Jcb112
patreon
Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (111/?) WiP 1
🕑 Added 2024-12-15 00:08:18 +0000 UTCHey everyone! Here is the Work in Progress for Chapter 111 I hope you guys enjoy! :D
Ilunor’s response… was not one I at all expected.
Because out of all the reactions I had on my bingo card — clapping — definitely wasn’t on the list.
“And so the earthrealmer finally shows her true colors.” The Vunerian responded with a prideful smirk and a slow purposeful clap, causing me, and both Thacea and Thalmin to cock their heads in solidarity.
“I’m sorry?” I responded.
“You claim to have visited these so-called ‘stars’, correct?”
“Well, yes. But I don’t see how—”
“My apologies.” He interjected, a sarcastic smile plastered across his maw. “I am mistaken. Because not only have you claimed to have ‘visited’ these ‘stars’... but you likewise proclaim mastery over them, along with the so-called ‘void’ which ‘hangs above’ too, no?” He continued, stringing me along.
“Yeah, that’s right.” I took the bait.
“Then you may consider this conversation over.” Ilunor proclaimed succinctly. “For you have… as the merfolk say — taken the bait.”
“Please just get to the point—”
“You’ve fallen into my trap, bitten off more than you can chew, made a dragon out of a wyrm!” He prattled on, bringing in adage after adage until he finally leveled his eyes towards me with a clear fit of frustration. “To put it bluntly, earthrealmer, you’ve proven yourself an unreliable raconteur. You have fallen for the oldest trick in the book — the acknowledgement of an impossibility. What’s more, you’ve gone so far as to have built off of this impossibility, firmly entering the realm of pure fantasy.”
I took a deep breath, matching the Vunerian’s gaze even as he stepped off of his armchair, his feet click-clacking back onto the marble floors.
“Alright Ilunor, explain exactly what issues you have with my claims.” I continued with a sigh, eliciting a twitch from one of the Vunerian’s eyes.
“I asked, plainly, whether you have visited these so-called ‘stars’. Your answer, twice now, was — yes. Twice then, have you proved that you know nothing of the nature behind these specks of light. Twice now, have you taken the opportunity to inflate your ego, to act a contrarian whenever possible. Because twice now, you’ve claimed to have visited a nonexistent destination, a phantom object, a mirage — a mere artifact of light.” The Vunerian turned towards Thalmin now, as if to invite him to his side. “How can you claim to have visited what are merely tears in the fabric of the tapestry? By this logic, I could claim to have visited a desert mirage, or the end of a rainbow.” The Vunerian paused, allowing those words to sink in.
And sink in they did. As I finally determined exactly where his point of fundamental systemic incongruency was.
“To further claim mastery over them… is beyond ludicrous, akin to me claiming mastery over a rain cloud or a bolt of lightning!” Ilunor doubled-down, unfurling a piece of paper on the table as he spoke, proceeding to poke multiple holes in it with his claws; then finally holding it up to the fireplace. “It’s as outlandish of a prospect as me claiming to have both visited and declared ownership of the light poking through the holes of this parchment!” He announced through a run-on huff, prompting me to take a deep breath, as I wracked my head for a proper response.
Or more specifically, as I used every ounce of empathy I could muster in order to see things from his perspective.
“Alright then, Ilunor.” I began with a steady breath. “Please enlighten me.” I continued, garnering a wide look of surprise from all eyes present, including the Vunerian’s. “Explain to me exactly what you believe to be the tapestry. Tell me what these tears are, and what’s actually behind them.” I offered patiently, prompting a shift in the Vunerian’s derisive persona, as it evolved into something more ponderous. “Prove me wrong.”
For once throughout this whole outburst, the man willingly stopped, taking a moment to consider my request.
“I will require a half hour, Emma Booker.” He spoke softly. “I believe it would be best to show you. Moreover, I believe I can make use of this time to extinguish two phoenixes in a single storm.”
…
1 Hour Later
…
The Vunerian returned, his scales seemingly revitalized and rejuvenated, as if his intended destination had breathed life back into his skin.
“Wait, which library did you say you went to again?”
“Both, earthrealmer.” The Vunerian muttered out under a grumble. “The Library, and the Academy Repositories.”
I nodded, reflecting on how silly it was of me to have assumed that the Academy wouldn’t have its own internal library, instead relying on The Library for everything.
Then again, earthly expectations in the Nexus tended to always find a way to be overruled, so I didn’t beat myself too much over that little revelation.
Ilunor got to work almost immediately after the front doors slammed shut, as he opened up the sight-seer he’d brought from the repositories.
This particular sight-seer appeared to be far more polished and refined as opposed to Thalmin’s ‘bear-trap clamps on a book’ sight-seer, but not as sophisticated nor showy as Ilunor’s sleek and gilded setup from last week’s sight-seer trip.
Because instead of the gilded hard-cover edges with seamless fold-over stitching, this book just seemed… normal. Like your regular everyday hard-cover textbook — complete with a title that looked more stenciled-on than it did hand-written or scribed-over.
This trend of relative functionality over aesthetics continued as Ilunor went to work, revealing the orrery within the pages as a dainty, yet clearly functional ‘device’ with little in the way of ornate compositing or gildwork.
“We’re jumping ahead in the curriculum for this explanation.” Ilunor began with a coy smile. “From what I understand, this should be a subject firmly in Professor Articord’s domain. Though as I stated before — extracurriculars are my forte.”
With a surge of mana radiation—
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 250% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
—the room was once more bathed in that peculiar set of shadowless vector-like graphics.
Every inch of surface across every object suddenly felt ‘flat’, as the textures and features across our entire line of sight were promptly removed.
Following this, the room subsequently ‘melted’ away, as the floors opened up to ‘reveal’ solid ground in the form of a grassy field, while the walls and roof slowly faded away until all that remained around us was an open expanse of starless night sky.
“I must thank you, Cadet Emma Booker, for being so kind as to revel in your own downfall.” He began. “As it will be my honor to deconstruct your false claims, by demonstrating to you exactly how your assertions are but a fanciful impossibility.”
No sooner after he spoke were we introduced to a sight I hadn’t at all expected.
Comments
Ragnar Pendon
So the final boss is literally someone with 99.99999999...% of an entire universe's worth of energy? Has nobody pointed that out yet? This is literally a jrpg "go to school" all the way to "kill god" quest progression 🤣
Ragnar Pendon
I believe common knowledge is free... if Ilunor already knows something, he can just ask for supporting resources to prove his point, which is why he came back with a big fancy projector
Owyou Shotme
I have been waiting for this conversation for the whole of the story. To say I am excited for the next few chapters would be an understatement.
UC-79
The library/ Librarian know at least enough about space to know the nexian narrative is false. He believed emma when she said we colonized the stars, and that we had QE communication. He's setting illunor up to look like a clown in front of the peer group🗿, and probably told illunor to transcribe/record what she shows him in response to the nexian narrative as compensation for giving it to him. Illunor is on a short leash after all.
Ferr
Ilumor; Flat earth: we have tried, and you can't reach the vail, you just fall down. Emma: Round earth: so no orbit. Emma: why just not jump off the edge. Illinor: there is no edge, its is infinent. If space is differences then Astronomy is not comparable I think Jcb, just made us all hit information dissemination overflow.
Bbobsillypants
Hay wait a minute. Did Illunor just go to THE LIBRARY by him himself to check out a book on stars? He needs info to transact for that kinda stuff doesn't he? Unless theirs like a free bee section or something. Also God that must have been awkward, his last trip to the library he was threatened by the staff. Why were we robbed of that scene.
Anders Mostue
Basically Astronomy is the study of the actual observable universe. Astrology is how one believes the universe is compared to the actual universe
Sendoa
No no… given how the Nexus has basically sold how space doesn’t exist, that there is a physical tapestry and stars are the old gods’ light shining through tears in it… Astrology feels appropriate as a comparable field of “study”
I Dare Korval
I think you mean Astronomy, not Astrology.
Anders Mostue
Yeah, asking Ilonor first is actually a pretty good way to find out where exactly on the astrology education the general population is. Basically Ilonor is the standard joe average Nexian racist that has been indoctrinated and has personally profited from Nexus propaganda.
Skrzynek
The more I think about all the angles of attack at this hefty topic, the more I realize that asking Ilunor about the nexian perspective first is the way to go. Basically, going from the most easy "truths" to disprove and demolish, to the most unbelievable. But for that, Emma first needs to grill him on what the Nexus does NOT know, and what sounds too much like "trust me bro" without any real data to substantiate it. As for the sun... I wonder if they know what plasma is based on them possibly having to visualize spells in their heads as they cast stuff. And given how lightning creates plasma, maybe they would get "it's a big ball of what lightning is made of"? Again - gotta start with what they know, not with what an elementary school teacher would make a lesson about.
Anders Mostue
I image that the foundation to Emmas counter is to describe the sun first as an extremely large ball of plasma that provides light and heat. Then describe the consept of light years by stating how far out from this ball of plasma really is with us on earth being 8 minutes from the sun. Then the ball of plasma is not the only ball of plasma there is, that provides a light source. Then explain where the concept of Universe being big. Extremely big. Unimaginable big.
Skrzynek
I can bet that whatever explanations Ilunor has, they involve mana. And as such, they are gonna crumble to dust when Emma asks about her manaless realm. "So you claim those tears in the tapestry is how mana leaks down onto the realm... But Earth has lots of stars in the sky, but no mana. Your explanation seems incorrect."
Michael Halpern
it would know Aetheronrealm's version, which was close
UC-79
The Foreclosed Lizard is NOT gonna like this one. At all. Goading emma right before it too, silly little guy.
Peter Altieri
I don’t think it has any agreements. It’s most likely that it only knows the nexus’s version of things. Seeing as it’s not omnipotent, but rather trades knowledge
I Dare Korval
If that were the case, Ilunor wouldn't be so confident, unless The Library just gave him the Nexus's understanding of stars. It's also possible it has an agreement with the Nexus rulers to not reveal the truth to those who do not already know it.
I Dare Korval
Bargin Basement Kobold status incoming.
I Dare Korval
Well considering they already thought stars were gods and balls of mana, Ilunor is in for a rude awakening when they go to Emma's siteseer (aka The Tent of Truth).
LumiOak
Omg, is Illunor inspired by Vizzini from Princess Bride???
I Dare Korval
Poor Ilunor , he's about to get knocked down from Delux Kobold to Bargin Basement Kobold by the time Emma is through with him. But at least we will get to see what sort of information indoctrination Nexus citizens have been put through. I hope Emma isn't too merciless as she rips the lies apart and asks the questions they never though too. I'm a little surprised Thacea didn't speak up a bit considering she knows more than the other two about what Earthrealm is capable of. Maybe she's using this as an opportunity to see further how Emma thinks and perceives their world.
Michael Halpern
the Library didn't object to Emma's claims "sea of stars" so its probably accurate
Vagner
This chapter has relieved the long wait, a week is sometimes a lifetime.
RevanReborn365
I am going to love watching the Discount Kobold eat his own words, yet again.
Alexander Leith
This makes sense to have the Nexian perspective happen first. Definitely more fun to see what a magically based society would come up with as an explanation.
Willow Arkan
Maybe the "gods" were the light "behind" the "fabric" of the sky and thus the "tears" were the conduits with which the gods made themselves known
Willow Arkan
Wondering how asinine their conception will be, where between fundamentally different structure of space to propaganda soaked drivel it will be.
Gamerdestiny6
Gotta raise the ego to its highest to make the fall that much satisfying.
ArdenW
It will be interesting to see what Illunor and the native Nexians of the Crownlands are taught about what stars are. Clearly they don't think they're fireflies that got caught in that big blueish black thing or balls of gas burning billions of miles away or great kings of the past watching over us.
Sendoa
Looks like we’re going to have to wait a bit longer to see Ilunor’s ego getting crushed. But hey, at least we get to see the Nexian perspective
