Leaving the setting sun behind, I drift off to sleep as Ember gracefully glides above the desert.
The cool breeze and the dark night sky slowly calm the adrenaline pumping through my blood post-battle. All I can dream about are the new power-ups coming soon and the labyrinth break in Solara that's giving people so much trouble.
The only logical explanation is that the two Elites sent to take care of it were not strong enough to face off against a ranked-up boss alone.
Maybe they're facing a similar problem, they can't keep up with the higher levels of mana control.
With that being said...
One of them is Fisher. I'm at a higher overall level than him now, but in my current state, I believe our mana control is nearly even.
I'm going to have to make use of this Ogre's Core in order to make it to the next level.
"... Master"
Ember's voice wakes me from my thought-filled sleep.
My body feels exhausted still, and my head aches.
"I think I might have overdone it again...."
My skin tingles and my bones feel weak. This is exactly how I felt after using up too much mana in my Floor Boss fight. Just, nowhere near as bad.
Rubbing my eyes, I look out into the distance of the night sky. Still, there's only darkness in all directions. Ember speaks again to ease my confusion.
"I believe we're getting close."
In response, I scan the wide-open desert in all directions as far as my radars will let me.
A few things all begin to hit me all at once...
Below us, no more than 5 kilometers ahead, I sense 3 enemies all between levels 460 and 470. There's a very high chance these are my teammates. After a quick Appraisal, I confirm without a doubt it's them.
"How long was I out?"
"Another 6 hours Master."
I nod, sensing thousands of other data points off in the distance about 7-8 kilometers north.
There are too many to count... Hundreds of the are over level 200, and thousands under 100. It's the same leveling distribution as back in Vice City. It must be a very well-developed area, unlike the towns we've visited so far.
"This must be Solara."
There's a very odd reading coming from further out into the desert behind the city. Either my perception skill doesn't reach far enough in my fatigued state, or there is some interference in the readings. It's like there's an outer edge to how far I can sense... anything...
Maybe there are just no more mana readings to sense out in this barren wasteland of a desert. Well... I hope at least. This void in my perception skills bugs me a bit.
There isn't much I can do about it other than wait to see what the interference is myself. With all these questions racing through my head, I just shrug and focus on the more important data. My teammates are close.
"Ember, I'll be making my way down soon. Bring us right above the cloud line then leave the rest to me. I believe our next meeting will be in the Labyrinth, so get ready."
I see a toothy grin form on the dragon's face as its glossy black wings tilt downward to change our flight direction.
We soar toward the ground and I feel the presence of my teammates getting closer and closer. Once we approach a perceivable range I open up my item storage and hop off Ember's back.
"Thanks for the ride, we'll be back in battle soon."
As I fly ahead, the white Spatial magic appears behind me. Ember flies straight into my open white spinning portal and disappears.
The fast-moving air flies by me as I begin to plummet toward the ground. It's pitch black in the cool of night, but I can tell how far away my teammates are and know just how much wind magic I'll need to stop myself from hitting the ground too fast. So, in the meantime, I relax.
It's a calming sensation.
The weightlessness of falling. Moving so fast through the air, feeling the wind push against my skin, but still feel like I don't even compare in weight to a feather.
If I spin onto my back, and let the air push me up, it's like I'm resting on an invisible bed of clouds.
Close to a full minute of enjoying the moment of bliss passes, then I finally activate my wind magic and slow to a halt hovering just 100 meters over the desert floor.
I can see the dim glow of a white magic arrow illuminating 2 camels slowly moving across the flat sandy ground.
I approach with causation, igniting a small flame in my hand. After a few seconds, a wave of my telepathy skill is sent out to the online teammate awake right now.
"It's Jay. I've made it back. Glad to see you've made it so far."
Immediately, I watch the archer turn and draw his bow in my direction. The arrow glows much brighter as I drift down to the desert floor.
Once he sees my face, the arrow fades back to its dim glow and I see a sigh of relief wash over his face.
"Good to see you too. You're just in time."
Both Abby and Maria are asleep again. It seems like they took the day shift, and Arie is up again in the middle of the night.
I put out my flames and come down to sit back on the rightmost camel taking the reins from Arie with a firm nod. Maria turns in her sleep as I sit in front of her.
Arie speaks up.
"You flew all the way here in the dark?"
I let out a sigh.
"Yeah. Something like that."
Then, open up my item storage and let a handful of mutant shards fall out into my open palm.
"It was worth it. All 4 of us will be able to gain another 15 million in mana control. Minimum."
I let the gems clink around in my hands while the archer responds.
"How was the Boss? Did you get any good loot?"
I smirk and show him my ring.
"100% Mental Strength Buff. It's a nice once isn't it?"
He agrees, eyeing it curiously.
After that, we continue north as I update him on the break, details of Tier 2 mana control, and the power difference between the boss I fought and the ones we faced prior. Of course, without revealing Ember or any sensitive information that I wouldn't like to share.
Although I trust my team, I've run my mouth a bit too much about a few things lately... If I want something kept quiet, I better not speak of it at all. Information is no longer a secret once more than one person knows about its existence.
One thing I don't mind showing off is the rest of the loot. I take out the core from my storage, but Arie hasn't seen anything like it either in his life. It's agreed that any loot from the boss is mine to keep. Well, more like it's agreed that no one here can even make use of that core but me.
Finally, the topic of Arie's hometown comes up again. We're getting close to where he mentioned it was when we first entered the Dark Continent so I thought I'd bring it up. What he tells me is a bit off-putting, and not what I was expecting...
"We can visit my hometown after the break is cleared."
Arie points forward and off into the desert as the sun begins to rise.
"It's off that way, I'm positive. It's been quite a while since I left, but it may be nice to see some familiar faces."
I don't say a word, realizing when I scanned the desert earlier, that portion of desert was impossible to detect.
Not a single soul or mana reading came up in my mind's eye...
While thinking of an appropriate response, I hear Maria's voice from behind me and two hands hug me from behind.
"Jay! You made it back!"
At the same moment, Abby begins to wake up as well, murmuring something while rubbing her eyes.
The sunlight of day begins to flood in, ridding the desert of darkness.
Our conversation comes to a halt and all four of us stare forward at the sight before us...
Shining silver towers glistening in the morning sun.
I count 6 of them in total, each easily 30 stories tall. With long clear glass windows and the golden reflection of the rising sun showing the city in all its glory, I'm left speechless.
Hundreds of small buildings line the grid-like streets below. Workers from all walks of life are already starting their daily routines.
The 4 of us will be entering the city soon.
We made it to Solara.
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Author's Note:
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