward our small group.

“Then why are they all sitting around doing nothing?” Eshya asks.

“Meditating.” Red is the one to answer her, “It can help you go over the Skills in your mind, and some people find it useful to alter their Skills in meditation rather than in practice. We’re more of the ‘in action’ sort.”

“As she describes it,” Manny says, agreeing with a nod. “There are others here who work through ‘action’ as you describe it, but even then… You’re not here to perfect your abilities, you just want to sharpen your knives. Those two in particular are a bad match because of that attitude.

“Go find others in the forest if you want to practice fighting. I’d advise learning patience and meditation, but I doubt you’ll listen to me, meditation isn’t worth much if you don’t seriously work through it.” He shrugs in resignation.

“So, you’re all here trying to master Skills?” I ask, already putting some plans together, with this in mind. “So would you be interested in copying Skills and sharing them?”

He shrugs, clearly not that invested in the idea.

“I wouldn’t turn it down.” He says, “Wouldn’t find it too exciting, either. Personally, I’m working to blend many of my Skills together seamlessly into a new Skill, so I don’t really see how that would help me, or any of us here.”

“Ah, right.” This guy is not greedy, and his aspirations aren’t exactly in line with what I’m used to dealing with. He’s here to master control over his own body and mana form. They’re all obsessed with self-improvement, abandoning all luxuries when they’re undoubtedly strong enough to make a good life for themselves in the republic. I can’t buy them with a few shiny coins or cool toys.

“We just want to be left alone.” Manny grumps, sipping at his drink. “That’s all we ever wanted, but now everyone’s getting all mixed up in this Grand Council business and it’s all just a distraction.”

“It’s the centre of power in this dungeon,” I say. “No matter how much you refine your Skills you won’t get to the point where you can challenge them. Even if you just want to be left alone, you need power.”

“That’s not the point of this,” Manny says, shaking his head. “We don’t want any fights, we aren’t a violent sort here. So many come to us to learn violence for the sake of power, they leave quickly. There’s better ways to find power than this, we’re here to find something more than power, we want to find perfection.”

“Then… do you mind if I think for a while. There’s nothing that you want for here, is there?” I ask, standing up and looking around the clearing. Eshya and Red stay close by my side, on the lookout for threats.

“I can’t think of anything.” He replies shaking his head. “Even mana isn’t that important, we have more than we need.”

“I’ll be wandering around here, then. I want to think on a few things.” I say.

“Don’t bother those meditating, most of them are focusing on their own thing, and it’s the one big rule we have apart from the basic rules Frey has us follow.” He says, stretching and looking over at another patch of dirt that seems to be his claim on this cavern. There are no gods or kings here, only people, each of them focused on their own path.

I don’t even know what I was hoping for in the end. I need allies, as many and as powerful as I can gather, I need trade partners, I need access to hunting grounds, and I need people to stand by me in the Grand Councils. It’s not like I can’t survive without support, I can make it work if I have to, but I want more than that.

I want to interact with other cultures that don’t want to see us dead, I want to export things that we have in excess and import things that we can buy cheap from elsewhere. I want for my cavern to be a part of a vibrant and complex universe, not closed up on its own.

This cavern isn’t as thick with forestry as I expected from a glance, there are many flat fields with only sparse trees growing here and there. Large rocky hills break up the landscape, a few lizards crawl over it, and a few birds hunt from on high.

A warrior here and there is engaged in sparing, meditation, or simply running through the Skills.

“I don’t get it,” Eshya says, looking out over the fields as we climb one of the rocky hills. “What are we doing here? Stealing their Skills?”

“No, it’d be a little extra awkward running around touching everyone I see here,” I say. “I’d be breaking them from meditation.”

“So…?” Eshya asks.

“What do you think we could offer these people?” I ask. “And what can we gain from them? That’s the essence of an alliance, we have to figure out what each of us can gain from our relationship.”

“Not very romantic,” Eshya grumbles.

“It’s not.” Red shrugs. “While our empress is thinking, how about we get back to where we were last training session.”

“Works for me,” Eshya says, following her down into the fields. They don’t even get all the way down the hill before they exchange the first blows of the fight. Red is faster and more powerful, and she’s visibly holding herself back, but Eshya has enough talent that she’s not being left behind.

They’re distinctly set apart from the others here, their battle is more vicious and less practised. Steps are made with less precision, and openings are forced rather than weaved into existence. That said, it’s not as if they’re less than the warriors training here, they’re just different.

Eshya and Red exchange a few words while fighting, and I can’t help but listen in while I consider the current problems facing me.

“You don’t want to take a minute to learn from these people?” Red asks, taking a second to laugh at her own joke.

“I get it. What they’re doing here. Trying to perfect themselves.” Eshya says, shaking her head and taking a breath in the moment’s pause. “I get it, but this isn’t my path. I want to fight for something meaningful, for change that’s worth having. I want to be powerful, I want to be violent, and I want to win, but I want that victory to be for good not evil. This, what they’re doing here? It’s like masturbation, it might make them feel all good about themselves, but in the end, it’s for nothing.”

Red snorts at her description, shaking her head before continuing the exercise a little slower.

“Then find a good leader and give them your strength. Isn’t that what you’re doing with Kyra? That’s what this is for me, she gives me a chance to fight for something without the fighting being meaningless. She can see a world without nature’s violent rule, while I can’t, I do think it’s a pretty dream. I want to see what she creates, even though she’s going to fail.

“I don’t want to see Kyra fail and get hurt,” Eshya says, lashing out with her blade that seems to bend as she cuts at Red. “I don’t want to see her breaking down because she fucked up. I don’t want to see her crying because she has to kill some people who don’t deserve her sympathy. I don’t want Kyra to be the one bearing this burden.”

“You don’t get that choice.” Red replies. “I’ve seen a few people like her in my time, and most end up getting themselves dead, or they turn into violent tyrants that are eventually struck down by their peers. Kyra isn’t going to be an ordinary person. She’s either going to be someone special, or she’s going to die. You can’t stop her from walking her path.

“She could just stop caring so damn much,” Eshya says, slamming her sword roughly on Red’s defences, the attacks are no more successful than her agile attacks. “So many people she cares about don’t deserve it. The gremlins don’t deserve her sympathy. We should just kill them all and move on, for all the stress they’re causing her…”

“Would that really make things better?” Red asks. “If she were a tyrant, like you suggest, I don’t think you would really want to follow her anymore.”

“It’s just a few gremlins.” She spits, but I know her spirit isn’t in it. This isn’t really about the gremlins at all. “They’re not worth saving.”

“What are you to the Unified States? What are you to this god that you’re meant to be challenging and fighting? You are nothing, but you are let live anyway. That’s what our lovely little Tyrant understands, it’s the one greatest blessing that the Unified States allows us, and the one thing I can respect.

“Kyra goes further, she treats the gremlins how she wants to be treated, and it’s stupid. It really is stupid. She wants peace, something entirely unnatural, and it’s going to end in a reflection of the Unified State’s own civilisation, but she’s trying to care in her own way. If she stops caring, then you need to be worried, that’s when you need to step in and do something for her.”

“…The gremlins wouldn’t hesitate to kill us if they get into power, so why should we care about them?”

“We shouldn’t, they’re replaceable.” Red replies. “There are millions of lives lost each day which have more potential than these gremlins of yours, all better able to survive in a cruel world. They’re the ones that I think we should be saving. People like Kyra and you; those who can survive on their own.

“These gremlins, they’re her toys. She will rule them, play with them, break them, or save them, and she will grow from the experience. That’s why they matter. Let her make mistakes, let her get hurt. Let her grow. No one important should die from her mistakes.”

“I just don’t want to see her get hurt,” Eshya says, her attacks growing weak.

“You can’t stop that.” Red replies, diving into battle and giving Eshya no more chance to talk. They each let out their frustrations on the other, I don’t need to read their minds to see that.

Closing my eyes and settling my mind. I can slowly form their worldview as a mirage layered over my mind. Their perspective of the world, their visions of right and wrong, constructed not from my new ability to read minds, but from how much I already understand of them.

Red… Red cares more than you can see from a shallow look at her actions, but she’s seen natures cruelty, the competition for resources that runs this world. Those who are not strong enough to survive will die, and worse, those who try to save them will die with them.

Life in this universe is like treading water in the open ocean, either we swim and keep our head above the water, or we do not. Yet, we are social animals, and we work together to survive together. So that we can sleep and rest without drowning while we are weakest. Red understands that we must help one another, but there’s more to it.

There are some of us who cannot swim, those who rely on the strength of others to survive.

Too many times, she’s seen strong and empathetic people get pulled down by the weight of the drowners. Their strength sapped away by those who are too weak to survive this world, and in the end, they all drown.

To Red, empathy is something that must be spared for those who are wounded, those who are tired, or too young. People who will be strong enough to swim on their own once they’ve overcome the difficulty of the moment.

She doesn’t want us, any of us, to drown trying to save those who can’t save themselves.

Eshya is different. She wasn’t raised in such harsh environments, and her experiences are much closer to mine, except that the traumas she bears are of a different nature. Her society devalued her and denied her the fighting spirit that she’s put at the centre of her own character. She refused to let go, which I suppose is just part of her fighting nature in itself.

When our worlds crashed together, and we, together, fell from the skies into that wild chaos where Red ‘trained’ us, Eshya was glad. This was a world that valued her spirit, valued the parts of her that were rejected by her own family, but at the same time, she was faced with the torturous consequences of that violence that she’d always wanted.

People died. Suffering and cruelty were parcelled in with the same challenges that she craved. She was shocked, and I think she still is.

We’re all still growing, figuring out what to do about all these awful things. She doesn’t want to live surrounded by cruelty and suffering, but I don’t think she knows how to resolve that with the world around us.

And watching me struggle with the challenges, hurts her.

I’ve stretched myself thin, struggling more with every passing day. It’s not a new problem, but every attempt to resolve it fails as new problems show.

It hurts to see Eshya struggling with this, and she’s only struggling because she’s watching me struggle.

I wanted her to take some time off from her training and fighting, but I’ve been even worse. I’ve been consumed by my work, and still, I was thinking poorly of her for doing the same.

“Unlike these warriors, I don’t have the luxury to sit around and meditate,” I say, standing and brushing myself off. “I have to relax, and go on dates, and enjoy myself a little. We can take some time off and find some hobbies.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stats and Skills

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 39,299 / 60,892 units

Current mana volume: 19,536 / 30,270 shards

Mana volume at crystallisation density (Max. mana volume):

Kyra: 30,270 shards

Kyra’s armour: 20,777 shards

Kyra’s throne: 1,109,298 shards

~Forms

Mana Canon

-Annihilation Heart (Adapted)

-Blood Fuel (Adapted)

-Bone Magic Storage (40,000 mana shards)

-Nail Shifters (50,000 mana shards)

Dancer

-Flash Nerves (Adapted)

-Quick Perception Mind (Adapted)

-Burst Reflex Muscles (35,000 mana shards)

-Layered space Muscles (80,000 mana shards)

Turtle

-Rebinding Tissue (Adapted)

-Catalyst Sweat Glands (140,000 mana shards)

-Repulsive Skin (80,000 mana shards)

-Prehensile hair (10,000 mana shards)

-Fatty Tissue Blood Storage (100,000 mana shards)

Investigator

-Wide eyes (Adapted)

-Wide ears (Adapted)

-Sharp nose (Adapted)

Misc.

-Clean bowels (Adapted)

~Favourited Skills:

Magic:

-Annihilation Magic (Customised)

-Fire Magic (Functional)

-Space magic (Broken)

-Force magic (Functional)

-Ice magic (Broken)

-Wind magic (Broken)

Movement:

-Hand-to-hand casting (Functional)

-Mana surge movement (Functional)

-Stealth (Functional)

Senses:

-Eyes of an Empire (Customised)

-Combat Awareness (Functional)

-Watchmen (Functional)

-Hidden bug (Mastered)

-De-tagging (Mastered)

-Anti-stealth sight (Mastered)

Special:

-Spirit Transformation (Broken)

-Conformity (Broken)

-Training mana form (Functional)