The day had turned from early morning to late noon. The ride from District One to District Three of Sonas had not taken the majority of time; it was reaching the next place that was eating so much of it. After all, only resource transportation vehicles went in and out of here, so the only way to reach the destination was by foot.
Therefore, Ryuzio walked onward with his two squadmates to his either side, his jacket around his shoulders. The air was drier out here compared to the wet and chilly atmosphere of Sonas, the afternoon sun screaming above their heads.
The towering buildings of Sonas were nowhere to be seen around this almost barren landscape, the only thing saving it from becoming fully so were the yellowish grass and the few small shrubs scattered here and there. They'd indeed moved quite a long way east of District Three. Yet, their destination still seemed out of sight.
Ezlus, the mining town. It was their first step toward a skyjet. And that's why even walking through this dull landscape was still enough to fuel the flame of excitement that burned brightly inside of Ryuzio. He knew that with each step he put in front of the other, he was getting closer to the Higher Skies. But there was still one thing he was feeling more than excitement…
"I'm hungry," Ryuzio complained as his stomach growled. "When're we going to get there?"
"We're close," Joysaleen said, breaths heavy. Curiously, she'd put her mask back on, hiding away the Healmarks on her cheeks. "We'll be able to see a small plateau-like formation. The area will be fenced and transport vehicles will most likely be parked there."
"So we just get inside one?" Hitryel said, wiping the sweat on his forehead. He had tied his shirt around his waist, baking his bare body under the blazing sun. "How many skyguards will there be to fight?"
"That won't ever work," Joysaleen said, shaking her head. "Those vehicles are the ones that go back to Sonas. If we want to get inside a vehicle that's going to Welkis, we'll have to reach the far side of Ezlus. There we'll find…" She paused, pointing ahead.
"Whoa!" Ryuzio shaded his widening eyes. "That's one of those things… A Skybridge!"
The triangular gate-like structure of around 100-foot of vertical height loomed over from behind the plateau-like formation up ahead, the humid air distorting its shape. The formation was just as Joysaleen had described, surrounded by fences and boards, transportation trucks parked along the inside of the border.
"That's the Skybridge to Welkis," Joysaleen said, turning to Ryuzio. "There won't be a hoverbus to catch, so we'll have to sneak onto a transport truck Crossing the Bridge."
"Then what're we waiting for?" Ryuzio replied with a smile, raising his fist, turning toward the direction of the Bridge. "Let's go—!"
Joysaleen grabbed him by the collar before he could dash off. "It's not that simple."
"Wanna see who gets there first?" Hitryel said, stretching his quads.
Ryuzio nodded sharply. "What's the prize?"
"Huh? Prize?" Hitryel said, raising a brow. "Winning, obviously."
"That's a dumb prize!" Ryuzio said, brows furrowing. "How about this: the winner gets to eat the loser's dinner."
Hitryel shrugged. "I'm good with that. But don't complain when you sleep tonight with an empty stomach."
"Okay! Now it's on!" Ryuzio said, setting his eyes to the Skybridge. "3… 2… 1… LET'S GO!"
Both of them took off at superhuman speeds, Ether pumping through their muscles, strengthening them.
"You can't just leave me here!" Joysaleen shouted from behind, not even trying to chase after them. "Did you two hear me!"
###
Ryuzio was ahead of Hitryel as they raced toward the Skybridge. But at the very next moment, Hitryel crossed him.
"I've been doing this for years," Hitryel said with a smile. "No way for me to lose to you!"
"Oh, yeah?" Ryuzio said, also smiling, sending more Ether down to his thighs, blitzing past Hitryel. "I've been doing it since I was a little kid! You can't beat me!"
"But I will!" Hitryel said, sending his Ether down to the legs, catching us to Ryuzio, running right beside him. "The mountains have more atmospheric pressure and less air. I've trained in a much more challenging environment than you!"
"The mountain forest I trained in had wild beasts running all around them," Ryuzio said, keeping up with Hitryel. "So don't call yours a challenging enwirement!"
"Those were just some animals," Hitryel replied as they both ran right alongside each other. "But in the mountains where I trained, we had 8-foot tall wrestling bears. And I still beat them as a little kid!"
"What about a goldenback gorilla?" Ryuzio said, tucking his chin to get a little bit ahead. "Yeah! I beat it!"
"I don't know what those are," Hitryel said, leaning forward to keep up. "But if you were able to defeat them, then so can I!"
"Well…" Ryuzio said, shutting his eyes, trying to outpace Hitryel. "I'm gonna be the Sky King!"
"Huh? What's this?" Hitryel said, but then also shut his eyes. "I'm gonna be Unrivaled under the Stars!"
"But this race…" Ryuzio said, heavy breaths attached to each word.
"This race…" Hitryel said, also breathing heavily.
They both opened their eyes, looking ahead, shouting aloud the same thing, "I'LL WIN IT—!"
Ryuzio's footing felt funny. "Heh—?" Before he could look down, he was already falling. "AAH! Who put a hole in the ground?" He looked right and smiled. "If you're falling too then it's okay."
"What makes any of this okay?" Hitryel said, falling headfirst to the unseen ground below them. "We don't even know how deep this hole is!"
Ryuzio blazed his Ether throughout his body, a translucent red coat of Energy of the Skies forming a few fingers over his skin. "Ethersurge!" He'd been using this Style ever since he learned about Ether from his grandma. But it was only the night before when he learned what it was actually called.
All the times he spread Ether evenly throughout his body…was him simply using his Secondary Style: Ethersurging.
Hitryel had also spread his Ether out, using Ethersurge, Ryuzio could tell by the blue aura enveloping his squadmate. Hitryel's aura coat was distinct from Ryuzio's. It was more round…softer, like water trying to loosely imitate Hitryel's form, while Ryuzio's was wispy, fiery, like flames engulfing his body.
Was there a reason for different Etherbrights having different colored Ethersurges?
Before Ryuzio could speculate further, their bodies crashed to the rocky ground, debris flying out from the massive dust cloud that arose from the impact.
Ryuzio scratched his head as he climbed onto his feet. "Where are we?" He gave his headband a quick check by feeling the metal plate with his fingers. Like always, it was okay. The material of the dark plate seemed durable. Even the two spikes on either side from the middle of the plate were sharp as always.
Hitryel dusted off his shirt before putting it back on. "Down."
Ryuzio picked up his jacket from the ground and slapped the dust off it before putting it back on. It was much cooler down here than on the surface. Looking around, they found themselves in a cave system, the entry on which was on the surface. The hole was not big enough for a truck to fall through, but still big enough to notice…which made it all the more impressive that they had managed to fall through it.
Hitryel put his hand on a wall, looking at the sky through the hole they fell through. "We are down about 50 feet I'd say." He ran his hand down the wall and did the same with a foot. "It's slippery. Not climbable enough."
"If we want to, we can easily climb out of here, Hit," Ryuzio said, walking deeper into the cave. "But that's not exciting enough. Maybe we can find a shortcut to the Skybridge here."
Hitryel followed with a shrug. "The more unnecessary fights I can skip the better."
As they walked deeper into the cave, the light pouring in through the hole that had been guiding them started fading, darkening their way. The smooth rocks surrounding them were spreading outward as they walked further. The cave system was expanding as they went deeper. But what stopped them was a diverging path.
Ryuzio scratched his chin, thinking which way could be the shortcut. "Which one do you think will lead us to the Skybridge?"
"Is the race still on?" Hitryel asked.
"Of course it is!" Ryuzio said. "Don't think your dinner is safe!"
"Then let's pick different paths and see who's lucky."
"That's a really awesome idea, Hit. Exactly what I'd expect of my squadmate."
Hitryel walked toward the right path. "See you at the Skybridge, then."
"I'LL see YOU at the Skybridge," Ryuzio said as he jumped to the left path.
###
The cave had spread into diverging routes a couple more times after Hitryel went his separate way from Ryuzio. But even after walking deeper for quite some time now, Hitryel couldn't find a single correct path. Either they led nowhere, or when they did lead somewhere, continued eternally.
"Am I lost?" Hitryel asked himself, stopping to reconsider. "Maybe I should try and find Ryuzio." He turned around, facing the way he came from… "HUH?"
A hundred nightmarish creatures had blocked his path, some crawling on the walls, some flattened on the ground, each grinning ear-to-ear as they looked predatorily at him with bloodshot eyes, a deep shade of maroon coloring their skin, fangs pointing downward from their drooling mouths, four long and pointy ears attached to each one's head, some had theirs flapped down, some had them straightened up.
There was not a single animal Hitryel remembered to have this appearance. What were these creatures? Short and stubby looking, with limbs that were either too long or too short, attached to a round body, the ribs looking as if trying to burst out from the chest.
Regardless, they were standing in Hitryel's path, so he used his Primary Style by activating his Ethersurge, bluish aura enveloping his body. The pressure created from the sudden power increase forced back a number of the maroon creatures, making them nervous enough to hesitate an attack.
This crossed out the possibility that they'd all been following him. They just didn't seem brave enough to do something like that. But maybe they HAD been following him all along, waiting for a chance to strike from behind. Then why hadn't Hitryel noticed a single one? Hundreds of creatures following him and not a single one perked his senses? Strange.
But the strangeness increased as one of them made a shrieking noise. It was followed by two or three more from different ones. Then ten or twenty more joined in. Within seconds, a hundred horrifying screeches echoed inside the cave, each one directed at Hitryel.
They sounded to him as if trying to scare him, make him flee. But the idiotic creatures were blocking the only way that did not lead deeper into the cave…
"Not like I'd run anyway," Hitryel said, smiling demonically. "If this kind of challenge was just on the edge of Sonas, I can't even begin to think what the Skies hold for me!"
One of the creatures yelled louder than the others and soon a wave of little maroon animals was sweeping toward Hitryel.
"Try me!"