At dawn the next day, all the third years gathered at the school entrance, laden with rucksacks and additional packs. Class 1 was swept up without fanfare in a small gleaming silver airship, the massive brazier on the top deck firing as it lifted off.

Where Class 1’s airship was streamlined and intent on moving fast, piloted by a gruff veteran of the skies, Class 2’s airship had a more rounded hull and moved slower. There were long seats along the edges of the deck akin to bus seating. All the girls sat on one side, and all the boys sat on the other.

“Welcome aboard!” The man in a white jacket and hat shouted as the brazier above their heads fired. Aida had to admit the design was quite nice; the heat emanating from the fire above their heads was cozy on that chilly morning. “You are on the Peaceful Travels, and I am Captain Kai Lund. Our final destination is Loded Peak, and we expect to be there by noon.”

Captain Lund continued to give them instructions about what to do in the event of emergencies, and Aida kept one ear on his words while she glanced over the railing at the topography they flew over, Maglica’s grounds quickly disappearing.

From that high up in the air, one wouldn’t be able to tell there was supposedly that much turmoil and danger in the woods. The rolling hills and forests looked serene and peaceful, and in the distance she could see Class 1’s airship: already a small dot, illuminated only by the fire in its brazier. A thrill of fear ran through her as she prayed for their safety. Plot armor, please protect them.

On the boys’ side of the ship was the mountain that commandeered the center of Wyndia. Captain Lund steered the ship so that they circled the mountain, never rising high enough to cross over it. The higher the ship floated, the more sparse the trees became, until eventually only the straggliest evergreens toothpicked the outcroppings. The airship didn’t fly higher than that, floating just above the main treeline before the trees started thinning.

Once the ship stabilized at their traveling altitude, the captain and his crew (similarly outfitted in white, though without the epaulets the captain sported on his shoulders) allowed the students to walk around on deck and stretch their legs, admonishing them to keep their limbs within the guard rails. Class 2 all gathered underneath the brazier to talk, Aida appreciating the heat.

“Ruth, is there anything you would recommend we do, or keep in mind, for when we get to Loded Peak?” Dev asked. He, like the rest of the boys, was already dressed in a warm fur coat, hat, and thick gloves. Only Bella and Tera were dressed similarly to the boys. Aida because she didn’t have any furs in her wardrobe; so she just had on her thickest jacket and pants, along with a wool scarf and beanie. Natalie’s outfit was as humble as Aida’s, though since she was a Fire she seemed less bothered about the cold in general.

Ruth, unlike her regular casual attire of T-shirt and shorts during the wintry season at Maglica, actually had on long sleeves and pants, though nothing else. Her long dark hair was in a thick braid down her back, though the wind still whipped the tail about. She chewed her lip as she thought. “Even during peaceful times, in the village we rarely went about alone; we were always within sight of at least one person. I’d recommend we set up a similar buddy system, but stick closer to each other because you all are unfamiliar with the terrain.”

“What do we do if charred zards attack?” Aida asked, remembering Ezra’s warning from the night before. Everyone else flinched at her question, though Ruth nodded seriously.

“You’ll be able to feel them approaching. With how mana-dry it is at the Peak, they have a lot less camouflaging ability there.” Miraculously, the girl grinned, though her eyes were still hooded. “I’ll let you in on a Peak secret: zards are actually a lot easier to fight up here than within the trees. They’ve got giant mana reservoirs, but they’re pretty dumb. Just don’t get hit by their fire, and they’ll exhaust themselves quickly.”

Despite her classmates’ relieved smirks, Aida still didn’t feel reassured. “How bad is the mana drain?”

Sympathy flickered across Ruth’s face. “Yeah, that…might be a problem.” She ducked her head as she considered. “Since we’re here for such a short amount of time…you should just stay within the village. With your specialty in healing, I’m sure there will be no end in work for you.” Ruth’s lower lip trembled before she firmed it and turned to Natalie.

“I know your family makes kitchen equipment, but do you have any experience in cooking, too? It might be a morale boost to be able to make good meals after…after what they’ve been through.”

“Of course! It won’t be anything special, but I’ll at least be able to get them a warm meal,” Natalie responded bracingly. Ruth nodded gratefully before turning to Bella and Shon.

“Loded Peak is complete bedrock. We don’t have any viable dirt or soil for growing plants, so I expect we’d probably have to head below the village in order to harvest any wood for rebuilding.” She glanced around at her classmates with an assessing gaze. “Tera, I recall you have a great sense for soil composition. Can you come along with Shon and Bella to help grow firewood and some food?” At Tera’s nod, Ruth turned to Dev and Myk. “Can you two come along as protection? I’ll take point, but I’ll feel a lot better knowing I have you two watching my flank.”

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“Of course,” Myk said boldly. At the beginning of the school year, Myk had still been skinny and gangly. But after three moon cycles, his skeletal frame had packed on some wiry muscle, and he carried himself with more assurance. Where before he had merely goaded Pritchard on, only sneaking in barbs when he was certain there would be no retaliation (like burning the confession letter out of Sue’s admirer’s hand on Aida’s first day), now he was slower to instigate, less eager to prove something to bystanders. He was more tolerable now.

Ruth’s relief was palpable. “We’re going to be escorted by some of the village warriors, I’m sure…but I don’t know what resources the village will be able to spare, so I’m just imagining the worst case…”

“Don’t worry,” Myk assured Ruth as Dev nodded reluctantly. “You have the top four combat candidates of Class 2. We’ll be able to handle whatever comes.”

“Thanks,” Ruth said, smiling, some of the tension in her shoulders abating. She turned back to the ones who hadn’t received assignments yet. “Pritchard, Abedi…can you two be on standby for whatever the village needs? I’d imagine the homes might have gotten destroyed, so your strength and earth manipulation will be a great boon to the village.”

“Of course,” Abedi said in his deep, reassuring rumble. “Don’t worry about us.”

“The villagers will be taken care of,” Pritchard said, nodding at Ruth. Like Myk, he had also mellowed out, though he seemed much more subdued in general. Aida wondered if realizing how dangerous the monster waves had gotten put petty school squabbles into perspective for him. I guess that means our work in the village this week shouldn’t be that dramatic.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Peaceful Travels touched down on the only semi-flat surface near the village of Loded Peak. They were greeted by two Affiliates: Corey Decker, the friendly sandy-haired Earth Adventurer Sue had said good things about, and Shan Wells, a Water Adventurer who also dabbled in Healing for her party. She gave a welcoming smile to the students, her sky blue pixie cut dancing in the wind.

As Aida disembarked with her classmates, she understood what they all meant about the mana dearth in the region. As the Peaceful Travels approached the village, it had lifted above the treeline, to where all around them was just craggy, barren rock. Other than the humans around her, she couldn’t sense any source of life. With the Peaceful Travel’s mana battery powered off, she no longer had any source of mana to passively replenish her pool.

Everyone’s warnings about conserving mana makes sense now, Aida thought bleakly as she began Mana Cycling.

“Welcome, students; glad the trip went well,” Adventurer Decker said. He picked up the crates of supplies Captain Lund had transported from Maglica. “Things aren’t as bad as they seem, so chin up,” he said when he saw the students’ grim faces.

“The monster wave has moved on from this region, so our primary efforts here are rebuilding,” Adventurer Wells informed the students as they trekked down the narrow path to the village. If it weren’t for Aida’s improved dexterity (she was sitting at a comfortable 7 now), she was certain she wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the rest of the class - or she would straight up have fallen off the side of the mountain.

The view from the ledge on the mountain, despite being similar to the view from the airship, seemed to express a majesty of the landscape that being suspended in the sky couldn’t convey. While she had been in the airship, everything merely looked interesting; fascinating, even, as she observed the textures of trees bundling together, bumps in the quilt of fuzzy leaves as rolling hills and mountains bunched the earth that pushed the plants towards the sky.

However, standing on the mountain, high above the same softly-textured landscape, Aida was starkly aware of just how dangerously high she was above the world. Standing on and being next to the tallest feature of the world emphasized the depths that she could fall to if she made just one misstep. Being on the fire float was like being protected in a fish bowl…but being on the mountain is like being dangled off a cliff. Aida shivered before she continued following her classmates, hyperaware of each step.

The village didn’t have any wooden structures; it appeared the inhabitants of Loded Peak made their homes within the mountain itself, with holes carved into the steep sides of the dark, rocky mountain, splintered doors surrounding the holes the only indication that the village had been violated.

Ruth hurried up to the Adventurers, dodging around her classmates and easily finding footholds where Aida wouldn’t have expected any to be. “Please, Adventurers - can you tell me the casualty reports?”

Wells looked at Ruth reassuringly. “Relax, Ruth. No casualties, only injuries. Well, only might not be the right word.” She laughed awkwardly as Ruth audibly sighed in relief. “Your people are very strong and managed to drive off the monsters, but some of the injuries they have sustained…”

“That’s all right,” Ruth said fiercely. “We’ll find a way to recover. We always do.”

“Atta girl.” Decker beamed at Ruth from over the crates in his arms. “In order to help Loded Peak get back to fighting form, the people will need a lot of healing - but since we have a whole twelve mana practitioners here, maybe some quality of life improvements to make the homes more comfortable as well? Or maybe there’s something we can do to make the hunting and gathering more sustainable?”

“Yes,” Ruth said quickly. “We were strategizing on the ride over here…”

Aida finally sighed in relief as the ledge they edged along expanded to a more comfortable width, though they still couldn’t comfortably walk side by side. The Adventurers led them into the largest hole along that path, which finally opened to a broad, circular cavern with four standing torches spread around the edges. Five wizened figures stood around a stone table jutting out from the ground, their shrunken figures still cutting an impressive figure as the fire in the hollowed-out center of the table lent their shadows an intimidating aura.

They all turned their bodies and dipped their heads slightly in acknowledgment of the arrivals before straightening to face them. Ruth and the two Adventurers did the same odd curtsy, and Dev was the quickest to follow the three of them. The rest of the class scrambled to greet the elders in the same manner.

“Thank you for coming,” the figure closest to them said. Despite looking like beef jerky, she spoke with a strong voice. “We hope you are able to help us.”