Aether Engineering

Chapter 54

Maston Academy

The Town of Maston in the Candis East District

“Where do you think you’re going?” The voice caused a chill to run down Myles’ spine. He felt his worst fears being confirmed. Whatever this organization was, they weren’t about to just let two unknowns leave.

Myles slowly turned around, facing the bartender. “We’re not allowed to leave, then?”

Arnold gave a good-natured chuckle. “It always surprises me how afraid newbies are.” He gestured to two of the stools in front of his bar. “I think we should have a talk.”

Jane looked at him suspiciously. “Why should we trust you? We could just run.”

Arnold raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t recommend that. Some of those who left will be waiting for you to leave. They’ll want to follow you and discover your identities. From there, they’ll keep tabs on you, waiting until you can become a useful pawn.”

Myles weighed their options. He decided to take a seat. Arnold was probably right. Some of the others had shown a certain interest in them.

Arnold put his hands on the counter. “First things first. I want to reassure you that the organization isn’t evil.”

Myles couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows behind his mask. “You’re a group of assassins, killers, and thieves. You discussed doing truly horrible things tonight.”

Arnold scowled. “We use what tools we need to, but do not misunderstand, not a single person here tonight was truly evil. Each of them is trying to fulfill the organization’s mission.”

Jane leaned closer, keeping a close eye on their surroundings for possible escape routes. “And what is this mission of yours?”

“Simple. The organization has long been devoted to improving the world, making it a better place for humanity. We are those who work for the future.”

Myles frowned. “It seems to me that you’re failing.”

Arnold sighed, taking a drink from his glass, downing a little bit of wine. “Making the world a better place is a broad objective. Many of our number pursue interests that conflict with each other, causing disagreements that get people killed, cities burned, and nations destroyed.” Arnold held up his glass to the light, angling it perfectly to make it sparkle from the flames that burned behind the bar. “For every failure the organization has made though, our sins are still outweighed by good. We have pathed the way for success. In this province alone, our work has borne fruit. When I was still young, monsters ravaged the land, far stronger ones than what we have wandering outside now. Now, a great barrier both protects and unites the people.”

The great railway. Myles had heard it spoken of like that before. In its creation, the province had at once created a safe means of transport between the three greatest cities in the province and created a great barrier. Soldiers could be moved along its length at high speeds, allowing them to intercept more monsters than ever before. Through trade and cooperation, the soldier’s had been equipped with more powerful aether constructs too. The result was an area cordoned off that was kept safer than most any place in the world.

Of course, Myles knew that the railroads hadn’t been a perfect solution. There were still plenty of dangerous monsters that were able to either sneak past the barrier or were simply created in the province. Besides he had never heard of this organization’s involvement in that.

“You’ve heard of the railway war, right?”

Of course, Myles had. His own father had dies in the war when he was young.

“The armies of three surrounding provinces forged their way across the voidlands, eager to attack the upstarts.” Arnold set his glass of wine down. “You, see? Before the railroad was built, Rord was one of the weakest, most insignificant provinces in the empire. Our lowly position meant minimal support from the empire and increased tribute payments. In other words, the province was stuck in an endless cycle. We couldn’t grow stronger because we had no resources, and we had no resources because we were too weak.”

Myles knew all of this perfectly well. “It wasn’t the organization that did that though. It was the aether engineers of Verrith. It was them that created what was needed.”

Arnold shook his head. “That’s a naïve look. Do you know how our army managed to defend against three other provinces?”

“The railroad let us transport soldiers quickly. We were able to match each attack with a larger force.”

“Now think about it more carefully. Why do you think the other provinces would wait for the railroad to be built before they attacked?”

Myles paused. It was a good question. Why hadn’t they attacked as soon as they heard the railroad was being built. There were records indicating it had taken years to finish building it.

“Coordinated attacks were conducted on three provinces. Crucial supplies needed to mobilize armies were stolen, politicians supporting a war effort were assassinated. This was all done by the organization. All done to improve life here.”

Arnold moved over to his cabinet again, pulling out two files. “Everyone who has ambitions eventually find their way to the organization. We count thieves, murderers and assassins among our numbers, true, but we also have kings, religious leaders, and heroes. Take this.”

Myles grabbed one of the files offered to him. Inside was detailed information on a variety of subjects, requests for aid in missions, and more.

“I’m an informant, one of countless men throughout the world who has taken on the role of collecting information from organization members and redistributing it. If you need information, seek out an informant. You can find a list of all the organization’s hideouts in the province. Stop in whenever you need something.”

Myles found himself dumbly scratching his head. He had no idea what to make of this organization. They seemed disorganized and divided, but perhaps they could be useful.

“Hey Arnold,” Jane spoke, “do you have any information on Reah? We heard there was being targeted.”

Arnold’s face went pale. “There are certain things that only senior members of the organization are allowed to be given. I assume you heard that from Ivory since he should be the only one who knows about those orders. The truth of the matter is that we were given a mission from the higher ups, one that only senior members can have access to.”

That was frustrating. Right now, that was the only information they really cared about.

Myles stood up, looking at the door. “Do you think they’re still waiting out there?”

Arnold chuckled softly. “I suspect that they’ll spend all night out there waiting.” Arnold gave them a wink. “Don’t worry though we have a second exit.”

Arnold moved over to one of the kegs that had been placed in the corner of the bar. With a rapid series of movements, he twisted and turned the keg in its entirety. It was done so quickly that Myles had to believe the keg was empty. He didn’t see how it could be done otherwise.

In one of the walls, a door opened where none had been before. It looked to be a tunnel of some sort.

“One more thing before you leave.”

Myles turned around, already halfway out the door.

“The organization is protected by a curse of sorts. Nobody really knows how it works—probably some technique used by one of the higher ups. Regardless, it prevents anyone outside of the organization from understanding any information related to the organization.”

Myles almost scoffed at the idea. After all, the power that arcaners used was very logical. There was no way anyone could gather enough mana in their aether space to perform a technique like that. Still, Myles remembered how he hadn’t been able to read the entry on The Ivory Force until he had been inducted as a member. It was another reminder of just how little Myles knew.