Beyond Altarier

Once Vald got into the showers, he quickly tossed away his torn undergarments that were close to exposing his privates to the outside world.

One more day and little Valdori will be dangling out in the open…

He sighed as it truly was too close a call. While taking off his clothes, he obviously did not forget to take the experience stone out of his pocket before tossing it into the small laundry basket placed beside the wash basin. Vald then looked around the bathroom for a little bit, but he immediately started to notice discrepancies between what he considered to be medieval in Altarier and modern Earth bathroom design.

”Hmm, what age was I transported to? ”, he muttered. The pipes were of a brownish-yellow colour, like copper. This wash basin that he was using to scrub his nails clean of all the dirt was also made of porcelain and had a drainage system that, to his even greater surprise, was being actively reinforced by a small mana conduit spell behind the pipe.

The walls were lined with ceramic tiles covered with a rough surface, probably to prevent slipping while offering a way to hold the water in. The mirror that reflected his handsome appearance was also clear and shiny, much better than the tin mirrors that Altarier had. Not to mention, the water that was running through his hands was warm but he could not spot a boiler anywhere in the room, nor hear one working outside. Might be another conduit and a spell…how did they afford all this when they live in a literal shack?

He rubbed his eyes as a headache started to form. Not only was this world different from Altarier, but it was also seemingly more technologically advanced in terms of magical development. That meant that there were more unknowns that he had to consider and more potential ways to die.

”Worry later, lets just shower first ”

…

”You
e done ”, the old man spoke from the living room. He was sitting on a couch no more than a few metres away from where Vald had just exited the bathroom,, a testimony as to how small this shack was.

”Thank you for the hospitality ”, he replied.

”No worries, who wouldn care for a lost person eh? ”, the old man chuckled, gesturing for Vald to come and sit opposite him, to which he readily obliged.

There was a small table that separated them, on it were some confectionaries that resembled Earths chocolate chip cookies and sweets that were coloured pink. Tea was also present on the table as the old man sipped away at his blue cup, leaving the pink one for Vald.

He got into a comfortable position on the chair he sat on and picked up the teacup. He wasn bothered by the pink colour because it was probably the only other cup they had, but the smell of the tea. It smelled exactly like green tea back on Earth.

Vald looked at the old man, wanting to ask a question but found that he didn seem to be paying much attention to him. The old man was staring at something on one of the shelves that Vald couldn see.

”Old man? ”, he began. Though the reply he received was a finger to the mouth, a gesture to shush himself.

Alright then.

Vald shrugged internally. If the old man didn want to talk yet, then he had all the time in the world waiting for him to talk. This was a potential quest after all, and he wasn going to miss out on it

The pair sat there, sipping away at their tea for a few minutes, occasionally grabbing the sweets that piled in the middle. The silence was awkward for Vald, but he had already made his decision to wait. The old man turned to look at him from time to time, but never maintained eye contact for more than a few seconds, which Vald found to be inconvenient and odd at the same time. He also found that the old man was tapping his fingers and moving them around, but couldn figure out what they meant or if it was just a habit, so he put it to the back of his mind.

Silence prevailed for a few more minutes, save for the rare clink of glassware that happened when one of them placed the teacup down to grab the confectionery. Only after a good 20 minutes did Vald decide that this situation had gone on for too long.

”Whats your name? ”, Vald broke the silence, asking in a light tone as if unaware of the minutes spent in awkwardness beforehand.

”Soren ”, came a reply.

He waited a little more for something else, but the old man named Soren didn seem to have anything more to say.

”Soren…say, could you let me stay for a few nights? Ill be willing to work as a payment, of course ”, he said.

Vald wanted to rest for a few days and learn more about the world before deciding to do anything. Doing anything too drastic would only draw unwanted attention, though he may have failed to consider that when pulling his crowd-parting stunt…

”Sure. Ill set you some work to do while staying here ”, Soren chuckled. ”I guess you could do some masonry? The town government branch needs some repairs it seems ”, he jerked his chin towards the pile of tools that was laid just outside the front door, visible through the low, dirty windows.

”…alright. I can do that ”, Vald found it odd that there was a government-affiliated building here in some random town on the outskirts of society, but he didn have much of a choice as he was the one on the end of the deal, not the one who offered the deal.

”Do I start today or tomorrow? ”, he asked the old man.

”Anytime. As long as you go there, a worker will be there to help you once you say that I sent you ”

__________

[Quest Chain] 1/4

Complete Soren Ekkers requests

Rewards 1/4:

1000XP

1 Low-tier Skill Stone

__________

…Ekker? Is this old man a descendant of the Echero clan? Hmm, Ill find a way to ask him about it later.

”Alright ”, Vald said while sitting up from the chair, grabbing one last piece of chocolate before moving towards an empty room he noticed. ”Can I go and sleep for a while first though? ”

”Yes. Ive prepared some milk and biscuits for you in that room. Hopefully, youll be up by noon tomorrow… ”, the old man smiled and led him to the room, showing him the locking mechanism that was strangely complicated for the flimsy door.

Thanking the old man again, Vald went and threw his body onto the bed. He had not realised how tired he really was, walking for a day and a half sure surely took quite a heavy toll on his body even if it was much stronger than his Earthen one. Not long after, even though hed tried to stay awake, Vald could not resist the temptation of sleep and nodded off for the day.

…

Soren waited for a little while after the young man had gone to bed, confirming that he was snoring and probably deep asleep.

”Good ”, he said in a cold voice.

Soren then went to Lilys room to knock on her door but decided against it at the last moment, hearing the little clangs of equipment and the tinkle of crystals. He didn want to disturb the little girls time with her toys, as it may be the last time in a long while before her life would go back to normal…

He sighed, knowing that what he did would ultimately affect her in an irreversible fashion.

”But I am borne of loyalty. I serve the council, I obey the council. Little one, I am sorry ”

Stepping away from the two rooms before casting a spell over his body, purple runes crawled out from underneath his skin as they engulfed his entirety. His body turned more and more incorporeal as it began disappearing and finally, with a dim flash of light, teleported away to someplace.

…

The old man appeared again in a brightly lit space, his clothes had completely changed from the old, torn, dungaree that he wore in the shack to a disturbingly modern suit comprised of metallic rivets and black luminous filaments that acted as the fabric holding the suit together.

”First Lieutenant Soren Ekker. Welcome, Sir ”, a male attendant bowed towards him as his teleportation finished.

”Hello again, Edison ”, Soren patted his shoulder and beckoned the man to follow.

”What is the matter today, First Lieutenant? ”

”For one, I ask that you stop calling me First Lieutenant. That was 20 years ago, Edison ”

”Alright, First Lieutenant ”

Soren sighed.

”Well then, another matter. Ive got a person from the Evermeadows ”

”Sir? ”

”You heard me. A person had survived the Evermeadows. Patch me to HQ as fast as you can, Ill be the one talking, and call Margaret into the meeting too ”

He watched Edison run off into a room, slamming the door open, nearly breaking the poor thing from its hinges. In the short span that the door remained open, he could see that there were many people inside that room, all wearing a standard grey-golden uniform that had a double-bladed polearm insignia sewn onto the right breast pocket. The symbol of the Sidola Council, The Promise of Eternal.

They were probably managing the countless number of requests that the civilians had, sending out dispatch teams to deal with issues here and there. At least, that was the cover for the true organisation, the inner circle of the governing body of Sidola.

”Haah, so noisy. I miss Lily already ”

The clamouring of this underground bunker was not something that Soren enjoyed. It was too loud and on most occasions, he was in there because of something he needed to report to HQ. That was his entire purpose of being sent here to 049 after all.

Edison came back out after a few minutes.

”Sir, Ive arranged for you a meeting with the Vice Commander of the Army and Rank 9 researcher, Margaret of the Research Institute ”

”Well done ”, he patted the mans shoulder once more and walked past him, heading for a vacant room that contained a projection chamber he wanted to use for the conversation with the two people who were thousands of kilometres away from him.

…

In a large room filled with many floating displays powered by magic, some hundreds of kilometres from the town where Vald was sleeping soundly, was a man who sat in front of one of those screens, looking through the various reports that flowed like water down a waterfall.

After around half his shift had passed, one report came through that was marked with bright red. It was as if someone had spilt blood into the river, the red standing out as clear as day.

The man stood up from his chair and climbed up the many layers of floors that housed the exact same monitoring setup as his before reaching the top of the hole. The floor which he arrived at was vast, the space itself likely taking up a few thousand metres in width and depth, while the height extended over 20 metres high. There were also countless holes dotted along the ground, the same holes that hed just climbed up from.

He walked towards the centre desk that had many people moving around, dressed in varying attires and of different statues. Despite that, however, all of them had one thing in common – extremely powerful mana fluctuations. One of them noticed his presence as he beckoned for the man to approach.

”11042, what do you have to report? ”, a gruff voice boomed out from the many, causing the idle chatter to die down in an instant.

”Sir we
e receiving a telecommunications request from 049, the town at the edge of the Evermeadow ”, a man said in a flat voice, unable to change his pitch or his volume.

”Who is it from? ”

”Soren Ekker, First Lieutenant of the Spearhead Project. Hes the one sent to watch over that town 20 years ago, Sir ”, 11042 recalled the information perfectly, as half of his brain had been transplanted for a rune-based inscription memory unit.

”That old man? ”, the man visibly recoiled at the mention of the name.

”Tsk, alright then. You all, continue working ”, he motioned for the high-tier officers to continue while he exited the room via a portal that was positioned at the side of the main platform.

The room he arrived at was a conference room, furnished with a table that was a couple of metres long and a dozen of chairs. The Vice Commander took the seat at the head of the table as was his habit, and signalled for 11042 to activate the rune array inscribed onto the centre of the table.

A humming sound came from the rune array as it glowed a bright blue, flashing multiple times as if to establish a stable connection with the other end before finally displaying a man clad in a black suit of armour.

”Vice Commander ”

”First Lieutenant ”

They both bowed in acknowledgement of each other.

”Good to see you again, Zafir ”, the old man chuckled.

”Old man…we
e officials, you know? Officials! ”, Vice Commander Zafir threw his hands up in frustration, though he missed the friendly banter between the council and the old man.

”Well, indeed we are. But its just the two of us no? So its fine…speaking of which, where is Margaret? I heard that she was going to be here ”

Zafir eyed the half-dead man standing behind him, to which the latter raised two fingers, telling him that she will be there in two minutes.

”Two minutes, give or take ”

”Alright. Then Ill tell you about it first, listen closely ”

He moved his chair closer to the table and sat with his arms crossed, knowing that whenever the old man said this, things were rather serious.

”A person came from the Evermeadow ”

”… ”

Zafir sat frozen, his eyes wide at the sentence Soren had just said.

”The Evermeadow? Is it a beyonder?! ”, his anger quickly rose to his face, dyeing it red as he slammed his hands onto the table, causing cracks to form along the length of it!

”Yes, and no. He is from the Evermeadow, or at least he survived it, but he is not a beyonder. I have not noticed any signs that indicate that he is a beyonder ”, the old man stroked his thinly shaved beard while laughing.

”What?? No! How can that be possible? Nothing can survive the Evermeadows without being immortal! Old man are you absolutely sure —

The rune array on the table hummed once more as another projection appeared beside Soren.

”My, my. Gentlemen, what is happening here? ”, the figure of a tall woman materialised. Her build was more manly than womanly, but her delicate face betrayed the aura she emitted. She wore a simple yellow hoodie but had its zipper open, exposing the toned muscles beneath and an ample bosom. She also had a lab coat over that hoodie and wore a pencil skirt for her lower half…shoes were also optional for her.

”Ah, Margaret. You
e here ”, Soren waved his hand and bowed, albeit at a shallower angle.

”Good to see you too ”, she reciprocated the bow.

”MARGARET! ”, Zafir couldn care more about tradition as he wanted to address the elephant in the room before anything.

”What, blockhead? ”

”THIS OLD MAN IS SAYING THAT A PERSON SURVIVED THE EVERMEADOWS ”

The burly woman stood in stunned silence for a few moments, her eyes also going wide as she looked between the two men. One who was breathing hard and had veins bulging on his forehead, and the other with his classic light smile.

”Are you serious? ”

”Why of course ”, he replied curtly.

”Beyonders? ”

”No ”

Margaret heaved a large sigh, her shoulders slumping as a result.

”Shouldve TOLD me that first, blockhead! ”, she facepalmed in an exaggerated manner. Her accusation also caused Zafirs veins to bulge even harder as if they were going to pop.

”Haha, well, I wanted to see both of you panic…but I assure you. He does not exhibit any signs of being a beyonder, for I could not sense the specific mana fluctuation that all beyonders have ”, the old man returned to being serious which prompted the other two to calm down and listen carefully.

”This document I have sent you – ”, he gestured for the other two to conjure an array. ”Have the details of that man, read it later if you must ”

”He is good at hiding information, but not good enough to hide from my eyes. He seems to be unsure about many things and is lacking in knowledge of our traditions. He also did not recognise any of the hand gestures or tapping codes of any of the spy agencies in Destaldt, Ophrae, or Aona. Lastly, he is hesitant about the task I gave him, which is well justified, I guess ”, Soren shrugged at the final remark because the task he gave him – masonry – was rather outdated for the time.

”Okay…so what you
e saying is that hes not from here. As in, here, here. This time and age, or just our world in general ”, Margaret summarised.

”Seems so, but weve had cases of people being transported from the other planets in this realm so it could be that ”

”Alright…so whats the catch? ”, she asked as a smirk crept across her face.

”He picked up a soul stone ”, Soren answered curtly.

Margaret stared at the old man for a few seconds, her mind running through many scenarios that would lead to the old man saying this sentence in his usual cryptic, think-for-yourselves manner.

”Im guessing that he didn tell you about it…right? ”

”Smart girl ”, Soren chuckled, not expecting the – now a woman – little girl from a couple tens of years ago to be able to figure it out so quickly. ”Yes, he did not tell me about it. Now, a usual person who found a gem on the ground in the house of a poor man would probably tell the owner if they were a good person ”, he began his lecture.

”And if the man is, well, not a good person, then it will be likely that hed keep it for himself ”

”Now imagine if a man who did not come from our world, picked up a soul stone and deliberately kept it to himself while trying to present his character as a good person with near flawless acting. What do you think? ”

”Extremely suspicious ”, Margaret said.

Zafir looked up from the table that was being fixed by 11042.

”Old man, this report said that you even had your detection spell active when he was showering. Are you sure you
e not a voyeur? ”, he asked with eyes narrowed.

”No. That was just to verify that he had the soul stone on at all times, even in the shower ”, the old man rebutted. He also saw Margarets face contort in disgust as Zafir said what he did.

”Believe what you want. Anyhow, as Maggie said, that is a point that is very suspicious ”, Soren lifted his finger to conjure some runes.

Once the spell had finished, it displayed an old scroll from the main library of Sidola, and on it were writings in an ancient language that the two younger people couldn understand.

”It says here, that beyonders use these soul stones to rapidly increase their power ”, he pointed at a line of text and towards a rather poor drawing of a person holding a soul stone that had rays of light emitting from it.

”They absorb them and convert that energy into power. The mechanism of how this is done is unknown, and we are still trying to figure it out – Seanica Research ”

”Well doesn that mean that he is a beyonder? ”, Zafir asked, sighing at the way this old man spoke.

”Maybe. But that doesn coincide with the other solid piece of evidence I have. He does not emit the mana fluctuation that all beyonders do ”, Soren rebutted in a harsh tone.

”Okay then. But old man, have you ever seen a beyonder before? ”. He himself had never seen one during his lifetime, and he doubted that Margaret had seen one either. There was no reference for him as to what the mana fluctuation of a beyonder really was.

”Once, when I was a child. But that was around 250 years ago when the war was at its dusk…regardless, I remember their mana flux very well. Think of when a dimensional mage starts to conjure a portal ”, he nodded to the two.

”The ambient mana becomes unstable for a second or two before the spell is completed and a portal is formed ”, the two signalled that they understood.

”Now imagine that the unstable mana is always around you, like a cocoon that holds you in at all times ”, Sorens expression became grimmer as his projection became unstable at the same time.

”Old man! ”, the two people called out in a panic, for they knew that the topic was a little sensitive for this relic from the past.

”Oh, my apologies ”, Soren quickly regained his posture as his image came back to normal. ”Well, continuing with the discussion, the fact that he does not emit that specific mana flux is enough to confirm that he is not a beyonder ”

The old man pointed his other finger at the burly woman.

”Thats why I want to ask you to come here, Margaret. I think we have a new lifeform ”