The Fortuitous Stone followed along the tethers to get to Delovine plane, rather than forging a new path through the raw Chaos. Yuriko understood, even if she felt the days crawl by. There had been five Waypoints between Rumiga City’s Chaos Channel and Delovine’s, which meant five days, at least, of travel through arkship.

The Stone took the same route to stabilise the new tether route, and to reinforce the new connecting Waypoints. They were not fortified yet and were simply Fysalli occupied by members of Legion Praemus.

Praemus was a unique legion and was far larger than normal, and one of the Knights Imperius was its nominal head. Though in truth, Praemus was decentralised to an extent that they might as well be a hundred different legions.

The particulars of legion politics and composition were not taught in the Academies, but somewhat well known as rumours between the other legionnaires. And with nothing better to do other than meditate, Yuriko found herself listening to scuttlebutt more often than not.

Ah, she made sure she had her Tranquil Mien active rather than her Charm, but even so, she noticed that many legionnaires, male and female, snuck looks at her, either openly or when they thought she couldn’t see. Hmmm, did she mind? Not really. Her Mien, whether it was Tranquil or Charm, relished the attention, and honestly, she was finding that she liked it, too.

It was amusing how their gazes stuck to her bottom or the curve of her hips, especially when she shifted about. It was even more amusing when they suddenly looked away when she turned around. She could feel the weight of their regard, and when she experimented by retracting her perceptive aura…she could still feel their sticky gazes. She could feel them staring at her hips, her bottom, her neck, the side of her bosom, and really, anywhere she showed a bit of skin. Many were mesmerized by her golden locks, too.

No, she didn’t mind at all.

Er, many things changed after that first night with Gwendith, it seemed. Haaaah.

Well, other than meditating, and listening to rumours, chatting with legionnaires in the Officers’ Club, or relaxing on the view deck, she also helped Gwendith and Heron devise their methods to reach for Transformation.

Knowing only Damien’s training regime, Yuriko told them about Body Refinement and Anima Refinement.

“You will need to use your Ennoia energies for the Refinement,” Yuriko said, with Gwendith and Heron in Yuriko’s quarters. “I started with Body Refinement, which was simply to flood my body with Radiant energy after hard training. You will feel your energies suffuse your every particle, though most of it will overflow into your surroundings. A little bit will be retained, and every cycle, a little bit more. Once you’ve created a seed of your Ennoia energies in every part of you, you’ll once again be able to improve your physique. Only afterwards will you flood your Anima with it. Ah, only once your reach has grown to ten paces or so.”

“How long did it take you?” Heron asked. “Or did you start as soon as you Actualised?”

“A few days after, I think.” Yuriko pressed a finger against her chin, “I don’t remember when, ehehehe.”

Heron and Gwendith rolled their eyes.

“A-anyway,” Yuriko coughed, “our Ennoias are different, so it's always up to you how to tailor your refinement. Just don’t go overboard.”

“Agreed,” Gwendith said with a smile, then she curled up around Yuriko and pointedly stared at Heron, who flushed and excused himself from the room. The two of them didn’t talk much afterwards, at least not about training.

Desire and Devotee were confined to their own quarters while they absorbed the Chaos that leaked through the Stone’s Shields. The legionnaires weren’t exactly comfortable with their presence, and even though Devotee couldn’t care less what they thought, Desire had the other, stronger, Chaos Lord firmly under her thumb.

“Don’t worry, Master. We won’t make trouble,” Desire said with a sultry whisper when Yuriko visited them. Devotee, who shared quarters with Heron, often visited Desire’s room. The two Chaos Lords trained that way, training their personal Chaos control by wrestling with an orb of solidified Chaos in between. Devotee was much stronger, owing to the fact that he was a viscount compared to Desire being a baron, but the latter was much more flexible and agile with her control.

The ship’s captain, Cohort Leader Elise Lawson, whose red eyes always had a glint of excitement whenever Yuriko conversed with her, had turned apologetic when she brought up the crew’s sentiments.

“We’ve always fought Chaos Lords, so even if both of them are bound to you, Knight-Captain Davar, they’re still uncomfortable.”

“Desire doesn’t really mind,” Yuriko answered, “though Devotee’s getting a bit antsy.”

“Ah, I apologise. The Stone’s training room isn’t too spacious. And the holds are filled with export products.”

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“We’ll manage. Thank you,” Yuriko reassured the woman.

“Thank you for your patience.”

The ship’s captain somehow always found time for a brief chat with her. Their paths crossed most often on the viewing deck, where Yuriko meditated or simply admired the beauty of the Chaos Sea. It was a boring and uneventful five days, which suited her just fine.

On the sixth day, the Fortuitous Stone finally arrived at Delovine plane. Yuriko lounged at the viewing deck and watched their approach. The view ports weren’t made of glass but windows of stone made transparent via runescript weaving. It was built in the middle of the bow and spanned across it, allowing an unimpeded view up, down, left, and right.

The Chaos Channel into Delovine was situated above the surface and when they entered, the Fortuitous Stone shuddered as waves focused and intensified into the relatively narrow tunnel. She noticed crystalline pylons stabilising the edges, and she caught a glimpse of the runescript patterns etched all over them. And while she couldn’t decipher the words, she could easily see, and feel, how the Chaos waves were absorbed into each pylon, then released to counteract the next wave. It absorbed the one after that and countered the fourth wave. The effect basically dampened the turbulence, instead of allowing it to intensify.

They were through in less than an hour, and this was the first time she saw Rumiga’s neighbouring plane. Her very first impression was that: “Flat.”

Other than tall obsidian plinths, the area near the Veil was mostly farmland. It was cultivated land as far as she could see, and there were almost no mountains nearby. And there was a city up ahead, one that spanned across her view. Why, it must be hundreds of longstrides across!

The Stone headed directly for it, and judging by how fast the farmlands blurred, they were speeding across the plane at two hundred longstrides an hour. It still took several hours before they reached the outskirts, and what a city it was. It covered the land, hiding every undulation with roads, buildings, and parks. There were clear districts, however, each separated from the others with a perimeter wall that was about five paces high. Some were made of marble and wide enough for three people to walk abreast, while others were made of packed earth or wood. The strange thing was that there were always two different walls where each district met each other, as though each area built their own borders and was proud of it.

Well, not all were well-kept. There were some districts that looked run down, or positively shabby. Their walls were breaking down or had large gaps, and their gates were not manned. These poorer sections were scattered across the planar city and sometimes abutted against richer districts. There, the latter had higher walls and more guards.

Rivers and canals crisscrossed the entire city, and there, contrary to the other districts, the embankment was always well maintained. The road conditions across the city also varied, but there were wide highways, as well as narrower ones, that cut across districts and led straight into the heart of the city, which had higher walls than everywhere else.

It was a place that would probably take her years to fully explore, and she ached to do so. Unfortunately, her mission was time-sensitive, so she had to refrain from indulging.

She had a long list of to-dos, so she estimated that tomorrow was the earliest they could depart. She briefly focused on the Orb of Authority that was stored in her Anima and activated the locator feature that she managed to unlock a few weeks ago. Eli’Theria was five to seven days away from her position.

She could also use the orb to summon the Colossus, but that only meant that Eli’Theria would fly towards her. The animating spirit said that there was a way to create a portal, but it would require the fifth tier of authority. She was still at the third tier but was making progress across the fourth. Well, it was less than one percent of the entire puzzle, but it was progress.

As for why she didn’t carry Eli’Theria in her Anima, it was simply because she didn’t want to limit herself that much. The weight of Damien’s memories already took up a bit less than fifty paces of her reach, she didn’t want to directly cut it in half.

The Stone didn’t head towards the central district, but towards a northwest district that had tall towers with docks jutting out in midair. Airships, flying shuttles, and other Chaos ships were berthed there, and the Stone headed towards one of the larger spires.

The docking procedure didn’t take much longer than an hour, and by then, Yuriko and the others had already gathered their things and were headed towards the gangplank. Cohort Leader Lawson met them on the way.

“Legion Command is in the Returning Swallow District,” Lawson prefaced. “You can take the Levi-Tram station a few blocks away to Returning Swallow, or you can follow the roads. It's about six districts southeast though, and about three or four hours running. The Empress guide your mission, Knight -Captain.” Lawson ended with a salute that Yuriko and the others, except for Devotee and Ryoko, returned.

They arrived midafternoon, and Yuriko thought that they could make it to Legion Command now, and then leave early tomorrow morning. The spire had a moving platform that was barely faster than taking the stairs. Of course, she could have just jumped the hundred pace height, but as nobody else did that, she held herself back.

The Levi-Tram station turned out to be easily found through the large and brightly coloured signs that were present on the roads. The roads weren’t quite overflowing but were filled with pedestrians. The centre was reserved for landcraft and haulers, which were moving at a quick pace.

As for the Levi-Trams, Yuriko thought that they would be like the Circuit Trams of Faron’s Crossing, but they looked much different. For one thing, the tracks they followed were elevated above the buildings, nearly three storeys above. The narrow highways that she saw from above the city were actually the Levi-Tram’s tracks.

The tickets to use the trams cost about a silver penny per district travelled. Yuriko paid for them since this was her mission and they were her team. Legion Command, according to the map, was six districts away. She offered a silver mark to the ticket seller and got a few pennies back. Then, they followed the signs to the appropriate Levi-Tram. It was only when she boarded, and when the tram powered up that she realised why it was called a Levi-Tram.

The thing floated above the track by a couple of inches and perfectly cushioned the ride all throughout. They sped across the districts, which each had several stops before exiting. Each stop lasted for a couple of minutes, so it was nearly an hour and a half before they reached their destination.

From there, Legion Command was only a short walk away. And as soon as she presented her papers, she was led immediately to a quartermaster, then presented with a long menu of equipment as well as their associated prices.

“This will take a while,” she muttered while the others browsed for their own needs.