Civilization

Being able to taste food made the golem happy; it was worried the feasts and liquor in the Vacation Zone would have been the last food it could enjoy. Omni looked around the table, and the others had begun to eat with smiles on their face; Krave was using magic to chew his steak, Christoph was making small talk with Elizabeth.

The golem looked on; the other patrons enjoyed their food and talked about the interesting golem. Further on, people walked the streets, nodding to one another as they passed; most people seemed to be at least acquaintances. A single carriage was drawn by a horse-like lizard wearing goggles inscribed water magic to moisturize its eyes; the coachman was smiling and verbally greeting passersby.

𝘈 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵…

Omni heard the distant sound of propellers and looked up.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

In the distance, past the walls of the city, was a blimp. Or it looked like one at first; the balloon looked strange and rigid, kind of like stone, and was guided with a combination of propellers and a small smattering of wyvern-like flying creatures.

The World Library didn't mention airships, so it was safe to assume they weren't around yet; the golem pointed, "What is that?" It asked.

Krave was the first to respond, quickly chewing with semi-transparent teeth made of magic and swallowing, "Ah! Yes, those are a recent marvel. The white chalky thing on top is actually stone, if you can believe it! With the taming of wyverns, we've been able to explore the skies, and there's actually land in the air!" He talked excitedly, the ethereal pointed teeth making him look quite funny matched with his beard.

Valentina turned and looked as well, exclaiming, "Oh! It's my first time seeing them too! But if it's stone, how does it float?"

The old demon grinned, "It hasn't been fully explained yet, but what we've learned so far is that the landmass in the sky has an Energy Anomaly that seeps into the stone, turning it white and making it lighter than air! We eventually realized we could use it as a replacement for the inefficient balloons, allowing us to carry much bigger ships through the air," He talked avidly as if he were actively involved.

The golem nods, "So it's simple, the rock is carved small enough, or de-charged enough that it floats closer to the ground, then an undercarriage is attached and guided by propellers and wyverns, interesting,"

Krave laughed, "Exactly, it's a little more complicated, but that's the gist of it. We're still in the process of exploring the Skylands, but err, certain matters are making us divert resources back down here."

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘥𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯.

Omni turned its attention back to the buildings, the architecture; it felt very victorian era. It was less medieval than it expected. The streets were clean, and the cobblestone road was well-worn yet lacking any of the potholes it was used to seeing. The golem idly picked up another skewer, stabbing it into its chest, the process much faster this time.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵…

"This city is prosperous; is that due to the Labyrinth?" It asked, observing the foot traffic.

Christoph nodded and responded, "Partially, yes, but it's mainly thanks to the Beastfolk Queen; she managed to wrangle all the nobles and get them to work together. Formeldr is the biggest city in this region, and it trades with all the towns and settlements under the control of the nobles, and imports and exports from the Dwarven cities have been extremely profitable, or so I hear," he explained, then took another bite from his skewer.

Elizabeth looked almost surprised, "I didn't think you would be the type to keep an ear to the ground."

Christoph shrugs, "It's not really a secret, and I like to know what's going on in the place I live."

"A Golden Age, is it?" Omni asked no one in particular.

. . . 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴... 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

The golem shook its head, and Valentina took the quiet moment as a chance to start asking questions to the golem; most were meaningless or things like 'favourite colour' or 'favourite food'; eventually, she got around to asking about its ability to cook.

"I was put to work and learned many jobs, cooking was a common one, and I had a knack for it, despite being inorganic," Omni replied, thinking along and converting terms, "I cooked for a great variety of people, though the Phycasters only let people who could keep a secret interact with me, they didn't want other cities to know they were researching souls." It turned to Krave, "You are a knowledgeable mage, correct? Was there any documentation found on my creation?" It asked, trying to further its story of being a relic.

The old demon nodded, "We found entries about them looking into souls and Twilight, as Twilight is considered the shepherd of souls, guiding them to the afterlife, but nothing mentioned any results, though proof of results is in front of us now."

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺?

Omni nodded along, "Good, I've had enough attention; I just want to relax."

Krave coughed and gave a difficult smile, "That... might be hard for you, you're one-of-a-kind, Phycaster was the forefront of research into the soul, you're essentially invaluable, not to mention your capabilities of being able to absorb and learn from magic items."

𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯? 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 '𝘦𝘢𝘵' 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵?

The golem immediately put the theory to the test, shifting the obsidian orbs in its body to its core, and upon contact, they vanished, leaving a warm feeling. It found that its core could now make noise just like the orbs and absorbed the rest of them. It checked its status, but nothing new appeared; the golem just shrugged this away. Not everything had to be a skill. Another thought popped into its head, what happens when it comes into contact with a Myth Monolith?

"If it cannot be helped, then I do not want to be caught in a bad position like before," the golem looked to the old demon again, "While you activated me properly, my stores and skills were irreparably damaged by the Dungeon's Avatar, would you be willing to re-teach me magic and such forth?"

Krave's eyes widened, and he grinned, "Yes, yes, of course! I have so much I want to learn from you too; I'll even do it for free!"

Elizabeth folded her arms and smiled, "Well, between working for their restaurant and dealing with the old man, it looks like you'll be quite busy."

"Busy as a bee!" Valentina chimed in and giggled.

Christoph rolled his eyes, "It sounds like you're a good cook, which is great, Valentina can't really cook, and my recipes are mostly medicinal in nature; it'll be good to have you if you're still willing," he nodded along to his own words, then smiled at the end.

Valentina pouted, "My cooking isn't that bad! You just have a poor taste!"

"Me and every customer you cook for?" He shot back.

The sheep-woman opened her mouth, stopped, then closed her mouth and crossed her arms with a "Hmph!"

Elizabeth and Krave laughed, and the waitress came back around to collect the plates. Omni had seen her peering at it from the kitchen but said nothing. She seemed interested in the golem but perhaps too shy or too proud to ask about it; who knew. Omni stood up, ready to leave, and stared back at the waitress; her eyes were sharp and mouth thin and seemingly stuck in a slight frown, her waitress clothes concealed her tail and ears, the golem was unsure what kind she was. Still, it was sure of her general race by the two lumps under the white bandanna holding her hair that occasionally twitched.

"Thank you," it said directly to her, gauging her reaction.

She replied with a grunt and broke the stare, taking the dishes back to the kitchen.

"What's up with her?" Valentina questioned.

"She's always moody whenever I come here, though Omni seems to have gotten her attention. You're already getting popular," Elizabeth smirked.

"Irrelevant," the golem replied mechanically.

Elizabeth shrugged, "Well, I should go meet up with the others; they'll probably be curious about you too; maybe we'll stop by Christoph's for supper, see if you're there."

Omni tilted its head, "Speaking of such; my schedule needs to be determined; I do not need to rest and can work day and night," it started, turning to Christoph.

The elf sighed, "Let's talk about it on the way to the shop; you coming, old man?" he asked, turning to Krave.

Krave nodded furiously, "Of course, it involves me too," he said excitedly.

Elizabeth nodded and said her goodbyes, taking off in the direction of the Labyrinth. Christoph took the lead to guide the golem to his own restaurant. The trip was filled with Christoph and Krave talking back and forth, discussing business hours and days, with Valentina chipping in now and then. Omni remained quiet, only answering questions with 'yes' or 'no. Thankfully, this world used the same calendar system as the old world, so the golem didn't have to adjust.

It looked up into the sky.

𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘩𝘶𝘩? 𝘕𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺? 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺.

"Then it's settled," Christoph stated, bringing Omni's attention back down, "Krave gets you for weekends and Wednesdays, and the other days you'll work in our shop, is that agreeable?"

The golem nodded, "That is sufficient, though I will be asking for days off should something come up, or if I feel like it," it stated flatly.

Christoph scratched the nack of his neck, "Well it's not like we can force you, you are your own person after all."

The golem paused its footsteps.

"Something wrong?" Valentina asked.

Omni shook its head, "No, nothing at all," it replied with a spark of emotion in its voice. Christoph furrowed his brow but said nothing.

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘶𝘩? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.