Before The Plunge

Frein removed his jacket, following everyone else who had taken off their outer layers. His Mesiffera allowed him to see the reduction of protective barriers, moving away from the boarding platforms. The movement caused the chill of the breeze carrying the slightest hint of salt to touch his skin, prompting him to exert a layer of protective Siffera around himself.

Katherine stood at his side, sporting her beautiful red two-piece. The scar on her stomach really improved her appeal. Perfection in imperfection, some would say. She produced her cap from her Spatiera, wearing it to keep the gorgeous strands of her brown hair from flying all over the place.

At first, Frein thought it was futile, but realized that the cap somehow held on despite the strong winds. Though the cap was a souvenir from Earth, he wouldn’t put it past the Lady to perform some meiyal-involved modifications on it. He made a mental note to study it when he had the chance. As of now, they were preoccupied.

“So, we really are jumping off the Atlas Sid?” he asked instead. They stood by the edge of the boarding platform, a step away from plunging towards the shimmering blue of The Great Sea Dividyr.

“Yep,” Kristel replied, standing on his other side. She did her warm-up stretches, a dangerous move given her current one-piece swimsuit.

Frein’s attention pulled at the Princess’s instincts, snapping her eyes in his direction. She stared back, looking at his chest, specifically the surgical scar in the middle.

“You really do have a scar,” she said.

“So Kat already told you, huh?”

Kristel nodded hesitantly. “Me and Frill.”

The mention of her name caused the Aria to look and confirm his scar as well. “Oh yeah, it’s really there.”

“It’s not really a big secret,” Frein said. “I can talk about it some other time.”

“I’m absolutely curious,” Kristel said. “But sure.”

“So why are we jumping now?” Xiv asked, taking the Princess’s other side. He was performing his bodyguard role rather dutifully. “Do I really have to join?

“Food,” Frill replied lastly, taking the Vyndivalian’s free side. With her, the line was complete, and all five of them stood side by side, looking down on the sea far, far below. “And yes, you do.”

Frein realized he had never done skydiving before. He could see some clouds underneath him, which was surprisingly familiar to him. He had been on the Atlas Sid for a while now.

“Food?” he asked, finally processing what Frill said. “Wait… I feel like I’m missing something.”

“What are you missing?” Katherine asked. “And it’s seafood specifically.”

“Like fish? Tuna? Sharks?” he guessed. He couldn’t figure out the lingering thought that he was missing something very important. It gnawed at the back of his mind.

“Not fish. Not small.” The Lady stifled a laugh.

“Whales?”

“Sea serpents,” Kristel replied. “A kraken if we’re lucky. Charred barbecue kraken would be nice. Atlas Life was out of stock. And if they’re out, most likely, everywhere else are out as we—”

“A kraken?” Frein exclaimed his clarification. The thought of enjoying a nice dip in the sea with gorgeous ladies wearing swimsuits suddenly vanished from his mind. It was replaced by a gigantic octopus of the abyss instead. He began to regret reading a lot of Eldritch books. “Seriously?”

“That would be a rare occurrence, given that it’s early in the morning and we have such nice weather,” Katherine said. “A Tentacles Of The Deep would be more likely. They’re edible, surprisingly enough. Only the core inside its head is tainted with Nightmare influence.”

“You’re saying there’s a Nightmare kraken?” Frein asked.

Katherine nodded excitedly. “Despite its name, it’s not a Deep Nightmare.”

“Outside of the Nightmare Lands?”

“It’s the sea, Bro,” Xiv interjected.

“Oh, so that’s how it is? You’re playing smart with me, Bro?”

Katherine giggled this time. “No, seriously. We’re flying back to Central from outside the safe zone. One final check before the grand carrier’s long break, since we’re circling around anyway. We’re in the far west of The Great Sea Dividyr now, so we’re technically closer to the volcanic regions than we are with the Western Sanctum. But we are outside the safe zone now.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Xiv asked.

“It is, but most people who are participating in the Jump are used to the Nightmare Lands or are trainees intending to become part of the Order of the Void. And since there haven’t been any new recruitments, they’re just continuously training here. A trainee technically has to be as tough as a Guard Knight or even a Royal Guard.” Katherine pointed towards the other platforms. “Look over there.”

Frein followed where she pointed, finding a nearby platform—they were more like launching platforms now rather than boarding ones. Sure enough, he saw more people standing by near the edges. There were about one or two groups per platform. Each group had one person in front of them, providing some pointers or reminders.

Katherine pointed over to Kristel, Frill, and Frein. “These three will be under my direct protection as part of their training. I don’t think I have to worry about you, right, Brother Xiv?”

“I have my Armor, so I should be fine.”

“Good.” Katherine breathed and began to emphasize her Siffera. “Alright, folks, go prepare your Sifferas please. Enza, are you there?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“I’m here,” said the yuma who melded into view. That caught everyone’s attention.

“Do you just automatically become invisible if you’re not moving?” Frein asked.

“Been like that since the beginning,” she said. “I can still move around but it’s an effort.”

“That’s not how Nature’s Favor works,” Kristel said. “Well, at least, that’s what the records say.”

“The Blessings aren’t fully explored, remember?” Frein said, quick to dispute. “This could be a special Nature’s Favor, but we’ll deal with that when we have the time.”

“That’s right,” Katherine followed. She turned to Enza. “I need you to stay here and be on standby. Frein should be able to send you instructions through the Namestone.”

“I can’t join?” the yuma whined, her ears drooping. “Why not?”

“You can jump, dear, but don’t go near the water. And try to stay invisible. Its precaution in case of emergencies. Since Frill’s yumas are taking care of your siblings, all the responsibilities fall to you.”

“Way to pressure her,” Frein commented.

Enza’s ears perked. “It’s alright! I can do that!” She stole a few licks before Katherine could calm her down.

All the while, Frill and Kristel slowly emphasized their Siffera. By Drawing the pattern slowly, not only would they be able to use the Art efficiently, it would also be more stable compared to a rushed one. Their Meiyal Arts have improved dramatically, especially Frill’s with her improved Milled meiyal. Frein observed with Mesiffera and saw four-meiyal powering the Art.

For such a short amount of time, the Aria in Red managed to Mill her Mercurial Liquid and Storm Veil. It hadn’t even been a full day yet. Truly a genius of her time, but Frein could still spot some places for her to improve in.

“You don’t have to invest four-meiyal continuously, Frill,” he said. “Once you emphasize the Art with four-meiyal, you can just use your normal two-meiyal to keep it going. If you see it diminish, that’s when you add more. Otherwise, you’re spending too much.”

“It doesn’t do anything if I keep using four-meiyal?” she asked, walking over to get a proper talk. The frills on her swimsuit swam in the air, ignoring the strong winds. They looked magnificent. She looked magnificent.

Frein looked over and saw Xiv stealing glances. He could only sigh. How do I help my Bro out?

“It does something,” he answered finally, not wanting to make an awkward situation. “It makes emphasizing the Art to the greatest degree a lot easier, but then you’re limited by that.” Suddenly, he was reminded of what the Mercurial Liquid could actually do for Frill.

“Oh, that’s right! You can use second-level Siffera!”

“It’s called Nidai,” Katherine added before turning to Frill. “Have you practiced it?”

The Aria shook her head slowly.

“Then I advise against using it. It’ll be too much information to handle while you’re hurtling down the sea. A highly emphasized Siffera should do fine.”

And then it clicked for Frein.

“Parachutes! We don’t have parachutes!” He yelled as if everyone else understood him. Only Katherine did. “Wait! We don’t need it…”

“What’s he talking about?” Kristel asked.

“It’s something they use on Earth to slow down their fall,” Katherine quickly explained before turning her attention back to him. “Normally if you jump from here, you’ll hit the water like it’s solid concrete, but you should know by now, Frein, that with a really strong Siffera, something like that wouldn’t bother you at all.”

“Really? Are you sure?” Frein recalled all the times he was slammed against anything solid and knew it to be true. It was like slowly dipping in sand. But even while his memory convinced him, his mental faculties suggested otherwise.

Katherine laughed at him. “Seriously, this is where you hesitate? Not the kraken, or the Deep Tentacles, or the sea serpents?” She pondered for a little while. Frein knew exactly where her mind was going. It was the exact same thing that made him hesitate in the first place.

“I guess there was the case with Venry, huh…” she started.

“What about him?” Kristel asked. Frein noticed how quick she was to react, but decided not to mention anything. Katherine recognized and followed his decision through just a simple eye contact.

“Based on the things we saw near Rindea Mountain, we assumed he fell and got hurt pretty badly,” Katherine explained. “We also assumed he survived.”

“Bloody and hurt, but he survived,” Frein pointed out. “Sure. And I’m just going to jump down from who knows how high, and assume my Siffera can handle it better than falling from a mountain.”

“You’re talking like a wuss,” Kristel said. “I don’t like it.”

Katherine didn’t bother hiding a smirk. “She’s right, you know? Look, that was during the war. We don’t even know how stressed Venry’s condition was and what circumstances he had to face when he fell off the mountain. And besides, not a jab at the guy, but we’re all in a better situation and we’re a lot stronger than he is.”

“It’s just a jump, Frein,” Frill said.

“Yeah, Bro. What are you scared of?” Xiv followed.

Frein latched on it like a hungry yuma. “Oh, you know I won’t back down from an obvious challenge.”

“Good!” Katherine clapped her hands. “Now emphasize that Siffera so I can check if there’s anything wrong with you before you jump. Safety first and all that. You too, Xiv. Don your Armor.”

“That’s too much for a jump, Sis,” Xiv said confidently. “I can just Reinforce my body like your Siffera. I’ll use the Armor for emergencies. I don’t think I can maintain it for very long still, anyway.”

“Oh, right. Go Reinforce then, please.”

The Vyndivalian did as instructed. Frein observed him with Mesiffera, and he guessed Katherine did as well. Reinforcement was indeed a lot different compared to Meiyal Arts. Xiv’s meiyal were applied throughout his body directly, without any sort of medium or pattern. It was as if he was the pattern itself. The effect was straightforward as well, strictly physical, unlike the weird interpretations that Siffera was capable of.

Katherine nodded. “Looks good. That should keep you sturdy enough for the plunge.”

“Thanks,” Xiv said. Frein found it odd.

“Not your first time crashing on something like this?”

“You get thrown around a lot in the Nightmare Lands, Bro.”

Frein quickly recalled all the Nightmares he had fought and couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

Katherine pressed a light jab at his chest. “Your turn.”

The moment Frein tapped eight-meiyal to Draw his Siffera, he immediately knew it was at the peak of the Art’s current level. Elizzel didn’t even need to do anything. It felt like a total waste, like too much power on an engine that couldn’t switch higher.

But at the same time, it was overwhelming. Frein managed to achieve its highest performance without the need to emphasize the Art. It was like reaching top speed the moment he pressed on the gas pedal.

The sudden output made the Art surge out of his control, causing it to enhance his aspects and strengths randomly for a few seconds before he managed to retake a firm grip. Everyone around him had taken a step back. Even some people from other platforms, despite their distance, felt the effects of his Art, causing them to turn his way out of curiosity.

But all of that paled to the chill that Frein felt running up his spine. He turned quickly towards his right. Towards east. Something was staring at him. Something in the clouds. It was far away, terribly far so that he couldn’t possibly see it. If they were travelling west outside of Irista Nation territory, this chilly, incessant presence was on the complete other side. Despite this impossible distance, he could feel it staring at him, deciding on something he couldn’t fathom.

And then it was gone.

“Hey!” Katherine called out. “Are you alright?”

Frein assessed himself. His Siffera was at the peak of its level, and was now surprisingly stable.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he said. “First time using eight-meiyal.”

“Eight?” Kristel, Frill, and Xiv exclaimed at the same time.

Before Frein could explain, another chime echoed from the invisible speakers of the Atlas Sid. Rather than Maffelyne’s voice, it was Admiral Garm who spoke instead.

“Jumpers, to your stations. Baits have been set. Initiate jump in one minute.”

“Looks like it’s another story for another time,” Frein said.

“Fine,” the Princess conceded. “If we get a huge haul, the entire city will probably hold a feast. You can tell your stories, then.”

They all returned to their stations, finalizing their preparations for the jump. Admiral Garm announced the timer at a ten-second interval. Frein could feel his heart pump and his adrenaline rushing through his veins, but he couldn’t fully dedicate his attention to it.

He could feel Elizzel sharing the same sentiment. She had never taken her eyes off the eastern direction.

“Whatever that was,” she began, “it’s not something we can handle.”

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