Beyond?

“There are four methods to create artefacts. The first is to enchant an object. While being very versatile, this method has the weakness that enchantments and buffs weaken and dissipate over time.

The second method is to add runes and magical circles to the object, they guide the mana to form a spell and enable any magician to charge the object by infusing mana into it.

The third method closes the bridge towards science and uses magical circuits, which evolved out of magical circles.

The fourth method is relying purely on scientific methods.”

-Papyri magicae.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Azir***

I and Stella are waiting at the main university entrance. The Dwemer delegation should arrive any moment now. There is just one problem, so I bend down and whisper to Stella. “What are they doing here?”

The people I refer to as 'they' are Olivia, Annice and Sola. They are not the only ones who joined the reception of our guests. Karsen, Talia and Louise are present too. All in all eight people to greet four exchange students.

Stella answers whispering. “That's thanks to my father! He investigated everyone with whom we were in regular contact with. Then he ordered them to aide us.”

“I get that, but why is your sister here?” I counter.

“I don't know. She graduated just recently. There should be no reason for her to concern herself with this.” She glares at her sister. “Probably she sees this situation as a chance to cause problems.”

“Stop whispering you two. I want to be included in the fun.” Louise hugs Stella from the side. “I don't think that we were introduced yet?” She takes a meaningful look at Sola. No, it's not just meaningful! It's outright greedy!

Sola smiles and bows gracefully to greet everyone. “My name is Sola, I am Stella's older sister and I'll assist you with the diplomatic side of this encounter. If there are any issues regarding the country as a whole, please inform me immediately. Dealing with our visitors is your job, I'll try to stay in the background.”

Then she adds in a delightful tone. “Of course that doesn't mean that I don't help with other issues too. Simply ask for help if there are any problems or questions.”

Wow, who is this person? She is completely different from her usual self. This is freaking me out. Does she have a split personality?

Stella grumbles. “Don't be fooled, she is very good at putting up a facade.”

She would've tricked me, if I hadn't known her beforehand. “Do you think she is up to something?”

Stella nods enthusiastically. “She is up to something for sure. There is no question about that.”

Olivia interrupts our private conversation. “Even if I feel that the arrangement of this group is an unhappy surprise, I'll try to do my best to work together with you. We are representing our country in this encounter, persisting on past rivalries is unbecoming of our future roles as this country's leaders. So if you are willing to forget about the past, I'll do the same.”

Annice shrugs her shoulders. “I don't think that I've any problems to work with the assembled people.” Then she smirks at Olivia. “The only one who got beaten up regularly is you.”

Olivia closes her eyes and shrugs her shoulders. “Those were honourable duels to determine who's the stronger one. It's wrong to see them as being beaten up. Hence there should be no bad feelings about a competition.”

Talia grabs Annice's and Olivia's hands. “Then we'll try our best to work with each other.”

Karsen flicks his fingers at the assembled people. “There is the issue of dividing the workload. We have four visitors and seven people to manage them.”

I shrug my shoulders. “I hope that they don't expect us to play their guides twenty four seven. Stella and I will introduce them to the university during the first days. It'll be fine if you guys take over from time to time. Telling them where to find you in case of an emergency is also required. I don't intend to sit at their side while they take classes. The point of this program is to show them our good will. If we stick too closely to them it would look like we don't trust them.”

Stella takes over. “That includes showing them our country. Maybe we can organize a tour through the city at some point.”

Annice sighs. “What about problems with other students. There are always idiots who'll try to pick a fight. The Dwemer will be interesting targets.”

Sola nods. “I already informed all clans to have a serious word with their offspring. If anyone marches to a different drummer, I'll see to their punishment. Unfortunately I don't think that we can do much more...” Her voice trails off as a convoy of five carriages passes through the university's main gate and stops in front of us.

Nine small people leave the carriage and I have to note that they are really small. The women don't even reach the height of my chest. Even the largest guy in their group, whom I believe to be Eliot Donocan, reaches just barely the height of my shoulders.

Four of them stay behind at the carriages. Probably they are the servants.

The other five Dwemer come forward to greet us. One of them is an old woman with many wrinkles. Her ears are long and pointy and I notice that her skin is almost like leather.

One of the girls steps forward. “Greetings, I am Adala Colte. A future shaman.” She turns around and gestures at each of her comrades in turn. “Padma Unnur, an artificer. Nikita Truls, architect. Eliot Donocan, from our military. And Saana Unnur, head caretaker of the servants who are accompanying us.”

Stella smiles at Adala and greets her. “It's a pleasure. I am Stella Gejene, studying medicine and chemistry. If there is anything you need, please come to me.” Then she introduces me and the others. “That's Azir Zait, my fiance, he takes courses in artifices and physical sciences. Then we have Talia Zaitus and Karsen Anja. They are both going for a military education. Louise Siorda is taking various science and magical courses. I don't bother to remember all of them. Annice Tinn is on the best way to complete her education as a merchant and in market research. Magic is also one of her specialities. Olivia Veit is specializing in enchantments and buffs. Lastly we have my sister-”

Sola steps forward. “Sola Gejene, it's an honour. I studied administration and management while I was still at the university. In case of a problem regarding the country, I'll be your contact. Be sure to not hold back with any questions.”

Adala nodded at each of us in turn as we were introduced. Finally free to speak, she gestures at the carriages behind her. “I am sorry if we seem to be in a rush, but it was a long and arduous trip from Dwem to Mono. Could you show us to our accommodations? Our servants need a place to stay.”

Stella steps in. “Surely, we built a mansion for you right next to ours. There is enough space for all of you.” She gestures in direction of the university's park. “It's just a short walking distance from here.”

All of us start walking into the indicated direction while the carriages and the servants follow us. Nikita takes the chance to ask a question. “You built an entire mansion, just for us?”

Sola nods. “Don't worry about it. You are guests of the Gejene. Our ability allows us to build palaces as we please. Tearing everything down, once it fulfilled its use, is actually a bigger bother.”

The bitch is right, I watched the construction this time. At first I was shocked that the Gejene can build a mansion within a day, now I am shocked that they actually do it in seven hours! And all they had were ten clan members. At least they seemed to be a group which specializes in jobs like this.

They used most of the time to clear the area and dig a cellar with their magic. The resulting waste material was transmuted into stones and metal for later use. Afterwards they used the rest of the time to paint a huge magical circle on the ground. The house itself grew like a plant once the magic was activated. The whole process took just a few minutes. I had the feeling that the preparations took them more effort than the building process!

The last hour was used up to decorate the insides of the house, which was done by a separate group of twenty people. They were actually doing real work, because they created the furnishings outside the house from dirt and carried the stuff inside afterwards. I am still amazed at their ability. According to Stella it takes a lot of training and devotion to get to this point. There are several branch families who pride themselves in being the best at using their ability to craft various items... or houses.

I return my attention to Sola and Nikita, who practised small talk while I drifted off to my own little world. We arrived safely at the mansion and the servants started to carry our guests' personal items inside.

The others started mingling with the Dwemer too. Talia and Karsen with Eliot, Adala with Stella and Louise, and Padma with Olivia and Annice. Saana just followed us in silence. Somehow I don't believe her to be a mere servant. I noticed that she is looking at everything very closely and with trained eyes; she's not a senile old woman. Maybe she's one of their shamans after all?

I clear my throat loudly to get everyone's attention and wait patiently until their attention is focused on me. “I prepared a little present for everyone. This'll make everything much easier, since we can't be always close by.” I pull a stash of flat metal plates from my pocket. They are golden and have the size of playing cards. Their surface is taken up by a complicated set of runes. Actually that's just decoration to hide the magical circuit inside them. “These artefacts are communication devices. I have one for everyone. You personalize them by infusing your mana into them, then you speak your name and it'll appear on the card. From then on you can connect your card to someone else's by infusing your mana into it and speaking their names.”

I walk around while handing out the cards. Some people are gaping in shock at my toys, others just eye them with interest. “It's really simple, so if there is a problem or a question, just call the needed person.” Smiling, I hand out the little spying devices. They are actually little recorders with geo-positioning data loggers. I can listen to everything which is said in their vicinity as long as they aren't packed away too tightly. Everything they record is saved in a master device in my laboratory.

One locator for Sola, one tracker for Adala, one …

Finally it's Saana's turn. I offer her a card and don't fail to notice her hand twitching. For a mere second the old woman thought about taking the card!

Then she raises her hand and declines my offer with her open palm. “I am sorry, young one. This old woman is just a mere servant without any magical talent. This gift would be wasted on me.”

“Is that so?” I infuse my mana into the card. “Saana Unnur.” I offer it to her once more. “I personalized it for you. Even if you can't call someone yourself, you can still be called by others. The card answers a call automatically.” I scratch my left ear. “Strange. I thought that you and Padma are related. The same last name, you know?”

“That's just a coincidence. We Dwemer aren't as fixated on bloodlines and clans as you people.” Saana forces a smile onto her face and takes the card. “Thank you.”

Of course I don't forget the four servants and interrupt their busy work. Gifting them spying devices is the most important thing of all. The gossip of servants often holds the most important information.

Welcome to the era of telecommunication. From now on I know where you walk, when you take a leak and most importantly with whom you are doing it. Gehehehehe...

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