Chapter 36
Yawn!
Rennel walked out of her cabin still looking sleepy. Due to the excitement the previous days, the girl was not able to rest properly. And although her body was not tired, her mind was.
She turned towards the stairs that lead to the upper deck. On her way she saw the crews of the airship wearing sailor uniform busily cleaning, and doing other things. Rennel ignored them and walked towards the exit, and into the sky deck.
Strong wind peppered the girl’s black cloak, allowing the garment to stick into her slender body. Not that the girl care about it. She likes the feeling of the wind on her face and body in the morning. It makes her feel refreshed and relax.
“Beautiful.”
The sun rising on the horizon, coloring the clouds with golden light was quite the sight to behold. It’s a beautiful sight seeing it from the ground but it was more beautiful seeing it from the sky.
“It’ll be good to see such a beautiful sight with master,” the girl murmured with a slight regret.
“You’re master could ride an airship anytime she wanted. I reckon that she’d seen this scene too many times already that she’s sick of it,” There was a rude reply. It was Chaos.
“Teacher… you…”
Rennel could only let out a helpless sigh. Her teacher was still her teacher. Even such a beautiful sight was not enough to touch his heart.
“You have too many unnecessary thoughts. Instead of wasting time viewing the sun rise and the sunset every single day, you should instead use that time studying magic.” Chaos reminded.
Ugh…right.
Before boarding the airship, the girl’s master gave her several books about the basics of magic to study while on flight. Although Elder Zelma didn’t pressure her to study those books; the girl knew that her master would be disappointed if she didn’t read them.
Actually it’s not really a problem since Rennel always enjoyed reading. It’s just that the excitement of the day after yesterday was still fresh in her mind.
Indeed. Seeing such large scale magic being used for the first time was really impressive.
Thinking about the event that day made the girl giggle. It was really something. Arch-mages acting like children was truly a sight to behold.
It all happened while the girl and Elder Zelma were having a discussion about the Sorceress Cassandra. The remaining five members of the Council of Elders suddenly gave Elder Zelma a visit. The moment the girl’s master opened the door, an angry looking elderly man, Elder Xavier confronted her.
Elder Xavier looks thoroughly incensed. He accused Elder Zelma of being unfair by hiding information about Rennel so that she could have a head start in recruiting her. As prideful as she was, Elder Zelma didn’t deny the accusation but instead poured salt to the wound by telling Elder Xavier that he’s too late and that the girl was now officially her disciple.
This obviously didn’t sit well on Elder Xavier who fumed and challenged Elder Zelma to a magic duel much to Rennel’s shock. Elder Zelma would obviously not let go of the chance to look good in front of her new disciple and readily accepted the challenge.
And before Rennel could understand what had happened, she already found herself inside a large coliseum along with the other elders.
Rennel who was seated between the kind-looking Elder Delia and the long bearded Elder Theodore could only watch helplessly as her master and Elder Xavier goes at it. Aside from the aforementioned elders, two other elders were also there to watch the duel. They’re the stern-looking Elder Ronin and the intelligent-looking Elder Orwell.
And although Elder Zelma and Elder Xavier were dueling, the attentions of the other elders were actually on Rennel rather than on the duel itself. The elders were actually very kind on the girl and tried to make her feel at ease. That said, they did ask her a lot of question.
Most of the questions were about the event that happened inside Andes valley which made the girl realized that the elder already knew that she was related to that event. Since the elder already knew, and since her other teacher, Chaos approved of it, the girl openly admitted her role in the event.
But that might as well be the trigger since more troublesome things followed. Firstly, the way the elders looked at her like she’s a rare treasure made the girl felt uncomfortable. Secondly, the elders are trying to openly poach her despite the fact that her master was currently fighting a duel!
It was a pandemonium.
Rennel finally understood why her master was so adamant in officially registering her as her disciple. Although they were members of the Council of Elders, and were technically allies, they didn’t even hesitate to reveal each other’s embarrassing secrets just so they would look better compared to the other in the girl's eyes.
Things went so out of hand that the remaining elders started challenging each other to a magic duel much to Rennel’s shock, who could only helplessly watch more duels between elders unfold before her very eyes.
****
“That was truly unexpected… and exciting!”
A wry smile involuntarily appeared on the girl’s lips as he recalled the strange scene. It’s a rare sight to see elders not acting their age; even challenging each other to a duel just to appeal to her.
Well, it was a wasted effort on the elders’ part as Rennel has no intention of changing teacher. That said it was very worthwhile for the girl as she was able to see several arch-mage level magic which would be of great help in her endeavor to learn powerful magic.
“They should have calmed down by now. Hopefully, nothing troublesome will happen before and after I return.”
Rennel let out some worrying thoughts that could be seen as flags by Chaos but the girl seem to not be aware of it. The girl stayed at the sky deck until the sun fully rises before going to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. After breakfast, the girl returned to her cabin.
The girl’s cabin was a private one which means that she’s not sharing it with other people. A private cabin was a lot more expensive compared to a shared cabin but Rennel didn’t mind the price as she prefers privacy.
Having a private cabin would also allow the girl free reign to do whatever she wanted without bothering the other passengers. What’s more, the girl has a space ring that she could not easily show to anyone. Aside from that she’s in possession of very expensive magic books that could easily invoke other people’s greed.
Anyway, for the current Rennel, she needed private space to learn magic without interference than anything else. As her teacher, Chaos, mentioned earlier, Elder Zelma has given her several magic books that she has yet to touch. And since she has nothing better things to do, she might as well read those books.
“Channeling elemental magic into ‘Jade Thorn’ should create interesting effects. Many monsters are weak to certain elements so if I could master the elements, battling monsters should become a lot easier.”
Rennel had already decided a path to walk. Since she’s an expert in using a spear, she would customize her magic to be used in conjunction with the spear. That said, the girl will also try to use normal spells that could be used on its own.
“I should focus on versatility. My ‘seed’ already gave me great advantage by raising all of my attributes to level beyond that of a human so I no longer have to worry about my stats. On the contrary my abilities have yet to make full use of my stats which is a waste.”
Speaking of which, Rennel has yet to learn how to fully use her enhanced status after her second awakening. If she has full control of her stats, her fight with the Titan Andes might not have ended so pathetically. Although her chance of victory against the titan was very slim, her defeat won’t looks as unsightly as that time where she could only helplessly surrender after her most powerful skill failed to bring down the titan.
Chaos watched the girl seriously reading and studying the books the Elder Zelma had given her, and let out a yawned. As there was absolutely nothing to do, Chaos was bored out of his mind.
“I wonder if we’re going to encounter some aerial beasts in this journey… It should be fun watching the girl fight against the aerial beasts. Come to think of it, Andes mentioned that the sky titan often takes this route. I wonder if we’ll have a run in with it.”
The boredom was taking Chaos’ thoughts into dangerous territory. He was so bored that he even wanted to encounter the dangerous aerial beasts as well as the titan known as the ‘Lord of the Sky’, the Titan Galestorm!
Rennel, who was seriously studying on her bed felt a sudden chill, and looked around in alarm. Although she didn’t know why, she felt a foreboding sense of danger. It was as if something bad will happen during the journey.
She turned towards her teacher and saw that he’s still in taking a nap while floating on the air.
“Ugh…what’s going on?”
Chaos slightly opened his eyes and saw how the girl reacted. He then let out as soft giggle and thought, “She’s getting better at sensing danger. Not bad…”
“I might just be overthinking things…” Unable to find the cause of the mysterious chill, Rennel could only return to her books. Hours later, Rennel felt her eyelids getting heavy and decided to join her teacher in his nap.
But such peaceful day was not supposed to last. The teacher and his student were enjoying a blissful nap when the alarmed of the airship suddenly blared.
Something really did happen…
****
“Attention all! This is the captain speaking. Our airship is currently on the path of the sky titan, so we will have to diverge from our flight path for a little bit to avoid collision. For everyone’s safety, I suggest not to leave your cabins. I repeat. Please do not leave your cabins.”
“What on earth? How could the sky titan be on the path of the airship?” Rennel asked out loud after hearing the announcement.
“It’s the opposite. The titan was not on the same path as the airship but the airship was on the path that the sky titan usually takes,” Chaos corrected. “Have you forgotten what Andes said before?”
“Oh! You’re right, teacher… I remember now. But still, I’m not sure if I should call our luck is good or bad. The moment we decided to take the airship, the sky titan appeared.” Rennel commented in a helpless voice.
“The sky titan is rather elusive, and the only way to encounter it was to fly using magic or by using an airship. Just think of it as a rare encounter.” Chaos nonchalantly explained.
“That, that’s true…”
Indeed. If Rennel thinks about it a bit, meeting the sky titan was indeed a rare opportunity. As long as they safely get through the encounter, such a meeting could be used as a conversation piece.
“That said… aerial beasts often accompany the sky titan. If they spotted this airship, they might consider it a threat and attack.”
Chaos’ words sent the girl’s heart that had calmed down significantly, into a lurched. If the aerial beasts did attack the airship then everyone aboard with exception of Chaos and Rennel would be in danger.
“Damn it!”
Rennel quickly don her cloak and went out of her cabin. Although airships like this should have offensive capabilities, the girl would not put her own safety on someone else’s hands.
She ran from corridors to corridors until she finally found the exit to the sky deck. Thankfully, the girl was able to memorize the layout of the airship due to her morning and afternoon excursion and didn’t get lost.
At the sky deck, she saw the crew manning the ship’s harpoons. Judging by their serious expression, she could tell that they’re quite nervous. She could also tell that the crews are hoping that the aerial beast would just ignore the airship so that they won’t have to fight.
Another thing to note was that Rennel was not discovered by any of the crews despite sneaking into the sky deck, a testament of how nervous they were.
“Teacher, do you think that the aerial beasts would attack the airship?” Rennel asked telepathically.
“Yes.” Chaos answered without pause.
Hearing her teacher’s words, Rennel silently readies her spear. Since her teacher said that the aerial beasts will attack the airship, then they will attack the airship.
“So much for a peaceful trip…” The girl complained after sighing.
Although she really wanted to enjoy the duration of the trip, the appearance of the sky titan won’t allow it. Still, the die had already been cast and the only thing that she could do was to ensure that the die rolls on her favor.
“The sky titan is approaching!” One of the crew warned.
Rennel looked at the direction where the crew was pointing and saw a gigantic shadow cutting the clouds. It's was without a doubt the 'Lord of the Sky', the sky titan, Galestorm!
The girl clenched the hand that was holding the spear hard, and readies herself for her first ever sky battle.
****
To be continued
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