Snow surfed through the web, trying to figure out the different information that she could handle.

She was excited as this was the best opportunity to expand and learn to better control her vast amount of magical power that she had. A hidden knowledge of a specific 8 step meditation and magical energy circulation book was found in the captain logs, which she was able to sneak out piece-by-piece as days went on.

At first, she had just followed her guts, going through the motions as her instincts had told her. But that wasn’t enough. Eventually, she had to give up a bit more of herself, diving into the extensive database of the airship itself, finding hidden knowledge that she had never known existed in the dungeon compared to their own knowledge back outside.

The moment she opened the book, she stabilized her internal dialogue as the chaotic words were like fleeting wind, coming and going through the day. Sometimes she lingered on her words, soaking in its meaning and thoughts. They weren’t all peaceful but were more brash and invasive. Purely destructive to the point where she wondered where it had come from.

Snow knew these dark harboring thoughts were part of her, but she didn’t let it overrule her mind. She let it go like all her others thoughts as she drifted in the stream of consciousness.

The second day, There was a vast difference in energy control and condensation of a magical source that Snow practiced as one type of meditation throughout the whole. Letting the energy in her core and her mind connect reinforce her body and mind.

On the third day, the connections and repetitions of allowing the thought flow help her quickly transition to the next phase that she needed. Her awareness to pay attention to every inch of her own body was a lot stronger than before. She didn’t realize until now that she had tubes and wires stuck into her body like some kind of mad experiment, but she didn’t do anything about it as she knew that she was okay.

Larsen's voice grunted at the crew members, his voice reflecting back his thoughts. “Why have you not put in stronger sedatives?”

“I’m sorry, sir, any stronger than that would kill her.” The only two scientists in the ship, who personally watched over the core, were hugging their clipboards tightly.

“But this won’t allow us to control one hundred percent of her magical output.” Larsen didn’t have it. He wanted to squeeze out every little drop of magic from Snow’s body.

“We will not do it.” The scientist replied back, set on their answer. “If her body breaks down here and now, we will all die in the next five minutes.”

Larsen cluck his tongue. “Fine, but when this is all over, we are going to run her dry.”

“But-”

A sickening slap could be heard as Larsen backhands the scientist. The scientist flew and hit hard against the wall, his head cracks as blood dripped down his head.

“My orders are absolute, and Captain Gilmore will agree to my words.” Larsen wiped his hand on his clothes, turning around and leaving them both.

Snow didn’t like what she had heard. She was now able to listen to almost all the information around her a lot easier than before. There were only a few places where she wasn’t able to go, but anything near her body was clear.

She knew that Larsen had come in and out of the room, watching her endlessly like a creeper. Many times, she personally turned off the lights and even made it difficult for him to stay.

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Just having his company made her skin crawl, and she didn’t want him anywhere near him.

Though, Larsen made it his goal to observe the two scientists that stay in the room.

Without much thought, she pulled her magical energy from her core, traveling it through the cords and the wall as it touched the injured man. The energy traveled up his arm and towards his head, healing the wounded area without much trouble, leaving nothing but a small scar.

The second scientist came over, worriedly looking over his friend. He gasped, realizing that he was healed. Curious on how it happened, he quickly pulled back his friend's forehead but found no traces of an opening.

“What’s going on?” The scientist said. “Did you really hit your head?”

His friend woke up, blinking a few times, unable to answer. Pulling his friend’s hand over his shoulder, he helped him up.

Both of them left, leaving Snow behind. She had contemplated on what Larsen had said, wondering what purpose it was for. She still hasn't been able to unlock the secret files as she still needed the password. There was only so much she could do.

Snow quickly followed Larsen, watching his every movement as he made it to his Captain Gilmore’s quarter. She tapped into his line, before the defensive shield went up, quietly listening in.

A back and forth pacing of Larsen’s feet was heard. Until finally, Captain Gilmore spoke. “How is everything?”

“Not as bad as I thought. Honestly, I’m quite pleased with our new core.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s a gem. A natural catalyst for magic. Her magic is running through the whole ship right now, and she hasn’t even used up to twenty percent of it.”

With a shocked voice, Captain Gilmore said, “It’s that much?”

“Yes.”

Silenced followed after.

“I think it's a good time to upgrade our plan to the second phase. Our last catalyst wasn’t able to bear the burden, and with the new source of energy that we have, I’m quite sure we can make it happen.”

“What did the scientist say?”

Larsen didn’t say anything, the silence only made Captain Gilmore annoyed.

“They must have said something that implied it wasn’t a good idea.”

“Captain, trust me. The scientists are just too scared. With the power we have now, we can conquer the castle and make it our own. You and I have known this was our dream.”

“You’re right.” The Captain agreed with a bit of affirmation and nostalgia in his voice. “We’ll go into phase two when we are a half a day away.”

“Yes, Captain.” A hint of a chuckle escaped Larson’s lip. “You won’t be disappointed.”

“I hope you are right.”

Larson exited the room, leaving behind only Snow and Captain Gilmore. Snow, too, didn’t stay any longer, she too left as Captain Gilmore went to sleep. 

Snow went back to her body, contemplating what she had learned. She put such worrying thoughts behind her, realizing that she couldn’t rush through the process. Her plan to grow quickly was her number one reason for this machine was the best training device that was offered.

The amount of time to accumulate magical energy and have better control in a stress-free environment wasn’t plenty, plus it was in a dungeon meant that the magical powers were plentiful. Which Snow can use to her bidding without having to worry about when her ability would stop.

As the days continued to progress, her self reflection and meditation had increased her control of her mind and the magical flow throughout her body. She felt more alive than before, traveling through the digital frames of the airship and even spiritually leaving her body as a ghost to float through the vast interlocking of the airships itself.

Two different experiences, two different lessons that she excitedly absorbed at a breakneck speed as the magical energy in the pool helped boost and even sharpened her skills.

She had found some small little tricks where she could move the ships' intricate parts to do her bidding, but not for a long time. Even though she was great with her control of magical energy, persuading the machines to do her bidding wasn’t her specialty.

There were a few hiccups where she had caused a few small little malfunctions because she didn’t know what exactly she was doing. Luckily, there were mechanics nearby, who fixed the problem, grumbling at their misfortune.

The only time she thought she had created a bit of panic was when she turned the emergency alarm on, causing it to blare through the very airship. Panic broke through, but as quickly as it turned on, it was shut off without too many problems.

Flustered, Snow just continued to watch the daily lives of her Players and friends that worked tirelessly inside the airship. Sometimes, Snow would sneakily turn on the air conditioner in hot rooms to cool off the Player’s drenching sweat, or even help fix small problems that she controlled on her end.

This went on for a good week as the airship lazily flew in the air.

Everywhere Snow looked was endless ocean water. A few times, she had caught large pod whales swimming below while other times, just the dark churning waters rolled with its own emotions.

Not too far away, Snow noticed dark clouds forming together like a mist of fog. A white flash of lights crackled inside the storm clouds as a bash of clapping thunder rumbled after.

In the mix of the clouds was a black dot that reminded her of a small bug, but as it got closer, she saw the shape change.

It was another airship, riding the tide of the thunderstorm.

Compared to the airship that she was on, it didn’t sway by the wind and instead seemed to thrive in the very clouds. At first, Snow thought she saw things as the airship as she knew that the natural forces always battered technology around.

Snow couldn’t help but wonder if the magic swirling around the ship was caused by the ship itself, creating the storm that seemed to trail behind it.

The thunderstorm was unnatural.

“Well, this is going to be interesting.” Snow squinted. They were getting closer and closer. She waited, hoping that they would pass by.