Mage Steel: A Western Sci-Fi Cultivation Series

THIRTEEN

"Where are we going?" Kon asked as the tram shuddered as it switched tracks. The packed tram smelled like sweat and body odor and Kon was busy cursing his enhanced senses again even as Benny and Alice sat without a care. Alice's new shield was packed into a heavy steel case that she kept a foot on while glaring at anyone who dared to get too close to them.

"Alice wants to try out her new toy and you can use a good spar from someone who doesn't think the peak of fighting is standing still and getting punched in the face," Benny said. He wasn't so petty as to glare at Alice, but the subject of his ire was obvious enough. She made a crude gesture with her hand without looking at him.

"There's Knights around who can spar with us?" Kon asked as he leaned against his seat. He couldn't stop looking at all the different people and the variety of dress around him. Most wore the simple gray jumpsuits that seemed standard fare for workers, but there were others. Robes, shirts, tunics, dresses, skirts, leggings, leather, silk, faux-cotton, and more that he couldn't recognize.

"There is, but I don't plan to bring any local Chapterhouses in or even worse, the local worldship Knights. Gossip whores, the all of them," Benny grumbled.

"So who are we sparring?" Kon continued.

"Potential recruits. Got a few mage houses I'm still in contact with. You'll have to be gentle with them, they're glass cannons. Alice will be there to keep anything from going too far," Benny said.

"Any of them be able to fight me?" Alice asked.

"Maybe. Matters of Alexandros decides to come down to sate his own curiosity." That was enough for Alice who went back to resting as the tram continued along. Kon allowed himself to sink back and watch the crowds.

"So different from the colony. Everyone there knew each other, wore the same clothes, or were related in one way or another," Kon told Alice.

"Fleets are like that. We have civilian based ships, nothing the size of this obviously, but when your whole world is only a few thousand people," she finished with a one shoulder shrug.

"You don't find this claustrophobic?" Kon asked. It wasn't the right word he meant to use, but it was the closest he could think of. It was more an overwhelming sense of being overwhelmed. All of the colors and differences, but the difference between this and the tournament was that everyone here was like him.

"No. I've been out of the fleets long enough that I'm used to it. Taken contracts on metropolitan worlds or been to larger areas. Not as many humans there obviously, but there are worlds where we have a strong presence. Tribute worlds are nice, there's human amenities and enclaves to work with."

Kon hummed and thought about that. Would the Ulmna worlds end up tribute worlds to pay for the help they were here to gather? Forced to pay tons of natural resources, food, water, and fuel to visiting fleets. Would Daniur and her fellow B-Grades be accepting of that? Did they have a choice? The thoughts kept him occupied until Benn got up from his seat and waved them off the train.

Alice scooped up her case and threw it over a shoulder as they patiently left the train. The boulevards were wide open here, easily twice the size of even the spacious halls they'd previously walked through. There were a lot less jumpsuits here and more intricate dress as well as jewelry. For the first time Kon saw armed guards who patrolled the halls in bright orange uniforms and were pleasingly helpful to the richly appointed.

A pair of them looked over toward them but took one look at Benny's battered armor and turned away. A few pointed looks were shot toward them, sneers artfully hidden behind hand fans that snapped open to cover their lower faces. It was a mirage of vistas that pointed toward them in wagging paper of rich dyes.

"I think they disapprove of us," Kon spoke softly to them. Alice snorted loudly which drew more glares from those around them.

"Let them sneer. You are my apprentice. When we take our place they will bow and scrape as is their due. These pretentious snobs are nothing more than jumped up merchants who have cling to their betters like parasites," Benny's voice was filled with enough venom that those around them lost their sneers, backed away quickly while turning their heads.

"Someone doesn't like merchants," Alice said with a dark chuckle.

"They are self-absorbed cretins. More than once humanity has been on the verge of collapse and never has it been the merchants who rode forth to spill blood to save ourselves. Even their treasure they are loath to give up, rather let the fleets burn than lose a single coin," Benny snarled.

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"Hatred was the word you were looking for," Kon mumbled to Alice as the two of them continued to follow behind Benny.

"Merchants have paid me a fair bit, but can't say I ever met one I would be willing to die for," Alice said.

"This is their district. On a ship with limited living space, they carved out their own ward and made it so that there was plenty of room for themselves. Hired guards to ensure no undesirables come up and lord it up. Even the nobles have less space than these blights," Benny explained as they turned a corner and left the wide open quasi-boulevards and started down narrower, but still side, halls.

There was even less here, no small stores or people walking around. Guards were posted on corners, less than the merchant quarter, but decidedly more stern. Stun batons were in their hands as they looked at them, but none of them were so dumb as to approach them.

Further they went and started down yet another corridor and for the first time since entering the area Kon began to see signs of age. Nothing to the extent of what Bob's hidden forge had been, nothing as apparent as rust and graffiti. Instead it was the quiet neglect of nobody walking the wide corridor with its vaulted ceilings. Dust gathered in corners and the artwork that framed the double wide blast doors that led somewhere were chipped and fading.

"The three parallel streets. Merchants, nobles, and the mage lords. When Oasis was taken and rebuilt, this entire ward was hollowed out and made into this. Those who are left are still allowed their privileges, but lack the money to keep them up," Benny explained.

"So this is where you live?" Kon asked as they kept walking.

"Once I lived here. With what was left of my family after the journey. There were few of us left even then. We had barely begun to replenish our numbers when the runework started and we found a less self-destructive path forward," Benny said.

"Why do people still do it even with a better path?" Alice asked.

"There have been advances that allow mage work to be safer. Less powerful, but safer. Formula are much more versatile that Knights, but they are heavily restricted as well. Have little to no extra strength of durability, require extensive and expensive training, and need specialized equipment as well. But mostly, tradition."

"Do you have any…descendants left who practice?" Kon asked gently. Benny had alluded to having family before but didn't talk much of them.

"Technically. I haven't had any direct descendants in centuries. It became too painful knowing I'd outlast any wife or child I sired. Now there are still some who will call me ancestor, but the gap is worse than Daniur and Diur. I think the closest relative I have is Alexandros's granddaughter. She should be here, but she will know me as nothing more than some historical figure." Benny spoke matter of factly, but Kon thought he could hear the pain in the old man's voice. The ages had not been kind to Benny Lorgairi but he continued on, driven forward by a call from the past.

That was enough to kill any conversation as they continued on their trek, walking briskly as they made their way to the end of the halls. A monstrous double sealed blast doors parted in silence, stale air rushing out as they walked through. Here there were no signs of the decay that had plagued the rest of the mage quarters. Everything was well maintained and Kon found himself nodding in appreciation as they entered what was obviously a sparring arena.

Padded floors and walls, double thick walls that could probably tank a few direct hits from Alice. If Kon had managed to conceptualize this area properly, they'd be near the end of one of the arms of the Oasis, in a bubble. They had to pass through two different sealed airlocks that kept the sparring area separated from the ship. Even if there was a catastrophic breach, it wouldn't threaten the integrity of the entire ward.

"Ahh, there they are," a voice called out. It was old and withered, strained as if even the whisper was nearly too much for them. Kon saw the knot of people in a corner and the leader of them a tall, spindly man with hunched shoulders and thin hair.

Kon blinked rapidly in shock as he saw the man's face. It was aged, but not from years but from strain. Pressure and stress had carved deep hollows through him and left little flesh left but taunt flesh. Gray and black stubble covered his strong jaw and once Kon figured he would have been handsome. Before the stooped shoulders and withered muscles.

His dark eyes were still alert and sparkled with intelligence as he hobbled forward, a long cane of polished wood in his hand as he got closer to them. Kon could see the spots of vitiligo as he got closer, pale pink flesh overriding the natural dark pigmentation. White teeth flashed as he opened his arms wide and wrapped Benny up in a tight hug, his flapping black robes drowning the mage as Benny patted him gently on his shoulder.

"Alexandros, it is good to see you. You look good," Benny said softly, a hint of pain in his features.

"No my old friend, I do not. But I still have some vigor left to teach the young ones. That is why you called me here for, no?" Alexandros said, his voice strong and pleasing to the ear, dancing on the air.

"It is. I think you're the only one here who can teach Alice. But, Kon can help teach some of yours I think," Benny said. They were still speaking softly enough that Kon didn't think the other mages could hear them.

"You will say hello to Alexandra. Since her parents' passing she has grown ever more enamored with looking at her ancestry. That is my payment for teaching your new Knight humility," Alexandros said.

"Nobody has taught me humility yet, but I'm willing to give you a shot," Alice said as she set down her case and pried it open, pulling out her shield with a wide grin. Alexandros laughed deeply and started to hobble away toward the far end of the sparring hall.