Jjhutto_Son of Flame
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B3. Ch. 18 A Bird in the Hand
🕑 Added 2024-07-08 21:10:20 +0000 UTCTilly gasped as his Mana once again bottomed out. His head was splitting, yet no matter how hard he tried to channel flame into the gem fragment, nothing happened. He had emptied his well two or three times at this point, determined to produce enough heat to help grow the gem back to the egg-like size he remembered when he first got it, but no matter what he tried, the fragment didn’t seem to be able to absorb any of the heat.
It was so frustrating.
After days of nothing, he finally had a way forward, but it had turned out to be just another wall. Since that first glimmer of a response, he had been unable to establish any sort of connection with the gem. He had begun to worry that his experience with the gem had only been his imagination.
“Gah!” He shouted in frustration, his Mana Exhaustion headache only deepening at the increased tension in his neck and shoulders. He squeezed the fragment in his fist, willing something, anything to happen.
Unfortunately, besides a dull pressure on his incredibly tough skin, he still felt nothing.
With a sign of resignation, he lifted the gem up to his eye line and spoke to it, as much in stubbornness as any sort of confidence, “I don't know if you can hear me girl, but I’m bringing you back. No matter what. I think I have another plan, but it will have to wait till tomorrow. Hold on just a little bit longer.”
As he finished, he felt a slight shifting in the inside left chest of his jacket, and he lifted the collar in confusion to find a small pocket had been added on the inside of the primitive fur and leather armor.
“...Uh, thanks, buddy. That actually means a lot right now.” Tilly grumbled, bemused at the gesture. Nonetheless, he slipped the fragment into the pocket, hidden away from the world, resting on his chest right above his heart.
With that, Tilly decided to head back into the city and find some food, while he nursed his pounding headache. The sun was just hitting the trees over the far horizon and he had a few more hours of daylight left. He needed a distraction to pass the time until daybreak tomorrow, and he doubted he could make himself sleep early, to get the full-day refresh active any sooner than daybreak.
Tilly headed back to the wall, climbing the temporary ladder step up for individuals with no cargo, and moved through the camp without stopping with a listless expression scrolled on his face. Maybe it was the Mana Exhaustion or just the fact that he had put himself through low-grade torture earlier today, but his mind felt like mush, and the fact that he wouldn’t be able to try anything else for Kindle until tomorrow morning, just added to his apathy.
Soon the familiar business-like bustle of a booming city surrounded Tilly and he let the shouts of merchants and the sound of almost constant construction wash over him. Despite the business of the street traffic, Tilly was once again impressed at the cleanliness and order that persisted even amidst the frenzied period of growth and investment the city was experiencing.
He stopped by a stall in one of the wide courtyards that housed open-air merchants near the parade ground gate. An old satyr was selling grilled meat on a stick, covered in a dark tangy sauce and the smell was intoxicating. A thunderous grumble reminded Tilly that he had not eaten since breakfast and without thinking, Tilly walked up and gestured for three of them. As soon as the merchant moved to comply, Tilly realized that he had no clue how to pay or even access his Contribution Points…
The stall owner smiled at Tilly's hesitance and pushed the sticks into his hand anyway.
“Uh, Thanks! These look great, but, uh… how do I pay you?” Tilly asked, trying not to drool as the still sizzling grilled meat hovered his nose.
“For you, Human? No charge!” The stall owner smiled, pushing Tilly’s hand, now holding the meat toward his body.
“No man, I have money, let me pay you.” Tilly insisted, now uncomfortable as he wished he had a wallet or some sort of currency to brandish, emphasizing his point.
“Please take it! My daughter was on the wall when you returned and released Fire from the mountain, blessing us all. She says they were about to be overwhelmed… This is a small thing, let me show my appreciation.” The man insisted in turn, lifting his hands in a refusal to take the meat back from Tilly.
Tilly opened his mouth to push the issue further, not at all comfortable with the growing heroic sentiment he was beginning to experience around the city, but the stall merchant shrugged in a carefree manner, his smile only growing, “Please friend, after you take it, I will be telling every potential customer that Icharus’ Grilled Delights are your favorite food item in the city. My business will triple. Do not worry about me, and accept my thanks!” He said, almost laughing at Tilly’s discomfort.
“Alright… But seriously, if I did want to pay for these, how would I?”
The merchant pulled out a rune-inscribed stone tablet the table next to his grill, and waved it at him, “It is very simple, friend. You tap this each time you buy something from me, and the transaction is logged at the Exchange. Others have more complicated wears, so they had to spring for the more expensive Recorder, but little old Icharus only has one delightful product for sale.” He finished with a wink.
‘It's like a fantasy card reader hooked up to my Contribution Point total. That’s… awesome.’
“Thanks, Icarus. You can go ahead and tell everyone these are, in fact, my favorite.” Tilly exclaimed, taking a searing bite of the meat on the end of one of the sticks. The skin broke with a crispy crackle and released a flood of savory juices into his mouth as he chewed through the tender bite, his eyes widening in shock.
“Delightful! I know!” The stall owner laughed, turning to wave over the another prospective customer. Tilly took that as a dismissal, and moved on from the stall, smiling as he overheard the satyr begin calling into the crowd, “You saw him! Come try the tasty treat that our Human can’t get enough of! He didn’t leave with less than three, how many will you enjoy this evening!”
Tilly moved through the market, down a street that he knew would lead him toward the center of the city. This area had undergone the most construction in recent weeks. The one and two-story buildings that reminded him of Feudal Japan had been replaced by huge stone block buildings that were reminiscent of the construction style used to build the wall.
It seemed like the higher-end shops and services were all investing in this area, as the heart of the growing Alliance. Tilly noted that his little shack was actually only a few blocks from the new city center, and the same was true of Hiro and Ichiro’s manor. He wasn’t even sure if he owned the little building or not, but if he did, the property value had probably skyrocketed over the last month.
Tilly let his mind wander as he kept an easy pace, watching the people who filled the streets with a calm, unrushed eye. He wasn’t on his way to fight some battle or begin another grueling training session. Instead, for perhaps the first time in his new life, he was able to enjoy the breeze and just watch as people went about their lives in this new magical world.
The flow of people was mainly made up of the three founding races of the Faction. But there were more than a few minority races moving through the streets pursuing their own errands or business. After the recent battle, there was an air of determination and grit that seemed to characterize a lot of the faces he was seeing in the city.
This world was brutal, and it had punched him in the gut the moment he had stepped foot on the plane. He had moved from conflict to conflict in a rush to survive or do his best to protect those who could not protect himself. But now, as he walked through the crowds of people he was fighting for, he began to feel grounded in his role. A sense of pride began to well up in Tilly’s chest. It had been messy every step of the way, but he had fought and bled to help establish something like this, and the evidence of the Faction’s thriving encouraged him on a deep level. On some level, even near the end, he had loved being a firefighter. Serving people and taking up the mantle of a role model in his culture was what attracted him to the career in the first place.
He still didn’t like when some of the lapins would offer him small bows, or others would gesture at him like he was a roadside attraction, but in the end, he was happy that he had fought so hard for these people. The Alliance was not “fair” by his modern American standards. But it seemed like everyone who wanted work had it, and no one seemed to be starving. He knew the situation out in the camps was less idyllic than here in the city center, but he also saw just as many satyrs here as lapins. By nature of their position, the lapins had entered into the Alliance with an economic advantage, but Tilly had not detected any sort of malice in the hardworking people. It was almost as if their racial pride insulated them against the sort of petty hatred that could so easily emerge against those who had once oppressed them.
Plus, escaping the capital together and then fighting a war so soon after the establishment of the Alliance had done something for the people that decades of equality never could. The streets were filled with people of many races who had survived blow after blow, and those who had bled to be here didn’t seem like the type to waste the chance.
Before he knew it, he was standing in front of a new building in a square that had been completely cleared near a couple of blocks from teh teleport platform. He looked up at the workers and almost dropped his remaining meat stick in shock. The large granite blocks were being set by hand in an arched opening that dominated the front face of the building. The workers building the edifice seemed to be moving at three times normal speed. Even the stone carver near the entrance was hammering through an impressively large block of granite veined with dragon glass at an insane speed. His blows sounded like machine gun fire and under the motions, a fiery sun was rapidly taking shape.
“If you think our builders are fast, wait until you see the Commerce Guild building,”
Tilly turned to find Mateus approaching from around a newly arrived wagon filled with building supplies. He finished checking off a list in his hands and then handed the paper to the driver,
“They just broke ground an hour ago, but I would bet that you will have an Epic class building by the end of the day tomorrow, and with them establishing a presence so soon, an auction house is sure to be close behind.” Then turning to Tilly with a knowing smile, he continued, “How else would a young Faction spend all of its hard-earned Standard Gold?” He asked with a wink, before returning his gaze to the Temple that would soon be his charge.
“Just when I think this whole magic thing is getting old, I see something like this…” Tilly replied following the Temple Steward’s look toward the building being raised at a supernatural pace.
“Honestly, I think the build team is just happy to have a new assignment. They haven’t left the island in months, and between you and me,” He said, leaning conspiratorially toward Tilly and speaking through the side of his mouth, “Dwarves and the other builder types are not the best at sitting on their hands, especially when the whole plane seems to be collapsing. It's good to see them back in their element.” He finished, his eyes going distant as he watched the crew work.
“How are you liking the Three-Fold Alliance so far?”
“It’s… hopeful. It has been a long time since I have visited a Faction this young. Part of my training occurred in a temple outpost of a new nation of Sand Elves that had risen to power after discovering some powerful artifacts in the ruins of the deep desert. They were a private people, who ended their nomadic lifestyle to establish a base of power at the edge of the desert and trade in its treasures. But when I got there, their Faction was years old and nothing like this.”
A brief memory flashed through Tilly’s mind, “...Dune Ranger of the SandSeas.” He muttered and Mateus’ head jerked to the side in surprise.
“You can’t have heard of them, they are on the other side of the continent, and are home to one of our smallest outposts!”
“Yeah, long story,” Tilly replied lamely, not at all ready to get into the details of his transference to Nephesh.
Mateus seemed to read something deeper in his hesitance, and nodded solemnly, “Oh, of course, your Patron’s mysteries are yours to keep.”
“No, uh… actually yeah. Something like that.”
“Well, thank you for stopping by to check on our progress. It may not be an Epic class structure like the Guild’s, but I think your people will be pleased by the advantages of having your Faction visibly aligned with us. But be warned, we may have gotten here first, Light be praised, but there are many powers on the Plane, they will not hesitate to step on you as they ascend to greater heights.
…
Tilly stayed and talked to Mateus for a while, hearing about his travels as a younger priest, and then begging off as the sun began to set. After pushing himself to the brink the last couple of days, it was nice to just spend an evening walking around the city. The trauma of tests from earlier that day and the Mana Exhaustion slowly faded, his mind and soul bolstered by a visceral reminder of what he was fighting for. He had no clue if his idea to bring back Kindle would work, but by the time he laid back down in his bed, he felt peace. Even if he failed again, he wouldn’t stop until she was back. Then, he would do whatever it took to protect these people and his new home.
