Ch. 2.3 | Spells, Gates, and Titles
PoV: Sanya
Sanya, Mai, and Of-Jinan got tossed through that strange place that wasn't a place. Deconstructed. Reconstructed. The usual that came with teleporting, either via Displacement or an Anchor.
They emerged onto an open field of grass, dirt, and sand. Little saplings grew a few paces away in spaced out bunches. In a handful of years there would be a tiny forest here, but a forest nonetheless.
In the distance westward, hills rolled into a mountain range, peaked by a hint of snow and saplings. The north rolled on into the horizon. The east went into vast canyons and hills.
Of-Jinan shuddered. “I'll never get used to that.”
Sanya just shrugged. It seemed that either through all her uses or because she was a Spatial mage, she resisted the effect a bit. Of-Jinan was neither a Spatial mage nor used to being teleported around. She had maybe a dozen or so teleports to her name.
Mai grinned like a weirdo. She enjoyed it.
Anyway, off to the side sat a road of stones lined along the ground, leading up to a short stone wall in the distance to the south. It stood maybe three meters high—it wasn't impressive by any means. Sanya could see the thatched and shingled rooftops and stone walls of buildings beyond it.
“I thought Speleothem was underground,” Of-Jinan blinked.
“It is,” Sanya replied flatly. “This is the above portion. After the tempest dissolved."
In front of the walls, small shacks dotted open fields being cultivated. There was a windmill here, and another there, granaries sitting squat beside them.
The occasional wagon rolled down the road, either to or from Speleothem.
“I was kind of hoping your Anchor would be in the city, underground. Now we have no excuse to actually visit. Emergentia is northeast,” Of-Jinan complained, frowning.
“You can still visit if you want,” Sanya turned to face northeast, pointing her staff towards herself. “I'm heading out. [Organic Displ—]”
“Wait!” Mai cried. “Just a few hours diversion! It won't hurt.”
“Actually, it will. There's a murderous vampire or something out there. Every hour we wait is—”
“It's daytime. Vampires don't go out during the day.”
Sanya grit her teeth. “We don't know that. [Organic—]”
“Skirts! Think about the skirts, Sanya! What kind of styles do you think Speleans have?”
Sanya turned and glared at Mai. There was a murderous girl-turned monster on the loose out there, yet Mai and Of-Jinan wanted to be tourists and go shopping? Mai was trying to tempt Sanya from saving lives by playing dress-up?
And it was working? . . . Maybe?
Mai took Sanya's hesitation to further her attempt to convince Sanya. “We can look for thigh high socks too! And a cute top to go with it all. How about a cardigan around it too. We can go crazy with cavern-dweller fashion!”
Sanya held Mai's gaze. She was grinning like mad, she even brought out a subtle puppy-eye look.
There might be an issue finding clothes for Sanya's size. Custom-tailored? Expensive . . . They could afford it, though. Not that she wanted someone taking her measurements.
Weren't cavern-dwellers taller on average than surface folk?
Hmm.
Sanya sighed. “Fine. We leave for Emergentia tomorrow. First light.”
How would they know what first light was in a cave? Um . . . That was a problem for waking up.
Mai cheered.
Of-Jinan chuckled, shaking her head.
Sanya had half the mind to cast [Organic Consumption] on top of Of-Jinan. Although, she was kind-of Sanya's boss.
☆ ☆ ☆
The three of them fell into line before the city's gate. Or, um, an opening in the wall, cut through by the road. Four guards flanked it, checking people as they passed through. They ignored those that left, a stark difference to Glorestra before the tempest fell. Sanya had dismissed her staff.
The people in front got through rather quickly, it was soon the turn for Sanya's group.
All of the people—those entering, and the guards—were all pale. Almost a translucent pale.
“Surface-dwellers? Not merchants. Mages?” A guard asked, stepping up to them. “Business?” A feminine guard! That was unheard of in Glorestra.
“Tourism,” Mai sang. At least she was honest.
“Identification?”
Of-Jinan dug something from her satchel and handed it to the guard, before Sanya or Mai could do anything. Was Of-Jinan in her own personal time bubble? Seriously? Maybe she was just quick with reaction time and processing.
Sanya couldn't say she was the same.
The guard blinked. “Is this supposed to mean something?”
Mai giggled. Sanya and Mai expected that. The insignia wouldn't hold the same weight in cavern-dweller-dominant cities. It does nothing to say “we personally have vouched for this individual.”
Of-Jinan gaped.
“[Pocket Repository]” Mai cast. She grabbed a piece of paper from it and handed it to the guard. It was just a passport, essentially. Sanya and Mai had each gotten one a month or so back.
The guard blinked, watching reality rip into a black tear, freezing up for a moment before regaining her composure. Sanya had to give a point to this guard for recovering so quickly.
She handed back the guildmaster insignia to Of-Jinan and took Mai's paper.
“Alright,” the guard said. “Behave.” She glared at Of-Jinan while saying that.
She handed back the paper to Mai and stepped aside. Mai replaced the paper into her [Pocket Repository]. She wouldn't stop grinning.
Sanya and the group continued forward, into the city.
The aboveground city was divided into a plus-shape of large streets. Smaller ones curved between the sections of buildings like rings.
Southward, the street ended up in a short mountain, the massive mouth to Speleothem proper was down that way.
The group continued straight southward, towards Speleothem proper. The aboveground portion contained maybe a hundred buildings. There were mostly houses, then various shops. They didn't have a cathedral to Heliux or anything above. These people worshipped Diuskel, and built places of worship in the caverns. Faith for Diuskel was stronger here, as it let livelihoods continue in the caves, where Heliux had failed aboveground. Glorestra had probably been the biggest believer of Heliux after the tempest spawned a hundred and seventy years ago. None a hundred-seventy-one yet. They had about a month left.
Each building had gray stone walls placed like bricks. Then slanted roofs of either thatch or slate shingles. Most buildings were one story, though sometimes they stood buttressed and soared an extra story into the air.
There wasn't really anything to see above.
The streets were not too busy. The aboveground was not very large, and not much business was to be had. The few people around Sanya and the two either hurried or stopped to gape, sometimes there were hushed tones. Mage robes tended to do that, they weren't a thing in cavern folk settlements—the robes, not the mages. The witch hat was a silly choice, but nothing worth those movements or whispers.
Most everything involved the city proper beneath the ground. Sanya and the other two crossed the city in only a handful of minutes. The ground began to sink as the mountain loomed overhead. Eventually, they made it to grand metal doors standing tall, easily eight meters tall at their peak. They sloped downward less than a meter to their hinged edges.
The doors were currently open. Here, half a dozen guards flanked either side, adding up to twelve whole guards just for the entrance to the city proper . . . the undercity?
The line stretched on for some individuals longer than the entrance to the aboveground portion of the city. The guards spent more time with each group or individual as well.
“[Pocket Repository],” Mai cast, retrieving the paper again.
Some people stopped to stare as the black fissure opened up in the air. Mai retrieved the paper document and the spell dissolved.
She could have kept the document out since the previous entry. She could have waited for when it was their turn to be under scrutiny to use the spell—for awe and intimidation.
Soon it became Sanya's and the other two's turn to be interrogated. Mai led the group with the document.
Without any words exchanged, she handed it to the guard on duty, actively checking the people and not just a showpiece of stability and power.
“And the other two?” The guard asked.
Sanya frowned. She had hoped that Mai's document would be enough for the whole party.
Of-Jinan looked back at Sanya, concerned. She did not have her own document yet. She only had her guildmaster insignia, which was enough for the civilizations around Calderae.
This place was not near Calderae, and not surface-folk.
“[Pocket Repository],” Sanya cast. She retrieved her own document.
Black spider-web fracture in reality still in the air beside Sanya, she handed the document to the guard.
The guard blinked, then looked at Sanya, then gaped.
Sanya sighed.
“You're good to go,” the guard said flatly. He did great on the composure too. Nice job, Speleothem!
The guard stepped back and allowed the three of them to enter Speleothem proper.
Sanya replaced her document and recalled her Repository.
Out of earshot, and darkness of the cavern swallowing them up, Of-Jinan spoke up in a hushed tone. “What was that? Mai's wasn't enough, but yours allowed us to skip my identification?”
Sanya nodded. “We should always use mine first, but I don't like to. Mine holds more weight than Mai's. A lot more, unfortunately.”
“Yeah!” Mai exclaimed. “But you see their reactions. It gets old. Uncomfortable. Inconvenient. Mine should have been enough anyway.”
“The guildmaster insignia is worthless here, but someone under its employ—?”
“That's where you're wrong. While you're here, get the proper documentation. Yours will hold a lot of weight too,” Sanya said.
“I see.”
“It's about their terms. Not yours.”
Of-Jinan nodded. “I thought you said you don't have a reputation here.”
“I don't,” Sanya said. “The document does, but no one realizes the document is attached to me.”
“How does that work?”
“She saved Subturrier from utter destruction!” Mai said, far too enthusiastic.
“Shh!” Sanya shushed.
Heads turned.
“How did she do that?” Of-Jinan asked.
“An Abyss portal had materialized in the city proper. A massive wolf monster had emerged, taking down an entire city center. Almost killed the queen.”
“Wow. Inside the city?”
“Yep! Sanya sensed it with the passive [Spatial Sense], teleported into the city, and instantly killed the thing!"
“Instantly?”
“Instantly! That's not the only thing she's done either, just the flashiest! She has a list of other exploits!”
“Like wha—”
“For another time.”
“I'm surprised you don't know about them, Of-Jinan,” Sanya said. “You're my boss.”
“You can use ‘Aisha.’”
Mai giggled. “You know, even though Sanya had killed the thing. They were pretty upset that she had entered the city without authorization.”
Of-Jinan just snorted—errr, Aisha.
The deeper they got, the more llumifruits hung from the ceiling and fought back the darkness. Soon, it was like they had their own sun down here, illuminating the caves. Enough light was present for plants to grow out of the major pathways.
Building facades started to show along the cavern walls—doors, windows, even little overhangs like the edge of a slanted roof, before melding with the rough and bubbly walls.
Soon, choices were offered as to where to go, the road opening up into others, snaking or branching away.
Of-Jinan—Aisha, Sanya wasn't going to get used to that—took a moment to stare in awe before they continued on. Should Sanya really be on a first-name basis with a woman eleven years her senior and also her boss?
Was Aisha eleven years Sanya's senior or nine now? Did she age at all anymore, considering that she was dead? Did it matter to count up her years any longer?
The three of them crossed the intersection and headed forward still. This pathway descended further into the ground.
“Woah,” Aisha stopped just short of the railing.
The cavern road emerged into a massive chamber, like, it could almost fit the entirety of (old) Glorestra inside of it.
To their immediate sides, switch-back pathways led down to the base of the cavern. The railing here overlooked it.
Buildings were carved into the cavern walls at various tiers, pathways and steps snaked around to get to these different heights.
The very base of the cavern held its own streets of the more important buildings.
Up above, stalactites pointed downward, ancient build-ups of minerals dripping down from the cavern. From a time when water was common, a forgotten relic that has since re-emerged—rain and lakes.
Large strands of llumifruits wound around the stalactites and otherwise clung to the cavern ceiling, glowing brightly.
That light far above wasn't enough—down, the streets had their own strings of llumifruits along the tops of building walls and glowing on the ends of metal posts as street lights.
A river ran through the city, fueled by new rains and whatever else. Walkways and bridges made crossings over the river as it meandered along the cavern floor, around and through streets and buildings alike.
It gave Sanya a headache to look at (okay, it was kind-of cool . . . she guessed?). Ah, whatever, she wasn't going to admit it, not even to herself.
“Even seeing it a second time,” Mai said. “It's amazing."
Aisha stepped up to the stone railing, putting her palms against its top. “This has been here this whole time? We've been living with this fifty kilometers away?”
“Yes,” Sanya said.
“Breathtaking,” Aisha whispered.
“Let's not dawdle, we have things to do—like make you legal, The Borrowed Time.”
Aisha turned and glared at Sanya. “You just had to go and ruin it, didn't you?”
Sanya responded with a mischievous smile.
“At least you have a metal title!” Aisha cried. “Own it!”
“At least you two have titles!” Mai burst. “I'm constantly in the Voidwitch's shadow!”