Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (137/?) WiP 1

Author’s Note: Hey everyone! Here is the Work in Progress for Chapter 137 I hope you guys enjoy! :D

His Eternal Majesty’s Remembrance Path… aka the Royal Road of Transgracia. En Route to the Township of Sips. Local Time 2000 Hours.

Thalmin

There was, in fact, something to worry about.

Something that gnawed and clawed at the very edges of my thinking mind, fraying my nerves and screaming at me to acknowledge its unnerving presence. 

And it wasn’t about the potential spy behind our backs.

Nor did it have anything to do with the speed I was currently experiencing. 

Not entirely.

The rush of the dirt and the grass beneath me wasn’t at all a foreign experience, let alone an alien sensation.

Nor was the wind in my fur and the sheer exhilaration that it elicited. 

It wasn’t even the discomfort that came with the ramshackled order of seating and our impromptu solutions to our luggage situation.

No.

If anything, exactly everything was as it was supposed to be, and nought an iota of this exhilarating experience was out of order.

Except for one. 

…

The lack of a manafield.

Or more specifically, the lack of any relevant aura emanating from beneath the enchanted surface of the bi-treader.

Though this might as well have been the lack of reason itself for how significant of a deviation this was from the tenets of reality.

Locomotion without mana was strictly bound to the whims of the natural world. A world in which no amount of stiff resistance or tricky cleverness could overcome. 

A lupinor was bound to his own two legs for whatever that was worth, as much as a horse was bound by its four limbs and the strength of its flesh and sinew. 

The work of the sapient mind could only go so far to overcome, or tame the natural world; at best resulting in great ships of sail as was seen in both Aetheronrealm and Havenbrockrealm prior to the reformations. 

Though they too were bound to the forces of the natural world. Their speed, agility, and control — ultimately beholden to forces which would never allow any to attain anything beyond its narrow band of clemency.

This was why Emma’s bi-treader proved to be an uneasy, gut-churning experience.

It was as if I was riding a common horse, or trailing behind a sailboat in a cart pulled by a rope.

Indeed, that latter comparison was what I could best compare this experience to, in lieu of everything else more comparable being locked behind the realm of mana and magic.

This… was the impossible made manifest.

And while I should have expected this, and indeed, while I did have ample warning of this — primarily through the vivid sights and sounds hailing from Emma’s sight-seer experiences… they just could not compare to the ‘real deal’ as Emma might put it.

To see and understand something on a conceptual level, is an entirely different notion to actually experiencing it in the tangible world.

Indeed, it was this discrepancy that tore at me the longer I sat on this… enigma. 

An artifice which I understood to be powered through lightning, channeled through metal and rubber, before being turned into motion on both large and treaded wheels. 

The explanation was… sound. Or at least, as sound as it could be given its alien nature. 

For despite Emma’s best attempts, I found it difficult to truly grapple with this form of manaless locomotion, as opposed to the more straightforward power through explosions as was seen in her earlier demonstrations.

Though the fact that conveyances powered through explosions were somehow more ‘acceptable’, proved just how far the earthrealmer’s logic has been rubbing off on me.

I took a deep breath, steadying my mind and attempting to focus on Sorecar’s surface-level enchantments in order to avoid the strange and uneasy discrepancy between the sheer speed of the bi-treader, and its lack of any manafield draw.

This worked well.

“Watch your head!” 

At least, until one of Emma’s constructs once again disrupted my already-fragile concentration with a buzz and a clack! 

I watched in bemusement as the small disc-shaped ‘drone’ snapped neatly and seamlessly into one of the slits on the back of Emma’s armor.

Indeed, I found myself mildly mesmerized by the manaless actions of these unenchanted golems. 

That was, until Emma’s words once again pulled me out of my reverie. 

“Good news, Thalmin.” Emma began, her voice brimming with an infectious excitement. “Operation Maretime Misdirection was a resounding success.” 

With a flick of her arm, once again showcasing her ‘tablet’, I watched as a memory shard played out in flat and lifeless detail. Yet it was through this masterfully dull representation of reality that the target of our interests was demarcated in a thick red outline; his face brimming with the excitement of an ignorant fool as the vessel sped out of port with but two losses to our journey.

Our time… and my horse. 

Yet despite that, I couldn’t help but to break out in a dry chuckle, a smile soon forming across my otherwise tired visage. 

“A success… but at what cost?” I responded in jest. 

“Yeah… sorry about that Thalmin. But like I said, I’ll make it up to you in the next town over.” Emma replied with genuine remorse. “Command probably had a far more intricate idea when it came to the ferrying of our first foreign dignitary… but in such short notice? I guess the V4c is as good of a first impression as any.” She continued with an attempt at levity.

“I appreciate the sentiments as it applies to my station Emma… but know that I am no Ilunor, and that I am no stranger to the discomforts that come with the realities of questing and martial campaigns.” I offered, garnering a nod from the earthrealmer.

“Yeah, I know, and I kinda expected that from you of all people. But I just wish I didn’t have to make things difficult for you without it being absolutely necessary.” 

“Which it was.” I reassured the human. “We discussed in detail how—”

“How it would be best to avoid re-entering Elaseer after losing our resident spook on the boat, yeah.” Emma interjected with a hefty sigh. “I get that it’s the smart thing to do, making sure we do everything possible to maintain our head start, and to avoid alerting the prying eyes of the Academy that are possibly watching in town. But still… it’s a bummer that our adventure had to start out like this.” 

I blinked in response, cocking my head as I did so. “I thought you said you were going to enjoy a more ‘traditional’ road trip just moments earlier?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind that aspect of it. Plus, we’re still on schedule, if only delayed by a day to reach the next town over with a transportium. But I’m more guilty about y’know…” Emma paused, taking in a deep breath as if bothered by something I could not for the life of me anticipate. “... losing your horse?” 

I blinked in response, trying to process the earthrealmer’s words until I finally and truly understood her preoccupation.