Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (112/?)

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

Thalmin

Not since childhood had I gazed out at the night sky to consider what could actually lay beyond the tapestry.

Such a notion had already been addressed, both by the Nexus and by age-old Havenbrockian beliefs, the latter holding much more weight than the outsider-enforced dogma of the multi-realm spanning empire.

Though it was by their very reach and power that most amongst the ‘enlightened’ Havenbrockian elite defer objective truths to Nexian conventional wisdom. Relegating Havenbrockian beliefs to just that — beliefs. 

It was acceptable to still believe in the light of the ancestors. It was even fashionable within the immediate royal circle for those who wished to pay lip service to our family’s traditional inclinations. 

However, it was more accepted that both concepts were distinct yet mutually inclusive, that the stars could be tears in the tapestry, and that there was a sort of miasmic immaterium that lurked beyond the wispy dark. 

The ancestors could very well still exist within that sea of light, their memories preserved as the various star-signs and sky-lights, hovering high and prominently over us.

I was warned that my experiences in the Nexus would come to overrule this tentative balance of beliefs however.

I was cautioned against looking too deep into the infinite dark ‘perfection’ of the Nexian tapestry.

It was thus, after the dispelling of the clouds, that I was faced with that very uncomfortable sight.

A sight which shook me to my core, but not enough to cause a crisis of faith.

Strangely, it was Emma of all people who seemed to be most bothered by this sight; as if her very grip on reality had been stripped from her the moment the clouds parted.

I was… worried at certain points, concerned that her ‘newrealmer’ status was finally catching up to her.

This worry, thankfully, proved to be null and void.

As the earthrelamer promptly went about her own antics, revealing that her anxieties stemmed not from a crisis of belief, but instead… a crisis of curiosity.

She defied any and all newrealmer expectations, deftly avoiding the pitfalls that would entrance and entrap those from lesser realms.

If anything, she pursued a narrative not only unexpected — but entirely blasphemous.

It was as exciting as it was disturbing to see.

On matters regarding the skies above, as well as the craft which traverse them.

The Vunerian’s sight-seer had reignited the fires of concern over the Nexian narrative as opposed to the alternative offered by Emma. 

The viability of Emma’s manaless Aethra-vessels wasn’t so much put into question, as much as their capabilities were.

It was moreso a question of whether or not these aerial constructs — owing to their manaless dispositions — would be able to match the Nexus’ unparalleled mastery over the skies.

The Nexus, after all, held exclusive dominance and superiority in this theatre of war. 

Never has there been a single other realm in existence outside of the Nexus that had come close to challenging this primacy. 

And while it was rare for the Nexus to deploy said vessels in acts of war, given battle and planar mages alike rarely needed such conventional forces, it was still an aspect of war that could never be understated.

For it added a dimensionality of war that almost every other realm lacked an equivalent to, let alone significant counters to match it.

It was thus, in the pitch darkness of this manaless sight-seer, that the truth behind Emma’s claims would be revealed.

I knew not what awaited me, especially given the scarcity of Aethran knowledge Havenbrock held both prior and following the Nexian reformations.

But this ignorance served only to fuel the flames of excitement welling within me, as my mind attempted to wrap itself around this most novel of concepts — manaless flight.

Or more accurately, manaless flight on a truly epic scale. 

=====

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

Thacea

“You really must stop bookending your statements with such bizarre and flighty proclamations, earthrealmer.” The Vunerian began with a dismissive slight, just as our surroundings started to shift. The darkness of the tarp quickly turned into a blinding light courtesy of the spinning obelisks, entrapping us within a world of featureless white.

Following which, a new world was summoned piecemeal. 

As block by geometric block, through mannaless means as impressive as it was enigmatic — was this impossible world conjured up once more. 

In a surprising parallel to the Vunerian’s sight-seer, we found ourselves standing in the midst of a sea of grassy sand-dunes, poised atop of a hill overlooking what seemed to be two modestly dressed humans, both of whom held nothing in their hands but a few stray pieces of paper and two leather-bound notebooks. Their features once more obscured from the supposed limitations of the manaless sight-seer.

“That’s because it’s true, Ilunor.” Emma began, gesturing towards what was ostensibly an unimpressive sight amidst an equally unimpressive setting. 

“We both seem to possess the same knowledge of worldly principles, of rules and axioms which govern the way things work.” She continued, as our point of reference soon moved closer towards the two humans, allowing us a glimpse inside of their furious notetaking. 

“We both understand the limitations of reality, and we both yearn to be free from it.”

Pages upon pages of foreign symbols were strewn about ruled pages, alongside sketches of large birds of prey, with a striking emphasis on the morphology and physiology of their wings.

“But where we differ isn’t in our intent to overcome these restrictive constraints, but the manner in which we went about defying it.” Emma continued, as the scene shifted once more, revealing what appeared to be the inside of some workshop, dominated not by the tools of an Aethran Artificer but by those of a smithy’s repair shop.

“Whereas the Nexus prides itself in overcoming these limiting principles by sidestepping and outright circumventing it, utilizing means as innate and second-nature to those with the power to wield it, we instead had no such luxuries.” She continued, the scene in front of us accelerating through time, gradually revealing the construction of a strange and primitive looking construct — a two-layered wing constructed out of pieces of metal and fabric. 

“But through careful experimentation—”

The scene once more shifted to the sand dunes, as the archaic construct took to the air… on a powerful gust of wind, held in place by the two humans using bundles of twine.

“—and much, much suffering—”

The glider soon plummeted to the ground as quickly as it took flight, the scene repeating itself through multiple trials and successive design iterations. 

“—we eventually gathered enough observations of the natural world to commit to our path of defiance.” 

We were thrown once again into the workshop, Thalmin in particular noting the appearance of a familiar vehicle from Emma’s present nestled in various nooks around the shop — the bicycle. 

However, that momentary distraction was eventually overtaken by the appearance of an entirely novel… artifice. What appeared to be a peculiarly designed metal box, with pipes, tubes, and chambers mysteriously shaped and forged into it. The particularities of such a complex artifice was beyond me. 

What wasn’t entirely novel however, were the two propellers currently being affixed to the wings of this new prototype. 

Propellers which bore a striking similarity to those seen affixed to the water-borne craft of Emma’s previous presentation.

Throughout this, Ilunor remained silent, his maw opening as if to protest, before something seemingly clicked in his mind.

=====

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

Ilunor

You’re playing me for a fool, earthrealmer…

You cannot be serious.

You cannot simply apply the same concept seen on your ‘drones’ to a craft as large as this.

It cannot defy leypull…

It cannot!

“It was my fault for causing you confusion on our capacity for flight, Ilunor.” The earthrealmer began apologetically, the sight-seer’s focus quickly narrowing in upon the peculiar metal box at the heart of the abominable craft. “I’ve shown you our cars, and I’ve shown you our ships, but whilst I’ve described to you the manner by which our steamships were powered, I’d neglected to touch upon the other elephant in the room. This wonderfully complex yet powerful device which granted us a more compact form of power generation — through the use of a controlled sequence of carefully timed explosions.” 

I felt my eyes twitching.

My face once more turning up to meet the earthrealmer’s masked visage. 

“Excuse me?!” 

=====

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

Thalmin

“You recall our conversations regarding our cars, correct? And the means by which they are fueled?” Emma asked, prompting me to nod in response.

“Dragon bones?” Ilunor seethed out. 

“The compressed remains of plant and animal matter, as I recall from last week.” I replied, eliciting a nod from both Emma and Thacea. 

“Yup! While coal was for the longest time the prime example of this dense and wonderful source of energy, we eventually discovered something else that outperformed it. Another substance born out of a similar natural phenomenon, piped out of the ground, but a lot less solid.” Emma spoke cryptically, and in an act that gave me pause for thought, unexpectedly manifested a vial of some inky black substance in the palm of her hand.

I took a moment to compose myself, as that sight-seer trick sent shivers down my spine given how… lifeless that magic-like motion was.

“Does it burn?” Thacea pressed abruptly, prompting Emma to nod in acknowledgement.

“Yeah, we call it petroleum—”

“Nightfire sap.” Thacea concluded.

“Pitchwine.” I followed up just as quickly.

“It is a substance known to many realms, as it occasionally rises up from the depths of the earth.” Thacea clarified. “However, beyond its use in roadwork, waterproofing and other miscellaneous industries, alchemists and mages have found it to be just another component in their library of available philters.” 

Emma nodded at that explanation, and through some manaless means, caused the vial of pitchwine to suddenly change into a clear yellowish fluid.

“For the longest time, that’s what we used it for as well. However, we eventually discovered that when processed through certain… manaless alchemical processes, that the resultant fluid was perfect for this little guy—” Emma pantomimed ‘tapping’ the strange metal heart of the winged construct. “—the internal combustion engine.” 

=====

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

Thacea

No sooner did Emma finish her explanations were we treated to a dynamic view of the ‘heart’ of this construct. 

Layer by layer, this strange artifice was humbled down into what Emma described as its ‘fundamental components’, each of which was highlighted with distinct colors for ease of identification.

The first of which, was a hollow cylindrical chamber, kept sealed on one end via a ‘piston’ analogous to the ‘pistons’ aboard those ‘steamships’, and on the other by the metal of the ‘engine’ itself. But atop of that upper seal were several more components, one which Emma described as an ‘applicator’ for its fuel source, another being its source of ignition, and two other small pipes which controlled its ‘breath’.

The purpose of which was quickly shown in a demonstration that quickly enraptured every fiber of my being.

In a cycle consisting of four distinct phases, we watched as it roared to life with motions which I could only describe as breathing. 

I stared in anticipation as it took its first breath, sucking in air and fuel, before violently combusting it, followed not too shortly by an exhale of noxious fumes.

Emma’s previously vague claim of ‘harnessing the power of explosions’, finally manifesting itself in a marriage of artificiality and nature.

This cycle was quickly repeated in the next cylinder, followed by the next and the next until all four cylinders had completed a set of motions each identical to the last, moving in a staggered, almost natural flow. 

Its motions were nothing short of mesmerizing, my eyes engrossed by the complex machinations of this most violent of reactions, as this harmony of moving steel seemed to serve but one distressingly simple goal — spinning a long piece of metal. 

The same goal as the larger steam-powered vessels we saw the week prior.

Part of me wondered if this was the extent to manaless ingenuity, that all of its complexities eventually trickled down to producing these most basic of motions.

It was at that point however did I realize — it mattered not how simple the end result seemed to be, but rather, the manner by which such simple movements could be harnessed into far more powerful motions.

What at first could be belittled as a rotating piece of metal, was shown to be able to propel a ship of immense size through the water. 

Now, that same principle — this ‘crankshaft’ as Emma referred to it — was bound to propel this craft of steel and canvas through the air.

=====

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

Ilunor

I felt sick.

There was something very… wrong about the way this… engine breathed.

There was something distinctly false, excruciatingly unnerving, and horrendously unsettling about the back and forth motions of its diaphragm.

An organ which spun up and down, up and down, up and down, spinning on and on and on and on again, all a futile effort to spin yet more parts of metal. 

Whereas the ‘steamships’ inner workings were… strangely straightforward, the motions of this engine felt alien and surreal, as it mimicked the breathing motions of living things, but in a manner that made a mockery of their living.

It was a mockery of the draconic heritage.

I attempted to look away.

To ignore the ‘controlled explosions’ within this artifice fit only for a madman.

=====

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

Thalmin

All of this complexity… and for what? The rotational motion of a simple shaft of metal?

I was mesmerized by the first explosion.

My barely restrained grin was brought to bare to its fullest extent as I saw all cylinders firing one after another.

The harnessing of explosions using nothing but solid steel and raw physical effort… was nothing short of enthralling.

Moreover, the catalyst for these motions, the progenitor of its life force, this… purified PItchwine, was the result of manaless alchemical processes that were beyond revolutionary.

Which was why I felt my disappointment growing to immeasurable extremes as I saw the end result — the rotation of a simple shaft of metal.

I sighed, waiting, hoping that as the sight-seer pulled out, that we would at least be greeted to some grand sight.

The sight, however, was not entirely grand nor was it outright disappointing.

As connected to that shaft of metal was a large metal wheel, one which was bound via two chains running through to the two propellers on either side of the wing.

This confusing setup was quickly put to action however, as I saw the ultimate ends of those explosions — the rotation of the large metal wheel, and by extension, the driving of those metal chains.

Soon enough, the propellers started to turn.

And it was in that moment that a realization started to dawn on me.

All of that complexity, all those fine-tuned motions, the advanced metallurgy behind this ‘engine’ and the precise smithing needed to coerce the power of explosions into the rotation of a simple piece of metal.

This entire endeavor…  was all in the service of the spinning of a propellor.

What would’ve taken a simple imbued crystal, or the afterthought of a mage, instead took the earthrealmers a thousand different steps to reach.

=====

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

Thacea

Questions were raised, all of which culminated in our return to the grassy sand dunes, where we were now poised atop of a hill overlooking what seemed to be a crowd of phantom humans — dressed in attire more reserved and less colorful than that of her ‘present’ world.

The dual-level winged construct of metal, wood, and canvas was now set atop of a rail leading to nowhere.

Inside of it, positioned awkwardly by the explosion-driven engine, was one of the humans from earlier; recognizable only by his attire which remained the only distinguishing feature amidst these phantom-like apparitions. 

“Nearly half a decade of design work and research, field testing and prototyping, all in an effort to reach this point.” Emma began, her voice overpowering the murmurs from the crowd of humans carrying strange artifices fixed atop of wooden legs all pointed towards the craft. “They utilized every single aspect of their experience to reach this point too, even going so far to use bicycle chains to transfer the mechanical power of the engine to that of the two propellers. And even with all of that work, none of this would be possible without the work of countless others around them. From the employee they commissioned to build their engine, to the chains they ordered in, to even the batteries they installed, all of this is a combination of hundreds more industries leading to the possibility of this day’s venture.” 

All three of us remained silent, our eyes locked onto this flimsy and clumsy looking construct, its ‘engine’ sputtering to life, generating an entirely foreign sound completely divorced from anything I’d ever experienced.

This… sputtering felt far less impressive than the close-in examples from earlier, what’s more, the ‘power’ they generated seemed to barely turn these propellers at all.

I felt every element of my avinor soul chastising this foolhardy attempt. 

Every inkling of common sense and conventional wisdom told me this wouldn’t work. 

This was in spite of my understanding of Emma’s achievements, and the objective proof of her capabilities in flight.

For a fleeting moment, I even managed to empathize with the Vunerian.

Though emphasis needed to be put on that operative word — fleeting.

Reality would soon set the record straight however, as the rickety vessel accelerated suddenly along its rail, bouncing and tossing before suddenly… it no longer did.

In a scene reminiscent of fledglings attempting to reach for the skies in their very first flight — the vessel ascended. 

Slowly, and with questionable altitude, but successfully all the same.

Memories of my first flight invariably surfaced, as I could viscerally feel a sense of second-hand excitement; the giddiness, the sheer joy that was one’s first flight.

Though as much as those memories burned bright with the success of one’s first flight, so too were they littered with… less than desirable moments.

Moments which were quickly reflected in the sight-seer, because barely after twelve seconds of flight, was this first reach for the heavens halted by the forces of leypull. 

This short flight ended in what I could only describe as a controlled crash.

=====

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

Ilunor

And there it was.

The so-called success of ‘powered flight’. 

Whilst the princess’ features were similarly indiscernible, it was clear that Prince Thalmin shared my frustrations.

“So, earthrealmer… is that all you have to—”

I stopped, a sense of whiplash springing up unexpectedly as time within this manaless sight-seer moved forward. 

Hours elapsed in a matter of seconds, as the failure of a craft was once more brought to its starting ramp.

Following which, the sputtering started once more, and with a helpful gust of wind was this vessel brought aloft.

Though that too ended in yet another failure.

This pattern soon repeated, once, then twice, until finally the cycle was broken.

In what I assumed was a fluke, this vessel of wood and canvas remained aloft for scarcely a minute.

Though part of me wished to dismiss this negligible improvement, I couldn’t help but to feel something welling within the earthrelamer.

Her silence merely added to my anxious intent.

=====

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

Thacea

Perseverance.

This was a story of perseverance.

Emma’s sight-seer pressed one without a single word of narration, as we were treated to these two humans toiling month after month, making incremental improvements and iterative changes over their construct.

Flight after flight was made, each marginally better than the last, as the flight time and distances covered soon increased to the point that an Avinor flight-nurse would consider within acceptable margins.

But that wasn’t the end of the story.

Far from it.

The scene quickly shifted once more, as we materialized far from the sand dunes and onto a harbor, overlooking a winged craft floating in the bay.

“This is eleven years later.” Emma began. “While our first successful and recognized pioneers — the Wright Brothers — continued on their own journey, the world did not sit idly by following news of their success.”

Reinforcing this assertion, Emma’s sight-seer briefly displayed images of hundreds of phantom-like humans, each proudly displaying their own take on that first craft, each with designs more bizarre and varied than the last.

“Most failed, or faded into obscurity. But some, like the craft you see before you, pushed to become firsts in their own right.” 

This equally small, yet vastly more sturdy vessel was quickly boarded by two humans, before confidently and with surprising grace — rising to the skies without a single issue or incident.

That simple fact alone gave me pause for thought.

But it wouldn’t be the only thing to do so.

“While unremarkable on the surface, this was the first recorded instance of an official commercial passenger flight. A fixed route, from one city to another aboard an aircraft, had effectively cut travel times by orders of magnitude. What would have taken twelve hours on land and two hours by ship, now only took twenty minutes on a single flight.” 

Emma paused, showing the aircraft in question landing at the harbor of a larger city, its two occupants leaving shortly thereafter. 

“Now, when you factor in—”

“This can’t be all.” Thalmin suddenly interjected, his eyes narrowing at that small craft and its two occupants.

=====

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

Thalmin

“In eleven years, you’ve managed to improve what was merely a novelty, a demonstration piece, into a viable manaless construct capable of sustained flight.” I continued. “Twenty minutes of uninterrupted flight, with the ability to ascend and descend seemingly in a moment’s notice — all for a pleasure cruise?” 

“I mean, this is the first commercial flight, leading to what would become a massive industry that connects the world through millions of concurrent flights—”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Emma.” I interrupted with a frustrated growl. “This capability, this… mastery over a construct capable of taking both you and others aboard? Did your people truly only consider it as a means of transport?” I paused, leveling my eyes with an excited gleam underpinning my gaze. “Or did you consider less peaceful applications too?”

Emma didn’t respond, not immediately that is, as the world once more dematerialized all around us.

We quickly found ourselves no longer amidst the quaint and beautifully adorned towns, cities, or greenery of Emma’s idyllic world, but instead a land seemingly engulfed by something I was regrettably familiar with — death.

All around us, the pock-marks of war dominated a grey and muddy expanse.

Husks of trees stood where verdant forests clearly once existed.

Scores of trenches and foxholes littered almost every available inch of land, and strange objects — what appeared to be large tubes of metal — sat ominously behind the lines.

It took me a moment to connect the dots.

To understand what I was looking at.

A quick glance over to Emma’s holstered weapon was all it took to understand what these artifacts were.

And it shook me to my core.

“Emma… where are we?” I began before quickly adding.  “When are we—”

VVVVvvrrrrrr!!

A now-familiar sound suddenly erupted overhead, as I looked up to see a small object loitering amidst the clouds, one that grew larger and larger with each passing moment before I came to understand what it was. 

RAT-TAT-TA-T-TATA-T-T-AT-AT!

The sounds of distant… explosions filled the air, as behind that first three-winged flighted construct came a dual-winged construct poised seemingly for the kill.

And in a display of what I could only closely describe was drake-fighting, I watched in awe as these winged constructs engaged in some kind of invisible battle, dodging, weaving, ducking, and rolling against a flurry of invisible strikes.

“I’m afraid that unlike magic, there’s no visible balls of fire or bolts of lighting here.” Emma began in a more severe tone than usual. “Instead, you’ll just have to imagine hundreds upon hundreds of small metal projectiles being slung at you at speeds faster than sound itself. Each duck, each weave, an attempt to avoid your enemy landing a shot at you. Until, of course, one of you does.” The earthrealmer paused, as this invisible duel reached its tipping point with the construct in front suddenly bursting into flames. “And to answer your earlier question, Thalmin? We’re just four years into the future following that first commercial flight, near the tail-end of our first global conflict.” 

I felt my heart sink.

Moreover, I could feel my muscles tense at that acknowledgement.

Fifteen years.

Fifteen years following an impressive but admittedly-limiting proof of concept?

“Fifteen years… from fledgling to sky wardens?” Thacea uttered out, her eyes deep with wariness.

“Fifteen years from that first flight to fully actualized military aviation, yeah.” Emma responded with a nod. “Though I wouldn’t fixate on that, princess.” She spoke with a reassuring breath, as we were once more thrown into an entirely new location.

This time, we seemed to be aboard some sort of an ocean-faring vessel, one of Emma’s ‘steamships’.

All around us was water in every direction, a fact which Emma would soon confirm.

“We’re in the middle of one of our largest oceans, nothing but water for thousands of miles in either direction.” She began. “For the longest time, this was our sole means of travel across them. However, like with many things, that all changed with a little bit of technical ingenuity, some smart design-work, and a whole lot of gusto.” I could feel Emma grinning as we heard the tell-tale signs of an ‘engine’ deep within the clouds. 

High above us, we saw what appeared to be a speck barely moving across the skies. However, with a quick help of the sight-seer, we were greeted by a larger, far more ambitious-sized craft soaring above the endless expanse of ocean. 

“Nineteen Nineteen, just one year after that war I showed you, was the first non-stop transatlantic flight made.” Emma beamed out. “Over three thousand miles of ocean, traversed in a single hop.” 

None of us spoke following that proclamation, as we merely watched this craft slowly, but surely, reaching the shores of a rocky coast.

=====

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

Thacea

A nonstop flight between continents.

An endless journey across a vast ocean.

A fool’s errand, save for those with the strongest of constitutions. 

“And there were no ships to aid this craft in the event of—”

“Nope. Being the first necessitates a lot of risk taking. So in this case, with nothing but a full tank of gas and two powerful engines, did John Alcock and Arthur Brown make this trip above a merciless sea which would’ve swallowed them whole.” 

I nodded in silence, electing to instead watch as Emma’s sight-seer stayed seemingly in place, showing us what appeared to be yet another plane making the flight between continents.

This time however, the vessel in question was fundamentally different.

Because instead of two wings, this craft had merely one.

And a single propeller as well.

“Eight years later. The first solo transatlantic flight, on a monoplane single-engine aircraft.” Emma spoke boisterously, prompting the pace of things to move infinitely faster following the lack of any interjections.

“Three years later.” She began, the scene in front of us shifting to a flat strip of cement, and what appeared to be a larger ‘monoplane’ craft. One that completely overshadowed the size of all that came before it. “The first herald of mass air travel and commercial aviation — the creation of the DC-3.” 

But before we could even marvel at this increase not only in size, but a clear refinement in design philosophy, we were just as quickly thrust forward, as ‘aircraft’ of various designs started cycling across our eyes in rapid succession.

With sizes as varied as were their designs, some of the largest appearing to be the size of actual ships — what Emma referred to as the ‘Spruce Goose’. 

However, a fundamental shift started to occur sometime between the latter showing of these aircraft, as what were formerly propellers were replaced with what could only be described as conical nacelles. 

A fact which caused the Vunerian to widen his eyes, as he halted the earthrealmer before she could continue further.

Stopping us right as we saw the largest aircraft of this new design so far. 

“Yes, Ilunor? Do you have any questions about the de Havilland Comet—”

“I care not for what this De Havilland has concocted, but instead, I need to know what those are.” He pointed at the aircraft’s embedded nacells.

Which Emma more than gladly took apart piece by piece. 

Showing the Vunerian that what was inside wasn’t the catalyst crystals he so feared, but instead, even more propellers. 

Smaller propellers.

Almost-blade like, in fact.

As it would seem as if the humans had iterated to the point where this humble concept was taken to its impossible extreme.

Surprisingly, this seemed to do little in appeasing the Vunerian, but not for the reasons I had imagined.

=====

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

Ilunor

All of this… just to mimic a fraction of our power.

All of this… just to match what magic could do in its most simplest of permutations.

The turning of a simple rod of metal.

The pushing of air to propel a craft.

How could it have gotten them to this state?

How could spinning propellers result in this?!

Complexity upon complexity, begetting only more esotericisms for the sake of incremental improvements across iterative changes.

This all should have stopped around that first flying construct.

Their iterative improvement should’ve resulted far before that war.

This rate of expansion, the depths of complexity, it all should have reached its functional ends far before this point.

Yet it didn’t.

If anything, it only got faster.

I halted the earthrealmer before she could continue, before this charade could go on any further.

I… needed to address what it was we were here to address.

I needed to extricate myself from a foregone conclusion I should have accepted from the onset of our discussions.

The earthrealmer… was right.

But an open admission meant that I wouldn’t ever hear the end of it.

That was, unless I proved her wrong in her latter points.

“Earthrealmer… I will consider conceding, only if you humor me on this final point.” I offered. 

“What is it now, Ilunor?”

“Whilst I can see how you may have indeed reached for the skies in your…  manaless craft, I have yet to see you reaching beyond the tapestry. None of these vessels seem capable of doing that, now can they?”

The earthrealmer paused, and for a moment, it felt as if she considered saying yes.

“You’re technically correct on that point, Ilunor.” 

I could hear her smiling behind that helmet.

And it infuriated me.

“Address the question, earth—”

“From what I’ve shown you so far? No.”

“Then—”

“Let’s skip to that point in time then, shall we?” She beamed.

Following which, were we thrust into an entirely different realm.

=====

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

Thalmin

What stood before us was no longer a manaless facsimile of avian proportions made of wood, canvas, steel, or whatever material Emma had prattled on about over the ensuing half hour, no.

Instead, what stood before us, towering over us, standing pridefully aloft plinths and platforms like monuments and shrines to earthrealm’s manaless defiance… were towers.

Multiple, tens, and then hundreds of towers manifesting before us like a city unto its own.

From tapered towers of dark green and white, to near-vertical cylinders of pure white and black, all the way to what seemed to be a reddened cone holding aloft a strange ‘airplane’-like craft — the scene in front of us was a diverse collection of alien towers, each harboring an intent to perform the impossible.

“What I am about to show you next is a fundamentally different path to the one we took in attaining mastery over the skies. Because in order to reach the heavens, to pierce through the tapestry, to finally dislodge ourselves from leypull itself? The energy harnessed from merely caging explosions inside of our engines was no longer enough. Instead, we skipped straight past the middle man — propelling ourselves atop of the raw and unmitigated power of combustion itself. What you’re about to see is a story that started with us breaching the void with machines, and ended with us landing humans on another realm entirely. This is the story of what spawned the modern world as I know it. This is the story of our race to space and our proliferation of Gaia beyond the tapestry.”