"We should be seeing it any minute now," Ada said as she gazed straight ahead.

The ostrich has been galloping steadily at approximately thirty miles per hour for about half an hour now (rather 32 minutes 41 seconds and 420 milliseconds) and according to Ada's estimate based on her perfect recollection of the surrounding landscape, her cloud palace should take only three more minutes to reach. She wondered what these two would think about her palace. She felt excited for some reason as if she was holding a housewarming party though to be perfectly frank, she had never thought her first house would be a giant palace on a floating divine cloud.

Her reverie was suddenly interrupted by a gasp from Ruciella followed by a yell from Leanne. "Vines!"

Ada looked ahead and saw that the source of fear for Leanne originated from a thicket of brawling green vines with numerous large thorns directly in their path. This must be an obstacle from Ayula to prevent anyone from reaching Ada's Divine Cloud. On one hand, she was thankful for the Goddess of Life's aid but on the other hand, this presented a clear obstacle for them as well. The ostrich did not slow down at all. She estimated their velocity and deduced immediately that she had no time to cast a fireball spell. Ada braced for impact but Sçæaisøh came to the rescue.

The man barked something harshly and the ostrich immediately responded. The ostrich's legs bent and there was a powerful kick. Ada felt a rush of air as the creature carrying all of them leapt straight forward into the air. Trudging through the vines would have required at least an hour's worth of hacking by machete assuming that the weird plant didn't retaliate with poison or whatever else. As sudden as it came, this powerful leapt carried them on the other side with a soft thud in scarcely three seconds airborne. Strangely enough, the creature landed quite gently with no solid impact she expected. She noticed the ostrich's wings flapping rapidly throughout the duration of their short flight. She wasn't an expert in biomechanics but she suspected that there was enough lift generated to reduce their velocity prior to impact. Ada nodded. Definitely would need to keep the bird around.

There was a concurrent audible sigh of relief from Ruciella and Leanne. Sçæaisøh turned his head and gave all of them a satisfied grin. He must be really enjoying their discomfort, Ada thought. She didn't blame him. She wasn't sure how satisfied he was with his previous life but it has been completely demolished in the last few hours. He has been thoroughly defeated by Ruciella and Ada in a fight, forced to subject himself to a goddess and underwent Compulsion. Frankly, she found it surprising that he was taking it so well but who knew what he was thinking inside? She planned to have a conversation with him once they're back at her palace. Leanne could continue to serve as the translator. Her Seer was infinitely calmer and more understanding than the short-tempered mage.

After they landed on the other side, it was a quick run by the ostrich to her Divine Cloud. The fog has dissipated by this point and she could see it as soon as they reached the plateau. She heard the man whistle in wonderment and Ruciella gasp. Ada and Leanne was used to the sight by now but for these two, seeing a goddess's residence must be awe-inspiring. If they thought this was something, just wait until they see the inside. Speaking of inside, Ada could see that the Gunders had not gone inside. Her inhuman eyesight discerned the figures of the Gunders and one of Ayula's priests a good twenty paces from the Divine Cloud.

The priest was calmly standing talking with the two older Gunders while the kids were playing some kind of game in the dirt with sticks and stones. Ada decided that for the kids' next present, they would get some real toys. Whether or not people celebrated Christmas or birthdays here, these kids deserved something more entertaining than muddy sticks and stones. There probably wasn't PlayStations or any kind of video game in the System but maybe classes such as checkers or marbles existed. She would test this out later. She added that as another item to do on her mental checklist.

Her wanderings were cut off by a loud shout from Sçæaisøh. The ostrich has been galloping at full speed but now stopped as suddenly as it had taken off. The mount stopped several feet in front of the Gunders and the priest. The deceleration was sudden and rapid. Surprisingly, no one lost their grip though there was a groan of discomfort from Ruciella. "Are we all good?"

Ruciella gingerly touched her head. "Ugh, my head. This is comparable to the pain of traveling to Ayula's domain."

"Oh, I do not think this was nearly as bad," Leanne turned to her with a smile.

Sçæaisøh barked something which Ada correctly deduced to be him telling them to get off the ostrich. The man leapt off and Ada followed suit. The two girls took their time to gingerly descend. Ada hasn't felt uncomfortable this entire ride unlike Leanne or Ruciella but she was anxious to get going. There was much to do that needs to be done if she was going to accomplish the task given to her by Ayula and confront gods.

The priest approached them once he saw their feet firmly planted on the ground. He said something in Exicozan directed to Ada. She shook her head and nodded to Leanne for her to answer. Leanne responded and translated for Ada. "Rodu here says that Ayula understood you were unfortunately drawn into a battle with the god Yuano. He would like to relate that we will not be interrupted in future circumstances."

Ada furrowed her brows. "I thought Ayula had said that she wasn't going to offer us any aid? Well, whatever her rationale, I think we can all agree that we can use as much help as possible."

Leanne related Ada's inquiry to the priest and he smiled before he answered. Leanne translated, "He says that this is not aiding us but rather Ayula thanking us for defeating a troublesome enemy."

"I only wish that we could have saved Shutana."

Hearing the word Shutana, the man didn't wait for Leanne's translation. He bowed slightly and replied. Leanne said, "He says not to worry. Shutana knew the risk she was taking when she agreed to take you out of the city. He also has seeds which the Goddess of Life is willing to lend us."

Ada nodded sadly on the thought of the fate of the priestess. She looked around and saw nothing. "What seeds is he referring to? I don't see anything."

Leanne translated Ada's words and without a word, the man reached into his robe sleeves and pulled out a small pouch. He handed it to Ada and she peered inside. It was full of seeds of different colors and shapes. The smallest was like a sunflower seed and the largest that of an avocado. "This is good and can solve our food issue but unfortunately, I don't have a garden here."

"That is fine. He says these seeds is adapted to grow from the energy of the Divine Cloud. There are a dozen varieties of fruits and vegetables here which would germinate every month. Unfortunately, the fruits and vegetables these plants produce do not have seeds themselves. The ones here should be sufficient to provide ample food for at least a dozen people. If you have more people here though, you would need to find other means."

"Genetic engineering after millions of years can yield some impressive results," Ada remarked. "Not to sound too greedy but are there any other gifts she's offering?"

Leanne translated Ada's words and the man chuckled before he replied. Leanne summarized his message. "No, unfortunately. If we're able to stand up to another god or goddess, then perhaps there would be another gift."

Ada was surprised that there was no message from the System upon receiving the seeds. She hypothesized the reason being that she was still not the owner of these seeds but rather just a temporary caretaker. There were loaned to her and she doesn't own them. Ada would have liked to own them but this was fine as well. Leanne continued. "Also, it's time for him to go since his mount is here. He also said that it's best that we be on our way."

Ada concurred with a nod. "My thoughts exactly."

Not needing a translation this time, the priest named Rodu bowed again. Before the priest turned around, Ada was surprised to see Sçæaisøh step towards him and say something. Sçæaisøh has been content with staying out of her conversations until now. A few words were exchanged between them. Rodu's reply contained a hint of laughter. The priest nodded. Ada turned to Leanne. "What is he saying?"

Leanne answered, "Sçæaisøh was offering our mount to Rodu. He did not want to sound insulting but he stated that Rodu's ostrich appears to be small and slow."

Ada looked past the man and saw that there was an ostrich tied to a giant boulder. Indeed, it looked much smaller than the one that carried all of them here. As far as for the creature's speed, she had no idea. Ada would be saddened to see the mount go but this was probably for the best. Maybe this could gain another favor with Ayula. Ada would never see herself as a sycophant but this wasn't one since the arrangement would be mutually beneficial. She has no idea what kind of shelter, food or other necessities ostriches would require. Also, what if it was more pain than gain? She remembered that when she was seven, she took a litter of kittens home. Her parents were not happy when they had to pay for the exterminator to kill all the flees nor when they used her grandma's antique couch as a scratching pad.

A moment later she saw the former thug lead their giant ostrich to the priest. Ada couldn't read facial expressions but she could swear that the giant bird looked down at the priest with mild disdain. She was glad to see that Sçæaisøh was able to convince the creature to stay still and let the priest climb onto its back. Once Rodu has securely held on to the harness, Sçæaisøh yelled something and the ostrich took off immediately. The priest thought he was ready but the sudden acceleration almost caused him to lose his footing. She sincerely hoped that the priest would know how to tell the bird to stop on his own. With a few quick steps, Sçæaisøh rejoined them.

Ada looked at the remaining ostrich who was still standing tied to the rock. "What's going to happen with Rodu's original ostrich? Are they just going to leave him or her here?"

Leanne reassured her with a smile. "No need to worry. Another of Ayula's followers would take it tomorrow. She was going to walk to the city but now she has a ride."

Ada activated systemhelper and called the script .

The sturdy ladder materialized in front of them. She looked around and saw that the Gunder mom has yelled at her kids to be ready to go. Without much of a word, the kids pulled themselves together and arose. They patted away the dirt on their clothes. In that family, she was clearly the one in charge. Sçæaisøh was looking at the Cloud and muttering to himself whereas Ruciella was crouching next to a clump taking the extra initiative of poking at it. While engaged in the conversation with the priest and Leanne, Ada has noticed the curious mage try and fail to pluck pieces of the Cloud. She should probably stop that before she gets hurt since Ada wasn't sure of the full danger of a Divine Cloud. It was like doing a chemistry experiment without knowing what any of the ingredients do. "Hey, Ruciella! Can you stop?"

Ruciella's face reddened and she quickly drew away her hands from the Cloud as if she was just seen committing a crime in action. She swallowed. "Sorry, my curiosity got the better of me."

"It's fine to be curious but there's no need to poke at it right now. I don't know the properties of a Divine Cloud. Experimentation should take place in a controlled safe environment unless you have some experience with it?"

Ruciella shook her head. "Yeah, it was probably a stupid thing to do."

Ada gave her an encouraging smile. "Maybe some of your professors at the Academy would know."

Ruciella nodded half-heartedly and walked back to join the group. The magician seemed to have little faith in her teachers' level of expertise. Ada was hopeful that there were at least some experts there regardless of what she thought. Everyone was gathered around the ladder but no one took the metaphorical and literal first step to climb. Ada wanted to gesture for the Gunder family with kids to go first but quickly rejected it. This was not the line to an amusement park and in their eyes, she was a divine goddess who naturally had more rights. She muttered to herself, "Well, they're not wrong. Even if I wasn't a deity, I am still the one who lives here and I should lead the way."

Once she started climbing, the others quickly followed. She walked a few steps so that she wasn't at the edge of the cloud. Someone falling off the Cloud would not be a good start to this trip. As soon as all of them were safely situated close to her, she deactivated the and the ladder transformed back to that of the Divine Cloud. "Welcome to my humble abode. Everyone ready to set off for the Academy?"

Ruciella nodded. Leanne translated her words for everyone else who didn't understand the Divine Tongue. They all nodded.

"Good! Ruciella, do you know what direction the Academy is towards and how far away it is?"

"I know the Academy is directly northeast of here past the Mystic Mountains but I'm not exactly sure in what orientation. Not to worry though since all Academy members carry a Compass."

"A Compass?"

Ruciella explained. "It's a magical compass which always points towards the closest Academy. In this case, the closest one is mine."

"Interesting...I don't suppose you know how it works?"

The girl shook her head sadly. "No, I'm afraid not. These devices were created before the Rift War and unfortunately the means to produce them has been lost. Maybe one day with the Galacia Club's research. For now, perhaps only the gods know but you know how they refuse to share any of their knowledge."

She added apologetically, "Not you of course."

Ada smiled. "Not to worry. At this point, I'm simply glad that you have something so convenient. And with Ayula's seeds which I'm going to test out real soon, I say that we've resolved the food situation for the time being. Time to drop the osmium and float away."

Despite two problems resolved, Ada knew that she still faced the major issue of having a more precise and faster means of moving her floating palace instead of just depending on the random directions of the atmospheric wind at different altitudes. She activated systemhelper and the Divine Cloud started to very slowly rise. It was near imperceptible at first. After everyone except her and Leanne had time to absorb the scene with an intense gawking session which lasted maybe a minute, Ada impatiently gestured for them to follow her to the path. "It's a fantastic view but it's better when we've risen some distance up in the air. Let's go. There's a lot I want to discuss with all of you before we reach the Academy."