Cross Worlds

Chapter 7-2 (Side- Reality)

I get dressed into the training outfit and take a look in the mirror. "I don't look too bad like this." I hold up my arm and smile down at the wrist blade equipped to my arm. A simple flick of my arm is all it takes for the blade to pop in and out of its gauntlet. I have one on each arm of course, because two is almost always better than one.

I walk out of the changing room beside the armory and Artemis is leaning on the wall of the armory, now in her own training gear and her hair in a ponytail. The way the undershirt and pants hug her figure has me blushing, so I quickly look away, but Artemis calls out to me. "Ah, there you are." She walks over and pats me on the shoulder. "The gear really suits you."

"Y-You too." I smile nervously and laugh awkwardly.

"There's no need to be nervous. Sure I'm a little strict, but it's not like I'm going to beat down on you." Artemis giggles a bit herself. I'm thankful she doesn't realize that she's the reason I'm so nervous. My imagination is running wild at the moment as well. I imagine her saying, "I only bite if you want me to~", followed by the feeling of her teeth on my neck.

"Alright, just follow me." Artemis walks off as I'm daydreaming. "C-Coming!" My face steams as I quickly string along with her. From the direction we're going, I think she's taking me up the plateau a few yards away from where everyone is learning. It's not the same plateau where I entered The Cross though.

Graycott is actually surrounded by three separate elevated plains, forming a perfect triangle around the city. The other two are to the right and left of the castle, rather than directly across. The Cross Plateau, as I call it, is the first thing one will see after exiting the forest Roco and I came from. Behind the other two plateaus is nothing but long, grassy fields on the right, and a similar grassy field on the left side, but one can also see a beautiful field of flowers not too far past it, as well as mountains in the distance. Artemis, myself, and the students and teachers are all near the right plateau.

While the two of us walk, I decide to continue our conversation from earlier. "So, would you mind explaining more about those tablets now?"

"Hm? Oh, right. I completely forgot about that." Artemis scratches the back of her head and laughs nervously. "Those little tablets are one of the smaller holders for the energy that powers our planet. It's not used just for weapons either; it can be used for electronic toys, small devices, and even some vehicles that are on the smaller side. The bigger the machine, the bigger the holder it takes to power it though. It's said that one of those small tablets gives a blade 1000 swings, a gun 1000 bullets, and allows a shield to take 1000 hits. Of course, it all depends on how you use that energy that depends on the actual number." Artemis smiles as she explains all of this to me.

"And what exactly is this...energy? Is it some sort of magic electricity?" I ask, looking down at the gauntlets on my hands.

"Considering this world was powered by electricity not too long ago, I'm not surprised you think that. However, the energy we humans learned to utilize is energy that comes from magic itself." Artemis states with a "matter of factly" tone.

"Really? How does that work?" I look back up at her.

"Well, magic energy is a natural resource that the Earth creates in the form of particles. When people use their magic, their expending their own magical energy that gets transformed into magic particles as well. Humans and other magical animals all naturally take in magic particles created by the Earth to recover the magic energy they lost. By combining both magic and technology, scientists figured out a way to pull in magic particles that are in the air and turn them into energy for machinery just like they are for humans and animals." She must really enjoy the role of teacher. She's waving her pointer finger around with a smile on her face whilst she tells me all of this.