Chapter 62 – The New Recruits

Let us rewind the clock for a few days, back to the day when Cobalt, Melody, and her friends departed after a short reunion with Daisuke and his friends.

ASHE MAY NOT BE AS FAST as those advanced vehicles of the Supreme Council that could travel from the Aeternas Kingdom to the Aria Continent in a matter of hours. But she was still extremely fast nonetheless, being able to reach the Aeternas Kingdom from the Hills Patch in just half a day at her top speed.

The Aeternas Kingdom was constantly moving. After all, it was situated on top of a floating whale-like creature called aevum (pl. aevi).

The aevi preferred a cold climate, which was why they were mostly found near the continent of Evergreen in the north pole, or near the continent of Dragonheim in the south pole.

Aeternas Kingdom was on top of an aevum whose pod was near Dragonheim. At worst, the kingdom will be on the other side of the globe and would take three years to circumnavigate the whole southern hemisphere.

Luckily, the pod of the southern aevi was at the nearest distance from the Aria Continent. An approximately half-day flight straight to the south was all Ashe needed to do to reach their destination.

And despite the speed that Ashe was flying, her passengers were not being swept away thanks to her form’s special trait, a perk of being an azure bird.

The sky slowly became filled gray clouds. Cobalt was expecting thunders and lightning, but there were none. Only chilling winds and…what was it? A series of sublime, yet relaxing songs from cetaceans?

Cobalt got goosebumps. He looked at the girls and noticed that they were all seemingly relaxed. Even Ashe’s flying became more relaxed as if she was just blindly gliding through the clouds.

The sound became louder.

“Ah. Finally,” said Pirouette as she stretched her back and cracked her neck.

Melody tapped Ashe. “You did well. You deserve a good rest once we’re at the kingdom.”

Rest? What rest? I’m going to train! Ashe energetically screeched.

“Agreed,” Miho added. “The next time we find Nobunaga, he’s dead meat!”

Catriona glanced at Cobalt. “You’re awfully quiet. You okay?”

“Just…taking this all in,” Cobalt uneasily smiled, trying not to puke.

* * * * *

A few more minutes and a bright light at the end of the clouds appeared. Ashe went straight to it and everyone partially shut and covered their eyes.

As Ashe got out of the clouds, what greeted them was a beautiful orange sunset. The sun was already at the horizon of the calm sea and in front of them was the pod of the majestic southern aevi drifting in the sky.

Cobalt couldn't help but get mesmerized.

The aevi were “singing” as they travel. Their “songs” reached hundreds of miles away, making people who could hear them wonder where the sounds were coming from.

Cobalt’s mouth opened wide as they get closer.

Miho raised his jaw for him. “Easy there. You’ll end up swallowing something unpleasant,” she teases.

“A-At this altitude?! What are those?!” Cobalt asked.

“Those are the aevi,” Melody responded. “They may resemble whales, but are totally different creatures. And the huge aevum at the center is where the Aeternas Kingdom is.”

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Ashe gained more speed and traversed her way through the aevi. She would do several evasive maneuvers, go over and under the aevi, and even do unnecessary barrel rolls.

“You girls know she could just gain more altitude to avoid those aevi, right?” Cobalt looked nauseous as he tried to keep himself from falling.

“But where’s the fun in that!!” Catriona screamed, obviously having fun like she was riding an amusement ride.

They reached the aevum at the center, and calling it huge was an understatement.

From the higher elevation, the Aeternas Kingdom seemed to be as wide as the Colosseum Empire, the largest nation in Aria. At the center of the kingdom was a castle made of red and brown bricks with green plants crawling all over the walls and towers. It was also the highest structure in the kingdom, overlooking the entire kingdom and probably the entire pod.

From the castle at the center of the kingdom, everything else goes downwards—various infrastructures, architectures, houses—as if the entire kingdom was built on a mountain. And at the base, the kingdom was surrounded by several statues. Only thing was, those statues were not stationary.

Several statues looked up, wary of the presence of the azure bird.

“Is it just me or those statues are looking at us?”

“Those are the Aeternas Guardians,” Melody replied, staring back at the Guardians. “Created by the first human mage herself, Miyuki.”

“Each one is so powerful, they are categorized by the Supreme Council as an S-Tier in terms of threat,” Catriona added.

“S-Tier? You mean those things could, what, destroy an entire country with minimal effort?” Cobalt asked, surprised that S-Tier statues were casually placed around the kingdom.

“Yes. But those Guardians only work for the kingdom’s protection and may never be used for aggression,” Catriona replied.

“Right. And there’s like hundreds of them,” Cobalt commented.

* * * * *

Ashe landed at the kingdom’s “tail zone” where Gallant, the occupant of the Fifth Seat of the Supreme Council’s Ten Seats, was waiting for their arrival.

The Ten Seats, or Seat Occupants, were the acting councils or leaders of the Supreme Council and were appointed based on the individuals’ skills and abilities.

The Supreme Council itself was meritocratic and the higher seat would be awarded to those with the most accomplishments and overall strength. The higher the seat, the more authority the occupant has and the more resources they can have.

Gallant was a native of the Aeternas Kingdom. In exchange for the Supreme Council being located in the kingdom, one seat was automatically awarded to a native of the kingdom, giving Aeternas Kingdom a direct power in the Supreme Council.

Gallant was one of the strongest knights and was the pride of the kingdom. Despite his young age of early twenties, he has a mesomorphic body built inside a bulky, almost oversized-looking, silver-ish, armor lined with gold and blue. On his left was his two-handed long sword, a standard for a high-ranking knight like Gallant himself.

He has been friends with Melody for a long time now and was more than happy to greet her and her friends on their arrival.

“Took you long enough,” the towering Gallant approached Melody and her friends.

“Always great to see you, Gallant,” Melody gave the knight a tight hug. “This is Cobalt, one of the Pit Valley Bandits. I assume the rest were already here?”

“Why of course! The new recruits were inside the headquarters waiting for you and the guy named Cobalt.”

Cobalt approached Gallant. “Hi! I’m Cobalt, from the Pit Valley,” he extended his hand for a handshake.

“It’s great meeting you, Cobalt,” Gallant accepted his hands. “I am Gallant Windstalker, Fifth Seat of the Supreme Council and one of the Aeternas Kingdom’s Arch Knights.”

“Great! Now that everybody knows everyone, why don’t I and Melody go to the headquarters and rest while Ashe, Miho, and Pirouette do whatever training they wanted to do?” Catriona hurriedly suggested, cannot wait to take a proper bath and rest.

“Uhh…” Gallant didn’t know how to respond.

A portal slowly opened on the right of the new arrivals where Merlin, the Fourth Seat occupant, and Ra, the First Seat occupant, came out.

After the two councils came out, the rest of the Pit Valley Bandits followed and ran straight to Cobalt and hugged him.

“Ra,” Melody nodded at him.

“Melody,” Ra did the same. “Everyone,” he nodded at her team and Cobalt.

Melody’s team and Cobalt greeted him as well.

“Right. May I have a few words with you, Melody?” asked Ra.

“Of course.”

Melody still couldn’t believe that a man who was not even in his twenties yet was the occupant of the Supreme Council’s First Seat. Aside from that, he was the one who inherited the name “Ra”, something that was unheard of in the history of the country of Atem.

There must have been dozens of qualified people to become “Ra”, but the one who got it was practically a kid. Even the previous “Ra” was past his thirties when he inherited the name and had it for sixty, maybe seventy years until his retirement.

Melody was not someone who thirsts for power or position. In fact, she hated responsibility, accountability, and commitments. She’d rather lie down in the grassy field of the Aeternas Kingdom. But she wouldn’t mind having a friendly match with Ra to have a taste of his ability.

“Gallant, do you mind hosting our recruits in the meantime?” asked Ra.

“Not at all. You can leave them to me.”

“You may ask Merlin to take you back to the headquarters.”

Ra and Melody left first.

“Come on. Let’s check if there’s an available Guardian that we could pulverize,” Ashe invited Miho and Pirouette.

Cobalt looked at Gallant with a confused face, pointing at the three ladies.

Gallant gestured at him as if saying to wait for him to explain everything later.

“How about you, Catriona?” asked Cobalt.

“Please, call me Cat. I really don’t like people calling me by my full name,” Catriona said as she walked toward Merlin.

“All aboard!” Merlin unenthusiastically yelled.

“Right. Let’s go, everyone! Back to the headquarters,” said Gallant.