[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/DEs5zeu.png[/img] [h2]The Safety of Our Mountain Home[/h2][/center] - 8 - As the deadline drew near, it was time for Lektor to make her final decisions on the fate of humanity. Her lessons had taken two very different turns, one concerned with the secular and administrative worries, one with taking the vessel of earth and the fiery spirit to the limits. Both were important, but the former path was one she would only follow as far as it took for humans to leave her nest, after that, it was the realm of other gods. To refine the path of the earthling, however, was something entirely within her realm to nurture. So, how would she divide her stock of humans? It was somewhat simple... somewhat complicated too. One decision she made, initially she had desired to reserve the Mesa for her strongest humans, it was too early however for humans to fully bloom across the world. So, she would allow more 'lowly' settlements in the Mesa, let the human population rise along with their technology, and only then start to drive them out to make space for the high settlements she planned to fill the place with. So, to the 80% of her people, the ones who studied under her, who could fight, write and craft, the Mesa would be their inheritance, with the mission to consolidate their control and control their domain with a firm hand. 15% of others, were among the best, they could learn the mystical arts, and follow a higher path, and yet... they were bound by cliques, by ambitions, among other issues. They were probably the type she would want to stake their claims on sections of the Mesa when the time came, but ironically, since that time had yet to come, she would gift them the realm that was supposed to be the gift of the lower humans. Working with the upcoming underground elf kingdom, Impyra, had made her realize the value of a strong... stronghold. An exceptional building held by an exceptional group of people would impose upon the land MASSIVE power. So... to the great cliques, that 15% of those who are both ambitious and refined, she would gift deeds to great holds on distant lands, with the mission of being the first humans to settle those lands. The final 5% would be her personal retainers, perhaps some would decide to be the leaders of the cliques that dominated the holds being gifted to the 15%, perhaps others would be hermits, and others would stay forever in Haven. These were the upper crust of all earthlings, those who would not follow the path, but brave forward into the yet uncharted. Lektor clapped her hands. That would work! Work well even! Just one issue. That increased the number of impressive buildings she had to deliver from 1 (Impyra) to about 13. - 9a - The announcement of the FINAL exams came as a surprise to most within Haven. The announcement was sudden and the topics Lektor had announced to be covered by it were odd. They did not seem to cover the full aspect of the education received, instead concerning themselves with leadership, management and to a minor extent architecture. The higher students in particular found it odd but quickly came to understand that the test was not exactly for them, they should do well on it, no doubt, but their results would be overruled by their focus on magic and martial arts. [color=gold]"My students, it is time for us to address your architectural skills. I am sorry to say but... they are lacking."[/color] she sighed, observing their downcast heads. [color=gold]"To be fully honest, the fault is mostly mine, you cannot create or organize when you live with so little... well, except some of the fancier cliques. Still, the results of the last classes have been troubling. You, Stonebreaker, for example, placed all of your warehouses in a single district? Why?? Do you want every street to be filled with endless rows of people trying to go to the same point at the same time? And you, Heavenly SpearFang, just how many guards do you want to fill your city with? Why 1/5 of all buildings dedicated to housing guards?"[/color] She rubbed her temple with a single finger. [color=gold]"Break it down, go fractal, you want smaller sectors connecting to larger sectors, you want neighbourhoods to be focused but not overly specific, they should be able some level of independence. You are not building blocks together, nor should you manage cities as if they were the body of a living being, with a brain sector, a lung sector... you know?"[/color] they did not because Lektor had not spent points into teaching them the basics of healthcare, she would, soon enough. Classes would continue like this, Lektor prepared small model cities, letting the students plan their own too, she wanted them to develop unique architectural styles because she found them quite neat. Results were... slow, no matter how many times she tried, they always developed the dumbest-looking cities. [color=gold]"You are building your city on a foodplain? Don't be stupid."[/color] [color=gold]"How. Will. You. Afford. So. Many. Bloody. Walls???[/color] [color=gold]"WHAT DO THEY EAT?"[/color] She sighed. [color=gold]"You are all hopeless, all of you. What can be so hard about making non-trashy cities? Hmm!? Nevertheless, tests are delayed, we are staying here until you all grow some sense of public space. Now, write down the most important thing in a large city on your stone, done? Good. Anyone who didn't write public transport is getting beaten up by yours truly."[/color] - 9b - While the tests stalled, another project grew on the side. Even if her humans learned how to design a city, building one was far beyond their techniques. In the Mesa they would need to learn from the ground up, quite literally, but in the far-off holds, there would be no time for that, same with Impyra in the underworld. The designs being made by the students weren't only being wasted away, well, most were, because they deserved it, but what Lektor was doing was separating the planning process from the building process, this way she could have the spirit of human design without necessarily needing the humans to build it. With a look to the side, the goddess observed a true army of statues, they were made from the local stone, andesite, and were all featureless save for their carved-in-stone uniform and a simple runic code in their foreheads. They were builders, experts without the need of food or water, tireless, but also without the power to create on their own, they would follow orders and carve buildings themselves in mostly cut stone and terracotta, Lektor didn't have the patience or gentleness to deal with anything else. None of the future holds of the cliques were ready yet, but her project for Impyra was. She changed the runes in the bodies of one of the andesite constructs and assigned him as a captain, before handing him the documents and images of the project. It stood still for a long time then mindlessly started to walk away with a platoon of his own, off to build as they were instructed. - 10 - The weight of the FINAL exam was notable in her class, and so was the departure of Lorelei's group. Nobody had quite mastered the arts as Astarte had, except maybe Hills, but she had been depressed since her shadow beau had left so suddenly. It did not help one bit that Lektor herself had been distracted, only one person was taking this seriously, Blossom, and yet she had plateaued (which was funny, given Haven's location), wanting to perform techniques she would never have the Mana to truly do. At one-point Lektor even wondered if the path she was taking was impossible for humans and other earthlings. Then her student took a step further, and fully humbled the goddess. What she had called a plateau was in truth Blossom exploring her skill, finding her limits, and understanding them, something Lektor herself had been postponing recently with excuses about how busy she was. While from outside the bovine chimera did not seem to be making strides, internally she was quickly understanding much about how the mana interacted with her body. One day, out of nowhere, the goddess noticed a build-up of lights around the roof terrace of Haven, when she turned to the source, she noticed it was Blossom, who was now enveloped in a thin aurora, flowing, swirling waves of green and blue dancing around her skin. Immediately Lektor caught herself mesmerized by it, not gasping or asking questions, merely observing it with her godly perception. Blossom had developed her technique to imbue earth upon her body and refined not the action, but the concept, she had changed how the earth mana acted within herself, instead of being the more clay-like tame and brittle earth aspect, she had brought forth a concept Lektor would never have imagined a human could find within themselves, magnetism... or something close to it. Upon closer inspection she noticed it was not actual proper magnetism, but rather, she found out how to make her raw mana create such a concept within the conceptual realm of magical energies, and as such, nearby fire, air, and water were now trapped within her aura, thus creating the aurora of colours she was seeing (likely a mixture of the radiation of fire with the atmosphere of water=air). This INCREDIBLY increased Blossom's ability to capture mana, and while she was not generating or changing anything, earth mana naturally started to flow in due to the polarity created by the other elements. It was absurd, and it was not even done. Lektor increased her perception to the maximum she could as a god, observing now how the electrical charges within Blossom's body flowed across her nerves, the obvious connection between lightning and magnetism was being used so the bovine chimera could manipulate the field of swirling mana around her. The goddess observed as she got used to it, as she quickly learned to make the aurora dance by using signals send from her brain to her limb, assigning most of them to movements of her finger. Then, finally, she stomped, and the world shook. Walls of stone rose from the ground, at Blossom's command, creating a small room between her and the goddess. Her aurora had mostly dissipated, the initial step of the technique had been a small explosion of magic to lure forth a stream of earth mana to the area, then using her control over mana to command physical earth under the influence of the chaotic burst of energy she had created. It was elegant and yet brutal, as one would expect of the earth element. By the end of it, the Chimera had fallen to her feet, not even understanding most of what she had done, when she looked up, she saw the wide smile of a very pleasad goddess sitting on the stone wall she had shaped. Murmuring something about how the goat would be extremely jealous of her. [hider=Might Usage] Initial Might 3 MP / 1 AP (Adjusted on the advice of the GMs. 1 MP retroactively spend on the earthly martial arts instead of 1 AP) - 1 MP: Heavy Gravity Aurora (2/3 Martial Arts) (Allows one to create a swirl of wind-fire-water mana around them, powers up their other skills) - 1 MP (Discount of 2): Earth-Shaping Strikes (3/3 Martial Arts) Allows one to shape the earth around them, with walls, pillars and so on, needs an Aurora to be active - 1 AP 1MP (Discounted from 3, rounded up to 2): Andesite Architects, Extraordinary Species. Dudes who build things, faceless but wearing stone uniforms, no thoughts, only work. [/hider]