The Settlement of Cochlinia

A warm breeze bathed Megissa as she slowly opened her eyes, still drowsy. She sat in the hanging gardens of the Academia, surrounded by the frozen beauty of the Eternal Flowers. A gentle, white lustre emanated from their petals as they elegantly danced in the wind. Her teacher inspected various plant specimens, nuzzling and stroking the fruits of his latest experiments.

The Sorcerer of Knowledge was a unique sight in his botanical paradise. Tall and lean, his long black hair went past his waist, and a pair of antlers crowned his head. He had no facial hair, though age and experience sculpted his traits and made him appear in his mid-thirties. Vegetal tendrils coiled around his grey robe and nearly blended with the dark green patterns embroidered on it.

"That is new, Megissa. Sleeping during class?"

"Sorry…" she said between two yawns. "This place always makes me sleepy."

"I shall consider that a good thing. Now, I have been browsing some of my earlier notes and realized that intellectual growth could very well be tied to various memory stimuli. As such, you'll assist me in this little test. Tell me, what is the fundamental difference between the current humans and those that lived before the Profane War?"

"A little test you say? Right, you're just looking for an excuse to make me study outside of class hours." she took the time to stretch her limbs as she answered. "The current humans have an additional organ called Anima, which helps us interact with Mana. Six hundred years ago, most did not."

"What do you think sparked this sudden change?" he smirked, a faint spectral glow hidden behind his brown eyes.

"There was no change, nor was it sudden. Those who had an Anima survived the ensuing Mana catastrophe long enough to find refuge. The others did not."

"If that is the case, why are spellcasters considered special amongst humans?"

"While todays' humans have an Anima, the organ isn't that effective. It produces Mana, but not enough to offset the atmospheric poisoning. This is why they can't survive outside dedicated barriers. Spellcasters on the other hand have a much more functional Anima, as it is capable of filtering the atmospheric Mana by itself. It also means that ours has a greater Mana-production capacity, allowing us to cast spells. Hence the name."

"True." her teacher's smirk intensified. "Now, is this phenomenon unique to humans?"

Megissa thought about it for a little bit, but before she could answer, the scenery abruptly changed.

Her eyelids still heavy, she found herself laid on a stone slab in the middle of an empty room. She sat up and saw a little boy, around nine years old, looking at her with barely concealed surprise.

The Mathematician was used to it. People often bore similar expressions when they saw her white hair and golden eyes. Most found it terrifying, though a few rare cases were genuinely mystified.

She was about to ask him where she was when he silently darted out of the room.

Megissa sighed as she slowly got up, trying to remember what happened before she lost consciousness.

The gleam of a blade, the metallic scent of blood, and Decima's screams…

'Never mind,' she shook her head and started inspecting her surroundings. The room was plain, sculpted from some type of clear stone. It was the work of a Spellcaster, but aside from the slab, there was nothing of note.

A small window let sunlight in, and judging from the glow, it was close to noon.

Quick footsteps suddenly approached from outside, and the moment she turned towards the door, she saw her friends' worried expressions.

"Megi! Are you okay? How do you feel? Please don't do this anymore."

From Aeden's tone, it was clear that he was close to tears. Nihil didn't say anything, though anxiety was visible on his face, and even Decima seemed uneasy.

Megissa felt happy for some reason and simply smiled.

"You're saying this as if I had a choice! Who goes seeking a blade in the stomach on her own volition, huh? I find it vexing that you'd think I had control of the situation. Hmpf!" she pretended to be pouting, which made the rest of them grin like fools.

Aeden hugged her almost immediately, and that reminded her of the little brother she left behind in Scaevola. She missed him so much.

"Such a nag, even after we save your life."

"Shut it, blockhead. Also, stop smiling like that, you look even more stupid."

When their little reunion was over, she noticed an older woman and a middle-aged man near the entrance. They slowly approached as Aeden spoke :

"This is the Medice, the settlement's healer. She's the one who saved you." he gestured towards the old woman, who promptly added :

"A pleasure to meet you, child. My name is Junia."

She was slightly shorter than her companion, her face heavily wrinkled. She styled her long, grey hair in a braid, with flowery ornaments and various trinkets. The white, plain robe she wore ended with colourful handmade bracelets around her ankles. Her Mana was abundant and its flow constant, confirming that she was a spellcaster.

Aeden moved to introduce the middle-aged man, but the latter started first :

"My name is Curo. I'm the settlement's chief." he looked stern and spoke in a low voice. "First of all, thank you for your help against the bandits. I personally welcome you to Cochlinia, our humble sanctuary, where you'll be hosted as long as necessary. I hope that such gratitude will be enough."

His choice of words was odd. He meant that they weren't to overextend, but shouldn't he want them to stay more than anything else? The bandits were still a threat, and spellcasters' presence could only be beneficial.

Megissa chose not to dwell on this, asking instead :

"What about the barrier? It was breached, right?"

"It has been repaired."

"Already?" she nearly shouted in surprise.

"You slept for a whole day, Megi. But still, I find it surprising too. I can't even sense an Exousia Stone." Nihil was the most knowledgeable about barriers, as he mastered Sealing spells.

"We have no Exousia Stone. Our ancestors built this sanctuary with a clear idea of self-sufficiency. We'd rather die than depend on other nations."

"What?" almost everyone exclaimed in shock.

"How can you stabilize effective protection without a core? It should be impossible." Nihil found it hard to believe.

"I'm afraid I can't share our secrets with strangers. My son will stay with you as a guide, if you need anything, please ask him." he gestured towards the little boy who Megissa saw when she first woke up. "Now, there are some matters I must attend to, have a pleasant stay."

And just like that, he exited the room with the Medice, leaving them with the child.

"This is strange," Megissa muttered as Aeden bent down to the boy.

"What's your name?" he asked in a soft tone.

"L..-Luni. My name's Luni." he stuttered at first but managed to answer.

"Now Luni, can you show us around? We were too preoccupied with our friend to visit the settlement yesterday."

"Y-..Yes! Follow me!" the little boy's expression shifted from fear to excitement as he exited the room, signalling for them to come.

Letting him take some distance, Aeden spoke in a low voice :

"There's something weird about this settlement. When we chased the 'bandits', I realized that they were fleeing it, not just retreating. They didn't seem to have taken anything."

"Let's stay on our guard to be sure. The cloaked man we fought was part of the Sakit Urusk tribe, I'm sure of it. They're not interested in banditry, and you don't hire their assassins to loot a settlement." Megissa raised a valid point.

"How did you know? He was much more powerful, but I didn't remember seeing any distinctive trait," said Decima.

"Spellcasting structures are constant everywhere, but incantations and Mana control techniques differ from place to place. Sometimes, even from one culture to another. Though outdated, there are a few books documenting Sakit Urusk spellcasting in the Academia. I managed to recognize some of his chants thanks to them."

"If only you dedicated some of that focus elsewhere during the fight, I wouldn't have had my eye and skull pierced."

"Decima, I'm going to hit you."

As the bickering party passed the entrance, the Cochlinian settlement finally appeared. It was a beautiful blend of lush greenery and clear stone architecture in a full circle, giving the feel of a hidden paradise. Despite the plain buildings, the abundance of vegetation made the settlement seem somewhat ethereal, like ruins you'd typically find in the tropics of the Central Continent. At the centre was a gigantic rectangular mound, several feet above the ground. Upon it sat a luxurious albeit small forest, with ash trees and pines woven together in a marvellous canvas depicting nature's inherent chaos.

Thanks to Mana Oculus, Megissa could see that the wooden patch was brimming with Mana, though its flow was bizarre. It sprang and slithered at random intervals, sometimes hitting the barrier and other times coating it.

Luni seemed to follow her gaze, as he immediately spoke :

"That's the Prius Woods! Only Father goes there, but sometimes other grown-ups do too. I don't know what's inside, they say I'm not allowed. They always catch me when I try to sneak in."

"Must be a sacred place or something. Though it makes my skin crawl when I look at it." Decima said nonchalantly.

"Aunt Junia once told me that there are monsters there. They sometimes climb down to take away naughty children who don't finish their food. She's a liar though, Dorea our neighbor is thin as a stick but she comes to play with us every day. Clearly, the monsters aren't interested in people who don't eat."

They leisurely walked between the stone buildings, passing a goat herder. Livestock was somewhat rare in settlements such as these, as space was necessary, and dedicating as much land as possible for growing food was more vital.

Luni threw pebbles at the herder, earning him a few very colourful curses. He simply laughed and answered with rude gestures.

"I see you're a troublemaker." Aeden grinned.

"It gets boring sometimes and Father doesn't care much. I'm too fast to be caught so they usually give up."

"Have you never been caught?"

"Only when they get lucky. I got strung up in a tree and whipped once because I pissed on someone's vegetables. Old Alinia was a butthole though so she deserved it."

Decima chuckled as they crossed a small bridge, looking at a big patch of land where they grew various crops, close to the barrier's edge.

"What did she do to you?"

"She always sent her sons to beat me up when I made too much noise near her house."

"She really deserved it then!"

"Right! Oh, we've arrived at the central square. This is where we organize awesome stuff like festivals! But sometimes grown-ups gather here to choose who'll go to the forest with my father." Luni seemed proud of himself as he spoke. "Normally children can't assist but I managed to sneak in many times!"

"Go to the forest?" Nihil picked up on something. He looked around the place, seeing youngsters of various ages but not many adults.

"Luni, were the grown-ups chosen always willing?" he whispered, making sure no one around them heard.

His friends immediately understood what he meant, and their expressions turned severe.

"Yes, they always go quietly to the woods. Vita's mother went there too. Aunt Junia told me that's where she lives now.."

"Megi?"

"The forest's Mana flow is abnormal, but aside from that, there's nothing strange."

"If neither Nihil nor Megi can sense anything hostile, I guess there's no immediate danger." Aeden briefly muttered before looking at Luni. "Hey, little guy, can you show us our lodgings?"

"It's a bit far from here, follow me!"

The boy leapt from the square as the party accompanied him. Megissa quickly realized that they were getting further away from the Prius Woods. Curo clearly didn't want them near it.

While running, she took the time to truly look at the inhabitants of Cochlinia. Despite the relative lack of older people, life seemed peaceful. There were no signs of starvation nor sickness, and the smile on everyone's faces was genuine. Still, it was odd that the last attack didn't shake them.

'Perhaps they were used to them,' she thought. 'After all, according to Aeden, they did manage to push the bandits back.'

She hasn't seen any casualty yet, and the only spellcaster she sensed was the Medice, Junia.

Anyway, she decided that dwelling on those things was useless. They were more than likely to resume their journey the following day, so nothing from this settlement concerned her.

After several minutes, they finally arrived before a small, almost crumbling building. Most of its pillars were entwined with plants and tree roots, which made Megissa raise some justified concerns about being buried during their sleep.

"It'll be fine! Aunt Junia told me that she'll bring you food later."

Just then, a bell rang throughout the settlement, giving some kind of signal as most of the children started sprinting towards their homes.

"Eh, already? I need to go, or Father will slap me. He doesn't like it when I go home too long after the bell rings. It's been fun guys! Uh... What are your names again? Sorry, I forgot."

"It's because we never had the chance to tell you, Luni." Aeden laughed. "My name's Aeden. The scary one is Nihil, the muscular-looking girl is Decima and the white-haired one is Megissa."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Hm."

"Hey, muscles aren't my only trait! Look, I'm beautiful too!" the Homunculus made one of her signature grimaces, and Luni nearly jumped. "Rude." she wasn't happy with his reaction.

"Heh, with a face like that, you'd tell some awesome scary stories. Pleased to meet you! Now I really need to go, I can already feel my cheek burning."

He ran like his life depended on it, jumping over small fences and trampling on some very carefully grown vegetables on his way back.

They all chuckled at the sight before entering the shabby home. Its interior was just as plain as the exterior, but it was better than camping out in the open for a one-night stay. Even though they had some lingering doubts, none genuinely noticed the ticking bomb buried beneath Cochlinia as they slowly settled inside.

_

Deep below the Prius Woods, under layers upon layers of rocks, a peculiarity stood frozen in an unchanging, motionless state - neither dead nor truly alive. The sound of one last breath and the splatter of red ichor challenged its eternal silence. Little by little, the liquid's warmth called to it, cracked the shell of its stillness and made it rediscover the chaotic intricacies of life.

Thump, thump, thump.

Its heart began to beat anew.