Markets and Multiverses (A Serial Transmigration LitRPG)
Chapter 352: Grandparents

The rest of the picnic with my parents was peaceful. We had a nice lunch, and then we strolled around the field of flowers. Our parents encouraged Anise and I to play with the other children we met along the way, and so we were pressured into joining a few other children playing some sort of ball game. By the end of the game, I still didn’t entirely understand the rules, but Anise and I had some fun kicking it around. Since Anise had fun, the whole thing was a good use of time, at least in my opinion. After that, our parents took us to a nice restaurant, where we had a tasty meal before we returned home for the night.

After that, not much happened for a week and a half. The city spent a few days celebrating the start of the astral tides, before life returned to normal. A week and a half later, however, my mother woke us up early. She had an excited grin on your face, and she was holding a letter in her hands. I glanced at the letter with a confused expression, and my mother laughed.

“It’s your grandparents. It’s time to see them again,” she said. “I bet they’ll be shocked by how much you’ve developed in the last year - both you and Anise!

“Oh?” I said, as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I had to admit, I was a bit curious. My mother had mentioned my grandparents earlier, and had also let slip that at least one of them was a spellcaster. Since it was also my first time interacting with our extended family since waking up, I was hopeful that our grandparents would be nice.

My mother and father got into their nice clothes again, and then our mother helped Anise and I get dressed. After that, we made our way back to the trunk of the tree, before we moved towards one of the moving platforms.

Getting onto the platform was more complicated than I expected. There were three different security guards who asked to see some sort of identification. My mother had her documents in order, so they waved us through quickly enough - but I could tell that these people took the security of the platforms very seriously.

After the three rounds of security checks, we finally got onto a wooden platform, before it started to move upwards. However, once we reached the first layer of branches, I was jolted out of my complacency. This was because I noticed something unusual.

Several of the branches had farms on them. Considering how large the flying island was, I thought it was pretty unusual to place farms on the branches of the tree - it didn’t seem to make sense. Even more strange, after some careful analysis I realized that the crops inside of those gardens had essence in them. I could also see that the leaves on each branch near the farms were sucking in the rainbow lights from the sky, like someone slurping up noodles in a restaurant.

I gave them a second curious look, and started thinking. I decided to share this picture with Sallia and Felix - I had a sneaking suspicion it might be useful later.

<I found something interesting. Take a look at this,> I said. <I suspect whatever is happening here is related to the growth of essence-restoring crops. We’ve been tossing around ideas for how to break this world out of its reliance on heroes, and I’m thinking that a way to mass-produce essence restoring foods could do it. What do you guys think?>  I said.

<It might make sense,> said Felix. <The lack of easy access to essence is a big part of why these people lost contact with the continent, based on my understanding of history. Even in the sanctuaries, there are usually plenty of people that have affinity for an essence, but don’t have the money to generate some essence and practice a magic system.>

<This image could be useful too,> said Sallia. <I’ve been wondering why people don’t just grow the essence-producing crops en masse. After all, magic gives any society a bunch of new paths it can use to develop and improve. Prioritizing magic would make a lot of sense, and it seemed odd people here didn’t do it. If the essence crops HAVE to grow on the tree branches, it makes far more sense. Limited special farmland, meaning that most food is unable to produce essence.>

<If we’re still thinking about ways to permanently break this world’s dependance on heroes as we leave, we might need to find a way to replicate these farming conditions,> said Anise.

<Or we could try to find a way to make the crops up there grow even in ground conditions. Or make a new type of plant, that doesn’t have these restrictions?> said Felix. <There are a few ways we could try to take this, and most of them make sense.>

 <Do you know anything about plant breeding? Or, uhh… whatever it’s called for plants?> I asked.

<Unfortunately, I do not,> said Felix. <I could learn, though. We have a lifespan of five hundred years in this world. That’s a lot of time to learn miscellaneous skills. Or Sallia could teach us? Your family is a farming family, right?>

<I can confirm my family is definitely a farming family,> she said. <I expect I’ll learn more about farming than I ever wanted to know, whether I want to learn or not.> There was a trace of amusement in her thoughts.

<I could do some research too!> said Anise. <I wouldn’t mind focusing on learning about plant breeding and the farms on the branches. Felix could focus on getting the crops into a useable state, and Miria could use her alteration essence to set up areas where the laws of reality work differently. She’s already working on creating weird environments this life, to evolve her ability in the ideal direction. If she can replicate that and make it happen on a wider scale somehow, we could create more usable farms, even if our other ideas don’t work.>

<We’ll need to reassess when we get more information, but at least one of those directions might work,> said Felix. <If we really do manage to drastically empower the people of the sanctuaries, it should be worth a ridiculous amount of Achievement. I’m looking forward to it.>

As my friends and I discussed plans for the future, our platform kept moving higher and higher up the tree. Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of travel, we reached our destination.

The branch we had arrived at was quite a bit thicker than the other branches at this elevation. I followed behind my parents as we disembarked from the platform and started walking along a street made of stone and thin, palm-width branches woven together to keep everything stable. There were smaller walkways along the side that led to houses and stores on the street, and there was also a thick and sturdy safety railing spanning the sides.

I was curious about our surroundings, but my parents didn’t seem interested in lingering. After passing several houses, we walked up to a house made of a dark blue stone. My mother knocked on the door a few times before someone opened it.

The man standing in the doorway looked to be the same age as my mother. If I didn’t know the biological characteristics of people in this world, I would have pegged him as a twenty year old man. Like my mother, he had multiple fox tails and a fuzzy, inhuman set of ears, although his hair was a dark orange. He gave my mother a warm smile when he saw her, and pulled her into a hug. “Elli. Daughter. It’s been months since I last saw you. How have you been? How is the bakery?” Then, he saw Anise and I, and his smile grew even wider and warmer. “And little Miria and Anise, too! How have you two been? Are you already so good at walking now? I didn’t expect that for another few years.” He turned towards my mother. “Did they walk all the way here from the elevators? They’re remarkably steady.” He leaned closer to us, and ruffled both of our hair.

My mother laughed. “They walked all the way here from our house, actually. I’m amazed at how fast they’re developing. They’re really talkative now, too. Miria can even say simple sentences and chat with adults for a while.”

My grandfather laughed. “Wonderful. I remember that last year, you were starting to get a bit worried that they were taking so long to get their first words and steps in. Looks like they’re just late bloomers.” He grinned, and then winked at my mother. “I remember you were also a bit on the slow side, actually. Didn’t say ‘papa’ until you were five years old, and didn’t take your first steps until you were six. Your mother and I were really worried that you took an extra two years, compared to your brother. Didn’t stop you from being a tiny terror by the time you were eight. Used to drive your mother crazy. She checked the safety railings near our house at least five times a day to make sure you had no way to fall over the edge.”

My mother blushed.

Then, my grandfather gave my father a more measured look. “Good to see you as well, Samuel. It’s been a year. Are you taking care of my daughter?”

“Of course, sir,” said my father, as he gave my grandfather a firm handshake. “Wouldn’t dream of mistreating her. She’s an amazing woman.”

“Don’t you forget it,” said my grandfather, with a nearly imperceptible snort. The man looked at Anise and I again, before he sighed. “Forget it, at least you were half responsible for bringing Anise and Miria into this world. Come on in. Your grandma also missed you.”

We walked into the house. There, sitting in the living room, was another lady that looked twenty. Unlike my grandfather and mother, she didn’t seem to be related to foxes - instead, she had scales centered around her eyes and forehead, and reptilian, slitted pupils. She gave all four of us warm smiles, followed by a few hugs.

“Don’t mind old Eddie, he’s just a bit of a grump,” she whispered as she approached my father. Then, she picked Anise and I up and gave us much firmer hugs. “How have you two been? You’re so cute. Both of you are growing up so fast.” She planted a kiss on each of our foreheads, before she put us back down. 

After that, our grandparents sat us down, and started fussing over my mother, Anise and I. As my mother talked about the bakery, I noticed a bookshelf near the back of the room.

“Grandpa, what are these books about?” I asked as I pointed at them. I hadn’t forgotten that my grandparents were related to spellcasting, and I was really hoping some of the books were basic spellcasting manuals. Unfortunately, I had yet to learn how to read, so I couldn't just look at the books myself.

My grandfather, who had been caught up in one of my mother’s stories about an unusual customer, turned back towards me.

“Oh? I didn’t realize you were interested in reading. I thought it would take a decade or two before you reached that point.” He smiled, and walked over to me. “There are a lot of different types of books here. The one you’re currently pointing at is a story book - your mother was interested in it when she was in her early thirties. The ones near the top are magic books, and there are also some reference books and history books near the bottom. I used to enjoy studying the history of the first queen of the Sanctuary, since her rule solidified so many of the customs we live in today…” My grandfather shrugged. “Well, I bet you probably don’t want to hear about ancient history. Maybe when you’re older.” He grinned at me.

“Magic books?” asked Anise, drawing grandfather’s attention back towards her. The moment grandfather had mentioned magic books, her eyes had started sparkling.

Grandfather nodded. “Magic books. Why do you ask?”

“Can you teach me to read?” asked Anise. “I’d love to learn more about magic!”

My grandfather paused, and gave Anise a more curious look. “Are you really interested in magic? I thought most kids would be more interested in exciting stories, like the ones about heroes. Not dusty old tomes about the correct equation to use for a fireball in the Hylian magic system, compared to the fragmented records we have of the Evescent system.”

Anise nodded her head so fast that her hair looked kind of like the blades of a windmill.

“I love magic!” She said.

My grandfather laughed. “You’re a bit too young to get into the nitty gritty details, but… if you’re that interested, I guess I could give you some basic information. If you have a talent for one of the four essences, I could just pretend it’s preparing you for the future. Even if you aren’t, knowing more about the different magic systems can still net you a good job in one of the security offices. Those people need to know the math behind each spell down to the tiniest detail so that the city’s essence budget doesn’t implode. Why not? But first, you need to learn how to read and do basic math.” He picked up Anise, and gave her a big hug. “I wouldn’t mind an excuse to bring you two up here more often. I don’t get to spend enough time with my children or my grandchildren.” He raised an eyebrow at my mom, who gave my grandfather a sheepish grin.

“I like spending time at the bakery too much. Sorry.”

“Well I like spending time with my daughter too much. So she should come home more often. It’s not that hard for me to get a visitor’s pass for you,” said my grandfather, as he rolled his eyes. Then, he turned his attention back towards Anise. “What do you think? Want to help me drag your mother back here for some more visits, and learn some more about magic too?”

“That sounds fun!” said Anise, as she instantly sold our mother out.

My mother twitched.

“What about you, Miria?” my grandfather asked, as he turned towards me. “Are you interested in spending some more time with your grandfather and some books?”

“Of course!” I said. Inwardly, I grinned.

We could finally learn a bit about this world’s magic systems! I wasn’t sure if we would end up using any of them, but I was at least interested in hearing some details. If I liked one of the magic systems here and naturally regenerated the essence for it, I would be more than happy to incorporate it into my fighting style.

My grandfather gave Anise and I another big hug, before he set us both back down. I grinned, and shot Anise a mental wave of happiness.

We had found a route to learn about magic and history before we started our actual education.