The first checkpoint they flew through was a massive halo that seemed to eclipse the whole of Deep City, floating beneath the mountainous volume of the floating city above. In slow rotation, the disk of a blue-red glow moved with the smoothness of a wristwatch movement, neither clashing with the landmass above or even touched by the showers of the Savoie Resonant Falls.
"That is the Luna Float-Ring. It keeps the entirety of High City level, stops here from tipping over." The trio received a notification from Ketsu on their Notebooks.
"Huh, my next thought would have been that it kept the whole thing in the air?" Wondered Tersia as their group passed through the aura of the Float-Ring, feeling a thrusting sensation wash over them before dissipating, only for Stephen to speak up in a distant and occupied tone.
"To keep High City in the air, that would have to be the Sol Float-Ring."
"Sol, like the sun? So that means–"
"Yes, it sits above the mountains of the island and it's far larger than its sister Float-Ring."
"That's right, Stephen. I'm impressed, who would have thought that you would have taken to studying the history of Aria." Another message came in.
"I'd be smiling at your words had I actually studied."
"So what, you just happened to know?" Vaceris questioned, doing very little to disguise her doubt.
"Yes."
"..."
"That's enough, you two. We need to find our next checkpoint. The Songspires, right? I've never heard of such a thing, Stephen. How can we find it?"
"If you're asking me what it looks like, I couldn't tell you. There's still something I'm not sure of."
"Then what do you know, Stephen? Because it's starting to sound like outside of a fight, you're just as useless as–"
"Vaceris, that's enough. Harsh words and heated tempers aren't going to help us right now."
"Tersia's right, Princess."
"Fine! What do we do now?"
"The only logical thing. They're called Songspires. Best guess is whatever they are, they're singing."
"Really?"
"We have the Tuning Lake right below, and we just flew through the Resonant Falls, none of them were named ironically. If the musical motif stands in the realm of Aria, then the Songspires will most definitely sing."
"Whatever, I'm much too tired to argue. Lead the way. You too, Tersia, you're hearing is far more keen than either one of ours."
With amber glow of the afternoon light shimmering against the crystal waters of the river below, an alabaster monument would occasional share its glint, appearing as a pillar of white stone that reached far above any built around it, they checked their Notebooks to find their maps had been updated with the city's scantily informative details.
"It's to be expected. Information is as much a tool as it is an opportunity to gain an upper hand. There's no way the Academy would just spoon-feed us the answer. For now, that thing–"
"It looks to be called Ceil - Tailleur Monument, the Lance that Split the Skies." Tersia noted, bringing her mount up from the rear to fly above Vaceris and Stephen.
"Right…what are you doing up there?"
"From this point, most of the students are going to be chasing the next checkpoint rather than trying to ground us. There's too much sky and not enough time for them to waste on us. So for now, I'd rather work on figuring out what we're looking for."
"For now, we can make our way to the monument. From what the Map says, it should be in the heart of High City. A decent landmark to scout from as any." Vaceris, while not prepared to wait on Stephen's approval, she still waited to hear his thoughts. Rather than his fierce protest, she watched as he drew on his reins to drive his Ryokin towards their new destination.
As they approached the white-clad pillar, they would pass immense gilded arches guided their gaze to the entrances of many cobbled stone streets and roads that ran between the red-bricked schools and cultural institutes of study.
Where ornate depictions of various historic figures and artists marked walkways through the city, the exhibit like the appearance of it all would be overwhelming for any new observer, something noted by Stephen as he flew past the remarkable filigree of the fenced buildings.
Having slowly dropped in the height at which he was flying brought Stephen into and between those bricked streets within the same distant air about him. Only ascending back to meet the rest of his companions after Tersia summoned his mount with a piercing whistle.
"Stephen! Don't lose yourself to the spectacle, we need to focus." Vaceris snapped him out of his daze, with Tersia eagerly waiting.
"...Yeah. I'm with you, Princess. From here it's just a straight line to the next checkpoint."
"You seem pretty sure for someone who hasn't been here before?" Vaceris asked as the beast joined their flight side by side. Only for Tersia to raise a finger at them, urging silence from them, with her ears pricked and twitching, her object of her focus jerked from side to side in search of the sound of such a strange sound.
"She's caught it, like a shark with the scent of blood in the water. The singing, it's faint but unmistakable."
"It's strange, but yes…I think we should be going there."
"The Whistling Oak...but...eh, forget it." Stephen cleared his throat as his words caught her attention, but before she could ask he pushed on ahead.
"What was that about?"
"Hmm, who knows. I doubt we'll find out if we just sit back, let's get going Tersia."
The trio blew past the onlookers below as they neared the whistling tones, with the sight of the evergreen mass coming into view before the beasts let out a shriek. Jerking away from one another as they approached the treeline forcing them to land as the beasts threw off their riders and began flailing their wings.
They were met with a shower of glass hurled at them, though not piercing them or their mounts, simply encasing the Ryokin's feathers and hindering their flight as their wings were bound stiff. But on Tersia's order, she told them to continue on their way to the checkpoint while she calmed the beasts.
Their frantic panic made it increasingly more dangerous for the riders, with them going as far as to claw and bite at the plague of glass, injuring the Class 1F riders in the process.
They managed to find the melodic groove and reach the checkpoint. Their Maps called this place, the Melody Woods, home of the Whistling Oaks and the Songspires.
From how much their mounts were struggling, Stephen suggested that they land, giving the beasts enough time to unshackle their wings. Coming to an unsteady glide before leaping between the massive limbs of the towering, singing trees. Wasting no time, Tersia moved to keep them calm while Vaceris and Stephen moved to tend to the beasts.
While hard at work, Class 1B and Class 1A flew over them. Seeing exactly what the glass was doing to them, Tersia quickly explained to them.
"It's not just covering their wings, it's inside of them."
"What? I thought you said it was that bad?" Vaceris stepped away from the beasts to confront Tersia, who seemed even more distraught at what Ryokin were going through, realizing that they were trying to throw them off, they simply wanted to stop flying because of the pain.
"What happens if we break the glass covering the wings?"
"It'll just stop anymore from growing. But the glass that's already inside will just tear away at it."
"I see." While Tersia was stroking the head of her mount, trying her best to soothe it, Stephen stepped away from them to the rear of the beast.
"What are you doing back there? It's not safe–"
But Stephen continued, until she reached the creature's curled up wings. With a vibrant twitch and occasional flutter, it was easy to tell how much pain the creature's were enduring. Stephen picked up a discarded shard of glass from the ground.
"Tersia, no matter what happens, I want you to hold it down. It's the only way…i think…"
"Wait, Stephen, stop before you–" But the members of Class 1F are nothing if not quick to act, as with a decisive stroke of his arm, the shard of glass slashed a groove into the base of the wing. The moment the beast reacted to the attack, the steady flow of blood dribbled out, with drop after drop of a scarlet-violet fluid that was heavy with the smell of metal.
Giving neither the beast or its rider time to panic, he ordered her in a fierce voice to hold it down, even silencing Vaceris with how demanding his tone suddenly became. Tersia was too stunned to force any words out, and instead directed her focus to her hold over the beast that tried to thrash and tear at its back.
Placing a hand over the wound, a light that resembled the marriage of the brightest white and the most vivid blue flowed from his eyes and the palm of his hand, pouring over the wound and strangely…flowing into it.
The pair watched the light display with no idea of what Stephen had been doing while the sounds of muffled struggle and tension came out from beyond their view. In front of him, the ghostly blue light faded from the wound as he clenched his fist before gripping the wound with his other hand, feeling the blood rush towards it, he felt a calm wash over the beast.
"It…worked." He stumbled for a moment as he walked over to hand them the handful of pulverized and bloodied glass in his hand.
"How did you…what did you do?" They asked.
"I used my magic to destroy and extract the glass."
"You controlled your Water Magic, with that much precision?"
"What do you think all that training was for if not to make us better? Now, we have to do the others, while I still have some strength?"
Back at the foot of the Bloodsong Mountains
"The first group of students have now left High City." Said Reiss before the view of the model shifted and expanded to encompass and display a portion of Deep City.
"And...who's in the lead?" Taro wondered with excitement.
"Well..." Yuria also grew more curious as she watched the magical model when the moving flames flared for a moment before forming into distinguished figures.
"Shit! Seems like those kids could wind up costing me some serious uld."
"Hmm?" She began pulling at his ear.
"Relax, Yuria. Your kids are still in the race. Right now:"
Ryokin Race through Aria: Checkpoint 2 - Deep City, Halcyon Square
Position 1# Class 1D: Castle Audrake, Nero Archlight, Straea Lumiere.
Position 2# Class 1A: Edros Jaeger, Natali Blake, Rhea Morlei.
Position 3# Class 1B: Rydriff Royce, Lain Gregorias, Altia Cruelhest.
Position 4# Class 1C: Selesete Fairosee, Aya Schultz, Edie Les.
Position 5# Class 1E: Ash Kord, Klyf Hendricks, Lyon Stadt.
Position 6# Class 1F: Stephen Markholdz, Vaceris Ieollavard Astembridge, Tersia Lamiastell.
"Now you can take a breath, Yuria. Damn!"
"Hmph, can't say I'm not surprised to see Colt's students in the lead, but what about you, Reiss? You were talking up such a big game in the staff room and now…" Ms. Yuria teased, drawing Taro's attention to the frustrated Reiss who pushed his face away before focusing on the model.
"It's not over yet. My class will pick themselves up and push forward towards victor–"
"He really said that?" Taro murmured to Yuria who nodded with a smile.
"He strolled in with that stupid grin of his and went on about how: 'All you brown-nosing rack jobbers should watch out because come tomorrow, my class is going to wipe the floor with all of yours then we'll see if your joke is still funny'." Doing her best to hold a straight face as her chuckles slipped out every so often.
"Haha! What kind of joke would piss him off like that?"
"Are you two listening to me?"
"He was placed in charge of the First-years of Class F."
"Oh, that's rough buddy." Taro tried to comfort his friend before being pushed away again.
"You know what, let's just watch the show alright." He said, pouting as his gaze grew more acute and more of the students became visible within the bounds of Deep City.
Atop the many buildings around the city were the different groups of students with Class 1A waiting near the Halcyon Square General Hospital, the building's glassy surface glimmered in the rays of the setting sun.
"Herce, are you certain of this?" Vauntuss asked.
"Yes yes, just stand at the ready. We don't want a repeat of what Raon did." She responded as the pair looked down from the building at the ground.
"Here they come..." The crowd called out as the first of the riders came through the city, swiftly passing the tops of the buildings as Patrulea waited in excitement only for the riders to pass right by their skyscraper.
"Eh...what?" One of the other riders passed right by the hospital with Class 1A's riders being the only ones to pass through the checkpoint at the top of the building.
"It worked, you can rest now." Herce fell to her knees as Vauntuss rested a hand on her shoulder.
"You worry too much, Erie. I'm fine, they're back in the lead so the rest is up to them." Princess Charlotte took Vauntuss' hand and together they descended the skyscraper atop an ice pillar before they joined their class as they left for the final checkpoint: the Battle Arena of the Academy.
"Where are you going, you missed it?" Raged Patrulea as Class 1F and Class 1E passed over her, managed to fly right through the checkpoint.
She called to them, the riders were getting ready to respond when their vision glazed over for a moment with the building in their pursuit shimmering before the structure dissolved and into an unfamiliar form.
"Captain! We–the checkpoint, it's gone."
"Damn it! Was it an illusion this entire time? Whatever, just follow the route on your Notebooks, that should help. Hurry." Though her words were drowned out by the sound of the other classes jetting past her as they made for the school as well. All chasing the land checkpoint.
"Come on, what's the hold up, answer me dammit?"
"Captain, we're being attacked. I don't know from where but they're biting at us. Whose mutts are these?" The riders bellowed.
"Was that really necessary?" Natali asked as they were approaching the riders in the lead.
"They may bite and scratch but the Donnerwolfe will not maim, not under my command."
"Well then Edros, those ahead of us aren't slowing down, mind taking care of them?" Rhea asked.
When the young man nodded, with Class 1F in front, a smile appeared on his face before letting go of his reins and interlocking his finger...moments later, vivid sparks would burst out from his body that quickly formed into a canine shape.
Pointing at the thunder beasts' next target the creatures once again chartered after those ahead of them while a few broke away to attack Class 1C's riders beside them.
"I don't think we're going to make it, but...I'll keep them busy while you two push on ahead."
The rumbling tides of rolling clouds and darkening skies signaled the approach of danger as the beasts were catching up to Vaceris and her group and seeing them disrupt the Ryokin, they were all drawn to a singular sight, how close they were to the Arena, before turning to face the assault, employing them to keep ongoing.
Vaceris leapt off her Ryokin before summoning her SoulArm to her side and with the last of her magic summoned a powerful gust of wind.
Launching them forwards whilst sending her careening into the wolven attack with a blast that would haven't knocked off the other riders had a mysterious glass barrier not appeared, deflecting the attack upwards and allowing the rest of the riders to push on.
"And the winner of the second round of the Carnival is Class 1A."
Flying in before crashing onto the arena floor soon after was Class 1F followed by Class 1B who swooped in landing beside the victors of the first and second round.
The classes that already joined them in the crowd watched on as they waited, one slot left and three teams remaining, everyone watched with bated breath…
"The final winners of the second round are Class 1C."
"I could have sworn that it would be Class 1D." Reiss added as he stepped through a fiery portal and landed on the bleachers, joined by Taro and Yuria as they watched the students celebrate.
Students rave lively enough to rouse the dead and draw the notice of all creatures that could lend an ear. However, the maelstrom of celebrations would fall to calm after Ulrich ordered the arena to stay their madness.
Ryokin Race through Aria: Checkpoint 3 - Trinity Cross Academy, Battle Arena
Position 1# Class 1A: Edros Jaeger, Natali Blake, Rhea Morlei.
Position 2# Class 1F: Stephen Markholdz, Vaceris Ieollavard Astembridge, Tersia Lamiastell.
Position 3# Class 1B: Rydriff Royce, Lain Gregorias, Altia Cruelhest.
Position 4# Class 1C: Selesete Fairosee, Aya Schultz, Edie Les.
The headmistress announced the rules for the final round and ordered the students to get treatment and get some rest to prepare.