The cleanup continues on without issue as lunchtime arrives, so we all gather up in the Carrier's dining room for our meal. Hihiriwa looks very chipper, so I guess the Lordsguard's performance was much better than just "alright."
"So, what were our losses?" I calmly ask as the servant lays out the appetizer, which is imperial oregano toast and dragonkin ham pâté, along with tasty elven berries.
The gray dragon-headed captain nods to his panda-headed XO, and the adorably furry man stands up as he clears his throat and then solemnly gives the report, "We've lost three Dragon-class airplanes, which is expected as the enemy was quite hard to hit with the [Fire Arrow]s they have for self-defense; we lost only one Eagle-class airplane, which were very effective overall against the enemy as they have [Beam] and [Discharge], which are the preferred weapons to use against small and nimble monsters; and we lost five Wasp airplanes, but they're easily replaceable, so the loss is minimal. All the wrecks still have to be recovered, but the Sky Landers assure us that they'll reappear above us in about an hour, so we have winged soldiers ready to spot them."
Urmeie listens closely, though I believe she's merely interested in the report rather than the man himself. Even though they're similar in body type, she hasn't shown much interest in men of the "bara" genre, and all the male prostitutes she's chosen were of visibly lower than average height and muscle mass.
"As for personnel, there were no deaths, and all pilots were rescued by the Celestial Horns, which the pilots are very grateful for," -he flashes Oritiki a smile, who gracefully smiles back- "but there were 'incapacitations' of spirit Chimeras, who would've died if they… weren't already dead, and they required a Spirit mage to rebuild their bodies before they could return to the battle." Then he takes a lighter tone. "Curiously, two incapacitations happened because the soldiers put themselves at risk to protect their living comrades. Their stories have already spread through the men, and plenty of spirit Chimera soldiers have come forth and volunteered to be used as 'hazard troops' that take on more dangerous jobs since they can't be killed as easily."
We knew this was going to happen. Our men are a bit too eager to fight for us, so we always have to be very careful about how we deal with them.
But Kaiia isn't done yet.
"As an addendum, the Chimeras that were incapacitated remarked that their bodies seemed more fragile than when they were alive. This is expected since their flesh is magical, and creating a perfect copy of their living bodies would be too costly for our Spirit mages, so I suggest we alter the [Solidify] spell to make a spirit's skin tougher as a way to compensate."
"Send the suggestion to High Officer Sainalai," Yunia promptly agrees.
"As you wish, Your Highness," he hums with a nod, and then the half-panda man finally sits down.
"So, no deaths?" Lily curiously asks out loud, warily eyeing the pâté.
"Against mere monsters? It would be shameful for the Lordsguard if any of them were to die," Yunia casually states as she serves herself some berries.
"Though the loss of an Eagle-class to Dragolites is regrettable," Kaatohe adds with a frown.
They may be hard to replace, but they're going to be retired once the Raki airplanes are done, so it doesn't hurt that much as long as we can recover the enchanted weapons.
"Did the Sky Landers have any losses?" Ciel kindly inquires as she attacks the toast.
And Kaiia answers once again, "They haven't shared their numbers with us yet, but we're expecting single digits since their airships didn't receive too much damage."
"The fortress is also almost fully clear, so our soldiers shouldn't even be getting wounded anymore," Hihiriwa happily adds, eating his berries with the pâté, but the Chimeras all have weird tastes, so whatever.
Since everything is fine, I eagerly move the conversation on, "So we should start focusing on getting past that tornado… though the real issue might be the teleportation…"
But Hihiriwa gives me a reminder, "The Carrier is stranded here without your Gift, Your Highness. I suggest that it should take priority."
"Right, of course. We can do that whenever you're ready," I hum back.
And he glances at his XO, who answers for him, "We'll soon begin recalling the assault squads and let the Sky Landers hold the fortress, so we should be ready within an hour or two after this meal."
After the toast, the steaming-hot plates are served. The food this time isn't particularly special since we're in the field, and getting luxurious ingredients isn't our highest priority right now, but it's still acceptable for someone of our station, which means it's a banquet for a commoner.
--
We gather once again in the tornado level (without Urmeie, as she'll only join us after we've made some actual progress), and I'm forced to summon six wind-Alissas to control the wind just so that we can at least hear each other speak, and we're pretty damn far from the tornado. The fact that the Horns got through that damn thing is just incredible.
"How are we going to do this? Where are we even supposed to go?" Lily promptly begins questioning.
"No idea," I confidently state.
"Great," she replies sarcastically.
And I nod. "Yes."
"We can start by having Chesa attempt to break the tornado," Alissa preemptively interrupts our silliness.
"Uh… that's way too big," the teen reflexively [Dodge]s.
"That's what she said," Samkelo and I hum in unison, and then we snort.
"That was a terrible one," Lily dryly grumbles.
"They're all terrible," Alissa agrees in the same tone.
"Focus on the matter at hand!" I immediately exclaim, afraid of the two joining forces against me.
But Lily smells my weakness, and she dryly hums as she narrows her eyes in suspicion at me, "Uh-huh."
But I quickly move on, "Anyway, we don't really have any other ideas besides going with Chesa."
The quiet girl turns her head to the tornado and makes a complicated expression. She doesn't seem to have any confidence that she can get through it, but we just want her to try.
"Let's also call the Horns and have them show us how they did it," Aoi surprisingly chimes in. Their magic may be a bit similar to hers, so she's become somewhat curious about their ways.
"Good idea," I hum and smile at my little big blue dragon.
--
Oritiki hovers still in the air in front of our airship (which hasn't been repaired yet) even though the wind is very strong at this distance from the tornado. Her large white wings are spread wide, and I can sense a type of Wind mana emanating from them. It "tastes" like something "orderly," and it feels like it's the opposite of the monster's "wild" and "angry" Electric mana.
Then she starts to slowly float closer to the dark wall of dust as she lectures, "It's like keeping yourself steady while someone constantly pushes you back. You have to constantly 'flex your muscles,' but with enough practice, you develop a sub-process that takes care of it."
"Easier said than done, especially that last part," Chesa replies and starts to anxiously play with the tips of her head-tail-hair.
"At least it isn't an obscure and abstract thing like that crystal orb puzzle we had to solve in the Great Labyrinth," Roxanne casually remarks with a wistful tone.
"A puzzle…?" Lily curiously inquires.
"Yes, literally," I hum back.
Then our succubus starts to excitedly narrate our bizarre adventure.
"Don't get distracted by her story," Aoi quietly advises Chesa, but Aoi isn't exactly quiet in her draconic form. "Have no fear; just do it."
Yes, yes!
The light-blue mer girl gives the blue dragon girl an odd look. Then she glances at me, but my attention is focused solely on Roxanne, and my [Acting] allows me to easily keep up my kind smile as I warmly watch my dear wife have fun.
"Alright…" Chesa finally hums with a sigh. Then she turns to the tornado and extends her arms toward it.
The conversation continues for a short while, but then Oritiki notices something first and turns, so the others notice her noticing something and also turn. The thing with Wind magic is that it's mostly invisible, so we can sense that she's doing something; we just can't see exactly what.
"This is going to take a while," she preemptively tempers our expectations.
So Hana turns to the horned Horns leader. "Can we get wings like yours… Commander Oritiki?" she asks, adding the last part in a hurry.
"I don't know if there are any Alteration mages skilled enough, but we could check," the female bull answers thoughtfully.
And I get an idea. "But what's needed to create your wings? With my Gift, we could possibly work something out."
"Oh, damn, you can turn into a master crafter in an instant, right?" Lily excitedly remarks with a smile, which is incredibly adorable on her loli face, and I realize that this alt-Lily doesn't smile too often.
But I quickly put those thoughts away as there's an opportunity to be corny that mustn't be missed. "Yep. It's time to give my chocolate angel her wings," I happily reply, and the angelic goddess in question pouts at my overflowing love for her.
--
Okay, so to make a pair of those wings, we basically have to pack them with Wind-attuned matter. But not just any Wind-attuned matter; it has to be the purest, the most windiest-windy-wind that ever winded. You need to understand [Wind Magic] on a philosophical level. It must be in your soul.
So yeah, totally easy… not.
Even for me, this feels like it'll be a challenge.
"Best I can do is a pair created with [Wind Magic] at thirty-one," I mumble wryly.
But of course, the meme goes over Oritiki's head, who promptly gives more advice, "There's a skill called [Wind Aspect] that we use to manipulate the wind. Maybe it could help you?"
"Hmm…" I raise an eyebrow in curiosity. I like that skill's name.
Alright, let's do this.
I put 30 points in it, which is about the most that I can manage without straining my soul. Then I stare at my hands as I try to access the abilities the skill is supposed to give me, and the result is…
Nothing.
I raise my head and flatly ask, "How do I actually use this?"
Oritiki glances at Paraaone, her bodyguard/XO, who tenses up awkwardly as he also has no idea how to explain it.
So the not-horn horned Horn leader scratches a horn thoughtfully as she deliberates, "It should be a natural sensation, like moving a limb…" -she suddenly claps her heavy hands in realization- "oh! For us, it's an innate skill. We gain it when we learn how to move our wings, so it'll be a different experience for someone who specifically trained for it."
So, she's useless…?
No, that's not fair. She just can't help me with it. I can only use system magic because I automatically gain spells with levels, but every other magic school, like [Weaverism], doesn't have that, so all that the skills give me is some muscle memory, but the problem now is how to access that muscle memory.
"Hmmmm…" I hum as I stare harder at my own hands.
Feeling a bit desperate, she turns to Paraaone and concernedly inquires, "Who has the highest [Wind Aspect] among us? Maybe they can give His Highness some guidance," she asks her XO.
"That'd be Kahuuran," Paraaone quietly replies.
--
A blue, goat-headed horn lands on the deck, and after some quick introductions and explanations, Kahuuran calmly offers his advice, "It's like casting a [Wind Magic] spell, but there's no spell. You just pray to the wind, and it answers."
Lovely. More vague or abstract shit.
Ciel holds back a frown as she promptly questions, "'Pray'? Perhaps you merely meant 'chant'?"
The blue goat tenses up slightly as he senses that he's treading on sensitive ground, so he tactfully replies, "I ask the wind, and it answers."
Ciel's concern lowers, but she still continues the questioning, "But the 'wind' isn't an entity, let alone a God that you can pray to."
Now he can't do anything but shrug. "I just know that it works."
Roxanne makes a colossal effort to summon her knowledge of magical theory and shares her thoughts, "I believe it's just that they've integrated the equivalent of a staff's gem into their bodies, letting them more easily manipulate the wind with just their 'Willpower.'"
"That sounds about right," Kahuuran agrees with a nod.
"Are there any Chimera mages in our Lordsguard who have an 'Aspect' skill of another element?" Alissa curiously inquires.
But Oritiki answers negatively, "It isn't very powerful in combat, so you won't find any smart soldiers wasting their soul potential on it. I believe crafters and servants would be more likely to have it as it offers lots of utility."
"And the crafters are all back home," my fox dejectedly adds.
"We could ask the Sky Landers to find one for us," Yunia suggests.
"But first, let's at least try 'praying,'" I interject.
The problem is, I hardly pray to the Gods; it's mostly just me talking and trying to negotiate with them, so I don't have much experience with that.
I'm not one to hesitate, though, so I just do it. "Oh wind, listen to my prayer. Come to me and gather around my hand," I ham it up just in case the "wind" is a mischievous nature spirit or something.
"Gih!" she denies having any relation to "it."
But then something actually fucking happens. I sense a breeze rustle my shirt, but the hide of my scaly hand is too thick to sense it, so I bring my claws closer to my face, and the breeze starts tickling my skin. A constant breeze.
"Okay, that worked…" I blurt out in surprise. I think I can sense some sort of "awareness" of the wind, similar to the way that you have "awareness" of a ranged spell, but much fainter.
Then Oritiki prudently states, "Didn't you say you 'put thirty points' in [Wind Aspect], Your Highness? That's… a lot, so it's to be expected that this would be easy for you."
"Huh…" I hum absentmindedly, then raise my head and point my hand to the tornado. "Oh wind, listen to my prayer. Open a path for our airship through this tornado."
"You don't have to say it out loud, Your Highness," Kahuuran quietly advises, making me feel just a bit embarrassed.
But then I let out a grunt of pain as a torrent of my mana bursts out of me and rushes towards the stormy cloud of dust.
"Wind! Stop, stop, stop!" I desperately beg as Alissa suddenly appears beside me to grab my shoulder in support, and the "wind" immediately disappears, allowing my mana to disperse everywhere. This gives the girls a very comforting sensation of "me" permeating through them, but almost everyone else seems to get a chill.
"That's a lot of mana," Samkelo quietly remarks in surprise.
"Yeah…" I groan in agreement. I lost about a third of my whole pool in just a second.
"What are you guys doing? I sense something odd in my storm," Chesa suddenly remarks and glances back.
"Just an experiment that didn't go well," Alissa annoyedly answers and pouts intensely at me.
"I apologize, Your Highness; I didn't expect this to happen," Oritiki politely states and lowers her head.
"No worries," I quietly answer and gently wave my hand at her, then I sigh as the pain starts to subside.
Then Roxanne suddenly comes to a realization, "I think the wings being so heavily attuned to the Wind makes [Wind Aspect] a lot cheaper to use, and that's why it tried to take so much mana out of you."
"Makes sense," I mumble through gritted teeth. If only I had thought of that, but hindsight is 20/20.
"But did it help you understand [Wind Magic]? That's the whole reason why you put points in this skill," Yunia wisely questions.
I think for a moment, but I can't give an answer yet. "I can't really say. I need to test it more, but I'll stick to small things."
"Please do," Alissa grumbles as she stares intensely at me, making me blush in embarrassment.
--
As I continue testing, we get the word that Hihiriwa is ready for me to take the Carrier back to Kini Kaina, so I take a quick hop over there, and when I return, I notice that Chesa has a small storm going already. She's about to test it against the tornado, and I don't want to distract her, so I return to my experiments.
"You know what? Elements don't make much sense," Samkelo suddenly comments, momentarily distracting me.
"What…?" Roxanne quacks confusedly at the boy-man.
And then he launches into a rant, "What's the difference between 'earth,' 'water,' and 'wind'? They're all made of the same atoms, so why are they considered 'different elements'? Also, how are you supposed to mix things like 'earth,' 'fire,' and 'electricity' in a way that creates all the other stuff? And where do 'light' and 'dark' fit in this equation? But what the fuck even is 'darkness'? It's just the absence of photons!"
I'm busy right now, so the golems help the girls understand what the fuck he's talking about.
Yes, this relates to the Tale of Creation, so Ciel's the one who has the proper education to answer him. It's a mildly interesting question, though, and it could also be useful for my experiment, so I listen to her speech.
"You're seeing 'fire' and 'earth' as completely separate things, but they aren't. Everything is made of mana, but mana can also gain 'characteristics' and 'behaviors.' These can be anything, from the ability to consume things through fire, to being able to fly and flow through the air, to affecting us mentally and inspiring us to be braver. Before the element of Fire became what it is, the concept of 'fire,' 'burning,' 'warmth,' and 'anger' literally didn't exist, so you can imagine what the other 'elements' represent.
"In the time before time, there existed an entity called 'Life,' which had ten phases, each governed by a nameless God. After the war between the Old Gods that created an infinite amount of 'Life,' and also Change's endless alterations, 'Life' became the 'mana' that created all matter in our Realm, and its phases became the ten base elements, also called the Cycle of Mana. But as you've pointed out, there's a lot of overlap between the elements, so the phases are mostly meaningless, except that the Cycle influences which element is the strongest on each day of the day-cycle, the 'week,' as you Earthlings call it."
"Also, this 'Life' is different from what we, elves, call 'Life," Yunia adds, though I'm not sure the Earthlings have ever heard of that elven concept before.
"What about those nameless Gods? What happened to them?" Samkelo curiously asks, and his innocence is so bright that, for the first time, he doesn't look like a disgusting and creepy uncle.
And the kind chocolate angel answers, "We don't know, but they might still exist as they governed over the Original Cycle of Life, and that one is known to be protected and unaltered."
I tune them out as they start to talk a bit more in-depth about it.
Then I suddenly feel like facepalming as I come to a realization. [Wind Aspect] is like becoming a wind elemental! It's so fucking obvious!
So I pick one of the wind-Alissas and order her to manipulate the wind as I have her share all of her senses with me. And now, I finally make some substantial progress in understanding this skill.
--
--
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