Sophie got up and looked around the room. Why didn’t Claire wake me? she thought. She got out of bed and slipped on her red robe before she went to the washroom. There’s a new wrinkle today, she thought as she looked in the mirror and sighed.

“Look who’s finally up,” a voice greeted her when she entered the tavern. The man was sitting at a table with 3 other men and a woman. He was wearing a blue chain mail and his red sword was propped up against the seat next to him.

“Good morning, Aran,” Sophie said as she sat next to the other woman. “Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked her.

Claire shrugged. “You sleep like a log,” she said, “and you drooled on me.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t ruin our image of her,” a man with a blue bandana said.

A man wearing a black leather vest smacked his head. “What image? We’ve already been traveling together for years now,” the man said and snorted. “We all know she’s an ogre.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “If I’m an ogre, then you’re a troll,” she said. “Hey, chief! Can I get three drumsticks and a jug of ale over here?”

“Sure thing,” the man standing behind the bar said.

Sophie turned to look at Aran. “What’s the plan for today, boss?”

“We’ve accomplished 14 SSS ranked missions since we ranked up four years ago. One more and we can finally go to Fuselage,” Aran replied, “I already picked one up.”

“Without us? Ouch man, that hurts,” the man with the blue bandana said as he clutched his chest and smiled.

“Shut up, Zeke,” the man with the black vest said, “let him finish.” He nodded at Aran.

“We’re going to the fountain of youth,” Aran said and raised his hand to stop them from speaking. “It’s the first SSS that’s appeared in the past three months.”

“What’s the rush?” Sophie asked with a frown. “We could’ve waited for a different one.”

“Scared?” Zeke asked with a smile on his face.

“As if,” Sophie said and snorted, “I’m just wondering why the riskiest place for our last mission before Fuselage.”

Aran was silent for a minute before answering. “I’m almost 50,” he said.

The group fell silent.

“So, it’s agreed then.”

###################################################################

“You still haven’t found him?”

The elven patrol stood in front of the elders and were silent. “I’m afraid something may have happened to him,” Celia said. The elders looked at each other and sighed. A week had passed since Vur escaped and none of the elves slept well.

“We’ll have to tell the matriarch,” Celia’s grandmother said.

“What do we tell her?” another elder asked.

Celia’s grandmother sighed. “The truth,” she said.

“… We’re screwed.”

###################################################################

Lindyss nodded. “It’s been two weeks and your control has gotten to a barely acceptable level,” she said as Vur floated in the air with crossed legs and arms. Streams of air billowed underneath him supporting his body. He was still naked.

Vur smiled showing his teeth. “This is fun,” he said as he loosened his body and stretched. He flew up and crashed into the ceiling leaving a human shaped hole. A few seconds later he fell to the floor with a thud. “That wasn’t so fun,” he moaned.

Lindyss facepalmed. “You need to concentrate harder. Too much and Aeroga will launch you, too little and you won’t get off the ground,” she said.

“I know,” Vur said while pouting. “It’s just hard.”

“Do it again,” Lindyss said.

A few more human shaped holes were created, but Vur was able to float without crashing after lunch.

“Are you ready to learn more spells?” Lindyss said with a smile, “I’m not too sure which of my spells a blue mage can learn, so I’ll hit you with everything. Try not to die~.” Her eyes glinted.

Vur shivered. “A-aren’t you enjoying this too much?” he asked.

“It’s just your imagination, Chibi Grimmy,” Lindyss said as dark orbs manifested around her.