Zoe had no idea what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t an airship. In retrospect, however, it made total sense. After all, what other kind of ‘ship’ would be able to travel across the snow covered forests and plains?

The vessel must have been larger than the entire town itself. Looming over the low rooftops, it cast a deep shadow over the entire town. Zoe marveled at it as they jogged towards the center of the town.

It wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring, to be fair, but it was more than she had expected from this world. It also seemed like overkill for a town at this size, but she supposed it probably made many stops in various out of the way places.

Also, most of the size of it was due to the colossal, oblong balloon. Zoe couldn’t tell if it was more like a blimp or a zeppelin — the latter was differentiated by having an internal rigid skeleton. But in any case, it was still quite large, and she had never actually seen something like this so close up.

As they entered the central square, Zoe saw their true destination. It was an exposed metal tower which reached above the highest rooftops to connect to the underbelly of the ship. A spirally staircase led from the ground upwards.

Before they left the tavern, Andric had given her another dose of eyedrops. Lily grimaced. She was not looking forward to having to get used to it.

“I’m going to fucking kill you two if we don’t make it in time,” Lily hissed.

“They can probably see us coming,” Andric muttered.

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t put it past them to close the doors and depart even if we were halfway up the tower. Even though they’re still ahead of schedule.”

Reaching the tower, they began to ascend. The metal railing was cold, and the steps were quite slippery. At least they had a diamond-plate pattern similar to those you might find around amusement rides on Earth. It was a small detail that stuck out to Zoe. I guess some things are just logical in any universe.

They made it just in time. A young-looking man with the countenance of a bitter old man scowled at them as he swung the hatch shut behind them. He wore a tight fitting, buttoned blue coat and a round cap. “Welcome aboard,” he said in a most unwelcoming way.

Rolling her eyes, Lily brushed past him and Andric followed. With just a few steps, Zoe found herself in what appeared to be a central dining area. It was elliptical in shape, with a central kitchenette or bar and densely packed seating around it. Large windows lined both sides.

Despite the densely crowded tables, there were only a few other people.

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Lily headed straight for the bar, and Zoe turned to Andric. “Do we not need tickets or anything? Is it free?”

Instead of answering immediately, the alchemist gave her a puzzled look, as if he didn’t even comprehend the question. “Free? Nothing worth anything is free.” He shook his head. “You pay at the end, once they know how far you traveled, what kind of accommodations you took, and so on.”

“Oh.”

As the two of them caught up to Lily, Zoe watched as the ground began shrinking below them. They weren’t moving particularly quickly — it was nothing at all like the sword.

Just as they reached the bar, Lily stood up and turned around. She was holding a small white paper bag. Reaching in, she took out some kind of nut and popped it in her mouth.

“Snacking already, I see,” Andric said with a tsk tsk.

“Hey, you two had soup,” Lily said as she led them further towards the back of the ship. “I had nothing.”

“One of us did,” Zoe grumbled.

“Anyway,” Lily continued, “I got us a room. Number three.”

Leaving the dining area, they passed one set of opposing doors and then Lily opened the next one. The inside was pretty much like a sleeper car on a train, only it didn’t have any windows. Zoe stepped in, Lily flopped down on the bottom of one of the two bunks, and Andric gently shut the door behind them.

“Alright,” Lily said after a moment, “it’s probably time for a lengthy chat.”

Andric wilted. “Of course it is.”

Sitting back up, Lily pointed to the other bunk and Zoe took a seat across from her. Andric remained resting against the wall just beside the door.

“So.” Lily clasped her hands together. “I bet you have a lot of questions. And there’s definitely a lot of stuff you should know that you haven’t even thought to ask.”

Zoe shrugged. “I mean, yeah.”

“Great! Then lets talk while we practice.”

Zoe frowned. “Practice what?”

Snickering, Lily stood back up, walked over, and dragged Zoe up as well. “Combat, of course! You’ve managed to survive so far, somehow, but you’re definitely going to have to learn to fight properly.”

Zoe deflated. “Have you even seen me fight yet? Is it really that obvious?”

“You can just tell,” Andric chimed in, somewhat unhelpfully.

“Actually wait.” Lily paused. “What even is your second path?”

Zoe hesitated for a fraction of a second but then answered truthfully. “Something called Kinetic Knight.”

“Oh, so not a mage then.”

“Well, sort of, sort of not,” Andric chimed in again. “But we should probably start with me first then.”

“What is your second class?” Zoe asked. “You can’t tell me you’re just an alchemist.”

“Of course not,” Andric sniffed. And then his face scrunched up in displeasure. “Well, I guess you could say I’m —”

“He’s an Astral Assasin,” Lily interrupted him. She snickered as he glared. “He hates the name for some reason. Always going on about how stupid and uncool it sounds.”

“Yeah, it does sound like someone trying to be cool and overdoing it,” Zoe said.

Andric sulked.

“Anyway, I guess it’s my turn. I’m an Elemental Summoner — Ice, obviously — and also a blood mage.” Lily stuck her tongue out. “But don’t tell people that.”

“What, is it taboo or something?”

“Basically.”

“Ah.”

Lily clapped her hands together. “Anyway! Let’s see what you can do with those kinetic abilities. See if you can take down Andric. Without hurting him of course. Well at least not too badly.” Lily looked around. “And try not to break anything.”

Straightening up, Andric flicked a tiny speck of dust off his collar. “Yes, I’ll be interested to see you try.”

Zoe didn’t answer — she already had a {Kinetic Strike} headed for his chest.