18 Chapter 18: King Of The Skies, Aerius.
"That's an unusual sight…" Said an old muscular man as he stood by his car whilst having a smoke.
Looking into the distance, he watched the approaching group.
It was a group composed of three girls and one guy. Seeing such a short girl carrying a boy was surprising, despite him appearing to be average height.
Their clothes were stained with blood, it was clear that they had gone through quite a lot. Beside them a sphere made out of threads floated in the air, a rather unique ability.
'Hunter's, eh…' The man concluded. 'Well, who else would be in this shithole…'
The man inhaled the smoke from his cigar before puffing it out, by the time he had completed the action, the group had reached him.
"Hey old man, how much for a ride to the settlement south from here?" Julius asked.
"A tenner." He replied.
Julius frowned.
"Hey, ain't that double the market price?"
The old man looked around.
"It's 3 AM. You see any other cars here at this time? Prices vary by hour, supply and demand."
Julius glanced at Lyra who nodded.
'We're already running low on money for the month though… If we sell some of the relics that might change but…'
"Huh? You needed a ride? Why didn't you just say so?" Ruby asked.
She walked away from the car carrying Julius, all eyes were on her. When she stopped around twenty metres away from the others, the shadow beneath her legs expanded.
[Necromancy Manipulation: Rise Undead.]
"Rise… King of the skies… Aerius."
This time, the shadow's expansion was far larger than Julius and Lyra had ever seen. What emerged was a shadow which soared up into the starry skies, leaving everyone speechless.
It swiftly travelled through the clouds, casting a shadow over the moon before plummeting to the ground.
*Swoosh!*
A strong wind surged towards the group as the figure stopped just before them, allowing them to see its appearance in detail.
In the creature's bony, narrow skull, sapphire eyes gazed at the group. Its angular jaw was covered with several rows of dark crystals.
It had a serpentine-like body covered in scales and dark blood, with just two hind legs. The fact that it had no wings made its ability to fly a mystery.
"That's…" Muttered Julius.
"A dragon…!" Interrupted Lyra.
The vehicle owner stood there, dumbfounded. He had mistakenly dropped his cigar.
The dragon lowered its large head, indicating that they could mount it.
"Ruby you… You had a dragon this entire time?" Julius asked while on her back.
"I am a princess, it's to be expected." Ruby responded with a proud smile as she leapt on to it. "Let's go, Lyra."
Keeping a tight grip on Ava, Lyra mounted the dragon's head nervously. Once they were safely secured on the top of its head, the dragon got up and burst up into the sky.
"Kyaaaa!"
The distant cry of Lyra could be heard fading as they disappeared into the clouds.
"Well I'll be damned." Said the old man as he crossed his arms. "I should've gone for the fiver…"
-
Julius's eyes were wide open at the sight. He had never been on a plane before so it was the first time in his life that he had ever been so high up in the air.
From above the clouds, the ground below looked amazing. They could see everything.
In the distance, the lights from the settlement illuminated the area, shining brightly.
Just below him were the outskirts, the bridges and horrible roads where cars struggled to traverse.
And just behind him was the city of ruins where they were just at.
From the sky, it all looked different and the view paired up with the feeling of wind scraping against his skin, It left him speechless.
"Lyra, what do you-"
Julius turned to Lyra with excitement only for it to die down when he saw that she had shut her eyes.
"Lyra, open your eyes, you're missing out on the beautiful sight." Said Julius as he narrowed her eyes
"B-But it's scary!" Lyra replied.
"Ha… You'll be fine." He sighed. "You know I wouldn't ever let anything bad happen to you."
Hearing his words, Lyra's cheeks turned a light shade of pink.
"Saying something like that is cheating…" She responded, puffing her cheeks out in a pout.
Julius smiled and watched as she slowly opened her eyes. The moment she did, they lit up. Her mouth dropped as she gasped at the sight before her.
"It's… It's amazing!"
Hearing those words, the edges of Ruby's lips curled up, forming a smile.
"J-Julius! Look! We can see the settlement from here!" She exclaimed with excitement, her eyes sparkling as she turned to him.
"See?" Julius responded, his smile growing cheekier.
Realising just how childish she was acting, Lyra turned her head in embarassment before quietly appreciating the scenery.
Meanwhile Julius focused on moving his body. Although it felt incredibly sore with every movement that he made, he felt grateful by the fact that he could at least move.
'I'll get back on my feet after we land… we should be arriving soon. Before then, I'll quickly check my mails..'
[Mail] (2)
[You've completed 'Main Quest: Ice Troll Slayer'.]
[Completion rewards have arrived.]
[Would you like to receive it?] (Y/N)
-
[You have levelled up.]
[You have one levelling point available.]
[Would you like to exchange it?] (Y/N)
'Oh?' Julius raised his brows. 'I levelled up again… It must've been from killing the Undead Knight…'
[Level 3 (5/200)]
'I had 75 Experience points before, so If I do the maths, killing that boss gave me 30 Experience points… Not very efficient when it comes to levelling…'
Julius stared into the distance, admiring the beautiful scenery..
'After fighting the Undead Knight, no, after this whole trip I've learnt something. It's that I need to get stronger… the easiest method to it is by levelling up… After I'm back home, I'll have to decide, whether to become a Hunter or to go to the academy.'
"What's with that serious look?" Ruby asked as she glanced back at him.
"Nothing much, just trying to decide on what's the best path to take from here on out."
"...Well make sure to decide properly."
"How comes?"
"Because I'll be taking it too, obviously."
Julius glanced at her and the two made eye contact before he averted his eyes.
"Alright, I'll make sure to choose the best one."
With that little exchange, they set off quietly into the distance.
-
-
-
"Argh… We're finally home…" Muttered Julius staggering to the door."
After landing, he decided to go back to walking on his own. Just standing on both legs was extremely painful but it was still better than being carried around by Ruby. That was too embarrassing for him.
"Did we really have to land so far away from the settlement?" Lyra asked, visibly tired. "That landing was so scary…"
"If we'd landed any closer we would've been mistaken as enemies and had attacks of all kinds and scales hurled at us by the hunters who guard the place." Ruby responded. "I also needed a place to land Aerius, and not trying to be rude but this settlement is pretty small."
She was the only one out of the three of them who still seemed to be full of energy.
"Yeah, you've already said that… How's Ava's condition?" Julius asked, glancing at her.
"The moment we left the snow area of the labyrinth, it's stopped deteriorating, but it hasn't shown any signs of improvements. We've been moving her around too much, she needs a bed and some warm blankets. It'll start to improve after that." Ruby responded.
"Then we'll do exactly that…" Responded Julius as he and Lyra carried Ava inside. "I'll go to the local hunters organisation after"
Ruby entered after them before closing the door behind them. They had finally made it home, safely and could finally relax.
-
In this distance, two figures could be seen approaching the settlement south of the City of Ruins.
One was a grown man while the other was a shorter girl. The man grinned once the settlement fell on his sights.
"We're here, baby!" He yelled out excitedly.
