Chapter 192 – Humanity’s shame and Spirit magic

It was close to an evening when Noah and Dahlia appeared out of nowhere in the thick bushes, somewhere on the first level of the Great Tree Labyrinth.

“This is amazing. Even with our secret paths within the walls we still need several days to travel from the center to the first level. But with your marked medallion, it didn't even take a minute. That entity inside you who created this magic is amazing. Our mother could not help but marvel at this wonder.”

“Yeah, but I need to put it here in advance before that. And I still can’t go in and out of Core Forest with it. Without you, I would only be able to get back to the top floor but would not get into Core Forest. Sorry that I have to drag you out with me.”

“No, it’s nothing. To tell you the truth I’d better travel for a few days than wait for your return there. I love my mother and sisters but…That forest tends to be stuffy with all that family sticking their nose in everything. And that never-changing Labyrinth gets boring once you live in it for decades and know every bush and pebble in it. I never realized how much I wanted to see the outside world until I got an assignment to serve you. I am thankful that you agreed to take me with you. You know, even though the town is just within walking distance, I never was there. None of Dryads was.”

“Not once in decades since you were born?”

“We never leave the border of Labyrinth. Mother said traveling the human world is dangerous for us. Can’t really say she was wrong. You saw the Vault in that underworld dungeon. All those creatures were captured and enslaved simply because they were a rarity. Dryads would no doubt be one as well. To tell you the truth, such humans visit our Labyrinth sometimes as well. Thinking they could capture the Dryad in secret.”

“Only you don’t have the real bodies inside the Labyrinth.” Said Noah smirking.

“Yes. And there is no one to attest to that usually. Those people never leave the Labyrinth once their intentions are known. They make a good fertilizer for the trees and Treants. Just another unlucky group of poor sods lost to the dangers of Labyrinth.” Said Dahlia.

“Umm.” Voiced Noah.

“You think we are too harsh on them? We should not outright kill them?” Asked Dahlia.

“No. I think they deserved this…It’s just I got reminded of Samantha and her girls.” Said Noah sighing.

“Yeah. They were slavers as well, right? But you still protect them and lend your helping hand.” Said Dahlia.

“You disapprove of that, don’t you?” Said Noah glancing back at her as they walked to the town.

“No. I can’t really see where your decision comes from, besides the fact that they are not quite bad-looking. But it is your decision, Master. I have no right to judge. Anything you choose is what I will abide by. I am only concerned about the safety of your decision. They seem to be holding a grudge toward you.”

“Yeah. Can’t blame them for that either.” Said Noah quietly. “They have the right to be angry considering what I did to them.”

They walked for a few minutes in silence. Dahlia in her human form, looking no different from any other human being, dressed in an adventurer's get-up, and Noah in a new disguise that he has not used anywhere yet.

“Speaking of anger. I seem to have rubbed your mother the wrong way when I mentioned the World Tree. That was not my intention at all. Did not expect that kind of reaction. Can you share this story? I would not blame you if you don't want to talk about it.” Noah stopped as she asked Dahlia looking her in the eyes. But seeing as she kept silent he nodded silently and started to walk again.

“What do you know about the man who was called The Sage?” Asked Dahlia a few minutes later as she thought carefully.

“The Sage?” Asked Noah rubbing his chin. “He was part of the Hero team in the legends. Pendragon Merlin, that was his name, right?” Answered Noah.

“Yes. My mother was acquainted with him, you know?”

“Oh. She is a legendary being as well. No wonder they met.”

“She wasn’t a Dryad Queen back then. She wasn’t even High-Dryad. Back then she was not more powerful than I am right now.”

“That’s hard to imagine. She exudes such regality when you gaze at her.”

“Spiritual power works in strange ways. But returning to the reason for her reaction…It was an age before the first Labyrinth had been created yet. And the age of humans struggle to survive. Age of humans constant escape.”

“Escape?” Asked Noah in wonder.

“Dungeons occurred all over the world. Hordes of monsters all over the place. Humanity was reduced from Billions that populated this world in the age before dungeons to just a small group of several hundred thousand survivors. With Heroic systems among which were The Saintess and the Sage, they could barely keep the monsters and demons that could easily seep into this world then, at bay. But with every destroyed dungeon a dungeon break would occur and a new horde attacking them would appear. They tried to live without destroying dungeons. Just living in a constant fight. But now and then dungeons would still close and newer ones would appear with a dungeon break.” Noah listened to the story with his whole attention even though many of these things he studied before.

Nobles had to be educated and history was part of every Noble’s education.

“Hero’s would die and reappear at times when battles were too hard. Humans often lost their living space and had to migrate. Slowly traveling from one land to another, preferring to escape the worst of the hordes instead of perishing fighting it.” Kept talking, Dahlia retelling the story she once heard from her mother.

“It was somewhere in that age a Sage system wielder named Pendragon Merlin was born. That man had wandered into the land that a certain spirit creature family protected. He was mortally wounded and was the last breath, escaping from another enemy that humans had no chance to win against. That day he was found by a Fairy. This was the beginning of humans' counterattack on monsters and demons.”

“His meeting with a Fairy brought the turnaround?” Asked Noah.

“Humans were always arrogant. Spirit beings for them were no different from animals. They never put them in the eyes. Until the day that man was saved from death with the spirit magic that Fairies possessed.” Said Dahlia.

“Vitality transfer.” Said Noah thoughtfully.

“Indeed. No human magic could heal the wounds he had back them. Yet spirit magic managed. That opened his eyes to the new world his race struggled so much to ignore.”

“In years that man became a friend with Fae and their Queen especially. He studies spirit magic under her tutelage. And at some point, The Sage and The Fairy Queen put their mind and expertise together creating a way to capture the dungeon instead of destroying it. The first Labyrinth Core Seal has been created. With this, the relationship between humans and spirit-being families has changed as well.”

“Year passed. Humanity fixed their position with their center of power around the holy lands that gave them hope. Back then it was still known as The Doonpine Mountain. A place where a fairy forest and the World Tree grew.”

“It was still a time strewn with constant battles and danger. Humans barely struggled to get on their feet. And lots of sacrifices have been made to let it happen. That legendary man once became one of them as well. However, his friendship with the Fairy race lived on through the ages. His descendants and heirs of his name, The Pendragon family have become one of the centers of human power, The High-family of Central Cathedral, as well as the bridge between humanity and Fae.”

“With time humanity drunk on their repeating success in pushing monsters back, has grown overconfident. At that time the new type of dungeon shocked them as a thunder in the clear sky. Above-ground dungeon that they were unable to capture. No spirit family could take control over it and build a Labyrinth.”

“The Fairy Queen came to the humans' rescue once again. Several Dryad sisters were living in her forest. My mother was one of them. Although humans considered them monsters, Fairies were always friendly with them. It is the Fairy Queen's friendship with Dryads that gave her an idea of how to overcome the problem of above ground Labyrinth. She helped the sisters to advance and taught them magic. For them, she was no less than a mother. They called her Fairy Godmother back then.”

“However humanity’s greed and overconfidence have seeped into the hearts of Pendragon's descendants deeply in those days already. As they were bridge with Fae it was they who first caught wind of the new solution. But they also realized one thing. If the Fairy Queen were to cultivate Dryad Queens, she would have immense power over them. Seeking to get this power into their hands they turned upon the Fairy Queen. What exactly happened is unknown. My mother and her sisters have been here in the Great Tree Labyrinth by then. All we know is that the Fae perished together with the World Tree and humanity got absolutely nothing.”

“After everything they’ve done for humans, they were viciously stabbed in the back. You can imagine what a blow it was to mother and her sisters when they found out. Even decades later they can’t help shed tears from the remainder of it.”

“Fucking bastards.” Muttered Noah. “Pendragon family? I will remember their names. But humanity did not punish them?”

“Not enough for anyone's liking. They lost the land they considered theirs, but…The fact that they are breathing is telling of how lenient the Saintess was with them. Saintess was the one who rushed to the forest first when she sensed the fall of glamor around the Fairy Forest. Ever since then she never left that mountain. Up to now she lives there spending her divinity in a futile attempt to create a miracle that would return the world tree into the land. She has not been successful. In time the mountain has become her dwelling. The white tower that humanity built to get to their Saintess has given the mountain its new name. The White Tower Mountain. Does this answer your question, Master?”

“Yes. This is far more than I have ever learned in history books. Nothing of this has ever been mentioned anywhere.”

“Would humans put to words their shame to share with their children? Especially when one of the High-Families of Central Cathedral is the one that would be angered by such a story written in the books.”

“No. Of course, they wouldn’t. Bet, humanity decided to forget.” Said Noah.

“But we, eternal beings, will remember it forever.” Whispered Dahlia.

They walked for a few minutes in silence again before Noah once again talked.

“Umm Dahlia…” He said scratching his cheek.

“Yes, Master?”

“You mentioned that word, Glamor. I’ve heard of it before but what is it? Some type of illusion magic?” Asked Noah. “Well if it is not a secret of course.”

“Glamor, huh?” Said Dahlia thoughtfully. “This is hard to explain.”

“I would like to know if it’s not too much.”

“I mean it is hard to explain to someone who doesn’t know how to use it. We are born with it. For us, it is like breathing or having a tail. How can I explain to you how to breathe when you never breathed before or how to swing your tail when you never had it from birth.”

“I see. A magic that you were born with, huh?” Said Noah, nodding.

“You could say that Glamor is a spirit equivalent to magic. All spirit beings wield it. Our mother is said to be among the best of its users, but even she was never near as good as her teacher - The Fairy Queen. I know some but, this is nowhere near to teaching it to anyone, but I will try to explain. Just don’t believe my every word unquestioningly. I might be mistaken in many of its principles. Although I possessed it from birth and studied it for decades it is still hard to comprehend it even for me.

“In simple terms, it is a kind of magic similar to human magic. Only much, much more complicated in the laws that it followed as well as the end result of its use. Glamor is not more powerful or potent than Magic. It is more…ethereal. More supernatural.” Dahlia struggled to find a correct way to describe the difference.

“You could say that these two types of magics are as different as two spectrums of light. One acts on the laws of the material world the other on the laws of immaterial.” She explained.

“Glamor may be better comprehended when you look at it as a kind of illusion magic. This is not so, but just for example, ok?” Said Dahlia looking at Noah thoughtfully. Only after receiving Noah’s nod of understanding, she continued to talk.

“With magic, you may make an illusion so real it would deceive all senses. You may see, hear, and smell things differently than they are. You might even be made to sense pain. However, Glamour allows it to go beyond simple obscuring of senses.”

“The right would be left. The heavy would seem light. The hard would soften. The hot would frostbite and the cold would leave burns. As if it deceived the world itself. The very principles of the world may be deceived. Yet it is only that. A deception.”

“As long as it is used against the material world it can not change the material world, only deceive it for a time. Once Glamour is broken, everything will be back in its place as if it never changed. Only the consequences would be left. The end result would stay.” Explained Dahlia making Noah seriously think about the possibility that kind of magic would have.

“If, say, you were hit by a sword entirely made of Glamour and sliced apart. The sword and wound would cease to exist as soon as the Glamour was broken. Yet a killed person would stay dead, although his body would be unharmed.” Said Dahlia.

“Damn isn’t that the perfect murder weapon? Leaving no trace like that?” Said Noah but heard Dahlia’s melodic laughter of amusement in reply.

“No, Master. That will be in fact on the contrary the worst type of murder weapon in this perspective. Spiritual energy leaves traces that anyone who could perceive it would see. These would not just make it obvious how that person died but give an immediate answer of who exactly killed that person. It is worse than fingerprints. At least fingerprints do not point at you from miles away telling everyone they belonged to that person over there.”

“At least that is how it would seem to a person who can perceive spiritual energy. Moreover, many human investigators use spiritual energy to solve cases. You may think that only spiritual beings leave a trace, but it is not true. Any being has a spiritual energy to some degree and leaves a trace that could be perceived by those who are capable of seeing it. The sage did not just learn it from the Fairy Queen, he made sure to pass it on to some of his disciples as well.” Said Dahlia.

“I see. Is that why I felt such a heavy feeling of duality from the Throne room in the Palace Tree?” Asked Noah surprising Dahlia.

“Indeed, Master. Throne Room is the center of Mother's Magic. The place where she casts the dream world. But I am astonished at your feeling through it. What did you feel?”

“Strange. I felt it the strongest in that room. It felt very unpleasant standing there. As if I was deceived by everything.” Said Noah.

“This is very strange. Interesting but strange.” Said Dahlia as they kept walking. “The level of Glamor that is cast there, is so obscure and ephemeral I have no idea of even how it may be achieved. None of the humans of your level at least should be able to sense it even distantly.”

“Hmmm.” Voiced Noah not knowing what else to reply. He just bet it had something to do with a certain plush bear toy in the clown costume.