Around the same time, on the western side of the Eastern Ranges, in a small village at the foot of the mountain…

Greaves squints at a map, rotating it in his hands. Will adjusts his glasses while standing beside him. Both are wrapped in thick padded clothing, though Will's is concealed beneath his robes. Holding onto her silver wand, Alicia and Lian are standing right behind them, waiting for them to finish looking at the map. On top of her furry bracers, Lian is draped in a woolly cloak that flaps slightly in the gentle wind.

「…I'm telling you, the path is right there. Look at the map.」

Will says with a frustrated tone as he adjusts his glasses again.

「Shut up, I'm reading…」

Greaves barks back and rotates the map the other way, grimacing.

「…If you could read, this wouldn't be such a problem.」

「Shut up, Will!」

Will remarks with a weary sigh, causing Greaves to get distracted and shout at him with his fist clenched. Will looks back at him with an unimpressed tight-lipped grimace on his face.

「Look, can we just for once go with my directions? I think it's already well established that he's terrible at navigating, and I'm being gentle.」

Adjusting his glasses again, Will points his hand in the direction of the forest, turning his annoyed gaze to Lian and Alicia.

「I'm going to figure it out in a second!-」

「I already have it figured out, and that's the problem!」

Greaves says, but Will cuts in with a shout. They both click their tongues and glare angrily at each other.

「Greaves… Could we let Will lead the way? Just this once?… At least up to the mountain.」

Alicia chimes in softly, tilting her head with a pacifying smile.

「Tsk… Fine. If we don't get there by the time the sun peeks out from over the mountains, I'm taking over!」

Crossing his arms, Greaves begrudgingly agrees. He glares at Will, who lets out a fatigued sigh and returns a grateful nod towards Alicia.

「Let's go… We've wasted enough time as is.」

Will says as he turns for the nearby forest. Greaves folds his map up and pockets it, stomping through the snow after him with Lian and Alicia trailing behind…

…

Five minutes later…

With a greatly frustrated grimace on his face, Will points at the pile of stacked rocks with a red cloth while staring at Greaves.

「Tsk… So what? It's early in the morning, I'm allowed to get confused once in a while…」

Greaves replies with his arms crossed and his scrunched mouth turned aside.

「With a map!?」

Will exclaims, then scoffs as he adjusts his glasses.

「We made it, at least… Let's not argue any more and just carry on, okay?」

Alicia chimes in, once again pacifying the two. Lian glances at her with a pitying smirk, and she returns a feeble fatigued smile.

「I'm going first this time!」

Greaves declares and begins climbing the ladder-like rock incline.

「Don't get lost… It could be deadly this time.」

Will warns in an audibly frustrated tone as he follows. Lian lets out a sigh as she waits for the two to begin climbing, and motions Alicia to go ahead of her…

…

A few hours later, in the late afternoon…

Greaves and his party are following the mountain trail of stacked rocks. The red cloth hangs off them loosely in the absence of wind.

「…We're lucky the trail is marked, aren't we?」

Alicia chimes with an upbeat tone after a long and an awkward silence.

「Yeah… We're lucky the weather is good too. No wind.」

Will nods, then adjusts his glasses as he turns his gaze to the red cloth when they pass another pile of rocks. Greaves scoffs, but says nothing.

The group continues onward in silence. Though it's cold, the lack of biting wind makes the weather seem all the more warmer. Almost pleasant, if not for the occasional breeze reminding the party of nature's bluff. Lian swivels her black head around while watching the snowy environment, neither on high alert, but neither really at ease. The snow-filled ravine stretches on and on towards the east, with its true depth being anyone's guess.

「Hm?…」

Lian turns her gaze aside to the party's side of the mountain. Alicia goes on ahead a few steps then partially turns around, swiveling around on the weight of her backpack.

「Lian? Did you see something?」

She asks, tilting her head at the spearwoman. Lian turns her almond-shaped black eyes to her.

「…No, I don't think so. I thought I did, though.」

Lian replies as she takes a few wider and slightly faster steps. The two catch up to Greaves and Will ahead, but Lian continues glancing in the direction she was looking at, over the inclining field of snow. The two behind follow along the two in front. The wind is slow, with trickles of dry snow scattering off into the ravine whenever a stronger breeze blows.

…Fwap…

The wind grows silent. Lian turns her suspicion-filled gaze to the incline at the side again. Greaves and the rest either look ahead, or admire the snowy ravine instead.

…Fwap-fwap!

「Wha-?」

Will turns his gaze towards the strange noise, adjusting his glasses. A beak emerges from over the crest of the mountain and sharp talons dive for him.

「Oh shit!」

Greaves yells with his eyes wide open as he reaches for his sword while a massive bird with golden feathers dives for him and Will down the incline, spewing snowy dust to the sides in its wake. Lian rushes in, gripping at her spear. The bird swerves slightly and stretches its talons out for Will, while Alicia is standing frozen behind Lian.

FWOOP!… Fwap! Fwap! Fwap!…

Lian stabs her spear at the bird as soon as its even slightly in range. It tracks her with its golden eye and flaps its wings, rolling out of the way by a hair's breadth. Will leaps to the snow with a large tear in the side of his leather backpack, and his eyes panicked. Greaves throws his backpack aside into the snow and draws his sword while the bird dives slightly for the ravine before leveling out.

「Drop your backpacks! We're not going to run from this thing!」

Greaves shouts towards the rest of the party, quickly glancing at Will, who gets up and rapidly discards his backpack too. Lian flings her small satchel into the snow. Alicia likewise manages to drop hers after some fiddling with the straps. Greaves quickly looks around the walkable space, assessing where he can, and can't go.

「…Shit. There's not much space to dodge here! Will, do something!」

He curses out under his breath, warning the rest of the narrow mountain path, before turning his focused gaze to Will's glasses.

「…Right! Give me a moment!」

After a second of pause, Will nods and adjusts his glasses, then points his palm towards the bird and begins to chant spellwords.

Lian moves closer, but the party is forced to remain in their enfilade position due to the narrow terrain, rather than their usual defensive formation.

…Fwap!… Fwap!… Fwap!…

The bird flaps its golden wings as it gains altitude, orbiting the ravine in a large circle. Will tracks it in the air with his palm. Lian narrows her eyes at the sight of occasional sparks that jump from feather to feather around its belly. Greaves glances at Will while he's focused on casting. Alicia glances left and right with a tight-lipped, nervous grimace, clutching tight onto her silver wand with her brows furrowed.

The bird does one more loop around the ravine, then dives for the party with its wings spread, and blue sparks zapping underneath them. Lian's black head perks up in alarm.

「…Something's off.」

Greaves remarks, furrowing his brow at the sight of the diving bird. Alicia nervously glances at Will, who is still casting, bearing a serious and focused expression on his face.

「『Windbolt』!」

Will calls the spell's name, and a blur appears at his palm. It shoots directly towards his target up in the sky.

…FWAP!…

The golden bird simply flaps its wings again and dodges, rolling with a shower of blue sparks erupting from its wings.

「…What?」

Will lowers his hand, blinking his eyes in surprise at the ease with which the bird evaded his spell.

…FWAP!

It flaps its wings again, and the sparks between them amass into a ball. With another flap, the ball zaps down towards Will at a high speed.

「Will!」

Fwapf!

Lian leaps in and tackles Will, sending them both sliding towards Greaves as the bird flies overhead and peels off into the sky.

ZZZZappppppkrakrrrrkkkkk!

The ball explodes into a shower of sparks upon hitting the incline just behind Will's last position. It melts the ice around the point of impact, revealing the raw mountain beneath with a cloud of steam rising into the air. Lying on top of Will, Lian quickly perks up and looks at the bird as it moves to circle over the ravine again. She shoots up to her feet with her spear at the ready.

「Will, get up!」

She calls out towards him while he stares at the melted snow with his brows raised in shock. His eyes snap back to hers, and he adjusts his glasses.

「Right!…」

He quickly gets up, propping himself up on his staff.

「The bird can cast spells too!?」

Greaves exclaims, annoyed and indignant while the party watches it fly.

「…I wonder about that.」

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Will replies, adjusting his glasses as he looks at the golden bird above.

…Fwap… Fwap… Fwap…

《If it's a natural phenomenon, a shield could negate it, or at least absorb some of it. If it's a spell, disrupt mana could cancel it out entirely…》

He thinks while the bird continues soaring through the sky. Sparks slowly gather underneath its wings again as it flies some distance away at a different angle.

《…But I can't shield everyone, and it's a lengthy spell. Mana disruption would work better if I anticipate its attack… But there's no guarantee it'll work. That could be lethal.》

Will briefly peels his gaze away from the bird to glance at the exposed rock beneath melted snow again. He adjusts his glasses, furrowing his brows at the sky.

「What do you mean, you wonder!? You saw it shoot a sparkly thing at us!」

Greaves asks and points his finger at golden bird while it circles, slowly sparking more and more.

…Fwap… Fwap…

「Will, what do you mean?」

Lian asks while looking at Will with a serious face, pointing her spear in the bird's direction at all times.

「It's not that simple. There are beasts that can cast spells, but if I get things wrong and this is just something it can do, someone might die…」

Will explains, adjusting his glasses with a worried and serious face, glancing briefly at the two.

「…I have a choice of keeping one person mostly safe at the risk of everyone else being unprotected, or protecting everyone at the risk of getting everyone killed. It's two bad options.」

He adds while the bird loops around for another dive attack.

「Will, cast that spell on me. I will hunt it down. The rest of you should keep yourselves safe and do what you can to support me.」

Lian says to Will, before turning her eyes to Greaves and Alicia.

…Fwap… Fwap… Fwap…

「No way! I'm going to chop its head off the moment it flies by again!-」

「Got it. Don't do anything excessive.」

Greaves protests, but Will cuts him off with a nod of his head while replying to Lian, ignoring him completely. He adjusts his glasses and points his palm at Lian.

「Huuuuuuuuh!? Why not me while she-!?」

Shocked, Greaves's jaw drops as he points at Lian.

「Greaves, shut up. This isn't the time.」

Will interrupts Greaves again, this time briefly turning his serious gaze to him.

「Tsk… Fine… Alicia, get behind me!」

Greaves clicks his tongue with a visibly displeased grimace, then shuffles away to the side to clear space for Will and Lian as he calls out to Alicia. She quickly jogs over.

「『Manashield』!」

While the golden bird glides into a wide turn for an attack, Will utters out a hasty incantation, then calls the spell's name. A shimmering field surrounds Lian at roughly her arm's length. She quickly looks at it, and checks if it stretches entirely over and under her. Will adjusts his glasses and hastily hops backwards to Greaves and Alicia.

「…Since I don't know your dimensions by heart, there might be some gaps if you extend your arms out too far! Be careful!」

He calls out a warning, then turns his bespectacled gaze to the diving bird.

「With luck, we'll have some time to teach you…」

…Fwap… Fwap!…

She replies as her face gains a smug smirk, readjusting her grip upon her spear. Will furrows his brows a little, blinking at her. Her focused gaze tracks the confused bird as it appears uncertain who to attack. It ultimately turns its head directly for Lian, and accelerates its dive. It spreads its golden wings wide as sparks rapidly shoot out of them, leaving a faint trail.

…FWAP!

It flaps its wings again, sending the ball of energy towards Lian, while also diving directly for her. Her brows rise slightly, but she sprints out of the way of the attack.

ZZZZZZZZAPPppkrkkkkkkkrkkkkkkkkk!…

Lian narrowly evades the ball of sparks as it melts another hole in the snow, exposing more rock beneath it. The bird's dive transitions into a swoop, reaching for her with its talons.

She slides to a stop, turning around and taking on a low stance with her weapon at the ready. She glares right into the bird's golden eyes as it zaps towards her.

Fwoop-fwapf-fwapf!

Her woolly cloak flies up with another fierce thrust, but the bird flies over her head. The wind from its powerful wings staggers her slightly.

「Bastard!」

She curses out as she tries to chase after it, but it's far too fast. It continues along the mountain trail towards Greaves and the rest of his party.

「I won't let you!… C'mere!」

…Fwap!

Greaves runs out towards it. Witnessing his aggression, the bird anticipates his attack and flaps its wings again, rising higher. Greaves jumps into the air, then jumps again off the thin air beneath his boots. He swings at its neck, falling short by less than a forearm's length. Clenching his teeth in frustration, he prepares to land.

Fwapf!

「Shit! I almost had it!」

…Fwap!… Fwap!… Fwap…

He curses out as the bird flies far above over Will and Alicia, shaking his fist at it.

「Don't mind it, just keep them safe!… Will!」

Lian replies, then calls out to Will, who is busy with casting a spell.

「『Windbolt』!」

He exclaims while tracking the bird with his palm through the sky. This time, it appears a little surprised as it flaps its wings in apparent panic, barely dodging. Some of its golden feathers scatter in the air and get taken away by the gentle breeze blowing across the mountains. Will lets out a frustrated grunt, gritting his teeth.

「Damn it!… What a pest!-」

Will angrily adjusts his glasses, but the bird suddenly dives and flips about, once again rapidly diving for the party, this time from their least defended side.

「Wha-!? Alicia, move!」

Will grabs onto Alicia's robes and starts pulling her away in an effort to place her behind Greaves, or at least behind himself, but one glance down the ravine is enough to make her heart race. She gulps and clutches her freezing hands onto her frosted-over silver wand, trying to quickly make it back into safety on her weak, jittery legs. The bird extends its sharp talons for her, glaring at her with its focused golden gaze.

「Will, move out of the fucking way!」「I can't! Do you want me to jump!?」

Greaves shouts at Will, and Will shouts back as the terrain limits their maneuvers. The bird closes in at a high speed.

…Thumpthumpthumpthump!

Lian comes sprinting in on the steep, snowy incline above the party with her spear prepared for a throw, glaring at the bird. It turns its gaze towards her.

…FWAPF!…

Despite the awkward position and angle, she thrusts her spear, sending it carving through the air with a vapor trail behind it.

…Fwap! Fwap!

The bird is very obviously and visibly panicked by the throw. It lifts its head as high as it can while violently flapping its wings with no regard for its flight path. Snow flies everywhere from the wind of its wings. The spear narrowly misses its neck, shooting past just underneath its thin, white-feathered neck, then continuing onward down towards the snowy ravine. With its flight greatly disrupted, the bird struggles to regain its previous speed.

Fwoompf!

Lian leaps towards the ravine with her bodysuit-covered hands stretching out towards the bird. When its eye snaps back to her, it desperately tries to turn and dive for the ravine.

「No you won't…」

Fwumpf-Fwapf! Fwapf! Fwapf!…

She growls through her teeth and puts the bird's thin yet relatively girthy neck into a chokehold, forcing its head upwards. It flaps its wings in great distress, randomly losing and gaining altitude, and slowly banking to the side. It flies directly over the ravine with Lian on its golden, feathery back.

「Lian!」

Will calls out with his eyes wide open and wiggles his fingers, discarding the flavored mana for his next spell.

「…I said!… I'll hunt it down!」

Lian shouts back as she tries to hook her leg around the bird's haphazardly flapping wing. It returns over the party's mountain in an extremely crooked loop.

「That's way too dangerous! Jump down as soon as you can!」

Will shouts at the bird overhead while Lian's woolly coat flaps in the wind. Greaves and Alicia simply stare with their brows furrowed in baffled surprise.

Though the bird is far too wild to be controlled, Lian notices she can force a right-bank by restricting its wing with her leg. She constricts its neck, squeezing it with all the might in her arms while it desperately tries to stay in the air. A few moments later, high in the sky, the bird's golden wings become floppy and weak. It begins to dive in a slow, but chaotic and uncontrolled spiral towards the steep incline.

「Lian!」

Will calls out while he catches the glimpses of blue beneath the spinning cloak on top of the bird.

…THUMP!

The bird and Lian slam into the side of the mountain, right on the incline, kicking up a cloud of snow. Will, Greaves, and Alicia exchange worried glancesw, then Will quickly squeezes past the two, rushing to the point of impact. He adjusts his glasses and climbs the incline, helping himself maintain his precarious footing with his staff.

「…Lian!… Lian! Are you okay!? Say something!」

Will shouts towards the crater in the snow, climbing the slope. He notices Lian's telltale blue and the bird's golden feathers as the snow settles down, and hurries to her.

「…Lian?」

He utters out with his brows greatly furrowed while Lian lies on her cloak right next to the bird, whose head is twisted the wrong way.

「Nnhh… Well… They did say it's a little dangerous…」

Lian says quietly while wincing slightly. Will lets out a large, relieved sigh.

「…Are you okay?… Alicia! Come check on her!」

He asks, then shouts towards Alicia, who is gingerly climbing behind Greaves.

「I'm fine… It was just a pretty rough landing, that's all…」

Lian replies and nonchalantly sits up, though with a rather weary groan.

「…I think this one agrees.」

She glances at the dead bird and adds with an amused smirk, turning her black eyes to Will and the rest of the party…