Meanwhile in the Grandcypher...
After Rei and Aliza left, Stan could be seen standing in front of Aliza's room, wondering if he should knock and wake her up or not.
Since he couldn't find her anywhere else on the ship, he thought Aliza might still be sleeping. He hesitated, afraid to interrupt his lady's rest.
"What if she's tired from all the training yesterday? If I wake her up, will she kick me out because I'm interrupting her rest?" Stan murmured to himself as he stood frozen before Aliza's door.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" His nerves got the better of him as he started pacing back and forth in front of the door, trying to decide what to do.
This continued for several minutes until Katalina, walking through the hallway, noticed his strange behavior and approached.
"What are you doing?"
"Gyahh?" Stan jolted in surprise at the sudden voice.
"What are you doing in front of Aliza's room?" Katalina asked again, her tone mixing curiosity and amusement.
"It's like this..." he stammered out an explanation.
After Stan explained his dilemma - his concern about Aliza combined with his fear of disturbing her - Katalina nodded understandingly while putting her hands on her waist.
"I see, so you want to check if Aliza is in her room or not?"
"Yes," Stan nodded vigorously.
"Then let me check for you," Katalina offered before knocking firmly on the door.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Aliza? Are you still asleep? It's me, Katalina."
After several attempts with no response, Katalina waited a moment longer before placing her palm against the door and closing her eyes, extending her senses to detect any presence within.
"Aliza isn't here - the room is empty," Katalina announced as she removed her hand.
"Huh? She's not here?"
"No, I didn't feel any presence in her room. Either she's hiding her presence which seems unlikely or she's simply not here." Katalina shrugged. "Let's go. We should eat breakfast it's already past 7am now."
With that, she walked away down the hallway.
Stan remained for a moment longer, his gaze shifting uncertainly between Katalina's retreating back and Aliza's door. Finally, he chose to follow Katalina, hoping that perhaps Aliza was already in the dining room with everyone else.
But Stan's hope immediately collapsed when he arrived at the dining room. Even after everyone had gathered and taken their seats, there was still no sign of Aliza - or Rei.
"Huh? Where's Rei?" Therese asked, noticing the empty seat beside Djeeta.
"Aliza isn't here either," Vyrn added, looking at the vacant spot next to Jessica.
"Djeeta, where's Rei? Didn't you sleep in his room last night?" Katalina asked.
Meanwhile, Djeeta wasn't paying attention. She kept shifting uncomfortably in her seat, her waist still sore from last night's.
"Djeeta!" Katalina called again, louder this time.
"Eh!? Wha-what is it??" Djeeta jolted in surprise - a movement that immediately made her wince in pain. "Gaahhhh! My waist hurts!" She stood up only to crouch back down, clutching her aching waist.
The others can only stared at her with blank expressions.
"Well, seems like Djeeta doesn't know where Rei is either," Katalina concluded, deciding to ignore the still-crouching captain.
"What happened to her?" Stan asked curiously.
"You don't want to know," Vyrn answered flatly.
Therese and Jessica exchanged wide-eyed glances - both having a pretty good idea what happened, especially after hearing Djeeta had slept in Rei's room.
"Lyria, can you sense Rei's presence on the Grandcypher?" Vyrn turned to her.
"Hmm, let me see..." Lyria closed her eyes, touching the purple crystal on her chest. Her long blue hair began swaying from the energy.
After a few moments, everyone noticed Lyria's expression darken into a frown before she finally opened her eyes. "I can't sense Rei's presence at all... seems like he's not on the Grandcypher."
"Sooo... conveniently two people are missing - Rei and Aliza," Vyrn pointed out. "Add to that Rei not being on the ship... should we assume they went somewhere together?"
"Yeah... seems like they left together," Katalina sighed.
"Huh?! My lady left me???" Stan panicked at the thought of being abandoned by his lady.
Meanwhile, the culprit who had kidnapped his lady continued flying through the sky, still carrying Aliza in a princess hold.
"Woah, this is really beautiful!" Aliza exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she admired the endless blue around them. "It feels completely different from flying in an airship! Did you use magic to protect us from the wind?"
"Yeah," Rei nodded. "The wind resistance up here is brutal, so I'm using Tiamat's power to create a barrier around us."
Gazing at the breathtaking scenery, Aliza's face lit up with childlike wonder. "Now I understand why people become skyfarers. Even the birds look so happy flying freely up here~" Her smile slowly faded as she continued, "Sometimes... I get really jealous watching skyfarers even you and your friends. Everyone seems so free, able to go anywhere without anything holding them back..."
"Why don't you join a skyfarer crew then?" Rei asked. "After training together these past few days, I can tell how much you love martial arts. You're not the type who'd be happy stuck behind a desk doing paperwork."
Aliza sighed, her expression turning complicated. "It's not that simple... I was raised from childhood to inherit my family's legacy. Everyone - my parents, our retainers, even strangers - they've all pinned their hopes on me becoming the heir. Even now, they seems to just assume I'll take over someday."
Her grip tightened slightly on Rei's shoulders. "I don't want any of it - the noble title, the family inheritance, the heirship responsibilities... I just want to throw it all away. To roam the skies freely, visit restaurants across the islands, taste all kinds of delicious food..." Her voice grew quieter. "And to broaden my martial arts by meeting new masters and testing my skills..."
"I see..." Rei murmured, letting the words hang in the air between them.
As the conversation lapsed into comfortable silence, they both simply enjoyed the panoramic views while Rei scanned the horizon for a suitable small island to conduct his test.
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After a few more minutes of flight, Rei and Aliza finally descended onto a small, barren island. The landscape was bleak - only dead bushes and skeletal remains of dead trees dotted the cracked ground, with barely any grass surviving in the harsh environment.
"Huh... this island has seen better days," Rei remarked as he surveyed their surroundings. "But at least there's no one around. Means we don't have to worry about collateral damage."
After confirming only monsters inhabited the island, Rei summoned the Blade of Olympus into his right hand. "Alright, time to find some monsters. Let's go, Aliza."
When no response came, he turned to find Aliza standing motionless, her gaze roaming around as she scanned the desolate landscape. "Aliza? What's wrong? Why are you zoning out?" Rei gave her shoulder a gentle shake.
"Eh? Oh, no... it's nothing," she answered hesitantly. "Just... this place feels familiar somehow." She shook her head. "Nevermind that. Where are we heading?"
"Thought we'd hunt some monsters. Good opportunity for you to train against something other than crew members for once."
"Alright, let's go." Together they set off in a random direction, hoping to encounter monsters.
They didn't have to wait long. After just a few steps, a chorus of growls surrounded them as twelve wolf-like beasts emerged from the dead trees, forming a tight circle around the pair.
"Looks like we've got twelve. I'll take six, you take six - sound good?" Rei suggested as energy began coursing through his blade. The Blade of Olympus glowed with increasing intensity, purple lightning crackling along its length.
"Alright, I'll handle six," Aliza agreed, shifting into her combat stance. Flames erupted beneath her feet as she prepared to strike.
"Flame Wreath!" With a powerful stomp, fire exploded outward as Aliza launched herself at the nearest wolf, her kick connecting with devastating force. The remaining wolves froze momentarily, stunned by her blazing speed.
Seizing the opportunity, Rei swung his blade in a wide arc, effortlessly bisecting two wolves before they could react.
The outmatched creatures stood no chance against the pair. Within moments, all twelve lay defeated.
"That was too easy," Rei said, disappointment coloring his voice. "We need to find stronger monsters for a proper test."
And then they continued deeper into the island's wastes, searching for more formidable monsters.
As they continued their search, Aliza remained unusually quiet, her eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. Something about this desolate landscape tugged at her memory, but she couldn't quite place where she'd seen it before.
Rei stayed alert, his gaze sweeping the area both to avoid ambushes and to spot worthy opponents. Yet despite their thorough search, after nearly two hours of trekking across the barren island, they'd only encountered weaker monsters - though each wave proved slightly stronger than the last.
"Phew... that makes thirty-five for me," Aliza said, wiping sweat from her brow. "Still nothing really challenging though."
"Yeah, but at least they're getting tougher," Rei agreed. He pointed toward the horizon where a mountain loomed in the distance. "Let's try over there. Might find something stronger."
Aliza nodded in agreement, but just as they prepared to move, Rei suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her backward.
*BOOOOM!*
The ground where they'd stood moments earlier exploded into rubble. As the dust settled, three strange creatures hovered where the attack had landed - small, blue wyvern-like monsters with aquatic features that looked utterly out of place in this arid wasteland.
"What the-?!" Aliza gasped at the sudden assault.
Rei's grip on his blade tightened as he assessed their new opponents. "These three feel different... the energy they're giving off is way beyond anything we've fought today. Stay sharp, Aliza."
But Aliza wasn't listening. Her eyes widened in horrified recognition as she stared at the creatures. "Those monsters! Wait... now I remember! Rei, this is Tarvi Island!" Her voice rose in alarm. "And those are native predators here! The whole island was abandoned because of them - their venom is instantly lethal! One bite and you're dead!"
Even as she spoke, one of the creatures lunged with terrifying speed, its fanged maw gaping toward Aliza. In a flash of purple energy, Rei's blade lashed out, sending a wave of power that punched clean through the monster's body, spraying violet blood across the ground.
"Save the explanations for later!" Rei said, falling into a defensive stance. "Focus on defeating them first!"
"Right!" Aliza snapped back to attention, flames already wrapping her fists as she prepared for the fight of their lives.