Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (111/?)

Ilunor’s response… was not one I at all expected.

Because out of all the reactions I had on my bingo card — clapping — definitely wasn’t on the list. 

“And so the earthrealmer finally shows her true colors.” The Vunerian responded with a prideful smirk and a slow purposeful clap, causing me, and both Thacea and Thalmin to cock their heads in solidarity.

“I’m sorry?” I responded.

“You claim to have visited these so-called ‘stars’, correct?” 

“Well, yes. But I don’t see how—”

“My apologies.”  He interjected, a sarcastic smile plastered across his maw. “I am mistaken. Because not only have you claimed to have ‘visited’ these ‘stars’... but you likewise proclaim mastery over them, along with the so-called ‘void’ which ‘hangs above’ too, no?” He continued, stringing me along.

“Yeah, that’s right.” I took the bait. 

“Then you may consider this conversation over.” Ilunor proclaimed succinctly. “For you have… as the merfolk say — taken the bait.”

“Please just get to the point—”

“You’ve fallen into my trap, bitten off more than you can chew, made a dragon out of a wyrm!” He prattled on, bringing in adage after adage until he finally leveled his eyes towards me with a clear fit of frustration. “To put it bluntly, earthrealmer, you’ve proven yourself an unreliable raconteur. You have fallen for the oldest trick in the book — the acknowledgement of an impossibility. What’s more, you’ve gone so far as to have built off of this impossibility, firmly entering the realm of pure fantasy.” 

I took a deep breath, matching the Vunerian’s gaze even as he stepped off of his armchair, his feet click-clacking back onto the marble floors.

“Alright Ilunor, explain exactly what issues you have with my claims.” I continued with a sigh, eliciting a twitch from one of the Vunerian’s eyes.

“I asked, plainly, whether you have visited these so-called ‘stars’. Your answer, twice now, was — yes. Twice then, have you proved that you know nothing of the nature behind these specks of light. Twice now, have you taken the opportunity to inflate your ego, to act a contrarian whenever possible. Because twice now, you’ve claimed to have visited a nonexistent destination, a phantom object, a mirage — a mere artifact of light.” The Vunerian turned towards Thalmin now, as if to invite him to his side. “How can you claim to have visited what are merely tears in the fabric of the tapestry? By this logic, I could claim to have visited a desert mirage, or the end of a rainbow.” The Vunerian paused, allowing those words to sink in. 

And sink in they did. As I finally determined exactly where his point of fundamental systemic incongruency was. 

“To further claim mastery over them… is beyond ludicrous, akin to me claiming mastery over a rain cloud or a bolt of lightning!” Ilunor doubled-down, unfurling a piece of paper on the table as he spoke, proceeding to poke multiple holes in it with his claws; then finally holding it up to the fireplace. “It’s as outlandish of a prospect as me claiming to have both visited and declared ownership of the light poking through the holes of this parchment!” He announced through a run-on huff, prompting me to take a deep breath, as I wracked my head for a proper response.

Or more specifically, as I used every ounce of empathy I could muster in order to see things from his perspective.

“Alright then, Ilunor.” I began with a steady breath. “Please enlighten me.” I continued, garnering a wide look of surprise from all eyes present, including the Vunerian’s. “Explain to me exactly what you believe to be the tapestry. Tell me what these tears are, and what’s actually behind them.” I offered patiently, prompting a shift in the Vunerian’s derisive persona, as it evolved into something more ponderous. “Prove me wrong.” 

For once throughout this whole outburst, the man willingly stopped, taking a moment to consider my request. 

“I will require a half hour, Emma Booker.” He spoke softly. “I believe it would be best to show you. Moreover, I believe I can make use of this time to extinguish two phoenixes in a single storm.” 

… 

50 Minutes Later

… 

“Okay, so the Academy does have its own library, then?” I reiterated, eliciting a nod from Thacea. 

“Indeed, Emma. Though it is not as well known nor as prominent as The Library, Emma. Moreover, we have yet to require its services. Most of what is available in the Academy Repositories, is simply reference material and cultural works made available to complement the Academy’s curriculum. This is where I assume Ilunor has gone.”

“Right, and on that note—”

SLAM!

“—there he is…”

The Vunerian returned, his scales seemingly revitalized and rejuvenated, as if his intended destination had breathed life back into his skin.

“Wait, which library did you say you went to again?”

“Both, earthrealmer.” The Vunerian muttered out under a grumble. “The Library, and the Academy Repositories. The latter is where I managed to procure this.” He gestured at the sight-seer gripped firmly in his hands. 

I nodded, reflecting on how silly it was of me to have assumed that the Academy wouldn’t have its own internal library, instead relying on The Library for everything. 

Then again, earthly expectations in the Nexus tended to always find a way to be overruled, so I didn’t beat myself too much over that little revelation. 

“So, considering you got that thing from the Academy Repositories, I’m assuming you went to the library in order to fulfil your mysterious weekly arrangement with it—”

“Let us focus on the task at hand, earthrealmer.” Ilunor interjected, promptly slamming the door shut to prove his point, as he quickly got to work on the sight-seer. 

This particular sight-seer appeared to be far more polished and refined as opposed to Thalmin’s ‘bear-trap clamps on a book’ sight-seer, but not as sophisticated nor showy as Ilunor’s sleek and gilded setup from last week’s sight-seer trip. 

Because instead of the gilded hard-cover edges with seamless fold-over stitching, this book just seemed… normal. Like your regular everyday hard-cover textbook — complete with a title that looked more stenciled-on than it did hand-written or scribed-over. 

This trend of relative functionality over aesthetics continued as Ilunor went to work, revealing the orrery within the pages as a dainty, yet clearly functional ‘device’ with little in the way of ornate compositing or gildwork. 

“We’re jumping ahead in the curriculum for this explanation.” Ilunor began with a coy smile. “From what I understand, this should be a subject firmly in Professor Articord’s domain. Though as I stated before — extracurriculars are my forte.” 

With a surge of mana radiation—

ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 250% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS

—the room was once more bathed in that peculiar set of shadowless vector-like graphics. 

Every inch of surface across every object suddenly felt ‘flat’, as the textures and features across our entire line of sight were promptly removed.

Following this, the room subsequently ‘melted’ away, as the floors opened up to ‘reveal’ solid ground in the form of a grassy field, while the walls and roof slowly faded away until all that remained around us was an open expanse of starless night sky. 

“I must thank you, Cadet Emma Booker, for being so kind as to revel in your own downfall.” He began. “As it will be my honor to deconstruct your false claims, by demonstrating to you exactly how your assertions are but a fanciful impossibility.” 

No sooner after he spoke were we introduced to a sight I hadn’t at all expected. 

Because instead of the magical hologram simply rising ‘upwards’ towards the starless skies as was the case in Ilunor’s sight-seer trip to his realm, we were instead met with a more ‘interactive’ lesson; a shadow hovering overhead signalling that we were about to begin our ascent in a more ‘hands-on’ way.

“A ride up to the skies on a mount? Can we at least pick our beast of choice?” I commented jokingly.

Ilunor’s shit-eating however, only grew wider and wider with my response, as he took great pride in what he was about to say next.

“Oh earthrealmer, how quaint of you to assume that we’re about to ride beasts up to the skies!” He began with a tone of voice that fit more in line with that prideful persona that’d started to mellow out over the past few days. “Perhaps the few flying artifices I saw from your sight-seer were bluffs. Perhaps your ‘mothership drone’ was the most impressive display of flight you had to offer. As it’s clear that your first instinct now is to reference mere beasts of flight, when in actuality—” He paused for dramatic effect, as the shadow being cast from above grew larger and larger, until finally we were met with Ilunor’s rekindled source of pride. “—the Nexian Crownlands have long since freed noble civilized society from the shackles of beastly reliance.” 

What sat in front of us, awaiting our ‘entry’ through a long red-carpeted gangway, was a literal airship.

And this wasn’t just an ‘airship’ in the traditional sense, nor even in the contemporary sense, but in the most literal sense of the word.

Because awaiting our boarding… was a ship that looked to be a cross between something out of the age of sail, and the most Jules Verne-meets-fantasy thing I could’ve ever imagined. 

The whole vessel looked like one of those super-long sailing ships just prior to the cusp of steam technology, with sails and rigging dominating the superstructure on deck; rising several stories tall and blotting out the sun.

However, the lower my gaze went along the main body of the vessel, the more the anachronisms seemed to grow, as the ship tapered more aerodynamically the further down I looked. The mother of all anachronisms however didn’t even require an ounce of scrutiny, as this aspect of the ship was just as, if not more prominent than its sails — its wings.

Or more accurately, its many sets of wood and brass wings, each ending in some sort of a glowing crystal encased in a rune-engraved brass cylinder that looked almost like a jet nacelle if I squinted my eyes.

I couldn’t help but to stand there, too stunned to speak, my gaze ending up fixated on the bow of the ship, as the anachronisms ended at the overly-long bowsprit that dominated the very front of the vessel.

“Well come along now, earthrealmer! We haven’t all day!” Ilunor announced with unrestrained glee. Though we didn’t really have to physically ‘move’, considering the magical hologram did it all for us.

We arrived on the ship’s promenade deck to decorations and a deck-layout that seemed like something pulled straight out of the Titanic. The wood decking was interspersed with many pipes, funnels, and strange looking glowing artifices that looked more functional than they were decorative. 

Or at least, I assumed that to be the case.

The whole ‘vessel’ began its ascent soon enough, with Thacea and Thalmin’s features displaying a sense of restrained awe, almost like they both wanted to ignore everything around them.

Ilunor’s unbridled ascent into superiority seemed to be unquestionable at this point. 

Though sadly, this wouldn’t continue on indefinitely. At least, not with the sorts of questions I had in store for him.

“Alright, alright. I think we need a time-out before we ascend any further.” I finally managed out, overcoming the shock and disbelief through a combination of both willpower and that burning curiosity welling within me.

“What is it now, earthrealmer?” The Vunerian chuffed. 

“So, I know better than to question whether or not this exists in the Nexus. It doesn’t seem all too surprising given what you guys are capable of.” I began, my words seemingly inflating the blue thing’s ego even more, to the point where I shuddered to think if inflating it any further would cause him to explode like a party balloon. “But I have to ask, how exactly does this whole thing work?” 

“Ah! Interested in flight now are we? I recall the previous week’s conversation very well. You were just oh-so confident in your supposed mastery over flight. Your ‘mothership’ artifice is clearly the extent of it, yes? I believe we’ve now arrived at the point where you find yourself perplexed by the actual sight of more impressive constructs, prompting me to cast doubt over your grandiose claims; considering your need to inquire on the very basics of flight—”

“This thing cannot fly.” I started bluntly, pulling the winds right out of Ilunor’s sails. Only for it to be replaced by a look of incredulous shock.

“I beg your pardon—”

“Not using conventional flight mechanics anyways.” I quickly added, momentarily taking the reins of the conversation. “You’re flying a literal ship, Ilunor. An ocean-faring ship, if that needed to be specified. Now, if I were back home, then I’d have called this bluff from the get-go. That’s because under conventional flight mechanics, this thing would have no chance of getting off the ground.” I paused, pointing at the wings and the ‘engines’ mounted on them. Moreover, I looked to the ‘ground’ below, and quickly ran the numbers to determine the speed of the ship with a little help from the EVI. “There’s no way you’re generating enough lift with those wings to keep this whole thing aloft, and most definitely not at the speeds we’re currently traveling.” I explained. “Now I don’t know how much this whole thing is supposed to weigh, but it doesn’t take an aeronautics engineer to take one quick look at this thing and say—”

“You’re describing Aethra-Primum, Cadet Emma Booker.” Ilunor interjected with a disconcerted breath, his arrogant flair fading just for a moment.

His features were now decidedly… conflicted, as if satisfied at having cut me off, but also… concerned about what I’d just brought up in the first place.

“Aethra-Primum?” I parroted back. 

“Natural flight.” Ilunor began. “Unassisted and unaided by magical means. Or what you refer to archaically as… ‘flight mechanics’, though I cannot see why you would utilize such an overtly complicated descriptor for a phenomenon that is inherently unworthy of it.” He continued, as if trying to piece together a response after hearing my own. “The term is part of the three fundamental avenues of flight, as observed in both the natural and civilized world.” 

The man gestured for me to follow him, as the ‘perspective’ of the hologram followed us over to the ‘portside’ of the ship. “Rarely, if ever, does an Aethraship utilize the principles of Aethra-primum. For they are… limiting, if not impossibly binding in their restrictive rules. This is the reason why most ships utilize either the second or third fundamental avenues, rather than persisting with the limiting first.” The man paused, before pointing towards the nacelles which were… wobbling wildly in place, setting off every possible alarm in my head, as the things looked as if they were about ready to tear themselves apart. “The artifices you see in front of you are designed to circumvent the limitations of Aethra-Primum, granting this vessel the ability to defy the forces of leypull itself.” 

I took a moment to quickly interject, cocking my head as I did so.

“And by ‘leypull’... you mean a natural fundamental force, correct? The… universal force of attraction between all bodies of matter? The one that ‘pulls’ you down to the ground?” 

“Yes, earthrealmer.” Ilunor responded with a raising of both brows. “How do you—”

“I just wanted to double check.” I responded simply, taking a look at the EVI’s working language database, and seeing that the one-to-one translation was in fact correct. “Because back home, we have another term for it — gravity.” 

That took the Vunerian by genuine surprise, as that one-two punch of demonstrating parity in the understanding of fundamental mechanics clearly shook the confidence he had in his flighty ego trip. 

This eventually culminated with a nod from the Vunerian, albeit a more wary one. “So you do understand.” The Vunerian’s voice wavered, if only for a moment, as he redirected his confidence back for a retaliatory strike. “But! Do you understand the concepts of Aethra-Secundum and Aethra-Tertius?” He shot back, grinning in assured victory.

“No.” I replied bluntly. “But judging from what you were getting at with this ship, I’m assuming Aethra-Secundum and Aethra-Tertius refer to the principles of magically-augmented flight, right?”

“Correct, earthrelamer.” Ilunor replied pridefully. “But not entirely correct. For you see, both of these terms refer to the extent of magic being utilized for flight. Aethra-Secundum referring to magically assisted flight, and Aethra-Tertius referring to entirely magically-driven flight. The former utilizes magical means to augment all manner of worldly properties affecting lift; while its designs remain partially shackled to natural limitations. The latter, however, is completely unshackled from it.” 

“And given how ludicrous this ship is, I’m assuming it’s entirely magically-driven then.” I shot back tentatively.

“Yes.” The Vunerian responded, lending even more credence to the existence of this thing. “This vessel was designed from its onset as a complex symphony, to be performed by an orchestra of various enchantments, artifices, and spells, all at the beck and call of its conductor — the Shiplord.” 

I nodded along, my hands reaching for the railing, only to pull back given how they’d probably just fall straight through the hologram.

Throughout it all, a lingering thought kept my heart in a death grip, as the implications of this particular avenue of magic, applied to this scale, sent a shiver down my spine.

“So let me get this straight.” I began with a steady breath. “Aethra-Tertius, amongst other things, involves a particular form of magic. Be it a rune, a spell, an artifice, or something, that’s able to stably sustain the defiance of leypull — gravity — itself?” 

This particular question once more caught the Vunerian off-guard, as if he wasn’t expecting me to single this specific topic out in particular.

“Yes, earthrealmer.” He responded with a raise of one of his brows. “Though I do not see how that is in any way the most impressive aspect of this fine vessel, as there exists a wide plethora of spells and artifices that far surpass that particular enchantment.”

I hit the mute button immediately after that confirmation, looking at the EVI with wide and excited eyes. “EVI, designate another primary objective — information gathering and active study on the potential for scalable artificial gravity.” 

“Acknowledged, Cadet Booker.”

This discovery… could change everything.

If the principles behind this casual use of artificial gravity could be extracted or reverse-engineered, then we could be looking at a complete rewrite of space tech and industries as we knew it.

Gravitics, and by extension, the manipulation of gravity through artificial means wasn’t an immature field by any measure, in fact, it was at the heart of FTL and the key to its operation.

But it was not without its limitations.

First and foremost, was its energy-intensive nature. A fact which kept gravitics from reaching the heights of science fiction, namely, in its application to recreating earth-like gravity en masse. 

This was why spin-gravity was still king, even after all these years.

However, that wasn’t the only functional cap we faced with the current model of applied gravitics. 

Simply put, there existed a sort of diminishing return when it came to gravitics in its application in FTL. As the energy requirements needed to sustain a warp bubble through gravitic manipulation lost all sense of efficiency past 800c. With an exponential increase of energy required the further you attempted to push past that ‘sweet spot’. 

Sure, there were ships purpose-built to brute-force higher velocities using ludicrous amounts of power.

But those were exceedingly rare, and relegated to either experimental craft, or a few deep-exploratory and military roles.

Simply put, without a fundamental change in either the conventional model for warp-field generation, or an explosion in power-generation technology — the 800c ‘cap’ would remain.

That was, until today.

As an entirely new chapter in history could be written.

I was so lost in thought that the Vunerian had to physically kick me to pull me out of my reverie.

At which point, he crossed his arms, gesturing towards the skies. “We’re close, earthrealmer. So before we arrive, are there any questions you have regarding—”

“So how common are these things?” I practically blurted out.

“Abundant. At least as it pertains to the crownlands.” Ilunor responded warily, as if shocked by my sudden pique in interest. 

“Uses? What do you use them for? I’m only asking because you keep mentioning how portals have effectively cut the distance between spaces, so given how easy portals are to access—”

“The transportium network still necessitates vehicles to replace the backs of the beasts of burden, eathrealmer; barring of course direct point-to-point teleportation. I believe the town’s many bulk carriages are enough to go off by, no?” 

“Right, okay, what else?” I shot out even more excitedly.

“Personal yachts, pleasure cruises, arcane research and study, exploratory endeavors into the deep farlands, as well as martial applications to name a few.” The Vunerian responded, trying his best to keep up as my overactive imagination and burning desire for more kept the man backed up into a proverbial corner.

“And the means of generating artificial gravity utilizing magic. Just how common, easy, or accessible is—”

“Will you please save these questions for class, earthrealmer?!” The Vunerian managed out under a strained breath. “We’re very close to our destination, so will you please just focus on—”

“Okay okay… last question. You mentioned Aethra-Secundum and Aethra-Tertius as being something you observed in the natural world too, right?” I quickly asked, as hundreds more questions bombarded my brain. 

“Yes? What about it earthrealmer—”

“So is this how dragons are able to fly?!” I shot out excitedly, taking even Thacea and Thalmin by surprise. “Is this how magical creatures with questionable aerodynamics are capable of flight? By effectively circumventing the ‘constraints’ of conventional flight mechanics?” 

Excitement welled within me, prompting my curiosity and overactive imagination to take the driver’s seat if only for a moment. 

This… clearly wasn’t what Ilunor was expecting, which prompted Thacea to enter the fray, answering those questions on his behalf.

“Yes, Emma.” The princess began. “Indeed, this is how a large proportion of aetheronrealmers are capable of flight, as the principles of Aethra-Primum are insufficient in granting us this natural gift.” 

My eyes started to grow wide from all of these revelations hitting me all at once. 

This… indescribable magical feeling welled up inside of me, bringing out the child within me to the forefront if only for a moment.

“This makes sense.” I admitted with a sense of wonder. “You and the rest of the beings in the Nexus and Adjacent realms evolved with magic, it’d only make sense to make use of it on an innate level.” 

“A topic which has already been covered by Professor Vanavan’s first class, Cadet Emma Booker.” Ilunor chided with frustration. “That is, if you were even focusing in class — on the subject of magic use in mages and in beasts.” 

With a shrug and a sudden slowdown of the vessel, to the point where it looked as if we were truly defying gravity now, we ‘arrived’ at our destination.

“Behold, earthrrealmer.” The Vunerian gestured… at what just seemed to be yet more patches of dark skies hanging ominously above us.

“I’m afraid I’m not really seeing what you’re getting at here.” I offered with a cock of my head.

“Then perhaps this will help.” The Vunerian grinned widely, prompting the ship to begin turning sideways. 

Countless hours of training caused me to unlatch one of my rigging belts, instinctively reaching for one of the railings — as was expected from catastrophic failures of spin-gravity or unexpected deviations in high-velocity maneuvers in exo-atmospheric craft.

However, none of that happened.

Instead, our feet remained firmly ‘planted’ on the ship. 

Part of me wanted to chalk it off to the magical hologram simply pushing itself to unrealistic depictions of reality.

However, another part of me knew there was more to it than simple deception.

Because if Ilunor’s boastfulness has taught me anything so far, it’s that he doesn’t necessarily exaggerate as much as he believes what he’s showing is real.

“So… I’m assuming the reason why we haven’t fallen off yet is not just due to sight-seer shenanigans, but because the ship’s artificial gravity actually allows you to determine local directionality?”

“Yes, earthrealmer.” The Vunerian grinned widely once more, as we now moved closer sideways towards the so-called ‘tapestry limit’.

At which point, only about ten feet from the ‘limit’, did I notice it.

A vague, shadowy, almost wispy fog-like membrane covering what should have been even more endless expanses of night sky.

“What… the heck is that—”

“The grand tapestry, Cadet Emma Booker.” Ilunor proclaimed proudly and with a wide grin. 

Looking down, the endless expanse of land seemed to stretch out in every possible direction, though the farthest ‘edges’ of this seemingly endless expanse didn’t necessarily form a horizon, but instead a sort of foggy haziness.

I tried not to focus on that right now however, instead, fixating on this otherworldly alien membrane that coated the skies.

“Alright Ilunor, assuming the veracity of this sight-seer is solid, all you’ve proven is that there is something covering the skies.” I began. “This doesn’t answer my question of what lies beyond—”

The Vunerian snapped his fingers, as several ‘tears’ began appearing in the wispy membrane.

Soon enough, patches of light emerged, revealing what seemed to be an undulating… soup of pure whitish-yellowish matter. 

“Beyond the tapestry is the primavale —  a realm of incomprehensible fullness and energy. It is from the primavale that the farlands are consistently formed, and the cycle of Nexian expansion is maintained.”

Ilunor… had lost me at that point.

Or at least, my more grounded side.

Thankfully, I still had my suspension of disbelief, courtesy of my more imaginative side.

“Alright… the infinite Nexus theory is something to be touched upon later, so let’s focus on the skies here. If your worldview is right, then what you’re basically claiming here is that your ‘stars’ were once orbs of mana that were just… hanging around this physical tapestry? Like little lamps or spotlights?” 

“In a manner of speaking, yes, Cadet Emma Booker.” The Vunerian nodded pridefully.

“And so after your King defeated them and consumed them, you were left with just an empty ‘tapestry’, without those balls of mana?”

“Correct again, earthrealmer!” He smiled brightly.

“And now you’re saying that there’s this… ‘primavale’ behind the tapestry. And by this logic, you’re trying to claim that every other adjacent realm also functions the same way? With a ‘primavale’ behind the sky’s tapestry?”

“And with holes and imperfections in said tapestry allowing the light of the primavale to come through, yes! I knew you’d understand, earthrealmer.” Ilunor beamed brightly, standing tall and proud now. “Moreover, unlike the Nexus, adjacent realms simply do not have the ability to naturally gain access to the immaterium. This is why adjacent realms are finite in nature, whereas the Nexus is infinite. The night tapestry teases you with what you could have, but that which is impossible to gain.” 

The deluxe kobold had just about reached maximum ego saturation by this point, prompting him to finally ‘right’ the ship back to its upright configuration.

“So now do you understand, earthrealmer? Now do you comprehend exactly why it is impossible to have ‘reached’ said ‘stars’?”

“I mean—”

“They are merely tears in the fabric!” He interjected.

“Yeah, yeah… I understand Ilunor.” I began.

“I see you finally admit your submission to reason—”

“I understand why you believe this to be the case, at least.” I interjected, once more pulling the wind out of his sails. 

“Earthrealmer, please, be reasonable—”

“I’ll wait to cast judgement on the nature of the Nexus next time. I won’t jump to conclusions just yet, especially considering how you are in an entirely different realm of existence with different universal rules.” I finally admitted, the imaginative side of me willing to give him that much leeway, at least for now. “However, I expect the same sort of respect in return. Because by that same logic, not every adjacent realm is going to be operating using the natural laws of the Nexus. Now I can’t speak for all realms, but at least when it comes to my own, I can safely say that your natural laws simply do not apply.”

The Vunerian’s features dropped to one of frustration once more, as he yanked us out of the sight-seer abruptly, and back onto solid ground.  

“What you speak of is an impossibility which I cannot—”

“ENOUGH!” A loud growl suddenly drew both of our attentions out from our fighting as we both turned to its source — Thalmin.

“I apologize for my brashness, but we are getting nowhere with mere words.” He spoke sternly at Ilunor before turning towards me. “Emma, I am assuming you have evidence to support your claims?”

“Yeah, I do, actually.” I beamed out, garnering a nod from the lupinor and an anxious smile from the lupinor. 

“Then let us see it.” The wolf declared, prompting our move from the living room and into my dorm.

=====

Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30, Thacea and Emma’s Room. Local Time: 2300

Emma

It took only a few minutes to prime up the ZNK-19, with my ARMS once more carrying most of the grunt work in setting up the tarps and equipment necessary.

“If I were to entertain such a preposterous claim, earthrealmer, then we must address the proverbial dragon in the room.” Ilunor began with a skeptical breath.

“What is it, Ilunor?”

“It is clear we have reached a practical impasse. As discerned from our experiences in my sight-seer, you simply lack the means through which to confirm your assumptions.”

I let out a huge sigh, my ARMS stopping to accentuate my frustrations. “Go on?”

“Whilst you have demonstrated a surprisingly robust understanding of Aethra Primum, and indeed, your drones demonstrate your people’s ability to apply this understanding to an extent… I cannot help but to doubt your ability to extend this capability beyond mere toys and golems. This is because without magic, it is a physical impossibility to achieve manned beastless flight. As the only creatures capable of attaining flight utilizing the principles of Aethra Primum are small, ineffectual little things. With the largest of which comparable to your ‘mothership’ drone. Anything larger, or anything sizable enough to carry a person aloft requires magical intervention.”

“So… what I’m hearing here is you’re assuming a functional impasse with regards to the generation of thrust, right?” I started to grin widely, as my inner speed demon cackled within. “As in, you’re assuming that without magic, there wouldn’t be a comparable manaless means of generating enough power to get off the ground?”

“I am surprised that you would acknowledge your own folly, Cadet Emma Booker.” Ilunor nodded with a smirk. 

“And I’m surprised you’d be so brazen with your assumptions, Ilunor. Because my drones? They’re nothing compared to what I’m about to show you.” I paused, flicking on the ZNK-19, as its towers began whirring up.

“Our kind has been obsessed with reaching the skies for millennia. And where our lack of wings or mana has kept us from achieving it the easy way, we didn’t just pack our things and called it a day — no. Instead, we kept pushing, determined to do it the hard way.” I paused, as the scene around us slowly loaded up vector-line by vector-line, assembling together one of the most iconic scenes that started it all. “Because as my forebears say — in thrust we trust.”