"Are you sure you donât want me to join you?" Stanley asked with concern since he understood the dangers that are on the island.
"Itâs fine. I donât want to trouble teach any more than necessary. Plus, I can look after myself. Nan Tianâs also here just in case too." Shiro smiled as Stanley sighed.
"Youâre not troubling me. Iâm just worried about your safety."
Seeing Stanley being genuinely worried about her safety, Shiro thought about it for a moment before nodding her head.
"While youâre worried for me Iâm also worried for you ok? Both me and Lilâ Tian have ways to heal ourselves if things go south but I donât know if you got the skills to do the same." Shiro said as Stanley laughed.
"What kind of mage do you think I am? Of course I have ways to heal myself if things go south." Stanley replied as Shiro shrugged her shoulders.
"Fair. But before we start I think there are a few things that you need to know teach."
"Oh? And whatâs that?"
"Well my main class is actually rather special. You see, my main class is something called a Nanomancer. Iâm able to create these little robots at will and they can turn into anything I want from items to weapons. Theyâre quite handy so donât be shocked if I suddenly summon high tech things like itâs normal I guess." Shiro replied as she summoned some nanobots for Stanley to look at.
Examining the nanobots, he was surprised to see that they were tiny âlivingâ robots in a way that continuously absorbed a bit of mana.
"Fascinating... What exactly do you mean by summoning high tech?" Stanley asked as Shiro snapped her finger and the nanobots returned to her hand.
"What do you want to see? Guns, mech suits, tracking devices, vehicles or others?" Shiro asked.
"Ah but not something too big in case people find us." She said as Stanley nodded his head.
His main focus in what she said was guns as everyone was interested in who owned the guns that killed quite a few people in the elven continent. Hearing that Shiro could make guns, he had a feeling that she could be the culprit all along.
"Can I see the guns?" He asked.
Nodding her head, Shiro flexed her fingers as a hand cannon and sniper were created.
Seeing the guns, Stanley confirmed that his thoughts were indeed correct.
"Normally I would warn you about the government but seeing as though you have stolen their map without harm, you probably donât worry about them." He smiled.
"Yup." Shiro grinned.
"So how do we get to the island? From what I can tell, it seems like thereâs a barrier thatâs preventing us from travelling through air." She asked while gesturing towards the island.
"Weâll have to trouble the locals. Did you know, the first time I came here I was actually endangered by the waves. When I lost my power of flight, I dropped down into the ocean and the currents almost swept me away. If the locals didnât help me, I might have died." Stanley sighed and glanced towards the sea that had almost killed him.
"Wait, you almost died to the water?" Shiro asked with surprise since even if he lost his power of flight, surely he could use magic to make himself a platform to escape from.
"Mn. Every time I tried to use magic in the sea my mana was drained rapidly causing the spell to fail. I did a few experiments in trying to extract the water but it seems like itâs a special property that only happens in that sea. Any water that is removed loses this property and becomes normal sea water." Stanley explained as he walked down the path with Shiro and Nan Tian following behind him.
"The locals are called the Navuri Clan and they are similar to elves in a way. They have pointed ears much like the elves but they have light blue skin, red eyes and horns on their head. There are... How can I explain this... Two types of Navuriâs.
"The warrior type and the common folk I suppose. The warriors are born with incredible physiques at birth while the common folk are like normal babies. The warriors have an advantage when it comes to combat since they are innately born to be fighters. Hence why I call them the warrior type. The warrior type Navuri are born with a singular horn on their head while the common folk are born with two horns.
"While the common folk are not blessed with great physiques at birth, some are born with the talent for magic but itâs not obvious until they come of age. Once they do, they can study under a teacher and become mages. But there is one weakness inherint to the mages. When they lose their horns, their casting ability decreases dramatically. This is the same for warriors as they lose some of their incredible strength and speed." Stanley explained as Shiro nodded her head.
Hearing about the Navuriâs, she couldnât help but wonder what it would be like had they been situated closer to the humans. But remembering the things that happened back in Aria, Shiro could only sigh since their horns would have definitely been cut off and sold like what they do with animals.
"The Navuriâs have a few traditions but the one you need to keep in mind the most is that you must respect the Warriors or else youâll be insulting all of them. They have quite a strict hierarchy so even as an outsider, you need to show some respect to them." Stanley informed as Shiro nodded her head.
"That and also you might want to hide or change your appearance a little. The warrior males are known to be non-monogamous so if you catch their eye, theyâll try to drag you into their harems. This is the same with the female warriors. Thankfully, they look down on mages so I was spared." Stanley chuckled.
"Oh? Why do they look down on mages?" Shiro asked curiously.
"Because their philosophy is that they can just kill a mage easily if they get close. Plus, theyâve been wrestling the monsters that threaten them so theyâre inclined to think that warriors are stronger. Plus, their mages arenât the best so I havenât shown anything too crazy to them. At most, their mages can cast a few low tier spells that deal moderate damage. Their development with mages is weak while their understanding of warriors is high. Hence why they favour warriors." Stanley explained.
"Pft, if they knew what mages could do they would think otherwise." Shiro laughed.
"True. But if you said that in front of them you would have made yourself public enemy number one." Stanley chuckled.
"Wait what?"
"Yup. So try to be careful ok?" Stanley smiled as Shiro could only nod her head since she didnât realise they were that sensitive.
"Anything else we need to keep in mind?" Nan Tian asked.
"Ah right. You should avoid using masks since they will ask you to reveal yourself with some hostility."
Hearing this, Nan Tian furrowed his brows.
Taking off his mask, he cast a disguise skill on himself to look a little more common.
"You should do the same Shiro." Nan Tian said as Shiro agreed since she wasnât too keen on someone trying to drag her into a harem.
Activating disguise on herself, she made herself look like an average person. One that would fade into the crowd rather than stand out.
"Hmm... too pretty. You still need to disguise yourself a little more since you would still draw their attention if you look like that." Stanley said after a moment of thought.
"Ehhh??? Seriously?" Shiro asked.
"Yup."
Sighing heavily, Shiro made herself look worse than average as she couldnât help but shed a tear in her heart. After all, she was still a maiden in heart. She still wanted to look good ok!
{Why? Do you not want Nan Tian to see you when you look like this?} Nimue asked with a smug smile.
âShut it you!â Shiro pouted as Nimue only laughed.
{You know, since Iâm in here, I can hear your thoughts loud and clear. Same goes with Iziuel and Estrella.} Nimue said with a knowing smile.
Clicking her tongue, Shiro only ignored them while glancing towards Nan Tian for a moment.
"Mn? What is it?" Nan Tian asked curiously, seeing Shiro glance towards him. After all, she normally wanted something from him when she looked towards him.
"Nothing." Shiro coughed.
{See?}
Ignoring Nimue, Shiro followed behind Stanley raised his eyebrow while guiding the two towards where the Navuriâs lived. Their home/city was located next to the sea so it wasnât hard for them to spot out from the distance.
"Their city is called Nilliuk and this city is a branch I suppose. Their capital is still quite a distance away." Stanley said as they approached the edge of the city.