Adam may have seemed displeased with Professor Hendrick's over-friendliness to the aliens, but he wasn't dumb enough to drive a wedge between him and his only current ally. In fact, Professor Hendrick was the one to ask for his assistance in giving their side leverage in this trade, but Adam soon realized that the professor had run out of things that might interest Kahori and was hoping Adam would be able to provide more to exchange.
The aliens had the professor at a disadvantage, and if he didn't offer more, his value would plummet. Adam affirmed that the professor would still be the middleman, but if the aliens needed to trade, they would have to stop beating around the bush, especially with him now in charge.
But it turned out it was simpler than he thought.
"The aliens are after Runestones."
Adam declared to his inner circle after gathering them.
"Let me guess, these are the source of runes." Kave smiled with confidence as it was one of his leading theories.
"I assumed it was their currency, but they are cunning. Strip away their alien facade, and they'll just be like those door-knocking salespeople, money parasites."
"And those stones? What do we know about them?" Megan asked.
"They showed me a smooth fluorite Runestone of Recovery." Adam said, and looked at Megan, "This is where you come in, Magpie."
"Oh, yeah. Time for the Magpie to shine." Kave also agreed.
"Come on! Just because they are shiny things doesn't mean I have to know anything about them." Megan sighed with a tired face.
"You don't?" Adam looked at her doubtfully as he continued, "Do we have to bring up the Era of the Dark Magpie?"
"Anything but that!" Megan pointed, deathly stares carrying power deep from within, "You'll die by a thousand cuts."
"Now, I am curious." Elena crossed her arms, looking with a wide smile at Megan, but it seemed that Adam and Kave wouldn't easily spill the beans on this one.
"Ugh! I like gemstones like any other woman on this blasted rock. Why is this a surprise?" Megan sighed with a tired face.
"The Dark Magpie didn't just like gemstones." Kave exclaimed.
"She was almost making a cult." Adam nodded at him, "Positive energy, chakras, spiritual roots…"
"Don't forget the scam reports that almost got us all rounded up." Kave pointed before exchanging a loud laugh with Adam, right before the two noticed Megan glaring at them.
"You two will regret it." She said, dramatizing her tone as she pointed fingers at them.
"What matters is that you know your gemstones, right?" Elena interrupted the banter of the trio.
"I do." Megan stopped stabbing the two with her sharp nails and faced Elena, "Adam, you said it's fluorite. Did you scan it with the System?"
"I did, but it was mostly information about the rune." Adam nodded.
"No quality information?" She asked.
"It said it was common." He replied.
"Makes sense. Fluorite is indeed beautiful, but it's pretty cheap. All the ones I saw came from China, but it's the official state mineral of Illinois." Megan said, and thought for a while before pointing, "If that was common, then we are looking at the same five ranks of rarity we understood through your puppets' quality."
"Yep." Adam nodded, "We should expect Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and of course…" He turned to Elena and, with a dramatic bow, "Unique!"
"Thank you for the compliment, sir." Elena smiled, fully getting into the mood of being part of this group, "The runestones, though, what is the relationship between the gems, the quality, and the runes?"
As Elena asked a very good question, the four were approached by Buzz, who whispered something to them, and the four looked at each other.
"Everyone to their position. Elena, I guess your question may soon be answered." Adam said, and turned to the large gate of the factory, Megan to his left and Elena to his right.
Kave backed out along with Buzz as the two joined Stone above the rail. They took optimal positions for defense, and their motions started alerting those in the shelter.
Soon, the aliens would be coming. It was a message from the team Adam had positioned away from the factory, and he wanted to center himself in an advantageous position to face the leader of the aliens who was coming.
Right at that moment, Kahori and the professor came down from upstairs and seemed about to inform Adam of the arrival of the incoming delegation, but they were surprised to see him standing ready.
As they descended and the rest of the students who were armed with weapons gathered toward the gate, Candice approached Elena.
"Hey, I told the boys to be ready the way you said. The professor wouldn't be happy we're showing hostility to his valued guests." Candice added, looking at the professor, who was detecting the actions of his students with discomfort, "I just don't like that he spends that much time with the aliens. Raj is okay with it, though."
"The professor is a man of passion, Ms. Candice. It has its advantages, but we need to be careful with him." Adam said, pleased that Elena was able to get Candice into acting defensively.
The professor asked him to create leverage, and this was the best way he could for the time being. With a little bit of hostility, the salespeople would be the ones putting offers on the table.
Behind Candice, another face emerged.
"Hey." An Asian young woman with green strands and an interesting assortment of piercings and accessories walked over.
"Ms. Yuki." Adam smiled at the young woman.
"Is Sharp here?" She asked with a flat tone before continuing, "I can feel him around."
The question was startling, but Adam still nodded, "He's in the neighborhood."
"Alright." Yuki said and walked away with little interest in what was going on.
The others frowned, so Adam explained, "Sharp and Yuki seemed to like each other, apparently."
"Our Sharp?" Elena asked and looked at Yuki's back with lecherous eyes, "Our resident serial killer has an eye for quality indeed."
"She can hear you, you know!" Candice said, and turned, "Once she awakened the system, her Senses skill turned out to be so animalistically high, it bordered on madness for a couple of days."
"God! How high?" Megan asked.
"She said Level 11." Candice replied.
Adam and Megan almost shivered from the revelation.
Level 11, huh! We thought there was a level cap for skills! Who would have known? Adam thought inwardly, making notes with the Sage. Remember not to stealth-fart around her! Don't think too loud, even! The Senses skill amplified 11 times? That thing can detect cardinal sins.
Adam tried hard to suppress the Sage skill as it kept spiraling into intrusive thoughts before forcing himself to a question, a method to make the Sage think of something else.
"So, she awakened? When?"
"The professor made everyone awaken once the alien lady told us how. He told us to circulate the runic artifacts for a night each." Candice replied and nodded her head toward the professor, "Even he awakened."
"That's a pretty good idea in my opinion. We'll do that at camp then." Adam decided, and it seemed that both Elena and Megan were in agreement.
"You think?" Megan asked.
Adam was about to reply, but right then and there, they all heard the sound of something strange, as if something was beating a drum, making beat vibrations without an actual drumming sound. It reminded most people of how loudspeaker cones would vibrate in beats.
The professor gave a signal for the students by the gate, and they pressed the button to open the two sides simultaneously, creating a dramatic effect as the outside light shone brightly into the dark interior of the shelter.
There, something big appeared in the large parking lot in front of the factory. Not big enough to startle everyone, but it made everyone take a few steps forward just to encompass it in their vision.
"Is that… a flying saucer?" Megan was the first to ask.
"Well, what do you know?!" Adam let out a single dry laugh at the large Unidentified Flying Object that was landing in front of the shelter.
Aliens were real; why not UFOs?
Suspended midair, the UFO looked circular from beneath as it gradually descended. Unlike typical movie scenarios where aliens beam down in a pillar of light, this craft was clearly landing.
The surprise, however, was its design. While its underside appeared sleek and distinctly alien, its upper half was a wooden, round cabin with an intricate and beautiful design, reminiscent of a closed gazebo with extended, curved-up roof rakes; the kind of aesthetic one might expect from a fantasy race.
As the UFO approached the ground, the soundless beats echoing from its lower half started to lose their effect. As it settled, the gazebo above started to open its doors one by one from all sides, and warriors armed with shields and spears emerged, all in white masks lined with gold, looking sharply at everyone and everything around them. [A.n: UFO Concept Image in Patreon.]
Immediately, Kahori walked forward with wide steps, knelt before the UFO, then stood up immediately. There was no need to translate an inter-universal gesture of submission, for even the aliens knelt to their lords.
Adam watched closely as the alien warriors above immediately walked to the front of the UFO, forming two columns leading down to Kahori. Their white armor and black capes felt strange, as if they were trying to hide some sort of power beneath them, but the sheer radiance of their artifacts meant that each of them carried many runes, and it felt overwhelming just to look at them.
"Spears and shields, huh! I thought they would use ranged weapons for all that technology." Elena said with a snort.
"They are ranged." Adam replied with a sensation swelling from within, "Energy weapons and spears at the same time. Shields as well. These are some elite units from the looks of it."
"How do you know?" She asked.
"Just a war gamer's hunch." Adam replied and spoke to her in a flat tone, "Don't act stupid, we're clearly outgunned."
As he said, more aliens appeared from within the upper part of the UFO; however, they appeared non-combatants, wearing clothes similar to Kahori's. They looked close to her in appearance, but after a closer look, their facial features were a tad different, not an easy feat to tell apart unless one spent a lot of time among their kind.
Those two Alfari seemed more like servants since they greeted Kahori with respect. Each of the two servants then followed Kahori toward the group of humans, and holding fabric items, they stopped in front of Professor Hendrick, who was surrounded by Raj's and Ivan's groups.
"Master Sage, on behalf of Lord Kaimu, I offer you greetings." Kahori spoke, startling the professor, as her tone became rather formal and official, not as friendly as he was used to.
The professor cleared his voice, realizing this was more ceremonious than personal, and spoke:
"On behalf of myself and my people, I welcome Lord Kaimu to our humble shelter."
"Please, accept this garb as a customary piece of fashion to signify your status as a Sage for Lord Kaimu." Kahori said, clearing the way for the Alfari servant beside her, who approached him with a red piece of clothing, similar in fabric to the one Kahori wore, as she added, "It was fashioned specifically for human anatomy by the hands of Lord Kaimu."
"Oh, thank you greatly." Professor Hendrick heard that, and his expressions widened, accepting not just the clothing but the assistance of the Alfari servant who helped him wear it.
Adam's eyes narrowed. The Sage skill was buzzing in his head as the aliens turned to him.
A Red garb for a Sage, a Blue garb for a Merchant, Soldiers wearing Black cloaks, and those servants in the back wearing Brown. Classification by colors: Typical!
"Vindicator Clay." Kahori stopped opposite Adam and addressed him formally, "On behalf of Lord Kaimu, I offer you greetings. Please, accept this garb as a customary piece of…"
"Step back, alien." Adam cut her off, an angry look on his face, "If I were to wear something customary to meet your lord, it would be a tux, just like my culture dictates."
A few seconds' pause hung between the two groups, as Adam's and Kahori's eyes met. Adam knew a staring contest when he saw one, but against aliens without eyelids… yeah, he still wouldn't back down.
"Vindicator, it's an honorary garb that reflects the military nature and status of your title." She said, trying to convince him, albeit her tone was half-hearted, clearly not interested in this ceremony herself.
"My Justiciar Coat radiates the highest honor, alien." Adam replied.
No eyelids, no visible irises, but the eyeroll was nailed by Kahori's expressions and sigh.
"In that case, we follow the wish of the Vindicator." Kahori replied to Adam, sending the two servants away and stepping back herself until she reached the two columns formed by the UFO's guards.
She dropped to her knee in a quick motion and stood back up again, then cleared the way.
And it was then that humans laid eyes for the first time on an Elden.
Not many words can describe a member of the Elden caste—Rulers of Alfar—but as soon as he emerged, there was light radiating from him, which he visibly suppressed by his will alone.
He walked through his guards, taller, stronger, and in more alien garbs than the rest of them. His appearance was similar to the Alfari's, but there were radiating patterns running across his skin and face.
His eyes were darker, almond-shaped, and narrowing at everything he glanced at. He wore something akin to a skirt, covering his lower half as he moved, but his upper half was exposed, topless despite the cold air. Around his arms, there was a translucent fabric that he pulled behind him, before suddenly pulling it over his shoulders like a scarf, and it changed colors immediately, shifting between rose and blue in an animated effect that mimicked the waves of the sea.
As his feet reached the ground, he proved taller than even Captain Creed, yet thinner and leaner. There were patterns of muscles all over his body, but they were far from human muscles, as they looked arboreal and veiny.
His attention was immediately cast toward Professor Hendrick, but before moving, he reached out to his long black hair that went straight from his head to the back of his shoulder, and he pressed an area between his hairline and forehead, causing a faint light to glow and dim.
"It's an honor to meet a Sage!" He said, startling everyone.
This… he is not speaking with a translator rune! Adam shouted in his mind. It's English. Clear, plain English!
Everyone else had the same realization for some reason, and panic slipped into their thoughts at once.
"An honor to meet the people of this unfortunate world whose vast cities and intricate structures have defied what we know of marvels and architecture." The Elden spoke again, this time taking a step inside the shelter, his guards following, but he gestured for them to stop, "My condolences on what befell your world, for I know how great that pain is."
He then stepped toward the professor a couple more steps:
"Sage, know that the Elden welcome the counsel of your respected status, and offer you an office among the many Sages of our kind and the many allied races that fell victim to the horrors of the Rift."
Right with a recruitment offer, the Elden Lord hit the professor and everyone else with something surprising.
"Thank you, Lord Kaimu." Professor Hendrick spoke, his hands joining together, but aimed toward the Elden, "I'm afraid my place is among my people."
For that, the Elden replied:
"I expect no less of a reply from a Noble Sage." He said, and put on a similar gesture to the professor, "If one day our efforts bear fruit and this world is saved to fit our two races, I hope you pay a visit to the Fiya of the Rift!"
"I can't wait for the opportunity." The professor said, before ending his gesture.
Lord Kaimu put on a smile before looking through the crowd until his eyes found Adam.
"Justiciar Clay, don't let the customs of my followers offend you, for they annoy me just as much." He said, and his smile widened, "I have heard a tale of bravery and of great romance that moved me when my Envoy retold it. To brave the horrors with a band of heroes to find the soul you attune to is the greatest path we know. As an Artificer, my whole craft has been dedicated to people like yourself. Please, make use of my services as much as you can."
Adam frowned, usually turned off by over-friendliness, but this wasn't that. His mind raced, checking the alien's words for hidden meanings, trying to decipher his intentions, but the Elden was nothing but honest.
"I thank you, Lord of the aliens." Adam said, then paused, feeling distaste at ending his words here, so he continued, "For what it's worth, I hope this exchange is fruitful for all parties involved."
Even with an alien like that, Adam couldn't quite be as unfriendly and cold as he was with Kahori, the merchant who would give bite-sized information.
Now, with her employer in the scene, it felt like a higher class of information would be exchanged.
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