The world of Erelia was divided into two: the Overland and the Sky Islands. What separated the two was an endless sea of clouds, and at this moment, piercing through that divide was an airboat descending at suicidal speeds.
Morielle was within that airboat. She watched the murky whiteness of the cloud layer swiftly pass by. Droplets of water came and went like streaking arrows outside the windows.
She was slightly pale-faced not just because of her current situation but also because she remembered. She wondered if her mother had seen a similar sight as she fell, or had she already died by then. She thought of the burning town on the small island that was once her home. She recalled the words she first heard when she regained consciousness after drifting in the endless sky with a poisoned, infected wound, and an extreme fever: the only survivor.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the clouds disappeared and was replaced with a murky gray world. The vertically plunging airboat gradually slowed down as the flotation engine kicked into power and countered their dangerous descent. The small vessel eased into a more horizontal position to the relief of its passengers.
The five major sky islands that the first year recruits have grown up in could be considered the biggest pieces of land they have ever seen, until now.
The Overland appeared within their sights and extended beyond the horizon. All they could see was a neverending gray mass of land.
“It’s not a pretty sight, is it?” asked Nina as she appeared from the cockpit. “Although the Overland is not as pretty as the Sky Islands, it is still necessary for us. It’s ironic. Our ancestors left the Overland to survive, but we the descendants need to return the world they left behind for our survival.”
There was a contemplative silence within the cabin which was broken by the dwarf pilot.
“We are reaching hover altitude in a short while. After that, we’ll head straight for the assigned location. Get yourselves ready and prepared,” said Chevia.
When they arrived at their destination, Nina said, “We will be the first to arrive at our assigned location, so it would be nice if we could also be the first to return.” She led them out of the airboat and gave them time to take in their surroundings.
They were in a dried up ravine. Steep cliffs lined the sides. The ravine seemed to extend endlessly in one direction, while the other was blocked by fallen debris.
“There used to be a mining operation here,” explained Nina. “After they got all the needed ores, they blasted it shut, which caused one part of the cliff to collapse and causing this blockade. Mining caves like these need to be closed as soon as they are not needed anymore. Leaving them wide open would let nasty creatures use them as their home and breeeding grounds.
“Your mission is simple. It was found out that a part of the cliff revealed an opening due to collapse from a possible underground tremor. Its further down the ravine, but the opening lead to a part of the mining tunnels. It happened just recently so the monsters in there still have a pretty low population. We can just close the hole and let them die in there, but that still has a risk factor of them being able to break their way out. So, you need to sweep the mines and close it afterwards. Pretty easy, right?”
“Yes,” Yuna agreed. “And we also get to test our weapons and Armaments.”
“That’s the main point of this mission. It should give you practical knowledge on the handling of your new gear as well as give your first view of what you would be doing in the future.”
“In the future?” Vonandi reacted.
“In your stay in Goeden, you will be goind down the the Overland at least once a month. This is part of the curriculum to give the recruits hands-on experience in battling monsters of the Overland as well as gathering resources. Even in the military, you may be assigned to such teams that are specialized in exploring the Overland. Not all of the Sky Islands’ military are just stationed on defense and waiting for the Horde.”
After the explanation, Nina gave them a quick check on their equipments. She had none of her usual flippant personality. It was like she was a totally different person.
“I will be accompanying you to observe and assist in emergency situations. Don’t even think that I will be helping you the slightest bit when I knew you can handle it. I will be following a distance behind you.”
The group of four followed the ravine. The ground was dark gray, dry, and cracked. There were large rocks covered in dust and erosion. There were plants growing on the seemingly dead hearth, but they were thin and twisted.
Vonandi can’t help but frown at the sight. Although she had grown up in Misce, she still felt a connection with the natural environment. Her mother, also a half-elf, had told her stories about Elfenheim. Her words spoke of forests, rivers, and lakes, and the elves living with them as if they were one. It was unfortunate that elves had a deep scorn toward half-elves.
Arovin led the group. In the middle was Vonandi and Yuna walking side by side. Last was Morielle, and further behind was Nina.
As they searched for the opening, Morielle took this time to inspect her weapon. By its name, it was easy to deduce that it was a combination of a gun and a blade. The Revolver part was what stumped her.
Firearms were actually the first weaponry integrated with Jewel Armaments. Before that, Jewel Armaments were used to directly invoke damage against a target, but the user needed to fulfill a strict set of criteria before being able to do so. Training one person to use a Jewel Armament that way was costly in both time and resources.
Guns existed in the ancient times. This technology became useless as the development of ammunition was too costly on resources.
Hence, researchers developed a way to integrate Jewel Armaments and firearms. This reduced not only the difficulty of using the weaponry, but also completely removed the necessity of creating ammunitions. The Armament itself would be providing the ammunition, and since the targeting and delivery of the damage is done using the firearm, the user does not need to learn the intricacies of how to actually use the Jewel Armament.
One just needed to aim and pull the trigger, not much different from a bow.
The weapon in Morielle’s hand was different. It had a cylinder with six chambers in it. Inside the chambers were cylindrical crystals that looked similar in material to the small orbs in the Jewel Armaments. She had tried shooting at the opposite cliff but nothing happened.
She looked at her Jewel Armament and observed the small black orbs. In contrast to the central jewel, they were dull, empty, and lifeless. The central jewel, when observed closely, seemed to contain some sort of fluid that was constantly swirling and changing. She even thought she saw tiny streaks of lightning thinner than a thread.
A thought came to mind which she readily tried out. She popped the cylinder of the gun and placed it near the holster where the Jewel Armament was attached. She remembered a word from the past. It was one from an ancient era when firearms used ammunitions. It was a word both familiar yet so alien to her.
“Reload,” she said. She felt something moved fromt he Jewel Armament to the weapon in her hand. The image on the jewel which she belatedly realized were six bullets aligned as points in a hexagon disappeared. The cylinder popped back in place. Each chamber was now filled with a pale yellow glow.
Reload. Bullets. Revolver. Morielle felt her head and chest ache as she tried to remember.
Her actions caught the attention of those in front of her.
“Is there something wrong?” asked Vonandi.
“Oh! It seems like you figured out how to use your weapon now. I’m excited to see it in action later!” said Yuna.
Arovin just gave her a quick glance before returning his attention to the cliff wall.
“I see it,” he said shortly. He signaled the others to stop and crouch behind him. He watched the entrance for a while, then picked up a rock and threw it there. Nothing happened.
“What was that?” asked Yuna.
“It’s called being cautious,” answered the male human.
They slowly walked over to the entrance, avoiding making any loud noise. They found themselves looking at a dark tunnel leading into the cliff wall.
“It’s dark,” commented Yuna.
Arovin started fiddling with his uniform’s top button which caused Vonandi to blush and Yuna to give him a strange look.
“What are you doing?” the beastkin asked as she stepped back.
Arovin sighed and said, “The uniforms they provided us come with a small torch. It was written in the provided guidebooks in our room on the day we arrived in the academy.”
“What!?” the beastkin exclaimed. “Did you actually read all those?”
“As military academy students, don’t you think you are not performing as a military student should. Those guidebooks were not just there for show. They were meant to be read and understood.”
After sharing a piece of his mind to the beastkin, he finally managed to get the torch working and lead the group into the tunnel.
The tunnel walls were reinforced with metal beams and supports. There were recent signs of life judging from the lack of dust on the floor as well as trails of blood.
“I don’t think I’ll be very useful here,” whispered Vonandi. Their current close quarters environment is indeed disadvantageous for someone using a bow.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you,” said Yuna with a confident smile. “I won’t let any monster come close to you, and I’ll even give you openings to attack. So don’t think that you would be useless.”
“Thank you.”
They reached a three way junction, but one of them had collapsed. They went through the other one which led to a sharp turn. From the walls, they could see light reflected from them.
Arovin signaled them to stop. He turned off his torch as he approached the corner and took a peek. He carefully made his way back to them and told them what he saw.
“I think we found our targets. There are nine creature in total. I think they’re called rockroaches, and one of them is a queen.”
As he spoke, the beastkin and half-elf shuddered. They remembered clearly the lessons they had. Some of those were about the common hostile creatures in the Overland aside from the Horde.
Rockroaches were one of the most common creatures in the Overland. They could survive in almost any environment, but they prefer living in rocky caves the most, although they can’t dig through the rocks themselves. They would normally find places like these and start breeding.
On their own, these creatures were weak, but if left to breed and formed a swarm, they can easily overwhelm a small sky island. Even the Horde would not let a single one of them appear in any place they claimed as their territory.
Rockroaches can grow from the size of a cat to as large as an elephant. They were insect-like with brownish black carapace covered with different kinds of small rocks. What makes them terrifying was when they mature and gain the ability to fly. They would shed the rocks on their carapace and take off in a swarm, passing through the sea of clouds and hunt for inhabited sky islands. The sound they made when they fly would leave any survivor traumatized.
“The queen is currently laying eggs, and the other four seemed to still be in their young adult stage and guarding the queen.”
The rockroach queen is responsible for increasing their population and the most vulnerable during the time it laid its eggs. Instead of rocks, its carapace was dotted with crystals. Furthermore, the brownish black carapce is replaced with a glowing multicolored one, which was the source of the light they saw on the corner.
“This will be a touch battle but it’s not impossible. Their carapace may be hard to pierce with arrows, but their underside isn’t. Furthermore, they would not leave too far from the queen. The area they were in seemed to once be used as a mess hall, so it’s pretty wide. We need to take care of the young adults one by one before going for the queen. I’ll be in front, you two support me from the sides, and you shoot them where it hurts.”
Arovin would usually act like a haughty noble, but he definitely knew what he was doing during important situations. The other three did not find any fault with his impromptu strategy and agreed. None had a better suggestion anyway.
He once again turned his torch on and led the group into the fight. Immediately, the tunnels were filled with the rockroaches high-pitched cries. Yuna flinched and covered her ears. She had the most sensitive hearing among them, and the reverberating sound within the cave walls almost caused her to go deaf.
Arovin taunted the closest rockroach with a swing of his sword. It was as big as a dog, and its thick carapace caused his attack to bounce off. He had expected that to happen though and he immediately stepped back in retreat.
Two rockroaches, one from each side tried to flank him, but the one on his right was immediately blocked off by Morielle. Angered, it tried to pounce on her. Never letting an opportunity pass her by, the human crouched and aimed her weapon at the exposed underside of the angered rockroach. She pulled the trigger and the cavern was filled with a flash of light.
Thunder shook the stone walls as both sides were blinded and deafened. Once they regained their senses, they saw Morielle roll backwards with her good arm up in the air, smoke trailing the end of its barell. The recoil was too strong for her to keep her balance.
The target of her attack had fallen on the ground missing a huge chunk of its body and the part of the cave directly behind it was left with a small crater.
The rockroach on the other side of Arovin had been blocked off by the beastkin but she was also forced to fall back as she experienced another threat to her eardrums, this time coming from her own ally.
Arovin had no time to remain stunned as their enemies were the first to recover. The rockroach that was stalled by Yuna had pounced at him. He positioned his heated sword so that it would pierce the creature as it approached. The sword easily pierced through its underside, slowed down as it hit the carapace on the other side, and finally pierced completely through. This wasn’t enough to kill the hardy creature though. Fortunately, an arrow of ice pierced through its exposed head. The headless creature twitched and moved for a while but it posed no harm.
They had successfully taken two out of the eight defenders despite the mishaps. They immediately fell back from the creatures’ range and regrouped.
“It hurts,” groaned Yuna as she massaged her head.
“Do you think you can pierce directly through their carapace with that shot?” asked Arovin at the one-armed girl.
“I think so, but I only have five shots left,” was her answer.
“Try shooting at the queen,” he suggested but quickly turned it down. “No wait. If the queen is died, the guards would just swarm us afterwards. Try to save at least two shots for the queen.”
They resumed the fight with a little more vigor. Although, they used the same strategy, the creatures still fell for their baiting and exposed their weakness. Morielle on her own managed to take down two with one shot. The remaining four guarding rockroaches were taken down with their concerted efforts.
Now it was just the queen remaining. It sat on its nest and continued to lay eggs as it glared at its aggressors. It was a hideous creature, but the glowing light of its carapace refracted by the crystals on its back was also beautiful and enchanting, leaving one with mixed emotions of disgust and bewitchment.
Morielle took aim from a distance and fired. She was prepared this time and had taken a steady stance. This didn’t stop the weapon from forcing her hand up from the recoil. Yuna had also stayed further in the back and covered her ears.
The queen rockroach’s carapace was tougher than its earlier companions. Although it survived the shot, part of its carapace was now burnt black and deformed. It opened its mouth lined with sharp teeth and screamed at its attacker. Its high pitch voice was filled with hatred and pain.
Another shot, another scream. Morielle’s arm was unsteady from the previous shot and she missed her target. She was planning on hitting the same spot from earlier.
Vonandi suddenly turned and ran out into the tunnel away from sight. Yuna followed her and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I can hear it,” she said.
“I can, too. Almost broke my ears, even.”
“No. It’s angry, and sad, and pained.”
“Don’t be silly. It’s a monster.”
“I know. I know. But it’s just… I’m sorry.”
Another shot reverberated followed by a dying scream. Yuna winced in pain as she forgot to cover her ears this time. Silence followed and Arovin appeared from the cave’s entrance. The tip of his sword was stained with a yellow fluid, presumbably from breaking the eggs that had just been laid.
“It’s done,” he said.
He led the group once more and out of the dark tunnels. Although they had won the battle, there was no expression of victory on their faces.
Arovin was frowning as he looked at his stained sword. Vonandi was slightly disgruntled and confused. Yuna had a pondering expression. Morielle had her usual indifferent look, but continued to inspect the weapon in her hand.
Nina was by the entrance of the tunnel as they came out.
“Nice fight,” she said and gave them a thumbs up. “Why the faces?”
“Nothing,” Arovin said as he traced their path back to the airboat. The three followed leaving Nina with a confused expression.
She placed a package inside the tunnel against a wall directly under a beam. She then chased after the group.
“We’ll celebrate tonight. It’s on me,” Nina said as she entered the airboat. The four had already buckled themselves in their seat and were just quietly staring out the windows.
The airboat hovered off the ground and left. Its destination was the Goeden Military Academy.
Not long after they left, a blast shook the ravine. The tunnel where the four had entered had now collapsed and closed off.
Morielle saw the blast from the window on her side. Disinterested by the rest of the lifeless landscape, she was about to close her eyes to rest when she noticed a figure in the distance.
A hooded figure stood on the edge of a cliff. It was completely clothed in black, and the only other distinct feature she could see was a pair of dim red glow where its eyes should be. As if noticing her gaze, it stepped back and let itself fall from the cliff.
Nina noticed Morielle’s strange expression and looked in the direction of her gaze but saw nothing of interest.