A Relatively Powerful Mage

Imri had intended to listen in on the Chixel when he was done with his date. Unfortunately, he underestimated how exhausted he was and fell asleep while holding Emelia. He had slept for almost twelve hours straight but still awoke with Emelia beside him. Even though nothing more than cuddling had happened, he was giddy with joy.

He made his way to the group of Chixel. He was too embarrassed to even look at anyone who stared at him as he walked through camp. They were located near the center of camp, a pair of sentries keeping a watchful eye over them. Imri could tell that the humans were more unsettled than the Chixel, who just seemed bored. Imri and another man replaced the two sentries at the appointed hour, hopefully avoiding any suspicion.

“It has not watched us before. Perhaps it is new?” one of the five Chixel commented.

“He is large. Perhaps he is another strong warrior,” another suggested.

“Tssk, it is no warrior. It is soft and weak like so many of these smooth skins. These ones waste time here,” a Chixel with several scars said.

“Something is off about that one, and it is watching us like none have,” the last Chixel, the smallest of the five, spoke. Imri did his best to imitate the bored indifference the other sentries had adopted.

“It was just curious. Perhaps It had never seen one of the Chixel. Look, it already grows tired of studying these ones,” the warrior with scars pointed out.

“This one is not an expert on smooth skin body language, but this one believes it is faking indifference,” the short one said. Imri noted the other four seemed to defer to this one, even the hot-headed Chixel with the scars.

Imri decided to put on a spectacle, shouting at the Chixel in English when they all stared at him. He tried to act annoyed at their attention, but it didn’t convince anyone.

“That one is strange; something seems off about him,” the tall, slender one said.

“Yes, it's as if it is behaving like the angry ones, but not,” the one with scars.

“It doesn’t matter. We wait for the smooth ones to make the first move. Have patience,” the leader said.

They stopped speaking after that, though they still stared at him suspiciously. Imri did his best to act nonchalant and listen in. They said nothing of note for a while. Occasionally, the one with scars expressed annoyance, but the leader quickly rebuffed him.

“At this rate, the Ulzites will find a primordial before these ones leave camp,” the scarred one said in annoyance. Imri did a double-take at the mention of his mysterious ancestry, and the keen leader seemed to notice.

“That one understands these ones,” the leader said to him, to the surprise of the other four Chixel and Imri.

Imri sighed and nodded, but the Chixel didn’t use this gesture, so he spoke in their tongue. “Yes, the system gave me a skill,” Imri explained.

“This one knows of no such skill. Perhaps it is something given to ambassador-type classes,” the leader said. Imri just shrugged, which was another gesture that confused the Chixel. No wonder they hadn’t gotten anywhere with nonverbal communication; human gestures were just that: human. “Tell me, what is this one called?” the Chixel asked.

“My name, it’s Imri Padar. And you are?”

“That one may refer to this one as Ettes.”

“Nice to meet you, Ettes.”

“This one is also honored to meet you, Imri Padar.”

“Please, just call me Imri.”

“Did that one not introduce that one as Imri Padar?” Ettes asked in confusion.

“That’s my full name. My family name is Padar, and my individual name is Imri. We use individual names for those we know, as full names are too formal.”

“Very well, Imri of the humans,” Ettes said. The word human hadn't been translated, and it sounded strange coming from the Chixel’s tongue.

“Tell me, Ettes, why did you come to our camp?” Imri asked, getting straight to the point.

“How much does Imri know of the system and the multiverse?” Ettes asked.

“Pretend I know nothing.”

“Surely that one knows something? This one could not possibly explain everything,” Ettes said. Imri sighed.

“How could I know much? It's only been a few days,” Imri pointed out.

“This one is not a historian, but this one believes it has been many cycles of the planet since the Chixel learned of the system,” Ettes explained.

“Wait, you’re telling me the Chixel knew about the system before the integration?”

“Of course, did that one’s gods not explain the system?”

“Gods are real?” Imri asked, dumbstruck at the nonchalant way Ettes discussed the divine.

“Of course, do humans not have gods?” Ettes asked. Imri wasn’t sure how to answer that question. He believed in a higher power but not in organized religion. However, the way Ettes spoke about gods made it sound like they could be communed with.

“I’m not sure,” Imri said.

“How can Imri not be sure? Gods are powerful beings of immense stature. This one has never met any gods but knows those who have. Those ones say gods are impossible to miss. Gods have a presence that can be felt by those within a long distance.”

“So your gods have a physical manifestation within your world, an avatar that priests can interact with?” Imri asked.

“It is so, Imri of humans,” Ettes confirmed.

“How much magic did your world have? Was it common?” Imri asked, a theory beginning to form.

“This one does not understand this word, magic.”

“Let’s define it as the use of mana to accomplish work,” Imri explained.

“Ah, this one is regrettably not an enchanter. Zathri can explain better,” Ettes said. Zathri was the tall Chixel who was slender even by Chixel standards.

“Most of Chixel society runs on this magic work. These ones use it to assemble buildings, transport goods, and cool foods. These ones call this enchantment, and those who assemble enchantments as enchanters. You may call this one Zathri. This one is an enchanter.”

“Thank you, Zathri. I would very much like to exchange knowledge with you. We didn’t have enchantments in our society, but it sounds like we were able to accomplish many similar things.”

“This one is most curious: how is it possible to accomplish these things without enchantment? This one would have thought that impossible,” Zathri exclaimed. Ettes glanced at the excited Zathri, who had apparently breached some sort of protocol. Zathri slumped from the silent rebuke, appearing timid once more.

“This one apologizes for that one’s rude behavior,” Ettes said. Imri just shook his head despite the gesture going unrecognized.

“It’s alright; I am something close to what you would call an enchanter, only without using mana. I am sure Zathri and I could learn much from each other,” Imri explained.

“Very well, this one will permit such an exchange,” Ettes said to the elation of Zathri. “After these ones have finished their discussion,” Ettes added when it looked like Zathri would start asking more questions. The slender enchanter swished their tail back and forth. “If these ones did not have enchantments, how did these ones build cities?” Ettes asked Imri.

“We found ways to work without enchantment. We used science, math, engineering, and many other things. We didn’t even know there was such a thing as mana until the integration.”

“This one is not familiar with those words,” Ettes admitted.

“Basically, we had to learn how the universe worked. We learned of many ways to harness energy; we gathered it from the gusts of wind, the rushing of water, the natural resources found in the ground, and the rays of our star. We turned all those energy sources into electricity, which we used to power our machines.”

“Fascinating, this one did not think it possible to do so much without mana. Did that one’s world have a low mana density?” Zathri asked. Ettes didn’t object to the enchanters questioning this time, undoubtedly curious as well. Imri thought he had made it clear they didn’t have mana, but that point seemed so foreign to the Chixel that they must have assumed it was an error of language.

“We didn’t have any mana, at least not that we were aware of,” Imri said.

“Impossible, no world can exist without mana. It is essential for life,” Ettes said.

“Maybe it was low, and we just never developed a way of perceiving it,” Imri said with a shrug. He was genuinely curious if that was true but doubted he would ever truly know.

“So, these ones have no war-casters, enchanters, or gods,” Ettes exclaimed.

“These smooth skins were useless. Perhaps the Ulzites were right,” The scarred warrior said.

“Silence, Srez. This one has heard enough complaints,” Ettes admonished. “This one apologizes for the insult.”

“It’s nothing, water under the bridge,” Imri said before seeing the blank expression. “Sorry, that's a human saying. It means it's of no concern.”

“This one would like to know if Imri speaks for all humans?” Ettes asked. Imri chuckled.

“No, I’m not even the leader of this camp. That would be my girlfriend, Emelia,” Imri explained.

“That word, girlfriend, it does not translate. Is it a title?” Ettes asked. Imri found it strange that 'girlfriend' didn’t translate.

“Well, she’s a girl, woman more accurately, and she’s my friend, romantically speaking,” Imri said.

“These terms, girl and woman, do not translate either,” Ettes said.

“Do the Chixel not have gender?” Imri asked.

“That word is also foreign,” Ettes confirmed.

“Emelia is my partner,” Imri said, using the most generic word he could think of. This seemed to translate finally.

“These ones would appreciate an audience with this Emelia. We must ally to fight against the Ulzites,” Ettes said. She seemed to have finally said something the warrior agreed with, his tail thrashing from side to side in what Imri was now coming to interpret as a nod.

“I would be happy to act as interpreter, but we're just a small band of survivors. She only speaks for this camp,” Imri explained.

“Then where is the leader of the humans?” Ettes asked.

“We don’t really have a leader. We had governments that governed the people, but I doubt the social constructs that gave governments their power survived the integration.”

“That is regrettable, for now, these ones are looking forward to conversations with Emelia of the human camp,” Ettes said.

“Tell me, who are these Ulzites you speak of?” Imri asked. Srez let out a word that didn’t translate, but Imri gathered it was a curse word of some kind.

“Ulzites are worshipers of Ulzo,” Ettes said simply. Imri remembered the priest at the temple had mentioned this Ulzo, and he inferred it was a god who approved of soul sacrifices.

“And you are fighting these Ulzites?” Imri asked. Srez immediately said yes, while Ettes said no.

“It is not so simple. Ulzo is the most powerful of Chixel gods in this universe, and even these ones admit that. Other gods do not dare oppose Ulzo, so these ones dared not as well. However, these ones would not let this opportunity pass. We had hoped to find a god who would be willing to oppose Ulzo, a god from another species who had no previous dealings with the Chixel,” Ettes explained.

“This one would rather die than see another child sacrificed to Ulzo,” Srez added. Ettes’ tail gave a slight twitch, the equivalent of a subtle nod.

“So finding out that we humans are a magicless and godless species makes us rather pathetic,” Imri said bluntly.

“It is disappointing,” Ettes admitted. “These ones do not think humans are pathetic, merely victims of a lifeless planet.”

“Perhaps we can help each other. We want to rebuild human society to some degree. If you help us, then we can help you find another species that might have a helpful deity,” Imri suggested.

“That is a kind offer, Imri of the humans. Unfortunately, that seems doubtful. It is rare for a new species to be integrated. Most species are like the Chixel, with many throughout the multiverse. Those ones would not help the Chixel without an existing alliance, and those wouldn't likely support a rebel faction,” Ettes explained.

“What about these primordials that Srez mentioned?” Imri asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. It had been the first question on his mind, but he had waited, hoping it appeared like a minor curiosity.

“It is unlikely a species with no magic has a primordial,” Ettes said.

“What are they?” Imri asked.

“Those ones are outliers, beings who are shaped by mana. They manifest in different ways, and no two primordials are identical. Those ones are rare, rarer than gods. It is a saying, like that one’s 'water under a bridge'. To say something will happen after seeing a primordial is to say it will not happen,” Ettes explained.

Imri desperately wanted to ask more questions but didn’t want to appear overly interested. He doubted they would suspect he was one such being since seeing a primordial was an idiom for never going to happen.

“Could finding a primordial instead of a god be a solution?” Imri suggested. Srez let out a strange clicking noise that was likely the equivalent of a laugh.

“This one appreciates the thought. Do not be concerned with primordials; those ones will never be seen,” Ettes said. Imri left it at that, sensing they didn’t have any real knowledge of his origin.