Chapter 329: Alluded Struggles

———Lerim———

<1: 11 pm>

“This one looks kinda weird.” Evari said as she noticed the giant meatball that has multiple layers once she cut into it.

“Bored, and I need to practice other methods as well, see how well magic can be involved.” I explained myself. More complicated and time consuming cooking methods could be simplified with magic. Usually you would need really niche and expensive tools for such a task, but I obviously don’t want to pay for those, and this means more practicing.

“I see…” She muttered while looking and poking at each layer of the giant meatball before chomping down without a shred of dignity anyway. “Still gamey.”

“Nothing to be done about that.” There is something I can do, but it feels too risky. I can try to synthesize the monster meats to have a different flavor, but like with synthesizing in general, that comes with a risk of creating a very toxic substance. I don’t have the equipment to appraise for those, and I don’t want to risk my life for that when I can just mask it with flavorings.

“...By the way, there’s a lot of crazy rumors popping up lately, do you know anything about that?” She said, addressing the elephant in the room, or rather, the States.

“Nothing very specific. It’s just that this will no doubt earn the ire of a very specific subset of people that not even an entire nation can afford to offend, and so, we don’t do anything.” I answered semi-honestly. “Most of what is said online is true, but all the behind-the-scenes workings are beyond me.”

“That’s a bit reassuring to hear…” She commented. The fact that the rumors are talking about the government taking action across the nation would certainly make it hard for anyone who heard it to be relaxed, but from my own understanding of it, for now it’s only restricted to a few areas where they will ‘deal with the problem’, whatever that means. It seems to mean different things for each place they are targeting, so some areas might get blown up extra hard more than others if it weren’t for the others intervening. “...You know, it made me realize that trouble has been very rare nowadays. At most it’s just some petty thief or people forget they owe someone money.”

“That’s good. It would be bad if we actually have buildings being blown up and the like.” I pointed out. The repair costs for those things are not cheap nowadays, not that they have ever been remotely affordable.

“...So was anything that is very much not true?” She asked before she continued eating.

“Talks of nukes, for one. There is so little left that using it at all is just asinine.” For all we know all of it might’ve already been dismantled, so either way they aren’t gonna use them. “They want better control of the States, not to make it inhabitable.”

They really need it otherwise they will most likely lose control of certain states and they will perhaps even break off from the US, which would be a major blow. It doesn’t take knowledge about the political climate to understand how awful that looks. While there are rumors of similar things happening in other countries with small areas vying for independence, it just doesn’t have the same buzz.

“So like… all this is legit? Not some nonsense rumor like a rock by the water or scary spiky ring? She asked one more time just to be certain.

“Of course. I make sure to ask people who actually have insight into these things.” There are a lot of rumors in general of apocalyptic artifacts and such, but that’s an entirely different subject I didn’t pay much attention to. There’s no reason to talk about it at the moment. “Speaking of the water, I heard the sea has gotten a lot calmer.”

“Yeah… I mean. It has been calm for a long while now, last I checked…” She said, confused as to what I meant.

“I meant the deep sea, to be specific.” Should’ve said that at first. “A lot of activity from ancient slumbering creatures at first but most of them are going into slumber again.”

“...What?” She said, dumbfounded at my attempt to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“There’s a stream for it that not a lot of people know about. It’s just underwater footage from multiple cameras. The stream isn’t widespread right now.” I said before pulling out my phone and opening the stream so she can look through it.

“H-Hold on, is this for real?” She said, finding it hard to believe.

“Of course. Like with the rumors of the government taking real action, this one is properly verified.” I explained. “Not really sure why this is being streamed on this independent site, but hey, I’m sure whoever orchestrated it has the technical know-how to make it stay on the internet for as long as they want.”

“What is even the point of this?” She said while placing her phone on the table with the live footage on display. It shows footage of multiple cameras that have sunk deep into the darkest depth of the ocean, yet the footage is clear.

“Probably just an interest of theirs. Most likely started as something they shared with their friends and left it up for public viewing for fun.” Idea alluded to that being the case when I asked them about it. They aren’t close to this individual, but they are a tech-savvy kind so they naturally have had an encounter in the past. “There were some eldritch-like beings down there that were moving around, but they have stopped moving these past couple weeks.”

“Oh come on did you have to say that out loud?” She said with a worried expression. “What if they’re planning something nefarious or something?”

“They’ll get smacked back down by the surface dwellers before they could muster a single greeting. There’s a reason they’re stuck at the depths. I heard it’s a long story involving humanity’s lost history.” And that is probably just scratching the surface of everything that happened back during that time. It seems that there used to be pretty advanced civilization back when we thought they were in wood houses and such, the civilizations from thousands of years ago seem to have more hidden secrets we never notice.

“...Do you even know about that?” She gets more and more bewildered by everything I muttered.

“Not really. The past stays in the past, as they said… Aside from the people that survived to the present day anyway.” No idea how many of those there actually are. No one who should have an inkling ever told me the estimate. “There’s a lot of untold stories we’re not privy to, and there’s no need to dig into it for now with troubles brewing because of the present political climate. I’m just talking about all of this because it has gotten dull as of late.”

“It really has. Just a different routine, it feels like.” She added. No matter how extraordinary the routine is, repetition is still a killer. At least for me I can travel to faraway towns and cities without much time or effort, but for the others there is no doubt the sense of dullness that might cause their performance to drop. Morale is always an important thing for… anything, really.

“Ah… If only more shows were in production and broadcast, maybe the world would be less dull. It’s like we go back to the cable TV days with a lot less things to watch.” I said, bringing up a point that makes everything feels a bit duller than it has been despite the revelation of fantastical elements existing in reality. “Or maybe if people were more daring with their dungeon runs and such. Aside from Karra and other connected individuals, no one really provides the new form of entertainment.”

“Unless we get new super miraculous healing resources or at least affordable health care, no way in hell anyone is gonna do that.” She pointed out. “...What about that simulation battle you showed us before? Wouldn’t that be good?”

“That’s what EX-VR is for, but no one has figured that out yet.” I didn’t know about it having a similar function to that school simulator or whatever, but Karra has played it so she should be certain about that claim.

“...What even is that game?” She asked, once more bewildered by a familiar name that is now something with all questions and no answers.

“Maybe they’ll figure that out soon… maybe. I’m surprised EX-VR hasn’t taken over the whole wide world. It’s not as if the device for it is that expensive. I know I don’t have one, but it’s a good piece of tech, right?” It’s been a few years since it got on the market and while it’s popular it doesn’t have the universal reach I thought it would.

“I don’t know, maybe all the wars and stuff happening take people’s attention away.” Evari throws out that possibility. “Weren’t we… super close to an actual World War, now that I think about it?”

“That’s what a lot of people have been saying, but that’s not my area of expertise.” It’s an underlying dread that no doubt eats away at a lot of people, but there’s no need to worry about that now, so can’t they relax a bit and maybe pay attention to me instead? Or anyone else for that matter? “The current situation is more preferable than that, at least.”

“Yeah, at least for us.” She said without alluding to anything specific. There are going to be conflicts no matter what. It’s just that this time around, there is magic involved, and the areas that have conflicts aren’t quite the same as before the Eclipse.

“...Well, perhaps it’s best to not say anything else on that matter.” I said so we don’t need to breach into something more uncomfortable.

———Wiina———

<2: 03 pm>

*Strike* *Graze* *Evade* *Swing*

Been a while since I’ve seen a street brawl like this. They are using their strength to their fullest to solve this little dilemma between the two. I don’t know either of them nor any investment in it beyond being a random spectator.

…Well, aside from the fact that even two mediocre fighters can cause serious collateral damage to the area. While nothing has been demolished just yet with only a broken sign here and a crack in the pavement over there, it is still something that would be inappropriate of me to not prevent unnecessary damage, and if things actually get to the point of lethal damage, I might as well make sure to prevent that as well. It’d be a sour taste for this little trip otherwise.

*Punch* *Kick* *Strike*

The sloppy fighting style and the rather inelegant trade of blows is on full display. Nothing out of the ordinary despite the superhuman strength that only those who are brave enough to fight so openly would possess in this new age. Each attack pushes the other person far, like being hit by a moving vehicle instead of a fist, and in the same observation tanking such a thing to stand back up is also not something a human would usually do, especially from multiple attacks.

No spells being flung is a sign of lack of mastery or even comprehension in basic spells. The majority of people outside the school still can’t do more than conjure a small ember or tiny rocks that only cause minor annoyance at worst. Not the level of improvement many were hoping for, but since there are few exceptional individuals that have already popped up in just this country alone, no one is intending on creating more problems, fortunately.

*Strike* *Bash* *Launch*

Ah. One of them is sent flying and is about to hit a building, getting hit right in the ribs with a strong bone-shattering strike.

*Shine* *Swerg* *Crash*

I silently erect an invisible barrier to shield the glass wall he was about to crash into, and while he is still badly injured by the impact the building doesn’t have a single scratch on it.

“Hey! Stop this at once!” Someone yelled out as he and his companions ran towards the scene of the crime with weapons in hand, ready to apprehend the man who is now holding the advantage in this fight.

“Tsk!” He clicked his tongue before running away with the group pursuing him while the bystanders steer clear, not daring to approach the young man bleeding on the ground, blood coming out of his mouth and no energy to even stand back up.

If left unattended he would be bed-ridden for a few months minimum, and that’s not even mentioning the cost of recovery… I suppose this is severe enough for me to intervene.

*Shine* *Mend*

I walked over to him and cast a healing spell that left him startled and no doubt still processing it. The swift recovery from a powerful healing spell tends to leave the recipient feeling numb and taking time for the brain to catch up.

The normal bystanders notice my handiwork and look at me with suspicion and awe. I am still concealed by the hoodie casting an unnatural amount of shadow on my face, meaning unless you get extremely close to my face it’s all darkness from their point of view.

“Simply passing by.” I said before walking away without letting get that much to process what just happened. I don’t care enough to stay around stringing them along for a bit before quietly disappearing. Maybe if the situation was more interesting or a place I am familiar with, but this is simply an unremarkable town I came across.

*Zoom*

Once I was out of everyone’s vision I teleported back to the school rooftop and took off the hood, letting the strong wind at this high altitude hit my face and hair.

Hmm… Rico is being pretty brutal with her training today, but it’s simply a higher intensity version of what she did this Wednesday.

…Aside from that, there is nothing for me to do that needs my divided attention, at least not in the time-frame of the school curriculum. I’ll leave myself here on standby then, just enjoying the wind while the me down there look at the others with pity.