No Need For A Core?

“What do you mean by an encampment?” Gemeti asked as she walked with Amrydor.

“When Azeria was attacked last year, Kuiccihan decided that they needed to establish a permanent guard here. Um, I think that was after the second attack, because there had bee a small army that assaulted Azeria. Anyway, Kuiccihan set up their own encampment, which sort of worked out for everyone, because that also meant they could delve as sort of a shift. They've kept doing that, thought they rotate which soldiers are stationed here now.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. Easier to respond to an invasion if you are already there.” She knew a little about what had happened from what she’d been told during their visit to Artgoi, and more now from the rumors and stories she’d heard since. “So, what is your role here now? I wasn’t sure if you were going to be here or off training at your temple.”

“Er…” he coughed and she raised an eyebrow at how awkward Amrydor suddenly seemed. “Well, my job as Fuyuko’s protector has sort of been expanded upon. Um, you’ve heard of Kuiccihan’s marked? I am one now.” He held up a hand to show the back of it, which glowed briefly to show tattoo-like mark of a shield protecting a castle. “Only, there’s a special kind of Marked that gets a second one.” Now he showed the back of his other hand, which glowed with a shield design in front of a symbol that was clearly meant to represent Fuyuko. “Turns out that Fuyuko also counts as a princess of Kuiccihan, which is kind of weird, but it technically works. This whole set is a new variation of being marked, so no one knows exactly what to expect. Oh, and now I am a sort of half-contractor to the nexus, so I can switch between whether I am acting as a contractor or a delver, but I don’t get the full benefits of either role.”

After a moment of thinking, Gemeti said, “Your life is strange. I think I am going to be happy dipping in and out of it during my travels, but I don’t think I would like being involved in this level of craziness all the time.”

Amrydor laughed. “That’s a fair call; it’s rather crazy from my side as well. But some sort of craziness was always going to be part of the deal, I think. see, if you want to get really strong, you have to deal with things that really challenge you. Training can only get you so far. Sparring can get you farther if you are both pushing each other hard enough, but you have to be willing to get hurt and possibly hurt others in the process. Someplace like a nexus, where you can push yourself harder, is better, but I think they are all weird here, just in different and unique ways.”

“You’re not afraid they’ll object to you calling them weird?”

He shook his head with a grin. “Not at all; they’d all freely admit it, though some of them might have to think for a moment first. Ah, and there’s Fuyuko, though I don’t know who's with her.”

Gemeti, however, did recognize the man, though she didn’t know his name. “I think he’s some sort of entertainer. I’ve seen him practicing some dance moves using a weight on the end of a rope, and at night he likes to use a different weight that glows.”

“Weight on a rope?” Amry asked. “I think I know why they are here now, and if I am right, you saw flow practice for a weapon called a meteor hammer. Fuyuko is practically in love with that weapon, though she still likes bows more.”

Huh. She wouldn’t have thought it a very practical weapon, but as she and Amry got closer, she could see several dents and a rather worrying crack on the surface of the target that Fuyuko and the other guy were near. “Hi Fuyuko!” she said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything — I just wanted to see you before I made Amry show me around.”

Fuyuko shook her head. “No no, it’s fine; Kenzai was just showing me why he has so many heads for his meteor hammer. He’s practiced swapping them out really fast, so he can change them while fighting, and some of them are made for using alchemical stuff. Shizuko would like to see that, I think.”

Kenzai gave a small bow at the mention of his name, and Gemeti returned the greeting. “Nice to meet you Kenzai; I thought you were a performer when I saw you practicing before. I didn’t realize that it was a weapon.”

“It can be either weapon or art,” he replied calmly, “and I do enjoy demonstrating the performance aspects of it. However, the nexus seemed like an ideal opportunity to practice combat skills beyond sparring with a soft, lightweight head, but without risking truly hurting anyone.” He raised a finger in thought, then turned toward Fuyuko. “Ah, just to be sure, did I understand that aspect of a nexus correctly? Any injury done to the inhabitants is repaired by morning?”

“Yeah,” she said, “and it’s actually dawn and dusk for Azeria. It still hurts, but the instincts of the nexus-born are sort of different, and they don’t mind, so long as it’s all a part of what they are supposed to be doing for the nexus.”

“That is still going to be difficult for me to adjust to. While I have a lot of training and practice — often against people stronger and faster than me — I’ve never deliberately aimed to do serious injury before.”

Gemeti smiled at Kenzai’s comment. “Oh good, I’m not the only one who’s nervous about that. Um, I’ve been practicing my magic, and have had a little bit of training for self-defense so that I can try the combat path, but I don’t know how good I’ll be.”

Amrydor looked thoughtful. “We should see if we can get you evaluated by Kuni and Seon then. They are in charge of making sure people are ready to take the combat path. Kuni does martial skills; Seon does magic. There’s also Jiah, who can test things like hunting, gathering, and crafting skills, and Ubasti, who’s the religious expert.”

Fuyuko nodded. “That’s a good idea; I’ll make sure to let them know, but I think there’s a line to see them already for today. Um, but first, Gemeti, I wanted to ask you something. Er, privately, sorry.” She waved at Gemeti to follow her away from the two men.

When Fuyuko seemed to think they were far enough, she stopped and looked over at where Amrydor and Kenzai were chatting before turning back to Gemeti. “Um, so, I was hoping you could do me a favor, because it’s something I can’t do for myself, and I think you’ll like doing it too.”

“Well,” Gemeti said, “you’ve certainly got me curious. What do you need?”

“You know I can’t delve and earn rewards in Azeria, right? So, I was sort of hoping you could delve for me, and I could just pay you for the part of your delve rewards that I want. I still have some of the money Papa gave me when we were in Artgoi. And what I want to do is get something for Amry; his birthday is going to be a little after we get to Ekuilance. I had been thinking of a shield or maybe some better armor, but he kind of just got an upgrade to that, so maybe a weapon. Mama M or Papa could help figure out what’s best. You just gotta declare that you want to hold off on full rewards until later. Um, some things are automatic, especially on Mama K’s route, but the rest you can save up on.”

Oh. Well, certainly she didn’t mind the idea of earning some direct coin by trading in the value of her delving, assuming that the value was high enough, especially as it would be for a gift for Amry. “That seems fine, and yes, I’d like to contribute to that. Hmm. Well, I guess getting improvements to his gift for me can wait until the caravan comes back.” She pulled back a sleeve to show the smooth black material of the strange armor.

“Oh!” Fuyuko said with a smile. “That’s what he got you from his last delve. I knew he got you a present, but not what. He also got something else, but didn’t want to tell me what it was for some reason.”

Gemeti stared at Fuyuko for a moment. The answer to that mystery was obvious to her, but the other girl seemed oblivious to the idea that Amrydor was getting Fuyuko a present too. “Huh. Well, not my business either, I guess.” There was a small chance she was wrong, and Amry seemed to want to keep it a surprise anyway. “Anything else before we head back over?”

“Er, sort of. I don’t know what your plans are or anything, but I’d like you to stay with my family if you can. I can ask my parents to give you a room next to Amry’s, if you’d like.”

Gemeti was pretty certain she’d be spending her time in Amrydor’s room, not next to it, but she was willing to keep up appearances if that was easier. “That sounds good. Where do you guys live, anyway?”

Fuyuko pointed. “Up there. See that balcony at the top?”

“The giant crystal tree? Sort of? I see a bump that I think is what you mean. But you guys really live up there? How do you get up there?” That was a long way up.

“I usually just shadow-step up and down, but Amry usually uses one of the mushroom clouds, or has Krystraeliv transport him. My parents simply fly. Oh! Hold on, I should introduce you to Mavialeko and Krystraeliv. Well, Krystraeliv is the crystal tree, and Mavi is her dryad. Uh, and my niece.”

“That me!” A blue-skinned, green-haired girl called out as she appeared nearby, bringing with her the scent of fresh herbs. “Hi!” If not for the unusual coloration and fragrence, Gemeti would have thought the girl to be a kitsune, given the fox ears and tail.

“Oh! Um, hello Mavialeko. I’m Gemeti. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Mavi,” Fuyuko said, “Gemeti is a friend that Amry and I met when we were traveling, and I’d like it if Krystraeliv would let her ask to be moved places like our home. She’s going to be staying with us while the caravan is here.”

“Hmm, sure!” Mavi said, then turned her strange tawny eyes to Gemeti. “You’re not connected to the nexus, so you have to do it out loud. Anyplace you can see a part of Krystraeliv, you can just touch her and say her name, then tell her where you want to go. Um, if you really need to, you can also just shout for her almost anywhere. She can do stuff anywhere in the nexus, it’s just easier for her to notice people and do stuff if they are touching her.”

“Thank you,” Gemeti said. “I appreciate that.” Though she wasn’t sure if she wanted to ask the magic tree to whisk her off places.

“Mavi, why don’t you join us?” Fuyuko asked. “I just met someone from the caravan who’s really good with meteor hammers and he has a couple of neat tricks he can show us.”

The three of them went back over to Amrydor and Kenzai with Mavi running in front most of the way, then lagging behind looking shy once they had almost reached the interesting stranger. After Mavi and Kenzai were introduced to each other, Gemeti finally got to see the meteor hammer in action. It was surprisingly fast for Kenzai to keep striking with the weapon after each rebound, and it was much more dangerous-looking than when he’d been doing the dance-like practice she’d seen previously.

The demonstration also included his fast-swapping technique. It only took a few seconds, though it still seemed like a vulnerable time in the middle of a fight. Still, better than not having the option, she supposed.

Fuyuko was eager to try it out herself, and eventually they left her to her practice with Kenzai. This did mean that Mavi was now with Gemeti and Amrydor, but Gemeti didn’t mind too much. For one thing, the girl was cute and sweet, and for another, seeing Mavi riding on Amry’s shoulders was adorable.

As there was a long line of people waiting for evaluations, mostly from her caravan, Amrydor promised to get her in when there weren’t so many people in line, and in the meantime, was happy to give her a tour. Meanwhile, Mavi was happy to chatter about everything of interest to her while ignoring anything she didn’t find interesting. He even took them to what looked like an ordinary section of forested hillside, then guided Gemeti through a turn she wasn’t sure she could replicate while the hill seemed to briefly open up. This took them into someplace called the ‘warrens’, which was where a lot of the inhabitants lived.

A nervous thought skittered across her mind about being dragged off into a faerie hill, but she put that idea down by amusing herself with images of Amrydor being the fae lord she would be bound to serve in such a story. That wouldn’t be too hard of a ‘terrible fate’ to accommodate — though she would have also attempted to woo that imagined version of Amry into serving her instead.

That was a fantasy she intended to explore in more depth later. Right now, there were wondrous sights to behold, and despite her own mental tone with the phrase, she also meant it sincerely. There was an entire underground city with houses made of everything from stone to wood to giant mushrooms, complete with industrious workshops and pleasantly broken up by gardens and orchards filled with strange plants.

Then there were the creatures living in that city. Most were the smaller, fuzzy varieties of rabbit people, but there were also many other animal-like people of similar stature, as well as the ones who didn’t have bipedal forms, and a few who had taller, mostly furless forms. She had heard about the usagisune, but she hadn’t realized they’d all be so very pretty, men and women alike. It was a little distracting, but that was a thought to possibly explore some other time.

After a while of exploring, which included sampling some fruits and Amry taking her to a ‘shortcut’ that led directly into a giant library, Mavi announced that it was dinner time, and Amrydor nodded in agreement. “Yuyu said that her parents want to start getting dinner ready. You’re entirely a guest, so you get to just relax while the rest of us take care of everything.”

Gemeti shook her head. “Your whole mental communication thing is going to take some getting used to.”

“Oh, that’s not the weirdest thing you’re going to deal with here,” he said with a grin.

He proved true to his word before food was even served. First, there were the cloud mushrooms that carried them up to the balcony, high above the earth and metal zones. That ride made her more than a little nervous, but Amrydor distracted her with amusing stories of nervous delvers trying to decide between risking the clouds or taking one of the long slides down to the ground. She could see why that would be a hard choice to make!

Then there were the three baby dragons that swarmed her excitedly. She’d only briefly met Carnelian and Sparks before, and there hadn’t been much socialization with them, but now they seemed eager to get to know the new guest.

And finally, there was the rather daunting encounter with Fuyuko’s sister, Carmilla. The faerie woman was polite and pleasant enough, but Gemeti could feel that she was being evaluated and weighed in a strangely thorough manner. In a way, it reminded her of how her mother would look over jewelry and quickly make an accurate appraisal.

It did not help that once dinner was ready, she was seated on one side of Amrydor with Fuyuko on the other, while Carmilla and Mavi sat opposite to them. Carmilla was very good at asking ‘innocent’ questions that got Mavi curious, and it was very hard to deflect anything, especially with it being impossible for her to lie around anyone here other than Amry. It was clear that Carmilla was feeling very protective of her little sister, and just as clear that Mavi was oblivious to the idea that Gemeti might be more than Amrydor’s ‘friend.’

Making it through this dinner was going to be rough, though at least the food was delicious.

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Early chapters, some excerpts and short stories, and more art!