I laughed at the top of my lungs, punching holes through clouds. I adjusted my grip, rocketing around, then around and around again, losing all sense of direction.

  My earpiece buzzed.

  Grind, calm down. Soise commanded. You’ll burn through your mental energy at that rate.

  “I could go for hours!” I shouted.

  [Mental Exhaustion I : Indefinite]

  I stared at the screen.

  “Fiiine.”

  After pulling myself out of the spiral, I funneled a little mental focus into the enchantment, directing it toward our blimp. Soise was on the other end, radioing out to her teammates with a mind-projecting relic while everybody else was testing out our new equipment.

  Or they had been testing, anyway. Everyone gave out at least an hour ago.

  Come back to base, Grind. That’s an order.

  “I said I was, captain,” I stated.

  My jetpack—made through summoned jets and turbines, was powered using a particular enchantment that converted mental energy into a physical force. It only really worked in the second area, but when it worked, it worked.

  I glanced down at the bands on my wrists.

  If I managed to get those off, how fast could I go?

  Grind.

  “I know!” I shouted back, using the side jets to maneuver myself in the right direction. “No need to be so pushy. I’ll be there in three seconds.”

  That’s what you said an hour ago.

  “Oh.” I blinked.

  Other than enjoying the jetpack, I had actually been paying some level of attention to our surroundings. Deserts don’t usually have clouds, which was leading me to believe that the dense cloud around us wasn’t natural.

  “Here,” I called out. My jets cut off, dropping me to the deck with a thud.

  The blimp was more or less a great wooden ship, tethered to a massive balloon by copper cables thicker than most cars.

  As it turned out, this was one of the union’s “little blimps.”

  In addition to this, they had also loaned out enchanted jetpacks, earpieces, and a Silver rank Master—Jujud, all so a team of basically coppers could complete an actual union assignment.

  “About time,” Soise grumbled, speaking with both her voice and the earpiece. “We can’t risk this.”

  Jujud sat in a recliner, sipping from a cup of ice tea. “He looks fine to me.”

  Soise shuffled a couple pieces around her board, which shuffled back in return, forming some kind of algorithmic sequence which I didn’t really understand. “Grind, you’re at nearly forty percent capacity. What were you thinking?!”

  “I just really wanted to fly a jetpack,” I admitted, slipping the backpack-shaped equipment off my shoulders. “Don’t worry. I rest up quick.”

  The queen on her board shot forward several squares, almost toppling over.

  “I’m going to need to reinforce this,” Soise grumbled. “It’s been acting up.”

  Master Jujud raised an eyebrow, turning to the sky. “Meh.”

  Soise stood, lifting up her board, placing both hands around the wood. Her eyes squeezed closed, and she began concentrating.

  I leaned over her shoulder. “Watcha doing?”

  “Enchanting,” she hissed. “It’s unimaginably difficult, so please don’t speak to me.”

  “What’s the enchantment?”

  Soise ignored me.

  I closed my mouth.

  A moment later, and there was a noticeable shimmer around the board, gradually dying down.

  Soise collapsed into her chair, sweating and puffing with one hand on her head. “I think that’s about my limit for today.”

  “Now who’s wasting energy?” I chuckled.

  “That was essential,” she snapped back. “The board has a limit to what level of power it can even visualize. And the queen is moving too fast.”

  “Meaning?”

  “The strongest enemy in the area is really, really strong,” she stated.

  Master Jujud smirked. “Don’t worry. Your team can handle any creature that board can register.” Her smile grew wider, almost venomous. “I’d be more worried about the monsters you can’t see.”

  “Thank you Master,” Soise said. “Grind, go below deck. Or to your room.”

  “Hey,” I said, completely ignoring her. “Mind if I give it a try?

  “Enchanting?” She asked. “You want to try and enchant a finely tuned magical instrument?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Oh.” I frowned. “Really? I’m good at it.”

  “No!” She stuffed the board back into her inventory. “You can’t just brute force your way through something like this!”

  I stuffed my hands in my pockets, wandering below deck. “Nobody lets me have any fun.”

  Catania and Toya sat across from Sip at a table, playing cards.

  “This is the single most ridiculous game I’ve ever seen,” Toya grumbled. “It’s completely luck based!”

  “Then why do I keep winning?” Sip asked innocently. “Another round?”

  “I’m not out yet,” he snapped back, knocking on the table. “Deal me another card.”

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  Catania smirked. “Blackjack. Toya’s never played it before.”

  “Neither have I,” I stated. “But—”

  “But you remember how to play it,” Catania continued. She slapped her cards onto the table, nodding to Sip. “So do me and Sip. But Toya doesn’t. That’s weird, yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t see what all of the fuss is about,” Toya growled, smoothing his frazzled black hair. “Not everybody knows everything. Sip, explain calculus.”

  “Differential or Integral?”

  Toya twitched. “I…Never mind.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Well Differential Calculus is basically just the summation of complex slopes,” Sip stated. “Hey Toya, explain solitaire.”

  “That’s another one of your stupid games, isn’t it?” Toya squinted. “Is that…a video game? Card game?”

  “Single player card game,” Catania corrected. “See what we mean, Grind? The man knows nothing of board games.”

  “At least I have some abilities,” he said, throwing his cards on the table.

  “Wildcard VI,” Catania smiled. “I cashed in my levels just yesterday.”

  “What does that do?” Toya grumbled. “Help you hit things harder?”

  “I take an attribute and improve it,” she said. “Like strength. Or critical hit. Or defense.”

  She drew a card, spinning it around to face him. “Or luck.”

  Toya glowered. “Surely you realize how worthless that stat is. Unless you’re playing a card game, it has basically no impact.”

  “That’s why I got a flexible ability, loser,” Catania gestured for more cards. “And how do you know it’s useless? Stuff happens. We could use a bit of luck.”

  Sip looked up at me. “So, are you going to play? It’s just for fun.”

  “Sure,” I said, stepping into the remaining seat. “Deal me in—”

  …

  The smell of burning plastic filled my nose.

  I was falling.

  Faster.

  Faster.

  Hurtling in a downward spiral, chipping skin on miniscule pieces of smoldering wreckage. The deck of cards burned into the air above, melting apart like strands.

  “Toya?” I asked.

  Falling.

  Faster.

  And faster.

  The wind burned against my skin.

  “SIP! CANTANIA! SOISE!” I screamed.

  Nothing.

  A change in air pressure sent me tumbling, spinning over myself, unable to breath as wind forced my breath down.

  I saw two things.

  First, endless dusty hills, stretching into the distance.

  Second, the crumbling wooden hull of our blimp, breaking apart as it connected with lashing chains, flung free in the force of explosion.

  The blimp had exploded.

  Ontop of it, four winged monsters clustered in balls, holding wreckage close to themselves with three-pronged talons.

  “Not this time,” I hissed. “Not like this.”

  Blistering, explosive pain crackled inside my mind.

  {Notice}

  [Your aura has been weaponized.]

  I slammed into a cloud, flipping it inside out as the molecules of air shifted form, stretching after my impact. They snapped back, rocketing me into the sky with an explosive burst of energy.

  One of the monsters turned a bird-shaped head toward me, opening its beak.

  I punched it in the face.

  Bright white webs of mana covered the wreckage, tethered to the birds. The monsters began to panic, flapping upward in a frenzied rush. They moved in random directions, pulling the hull back and forth. Despite that Toya’s webbing held

  Catania finished her climb up from a dangling chain, now clad in her plate armor. “What are these things?”

  “SOISE!” I called.

  “I’m…I’m here!” My earpiece buzzed. “Sip—”

  I dove backward, into the air, immediately spotting a speck of multicolored clothing headed for the ground.

  Not fast enough.

  I brought my arms over my head, diving down, pushing my health as high as it would go.

  Too slow.

  Still too slow.

  “Hang in there Grind!” Soise’s voice crackled. “Find a way to stop your fall! I’ll get Master Jujud too—

  “We can’t risk that!” I shouted back, blasting mental energy into my feet.

  I kicked off a pane of solid air, grabbing one of the copper chains and spinning, convincing myself the chain was far lighter than it appeared.

  Before it left my grasp, I reversed my perspective, resulting in a sickening snap as the lower half of the chain accelerated past anything the metal could handle.

  I tightened my grip, accelerating the first half like a whip, shooting me downward, where I snagged the tail end the rotating second length with both hands, Reaching with all my might, gritting my teeth as the explosive G-force set in, whipping me in a wide circle.

  Down, around, and up.

  I caught Sip, crash landing into one of the dense clouds, tumbling up the solidified mounds, onto level footing.

  Sip lay belly up, gasping for air.

  “Hey…Sip,” I huffed. “You good?”

  Sip started crying.

  I started laughing, collapsing in a heap. “Yeah. Me too.”

  Soon, our team managed to work the blimp over to use, drawn by thirteen massive birds. After Toya moved them equally apart from one another, they could keep the floating platform raised into the air.

  Catania floated down on a jetpack, glanced at the ground in confusion. Slowly, she landed, bouncing off the tender white surface. “You did that?”

  “Mind energy,” I said, grabbing my head with a groan. “I…I think I went a little overboard.”

  “You solidified the entire cloud.”

  “Just the surface.”

  Catania bobbed up and down as the cloud absorbed her momentum. “No wonder you got Headmaster interested.”

  The rest of our team was back on deck, using the supplies they had to repair what was left.

  Master Jujud sat in her lawn chair, sipping iced tea.

  “Thanks for the help,” Catania growled.

  “Where’s the fun without a little danger?” She asked back, summoning a sunhat for herself. “You were fine.”

  Sip shuddered. “I…almost…I almost died. Again.”

  Soise ran up to us, grabbing Sip by the hand. “I’m so sorry! I-I-I didn’t see them comingI knew there were m-monsters stronger than I could—-b-but I wouldn’t—a handful of Iron Skullbeaks would move so fast—”

  “It’s not your fault,” Catania grumbled. “Master Jujud—”

  “A-and I couldn’t send anyone Master Jujud was gone so I thought you were really going to die,” Soise started crying, wiping her face with both arms. “D-do you need food or water or—I’m—so sorry you—”

  Soise started bawling.

  Sip shrank back.

  Toya stepped toward her. “Should we?”

  “I got it,” Catania sighed. “She doesn’t seem to handle stress well.”

  Catania took Soise’s hand, leading her below deck, where there would be blankets and warm tea, if any of those survived the crash.

  Master Jujud clicked her tongue. “She’ll have to get used to it. We’re not even at the site yet.”

  “Hold on,” Toya began. “Those birds weren’t our mission?”

  Our Master burst into laughter.

  Not the fun kind, mind you.

  “Your mission is to eliminate a High-Brass Aviator Queen, which those are just guards for.”

  She took a sip of her tea. “Given the circumstances, you should’ve already failed, but the ship is technically in mostly one piece, and technically still airborn, so until these birds die of exhaustion, this mission is still active.”

  I grabbed a jetpack. With the ship in the state it was, I wouldn’t be taking chances.

  One of the birds squawked, floundering a little in the air. Ridges on its back opened, slipping out another four wings. The first four retracted, sinking back under folds of skin and muscle.

  I whistled. “Gross. What’s an Aviator?"

  “Big bird, number of wings relates to its power,” Toya began. “They shouldn’t be too strong, since they’re only iron and brass in rank, but they’re supposed to group up in nests of tens to thousands.”

  Catania pulled off her helmet, revealing a scowl underneath. “We should’ve been told this sooner.”

  “I just said ‘jetpacks’ and you all rushed for the blimp, and then since you never asked, I assumed you already knew,” Master Jujud stated. “Is it my fault you’re not asking questions? Sounds to me like this is an excellent learning experience.”

  “...Sure, Master.” Toya started, rubbing his face. “First things first, we need a plan. Does anybody have a massive aoe attack? Preferably something that intensifies alongside the number of enemies?”

  Catania glanced at me.

  Toya looked, sighing louder.

  “Fine.”

  The ship rocked, suddenly picking up speed in a seemingly random direction. All the birds had shifted position.

  “Any thoughts?” Toya asked.

  “They’re probably flying toward their queen,” I stated. “So this all works out rather nicely.”

  Sip rocked himself back and forth, staring into the distance. “I’ll…I’ll be here. Right here. Thank you.”

  I had to pause. “He’s okay, right?”

  Catania grunted.

  // {Notice} //

  Hi! Hope you enjoyed a fantasy story. But as much fun as a fantasy is, there’s things in the real world beyond what writing can fix. That’s where you come in.

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