46 Let them Drink Cake
Public Release: March 19th, 2019 - 3:30 am EST
Cara walked through the gray streets of the city with a mask on her face. Her young body, still developing, wasn't at the realm of Soul Refining. Until she reached that stage any impurities and toxins taken in could cause harm to her body or her talent. Her current body already didn't have too great of a talent in Outer Cultivation, so she couldn't take any chances.
The city streets were lined with garbage and refuse, but there were very few people living there. For all the city's failings, there didn't seem to be much (if any) homelessness.
"It looks like a boomtown," said Cara.
"What's a boomtown?" asked Zara.
"A city that pops up fast over something 'exciting' like either a gold rush or some other natural resource."
Zara tilted her head to the side but then nodded.
The duo walked until they reached a stretch of street that bordered the river. The smell along this section of the city was so terrible that Zara used her alchemy to concoct an a small bottle of air freshener that she hung around her neck.
One thing both Cara and Zara noted was the increasing concentration of mana in the air as they moved upriver.
Cara, herself, could feel a roaring cyclone of mana coming from the factories lining the river ahead. Whatever was being built in them, it caused a massive disturbance in the leylines that passed beneath the city.
The Spirit that controlled the mountains, the Monster of the Empire, was feeding the factories with a tremendous source of mana.
"Teacher, I want to see what they're making in those factories," said Zara, her eyes almost aglow. She hadn't sensed anything similar to the aura coming from the factories ahead.
"The mana it's using is probably a power source for some kind of machinery," said Cara, using her own knowledge to fill the gaps. "Magic powers the machines and the workers operate them along assembly lines. As for what they're making, I assume it's a myriad of things."
"Like what, though?"
"Well, in my second life on Earth, the first factories usually involved powered looms and making fabrics, but there's all manner of things that they could be making…"
Cara stopped talking as they approached the fenced compound to the nearest factory. Right from the get-go, Cara could see wagons with loads of rock and ore being carted in through the fences. From the smell on the air, she guessed this one to be a refinery of some kind.
The magic from the Spirit was being used almost like an electrical power grid.
Cara wondered if magic had properties similar to electricity… It could be used almost like an electric circuit in the arrays at the Stonelight Library, which meant that it would at least be similar in some ways.
Cara frowned as she watched a black-faced child walk out of a door on the side of the refinery. She remembered one key point about the industrial revolution from Earth: the lack of child labor laws.
"There are some things we need to change about this country," said Cara to her disciple.
"Then we should hurry on to the capital city," said Zara. "There's no point staying in this smelly place too long."
-
As the duo walked upriver and distanced themselves from the factories, they reached a large fenced gateway that separated the city in two, manned by two Grand Knights.
"Hold up," said one of the knights as he stepped forward, his realm a bit too low to see through Cara's own strength. "We need to see your upper city access passport to let you by."
Cara paused. "How much does one cost?" she asked after a moment.
"You two look like you're not from around here, so you'll have to probably visit one of the Boshwa managing the factories. They have the rights to sell or issue them," said the guard.
"Why do people need a pass to go into the upper part of the city?" Zara asked, her interest piqued.
"Because they steal the river water from upstream. The factories need that clean water to operate. We can't have the people stealing it," said the second guard.
Both Cara and Zara frowned.
"Then, if they can't collect clean water, what do the people in the 'lower district' drink?" asked Zara.
"Why do they need clean water?" asked the guard in reply. "They're just poor peasants. They can survive off the dark river. They hardly contribute anything to our country. I've heard that most of their jobs will be automated by Sir Jackson within another five years, anyways."
Cara closed her eyes for a moment and counted to ten. She had always lived a life of compassion and believed firmly in the rights of the individual. In her eyes, every man alive had the right to clean water.
But, if she just tore down the city with Zara's help, nothing would change. The poor peasants didn't have any cultivation or power backing them. The moment she left the city and stopped babysitting them, the division between the classes would rise again.
This was a systemic issue that could only be changed from the highest end.
"Zara, I don't want to see this city anymore. Can you fly us past it. We can walk again once we reach the mountains," said Cara with a sigh.
"Sure."
Zara grabbed Cara and held her in a princess carry before she jumped up into the air, leaving behind two very bewildered guardsmen. Both of the guards stood stock still, their jaws agape. They knew that flight was typically reserved for powerful magicians or knights that crested beyond the realm of Earth, knights that had reached the realm off Sky. After a long moment of shock, one of the men took off running towards the guardhouse where a mana-fueled communicator waited. He grabbed it and started making a terrified report.
-
The city, from above, hardly looked pleasing. There was a clear dichotomy, a line drawn across it, separating the poor factory workers from the richer aristocrats. The river itself changed colors too, from a healthy blue/green into something brown and then into something black.
"This Empire is a dark place," said Zara.
"I agree," replied Cara. "Let's land over there."
The duo landed on the mountainside upriver of the city entirely. The river was fenced along its banks all the way up to its source. Regular guards patrolled alongside it.
"Why would they be so adamant about preventing people from collecting river water?" Zara asked. "The excuse the guards gave earlier was bullshit."
"Maybe they sell the clean water to the poor and they don't want to lose income?" Cara proposed. "Either way, no matter the reason they have, I'm sure it isn't a good one. Access to clean water is a human right, in my opinion."
Cara shook her head in disappointment at the actions of the Empire, but then said: "Oh, and you can put me down now."
Even after landing, Zara was still holding Cara in a princess carry.
Zara grinned. "Come on now, isn't it nice being carried like this?" she asked.
Cara squirmed and replied, "Not really."
-
The two walked further into the mountains. There were few trails or roads, and the walking was rough at best. The thick forest and rocky cliffs made forward progress slow. Cara remembered the sight of the princess flying on the back of an eagle-like magic beast and realized that, due to the terrain, taming flying monsters was probably the norm.
"Should we tame a beast?" Cara asked aloud. It was less a question and more her musing to herself. She wouldn't mind flying so long as it wasn't Zara carrying her.
"That sounds fun," said Zara. "I sense a few fun ones in a valley up ahead."
"I'm just thinking about it," said Cara. "I'm not sure if I want to…"
Cara paused, noticing that Zara had already disappeared from her side. Sighing, Cara sat down on a small rock and crossed her legs. She decided to just meditate while her disciple went off on an 'adventure' to tame a beast.
Cara felt her cultivations growing more slowly. Without her Spirit Contract fueling her, she couldn't facilitate her previous pace…
She started drawing in mana from the environment, but then she stopped.
She could feel something new trying to wriggle into her body, a tendril of mana from something ferocious and large. She felt the Monster of the Empire trying to form a Spirit Contract with her.
