Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (9/?) WiP 2 (Patreon)

Hey guys! Here's the second Work In Progress for Chapter 9! Expect the full chapter to be out at the same time around the release of Chapter 8 on Reddit! :D I hope you guys enjoy! :D 

“What the fuck was that?” I asked, not even attempting to bottle up my utter contempt at the spoiled Vunerian.

“What? The aura-less? It’s one of the dorm-porters. Am I to assume you don’t have that back in Earthrealm?” Ilunor snapped back lazily, still lounging on the couch like an oversized cat.

“What the fuck do you mean serve, you were treating him like a fucking slave.” I spat back. I knew the implications of the smaller elf’s status fully. Part of me however was too shocked to really believe it. Part of me wanted to believe that it was maybe some sort of cultural misunderstanding. The modern, contemporary human in me simply coudn’t believe that slavery could still exist.

“Erm. Yeah? Because that’s what it is?” The lizard responded with barely a hint of hesitation in his voice. “Earthrealmer, I don’t see what the issue here is. I understand that you come from a very underdeveloped realm, but do be sensible now. Even the most uncivilized backwater realms have some concept of hierarchy and class. You, being sent here, a squire or what have you, you of all people should know a thing or two about class do you not? You’ve quite literally recounted your name and title within the academic rites. You gave a speech about loyalty and submissiveness to the betters in your realm. You respect hierarchy, so what do you not understand about ours?”

“Hierarchy does not preclude rampant racism, classism, and fuckin slavery, you fucking lizard.” I practically snarled out, as my hands began curling up into fists.

The lizard, to his credit, seemed entirely unphased by my verbal confrontation as he only looked at me lazily through my opaque lenses. “What a bizarre concept… maybe we should talk about this in the morning, hmm? I’m tired. We all are. And we should really get our affairs in order before-”

I cut the lizard off, reaching my hand over to grab him by the collar of his silken tunic, and in doing so bending and ripping the various necklaces and jeweled ornaments that adorned it. “We’re not leaving this topic high and dry before we address it. You’ve off handedly mentioned slaves throughout the entire night and I assumed it was just a dirty jab or some racist remark. Are you telling me that slavery is still alive and well in the Academy, the beating heart of whatever you call a fucking civilization?!” I finally snapped, the pressure from the entire day bearing down on the lizard.

It didn’t take long however before Thalmin once more acted as the level headed of the group, alongside Thacea, as the wolf placed a single hand on my own gloved ones, and gripped it tightly. Tight enough that the haptic feedback sensors on my gloves refused to translate the sensations as they reached and exceeded the minimum pain threshold.

Warning: Minimum pain threshold on [RIGHT HAND] and [LEFT HAND] exceeded, auto-disconnect of haptic feedback engaged.

This… clearly shocked the lupine as his eyes grew wide at how ineffective that move was. I got the message though, so I let go.

But not before making sure I drew a line in the sand with the Vunerian.

“Let me tell you a little something. You might think that you’re hot shit, you might think that your little world and all of its little party tricks is somehow great, grand and mighty. But let me tell you right now that you don’t have anything on us. You’re like a fucking hermit living out obliviously in the woods, you don’t see the bigger picture. All you see is your castle, your guards, your little petty kingdoms and fiefdoms or whatever pathetic excuse you have for a proper civilization. My people have long since abandoned your backwards ideologies where it belongs: the dustbin of history. And I can tell you right now that no matter how much of a big shot you think you are, that even the smallest of UN states can march across your lands and right up to your castles and there’s nothing you can do about it. Just like there’s nothing you can do to make me let go of you. So don’t get smart with me, because I’ve had it up to here with you.” I seethed, glared, and snarled out through my suit’s vocoders, my grip tightening so much that I began tearing at the seams of the poor lizard’s shirt collar.

I made sure my point was made as I held him as he kicked, thrashed and lashed out ineffectually, before I finally let him down. Or rather, I haphazardly let him go from about 3 feet off the ground. “Slavery leads to one of two things, the death of empires and kingdoms, or stagnation. The latter makes you weak, and makes you susceptible to collapse or subjugation by a more advanced power. I’ll leave it at that.” I spat back as the lizard fell to the ground.

I still had the decency to do so above the plush cushions of the couch however, so he was more or less unharmed.

“Emma, Ilunor, let’s take a step back to talk about all of this.” Thacea interjected, now firmly putting herself between the both of us.

“What is there to talk about, Princess? The Earthrealmer’s a fucking savage!” Ilunor shouted out, his panicked state from just seconds prior melting back into the shriveled, easily intimidated one that I’d expected from him.

“Ilunor, you have been nothing if not combative and provocative towards the newrealmer for the entire night. You have nothing if not more than a good portion of the blame for this confrontation. I suggest you hold your piece.” The avinor finally put her foot down, something that Thalmin grinned and nodded in approval at, before turning to face me.

“Emma, I understand how stressful all of this may be for you. You are in a completely foreign land, meeting foreign beings for the first time in your life. You are far from home, scared, and potentially afraid. Your reactions are understandable, but please, could we agree to disagree for now? Can we please try our best to act like civilized, decent beings? There are far greater matters to worry about than our petty interpersonal conflicts. To survive the academy we must work together as a peer group. To ensure our year goes smoothly, we must come together, not tear each other apart at the seams.” The avinor spoke promptly, her voice and facade faltering but refusing to break throughout the entirety of it. Before finally it cracked, just a little bit. “Please. All we have here are each other.”

It was at this point that I finally relented. A deep sigh was all that marked my response as I took a seat on one of the couches across from Ilunor. I didn’t even care to calibrate for my weight as the seat moaned underneath my suit’s immense mass, which prompted Thacea to quickly cast another spell, preventing the wood from splintering into a thousand pieces before it had the opportunity to do so.

ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 225% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS

“Listen, I’m sorry for reacting like that okay?” I managed out, tired and absolutely drained. “But I can’t… I just can’t fucking deal with slavery. If we’re going to move forward with this, I have to just say this outright. Slavery is not a thing where I come from. It’s deplorable, it’s reprehensible, it’s the worst possible evil besides… fuck I can’t think of anything… torture? Warcrimes? Do I have to recite the entire Geneva conventions to you guys?” I spouted out in a series of exasperated breaths. “How can you guys be so cruel, so utterly cold, how can you guys stomach this-”

“Because we don’t have a fucking choice Earthrealmer.” Thalmin finally responded, a deep growl resonating throughout the entire room. “Because we don’t have a say in how that specific part of our culture works. Because that’s what the Nexus expects of us.” He paused, turning away in shame. “Because… because that’s… because we bent the knee, Earthrealmer.”

A long pause overshadowed the conversation after that point. Turning to Thacea, she seemed to nod in agreement, whilst Ilunor refused to acknowledge anything.

“Things are… far more complicated than they seem, Emma.” Thacea began. “Know that our inactions do not constitute complicitness. We simply are incapable of challenging what is the status quo.” The princess stated a matter of factly. “I applaud your realm for being so strong in your resolve, and I can only wish for-” She stopped herself in her tracks, as Thalmin shot her a glance that read don’t.

Ilunor, to his credit, finally did speak. “Slavery of the aura-less is a sign of civilization.” He began unabashedly. “Resistance to this notion is a sign of moral weakness and a defacement of character and prestige. I understand there’s a certain amount of performance anxiety with all of you. Especially you, Earthrealmer. However, I am willing to let this simmer.” There was a pause as Ilunor seemed to think of what next to say. “If you do not wish to interact with the slave, then by all means, refuse his service. It won’t hurt him, it only means more attention to my needs. Let’s see how well you fare without the services of a lesser.”

“I don’t want to be involved with any of this shit.” I spat back. “But I know I’m not a one man army, I don’t have the means of changing the whole world.” Not yet at least. “So fine, I refuse any and all services from this prisoner.” I looked away from Ilunor, then towards Thacea and Thalmin. “I hope you two can eventually come to my side on this. I… I honestly don’t know how to feel right now.”

A long bout of silence once more punctuated the air as the only sound echoing across the room was the roars of the fireplace. I looked at the three closely, Thacea and Thalmin were clearly uncomfortable by the entire turn of events, their expressions reading as remorseful, regretful. Ilunor was as callous and nonplussed as I’d expected, as he slowly scrambled to collect the bits and pieces of jewels and gems that had been inadvertently ripped and broken during my confrontation with him.

“Shall we move on to room assignments?” Thalmin finally broke the silence, much to the relief of everyone present.

“Sure.” I managed out. I knew that the lingering awkwardness in the air couldn’t really be filtered out, but we had to at least try.

“Right, so, seeing as we have two bedrooms, and four of us, we can divide this in one of two ways. By gender, or by random chance.”

I perked up. “Why not by choice?”

“Who would want to stay with the Vunerian, Earthrealmer?” Thalmin replied without a second’s hesitation with one of the most savage off handed remarks I’ve heard from him throughout the whole night. It honestly brought a smile to my face after everything as a small spark of satisfaction welled within me.

“You have a point.” I replied wholeheartedly, to which Ilunor seemed to grumble something unintelligible under his breath.

“If we are to do this by gender, then I’m more than willing to take the sacrifice in staying with the Vunerian, Earthrealmer.” Thalmin continued. If it wasn’t clear already, I felt a sort of strange unspoken comradery forming between the both of us. Maybe I was just too tired and I was reading too much into this, but the more and more I stood up in defiance of the shit I had to put up with, the more he seemed to respect me. At least in his weird, gruff, blunt and confrontational way.

“Thanks, but you know I’m more than willing to like, leave this up to chance.” I shrugged, meeting the Thalmin’s eyes for the first time in real, genuine conversation. “Fate works in weird ways, so let’s see what fate has to say about our room assignments.”

“Alright then, as the newrealmer, how do you suggest we play this game of chance?” Thalmin shot at me, throwing the ball back to my court with a sly grin.