The process of getting to the edge of the worldstrider territory ran into a hurdle at the very first step. Buying an airship ticket wasn't difficult... but we couldn't find an airship going right to the border of the warzone.

We only had a few weeks of break before school started back up again. I didn’t want to miss out on any potential Achievement from helping the research team. Anise also had her shop to look after, and it had already given her a plan B. Both of us wanted to make sure this trip didn’t take too long. However, if we couldn't travel directly to the border of the warzone, this trip would take much longer.

“What do you mean the closest city is Mirlen?” I asked the ticket distributor.

“Unfortunately, we don’t ferry passengers to Eldrim or Malikus anymore,” said the ticket distributor. “The strange black monsters that have been terrorizing the Vernese mountains are just too close to those cities. Normally, that might not be too big of a deal. It's too difficult to fight over control of the skies, so countries at war usually don't bother. But the strange black creatures can fly. And worse, the human nations of the continent are struggling right now. I’ve heard that a few ancient Zelyrian artifacts can hurt the monsters… but they aren’t common enough to turn the battlefield on their own. In other words, the strange black monsters could very well swarm our airship and kill all the passengers. We don't dare to get too close to their territory unless they're dealt with."

Then, the ticket seller gave me a curious look. “Why did you want to go to Eldrim and Malikus, anyway? Do you have family there or something? If you have family near the territory of the black monsters, you should tell them to get away. Nobody knows what those creepy monsters are planning."

I blinked. It would be a bit too awkward for me to say that I had wanted to go mess with the worldstriders. However, I also didn't want to lie and say that I was visiting family.

I sighed. “I've heard a lot about the strange black monsters that came out of the mountains,” I said. "I sympathize with the people that were killed by them. I want to take a look at what's happening and see what I can do to help."

The ticket salesman gave me a curious look, before he shrugged. "Those are noble goals miss, but I don't know if I would have the courage to step up like that. I'm just a ticket salesman. Besides, how are you planning to help? No offense, but you seem a bit young. You're what... fifteen?"

"I'm indeed fifteen, but I'm also a competent healer. I work at Dr. Trish's clinic."

"Oh, I didn't realize you were a doctor," said the ticket salesman. His tone became a lot more respectful. "I wish you the best of luck. People like you make the world a better place."

I smiled at him. “Thank you. I hope Two tickets to Mirlen, please.”

The ticket vendor didn't say anything else as he took my money and gave me two tickets. I walked away from the vendor, and as I did, I also shot a mental message to Felix.

I said.

said Felix.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I said. I grinned.

said Felix.

I said.

A moment later, I arrived at the restaurant where Anise was waiting for me. Unlike other passengers, we had already packed our luggage into my backpack. So we had decided to have one last meal in Damilius before we left.

Specifically, we decided to go eat at a nice seafood restaurant. Fish was still my favorite food, and I doubted we were going to have much access to fresh fish after we left. The area we were heading towards wasn’t coastal, after all.

The two of us met and had a nice meal. To my surprise, the store was also selling hot chocolate, which I hadn’t seen in this world before now. Anise and I both had a lovely cup of the new beverage and chatted for over an hour.

Until finally, it was time to board the airship. The two of us made our way back towards the boarding area. I saw the ticket salesman give me a thumbs up as an older man opened up the entryway for the airship. Then, we shuffled on board.

My first thought as I boarded the airship was that it was… different than I had expected.

There were several rows of windows lining the walls, giving me a good view of the world outside of the airship. We were also completely insulated from the outside. The inside of the blimp was decorated with several rows of luxurious sofas. All of them were bolted to the ground, along with several rows of tables and plates. Rather than a travel method, I could almost mistake the blimp for a high-class restaurant if we only looked at the interior.

Even more bizarre, however, was the row of cannons on the side of the airship.

I didn't know much about how airships worked in this world. However, I was pretty sure the entire construct was flammable. Putting a cannon onto an airship seemed like a very poor choice to me.

The only thing that prevented me from jumping right back out of the airship were the signs of affixation tethered to the sides of the blimp. Affixation wasn't a very popular school of magic in the modern era, but it hadn't completely died out. I hoped that the affixations made the blimp fireproof, because otherwise this blimp felt like a floating tinderbox.

Still, even more strange was the reasoning for the cannons. Why bother adding in cannons to the blimp design at all? It just seemed like a very strange choice. It was probably near impossible to aim at ground targets from the air, and I didn't think there were any air pirates in this world. What was the point of adding cannons to the design? I was very confused.

I looked at the airship cannons dubiously, before I sighed. In any case, it didn't matter too much to me. Anise and I found two seats near the front of the airship and settled down.

Then, we waited for the rest of the passengers to board. People shuffled onto the airship one after another. It took nearly twenty minutes for rest of the passengers to board.

A flight attendant closed the hatch leading outside of the airship. She let everyone know that the airship was taking off, and five minutes later,, I heard the sound of objects and air shifting around. Bursts of binding essence resounded throughout the airship, along with the hiss of flames and the release of air. I felt the airship lurch beneath our feet, and Anise and I grabbed onto each other. Then, out of the windows, I saw the ground start to pull away from us.

We were airborne.