There was a huge continuous roar that began as soon as Icarus entered the cloud while the surroundings changed. They were now in the dragon line gate, flying dead centre.

Niera began chocking beside John though John himself was fine.

The high winds, while mild in the centre, were forcing out the air like a vacuum.

John took out a leaf from his inventory and placed it in front of Niera. Her eyes narrowed on its simple single purple petal form with red veins. She had never seen one.

Seeing the confusion John placed it against her lips and had he not held onto the stem, she would of inhaled it. Though as she attempted a fresh breath of air greeted her cough. The leaf was releasing air, allot of it.

Like this she couldn't talk and the two only starred at their surroundings.

The tunnel was dark and loud, only illuminated by the cloud behind them and in front. Their forms releasing light in flashes from the Lightning within them that were inaudible over the wind.

And then they were out.

It was not a long trip but most definitely dangerous.

Niera's face began bulging like a chipmunk. The leaf in her mouth was still releasing air.

With a great puff she let it go, scrabbling to catch it her hands.

John let out a laugh, it was most definitely a cute face that she made. Then she ran to the alchemy lab and he followed quickly after.

The sky tiger was fine, magic enchantments on the doors kept the room at a constant and it was still sleeping.

Niera let out a sigh of relief. Had her responsibility died on her without even being able to act, she would not live it down. Despite how driven she was, life was still precious to her and more then that, taking care of this animal would get her closer to helping the princess.

Niera handed the leaf back to John thinking it was precious.

"That was in your mouth, please keep it." John didn't think he could get sick in the world of first but this was a bit to intimate. It reminded him of people sharing the same piece of gum which on a second thought, went past intimate and straight to disturbing.

"It's a trident sea coral tree leaf, it has special attributes that release air. Push some magic into the stem and it will seal for awhile. Just bite it to break the seal if you need air, then repeat to get it back on."

"I have nothing to give for something like this."

"It's fine, just take care of that sky tiger well."

"I. I understand. Thank you."

John smiled. Company wasn't so bad even if she was but a timid twig before him. It was usually just him and Icarus.

"By the way Icarus, where are we?"

"East side of the unclaimed region four eight four."

"What's the danger level?"

"Based on the charted territories moving towards this region, it should be a minimum of eight but that guess is highly speculative."

"I see. It wouldn't be good to leave the ship then."

"Excuse me, what are you speaking about?" Niera inquired.

"Ah?" John just realized another problem and it was a big one. How exactly was she going to pass as human when she didn't know their languages? That was like trying to run a race with no legs.

John just shook his head. Did this Niera have any planning at all? Or was she just hoping to bump into a dragon after a hundred years of walking? Then again, with that firefight from before, maybe she didn't get the chance to prepare.

Not wanting it to give him a headache later, he went below deck.

The Icarus' main body was an elongated ovoid, split in half with its top pushing toward the stern. In the area the two overlapped was a gap where they were attached by a series of rooms built between, a few of which were the ones most recently used by John.

Within the top half was the helm where navigation tools, manual steering, and a large table meant for planning. Though that area didn't have much use as Icarus had, for some time now, taken up the roles.

The lower half was where the magic crystals were found, that stored the required magical energy to maintain the runes. One would suffice for a ship but Icarus had two, the second serving an additional purpose yet to be revealed.

In front of the crystals yet still in the ships belly was John's personal archive. John kept most of his items on him but doing so for books would be confusing and so he left them down here on shelves where they could be organized. A, b, c, d, they were all in order.

It was here that John brought Niera.

Pulling out a book containing a faint trace of magic, he handed it to her.

"This is a book on the tongue of ancient human, it hasn't changed since back then. The common tongue of humans is just limited and contains less words in comparison.

Now learn it and return it in one piece. I'm only lending it to you because you would bring me far too much trouble otherwise."

"Thank you." Niera followed the motions of a curtsy and though she did now have cloth to hold in this armour, it still came across as polite. "I will repay your kindness."

John yawned. "I'd never expect that much since I just do what I do on a whim. Now I'm going to get some sleep so I'll leave. If you need something, just call for Icarus. Oh, and don't forget about the skytiger."

Niera stayed in her curtsy and left for above.

After a few minutes Niera returned to a proper standing position. Though she was the shadow maiden of the elven princess, paying her respects to this man didn't seem wrong. Even if she was back in the empire, connected to her vast resources, she would probably say the same.

His alchemy healing, magical arcane presence, black wings, his likely ability to break seals, him giving her exquisite armour, his ship, a skytiger, and knowledge of ancient languages. They all added to image of someone big but he was clearly acting the role of a nomad.

Meanwhile, John hoped up to the ships top. Laying back he watched the sky full of wonders that were more then a moon and stars, then fell asleep. Sleeping in virtual reality or reality made no difference as long as the mind had its chance to rest.