Frostbound

Vulwin

After spending nearly six months with the First Generation Humans, he began to understand things a little better. Not much, but enough that he wasn't caught off guard by every little saying or gesture.

When the Human Leader told him that the trip would take a matter of several months, Vulwin about shut down. Never in his many years had it taken more than two months to travel from one place to another while on the same planet. And that was already glacially slow!

It was absurd!

While that wasn't the only culture shock, nor even the first one, it was by far the largest. He'd expected a cozy few days, maybe a week or two, to sightsee the new planet while reaching his destination.

Not the long slog it had turned into!

The funniest part was that for the humans, this was their second time making the trip! Not only did they spend so much time doing it once, but they were doing it again!

It was enough for him to start asking questions.

Not right away, he spent those initial days feeling out his new company. It wouldn't do to start off on the wrong foot like the Nine Rivers Association. They had butted heads with the inhabitants immediately and had to swiftly backtrack to make amends.

Sure, the vast Cultural difference between the Merchants and the First Generation could be blamed, but everyone knew that going in. To instantly make a faux pas not even a day into arriving? That was just bad leadership.

Instead of saying something he shouldn't or stepping on places he shouldn't, Vulwin watched and waited. He listened in and observed the interactions that they had with one another so he wouldn't accidentally make a mistake.

He'd met many Humans before, and there were even some with him, but every Culture was different. The Ursonian Humans were of help, but not much. They were just too different.

Vulwin wasn't surprised. Even if they were both of the same Race, there could still be a vast gulf between the different Sub-races. Take his own Race and the High Elves for example. They were about as far apart as sub-races could get!

Those snobby assholes who liked to look down on everyone.

His caution turned out to be mostly unnecessary. They didn't take offense at anything he or his team did. Even when the Ursonians started asking more... pointed questions.

They were much more intrigued than Vulwin himself and couldn't hold themselves back. Being Guards, they also didn't have the same diplomatic training.

It was good that it turned out well, and it was immensely pleasing to watch his guards get along with the other Humans. It would make everything so much easier if the relationship was friendly.

After his period of observation, Vulwin couldn't help himself. He had to know how they tolerated this long travel. After coming to an agreement, his 'contact' was with the City's appointed Head Merchant, so that was who he probed for information.

A nice enough fellow if a bit on the quiet side. Not that such a thing was bad. A shame he wasn't one of Ice.

"How do you live without Portals?" Vulwin asked the man as they sat by a campfire one night. Vulwin himself was a distance back to keep the heat at bay, but the others were warming up in its light.

"It's not hard to live without something you never had," The man remarked, "But having our roads and cars destroyed was a blow. I admit that."

"Automobiles?" Vulwin asked, tasting the foreign word. While he had strong translation skills, they weren't always perfect. Especially without context.

"Ah, they're like carriages but faster. Much faster." The Human named Jonathan answered.

"How much faster?" Vulwin asked. They were already slow. If it was just a little faster than now...

"Quite a bit." Jonathan said, "On a highway, they averaged about 60 or 70 miles an hour. Depending on the speed limit."

The words miles an hour translated into his own units of measurement and he frowned. That wasn't that much faster. Sure, it was a hell of a lot better than their current circumstances, but at that speed...

It would still take forever.

"And how come we aren't using them? It would only take a few days to reach your City at that speed." Vulwin inquired.

The Human gave him an odd look, "I wish we could. After this whole 'System' thingy and magic, the engines don't work anymore. People are trying to fix them, but there hasn't been any luck." The Human turned back to the fire and started poking at it, "Plus, without roads... it might not be that much better."

Vulwin tensed and had to keep himself from saying anything. They had gone through training on the subject, but it was so much different to hear it in person. The total disregard for the Great System. The way they so nonchalantly insult it was... eye-opening.

From the many Integrated Worlds, there were accounts of how the First Generation felt. Especially after Merchants started getting First Rights. With them going in first, if the test was passed, they were usually the first contact that the First Generation had.

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That being the case, there had been plenty of cases of such an... attitude.

The subject had caught his eye during his training because he had thought it to be outlandish. Sitting here now and hearing it, it didn't seem that way anymore.

He, along with many Races, revered the Great System. Not every Race did, but many looked up to it as a God. Even more God-like than actual Gods in some areas.

He'd never heard such... disrespect towards it. The more zealous would say it was blasphemy.

Vulwin tried to focus back on what was said, rather than how it was said.

"These... engines don't work? How come?" He asked, trying not to make a face.

"That's the million-dollar question, ain't it?" The human laughed for some reason, "But in all seriousness, we don't know. Some thought it was the electronics at first, but even without the CPU, they don't work. I'll have to show you a few the next time we pass by a City. The leading theory is that mana changed gasoline's properties. Even a slight alteration would muck up the entire thing. It requires precision to work."

He sensed they were getting into things he wouldn't understand. He had no idea what this 'CPU' was, but based on context, it seemed like something Jekas would like.

The Ice Gnome was the only person here who would be interested in technology like that. Vulwin's people didn't like such things, and Vulwin tended to agree with them. There was nothing magic couldn't accomplish.

"I admit that they sound faster, but that still isn't very fast. Did your people not use Portals, or faster means of travel?" He asked again.

Jonathan looked at him weird, "There was no magic Before. No mana. No levels. No nothing. We didn't have any Portals. The fastest way to get from A to B was a plane, but those also don't work anymore. Not that I'd ride in one if they did. One bird and you're done. They're more like Death tubes now."

Vulwin's mind stopped working after the first sentence. No Magic? No Mana? What kind of world was this?

"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean no magic? All of you here are E-rank which is impossible for Humans without it." Vulwin said. Each Race, without Essence, could only go so far. Humans could only reach F-rank without it. Everyone here was E-rank.

"We didn't start out that way." Jonathan said, "All of us started at H-rank."

H-rank? That was only ever discussed in textbooks and only happened during Integrations. There were even experiments in mana vacuums meant to replicate it, but those never worked.

Vulwin's first thought was impossible. Not only was that Rank impossibly Low, but that meant every Human here had gone from H-rank to the peak of E-rank in just over two years!

That was absurd!

It usually took that long just to get through E-rank, not even mentioning how long it would take to reach E-rank to begin with. Sure, House heirs and Elites could do it in a fraction of that, but they had resources handed to them.

Humans do level faster than we do. That was another thing Vulwin forgot about. He was thinking in terms of his own Race, and that was skewing his timeline. Elves and other long-lived Races leveled slower than those with shorter lifespans.

Their souls were less adapted to change and could only accrue Essence at a set pace. Going over that limit was... ill-advised. Straining the Soul wasn't like straining the Spirit or Mind. It didn't grow back stronger and it took forever to heal.

Dragons took notoriously long to level but their power more than made up for it. Even a Hatchling before its first Awakening could slaughter thousands at its own level.

Vulwin had stopped the conversation there because his mind couldn't take any more. It was just so... different.

After his talk that had revealed so much, Vulwin kept things lighter. Every once in a while, he would delve back into it, but he had to give himself time to digest after such heavy conversation.

Life without magic didn't make sense to him and he was struggling to come to terms with that. It was a good thing there wasn't much else to do during the journey.

The next week or so, he brought it back up and learned more about what their World used to be like, but it was hard to imagine. Over the months, he got more accustomed to their differences.

Rangrick had joked he felt at home, and he wasn't far off.

Vulwin felt like he was among Dwarves rather than Humans. They were immensely straightforward, brutally honest, and didn't beat around the bush. There was also the Honor and Duty aspect that they all carried which made it feel that way.

It didn't take Vulwin long to figure out why.

Over the many days and weeks, his chance to speak with the Human Leader came around numerous times. While he mainly spoke with the Head Merchant and his wife, the City Mayor, those two usually weren't far from the Leader.

The man himself spent most of his time in his wagon, but he came out at night and to eat.

Even only having the rare conversation with the man, Vulwin could tell where such sentiment came from. Christopher was the reason people were like that. They all took after their Leader in a way.

Either because of respect or admiration, they embodied that same attitude and culture. It wasn't purely copied, but the hints were there. The First conversation Vulwin had with Christopher ended in a handshake deal.

No contract signed or Oath given.

An agreement and a handshake.

The funniest part was that they didn't even realize it themselves. They just thought it was normal. Well, it is how they've lived for a couple of years; technically, it is normal for them.

The months, while boring and dreadful, held their own charm. Delving into a people so different from his own was a good way to pass the time.

After breaking away from the larger Caravan and traveling with the smaller group, the trip went swiftly. With only a dozen or so, it wasn't as entertaining to watch.

They passed through ruins and forests. Rivers and plains.

Their Planet was a thing of beauty. Vulwin's Home Planet didn't have such... diversity, as the Humans called it. Everything was either white or blue. His planet was all of the Arctic, with nothing else to gaze upon.

Here was different.

Lush trees and grass were nearly everywhere. They didn't pass by any mountains, but he knew they were out there. Volcanoes as well. Deserts weren't something Vulwin had ever witnessed, but the Humans spoke of them. None of the planets he had been on had them. Not hot, sandy ones at least.

By far the most... intriguing out of everything was when it began to grow colder.

Seasons.

It was gradual, but every day the air turned cooler. The temperature one week was cooler than the last. What used to be stifling hot was just uncomfortably warm. Then it was a refreshing cool.

He was told the Seasons were a result of the Planet's tilt, which none of the Planets Vulwin had been on previously had ever experienced. His Home world and Dirvenguard didn't have such a tilt. He'd heard of it before, but this was his first time experiencing it.

They had just left a large city called the Twins when Vulwin smiled widely. His smile wasn't because he was told they were nearly there.

He felt it in the air. Snow was finally here. Something he hadn't seen in much too long. In his long life, he'd seen so much of it he grew numb to the experience, but being without it for so long made him smile wildly when he felt it coming.

"What's got you so happy?" Jonathan asked. His cart was traveling side by side with his own as they rumbled on.

Vulwin couldn't help but share the lovely news, "It's going to snow."

The Human looked up at the clouds, seeing the grey overcast. Curiously, he sniffed the air a few times.

"Yeah, smells like it."

...what?