Chapter 60: Lydia

Chapter 60: Lydia

Location: Dakarti Federation; Previs System; Previs Prime; Kultrin

After a day of trial and error with Maja and Lucy, we found a hidden function, that lets us regulate the power fed to the magical guns. The result is still the same though. Anything they hit gets vaporized, even if it’s a smaller area with less power. That shut down any further ideas of mining pretty quickly and we started looking into other things like new spells.

Turns out most spells are just available to purchase here in the Dakarti Federation. They are expensive though and A&D ones are suspiciously absent. After our unsuccessful mining of those asteroids, we decided to stop in the Previs System – the last system before we leave the federation behind – and look for all things magical. And boy are there a lot of things we missed in the Estriduros Republic.

We’re currently in the city of Kultrin and it is just so different compared to for example Duros. First of all, it’s smaller. Secondly, there is this lingering magic in the air. Way less than on the Stargazer, or the Tilda, but it’s still there, emanating from every building, slowly spilling out to the streets. I guess this is the magical power grid I’ve read about back on Earth.

My guess is confirmed once we check into our hotel. We use our fake Estriduros IDs, not telling the receptionist about our diplomatic status as we don’t want to abuse it too much. It feels more wrong, every time I think of using them. When she notices that some of us are Mages, she is very happy to answer every question we have.

“Oh my god,” she starts. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. Being collared upon detection as a Mage must be so bad. I’m glad you escaped. Here, let me upgrade your rooms on the house. You can now enjoy all the benefits of our in-house magic without extra costs. That’s the least I can do.”

Oh wow, that is unexpected. I can understand her reaction… It’s been hell with the collar, and I guess the federation is as great with anti-Estriduros propaganda as the republic is with anti-Dakarti. But what I don’t get is the extra costs for using the magical amenities in here… Guess I have to play dumb.

“What do you mean with in-house magic?” I ask her and I’m pretty sure, I nailed the confused expression on my face, as she blanches.

“Oh, sorry. I’m so dumb, of course, you don’t know about all those things! Hmm, my shift’s over in an hour. We can meet up in the hotel’s restaurant and I can explain everything to you if you guys want, of course. I’m Lydia by the way.”

I nod enthusiastically. “Sure, that would be great, thanks. Everything is so overwhelming here. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that magic is used so liberally here.”

“Nice, then I see you guys in an hour!”

We say goodbye to Lydia for now and call down one of the elevators to reach our rooms on floor 34. We have to split up and do two trips, as we can’t fit all ten of us into a single cabin. Then a bit later we reach our rooms. I’m sharing with Maja and the others all quickly find their roommates. I grin broadly when Shay snatches Thomas at the collar and pulls him into a room. That’s one way to get your roomie.

Anyway, the room is nice, but nothing fancy. Two beds, a bathroom with shower and tub, and holoprojectors at the roof of the main room that can show you whatever you want. Oh, and we’ve got a balcony! But I wonder what the magical amenities are. I mean the only thing I know is the magical oven back from the old commercial on Earth, but I don’t need an oven here in the hotel… Sure, I could ask Maja to look it up, but Lydia was so enthusiastic, and I mean an hour of waiting isn’t too long. I’m just taking a bath in the meantime, I guess.

An hour later, we reunite in the hotel’s restaurant. It’s on the 79th floor, right below the penthouse suite, so we’ve got a nice view over the city. Lydia waves from a large table at the back of the room, right next to the big window showing the outside. I sit down next to her, and the others take the seats around us. Maja decided to stay in our room as she doesn’t want Lydia to ask why she doesn’t eat anything. “Hey Lydia, thanks for meeting us here. We’ve got a lot of questions.”

She laughs softly and puts a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “Hah, I can imagine. But let’s order first, then we can talk. Do you guys all have an interface, or do you need tablets? Oh, and where is the pretty blonde from earlier?”

Her green eyes sparkle when she mentions Maja. Is she interested in her? That would be kinda funny… Everyone around me suddenly gets a partner. First Jack with Alex, then Shay and Thomas, and now Maja? Well, we do have space on the Stargazer… And Maja’s body is functional for the most part. Anyway, that’s not important right now and would need a much longer discussion with Maja being an AI and all.

I must have stared at her face for a long time as she suddenly clears her throat. “You okay?” Shoot, now she must think I’m interested in her! Dang it, I’m not built for things like this. I look away awkwardly.

“Sorry, got lost in my thoughts… Yes, we do need a few tablets, a few of us have interfaces, but not all. An about Maja, that’s the blonde, she doesn’t feel so well and decided to stay in her room to relax.”

“No problem,” she smirks. “At least you had a good view, I hope.”

Damn, that light skin. There’s no way of hiding my blush… Guess, I have to own it now. “Sure,” I wink at her and now she blushes too. Gotcha evened the score. “Now shall we order?”

“Yes, let’s do that. I’ll get you all some tablets.” Suddenly a strand of magic fills the air around me and I look for the source. Turns out it is the table we’re sitting at. I look at Lydia with wide eyes.

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“The table is Magitech?”

“Yeah, look over there,” she points a bit to my right, and there I see a few rolled-up tablets floating over. It’s just like the oven commercial! A telekinetic module built into our table. Wow!

“That’s amazing,” I tell her, and she smiles.

“That’s only the beginning. Wait till I tell you about the other magical functions the hotel has. Sometimes I feel like I’m a Mage too.”

Meanwhile, the tablets land on the table, and everyone without an interface grabs one. Then we all start to order, and I can’t help myself and ask Lydia. “Would you like to be a Mage?”

She snorts. “Of course, I’d like to be a Mage! That’s the one wish I have had since I was a little girl… But there’s no way I can afford an awakening core.” Her expression turns sad, and I glance at Shay. Looks like I was right and there is a way to turn someone into a Mage. And I bet everything I own that it’s not the makeshift solution we did for Shay.

“What’s an awakening core?”

“Oh, of course, you don’t know about all those things… Where should I start? Do you guys know about multi-class Mages?”

Looks like the others finally have an interest in the conversation, as Jack is the one to answer her. “We do, but that’s not thanks to the republic… We found out on our own.”

“Oh good… Well not good of the republic, but good for me. That spares me from explaining that everything you’ve learned was false.” That earns her a few chuckles, then she continues. “Now about the cores. As you now probably know, you can implant a second core to unlock a second class of magic. What’s special is that those things don’t collect magic power naturally. They must be powered by channeling magic from your original core. You’re with me so far?” She looks around questioningly.

When she gets nods from everyone, she goes on. “That’s also the reason why they can’t be used to awake magic inside a normal human. I mean you could implant such a core but without the ability to collect power from the surroundings they are pretty much useless.” Shay is working very hard to suppress a grimace. Luckily Lydia doesn’t seem to notice. “That’s where awakening cores come in. They still can’t advance naturally in power levels just like the other artificial cores, but they can accumulate magic power naturally.”

That’s exactly what we need! “Wow, that would be cool to get.” Shay and Alex both nod along enthusiastically when I say this, and Lydia frowns a bit.

“Yeah, I know,” she starts. “I’ve been dreaming of getting one for so long, but I simply can’t afford it… Those idiots from the nation of Terthia have a monopoly on distributing those cores in our region of the galaxy and they shamelessly exploit it!”

Oh, I can see that’s a sore point. Better to change the topic. Thomas thinks the same. “Well, I guess this is out of our price range as well… But we’re also interested in new A&D spells, especially the A part. Is there a way to get them?”

Lydia gapes at him. “You’re an A&D Mage?” When Thomas nods, she covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh my god. No one would go for A&D here! It’s pretty much useless if you don’t join the military and even there, you’ll sometimes get a second core upon enlisting to use for A&D. That’s also where you get A&D spells. They are not available to the public, except for the basic Shield spell, so it’s always Utility what one goes for.”

Thomas grimaces and Lucy and Greg can’t hide their scowls either. “It’s not that we had a choice…” Greg sounds a bit angry, and I can understand him completely. He’s the one who struggles the most with being A&D.

Lydia blanches. “Shit, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like this.”

“It’s okay, we get it. We’ve got a plan for the future,” Thomas looks at me questioningly and I give him a thumbs-up. We do have a plan: Getting a boatload of money for delivering the news from Earth.

“Oh, you have? What is it?” She looks pretty excited I have to say.

“Well, you see, the Previs System is not our destination. We’re just passing through, actually. We’re heading for The Empire.” I grin when her eyes go wide as saucers.

“T… The Empire? With a capital T and all? That’s so far away… How do you even plan to get there?”

Do I feel bad for keeping her in suspense? No, not at all. It’s quite fun. I wave my hand around the table, encompassing all of us. “Meet MARA Deliveries. That’s our way there. We simply grab a few contracts and deliver the goods along the route.” I’ve just come up with that… We hadn’t thought about using our cover company at all, but I have to say that’s quite genius. I mean we’re traveling either way, why not earn some money along the way?

The others stare at me with wide eyes, probably realizing how smart I am. I grin when I hear Maja’s voice in my head. She was clearly listening in.

“That’s a splendid idea, Sara. I’m already looking for suitable contracts. I’ll keep you posted.”

“You guys have a ship?!” Lydia half asks half shouts, and we all nod in agreement. “Wow, I wish you needed a receptionist…”

Am I sometimes impulsive with my decisions? Yes. Do I have regrets? No, not at all. So I look at Lydia, right into her green eyes that remind me of my own. “Do you want to join us?”

Her jaw drops and she just stares. Then her mouth opens and closes without a word coming out. Finally, she finds her voice, even if it's barely a whisper. “For real?” There is real hope in her eyes.

“Yeah, we don’t really need a receptionist, but I think your magical knowledge will be invaluable right now. I mean we’re pretty much running on trial and error right now… Look at Shay, Ronja and I implanted her with a Utility core. Now she can use magic, but only as long as one of us works as a jump starter.” I point at both of them when I tell the names and Lydia looks between them with still wide eyes.

“You did what? Where did you even get one? They’re not cheap either!”

Shay chuckles. “Trade secret but at least I can use a bit of magic right now. Can’t wait to get one of those awakening cores.”

Lydia almost sputters in disbelief. “You say that like that’s a given… Didn’t you listen to me earlier? They are expensive as hell. And I mean like CEO of a multi-planet company expensive.”

Now everyone looks at me with a pointed expression. Lydia catches on and turns to look back at me. And I can’t help myself and shrug. “Trade secret.”

“Awww, come on! Okay, okay, I bite. Let’s say all this is possible and I join you. What are we going to do? And what will my job be exactly?”

I’m about to reply when I see something in the corner of my eye. I turn and now it’s my turn to stare. I mean I should have expected it, but still. There, ten plates are floating out of the kitchen, and head straight for our table. They are joined by various drinks floating along. “Wow…” I breathe out silently.

After our food arrived, I turn to Lydia and point at my food. She nods in understanding but seems a bit annoyed to be kept in suspense even longer. I shrug and we all dig in with gusto.

After eating, I focus back on Lydia and take a deep breath. “It’s not exactly a job per se. More like a place in a crew of friends. We’re all new to this and pretty much clueless about a lot of things, especially magic. That’s where you come in. For now, let’s just say you’ll be getting a place on our ship, the Stargazer, and we take you on an adventure through the galaxy. You can probably guess that I’m leaving a lot out for now, but that’s a story I’ll tell you once we are aboard. I promise it’s worth it.” I conclude my short speech with a smile, cringing internally. That was so bad! I hope I didn’t drive her off.

She takes a deep breath, and everyone stares at her expectingly. “Okay, this probably gets me kidnapped and sold into slavery,” she chuckles a bit. “But yeah, I’m in!”

Now everyone cheers and I tap a quick message at Maja. “Are we clear?”

Her reply is quick. “Yeah, nothing is listening in, and I can activate the privacy setting of the table if you want.”

“Do it,” I type, and a second later, the surrounding sounds dim.

“Nice. I promise you, that you won’t regret it. I stand for it with my name. Sara Valterion.”

“WHAT???!!!”