"Why don't you bring Aeon with you, instead?" Suri asked, completely out of nowhere.
They just exchanged farewells a few seconds ago. Now that they didn't continue parting ways, it became extremely awkward.
Before Dan could decline his proposal, Suri suddenly continued.
"We don't really need him here, to be honest. Plus, you would arrive faster if Aeon were to carry Merell, right?"
Merell looked towards Dan who was appearing to think hard. He really couldn't think about anything to counter Suri's words. Maybe they could keep on pressing about the townspeople's security so Suri would change his mind, but Aeon wouldn't make much of a difference anyway, either.
The pros definitely outweigh the cons.
To Dan, it seemed like he was making the greatest decision in his life, when in fact, he just didn't want to accept a student's proposal. It made him think that he was quite incompetent. In the end, he turned towards Aeon and asked, "Morgan, what do you think?"
Aeon had been looking at Suri the entire time, his eyebrows furrowed. He was trying to figure out what the latter was truly thinking. After a few moments, he sighed. "Okay. Let's do it."
Dan and Merell nodded.
Dan turned away and started assisting Jude on removing the rope that was tied to him. It was supposed to bind him and Merell together so that they won't have too many issues when traveling. Now, it should be transferred over to Aeon.
Suri suddenly leaned in closer to Aeon then whispered, "If things go awry, please take care of my family and Korona's."
Aeon cocked an eyebrow at him and asked, "Don't you trust the Academy and the military?"
"I do," Suri replied as he turned around, "but we would feel better knowing that you're there to take care of them."
Suri and the others started heading back. They still needed to catch up with the mayor at the forefront.
Aeon already got Suri's point, but he could not help worrying about them. "Are you even capable of defending the townspeople on your own?"
"Don't worry, there aren't many beast territories around the area," Suri replied. He waved a hand in the air indicating his farewell.
After some time, his figure, along with the others, disappeared from Aeon's sight.
Dan approached Aeon as the latter stared off into space. "What' wrong, kid? Scared of being away from your friends?"
Aeon was still spacing out when he felt something in his hands. He looked down and saw the rope that Dan was untying earlier. Aeon smiled crookedly. He was too preoccupied that he subconsciously received the rope that Dan handed him.
Aeon shook off the unnecessary thoughts inside his head and started tying the rope around his body. The rope immediately turned into a makeshift saddle. Aeon inwardly laughed at himself for being a substitute horse.
Jude assisted in securing Merell on Aeon's back.
After, Dan instructed him to join the other group. Although Jude was quite reluctant about parting, he really wasn't too attached to Dan and Merell. He left the group and ran off while the others sent him off with their gazes.
"He strikes me as a good person," Aeon commented while looking at Jude's disappearing figure.
"Well, I am a good judge when it comes to character," Dan praised himself.
Yeah, sure.
Aeon and Merell stared at Dan as if he was a moron.
Merell closed his eyes and breathed deeply to calm himself down and focus.
He started casting his spell, attracting both Aeon and Dan's attention.
"Divine wind, I call upon thee to grant me thy blessing.
"Whisper unto me with thy most sacred breath."
A fierce wind started gathering around Aeon, Dan, and Merell. Their clothes rapidly flapped around as the two squinted in order to avoid hurting their eyes.
Merell focused and stayed silent for an entire four seconds that seemed like an eternity. His eyebrows furrowed as he struggled to keep the spell going. The wind swirled around them chaotically.
Merell struggled to continue.
"I shall bask in thy strength, and rule upon others with an Immortal's feather!"
The raging wind that had gathered around them reached its peak!
Merell opened his eyes. His pupils glowed with a silver hue.
"WIND…WALK!"
The wind around them suddenly stilled.
Then, like a vacuum, it all compressed on Aeon and Dan's bodies.
Shua!
An aura of wind whirled around their legs and feet. Whenever they inhaled, it would compress; whenever they exhaled, it would expand outwards. Their auras were attached to them and were matching their breathing. The two felt that their bodies were as light as a feather.
Merell panted. He was sweating all over and his face was a bit red. He was still having difficulty breathing when he looked up. "Let's go."
Aeon and Dan nodded.
At the same time, the two bent their legs and kicked.
They shot forward at an immense speed! They felt as if they were moving with absolute freedom. No wind blew on their faces as they hovered just a few meters above the ground.
After some time, they slowly descended. As soon as their other feet landed, they bent their knee and hopped gracefully, shooting forward once more.
The effects of such simple movements were significantly amplified. Aeon could not help feeling a slight tinge of pain in his chest—a hint of jealousy as he could not cast such a spell.
If it could really last as long as long as Merell told them it would, then the features that are given by the supportive spell Windwalk would indeed be worthy as a high-level A-ranked spell.
At the moment, Merell was keeping the spell intact by concentrating on it. This method is called channeling. With this, it could last up to four hours. However, he would not be able to cast any spells as long as it was still activated.
But this was not the limit of what the spell could achieve. The caster could also choose not to channel it. By doing this, the duration would lessen dramatically, but it would immediately be applied to a certain number of people. For now, Merell could only cast it on one, but the number would go up as the mage's mastery of the spell increases, similar to its other version.
If a well-trained E-ranked mage would be buffed by it during combat, it might even be possible for the said person to defeat an average D-ranked mage.
Aeon wanted to see that for himself. Or better yet, use it for himself. He made a note that when everything was over and they could finally go back to to the Academy, he would ask Merell for a spar.
Of course, with the advantage of him being buffed with Windwalk.
….
Three hours later, in Sera City.
It was already early in the morning. Toran Fiore quietly sat behind his office desk. He was looking west, towards the direction of Mt. Eirene.
Up until that very moment, the Eclipse Phenomenon had yet to stop. Because of this, he had been mentally exhausted since the previous day.
He closed his eyes as he tried to analyze the root cause of their dilemma.
To do this, he had to recall all the way back to the previous year along with the history of their empire.
There are two kingdoms in the Florentine Empire, the Northern Kingdom of Pas, and the Southern Kingdom of Varro.
With Sera City being in the northern part of the empire, it naturally belonged to Pas, along with eight other cities.
Varro was just as big.
Amongst the 18 cities, there are only four major ones, each having their own Academies. The smallest of these four is Sera City while the biggest one is the capital, Lerith.
Usually, the size of the city does not determine the amount of influence it could bring. However, that is exactly the case in the Florentine Empire. For many years, Sera City had been known to produce the least amount of talented people in the empire. Many also debated that their Academy's graduates were not up to par with the others.
All of these changed when Project Eclipse started.
Sera City was relatively closer to Mt. Eirene compared to all the others. Naturally, the ones who discovered the strange Eclipse Phenomenon were part of that city as well and the discovery was passed onto the Academy.
After that event, the Academies of the three other major cities began fawning over Fria, trying to get them to divulge as much research material as possible. Though they spoke humbly, it was a blatant display of their greed. After all, the results of the research could potentially be used to take over the entire continent. With this, the people who led the research would surely be the ones to obtain glory and honor.
Fria, afraid of being rid of their chance, responded aggressively with Toran Fiore challenging each of the other Academy Principals into a deathmatch. It was extremely unreasonable, but it was highly effective.
Emperor Florentine, afraid of a war starting within his empire, was forced to issue an edict.
Fria, having been the first one to discover the said phenomenon, received exclusive rights to the research. All the merits would be, and should be, given to them, and them alone. However! The results would be shared with all the other academies.
Since the Emperor had already commanded it, Fria accepted it. The three other academies agreed peacefully as well.
Toran Fiore shook his head. He could only curse at Professor Wilhelm Hugh for betraying their city. No… to be exact, he betrayed their academy.
There was absolutely no possibility that Hugh was a spy from another academy because he had been working in Fria for more than 30 years already. They could never have foreseen such an event. Toran could truly not comprehend his intentions. Moreover, he had many people supporting him. Most of which are Serans.
Where did these people even come from?! They weren't part of their men.
This could only mean that the setup was done after the discovery of the phenomenon.
Toran woke up from his thoughts when he suddenly heard the sound of a horn being blown.
HUMMMMMM!
Toran opened his eyes and rushed towards the window.
It was the sound of the emergency horn.
….