Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (114/?) WiP 1

Hey everyone! Here is the Work in Progress for Chapter 114 I hope you guys enjoy! :D I’ll be posting the revised version for Chapter 113 sometime before the full release of Chapter 114! Apologies for the delay! ^^;

Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30, Thacea and Emma’s Room.

Thalmin

The moon… was a great many things to many different people.

To the old believers, it was the metaphysical embodiment of the ancestral plane, caught in an eternal battle between light and dark.

To the Nexus, it was an adjacent realm’s sole connection to the primavale — an umbilical through which matter and mana alike were drip-fed in a cycle of birth and rebirth.  

Whilst many bickered and argued over the minor details of its nature, no one, not a single soul had ever made the claim that it was in any way shape or form another realm.

A realm for ancestors in the metaphysical context? Yes.

But a literal realm of rock and stone? No.

Such ramblings belonged to the crazed sermons of the village idiot, or the town fool.

Substantiated only by the many revelations one could find at the bottom of a tankard of ale. 

And yet here I was.

A prince.

Of sound mind and steady disposition.

Actively considering the same ramblings but with the pensiveness one would have to an oracle’s preachings. 

“Yes.” Emma replied confidently and with not an ounce of hesitation. “Or at least, in my reality it is. I’m not too sure about the Nexus. But here? Not only is the moon an entirely distinct realm, but every point in the night sky could also be considered a realm unto its own.” 

I did not know what to feel following that revelation.

I didn’t even know how to take that statement. Which, in any other situation… would’ve simply been a confirmation of one’s fractured mental state.

Questions abounded, alongside feelings, all of which tore at what I knew, or what I thought I knew.

My mind bounded to fill the gaps of this new paradigm. 

One that I knew was impossible… but that I rationalized as possible, not only out of Emma’s impossible proofs, but likewise out of Ilunor’s rationale.

Earthrealm… was a dead realm.

And this meant that anything was possible, given nothing was known of such a fundamentally broken place; of such a fundamentally… eerie and empty space.

My curiosity reached for questions I didn’t even have words for.

However, my focus eventually landed on a simple, tangible demand. 

One which I directed towards the reality-defying entity I called a friend. 

“Show me, then.” I announced tersely. “Show me this realm which floats amidst dead space, and show us the journey through which you established once and for all… that the moon… is in fact, a realm.” 

This ultimatum, which I assumed to be well received beneath the earthrealmer’s faceplate, likewise brought about an expression that I’d rarely seen on the princess thus far.

A look of restrained, yet visible, excitement. 

This stood in stark contrast to the Vunerian, who slunk further and further into abject dread.

I… knew not what camp to fall under.

For even in my most optimistic of projections did I find myself uneasy at the prospects of a prophecy made true — of the existence of a power that could truly attain the same heights as the Nexus.

Even if that power was as benevolent as Emma was intent on portraying. 

“The journey, huh?” Emma spoke under a lackadaisical tone of voice. “That’s actually a great idea~” She continued, turning towards me with a slight skip in her step. 

An action completely contrary to the enigmatic world she belonged to.

The scene, expectedly, shifted once more. 

Away from the chrome ball and its incessant beeping.

Away from the gut-churning nothingness of the void beyond the nonexistent tapestry.

Far beneath the blue skies, and once more on solid earth.

More than that, we were once more thrust back towards the vast expansive steppes in which this ‘launch site’ was situated. One which seemed to be busier than it was in the previous firespear launch, with phantom humans donning grey and green uniforms bearing the sigil of peasants, interspersed between more humans carrying boxy equipment all aimed towards this… slightly taller tower.

Gone was the squat form of the previous firespear.

In its place, was a taller, much more imposing monolith. 

What I was now confident in calling a tower. 

Though similar to its predecessor, it remained precariously shackled to the earth, with four arms of heavy steel, and a tower of metal scaffolding seemingly bracing it from ascending prematurely. 

“Every mission you've seen up to this point in time has been unmanned.” Emma began confidently, before sheepishly correcting herself with a quick aside. “With the exception of Wan Hu, none have since attempted to reach the stars atop of these oversized firespears.” She continued, as she gestured towards a procession of vehicles, and the stream of humans who began ascending within a manaless ascender. “But all that changes today. As on this day, barely 58 years since we first took to the skies, we now aim to shoot beyond it. To prove, once and for all, that man can and will pierce the heavens. To boldly go, in spite of the dangers that come with riding a controlled explosion, and in spite of the inhospitality of the void which we so long to reach—” Emma once more paused, unexpectedly and without any particular reason. “—forwards, to see what lies beyond the next hill.” 

Immediately following this did several figures emerge from the ascender, all crowding around an oddly-dressed human in a bizarrely-tailored bright orange full-body suit.

“Because there will always be those amidst our ranks ready to put it all on the line. Those who would dare to push the boundaries, to answer the call of that most captivating of human callings  — the need for exploration. To be, and spirits forbid… to die a pioneer.”

Foolishness. I could hear my uncle responding, his voice echoing throughout the proving dens, loud enough to pierce through the rumbling of machines and the sharp clanking of metal as the orange-suited human enters what looked to be a coffin.

Brazenness for brazenness sakes, all for selfish ends. 

Selflessness and sacrifice with only the vaguest of callings is a waste to both clan and kin. A death should serve a tangible gain, not a vague ideal or ephemeral calling.

“But when brazenness is shared amongst an entire people, to the point where all are willing to share in the cost and effort of fulfilling such a ‘foolish’ notion, is it at that point madness or brilliance?” I muttered to myself under a hushed breath, my focus fixated on the calmness of it all.

In spite of knowing that what might come next could be disastrous for all.