Neophyte World Builder

CROWN

“You can come out now,” Cayla’s voice called out. Of course, Akasha and I had ways of knowing it was safe to leave the corridor, but out of politeness and respect for the aging dragon-vaskan, we waited until she told us it was clear. It cost us nothing and showed her a hint of our appreciation.

When we emerged, Cayla was already resting in her chair, though she didn’t look all that tired. She didn’t have an Elder Dragon’s body, but she was ancient and powerful… which meant she basically lived off the ambient magic as much as anything else. The increasingly high mana of the world nearing an expansion event allowed her to stay awake longer than normal.

“How is she doing?” I asked as I took a seat. Akasha draped herself in another chair, sprawled out easily thanks to wearing her usual elf form instead of the larger vaskan one. She had bodies for every major species now, but still preferred to be an elf if she had no reason to blend in.

Cayla chuckled and began pouring tea for everyone. “Confused. She seems frustrated that you have not given her any grand quest or anything. She says she’s not going to dance for you and will do what she wants.” The amusement was plain in Cayla’s eyes.

“I told her that in about every way I could,” Akasha groaned. “This lady friend of yours is really bad at listening to me, father. Are you sure she isn’t defective or something? All her attributes are normal for her levels but she isn’t making any sense. She should have unlocked [World Walker] years ago!”

I didn’t answer until I’d picked up the tea. “It’s a trait common to my old species. She’s especially confused because there’s a very common idea in her original life about people reincarnated to perform great deeds.”

“Truly, I wonder what you will do once I have passed on,” Cayla murmured in her dry voice. “My knowledge of what goes on outside the world is an accident. You were fortunate I did not spread any of the strange things I have learned. Are you truly satisfied with her abandoning her quest to reach the other side of the Barrier?”

To this, I shrugged and leaned back into the chair. “I never gave her that quest. She was just looking for something impressive to do… and that would be impressive. If she managed to connect the vaskan and elf or dwarf peoples, it would definitely move things along and help me. I think she really underestimates how much of an effect she’s having on the world around her, though.”

Cayla’s sigh was heavy. “They always do, don’t they? What finally triggered their new class, Akasha? If you can tell me.”

That was one reason I liked Cayla. She had been old even before my long sleep, but she had always been so reasonable and undemanding. She’d asked for a single thing and we’d given her everything we could related to it, and it had turned into something like a weird friendship.

Akasha rolled to her side and tucked an arm up to support herself. “I’m not sure. I tried to give it to her a while ago, but it didn’t stick. I think this is one of those mortal things where she had to be ready to get it or something like that.”

“You could have told her yourself, couldn’t you?” Cayla sighed, resting back in her chair. “In a little while, I’ll need to answer the questions her companions had. I wonder if they’ll continue on their journey without her or not? I don’t issue quests often, but I could do that for you, if you like.”

I shook my head and waved a hand in the air. “No, that’s fine. You can if you want, but the entire quest system was just a way to motivate people to do interesting things. This group is already pretty adventurous… and if you give them too much incentive, they might decide to try it even when they aren’t fully prepared, and they’ll end up getting themselves killed.”

“We also couldn’t appear to Nethys,” Akasha pointed out. “I tried that before, and she still thinks she has some big purpose. If we’d shown ourselves she’d have just assumed we were pressuring her into doing something and might have gotten more upset. Some people are just like that, I think.”

Cayla tapped her lip with the faintest smile. “I certainly can see that. One of the more unique personalities I have met over the centuries. She’s going to cause a lot of trouble here, I feel.”

“I expected as much,” I laughed, flashing a grin to the old dragon. “This sort of thing is probably going to happen any time someone comes in from another world. I don’t think I’ll do it again… but if I do, it’ll be for good reason. Really, she’s already done what I wanted, so I hope she figures out what she wants and can live a good life.”

It was then that Cayla leveled her eyes at me and tsked, “And you? Are you living your best life? You were gone for many normal lifetimes… I wasn’t sure that I would see you ever again. Akasha said that you were asleep.”

The question took me by surprise. It wasn’t that I’d never had someone ask me how I was doing… but Cayla was different. She was mortal, yet she knew the breadth of my existence. Unlike me, she’d lived through over fifteen hundred years on this world… although for a lot of it she had been sleeping. The moment she asked that, it felt like I was being interrogated.

The feeling was a little uncomfortable, with her doing it.

“I’m not sure that I’m alive in the sense that you are,” I replied. “I get what you’re asking, though, and truth is I’m not in a great spot. This is a job that doesn’t have any breaks, really. At least, none recently. I’m sure you’ve noticed how much of a mess everything is and the rising magic tide… I don’t want to take any time off until that’s resolved, even if I don’t have to actually do anything. It’s just a good idea to keep an eye on it.”

Akasha swished her tail for attention. “He also has other stuff to work on. Don’t worry, I have someone looking after him to make sure he isn’t going to work himself to death… or uh… fall asleep again. I’m not sure you can kill him without destroying the world and me too.”

I frowned. What Akasha said was technically true, but Orpheus and Pleiades both going missing said that there was something that could happen to Administrators that wasn’t death. Cayla didn’t need to know that, but it was another reminder of the many mysteries I had yet to figure out.

“I see,” Cayla murmured, folding her hands together while she watched me. “So Nethys need not worry about your desires, and you are addressing the magical energy abundance. It may be presumptuous of me to ask, but what of Valesfen and myself? I know that it is normal that our next lives will not have memories, but if we find one another again would we… be compatible in some way? I know some souls keep tendencies.”

The question drew out a laugh from me, and a snicker from Akasha. “You’re as loyal as Wanderer is flighty, woman! But… even if you don’t run into one another, you can still meet in the afterlife. I think you deserve that kind of answer. As for the one you asked… it’s possible. Souls do keep their personalities, mostly. It’s complicated, though. I can’t say it would happen every life because sometimes you’re just too far away, but perhaps. It’s good to spend some lives apart, I think.”

“Mmm…” Akasha sighed, her tail and ears drooping in an elven pout. “Reyth will be dying soon, but the time away should be easier this time. Maybe it’ll be shorter this time. A few octuries? I’ll ask her how many lives she wants before Muerve handles it.”

Cayla tilted her head. “Thank you, but your comparison is off. Wanderer is not flighty at all. He knows exactly what he wants in every life I’ve seen him, at least since he ceased being a dungeon. He is simply very… free with his affections, since he knows he is unlikely to see people for a long time. I hope he is still doing well, but the last time I saw him he was quite enthusiastic about life, even if he didn’t remember me.”

“I haven’t checked on him directly,” I admitted to her. “He’s Upside right now, but Nethys was a bigger concern because she was much more likely to cause an uproar, and I wanted to make sure she was adapting well for other reasons. I’m not certain how much time you have left, Cayla… but if you outlive him this time, I’ll make sure his next trip down he’s vaskan again. I’m not sure his personality would work well as…”

I trailed off at the idea I’d just given myself, but Cayla winced. Akasha started to giggle.

“We thought about it while you were asleep, father,” Akasha said as she stood up. “You just realized what a flying disaster he’d be as a dragon of some kind, didn’t you? You’re right, but he turned down the offer. He said it would mean he’d be in the world too long, and grow too strong. He likes to have more challenge in his lives.”

Leaning in toward me, Cayla showed much more concern than amusement. “That would be trouble, but I don’t understand why you think Nethys was a bigger concern. Wanderer always does something ridiculous, from what I have heard. Dungeons are rare in this age, but I can still speak to them when they appear. It was only a few centuries ago that he managed to turn a dungeon Upside into a training ground for his children before running off with them to raid trade routes.”

That did sound kind of insane, especially with the various species of Upside. That sounded more like a vaskan thing to do, not something an elf, rooken, or even the bugs would do. I winced as well.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “I guess with his vivaciousness he will have some wild adventures. I thought he might be slowed down this time because he’s genderless, but everyone else seems to think I’m being naive for some reason. I mostly noticed how he tried to court everyone.”

“Mmm, I doubt that has changed either,” Cayla chided. “Genderless or not, Wanderer loves people. He merely expresses it in a physical way, when he can. Last time he was here, he was involved in a throuple with a haptix and a vespar—one of the flying creatures from the colonies where the sun sleeps. Their relationship was intimate, but not in a physical manner. I hope.”

I felt the headache coming on and made a slight adjustment to my proxy to stave it off.

“I see,” I sighed as I rose to my feet. “I suppose that is a good thing, but he certainly sounds like he’s up to trouble. I suppose we’d best check on him more thoroughly next. He does have a way with people. And gods. Muerve seems to like him a lot for some reason.”

Cayla nodded, “Yes, that does not surprise me, considering their relationship. Muerve is the one god that I knew before he was selected.”

Both Akasha and Cayla must have noticed my confused expression, as both expressed mild amusement. Thankfully, my daughter cleared things up… and reminded me that I was still quite out of the loop.

“Muerve is a little embarrassed about it,” Akasha explained. “They remember most of their lives… and they’re the only god that ended up with Wanderer twice, and coincidentally both times they accidentally burnt down an entire town. You really shouldn’t underestimate that soul’s ability to get into trouble, father.”

I sighed.