"Here's an idea, how about we be honest with each other," Barda said as he eyed the pretty woman beside him. They were both overlooking the city from the Deck, in a rare moment when both were free.
Lady Arnea had been prodding away at Barda for the entire climb, and now that they were on the deck, Barda decided to come up with a different tact.
"I will be honest with you as soon as you start answering my questions." She retorted.
"What do you want to know?" Barda asked.
"Where did you come from?"Lady Arnea asked for what felt like the umpteenth time.
Barda sighed and asked her, "What if I told you that you couldn't understand?"
"Try me," Her ears suddenly perked. This was a different response, maybe her pestering had worked and she had worn him down.
Different tact indeed. Barda stripped his top and took out a dagger.
[Power Output increased to 25%.]
He knew he couldn't injure himself with any lesser power. After that, he plunged the dagger into his chest, but the dagger only went half an inch in. Next, he pushed the dagger downwards, leaving a washing wound that extended an entire foot over his abdomen.
The moment he took out his dagger, the wound was already healing. Soon after, it was completely healed leaving no scar behind. No sign that any of this had happened.
"So fast," Lady Arnea muttered.
"No, I was intentionally slowing it down," Barda said. He then repeated the motion, only this time, there was no ghastly wound. The moment the dagger moved, the injured area was already healed with no scar left. Lady Arnea had to confirm the knife was plunged in.
"Now it's your turn," Barda said as he had handed her the blade. At first, she was hesitant, careful not to injure him to deeply. Something happened, when she struck, she found that she couldn't push beyond his skin.
Next thrust she used more strength, but even at full strength she couldn't break his skin, much less injure him. She was more than shocked. Frustrated, she even went for the eye, which made Barda duck.
"So you do have a weakness?" She asked, delighted.
"Who thinks to stab someone in the eye?" Barda protested. Probably it would have held but he decided to give her a win.
"What does this mean? What are you?" Lady Maara asked.
"For reasons that I cannot explain, I am unable to answer most of your questions. The best I can tell you truthfully is this, I am an advanced being sent here as a herald of war."
"You have come to bring war?"
"No, war is coming to this world regardless. I am here so that I can give this world a chance at surviving," With all his capabilities, coming up with a crazy story like that to a magic practitioner did not seem like such a long tale.
Barda had been very impressed by Lady Arnea's abilities to track pieces of the pod that landed. While he had little need for any of the parts in her possession, the fact that she had been able to acquire the pieces he had deemed as lost was quite a feat.
He had 2 theories about her. The first being that she was a very powerful mage playing the role of a weaker mage to learn about him. This did not hold much water but it was still a consideration.
The one Barda believed was that she was part of a powerful magical organization with very deep roots and ties. Barda considered the mysterious energy signature could be a person, but he quickly ruled out that idea.
The bottom line was, she seemed to command resources that could prove beneficial to Barda in the long run. Why not have her as an ally.
"What sort of war?" Lady Arnea asked.
"With a simple weapon that I made from the local smiths, I was able to take back the city of Tristan and send their rivals running. This kind of weapon is obsolete in the eyes of the enemies that have set themselves against you."
Barda's meaning was clear. Against the purported enemies, they stood no chance.
"Why would you help us?" Something about this whole story did not feel right. No one just comes to help. If they were insignificant, then why assist.
"The full truth is, you are not the target of their approach. You are just in their path," Barda edited his version, trying hard to think up a story that would convince her, and any organization backing her, of the truth.
"Let me guess, they are targeting your world?" Barda gave her a look. "maybe they don't have any quarrel with our world. They would just pass by without a second look." She continued to extrapolate.
"Traveling across worlds is like traveling across a desert. It is desolate and empty, so you plan your route with potential resupply points in place. Yours is a young mortal world, as delicious and as beckoning as an oasis in the desert. They would not pass it even if it was not part of the plan."
"Furthermore, your world lies on the edge of our territory. Technically speaking, attacking you is a provocation at our civilization." Barda added that last part.
"You are one man, against an enemy. Answer me this, what exactly is your mission," Barda could see the wheels turning in Lady Arnea's head. He understood what she was asking, but she wanted to hear it from him, so he decided to play the part.
With a sigh, he said, "There wasn't much hope in stopping their advance. Hopefully, they might not come. Since others like me have been sent to other worlds, they could stop them before they get here, or whittle them down some."
"How long until the armies arrive?" Lady Arnea had understood everything. It pissed her to no end that her world would be caught in some struggle that did not concern them. Looking at Barda, she understood that he was here to slow down the enemy, no much hope at winning.
"Hard to tell, approximately 200 to 400 years from now," This caught Lady Arnea off-guard.
"We will be long dead by then," she exclaimed, joy returning to her face.
"Yes, in 200 to 400 years, the fifth or sixth generation from now, will be at their peak. Whatever families you will have formed and the legacies you left will be all that remains of you, but I will still be alive, barely aged a day. So will the enemies coming to attack."
"You may not live that long, but don't you want your world to endure through the ages?"
"How much of this is true?"
"Everything I have told you is completely true. How much you believe is up to you," Barda remarked, "Now as per the agreement, tell me who you are."
***
As Barda and Lady Arnea were conversing, they had no idea the turmoil their conversation had caused in the entire world.
Barda did not know this, but this world had several hidden powers lurking, and Barda had been an unknown for far too long. Many powers had set up various magical ways of tracking Barda from the moment he crashed into the world. However, since it had been latched onto him from the start, Barda did not sense anything off about the magic surrounding him. Moreover, he was very inexperienced in magic.
Now listening to his tale, many conversations were sparking in hidden magical realms. There was a chance that Barda was lying, but if he was telling the truth, then the ramifications would be disastrous.
However, the level of scrutiny on Barda went above planetary forces. Currently, 2 beings were looking at Barda hard in thought.
"Why would the machine disclose its purpose this early," One asked.
"I am not sure it knows that that is its purpose yet. It could be thinking it is an imagined tale or a cover story written to hoodwink the locals, but it will work with that directive in mind,"
"Are you telling me that it does not know its origin?"
"All this is speculation, but many of the inventions discovered from the Kaloraat Dynasty have complicated origin stories. This one should be no different," The other being said.
The 2 were not communicating with sound, nor were they physical. They didn't take any shape at all, and they communicated through electric signals.
"What do we do now brother."
"We keep watch and report. Keep watch over the machine and ensure it does not malfunction, but anyway, they never do."