NOTICE: This is the final chapter in the arc, there will be no new chapters for a while.

HAITUS: Yes…its true…read it and weep D’:

Buuuuuuuuuut…the haitus will probably be short, two weeks tops. I will be attempting to rewrite a six page buffer (yes…you guys convinced me to post every chapter in my reserve :3 ) if after two weeks I still can’t rebuild the buffer worry not! I will then begin posting Sundays and Wednesdays( one chapter each time until said buffer is rebuilt.)

ALSO: be prepared! You have only seen a small fraction of the world (you should see my notes and maps!) the world will get a little bit bigger and a little bit broader in the following arc, not going to tell you its name because it will spoil it for you hehehe

ALSO#2: As you will notice with this chapter I have introduced a new change in my writing style, it be but a prelude!

ALSO#3: DID NOT EXPECT THAT REACTION! Lol, it surprised me how animated many of you became after I introduced a little tragedy hehehe. I liked it enough that I may just keep piling in some good drama :)

Chapter Twenty Four

*** Almighty Narrator ***

After the trial Leo was pardoned by his grandfather, though the old king had no intention of ever harming the boy, and allowed to pay his debt with fulfilling his promise.

Now you might be thinking, flight? That’s quite a leap in technology, however he used a simple method by which to make a craft fly. Using helium and a sort of blimp format he countered most of the vessel’s weight with the light air. The vessel was also then further aided by anti-gravity engines, crystalline nodes powered by the sun through solar collectors on the topside of the vessel.

Leo discovered how to manipulate gravity from the simple desire to fly, but realized that the magic involved was actually more complex than simply using thrust for flight. After many leaps from a high cliff he managed to discern the natural cosmic force of gravity and manipulate it through the use of mana. Generating weightlessness became the simple decompression of space, the straightening of the wrinkles so to speak. Unfortunately doing anything else with that becomes simply too complex and wasteful.

The Flying Fortress class vessels were designed like X’s with each end point containing a blimp of helium while the center of the X has a round two floor deck. The center portion is three hundred meters in diameter and thirty feet high, each blimp is one hundred feet in length and forty five feet in diameter at its widest. The vessels can carry a maximum of two thousand people comfortably and twenty five tons without straining the engines, in other words it has the capacity of a cruise ship and the cargo lift strength of a chinook.

It uses a combination of wind manipulation magic and elemental fire magic for propulsion, with wind magic it cuts through the air with minimum resistance and with fire magic it fuels the turbines that turn the rotor blades by boiling water and creating pressure via steam.

The maiden voyage of the first vessel was a huge success which prompted the king to commission a whole fleet of them.

The Illuminated were a big help in creating the crafts and keeping the magical crests and technology used to create the crafts a secret. The work on the ships also aided the Illuminated to grow further, its members reaching past a thousand and its scattered bases reached to several dozen.

There was a confrontation between Bulbaria and Moraia, the first vessel was rushed and completed within four months and managed to be present. Though Bulbaria’s fleet numbered well over eight hundred vessels of varying size, more than twice the size of Moraia’s own fleet, Prince Adrian who was left to command the fleet, quickly retreated. The man knew that the ship above, the flying vessel would be a devastating factor in the battle. With it high in the air the Bulbarian fleet ran too much of a risk of being severely damaged without it ever being able to reach the flying fortress.

After the fleets pulled away from each other a peace negotiation took place, in exchange for peace Moraia would drop taxes on trade goods for five years and pay a classified amount in reparation over the course of those very same five years.

Leo did not design any weapons for the ships and in fact the weapons he used during the time he hunted for Sophia had all been confiscated by a secret force. The Illuminated later sent him a letter informing him that the weapons were being stored in a certain vault facility and guarded by the Illuminated’s best men.

Eleanor, who felt betrayed, avoided Leo actively seeking to stay out of his sight, not that it was difficult, the boy had his hands full with the projects his grandfather kept pushing on him. The boy was incredibly gifted in just about everything he did and that which he did not yet know he quickly learned and mastered. He directed his vast army of artisans, carpenters, masons, and smiths to the best of his abilities as he built ports and sky towers for resupplying and docking the flying fortresses.

Sophia, while she hasn’t recovered, she has regained some of her old cheerfulness and has taken up the mantle of scholar alongside Leo. She is a very curious child with a great retention ability which allows her to quickly learn many complex concepts that only Leo fully understands. Though just a child, she was already showing great promise.

Leo, interestingly enough, avoided his mother. He found that he could not handle being around her and always afraid that she might show a face of betrayed disappointment to him. Unable to deal with that he coped with immersing himself back in his old world of research and development.

As for Chasity, she married lord Burton, it was not a marriage out of love, but it was not one without it. Chasity found herself in love with the people of his land who had come to love her as she aided in their prosperity as a powerful mage. Burton was not a bad man either, though a bit on the hefty side, he was a kind man, one who cares about his people. While marrying him tied her down, she felt that it was not an entirely bad thing, she had silently thanked Leo for making her the powerful she was and for being able to help those people.

After she was married she sent for her family, a year after she lived with Burton she made a trip back to her old village to say goodbye to her father at his grave site. When she saw his likeness carved into the stone she had wept, she apologized for not having been strong enough to protect him and promised to do her best to help the people that now rely on her.

She had been surprised by the messengers Leo had sent not long after she had arrived in Nosavick, the lord had refused to return her but promised that no harm would befall her.

She was less surprised but more shocked after hearing the news that Leo had carved a war path through Bulbaria effectively burning down a portion of one city on his mission to reclaim Sophia. She was a little resentful that he had not put the same effort in rescuing her, but with time she came to terms with it.

The iron sand mine begun by Helton and Leo was turned over to the Illuminated, a facility was constructed over the cave system and the forges began pumping smoke and steel. Most of this resource would be used by the Illuminated feeding the organization a valuable resource.

As for Bastion, he discovered a massive underground temple deep in the walled off southern half of the new continent. He was charged with leading the efforts for excavation in hopes of finding something of value or historical importance within. Gianna moved to be with Bastion along with Eleanor who wanted to be away from Leo as this new project was likely to take several years.

Bastion’s time was split between exploring the southern half of the new continent and governing the colonies which had started to explosively grow as the wide open lands prompted many new births.

Two years into the project Bastion discovered a giant library in the temple containing many tomes of old magic and knowledge. A coalition of nations with Bulbaria at its spearhead forced Moraia to open the library to all nations or risk going to war with all the nations. The coalition feared the power Moraia was gaining with its flying castles and now with a whole trove of ancient magic.

A world academy was quickly established, teachers and masters from all the nations rushed to enroll as staff and nobles and royals rushed to get their children inside. The academy was established for students of all ages, from the young to the old. The highest ranking individual within this established territory would be the headmaster, and in essence he would be king of a neutral and newly established city state.

Leo, who was banned from Bulbaria and would never get to cash in on Adrian’s invitation to visit the capitol’s academy, decided to go where the action was and as always Sophia followed.