Chapter 229: Waypoint
———Lynda———
<3: 54 pm>
This place is quiet today, as one would expect with most people who frequent it being a bunch of jobless folks and students. Most students are going home, doing their homework, and just taking a break for tomorrow with another trip to one of those monster habitats. Not that those trips are really anything stressful. The last one we went to was fine outside of that incident.
“...I know it’s kinda random, but when was the last time anyone used the healing room in the guild?” I asked, since I just looked around and saw the door to it, just tucked away in a corner that most people wouldn’t notice without really looking for it.
“I don’t know. We rarely frequent this place.” Glery replied. It is pretty rare for us to hang out here. We do sell off the loot here, but that’s about all we did. “...Are you sure you’re at full strength? I want to be sure none of you are going to run into any trouble.”
“No need to be such a worrywart. We’ll be fine.” It’s not like we’re trying to go for a record or something. It’s just regular training, sorta. There’s always a risk of us getting hurt, but if we're going in a group, we’ll be fine.
Now the better question to ask is what are the others doing. We’re supposed to all be here by now. I know they’re going back home to leave some stuff there, but neither of us take that long.
“Hey.” Histon approached us with… Why is she here?
“Got your baby sister here for some reason?” I remarked, seeing the feisty girl by his side.
“What about it? Why can’t I come along?” She said with an aggressive tone. Are they still arguing about the whole dungeon diving stuff? I thought that’d be solved by now.
“Yeah. She’s insisting on coming along, again.” Histon said while making his displeasure clear. Considering the potential danger I can’t say he’s being unreasonable. Admittedly since we’re gonna be in a large group it means there should always be at least one person who keeps an eye on her.
“Whatever. As long as she doesn't slow us down she can come along just fine.” I relayed my thoughts on the matter.
“Hey! What the hell do you mean by that!” She clearly isn’t taking that comment well.
“Relax.” I said to her with a chill tone to calm her down. I don’t really think she’s going to be that much of a deadweight. Last time she was involved in a dungeon dive she wasn’t that far behind us in terms of battle performance. If anything, the fact that Histon is involved and gets in her way is the bigger issue, but I really don’t want to bring that up and start a sibling spat.
“Yo! I’m not late, am I?” Trener joined in not long after, before realizing the awkward situation we’re in at the moment. “...Are you two good?”
“Perfect, obviously.” Histon said, clearly wanting to avoid the issue altogether, even if his overprotectiveness is an issue in and of itself.
I sure hope the atmosphere of the group gets way less awkward after this point. I really don’t want to see them having a spat in the middle of a dungeon run.
We still got a few more people we’re waiting for. Hopefully they aren’t actually late. Tomorrow is gonna be pretty casual with another trip, but it’d be really bad if we overslept.
“So what’s your story for being late? At least I get this little bastard next to me.” Histon said, seemingly forgetting his filter.
“Mom’s trauma-dumping, that’s what.” Trener said with a clear tone of resentment. “She still hasn’t received any updates from the contacts she managed to get, and she’s throwing quite a tantrum today.”
“...Does your mom have a brother complex or something?” Histon said, getting straight to the point.
“Maybe? She is generally a worrywart for her extended family, but this is getting annoying. I’ll be real here, her brother probably already kicked the bucket by now. People are dying much more frequently with all the violence and magic and all kinds of crazy shits. Obviously I can't say that to her face, I don’t want to get kicked out.” It is quite a harsh statement even if that is most likely the case. Another family quarrel I had to listen to.
“Quite a heartless thing to say.” Histon said with an eyebrow raised.
“Am I wrong though?” Trener snapped back. Quite rare for Trener to sound so aggressive. It must’ve gotten quite grating. “Seriously, it’s far from unreasonable to think that, right?”
“It’s not, but it’s something no one would ever say out loud.” I give him my opinion on the matter. “Probably the craziest thing you’ve ever said, now that I think about it.”
“Wha- Is that a good thing?” He asked while scratching his head. I don’t really have an answer for that. It’s simply an observation.
“Just something to keep in mind.” I vaguely stated as he seems even more confused.
It’s certainly a sign of normalcy being lost if a simple guy like him is saying wild stuff like that.
And for those that are already crazy to some extent…
———Kenni———
<4: 18 pm>
*Zip* *Swerve*
“Hahahaha! You’ll never catch me!” I screamed loudly into the air as I flew around and maneuvered around all of these aircrafts trying to catch me.
All of these dumbass pilots trying to pursue me just because I fly around in their area or whatever. Let a girl have fun will ya!?
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
One of the aircraft started shooting bullets in my direction even with its comrades nearby that could’ve gotten hit instead. Doesn’t seem like the brightest move, does it?
These aircrafts certainly aren’t lacking in terms of speed, but nothing quite beats the freedom of my flying ability. I can make sharp turns way easier than they can.
*Zip* *Swoosh*
I don’t really feel like destroying any aircrafts today, so I’ll let it slide this time and just get out of their airspace. That should be plenty, right? I don’t really feel the need to antagonize the neighbor up north.
…Where was I going to go again? I was a bit caught up in the dogfight earlier. I don’t even think I have any real destination in mind at the beginning. I was just flying around for fun. There’s no law against someone flying, is there?
Even if there was, who in the world is gonna reinforce it? Certainly not those pilots. I’m sure they have better things to do than harassing a lone bird like me.
Maybe I should at least lower the altitude I’m at. It’s kinda cold up here and I don’t really have the best view of the ground from all the way up here. I gotta land down at some point and I should at least prepare for that while I still have the fuel.
Let’s see if I could spot any commotion happening, mainly by sensing any sort of power spike in the area and go there.
Oh? Just right on cue. There seems to be something happening right over there. Looks like there is some sort of battle happening at the moment. I hope it’s a spectacle to watch.
I landed down on a nearby roof to see a group of rowdy folks fighting each other on the streets. They don’t seem to be mindful of their surroundings at all as all of them seem to be going all out and throw out multiple destructive spells that damage the surrounding buildings.
There’s a pretty good chance one of the stray spells is gonna hit the building I am on at the moment. Of course, considering the amount of spells being thrown out willy-nilly, chances are they’re gonna tire out before that happens. These guys aren’t impressive enough to sustain this level of assault for long.
People still fight up-close for a good reason, you know? Those big explosive spells cost a lot of mana compared to simply using it as a battery to sustain your battle-ready state in a fight.
“Augh!” Ah. There he goes. Stumbling and tumbling due to the fatigue caused by a lack of mana in your body. Others are also slowing down considerably due to this.
Now it is quite rare to find people who will throw caution to the wind and fight like this, let alone a group of people treating the town like a battlefield they can just fight in without impunity. Those guys have been subdued and weeded out quickly during the first few weeks of the Eclipse, so this is actually quite a rare spectacle.
As to why they are even fighting in the first place. It’s not really something I need to worry about. The only thing that is clear is that no one is happy with them as more people join in and start subduing them before things could escalate further. Quickly being apprehended as their rapidly diminishing mana and stamina kept them from being able to do anything.
I didn’t even get a chance to join in before it’s all over and done with. Quite a shame, but then again, my presence might’ve escalated the situation in a way that I don’t really want.
Now the crowd is talking to themselves and… Huh. Are they talking in American accents? I thought I crossed into Canada by now? Did I take a wrong turn somewhere?
If that’s the case, maybe those were American aircrafts instead. No matter, I wasn’t in the mood for destruction anyway.
I guess I might as well make my way back, since I’m not even where I want to be. I don’t have anything on me that would work as a map, or anything outside of a pouch with spare cash. Seems like just going straight north didn’t quite work out if I deviate from it even slightly. During that sky chase I must’ve changed the trajectory too much and gone down south.
Alright. Time to go back home before any of them could notice me. Better go back quickly while the resonance with the shinepoint still exists. Without that thing I probably would’ve ended up traveling the world before finding home.
*Flap* *Zip*
———Fiss———
<4: 50 pm>
…Now how the heck does this thing even work?
“Why are you… Ah, right, you’re one of the kids from out of town.” Someone said as she approached me staring at the floating crystal.
“Hello… Teacher Scien.” I greeted her as she walked towards me.
“Curious about this big thing?” She said while walking close to this thing called ‘shinepoint’.
“Yeah. I thought it was just decoration at first before seeing the plaque.” I just walked past it so many times and only now did I see the big plate at the bottom. “How does this even work?”
“Just resonate with it like the text said. Though I guess that is a pretty vague statement in the grand scheme of things.” She explained. Yeah I don’t get that at all. “You can look it up later. It’s not like we really need this thing with a phone in our pocket at all times.”
Not exactly a very helpful statement, but I guess it’s a redundant item anyway, no need for me to actually use it. It’s basically a beacon to run back to if I’m lost, which I’m never gonna be just like she said.
“Then why did they even put this here?” I asked, since it seems like a waste of effort to make.
“Like I know. From the looks of it these guys have so much fortune to their name they can just make whatever they want. Probably just for flex.” She doesn’t give the most insightful of speculation. “Practically speaking, no one is gonna use it. Phones aside, most of us don’t even travel out of town.”
*Zip* *Thud*
“...Oh hey. Didn’t expect a welcoming party.” The woman with two black wings said, reaching the ground floor while looking like she carried a lot of momentum on her landing.
“...I guess there is an exception.” Teacher Scien said with a rather complicated expression on her face.