Limits.

There were easily three to four thousand of them. That of course didn"t account for the whole population. I a.s.sumed the numbers were around double of that. Other than the amount of Vanauts still alive, I noticed another peculiar thing. Holes filled with some sort of gooey liquid. On closer inspection, it was poison. "So they don"t make their poison from herbs, but use a different method" I thought. It was possible to receive poison from other sources than herbs. Dirt mixed in with severs, and their techniques allowed them to make some nasty stuff. But, not something that could seal Auras.

I was more and more sure that Elysians had something to do with this. I visited any ruined building on my way, trying to scour for books, scripts or anything that could help me learn something new. Yet I found nothing. Maybe due to pa.s.sage of time, or simply because Vanauts lived there and destroyed anything worth destroying. "There is that tower over there too. Seems that anything made from those bricks, is reserved for Vanauts with higher standing" I thought.

It was worth a try. I headed to the shabby stone buildings first. Once there, I immediately noticed that the Vanauts in those areas, were not some simple "citizens". They usually had some sort of armour, and strength that surpa.s.sed those usual Vanauts. "Even a few of them reached their Inner Limits, but only a few" I thought. The area possessed three or four Inner Limits Vanauts at best. Although that wasn"t much, I was only at the fringes of the richer area, for the lack of more fitting words.

A few Vanauts stopped me. They asked for a reason of my visit, since I was a low status Vanaut. I told them the same lie I sold to the Vanauts at the entrance, and claimed that my head hurt. They told me to keep to my area of "The City", and not to bother high standing Vanauts. Unfortunately I couldn"t access that tower or any buildings, but that didn"t mean my trip there was useless. I turned around and returned to the lower parts of "The City".

That is how they referred to Ravan. Simple "The City" or rather "Fe City", as if they couldn"t come up with a better name. "I guess it serves the purpose, everyone knows what that means and refers to" I thought. In the lower part of Fe City, I listened in on the conversations various Vanauts had. Usually they talked about the recent battle, and how those Lizard and Voltar b.a.s.t.a.r.ds killed a lot of them.

Some happily discussed how the plague would destroy half of Boltier. "I wonder how their faces would look like, if they found out that only around two hundred Voltars died due to their plague" I thought. A few of them discussed Eterians too, and they didn"t seem to have very good opinion of them. Usually they complained how Eterians always sent Vanauts out to the battlefield, yet they themselves never acted properly. One Vanaut in particular, claimed that Eterians were doing this on purpose to weaken Vanauts.

I came closer to that group, and asked them "Fhy do you fink fat?". He replied, "Did you foke up yesferday? Obfiously Eferians fant us feakened, fat fhay fey can rule over us!". The Vanauts gathered around agreed by nodding their heads. The Guy who just said that, took out a bone then chewed on it. Others did the same, but I didn"t have anything to chew on. I could only stand there looking weird. The guy who just spoke, asked "You don"f hafe any?". I shook my head while saying, "No, I fas affacked, and refurned not fat long ago".

He nodded, and took out another bone, then handed it to me. "Fere, you can hafe fat". I took the bone reluctantly, thanked him and chewed on it as well. "Ugh… This is so disgusting…" I thought to myself. After a while of chewing, he stopped and asked "Fho affacked you?". I shook my head then said, "I don"f knof… Maybe fe Sfadof feofle". They called Shades, Shadow People. It was something I found out while listening in on various conversations. At first, I was clueless as to what they were on about, but then I realised when I replaced those letters.

The Vanaut nodded and said, "Yes, Fe Sfadof feofle are difficulf to deal fif. Fhe can"f foison fem. Forfunately, fhe fhere not sent fere. Eferians, aren"f fat stufid after all". I processed that sentence, before replying "Fhat flans do fhe hafe nof?". He thought about it while chewing on the bone, then replied "Higfer ufs are hafing a meefing nof. Fhe fhill knof, once fey come ouf". "So the higher ups are discussing some things right now… I should stay here for a while longer, and try to find out more" I thought.

A few Vanauts hung out next to our group, and they seemed to be females. The guy who I spoke with, stopped chewing his bone and approached them. He was basically flirting, and the female Vanauts didn"t seem to mind at all. After a while, he called two other Vanauts to join him for some good time, and then looked at me. "Fhy don"f you join us?". He asked.

"No way in h.e.l.l, am I joining that type of party" I thought and declined. I told him that I still felt out of sorts, and needed some rest. He didn"t find it suspicious for some reason. He told me I could meet him here later, if I wanted to chat and chew together. He and a few other Vanauts left to a more private place. Chewing was also a sort of social thing. That is how they spent time, other than trying for new descendants.

I left that place as well, and roamed around the lower parts of the ruins. Vanauts although might look like rodents, they were actually very friendly. I tried to understand why they were fighting that war. To some extent, I was able to find that out. Eterians promised them a better life. At that stage, they lived inside a ruined city. The common Vanauts and probably those more important ones, wanted to live a better life.

When I asked a few about the hate of Shades, Lizards and so on, their answer was surprising as well. They usually didn"t hate other races, they fought the war because they were ordered and additionally wanted a better life. That was when I talked with younger Vanauts, but when I tried an old Vanaut, I was stunned by what he told me.

He was a bit surprised and angry that I didn"t know all those things, but at the same time he welcomed the conversation. I also gave him my bone, and he shared even more. The old Vanaut"s name was Flif, and he described to me the history as well as their culture in more details.

I learned that Vanauts didn"t live very long, hence they reproduced so fast. Flif was around 41 years old. In the past, he was a warrior of a good standing, but due to some battles, he lost his leg which he showed me. Vanauts had a lifespan of around 40 years from what I figured out later in the future. Weaker Vanauts would die sooner, while those stronger would live a bit longer. But even the strongest Vanauts couldn"t make it past 60 years of age.

At the age of four, Vanauts were considered adults already. They could reproduce, and fight in the war. I mention years, but Vanauts themselves didn"t know precisely how long they lived. I learned about their exact lifespan much, much later. That was only about their lifespan, which wasn"t that important. What he shared next, really cleared up some things.

He told me that Vanauts were not welcomed in any city they tried to visit. This race was not very powerful, and didn"t have much wealth to speak of. People usually a.s.sociated Vanauts with dirt, poison and anything else that sounded bad. One would think that Shades would love to do some business with Vanauts, and buy some poison from them. But that wasn"t the case. Vanauts tried in the past, but were always rejected.

The rejections began piling up, until Vanauts couldn"t take it anymore. They became hostile to others, to all those races that looked at them with disgust and annoyance. That was also why they chose to side with Eterians. Although that happened in the past, I knew what he said was most probably true. Vanauts were rather welcoming and cared for each other in their own way. The ugly exterior, but good intentions. I witnessed that myself.

The old Vanaut wasn"t exactly living on the streets either. Although he was kicked out from the upper part of Fe City, but that was the law. Stronger get to enjoy more benefits, while weaker stay in the lower part of Fe City. There were others who visited him. They brought him food, something to chew on and talked with him from time to time. "This whole race is misunderstood… They are fighting this war, because they want something more from life. They want to prove that they aren"t just some dirt" I thought after bidding farewell to the old Vanaut.
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Was this wrong of them? If I was born as a Vanaut, wouldn"t I want to improve my life too? They simply didn"t have a choice in this war. The more I learned about those races, the less convinced I was about the allied forces. Voltars" arrogance, Lizards" narrow views and Shades" care for their own business. "Let"s see what"s going to happen. For now, I need to wait for that meeting to finish" I thought.