Page 308

Early Evening - Mid Winter : Atlas, Bahamut

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"Hooh..." *fwip-fwip-fwip* *scratch-fwip* I let out a heavy, strained breath as I gently move a quill across a piece of paper, drawing several thick lines to divide a series of complex drawings. -This.. should work...-

To most, it may have been difficult to even understand what I had made; a piece of paper with well over a dozen unbelievably intricate drawings filled with numbers, mathematics, and even some units completely foreign to the world, but thankfully, the person I was going to give it to was not one to stray away from complexity.

-For him, everything should be self explanatory.

I just hope he can understand my way of measuring the purity and clarity of glass.

..- Glancing at the bottom-right-most drawing of an array of dots and figures of varying sizes and patterns, a mix of thoughts flowed through my mind before I straightened up my posture and looked at a light on the ceiling.

-Fuck, my head is really starting to hurt. ..-

In short, what I made was the blueprint of a rather complex telescope, the gift I planned to make for Krystallo's birthday.

Originally, I was going to make it after cleaning out the Academy.

I already had the design in mind, I just needed to sit down and make it.

I even considered working on it with Krystallo as an excuse to give her some lessons on magic and science, but unfortunately, from the moment I fell asleep, I lost every speck of the mental computation I was so proud of.

-That doesn't mean I have to give up on her gift though.

..- I didn't know how long I would be gone, nor did I know what the future would hold, but if anything was to be taken for certain, it was that she would miss me.

-I can't stand that I have to leave right after getting back. .. But I don't have a choice...-

*Fwip-Fwip* Quickly, but gently folding it, I set it next to an envelope containing a letter I wrote for her and moved it under my wing with a small piece of extremely dark mythril, a payment for Sir Astali so valuable he wouldn't be able to refuse my request. "Hooh.

.." -Well, I guess it's time to give Mother my farewell again. ..-

Finally standing up with some effort, I left my chamber and immediately glanced toward Krystallo's room just down the hall, the visual of her crying into my chest still lingering in my mind, before turning away and walking down the hall to Mother's office with a tight chest and a bundle of anxiety looming in my mind.

Silence filled the halls as I walked, the soft rustling of my wings and the echo of my heavy steps being the only audible noises as if magic were cast, but as I finally approached Mother's office, the rustling of papers could be heard, spilling into the hallway through the crack in the door with a soft glow.

*tap* *creaak* As I nudged the door open, a wave of warm light from the setting sun washed over my body, and Mother's sky-blue eyes met mine, a mix of determination and worry lingering behind them.

"Vasilias..." She said softly, her voice thick with suppressed anxiety and concern, "Just a moment ago, Krystallo came in here and begged for me to stop you with tears running down her face..."

My whole body instantly tensed and my stomach churned.

"As a mother, every time you leave, I fear you won't come back.. but this time, my gut isn't the one telling me everything will be alright... This time.. it's the one giving the warnings." Worry slowly started showing in her gaze as her eyes became watery.

"Mother..." I immediately hesitated, searching for the right words, "I wish I could stay too, for you and Krystallo both, but you know just as well as I what will happen if I stay here..."

"I know..." Her expression continued to morph with heart-wrenching worry before she finally let out a deep breath and steeled her resolve.

"That is why I don't have any intention of stopping you.

.. I just.. want to make sure you are going to be careful.

.." She paused as she looked up to the ceiling before speaking with a hint of anger, seemingly aimed at herself. "Just promise me..."

I hesitated for a moment as her bright white scales glistened in the setting sun before holding my head high and trying to speak with confidence. "I promise."

Several seconds passed in total silence before I finally walked up to her and set the top of my head beneath her chin, as I would do as a child.

"I promise when I get back, I will spend every moment I can with you, Krystallo, and Father... In my time out of the nest, I found many things I want to show you all, and met many people I'd love for you to meet, but for now I need to leave again."

Although I couldn't see her face, I felt as if tears had pooled in her eyes.

"I know I don't say it enough, but thank you for raising me... I love you, Mom." Firmly pressing my head into her neck for a moment, I pulled away and finally turned toward the door.

But it wasn't until I reached for the door handle that I heard her reply with a slight quiver in her voice. "I love you too, sweetie..."

As a faint, warm smile forced its way through my anxiety and worry, I stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind me, swiftly making my way out of the estate, attempting to distract myself with the soothing mix of warm and cold winds.

"Are you ready?" A sweet woman's voice quickly filled the air as I looked over and saw a smaller, and younger version of Amphitrite. "My name is Zafeíri, nice to meet you." She gently lowered her head as a curtsy before looking up at me with a gaze filled with curiosity.

She was Amphitrite's daughter, and was the one who agreed to cloak me with magic while we flew to the space rune.

"Nice to meet you." She was quite a beautiful dragon, but at that moment it was the last thought in my mind.

"I need to drop something off with someone on the west side of the rune, but once we get there, you can leave if you'd like. "

She immediately shook her head. "My mother asked me to escort you through the rune, so I will do just that. I need to go to Siratha, regardless."

I hesitated for a moment before eventually deciding it wasn't worth arguing over. "Alright, I'll apologize for the trouble in advance then."

"No worries at all." She paused before motioning me over and surrounding me in light magic, changing the color of my scales to a deep blue, similar to hers. "Whenever you're ready..."

Letting out a short breath, I momentarily glanced back at the estate before reluctantly turning away and nodding my head. "Let's go."

*fwip-FWOOSH-fwip-FWOOSH* Quickly taking to the air, we quickly flew all the way to the space rune without any issues besides a few dragons staring at us from the ground below, before quickly finding our way to a dusty and seemingly abandoned shop.

"Is this it?" Zafeíri asked with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"Yeah. Stay here for a minute, I'll be right back." Gently folding my wings, I turned into the familiar abandoned-looking smithing store and made my way to the back before nudging open a hidden door and walking down a familiar spiraling ramp underground. -I hope he's here...-

I got a little worried he wouldn't be there as I walked, since Mother had said he was involved with the cleanup of my mess, but after just another moment, a wave of warmth containing the smell of ash and iron met my nostrils, and a familiar aura filled the hallway. -Thank goodness...-

As I finally rounded the corner near the door, the sounds of iron being smashed beneath a heavy hammer echoed freely through the halls, unobstructed by anything.

As I looked ahead, I clearly saw the vast smithy with its doors wide open, and Sir Atsáli standing with his mouth open at the entrance of the forge, seemingly feeding it oxygen.

"That's a face I didn't expect to see any time soon." He called out before he even turned around.

"Vathys," I tried to suppress the hint of strain in my voice as I struggled to ignore my ever-growing hunger. "I apologize in advance for not being able to chat much, but I have a request."

*crackle-crackle* Slowly pulling himself out of the forge, he glanced back at me with an odd look. "What is it?"

Walking up to the table, I took out the blueprint, letter, and the piece of mythril.

His eyes instantly went wide before he set down everything and walked over in a hurry to inspect it.

"I'm about to enter my a dragon sleep, so I won't be around for a while. I want you to make something for me and make sure my sister, Krystallo, gets it."

"Your dragon sleep, huh? I guess that's obvious by your aura..." He momentarily glanced at me before turning back to the mythril. "In any case, I'm guessing you want me to make it with this?" He spoke with awe while he continued closely inspecting it.

"No, actually. That's for payment."

Confusion blasted across his face instantly. "Huh? Then what do you want me to make?"

Handing him the blueprint, I spoke casually, "Its a telescope: a device to help my sister view the stars."

His eyes immediately scanned over the blueprint, the detailed numbers, mathematics, and foreign units making him furrow his brows, yet still allowing a small smirk to creep on his face.

"Is this really what you consider a blueprint?

A part of me wants to call it a piece of art.

.." He studied it in a deep focus for a moment before landing on the final image.

"You even have a blueprint for the glass. .."

"The clarity and uniformity of the glass is the most important thing, as you might have seen by the constraints."

"Hmm.. I see that..." Scanning over it a few more times, he grabbed a bundle of sand and melted it in the forge before morphing it with his aura.

"Her birthday is in three days; if you can't finish it in time, don't worry, just make sure you deliver this letter with it."

"I have to say, I've never worked on something this.. unique.. but three days should be doable. Especially with such a generous payment." He spoke somewhat hesitantly as if trying to talk while deep in focus.

-Looks like he understood everything...- "In that case, I can confidently leave it to you."

"Of course!" He spoke enthusiastically as he set a glowing glass cube on his anvil and looked back at me. "If you ever have stuff like this in the future, I'd love to make it for you. Just let me know."

"I will, but for now, I need to be leaving." Feeling my aura start flowing a bit more aggressively, my nerves started to heighten.

"Right, make sure you take care of yourself. Before you go though, let me give you some advice." His expression quickly turned serious. "When it truly starts, don't fight or try to control your instincts. Simply float with the current until it gets shallow enough for you to stand again."

His words immediately resonated in my mind like a piano string struck with a tuning hammer before I smiled with gratitude. "Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to remember it."

"Of course. Take care of yourself, kid. "

Finally giving my farewell, I turned to leave with a smile, but as I walked back up the spiraling hallway, the sound of the blaze in the forge was no longer able to distract my mind, and I slowly sank back into a mix of stress, hunger, and anxiety.

"Hooh..." -But there is nothing else I can do at this point... I just need to follow the current once the tide pulls me off the bottom...-

Eventually returning to the surface, I walked back out of the shop and met up with Zafeíri, sitting on the sidewalk by the door, looking down the empty roads with a hint of loneliness in her eyes.

"Hm?" She turned to me the moment I left the stairwell. "All done?"

I hesitated for a moment before nodding bluntly. "Yeah... Let's get going."

With the rune not far away, we quickly found our way over to it before easily getting through the tight security, walking through the massive archway that dwarfed us both, and coming up to a familiar pedestal displaying a small black orb.

When we got there, we didn't waste any time to jump into the void.

"Ready?" She glanced at me, waiting for my nod before injecting mana into the rune.

*Vwoop* We disappeared into the void instantaneously.

But while any normal dragon would have practically teleported to their destination, I had to listlessly float through the tube of nothingness for hours while my hunger was left to fester. -Shit...-

By the time we arrived in Siratha, my hunger had expounded several-fold, my breaths had become labored, and my mind was in even more turmoil.

Without magic, I was easily several hours away, but while just a few hours ago, I thought that would be nothing, I was quickly humbled. -I'm.. not sure I can make this one...-

*Vwoop* But while I struggled to keep hold of myself, Ilios opened his eyes and looked up at me with the same foreign, cold, and domineering demeanor I had seen several times recently.

And unlike what he would usually do, he simply watched.

He simply waited.

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