The Original Beefcake

Dawn had just come, but Azaa and Marcus were already fully dressed and groomed. Azaa made some last minute adjustments to Marcus' attire and nodded with satisfaction. Hand in hand they left Azaa's house and walked over the already busy streets. "I can't help but notice that there are a lot more people on the street. Everybody seems to be busy," Marcus noted, as they walked towards the palace. Azaa just nodded and continued in silence. They had passed two more streets before she spoke, "My mother stirs the heart of our people. Her return together with the recovery of my father has caused a great awakening. We were asleep for many decades, but now we dare to hope and dream again."

Marcus let her words sink in as they moved on. "What level is your mother?" Marcus asked, as they entered the palace. A faint smile crawled on Azaa's face, "She is a level 389 Rune Smith. Although she wouldn't enjoy to be called that. Heaven's Scribe would be our interpretation of her class." Marcus had expected something like that when he had learned yesterday that Ruuq was 622 years old.

Talking about stirring, Marcus could feel Xeen being uneasy.

Uneasy, that just might be a good description. You could also call it a natural animosity.

You dislike Ruuq?

Of course not, she is an outstanding example of the grace and excellence of my people. It is her framework that bothers me.

This is the first time I hear you talk badly of any class, Xeen.

You are quite aware that every class has bad compatibility with some other classes. For my own, the Sorcerer, there is only one. Dhera'Maar, or Rune Smith or Heaven's Scribe.

Now I am really curious to know why that is. I always had the impression you Sorcerers were more or less peerless, once you reach a certain level.

We are powerful for sure, but hardly peerless. There are other powerful and dangerous classes, which are not the same by the way. In the case of Dhera'Maar, their abilities by nature have priority over our own abilities. Their 'writing' supersedes our own 'constructions'. It is deeply upsetting.

Marcus followed Azaa through the palace and up flights of stairs, and all the while he tried not to laugh. The news that there was a class that directly owned Artificers was just too delicious. Before Xeen could scold him they reached the roof of the palace and entered an exclusive rooftop garden. Shen, Ruuq and Uela were already waiting for them and greeted them with bright smiles. A large white table with food and drink had been prepared and comfortable chairs invited them to sit.

After sitting down they started with some light banter. Azaa was still translating Marcus' words for Ruuq and Uela did the same for her mother. Marcus had become a bit more used to Ruuq's presence since yesterday, but her boundary breaking behavior still caused him to fluster. As Marcus talked about the glorious history of bread in Germany, Ruuq prepared some fruit for him and placed it on his plate with a smile. He thanked her and started to eat and Azaa joined him in his efforts.

"I am truly excited about the wide variety of coloring you humans have. It is a situation I have never heard of before. Variations in coloring or other physical aspects are of course natural but not to this degree," Ruuq said, and worked on one more fruit. Marcus watched her and expected a second serving of fruit in his near future.

"I think this is because humanity is still so young. They haven't gone through a unification or genetic uplifting yet," Shen said, and munched down a large piece of glazed meat. "Another five hundred or a thousand years and things would have been different," Azaa said and Marcus felt a bit lost in all of this. Five hundred years? We would have been happy if we made it one hundred years, given all that was going on before the monoliths appeared. Marcus thought and the alien in his head agreed.

After the lavish breakfast Marcus found himself in a long debate with Shen about religion and spirituality. It was fascinating to hear the perspective of the ginghi and somebody who was this old. While they talked Azaa was challenged by her mother to a game of ginghi Go. Marcus abandoned his discussion with Shen to watch the two women play and he quickly realized he couldn't understand their moves. They played fast and seemingly without any strategy. Stones flew on and off the board so quickly Marcus had problems keeping up. In spite of his lack of insight he could tell that Azaa had to try really hard to counter her mother, who looked like she enjoyed the games greatly.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

They played ten games in less than an hour and Azaa won all of them, and still Ruuq looked a lot happier than her daughter. "It is rare for my daughter to be this competitive, Marcus. She doesn't dare to lose in front of you," Ruuq laughed and gave Marcus a 'red ears inducing' hug. Marcus returned to his discussion with Shen and found that the man didn't mind the long break in between. Several hours flew by without Marcus noticing. He learned that the ginghi didn't have any religion but that they possessed a deep sense of spirituality. "I will teach you, if you are open to learning," Shen offered, and Marcus was very thankful for the opportunity.

Ruuq looked up to the sky, "Oh, the time got away from me. I still have something to take care of. Would you two mind accompanying me?" Ruuq said to Marcus and Azaa, as she got up. Marcus felt like there was once again a deeper meaning behind this seemingly casual invitation. Azaa quickly showed her agreement and Marcus followed along. They left the palace and walked through the streets with the goal to leave the city. Ruuq was wearing a simple gray dress with no further jewelry or decorations and yet she easily captured the attention of every person on the street. Before they could leave the city, Ruuq suddenly changed her direction with a bright smile. She pulled Marcus into a shop he had actually visited before.

If planned or not, Marcus found himself in the hands of Azaa and her mother for nearly two hours… buying clothes for him. The clerks couldn't bring new pants and shirts fast enough as Ruuq was working through them. When the unexpected textile attack was finally over Marcus had no idea how many clothes Ruuq had bought for him, but all of it would be delivered to Azaa's house. "I can't believe that you haven't looked after his attire until now. You need to take better care of Marcus," Ruuq scolded Azaa, and Marcus had to translate by himself, because Azaa wasn't willing to do so. Drained from the whole experience Marcus took Azaa's hand and let her know with his eyes that she had done nothing wrong.

They finally left the city and walked at a very brisk pace through the surrounding land and through a small forest. Ruuq evidently knew where she was going and she moved with the speed and agility of a young deer. Halfway through their trip Ruuq started to sing with a beautiful voice and Azaa soon joined her. Marcus couldn't understand the words well enough, and things got worse when the two women started to sing in different pitches. All of it looked so effortless that Marcus was totally taken in, and didn't realize they had reached the goal of their journey.

They stood on the top of a hill overlooking a valley beneath. A small river was flowing along the valley, starting from a large lake just beyond the hills. "The river provides water for many farms on this side of the city. But thanks to the improvements through human technology the demand for water has increased a lot. The fields have grown as have the herds of our animals. More water is needed," Ruuq explained to Marcus. Azaa was seemingly aware of the situation and just nodded. While Marcus was still trying to figure out what exactly they were doing here, glaring white symbols burned through the fabric of space and time just meters away from him. Without moving a muscle Ruuq drew complex symbols in the air, several at the time.

The ground shook, and to Marcus' complete bewilderment the landscape in front of him changed. The ground under the small river fell, the hills receded and the river bed widened by a dozen meters. It all happened so quickly Marcus had trouble believing his own eyes. Wait, what is going on here? Marcus thought and Xeen laughed.

Can you tell that Rune Smith might not be a very fitting name for this framework? Once their level rises enough they can manipulate all of space, and even time. They are rather bothersome.

Marcus was too shocked to answer Xeen's remarks. A flood wave rushed from the lake down the now much larger river, and a new set of symbols flared up in front of Ruuq. Against all reason the waterfront slowed down to a crawl.

Ruuq took off her shoes and handed them to Azaa with a smile. With a leap she jumped easily fifty meters to a nearby rock and more symbols appeared around her. The land obeyed her orders and the river continued to widen as she moved forward. Marcus watched her until she moved around a hill. "My father has a much higher level, but we value the class of my mother a lot higher than his," Azaa said, with a soft voice. Marcus could see why. "If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it," Marcus said. "This is why Shen allows her to travel through the ruins of many worlds without him. She is generally able to take care of herself and her expedition members and she is smart enough to stay away from things she can't handle," Azaa said, and gave him a kiss.

They slowly walked back towards the city and eventually met Ruuq again. She was surrounded by farmers and other people, cooling her legs in the fast flowing river. She got up and said goodbye to the people, while joining her daughter and Marcus. "There is still more to do, but there is nothing left they will need my help with," Ruuq explained, and put her shoes back on. They walked back towards the city gates and Marcus didn't know what to say after this display of power and ability.

Ruuq watched Marcus with a thoughtful look as they walked. "You don't need to carry the weight of the world all alone, Marcus. In truth, you don't need to carry anything besides your own weight. You are young, leave the fate of the world to your elders," Ruuq suddenly said. And again, Marcus didn't know what to answer. They walked a few more meters and Ruuq took Marcus's hand and made him stop. She gently put her other hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. "Through your union with our daughter you have become our son, too. I know, accepting this is difficult for you, because you lost so much in the past. But Shenadarra and I care for you and we will treat you no differently from our own flesh and blood." Ruuq's words came from Azaa's mouth and Marcus felt tears gathering in his eyes.

"Try trusting us," Ruuq said, and gently let go of Marcus' hand. The rest of the day passed with even more relaxing activities and so did the last day of his visit in Mihr Jhel. When he finally parted from Azaa, Marcus felt blessed with an unknown lightness in his heart. A weight had fallen from his shoulders, a need to be responsible. Forward! He moved, stronger than ever before.