NOVEL NEXT Chapter 246 - Finally!!
They met Tuk and Rel just as they reached their party room's door.
"Another surprise!" Tuk said, ever beaming with undying excitement. "What a day!"
At his side, Rel shook her head, but a smile played on her lips at the truggers antics. However, when Nar met her eyes, her smile dimmed, sadness coloring her now healthy alfin features. Nar widened his own smile in response and gave her a shake of his head.
Another one that will want to talk about it, he realized, as he waited for the other three to enter first.
Mul, Cen, Gad and Jul were already seated and waiting around the circular table for their party leader.
"So, what's the surprise?" Tuk asked.
The tank shook her head.
"No idea," she said, and motioned to her tablet. "But he sounded happy, so I can only expect that this one will be a good one."
"Hmph. I'll believe it when I see it," Mul said, not lifting his head from his touch screen, from where some kind of heavy duel between combat classes flashed and raged.
Tuk stuck his tongue out to the ever-grumpy brawler and took a seat on the opposite side of the table.
"So, did you beat him?" Rel asked, sitting to Nar's left as Viy took his right.
"Ugh!" Viy said, burying her face in her hands.
Rel laughed at that. "Really?"
"I got too tired…" Viy muttered.
"The halberd is a lot heavier," Gad said. "It is to be expected."
"That's what I said," Nar told the dejected human. "You just need a bit more [Stamina] and [Vigor]. That's all."
"More like a Pile tone of it!" Viy said. "And [Speed]. And [Reflex]... And you're going to keep making gains too! Please, just let me hit you once, okay? You don't have to tell me you did it! I just need it to get my master off my back!"
Nar snorted. "Yeah, right! If I can help it, that thing's never touching me. Ever!"
"Booo!"
The sound of the door sliding open made them all pause and glance towards the entrance.
"Come on in, come on in!" Kur said. "And don't be nervous. They're mostly a good bunch!"
"Oh… Someone's here?" Rel whispered.
"What does he mean mostly?" Mul asked, arching an eyebrow.
"He means you!" Tuk whispered.
"Hush!" Gad said.
Kur stepped forward into the yellow light that shone above the table, and stepped aside to allow room for someone else to approach the light as well.
The newcomer was of a species of sapient that Nar had yet to see. Tall and slender, he stood on hooves, with five, thick claws softly gleaming in hues of black, four pointing forward, and one, much thicker claw pointing back. The visible bits of his arms and legs showed that his skin was covered in soft, short gray-green fur, and his features were angular as he regarded them all, but with a gentle tilt to them that invited trust.
His frazzled, thick mane of black hair ran down the sides of his face to form a pointed tip that covered his chin, but his face was clear of fur, revealing light, beige-green skin. His eyes were a sort of swampy green under an intelligent forehead, and long, downwards facing, furry ears completed the look of the newcomer, who also wore Tsurmirel black and brown apprentice attire.
"Jasphaer, meet everyone. Everyone, met Jasphaer," Kur introduced them with a wide grin. "Jasphaer will be joining us on a provisional basis as our new healer. If everything goes well, he'll be staying with us for the next two years."
Silence laid heavy over the room, as they all stared at the newcomer.
"Uh, hi. I'm Jasphaer," he introduced himself, rubbing the back of his slender neck with what Nar noticed was an average looking five fingered hand. "Like Kur says, I'm your provisional healer. If everything goes well over the next month, I'll… Stick around for the next two years, I guess. If that's okay with you guys?"
"Of course it is!" Tuk thundered, rising to his feet and startling the healer and everybody else in the room. "Holy Crystal! We're finally getting a healer!! Yes!"
Nar watched, in stunned silence, as Tuk dashed around the table and rushed Jasphaer, who for his part, had gone pale at Tuk's sudden approach. He took a half-step back, but undaunted, Tuk launched forward and scooped one of his hands into his and shook them both vigorously.
"Welcome! Welcome to the party!" Tuk said, grinning from ear to ear. "And are you moving in with us, too?"
"Uh… Yes, yes I am" Jasphaer said.
"Jasphaer is one of us from now on," Kur said, smiling at the healer. "We still need to use this month in the dungeons to see if we are compatible, but I think that everything's going to work out."
"Of course it will!" Tuk said, grinning. "It's great to have you with us!"
And just like that, Tuk broke the stunned daze that held the party, and people stood up, surging forth to greet and welcome their new party member.
"Calm down, calm down! No need to all come rushing!" Kur said, standing in between the pale healer and the surging party. "Let's just sit down for now, yeah? We can all take turns and introduce ourselves first!"
"Welcome to the party," Gad said, reaching a hand to the healer as Jasphaer took a sit beside her, Kur sitting on his other side. "My name is Gad. I'm the tank, so I thank you in advance for all your hard work with me."
Jasphaer gave her a small smile in return. "Ah, yes… We'll be working a lot together. I look forward to it!"
And one by one, Kur managed the introductions, going around the table.
"Did you just join us?" Cen asked, when they were done. "Or have you always been on-board the Scimitar?"
"I joined you guys at Haven," Jasphaer revealed. "Me and the other healers have been training in the Labyrinth for the past year, and before that… Well, I joined Tsurmirel a few years ago, and it's been mostly just classroom and practical assignments back in the Nexus. This year was our first, proper combat healing training that we got."
"Wow!" Cen said.
Nar smiled to himself as he recognized the telltale sign that Cen was about to erupt with a thousand and one questions, no doubt related to aura and aura healing.
"Your name…" Mul said, before his sister could begin bombarding the healer. "You're not an Ex-Climber, are you?"
There was a collective groan and an angry stare was aimed at the brawler.
"What?" he said, looking genuinely confused. "I was just curious!"
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Jasphaer smiled at him.
"It's all good. Don't worry about it," he told the brawler. "And no, I'm not an Ex-Climber. I'm what we call an X-Gen. Someone who is a descendant of Ex-Climbers, but who's Nexus born. I hope that's alright…"
"Why wouldn't it be?" Mul said, his voice going flat as he gave the table a blank look. "I was just curious."
"Ah… Fair enough, then," Tuk said, grimacing. "I was going to ask too."
"Of course you were!" Viy shouted, slapping his shoulder.
Nar shook his head. Knowing the ring tosser, Mul had just beat him by a split second of hesitation, as he wondered if it was alright or not to ask such a question. That sort of hesitation, however, was not something that ever slowed down Mul.
"You can tell us about it, if you want. We don't know anything about the Nexus, and we'd love to hear more about it. We really are still pretty much lost out here," Kur told the healer. "But if you don't want to talk about it, that's also fine. This party respects individual privacy."
Jasphaer nodded.
"Thank you, but really, it's no bother," Jasphaer said, smiling shily. "If anything, I'm just a little… Well, I feel a bit bad given how much more combat experience you all have. Uh, given that you Climbed and all that."
"You'll get it, don't worry," Gad said. "There's nothing but combat experience coming our way."
And that caused a collective grimace to go around the table.
"Yeah… Well, where do I start," Jasphaer said, tapping a finger on the table.
Nar leaned in, curious to know about the healer's life, and dreading to find just how bad it could be, given everything they had been told.
"So, I'll start with my ex- Climber ancestors, I guess," Jasphaer said, awkwardly looking away from their curious, and in some cases even hungry, stares. "They were called Jaw and Vas, and they were both quams who made it out of the Gates, from different parties, and decided to settle down in the Nexus, where they eventually met each other. From what I've been told of their lives… Well, they weren't great, but they weren't too bad either. Certainly not as bad as being down in a cubeplant, I hope!"
He looked around nervously and Kur gave him a reassuring nod to keep going.
"Anyways, tradition is that when ex-Climbers marry, they join their names to form a common name to give themselves and their children, since they don't have family names," the healer said. "Eh, a family name is like a second name that people have. It's… Usually shared by all family members."
"People have two names?" Tuk asked in shock.
"The captain has two names," Kur reminded him.
"Yeah, but she's a captain! I thought it was a special thing!" the trugger said.
"Well, not really. Two names, three, five, ten… It just depends on how much XP you have to throw around," Jasphaer said with a shrug. "Uh, you know about this, right?"
"Yeah, names are expensive, aren't they?" Rel asked the healer.
"And how! And the more and longer they are, the more expensive they get of course," Jasphaer said. "Anyways, Jaw and Vas settled on the obvious Jas name combo, and they just went from there. Their children became the first generation of ex-Climbers that were born in the Nexus, then their kids became the second, and so on…"
"And what gen are you?" Viy asked.
"I'm a very, very loose 7th-gen," Jasphaer said, a hint of pride in his voice. "Of course, most parents want their children to have a better life than they did, so as soon as they can, usually by 2nd or 3rd-gen, there will be enough XP in the family to allow for the next generation to grow up as aethermancers."
"That's possible?" Cen asked, half raising her hands to her mouth.
"Of course… If you have the XP for it, your kids can be aethermancers," the healer said. "You just need to be able to pay the fees to one of your local neighborhood shrines. Uh, I mean, in order to bond with a spirit!"
"Damn…" Nar whispered. "So that's how it goes out here."
It was a startling thought. Of course, he had no intention of having children any time soon, but just to know that his very own children could grow up to become aethermancers… It was hard to even fathom such a concept.
"I'm guessing that some ex-Climbers also marry aethermancers?" Kur asked gently. "Or is that forbidden?"
"What? No! Of course not! And amongst poor people, a mixed couple like that doesn't have as much of an impact as for normal people," the healer said, in a light tone. "Sure, there are still a lot of inconveniences and hurdles, but for the most part it's sort of alright… People make it work for love."
"Wow… And there's no issues in… You know?" Tuk asked. "The deed?"
"Tuk!" Cen shouted, flushing dark grey.
"No! It's a very good question!" Jasphaer said, chuckling. "And no, there are no issues. Eh… There's a good deal of biology I could tell you, and it really, really depends on the species but…"
He scanned the table and his eyes settled on Rel, who set up straighter with an alarmed expression.
"Say, for alfin like species, where the mother gets impregnated and gestates the baby, if the father is an auramancer and the mother is an aethermancer, then there are no issues at all. The father's aura stays with the father and has nothing to do with the fetus," he explained. "If the mother is an auramancer, then there is also no issue at all, because the fetus is not bonded to any spirit, and thus has no aether of its own either… Also, the fetus placenta is incredibly powerful and capable of protecting both mother and fetus from such undesirable effects. But beyond that, if you consider for example, that if Rel had a child with a morsvar, her body would need to be protected from the… Er, baby's spikes as they develop…"
A flush spread across his cheeks, and Jasphaer scratched the back of his head and looked away from a beaming red, stunned silent Rel.
"Sorry, I got a bit carried away! Useless healer's chatter and all that…"
"It's not useless at all!" Cen quickly said, despite the dark flush on her own cheeks. "That's super interesting!"
"Yeah, I never actually stopped to think about that," Kur said. "Of course, down in the cubeplant we don't mix like that, and yes, the baby has no aether and no aura either. So there won't be any reactions..."
"None," Jasphaer said. "No matter what the… Uh, process of baby making entails, there's never any issues. And then there's some species who don't develop their babies internally. Like egg laying species…"
Nar looked at Rel at that, as did most of the others.
"I'm not laying eggs!" she muttered, slapping the table. "And why am I still being used as the example?"
"Ah, no she wouldn't. Even if the father was a…"
Rel frowned at him.
"Sorry. I'll stop," he whispered, his long, furry ears falling flat along the sides of his face.
"Anyways, you said you were a loose 7th-gen? What does that mean?" Tuk asked.
"My family is just a regular, upper Minus aethermancer family now, and we've had new family names joining ours," Jasphaer explained. "The original family name still stands as Jas, as it's too expensive to extend it. Instead, the family has just been adopting already established aethermancer family names. It's a lot better to put the XP down towards a mortgage or aethermancy education for your kids, you know… And pretty much ex-Climber gen-X does it, leaving the original auramancer family name behind at some point."
"It's that expensive?" Mul asked. "The family name, I mean."
"You bet! Registering a new family name is not too bad, but extending it past three letters is insanely expensive, and each subsequent letter gets more and more expensive! I don't think my family, even after all these years, could afford to add a fifth letter to the name Jasp," Jasphaer said, his green eyes opening wide. "And this stuff is important because if your family name is too short, it's usually a dead giveaway that you're an ex-Climber descendant, and that kind of association is usually not one you want to be attached to. Of course, my family still honors our auramancer roots where we can, and that's why I'm called Jasphaer!"
"And your family name?" Kur asked.
"Tharnther," Jasphaer said, smiling at their stunned expressions. "A proper long name, very O-Nexian, so no one knows we are descendants from ex-Climbers."
"Makes sense, I guess?" Tuk said, hesitant, in the silence that followed Jasphaer long winded explanation. "O-Nexians don't like us ex-Climbers much, do they?"
Jasphaer's darkening expression was all the confirmation they needed.
"But then, why are you an auramancer?" Mul asked the healer. "Unless you can use aether to heal us?"
Jasphaer's expression brightened immediately and he barked out a laugh.
"No way that would ever work!" he told the brawler. "No, I'm a proper auramancer just like you all, and yes, my decision did cause a bit of a stir in my family… It's kind of seen as going backwards, you know? Uh… sorry."
"No need to keep apologizing over it," Mul said, gruff in his tone, but honest in his intentions. "Why did you pick aura?"
"Well, I wasn't really going anywhere as an aethermancer so…"
"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Cen shouted. "You were an aethermancer?"
Jasphaer nodded, confused, then his eyebrows shot his forehead.
"Oh! Yes, you probably heard that it's a big deal to change between the two?" he asked them.
"Yes!" Cen almost shrieked.
"Well, it would be now," Jasphaer said, looking down the length of his own body. "I have a lot of aura inside of me now, much, much more than the little aether I had from our tiny, neighborhood spirit patron. Given my channels and my [Aura] now, I can't really change anymore."
"Why did you do it?" Jul asked, the first time she had spoken since introducing herself.
The healer shrugged.
"The little bit of aether I had wasn't really going to do much for me in terms of climbing up in the O-Nex," he said, his tone light, but his eyes glazing over. "And to get more aether required XP that my parents didn't have. That I would never have, not working the types of jobs I could… So when I stumbled upon Tsurmirel's free healer training program, I thought I'd give it a shot. I was alright in school, and my parents always said I had a good head on my shoulders so… I tried it, it worked, and here I am. Ready to make stupid amounts of XP as an auramancer battle healer."
He shrugged again.
"Besides, once I have enough XP, I can always retire, and open up my own practice. Erm, that's a healer's service, to the people," he explained, a smile touching his lips. "It will be good XP, and I'll be able to afford a lot of things for my family and hand it down to my kids. They will be proper aethermancers then…"
"Including your auramancer family name?" Tuk asked, gently.
"Yeah… Maybe. We'll have to see," Jasphaer said, squirming in place. However, his earnest smile did not leave his face.
I think he's a good guy, Nar thought. I think he'll do.
"And that's basically the way it is. Any other questions?" he asked. "I'm happy to answer any…"
Viy shot her hand up in the air before he was even done.
"Me! Me!" she shouted. "Can I see you healing something?"
"Ooooh!" Tuk, Nar and Mul echoed together, eyes shining.