Chapter Ashborn 373: Airship

“Air…ship?” Vir asked, walking around the strange contraption. “This looks like no Skyship I’ve ever seen.”

Vir ran his fingers over the small, beautiful machine. Constructed primarily of wood and reinforced in places with metal plates, it consisted of a frame large enough for two people sitting in a line, two large arms that extended several paces to either side, and another leading to a horizontal and vertical piece of wood at the rear.

It was also plastered with inscriptions that had been carved into the wood. Inscriptions both more numerous and complex than Vir had encountered anywhere else, apart from Ashani’s own core, of course.

“That you’ve ever seen?” Saunak asked. “You speak as though they’re a common sight.”

“They are,” Vir replied. “In the Human Realm. Perhaps not common, but definitely present. Humans have several methods of flight. Hot Air Balloons are large pieces of fabric heated by Fire magic. They’re quite fragile and can’t move quickly in any direction. For that, they have Skyships, which resemble regular sailing vessels, lightened through the use of magic orbs, and propelled by wind magic.”

“Fascinating!” Saunak said. “Truly fascinating! It would seem our realm lags quite a ways behind the humans, then. We’d at least have balloons if your father hadn’t shot my idea down centuries ago.”

“He denied your request?” Vir asked, pausing his admiration of Saunak’s machine to look the demon in the eye.

“That he did. Several times, in fact. Said it was ‘impractical.’ Said he had no need for a ‘fragile device only useful in an area that will cause it to be destroyed’.”

“Prana… Right,” Vir said. Most of the prana-deficient Demon Realm wouldn’t be able to support continuous prana utilization a hot-air balloon would require, let alone the amount a Skyship would require.

“Still,” Saunak mused, scratching his chin. “Skyships, is it? How curious. I take it these are large vehicles, capable of hauling cargo and ferrying passengers?”

“They are,” Vir said. “Human orbs store charges, releasing them slowly over time as needed. They use several dozen Lighten Load orbs to reduce the weight of the ship, lifting it into the air. Mejai then use Wind magic orbs to propel it forward.”

“Fast, are they?”

“Most aren’t especially,” Vir admitted. “Though there is one nation that has developed an advanced version, capable of rapid flight. Altani fast attack Skyships are a sight to behold,” he said, remembering the one he’d seen swoop down over Daha after he’d unwittingly released the Prana Swarm they kept captive.

“How unfortunate for us, then,” Saunak said, shaking his head. “Brutes that the clans are, they have long prioritized combat arts over more useful magic, such as these orbs. Just imagine what we could have built with this magic! Instead, we possess only a scant few inscriptions capable of storing any sort of pranic charge. I’ve had to develop my own, admittedly basic, versions for the airship. Just think, with a few millennia of progress, what we could have achieved! These humans must be quite formidable indeed, to have developed such magic.”

“I don’t think they developed it,” Vir said. “They don’t even know how to make new ones. They just copy the ones passed down from the Age of Gods.”

“Curious… How curious… I wonder why not one made it to the Demon Realm, then? Even the tower’s records have only mentioned such devices in passing.”

It was a good question, and one that Vir had sometimes wondered about. Why were there no Vimana in the Demon Realm? Why had humans been bequeathed orbs, and demons tattoos?

He doubted he would uncover the answer soon.

“Oh, if you’re referring to those small orbs with basic inscriptions,” Ashani said. “Those were toys.”

Both Vir and Saunak froze in their tracks and stared at Ashani, who tilted her head in confusion, but it was Vir who was confused here.

“Toys,” he said blankly.

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“Yes? Given to children. To play with. ‘Tis why they are weak, lest children hurt themselves.”

Hurt themselves?

Vir had witnessed A Grade magic firsthand. Tanya’s spell had frozen an entire oasis pond. The Mejai of Realms could have killed him and Maiya with a single Lightning strike so quickly that they’d have died before they realized what hit them.

And they gave this to their children!?

“Ashani…” Vir said, his voice breaking. “You’re telling me that the entire magical basis of the Human Realm… Is based upon a toy?”

“Is that so?” Ashani asked, looking somewhat amused. “How fascinating. I should very much like to see these humans.”

“Oh, you will,” Vir said, feeling as though his understanding of the world was falling apart.

“What of our inscriptions, Madam Goddess?” Saunak asked. “You’ve seen the sorts of arts demons use, yes? How would you say they compare?”

“Oh, they are certainly more complex. I’m afraid I don’t know enough about the military applications of our prana to comment, though I’d say your demonic arts much more closely resemble those than the baubles we gave to our children.”

Silence fell upon the group as Saunak and Vir processed this revelation in their own way.

“I should very much like to study one,” Saunak said at last.

Ashani looked at Vir, who shook his head. For one, Ashani’s power cores were hundreds of times more complicated than human orbs, and more importantly, Vir wasn’t about to trust her lifeline to this mad demon, even if she did have spares.

“Cirayus has a healing orb. I’ll see if we can arrange for you to study it,” Vir said diplomatically, still struggling to get his emotions under control. He wasn’t about to just hand it over, but if Saunak could give something in return… That was a different story.

“At any rate, this only proves that we as Demons must construct a proper airship,” Saunak said.

“Why not start with hot air balloons, then?” Vir asked. “Maybe if you perfect that first, the realm will be more receptive…”

“No,” Saunak said harshly. “Your father wasn’t wrong. Scouting is about all they are good for. Too weak for combat, and too slow for travel,” Saunak said. “Which leaves showing wealthy tourists pretty sights. Precious few of those in the Demon Realm, I’m afraid.”

“Wealthy tourists?” Ashani asked. “Or pretty sights?”

“Well, both, Madam Goddess. Ours is not a prosperous realm.”

While Vir disagreed with Saunak—there was plenty of beauty to be found in the realm of permanent sunset—most of the Demon Realm was sadly bereft of the prana that blessed much of the Human Realm, and either flavor of flying machine seemed unfeasible away from the Ash. Near it, the balloons would be in danger of being destroyed. Both by the inclement weather, and by enemies.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“This airship… I assume it can move quickly?” Vir asked.

There was something about the design that gave the illusion of speed, and Vir suddenly understood why. The overall shape—the design—resembled that of a bird. A somewhat fat, squat bird, admittedly.

“Faster than a Shrike,” Saunak said proudly.

If true, that was truly impressive. It would rival the Altani’s Skyships—a feat impressive in any realm.

“At least, my calculations say it should be… Given enough prana, of course,” Saunak added awkwardly.

“Wait. You don’t know?” Vir asked.

“Well, of course not! The ash-damned thing requires more prana than I can give. Far more.”

“That sounds like a problem if you’re trying to make this commercially viable,” Vir commented. If Saunak, who’d acclimated to the Ash, couldn’t use it, then who could?

“Even so, it is an elegant invention,” Ashani said. “Though it does appear somewhat unstable.”

“Indeed, you are correct, Madam Goddess. However, I believe this iteration is stable enough. You should have seen the previous seven versions. Took me some time before I realized it needed a tail to stabilize the craft.”

“Let me guess,” Vir said, meeting Saunak’s gaze. “This is where I come in?”

“Right you are, Akh Nara. You get to be my test pilot.”

Vir blinked. “You want me to fly this thing? Saunak, the only time I’ve ever flown anything was an Acira years ago, and I somehow feel like my skills won’t carry over.”

“Bah, nonsense,” Saunak said, dismissing Vir’s concerns. “You’ve got lift, roll, and pitch controls, same as anything else that flies.”

“Except, in this case, I’ll be the one controlling it. Won’t I? What if I lose control? What if I crash it from a great height?”

The Thaumaturge shrugged. “Last I checked, you had no issues bounding several hundred paces in the air. I doubt a crash or two will kill you. Stop being such a boy. I thought you were all grown up now, eh, Akh Nara? Well? Do you want your tattoo or not?”

Vir wanted to wring the demon’s neck. He was quite certain Saunak would inscribe the tattoo if he asked Ashani to order him to… But, well, Saunak would be performing a delicate task that could very well maim Vir if not done properly. Seeking his cooperation seemed like a good idea.

Besides, this airship intrigued Vir. If Saunak did figure out how to reduce the prana consumption, it would open doors for much of the Demon Realm, where the cost of sustaining an ongoing Gate was too high to be feasible.

As much as Vir wanted to interconnect every remote corner of the Demon Realm with Gates, it would only be practical for locations very near the Ash. Even then, while one Gate might only require maintenance every few weeks, when dozens, or hundreds existed, Vir’s whole life would be spent recharging them.

Not to mention an airship would be exceedingly useful as a personal means of transport for him as well. Especially if it was faster than his bounding Leaps. And especially when Ashani wasn’t with Vir. The goddess couldn’t be beside him at all times, and creating Gates to locations she’d not visited was always a problem. Having a means to rapidly and efficiently traverse ground would address those issues.

Though he suspected he might regret his next words, Vir’s heart simply wouldn’t stay quiet. There was something about Saunak’s invention that tickled his inner child, and he couldn’t say why.

“Tell me what I need to know.”