“Ohohoho! How lovely! Oh, Cronus dear, We must do this for ourselves! Oh, imagine the wind passing through our hair as we travel like this”
The eloquent laughter of the missus Isabelle resounded as Zeke carefully but quickly drove through the forest with his barrier. It was back to his Car Barrier again, just like when he did with his group to reach the tower during the Bastion siege.
The barrier’s shape this time was resembling a true bus, rectangular in shape with spherical barriers working like wheels underneath. The inside of the Car Barrier, or its new variant Bus Barrier, didn’t have the seats necessary to sit down. Despite everything he tried, trying to make comfortable seats was impossible, but at least they had enough room to travel in.
This time, he had a lot of power and experience on his side, and thanks to his upgrade to Journeyman, the process became that much smoother, especially as he was not just driving the core members, but the entire knight platoon as well.
It was a surreal sight to see. If a stranger saw from afar, they would see a bus-sized barrier driving with a platoon’s worth of people within, standing upright and not even stumbling at all. With Zeke’s level of control, he was able to affix everyone easily enough without constraining their movements.
Hell, few of the soldiers were ecstatic, looking around like country bumpkins in a driving vehicle.
“Certainly…” Cronus, for once, sounded impressed as he stared intensely at the runework Zeke made. Contrary to the master himself, Zeke felt a bit embarrassed to have his sham of runes being displayed so openly to him.
He wasn’t ashamed of his work. He clearly put in a lot of effort and study into the runes he had made so far. However, after witnessing the majesty of Cronus’ masterpiece of traveling through dimensions, it really did feel a bit lacking. Nobody but runists would notice it, but it was enough to keep him silent while ensuring nobody gets troubled.
“Come on Zeke, he actually looked pretty amazed,” Mikella whispered, suddenly knowing his mental struggle to keep professional. “Keep your head high.”
“Hey, easy for you to say,” Zeke said, though he smiled lightly. “You’re not the one driving an entire army.”
“Oh… yeah, that does sound difficult,” Mikella winced, though it was the sort of playful one that she didn’t think too much about. “How is it, by the way?”
“Honestly a lot easier than I expected, but this is the first time I’m carrying so many people, so I’m keeping focused all the same. My Parallel Thought is working overtime.”
And as he said that, a notification dropped for him, updating him over a skill that hadn’t advanced in almost a year.
> Parallel Thought Level Up! It is now Level 8.
>
> You have gained +1 INT from your skill.
>
> You have gained +1 SPI from your skill.
“And it just leveled up.”
“Nice,” Mikella congratulated.
Zeke smiled, though after so much progress, he didn’t feel all that powerful from it. He knew the skill was invaluable, but it was becoming like Meditation where it was working in the backline not leveling as much.
To his peripheral vision, he noticed Zoan just standing there staring at the work herself. He wasn’t sure how an angel would see it, but he was certain that while it was a new concept for her, it was nowhere near as great as a Grandmaster as herself, even in that tiny form of hers.
“Zeke, you truly have made an interesting way of traveling! I never once thought you can use the barrier like this mixed with runes,” Isabelle mentioned, her voice catching Zeke off guard as the praise went through him. He blushed slightly, but he kept steady as he answered back.
“Y-Yeah, it was… umm,” Zeke struggled to find the words. “A copy of how we traveled from… where we came from.”
He had to remember that he was still carrying a lot of people behind him, and only the Master and missus knew where they truly came from. Isabelle’s eyes widened, her delicate hands placing together.
“I see. I still do not fully understand how your home works, but this does remind me of a carriage or a horse ride. But this certainly puts away a lot of work for easier travels.”
“Truly,” Cronus finally said. “I believe I can replicate this now. While the work is crude, it has a… unique way of displaying intention. Very authentic, and original if I may add.”
Zeke felt complex emotions at that. He tried to correct the gesture. “Umm… L-Like I said, it’s something I copied. We didn’t have any runes to draw, but the intention was easy to draw on…”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“It’s the same either way,” Cronus waved it away. “Anything you can put into runes is original by itself. And this is certainly something I haven’t thought of using when I created the skill. Goes to show innovation goes beyond the generations, eh honey?”
“Oh stop it, you make yourself sound so old,” Isabelle cooed, patting Cronus’ chest playfully. “You still got some creative juices somewhere in you, do you not?”
“I mean if you put enough alcohol in me, sure,” Cronus shrugged.
The otherworlders shook their heads at the casual chatting between the married couple. While Cronus proved already how powerful of a mage he was, he wasn’t quite sure about Isabelle’s power. She felt strong, for sure, but he wasn’t quite sure how. Whether she was at Journeymen or even a Master, he couldn’t even say. Not even his Identify said anything, figuring that, of course, the wife of the Master mage would also obfuscate herself.
Eventually the ride came to an end as they got close to the entrance of the city itself. After crossing several plains of forests and grasslands, similar to looking like a swaying ocean as they drove, they spotted several buildings worth to create what looked like a station with several large vehicles that might as well be equivalent to trains at the distance. Once they arrived near the location, Zeke put away the barrier and everyone either relaxed now that the ride was over or let out discouraged exhales that the ride was now over.
I’m glad they were having fun, at least, Zeke thought, mostly enjoying that Clara had the most fun. She always loved driving around with them during the time they were relaxing in Eve Glade around the forests during their rare off days.
As the group looked ahead, the station was as giant as possible with many people running about like the world was about to end. He could see at the distance the trains, or magic equivalent of trains, waiting around and driving away with passengers in tow. The way the trains moved felt unnaturally quiet. Zeke drove on subways before, but even the most expensive looking train wouldn’t travel as quiet as they did.
The moment the people that ran around the station noticed the master coming in, they all stood apart and gave extra room for them to pass through. It was definitely eye-catching to suddenly see a giant group with armored knights approaching the station with some uniquely dressed people in the front. Zeke and Mikella held onto Clara and walked together closely to make sure not to get distracted by the rampant sights beyond them. Zoan herself stood close to Clara, easing Zeke a little since at least she still had a job of protecting Clara.
Everyone watched with awe, and some others just continued on with passing glances. However, everyone here never once ignored the master and missus coming in as someone approached them from the station. He looked important enough to look like the manager of the place. A tall man wearing a white and purple robe with golden laced trimmings. He had an older expression, but power radiated off of him as he smiled professionally at the incoming Cronus.
“Lord Cronus, it is an honor to have your presence here,” The man responded with a respectful bow. “Had we known you were coming, we would have prepared things much further in advance. What, if I may ask, brought you here from so far away?”
“There was a mishap that took me by surprise, unfortunately,” Cronus answered. “I apologize in advance, but I would like to request an exclusive ride to Arc Manum for all of us. If you do not have any free, then we can wait until one arrives.”
“Of course. We have a train specifically suited to your needs,” The manager responded easily enough, looking over to the rest of the group. He took a quick glance at the otherworlders, staring quite a bit at Mikella’s wings, but then quickly shifted to Cronus as he certainly wasn’t going to ask who they were if they were the master’s guests. “I hate to do this, but I must ask for your patience as we get everything started.”
“There is no issue,” Cronus smiled. “I would like to ask for some amenities if possible. We have traveled for a long while, and of course everything will be compensated.”
“As you wish,” The man bowed again as he called over several employees from the vicinity to do exactly as the master asked.
Once the employees left, the armored knights went ahead of the master, only leaving behind a select group. Zeke had to wonder just why Cronus of all people had to have such a large armored force just to go around outside the pocket dimension.
He had to think about the dozens of ways one can still kill someone of higher stages if one was desperate enough, but he can’t even imagine the reason why. Then again, he was still just a visitor from another world. What idea did he have when it came to politics in a fantasy world?
Still, the small number of knights surrounding them felt better than before, and most likely to give the people surrounding them a bit of a breather. Even though the master was around, nobody was crowding around him trying to look, or adhering to him in deference like some god amongst men. In Cronus’ case, he can’t blame the people for believing in something like that.
But instead, they just looked like ordinary citizens trying to get on with their lives. Some of course did stare in wonder at the master, but most were just staring at the knights in awe, perhaps out of respect or even fear. Even in his old world, being around policemen would still make one nervous even if you knew that you wouldn’t commit a crime in front of them.
Soon enough the manager told them that the ride was ready. Rather than a train, it was something called a Jetstream, a long vehicle capable of riding on top of well-constructed rails that didn’t even exist physically. In his mind, they were magical rails, just to make everything more simple. As they entered inside the train-like Jetstream, Zeke didn’t just feel the Mana–it punched him in the face.
The Jetstream uses very concise magical pathways for its creation, allowing easier access for all the residents and not just the magically inclined. However, the mana in the jetstream was strong and potent, and Zeke wasn’t sure whether it was due to the creation of the vehicle or it was some sort of an effect for the passengers.
Still, the knights went around the compartment doing a formation Zeke wasn’t aware of while surrounding them, leaving the core group at the center sitting across from each other. Cronus looked mildly pleased, his wife gushing about how long ago it was that she took the jetstream with him, while the otherworlders were still silent and keeping to themselves. Mikella had a bit of a tough time adjusting to the seats with her wings in the way, but she managed to adjust them well enough without damaging anything.
Throughout it all, Zeke could barely be able to keep up with everything. But he decided to put together a mental list for all the things he needed to do. First, find out what Cronus planned to do with them, then they have to figure out a way to get to the towers and clear them–and hoping that they could save the people trapped in there if need be.
He didn’t want to think about the potential struggle all that entailed. Right now, keeping a steady focus on their goals was keeping him stable enough to not get overwhelmed by all of this. Still, he could feel a headache coming on as he clutched onto the ridge of his nose.