“ Council in Emergency Session

Following the drastic escalation in tension along the Abenstadt border the past week. The Council of Arteria and representatives from the Nautican Union, the Grand Duchy of Abenstadt, and Eryanian Enclave met within the Chamber of Stalwart for a full day of deliberation. Though held behind closed doors, Divicos Representative Ashram Meyers was quick to offer words of reassurance that “Everything that can be discussed, is being discussed. All options are on the table and the Trading Houses stand behind whatever decision will be made.”

It has to be said that both Archon of War Belisar and Grand Duke Leofric have condemned the violence on the border, with both sides pointing to each other as the instigator. With the border zones now flooding with troops from both sides, no one has been able to ascertain the facts of the matter beyond combat reports and heresy. The Arterian Minister of War has also made a statement about the incident…”

- Arterian Affairs, All Editions, “Front Page - 29th of Caeus”

Sophie gently stroked Aryana’s head much to the amusement of the siblings who watched the exchange with bemused interest. They smiled at her and she smiled back, happy that everyone was feeling cheery. The past week had been a mixture of ups and downs and Sophie was just glad it was all over and done with. Just gotta link up with the Academy expedition, one final hurdle to go.

Thanks to the siblings, they had discovered that the expedition leaves Arteria sometime in the afternoon, leaving the earlier part of their day free. Sophie had stocked up on what supplies she could and Aryana had practically insisted that they would stick together until the time of her departure. Sophie had originally run out of ideas short of asking the Academy professors directly when Aryana suggested they ask the siblings to search on their behalf. To her surprise, they were more than intrigued to join her harebrained scheme and buzzed around their peers and department about the expedition. They were the ones who managed to find out information from a student participating on the research team and then relayed that information back to Sophie. The siblings did add one stipulation however, and that was they would at least accompany the two to the city. Of that Sophie was thankful, at least Aryana would have someone to keep her company.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her.” Maylesa grinned knowingly at her.

“Indeed, we shall see to her.” Thalnor winked, giving his side pouch a little pat, "We might be inventors and tinkerers, but we know our way around a fight."

“You just make sure you have everything you need.”

The display and bravado seemed so unexpected that she couldn't help but laugh before grinning at them, “Pfff. Alright Thalnor, whatever you say. But yeah, thanks guys.” Sophie beamed.

Sophie took a peak at her pack. She had probably as minimal of a travel pack that she could manage. It carried all bare essentials and her blade. Certainly not a lot. She had: a pillow, five days worth of dried food, a map and one spare set of underwear. It wasn’t anything to write home about but she did have one crucial advantage. Whatever void based energy radiated around her made animals and wildlife extremely wary. It also meant she could pretty much camp out anywhere and not worry too much about insects or reptiles, a pleasant boon if nothing else. Though the thought of the errant Mistveil spider still made her neck shiver, she suspected that the horrid thing had been just as repulsed by her nothingness, landing on her neck by pure unfortunate chance before she had launched it at the undead.

“It is regrettable though that our meeting will be so short today. You should definitely visit us more during the semester.” Maylesa moped.

“True. It’s just the past few weeks had me running all around the place, as you can probably tell. After this though, probably next week, I’ll either be free to roam around or be locked up somewhere.” Sophie joked.

“Let that be our collective hope then. That regardless of the outcome of your mission, you remain out of prison.”

“Pfft.” Sophie snorted, “Fair enough. To not being imprisoned.” She grabbed the nearby glass and toasted.

“To not being imprisoned.” The siblings cheered, before cackling a little at their own joke.

Sophie was more amazed at how all the noise hadn’t woken Aryana up yet. They had finished lunch earlier in the day and were now taking tea at a fancy little cafe. With the elegant style and finely curated selection on display, Sophie was aware of how under dressed she was for the occasion. Something that was thankfully remedied by the fact that the siblings had befriended the owner after they had helped repair failing magitech in the cafe a few years back. He had waved them all in though into a private room, though he did cast a few questioning glances at Sophie.

Tea was fantastic and they mauled through quite a few platters of snacks before Aryana; struck down by lunch and now teatime, yawned and curled up onto her chair. It didn’t take long before she had fallen asleep much to the amusement of everyone else. At least it’s peaceful here.

Outside however, the sky spoke of only ill omens as the frosts still hovered around the land like a predatory watching its prey. The atmosphere too seemed to shift and contort itself with each passing moment; one moment it was calm, lively even, a joyous feeling not unlike the other times she had visited; the next was far more tense and dour, as if the city itself was being pulled apart like a string, on the very verge of snapping. This strange dichotomy left her ill at ease and she shuffled uneasily in her seat, worried about what was to come once she began shadowing the expedition.

“Sophie, would you mind waking her up?” Thalor interrupted her thoughts.

“Eh?” You mean Ary?”

“Indeed. Seeing as it's about time for your departure…”

“Alright, alright.” Sophie affirmed, though she could detect the traces of a mischievous smile lingering on their faces. Just what are they planning?

Sophie gave Aryana a few shakes and prods, poking away at her cheek. In what felt like the most common response the redhead would give, Sophie’s finger was quickly snatched up by the girl’s mouth and gently nibbled on it. It was a strange sensation that she would never quite get used to, but judging by the barely contained giggles from across the table, it was amusing enough. Sophie couldn’t help but grin, giving the girl one last final poke that seemed to stir her back to realms of reality.

“Muwh?” Aryana groaned with annoyance, “Five minutes. More?”

“Wakey wakey.” Sophie cooed as she lightly tapped Aryana’s cheeks.

“S-Sophieee.” Aryana bolted awake, playfully wiggling under the sudden assault.

“Sorry, your cheeks are too squishy.” Sophie flashed an apologetic grin.

“Murrrrr.”

“Feeling awake though?”

“Eh? Ah! I’m sorry! Did I just… fall asleep? Here? Ahhh!” Aryana burrowed her head in embarrassment.

Sophie shared a moment with the siblings and they all broke into a light chuckle. The siblings then turned to each other and had what Sophie could only assume was a silent conversation before they turned back to her and Ary. Maylesa jostled with her pack and Thalnor just offered a cheeky smile.

“Sleepiness aside, we were… in a little bit of a rush.” Maylesa grunted, “But we did come up with something for you.”

“Indeed, quite a rushed job but with Aryana’s help it turned out alright, hence why we wanted her awake for this.” Thalnor added before turning towards Ary, "Though I do hope you'll forgive us for waking you."

Aryana seemed a bit confused and quirked her head sideways when Sophie noticed how her eyes suddenly got bigger. Realization seemed to dawn on her at once and Sophie watched as she bounced up and down, looking excitedly at the siblings.

“Oohhh, I didn’t think it was properly ready!” Aryana exclaimed.

“It isn’t. But we do need some field trials to figure out what’s wrong or if it is even viable.” Maylesa acknowledged.

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous though?”

“Not any less than having a friend trying to join an Academy expedition without supervision.”

“Ehhh…”

“No use worrying though, here.”

Sophie’s curious eyes widened at the sight of the small box-like shape that Maylesa placed upon the table. It was about the size of a slightly oversized music box, a little puffed out with some line-like protrusions around the outer edge hummed with mana. On the front of it was also a little mechanism that seemed to hold it in place, a lock of sorts. Could this be… Sophie’s thoughts were easy to ascertain at a glance and she found the siblings both nodding their assent. Aryana also looked extremely interested and Sophie gave her a little grin. She moved forward and twisted the small cog on the front of the case and the little device whirred to life, releasing the lock. With a satisfying click, the box opened up to reveal a cylindrical device nestled within. It was coated with a black paint that seemed more like a disguise than anything else, but beneath it, Sophie could feel the clearly concentrated mana.

“Before you get too excited, it is just a prototype. So there are still many things that need to be sorted before we’d even consider it functional.” Maylesa quipped, “For now it only stores just enough for a light spell. So err… not much.”

“Whoa.” Sophie whistled lightly, placing her hand over it and feeling the growing desire within her to just drain it all. “How’d you even make this?” The siblings immediately smiled and Sophie caught a glint of pride in both their eyes.

“The concept is miniaturisation.” Maylesa’s voice suddenly sounded far more sagely, “That is, taking what we already have and making it smaller. Now, normal metals and materials already sap away the effectiveness of magic by a small percentage, but usually, the quantity of mana expended and magic used is more than sufficient to overwhelm such obstacles. Thus in trying to make a miniature mana battery, we realized we needed to either significantly enchant the material through an arcane smith or runesmith; both of which would cost far too much to make the project viable or a scaled up production of it. Or, find a different way to not dilute the mana’s effectiveness. Thalnor, resource procurement.” Maylesa snapped her finger.

“Of course.” Thalnor nodded, effortlessly transitioning into his new role as speaker, “This is where Aryana joins us on the project.” He smiled, “A fortunate addition too since it was her idea that led to this prototype.”

Aryana blushed from the sudden attention and just silently nodded, though she couldn’t quite hide the smile on her face at the praise.

“Anyway.” Thalnor continued, “Our first attempts using the easily procurable metals that are found in normal mana batteries proved ineffective due to simply being too hard to shape and manage at the size we’re looking for.” He gestured at the box, “Furthermore, as my sister stated; there is no point in using enchanted metals simply due to cost. Not only that, but sourcing such metals from the Academy without explicit permission for a project would be quite difficult. So when Aryana suggested a more organic method, we decided to take a different approach to the matter. Would you like to share?” He raised an eyebrow at the girl in question.

Aryana shrunk a little but nodded, “Umm… right… so… okay. So what I learned from alchemy is that many umm… many potions and poultices use herbs and ground down powders as a baseline foundation. So, err, for like a health potion you’d use honey, poppies or clovers, umm… mint, water, and Godsbloom. What a healing potion does is basically kickstart the healing processes within your body by speeding up both natural and mana based recovery. Kinda like how divine magic can heal injuries and wounds but slower and less effective. Does… does that all sound about right?” She looked nervously at the siblings who smiled back.

“Wonderfully done.” Maylesa grinned.

“Indeed.” Thalnor agreed before pointing back at the box, “Now, what that means…” He began again with no signs of slowing down.

At some point or another, Sophie had simply kept quiet as the three of them drowned the room with technical explanations and descriptive details about their contraption. She was glad that Aryana had at least found something she was skilled at and seemed relatively excited about. Though Sophie admittedly felt a little loss within the crowd. Still, she managed to parse out the important details and formed a decent idea of how their mini mana device worked.

Essentially, she boiled it down to the fact that the device was metallic on the outside, but augmented by what sounded like a far too complicated explanation of dried plant matter. Aryana had taken the ingredients to a health potion, which held some properties that promoted growth within the mana stored inside a person’s body. Meaning that it should handle liquefied mana just fine. Then molded it to fit the metallic cylinder’s interior, and allowed for it to hold the mana without rendering the material useless. The protrusions meanwhile, were how they pumped the mana into the device but that also meant that there was no way of telling if the extra plant material they shoved in had correctly sealed the opening. If not, then the mana within would still be able to touch the metal and lose its potency extremely quickly. Leaving Sophie with the final product of a prototype with a shelf life of seven days, six if she counted the fact that they made this yesterday. So I really gotta get in and out fast, or this will be useless if I run into trouble. Rather, let’s hope this stays useless until I come back and can just try it out without pressure.

“... That’s about the gist of it, yes.” Maylesa stated, her nose scrunched up in annoyance.

“A truly vexing problem. That’s why it’s imperative that you try it out properly.” Thalnor turned to Sophie.

Huh?! Sophie panicked and almost yelped out loud, returning back from zoning out, she just nodded. “Of course.”

“Excellent. Like I was saying, the current configuration ‘works’ in the loosest sense of the word. So if you do get, say, a deep cut, it should still help you a bit. But the low efficacy of the mana and just the short lifespan of this means that you shouldn’t use it as a crutch.”

“As much as I hate to say it, my brother is right. This product is clearly bordering on failure already, but we still hope it can help a little. May it also serve as proof that we meant what we said when we declared we’d make this for you. The concept…”

“Just requires a little refining.” Thalnor finished for his sister.

“Of course, of course.” Sophie brushed off their concerns, “I don’t doubt that you’ll both get this done at some point. For now just seeing this prototype is amazing enough. Which, by the way, any materials you want me to keep an eye out for in the ruins?”

The two seemed to fall deep in thought before chuckling to themselves.

“You plan to rob the Academy excavation site?” Maylesa jokingly quipped, “Bold.”

“I… uhh… I didn’t mean it like that.” Sophie hastily corrected, “Just that… you know, if I can get my hands on something within reach.”

“Haha, should've seen how you squirmed there.” The elf snorted, “Fair enough. Aside from any Myndiri ingots or mechanisms…” She looked to Thalnor who looked back, their gazes meeting and the siblings both tried to hold back a chuckle.

“Considering their advanced technology, it might be worth looking for a mana battery or better yet, a mini mana battery.” Maylesa finished, letting a sudden silence take the room before she started cackling, Thalnor joining her.

For some reason, this amused the two of them greatly and they were close to a cackling fit. Sophie did not really get the joke and just settled for a half hearted sigh, Aryana also just shrugging when they made eye contact.

“Ahem.” Sophie cleared her throat, “So ingots and mechanism if possible. Maybe the solution to all my problems too if I find a mana battery and the crystal I’m looking for. That's all?”

"Yes! The solution to everything!" Thalnor proclaimed. The siblings paid attention for nary a second before giggling once again.

“Sophie…” Aryana cooed sombrely beside her, “Time…” The girl pointed to the clock.

At once the jovial atmosphere died down and a serious expression fell back upon the siblings' faces. It was just around four in the afternoon and the expedition set out in an hour. Time, it would seem, was fast running out. Thalnor locked the machine once more and handed it to Sophie. She secured it in her bag under the pillow and took one last look around the room.

“So this is it then.” Sophie grunted

‘Indeed it is. But we have the utmost confidence that you will succeed.” Thalnor jokingly saluted.

Sophie giggled and returned the salute, prompting Maylesa and Aryana to also join in. The four of them now goofily looking at each other until Maylesa broke the stalemate.

“Good luck!” The sister managed to grin.

Aryana seemed the most upset out of the three and just softly sighed. “Be safe.”

“Thanks, and I will.” Sophie acknowledged.

For another moment or two, the four of them just sat in silence until Sophie finally stood up. But before she could leave the room, she felt a small tug on her sleeve.

“Come back. Okay?” Aryana asked, looking away despondent.

Feeling a little guilty, Sophie leaned over and gave the girl a gentle peck on her forehead, startling the poor soul. Without giving Aryana time to respond, Sophie pulled away and winked. “I will.”

Knowing that she’d just get caught up if they talked more, Sophie quickly aimed for the door, giving one final wave to everyone as she left. Onwards and outwards I suppose. May the stars guide my path and may you guide theirs as well.

One thing’s gone right at least. Sophie let out a relieved sigh as she snuggled up in her spot on the wagon.

Cost cutting was a very economical thing to do. This was even more true for an institution sponsored activity that already happens more than enough over the course of the year. So it was that in order to save on transportation costs and budget, the Academy expeditions and the adventurers who guarded them would travel alongside a caravan to the Arterian - Abenstadt border before separating. What this meant was that Sophie simply just paid the caravan master and was now a ‘young troubadour’ headed towards Absenstadt to earn extra money performing for the mercenary troops.

Though the caravan was supposed to set out at five in the afternoon. Like most student related activities, the defined time was one that people liked to push as much as possible and just through the sheer act of arriving earlier than the appointed time, Sophie could get on. Rather, she had been able to assess the situation before speaking to the caravan master, making some excuse or another that she had gone to the guild to hire an escort only for a stray adventurer to offhandedly mention the caravan. He was disbelieving at first, but when he grilled her about who would be wealthy enough to hire an escort from the guild to just travel, a gold coin and two silver changed his mind pretty quickly.

Luck seemed to further be on her side when the students and professor started trickling. Fourteen students, a professor, and four guardians. None recognised her and she recognised none of them. Better yet, the guardians were wearing the colors of Abenstadt meaning they were from the loaned detachment, another layer of separation that soothed her nerves a little. No one seemed to question her and she had even gone through the trouble of wearing a nondescript dark green tunic that the siblings she had bought just before arriving. It was admittedly very itchy, but for all intents and purposes, she looked like a peasant. Well groomed, but still a peasant.

“Sorry! Late arrivals!” A voice shouted from the back of the caravan. Why does it sound so familiar?

Sophie poked her head slightly out of the wagon and died a little on the inside. Her luck it seemed, had all been spent and now the ill omens from the past weeks were quickly catching up. The adventures that were hired to escort the Academy students were naturally going to be trusted and capable. They would also in theory have ties to the institution itself though in this case it was more a case of being related just enough that they passed muster. Mainly, she watched as Ryo and Jun raced over with three more students in tow. Behind them, the rest of the Dragon Wagon arrived on horseback. Oh, just great.

Just as quickly as she had peaked outside, she quickly slunk back inside the caravan to sit with the bored and now slightly amused caravaneer. The man raised an eyebrow at her, and Sophie gave the only response that floated into her head.

“Bad ex.” She murmured.

She had found the answer distasteful almost immediately as soon as she had spoken. But the words were evidently familiar to the rugged caravaneer and the man put on a sagely frown and nodded. His brows knitted together and he just beckoned for her to take her seat. Sophie obliged and resumed sitting in a corner with a box in front of her, hopefully obscuring herself from the outside. The man gave a small chuckle and sighed.

“Yer ‘oung, So lemme tell ya this. Its always easy to get back together, ‘arder to move on.” He finished his words with a proud, almost enlightened look on his face.

His words made sense in their own little phrases. But given the context of the situation, Sophie was left so baffled by the lack of a clear meaning that she could only sigh, not knowing how to respond. The man thankfully took it as understanding, returning back to his seat before staring blankly at the wagon’s floor again. A peculiar fellow, but at least he isn’t prying. Also what the hells brain, an ex? Really? Though I guess it is one of the more relatable answers and not as suspicious.

A loud whistle sounded from the front of the caravan. Sophie looked over just as the wagon jolted suddenly, nearly sending her flying from her seat. Barely holding on, she gripped the backrest and felt the nervousness build up within her. Step one done. Now I just have to somehow avoid being found out. Easier said than done, considering it’s the Dragons, just gotta hope they don’t recognise me much. Goddess help me. She muttered to herself. Yet, despite the nervousness, there was also an equally increasing sense of excitement that bubbled up alongside it. Here she was, back on the road again. Despite the dangers that potentially lay ahead, on some levels, she arguably felt more calm than her presentation on Traxia earlier in the week.

She let out a small yawn and nodded at the man. The caravaneer gave her a thumbs up that told her she wouldn’t be needed to pitch in anytime soon. With nothing left to do, she closed her eyes and waited.