The dense Eldor Rainforest gave way to a more temperate and trimmed forest as the group traveled along the worn, brick path outside of the veil. Contrary to the dim interior, which only had minimal light on the main paths, natural sunlight poured through the tree's branches and onto the adventurer's faces.
Eventually, the group reached a small checkpoint structure at the edge of the forest. It wasn't guarded and its only function was to show one of the rainforest's official entrance.
The outskirts of a town were immediately visible beyond the gate. This was Arshle, one of the many places that serviced adventurers coming in and out of the rainforest. Min nodded while glancing around.
"It's closer to Eldor than I expected. You really weren't kidding when you said the entire town is basically an outpost."
"Mh, but it isn't very busy right now. You're lucky you came out at March- this place is swarmed by summer, though I don't know if it will be busy, what with the focus on those… scuffles."
Angela had told him before that many nobles were mobilizing their personal forces and hiring adventurers to take part in a power shuffle. She didn't know most of the details, but an important philosopher apparently once said that the Tide represented a great era of change. The fact that this was expressed in internal strife was rather peculiar to Min.
This implied that the Arcane Tide probably wasn't a big deal, but if that was the case, why would Players start here? It was even one of the harder novice worlds. Everything just felt more and more odd the longer he remained here… whatever, he needed to do more searching before coming to a conclusion. There could be some later event that sparks the need for Player involvement- like the Six Nation's active war declaration against the Germinal Organization.
Tap, tap, tap.
The shoulder prods interrupted his thoughts. Meng Min paused and turned to the prodder in question, that being Angela. The two others flanked behind her as she stared up at him with a bit of hesitation.
"According to our previous agreement, both parties have done their part. You helped us in Eldor and we led you out. So this is goodbye, right?"
Min stared down at the woman, looking at the Green Monkey pelts in her arms. The mission he got earlier hadn't ended yet, probably waiting on this verbal confirmation. He blinked a few times before shrugging.
"I mean, I'd prefer to stick with you guys for at least a little bit. That would involve me going out to Eldor with you people. Is this fine?"
A smile spread across both Joseph and Angela's faces, with Mark trying to look more neutral. Miss Leader nodded quickly at Min's proposition.
"Mh, that works with us. It will be nice to have a Super in our team for a longer time."
"Sigh, is that all I am to you? Just a body to use…"
"Shut up."
The Elf hugged himself pitifully and received a forehead flick for it. Angela rubbed the bridge of her nose before speaking further.
"Next time we go on a mission, you can be involved in the profits. You should consider where you want to stay for the time being… My family's home has some room. You will have to take part in house maintenance, though."
She gave him the directions to her house before setting off with the rest of the group. The mission finished, giving him 12,000 exp and +25 favorability points with all the members. This outcome wasn't too bad for him since money could be earned later. Favorability on a foreign world was generally more valuable.
The directions given led Min to a clearly less fortunate part of town. It couldn't be called "run-down", but it was on its way to that status. One house fit Angela's description: a small home that looked tidy compared to the adjacent buildings. It seemed like the house had been cleaned deeply some time in the past year.
Min stepped up the few wooden stairs leading to the home's small porch. He raised his knuckles and gave the door a good knock.
After some time, it opened to a middle-aged woman. She stared up at the Elf and squinted in confusion. However, she seemed to realize why he was here, and sighed.
"Did my Angela send you? If you want to rest, take the room with her name on it upstairs."
This reaction didn't shock him too much. Angela had offered this to him after only seeing him for a few days, so offering it to others wasn't impossible. Min walked in and closed the door behind him; the presumed mother returning to whatever it was she was doing in the kitchen.
Trusting him immediately was kind of odd, but Angela's mom trusted her daughter. And Angela herself felt that Min had no reason to be sneaky if he wanted to take advantage of her. Sure, he could be a secret psychopath, but she felt that he could help more than potentially harm.
Anyway, two younger children, both younger than ten, were playing in the slightly messy living room area. They both glanced over at the newcomer and smiled at him. Min returned a gentle smile along with a small wave. Despite the cramped nature of the house, it did not necessarily feel lived-in. Perhaps the family moved here recently.
Min suddenly paused at the stair's landing. His gaze wandered from the children playing in the home before landing on Angela's mother. The home's warmth seeped into his body as he comfortably savored the feeling.
"...Do you need something?"
Mama Angela raised an eyebrow in Min's direction. The Elf got out of his trance and shook his head, apologizing before going up the stairs.
Finding the designated room wasn't difficult. Min entered and sat on the bed very lightly before laying down. This wasn't his room and it could be taken away at any time, so he wanted to treat it with care. He gave the surroundings a quick, cautious glance before slowly pulling the communicator out of the duffle bag and let it uncompress. If someone from Earth saw this guarded scene, they might have gotten the wrong idea…
As he navigated the communicator, Min laughed proudly in his mind.
"Heh, heh, heh, I'm really getting used to this technology. Maybe one day I will be hip and with the kids."
Refocusing, Min opened the Space-time Research Council's "website" and entered in his login credentials. A database with an almost overwhelming amount of information appeared, but the user interface was well-designed and made it seem understandable. He had checked files on civilizations from the Exploration Era out of curiosity before. Many of their 'disasters' were being conquered or annexed, but a few civilizations had a more or less ambiguous status, like the Lore Civilization.
Anyway, he navigated to the disasters section, tapping on ones specific to surface-level civilizations.
- - - - -
Surface-level Civilization Disasters (tap to expand/collapse)
->Self-inflicted
→ Nuclear Armageddon
→ Primordial Psionic Annihilation
→ Sacrificial Rituals
→ Unification Wars
→ Uncontrollable Magical Events
→ …
-> Foreign
→ Advanced Civilization Experiments
→ Ancient Gods Awakening
→ Galactic Terrorists
→ Interstellar Hazards
→ Stray Superweapon Effects
→ …
-> Natural Disasters
→ Chaotic Tectonic Activity
→ Natural Magical Events
→ Plagues
→ Planetary Core Cooling
→ Severe Weather Cycles
→ …
- - - - -
The list was pretty comprehensive and even provided examples for each scenario. There were some options that Min didn't recognize, so he tapped on them.
- - - - -
Ancient Gods Awakening
An "Ancient Gods awakening-type disaster" is a rare event. The term "Ancient God" refers to powerful individual beings, often divided into Grade ranks similar to Supers, who call a planet home. Machines, energy beings, or any other type of being can qualify.
There are two main causes for this event: one is that the "Ancient Gods" landed on the example planet many years ago and entered a sleep state. Another is that the "Ancient Gods" were actually native to the planet, typically causing a religious connection to form between them and the native civilization.
- - - - -
Directly linked under the short overview were many links to examples, seemingly listed chronologically. The top one was labeled "Eight God's Temple". Min tapped it to see the overview.
"The "Eight God's Temple" planet in the Endless Nebulae (Shattered Pride Cluster - Zorban System - Thirteenth Star Zone - Eight God's Temple Planet) is the most recent example of a disturbed Ancient Gods Awakening planet. An Ancient Gods Awakening event appeared to have occurred long before the Exploration Era, as per captured Galent Civilization records (E.C.R. 1b97h). Eight Calamity Grade beings rose from the planet's crust and dominated the environments of their respective magical elements, destroying the local civilization in the process.
These gods lived on the planet in relative peace until a disturbance occurred on October 12th, Year 568 of the Galaxy Calendar Era. EsGod, fleeing pursuit from Westsandling after attacking a secret military installation, crashed into the planet. The records provided by the Arcane Church and Westsandling are inconclusive as to whether or not the native Gods initiated aggression with EsGod. However, he regained much of the energy lost during his escape after entering the planet and was able to lose his pursers. An officer from the chase later commented that, when passing by Eight God's Temple, it seemed to them no more special than any other barren rock in the universe."
Westsandling was the official name of the Federation of Light, so it being used in documentation like this was normal. There was more information about the planet's modern state, but Min exited the situation's file. Based on the situation, it seemed like the "Ancient Gods" sprouted from nowhere. The file from the Exploration Era civilization mentioned in the overview had only observed the ascension and did not record any potential signs. Min had checked across many other examples and did not find any convincing evidence indicating that the Arcane Tide was an Ancient God's Awakening event.
'Well, that's one down. But Beyond Grade As… they truly are a tyrannical existence."
The only way to ever fight EsGod was to send a bunch of Grade S Supers after him. And even then he was very slippery to catch. The Eight God's Temple event was when he was a lot younger and less powerful. But he still absorbed an entire planet's life force without anyone immediately noticing.
Regardless, there were more things to consider. He could instantly rule out galactic terrorism since the Arcane Tide had occurred a long time ago on Planet Brighton. There was the small caveat of a civilization unknown to the Three Universal Civilizations having done something to make the Tide happen on this planet, but the chance was too low.
It could also fit under the very broad definition of "Interstellar Hazards". But an event like that was usually a giant meteor cooking all life on a planet or a gamma ray burst GGing an entire world. The Interstellar Hazard would have to be magical, and galactic society would likely be able to easily trace it. But there were no conclusive definitions for the Arcane Tide in the Space-time Research Council's records. This possibility had to be discarded.
The most likely outcome, then, was probably a natural magical event. Planet Brighton had Mages and was described to be somewhat dangerous both in the Space-time Research Council's records and by Han Xiao when looking at the novice planets. Min would need more information to make a conclusive analysis, but this was the best assumption to work with at the moment.
The reason he looked at all was to keep every possibility in mind. One never knew what piece of stray information could be the spark to properly understanding a situation.
(Hi friends. I've heard that people don't read author notes, so I'm going to put this here in the text (at least for now). My current plan for posting chapters is to do so in mini arc batches (like this three chapter drop). It may take a little longer to do, but what's a few more months when it's been ten months, right? I should also say that I will tell you guys if I ever drop this, so despite the awful release schedule, it is not dropped. Thanks for enjoying. I'm happy I can make something tolerable to read!...Also, want a story that actually updates? Check out March_Rain's "The Legendary Mechanic: Triple Six"! It's a rather different story from this one and has an op protagonist, but it's in the TLM universe and is on Webnovel. There is also a jump chain fan fiction out made by Old6, a veteran of the English fan fiction community. It's called "Jump Through the Multiverse: The Road to The Legendary Mechanic". Great for fans of multiple medias! Also just on Webnovel!)