172. Cosmic Compression

172. Cosmic Compression

I was excited about what Lily had in mind for me tomorrow. She told me that she would give me more specialized training than what we had been doing before. Which made sense, since she was training me without even knowing my Class or levels beforehand. Speaking of, she finally decided to ask me about my Class and Skills now that she was trying to tailor a test for me.

“So, you’re an [Adept of the Fae]?”

She raised a dubious brow, and I nodded.

“Yep! I got the Class and everything! It asked me to seek out the secrets of Fairies!”

Snorting, the Fairy threw herself back, lying in the air.

“Of course it’d tell you to do that. Do you know what that Class was originally used for, Salvos?”

“No, what is it?”

“It was used for worshipping Fairies.”

“Huh.”

I frowned, tapping a finger at my chin. That meant—

“It was used by those people who made Fairy Temples?”

“Yes.”

She nodded and flitted up.

“It’s an archaic Class— almost nonexistent these days, probably. But those who sought out the wisdom of us Fairies were the ones who originally built those shrines and monuments on our behalf. They ignored our complaints, telling them to leave. They continued to harass us, until our Queen had enough.”

I perked up.

“That’s when Melissa the Oracle of Light destroyed the city of Brilsum, right?”

“And many more.”

“Woah.”

I found it amazing, even if Daniel and Edithe didn’t. I expected Lily to share the same sentiments as me, but she actually seemed upset over it.

“Stupid Humans, wroughting their own destruction.”

She sighed.

“It was justice. Vindication. I wasn’t around during that era, but I spoke to those who were around. You may envy them, Salvos. Think that such praise and worship are something to strive for. But believe me, it wasn’t anything you’d imagine. It was an obsession. Fairies were being kidnapped and experimented on. They were being dissected, as if something about our birth makes us better at space magic?”

Lily paused. Her eyes went hollow.

“But the death— the misery that came after. We did it to protect ourselves. However, it still was a terrible, terrible thing.”

“Humans are stupid, yes. But people die every day. Also, it’s not like it bothered you, right? I don’t see what the problem is.”

“Just because it doesn’t affect me doesn’t mean I can’t feel sympathy towards the suffering of others.”

I frowned, placing a finger on my chin.

“But why?”

“Every mistake a person makes is a mistake you can fall into yourself. Every moment of pain, despair, and anger they feel is something you will feel once in your life. Listen carefully Salvos, your Class is not inherently evil. But those who previously walked down that path were so.”

She shook her head.

“You may walk down their same path. Or diverge from it. It is up to you. Just know that if you continue down this route, you will be reliant on us Fairies. Dependent on us. Maybe even a parasite, like those Humans of the past.”

Parasite? That was a harsh word.

“I’m not a parasite, I’m Salvos!”

“I know.”

There was a flicker. She looked away from me.

“But you’re young. In a decade or a century, who knows how you’ll be.”

Lily flew back to her Fairy Mound, waving at me.

“Get your rest. We’ll be busy tomorrow.”

—–

“Where are we going?”

Lily led me out of the cave, back into the Brilsum Ruins. We stood out on a cobbled street. Its stone was cracked, as if chiseled. The lines that cobwebbed the surface were so haphazard but uniform, that I couldn’t tell if they were from wear or a deliberate carving.

“You’ll see.”

She was quiet. Her glowing figure led me forward, a bright ball just like the sun. I followed her until we exited the inner city of Brilsum, past the fallen banclite walls— the powerful anti-magic materials, nothing more than dust and debris.

I heard a light buzzing growing louder. I narrowed my eyes as I saw the [Locust Vurats] in the distance, a swarm of thousands of them. Maybe even tens of thousands. They were small. Far tinier than the ordinary [Vurat] counterpart, which were more akin to the size of a dog. These were like really big bugs. And they were very annoying.

“Ugh, they’re coming again.”

I prepared to breathe fire at this swarm blanketing the sky. But Lily lifted a small hand.

“Wait.”

She pointed at where they came from. Something in the distance. It looked like it had once been a mansion, so glorious in how it stood. But it was covered in nature and vines. Or at least, it had been, until the [Locust Vurats] came.

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Now, it was decorated red and black. The corpses and bones of dead animals, monsters, and people dyed over the walls of the manor.

“Do you see that? That’s the Lair of those annoying [Locust Vurats]. They were attracted by all the corpses littering the Brilsum Ruins the moment Belzu left. But unlike regular [Vurats], they don’t just feed on the dead. They see it as a treasure. So, they take it, and hoard it. Not to eat. Not to feast. But to keep.”

“Huh.”

That sounded weirder than storing food to eat for later like Humans did. Why couldn’t you just eat whenever you were hungry, rather than keeping it for when you were hungry later? It wasn’t so difficult to just grab the bugs off the air and munch on them for a snack.

“But the [Locust Vurats] can disperse. It’s not difficult to make them flee. All you have to do is take their treasures from them. That’s your task for today, Salvos. Clear that mansion of the corpses. Spread them far and wide. Break up this Lair so the [Locust Vurats] have no reason to stay in this Dungeon any longer.”

I blinked and pieced something together in my mind.

“Hey! You just want me to deal with your pests for you!”