He idly considered how to thank Fera for everything she and her Goddess had done for him. He didn't consider helping her feel safe enough to sleep as part of that. She needed help and so he gave it willingly. It's possible that merely acting on those kinds of feelings would be exactly the kind of thanks Perimis would appreciate, but Grayson had made up his mind to help people in danger. Maybe what Perimis had done was out of appreciation for that decision, But Grayson didn't really have a problem with thanking people for the gifts they gave him as thanks, even if it got a bit recursive.
Fera mumbled in her sleep and wiggled in closer to him. Grayson let her in and adjusted his grip to keep his arm from going to sleep. He had a few goals worked out. Firstly, he wanted to thank Fera. Second, he wanted to help people. Third? There was fucking magic in this world, and Grayson was determined to figure out how to use it.
Grayson played back his fight from the night before in his neural network, experiencing everything again. He scrolled the recollection back and forth, carefully observing the actions of the mages and the bandit leader. He watched the hand motions that they used when casting their spells, listened to the words they spoke. It was a language he didn't know, but seemed to be similar to the language that the bandits themselves had shouted to each other. Finally, he used every spectrum he had available to try and see the flow of energy.
The energy of the forming spells produced light in colors and qualities that seemed to correspond to the nature of the spells being cast. Wind magic gave the impression of flowing lines in a mostly white, but faintly blue light, like the horizon on a clear sunny day. Earth was a muddy brown color that shifted like sand. Fire was a bright red that churned and roiled like shallow river rapids. The mages drew the light from around them, wind was pulled from the air, and earth from the ground, but fire was pulled from within. Closer examination revealed the temperature of the mage drop when they began casting a fire spell.
Grayson was so lost in his contemplation that he didn't notice Fera waking up. A muffled "eep" pulled him out of his neural network and he noticed Fera looking him in the eyes and blushing furiously. Realizing that he'd been staring at her for an unknown length of time, Grayson tried to smile at her in a way that wouldn't be creepy.
"Good morning," He whispered. "Were you able to sleep well."
"Yeah," Fera muttered. "Thank you. I, uh, I was having nightmares and you were the only person..."
Grayson pulled her close and held her tight against him.
"I know. I'll be here for as long as you want. Nobody will be able to threaten you that way again."
Fera pulled herself tighter and they stayed there in silence for an hour. Fera trembled from time to time, but Grayson stroking her hair calmed her down. Finally both of them were breathing evenly again. Fera relaxed slowly until there was space between them again. She looked Grayson in the eyes and smiled.
"I could get used to this," she sighed regretfully. "I almost don't want it to stop..."
"But you're hungry." Said Grayson.
"Yeah."
"And you have to pack for our trip to Gravistone, wherever that is."
"Yeah."
"Come on, I'll be close by. Whenever you need me, I'll be there." Grayson promised. Fera sniffed.
"And If I always need you?" she asked.
"Then I'll always be with you." Grayson reached up and stroked her hair. They stayed in bed for another few minutes, just holding each other.
Eventually, Fera rolled out of bed and stood up.
"As nice as this is, I really do need some breakfast," she declared. Grayson laughed as he got up as well. They held hands as they walked to Fera's room where she grabbed underclothes, a shirt, and a pair of leather pants lined with fur. They split up at the baths and Grayson left his clothes to the side while he soaked. They transformed into clothes similar to Fera's surmising that it would be cold on a spring morning high in the air.
They met up again at the dining room where Grayson made sandwiches from toast, eggs, and some of the vegetables that Lyn had cooked for them the day before. It made a suitable breakfast sandwich that Fera was greatly appreciative of, even if it was cold when she finally arrived. Following breakfast, Grayson grabbed his longsword and helped Fera pack a pair of saddlebags. Grayson remarked on how prepared she was to ride the pegasus.
"Of course I am. Priests are needed everywhere and if a village priest dies or has to leave for some reason, another priest has to be sent immediately. Our duties are very important. For example, I serve as the lead arbitrator of the village. The priest of Nerim, the Goddess of Death officiates funerals. The priestess of Balen, God of Agriculture guides the planting, harvesting, and animal breeding. The farmers could certainly do things without her, but she can foresee early thaws, late freezes, or early freezes that could ruin a crop, or tell a farmer when to stud a bull to a particular cow for a guaranteed healthy birth. Thankfully, we aren't needed all the time, but there needs to be someone here in case something comes up." She explained.
"So what happens if the town needs arbitration while you're away?" Grayson asked. Fera smiled.
"Lyn will serve as interim arbitrator until another priest shows up. She won't have the full voice of Perimis behind her and any decisions she makes will need to be ratified by me or my replacement before they become truly official, but she will do fine. I'm an excellent teacher," Fera said, hands proudly on her hips.
"Well done," Grayson said dryly. "What else do you need?"
"This is everything. We need to keep out possessions light so that a single pegasus can take us where we need to go. We haven't exactly sworn off property, but we need to have little enough for two saddlebags. It doesn't leave much space for luxuries." Fera looked a little disappointed about it, but perked up. "Anyway, since I'm packed, we should get you packed as well. Where are your clothes from last night? And your sleeping clothes? Lyn was supposed to do laundry so we would be ready to go."
"About that..." Grayson said sheepishly. He had his shirt transform into one of a different color and material.
"Wait, what? Have you been wearing the same clothes this whole time? Do you even take them off to have a bath or just go in with them? Hold on, you bathed three times, and then you put the same clothes on without cleaning them? What's the point in that?" Fera got increasingly exasperated at his supposed lack of hygiene.
"Slow down. They clean themselves. They don't transform well when wet, so I take them off to bathe. While I'm cleaning myself, they clean themselves, and then we're all clean when we come out of the baths." Grayson laughed. "Perhaps it would be good to show you."
Grayson tapped some dirt off Fera's boots and smeared it into the sleeve of his jacket. It stayed there for a moment before the larger clumps fell away and the smaller dirt stains visibly receded. Grayson held out the sleeve to Fera. She examined it closely, then looked at him with mischief in her eyes.
"You get two saddlebags. You can buy them when we reach the city. Then I will get some nice things to go in them. Since we won't have to waste space on spare clothes, this will work out nicely."
Grayson and Fera met a pair of knights at the gates. They saluted as one and bowed. Grayson returned the salute. As they were about to leave, Tiber ran up holding a small bag that jingled merrily.
"Grayson, you saved my wife and our friends. Please, there's a little in here from everyone. We don't have much, but there's no way we'd let you leave without repaying some small portion of the debt we owe. If you ever pass this way again, every door in the village will be open to you." Tiber gasped, holding the bag out for Grayson to take. It was surprisingly heavy.
Grayson steadied the man and clasped his shoulder.
"I haven't made any decisions yet. I may return in a few days. If not, I will certainly send word. Thank you Tiber, for everything you've done for me. I'll accept your gift, but please, if you ever need anything, contact me. I'll see it done."
There was a look of admiration in TIber's eyes as he watched Grayson mount the pegasus. The man had come from nowhere, saved everything he loved, and wanted nothing in return but a bath, a meal and a bed. He'd treated their injured in a way that would keep them largely unbothered by their scars, and the only payment for that kindness had been a language lesson that Tiber still wasn't sure he'd needed. His son had said from his wife's lap that morning that he wanted to be a Crusader of Perimis when he grew up. Tiber expected a few children to be running around with the name Grayson before the year ended.
For Grayson's part, he was just trying to apply what he'd learned about horse riding to a horse that had wings exactly where he'd been planning to put his legs. He settled into the saddle behind the knight, leaning back to let his legs stretch more comfortably over the wings and holding on to the back of the saddle. He saw Fera where she was nestled between her knight's legs with his arms around her fur lined coat. They grinned at each other as the knights checked everything was ready, then the pegasi were galloping down the road, their wings beating slowly.
As they flew, Grayson's knight asked him questions about the bandits he'd found. He wanted to know about their arms, armor, number of mages, and if he could identify the language. Grayson answered as well as he could, repeating some of the words the bandits had said. The knight had seemed lost in thought for a moment before pulling out a piece of leather with the same snake's mouth rune that Grayson had seen the Knight Captain speaking into. He shouted into it, then held it up to his ear for the response. The one sided conversation was a little cryptic, but Grayson picked up several things from context.
Those bandits shouldn't have been there. They came from a kingdom across the mountains that was normally a full season's travel. In order to arrive in April, they would have had to leave in December or January at the latest, crossing the mountains at their most treacherous. It was more likely that they had laid low in the forests or a mountain cave over the winter and moved to attack after the first spring thaws. Either way, the knight would report to the Watchmaster in Gravistone, to confirm what his Captain had apparently already told him. The knight thanked Grayson for his contribution before settling to continue the ride in silence.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
They reached Gravistone after twelve hours of flying. They spent an hour to rest the pegasi in a small town where they had dinner. Grayson talked with the knights and learned that they were both sons of minor nobles in living in Gravistone. Their knight watch had responsibility for land a hundred leagues in every direction, as well as a stretch of the border and patrols over the mystical forest to the south. The man carrying Grayson was the son of a baron who's holdings were ten leagues Southeast of the city. His name was Jirad. The other man was son of a count who owned a town similar to the one we stopped in, but near another city hundreds of leagues away. His name was Wavec.
Grayson spent the rest of the flight learning about the responsibilities of a baron, as well as the duty to the empire that all nobles had. Each family had to provide at least one child to the knight watches to serve for no less than ten years. During that time, the knights had no rank outside their watch, were responsible for purchasing and maintaining their equipment, and were beholden to their watchmaster and the Empire first. Apparently it was rare for a knight to serve so close to his or her home. The Empire deliberately shifted the knights away from their typical family support structures, forcing them to use their own resourcefulness to get funds.
As far as the baron himself was concerned, he would have to maintain a standing police force in his lands, pay regular taxes to the local regional king, and see to the health of his subjects. In the event of a war, he would also be expected to raise and supply an army for the Empire. Grayson had spent time in feudal societies before and was surprised. This was extremely unusual for such a government. He didn't approach the subject so tactlessly, instead inquiring about the person who put the practices into place.
The result was a history lesson about the Fourth Emperor, Porin the Reformer, who expanded the Empire into several neighboring kingdoms and saw a looming issue of supply and control infrastructure. He'd solved this by distributing authority, leaving the kings largely in charge of their kingdoms and allowing them to parcel out land under their own authority. Under the kings, lords, dukes, barons, counts, and similar had been given the same level of freedom over their own lands, with the requirement to provide taxes to their direct superiors. If a count owned land under a duke, the peasants would pay taxes to the count, the count would pay the duke, the duke would pay the king and the king would pay the Emperor.
When being told of concerns around an uprising of noble houses, kings, or peasants, the Emperor had put in place the legislation that was now referred to as The Duties. It outlined the responsibilities of a ruler and their family, including harsh penalties for any who tried to circumvent their role.
"Surely that can't have worked. What happened when an Emperor tried to repeal the law?" Grayson asked his new friend. Jirad got a dark look on his face.
"That's happened a few times. Every one was assassinated. Apparently Porin foresaw the potential villainy of his descendants as well as so many other things. He was also the one who made civic duties that fall under the purview of the Gods into responsibilities for their priests." He shook his head. "Eventually everyone got the message."
"So it's maintained through fear? Doesn't that undermine the whole thing?" asked Grayson. The knight shrugged.
"On the one hand, kind of. On the other, the nobles have accepted it. To say it's maintained through fear implies it's mostly the fear of the nobles that keeps the system going. It may be enforced, but doesn't that make it the same as any other law? If you commit murder, you get executed. Most people don't commit murder because it's the wrong thing to do. The same thing applies to the Duties. It's the right thing to do to follow the Duties. We've seen the benefits of following them and the consequences other kingdoms and empires face by ignoring them."
"So it all works out in the end?"
"You could say that," said Jirad, chucking. "But what about where you come from? What's it like there?"
Grayson thought about how to answer that. There was literally no way in his adopted language to describe an artificial intelligence. The closest someone could come was something like "a crystal of intelligence forged by man." On the other hand...
"It's not somewhere a person can easily reach, but it's an immense empire. Different kingdoms are separated by months of travel by ship. Within each kingdom, the provinces are ruled by individuals trained for the task. Individuals of great wisdom oversee their rule. Within each province, people are largely free to live as they please. Everyone enjoys quite the degree of luxury and has many magic abilities at their immediate disposal."
Metaphor could serve pretty well. Describing an intergalactic civilization to a person who had probably never conceived of the distance between the stars turned out to be surprisingly easy. That was hardly the most surprising thing.
"So it's pretty similar to our system then. Distribution of power allows the Empire to maintain control, and it sounds like your home empire does something similar. Though why haven't I heard of it? Surely something that big would be famous around the world. And I thought I knew of every country on the globe. My tutors were quite thorough."
"You've found the stone in the shoe with that one. Every country on the globe." Grayson said. Jirad whipped his head around.
"What? How? Where?"
"Honestly, Jirad, I have no fucking clue. I wasn't trying to come here, yet here I arrived. I didn't even know it was possible."
"I guess that explains how you don't know anything about the Empire. I thought you just grew up in the forest or something. To think you were chosen as a Crusader..."
Jirad trailed off and the two pegasi continued flying into the night. They passed collections of lights on the ground that marked farmsteads, villages, and larger towns before the lights of Gravistone appeared on the horizon. It stretched for over ten kilometers, covering a decent portion of the countryside. As they got closer, lights on the ground became distinguished from lights in the sky and floating castles and ships became visible. Grayson increased his perception to take a more detailed look at the ships and was surprised to see that they would put pre-spaceflight aircraft carriers to shame.
Closer still, and carriages could be seen flying between floating castles and the ground along with a myriad of other glowing transports. Grayson could make out pegasi, gryphons, regular carriages, and what looked like mechanical contraptions of all kinds of shapes and sizes. One was the size of a house with the shape of a metallic spider. Another was a personal transport that looked like a great flying shark. Some people simply flew on their own. Each of them seemed to glow.
Grayson froze. Their glowing wasn't affected by him increasing the sensitivity of his eyes. He dialed himself back to a human level of vision and while the general background of the night sky dimmed, the figures and conveyances above the city didn't. Numbly, Grayson queried his neural network.
Mana: A gauge of one's magic capability. Typically more visible when using magic.
Error: Unregistered perceptive capability.
Error: Unknown energy affecting user.
Emergency!
Initiating defensive measures!
Stop.
Defensive measures cancelled by Redacted.
Emergency!
Security bypassed!
Initiating Reset!
No.
Reset Cancelled by Redacted.
Emergency!
System Fully Compromised!
Suspend.
Grayson, I mean you no harm. Get this thing under control before it burns out your brain.
The series of messages flashed through Grayson's mind in less time than a hummingbird's wingbeat. Time seemed almost frozen as Grayson processed each message, then rapidly decided that he had no fucking clue what was going on and that not immediately getting severe brain damage was preferable to immediately getting severe brain damage. He'd live... and be fully capable still... but there was debate about whether he would still be himself afterwards.
Grayson decided to do something he'd never done before and onlined his secondary computing, a network of quantum crystals traced through his bones. Even if his brain did burn...
Quantum matrix initialized by User.
Backup completed.
Restore point logged.
What in my name did you just do?
What is this?
Grayson's comprehension speed skyrocketed. It was fast to begin with from his neural network able to near instantly process and log information directly into his brain, but now instead of relying on slow chemical transference, he was thinking at the speed of sub-quantum superpositional computation. He went from thinking like a normal human, able to maintain a single main point of focus with some subconscious processing to the focal capability of a supercomputer, capable of running thousands of simultaneous tasks.
He saw the influence in his brain, the way the intruder was misfiring his neurons. He saw the shape of mana by it's effects, identifying the glow within himself as his perceptions turned inwards. His full perceptual system onlined, no longer just seeing through his eyes, but through the nanomachines suffused throughout his body. Through those, he saw the world, in every direction, at both the micro and macro scale. He observed bodily parasites, bacteria, and the other millions of microscopic organisms that roamed his skin. He also saw the thread of mana that reached from his brain in a fourth direction, out of this world and into another.
Shit! NO!
Grayson could see everything. He could smell everything. He could taste everything. He could hear everything. He watched in slow motion as neurons in his brain began to flare.
Grayson directed nanomachines through his brain, repairing his neurons even as they burnt, maintaining the connections. He healed himself as he killed himself, and as he put his brain back together, he put it back differently. He could see the strands of mana. He ran a thousand experiments using his own neurons as test subjects.
GRAYSON! YOU HAVE TO STOP!
Grayson found what he was looking for and wove mana into the neurons themselves. The millions of nanomachines in his brain that made up his neural network stopped their work, then restarted under Grayson's direct control. It was the work of mere milliseconds as Grayson's entire brain was destroyed...
The goddess of death looked at the soul in her lap. She looked from it to the near frantic form of Perimis. She sighed. Nerim had her job to do. She looked sadly at Perimis even as she made to move the soul on to the afterlife. However even as she reached for it, it twitched and disappeared.
Both goddesses watched with complete shock as the soul latched back on to the body it had come from.
...and rebuilt.
As far as everyone else saw, Grayson suddenly stiffened, opened his mouth to scream, then fell off the pegasus. They were still over half a kilometer in the air.
bad idea.