"Whoa!"
Percivale fell to onto the ground with a loud thud. His descent had russled the bushes, his yelp alerted the birds, and his front screamed in pain from the drop.
The sudden shift in the environment had not given his mind and legs time to adjust. He shook his head sideways rapidly, regaining his clear vision.
He had fallen into a pile of bushes–an unexpected destination for portals, but the school's portals hadn't exactly been granted the leeway for regular maintenance since the second invasion.
Standing up, Percivale looked around. He was currently inside a dark forest, very similar to the one Dignitas had recently trained in. The only difference was, it was dark; and not the normal type of dark, but the magically-dark. It wasn't dim to the point of pitch black, but Percivale had to feel his way through his surroundings for a good few minutes before he spotted light.
Pushing his way through the dense thicket, Percivale was immediately surprised at the scenery that stretched out before him. Beyond the horizon, a city of magnificent display shone.
Amidst the shrouded reaches of the night, there was a dimly lit city. Just from the vast number of buildings blocking the moonlight, Percivale could tell that it was a rather large city.
Just then, a slight buzz rang from his left ear, where his earpiece was.
"Connections restored. Based off your location, it seems like you've already found it. Welcome to Stardale, Perry. It's one of the very few cities aside from Mislokur that manage to function relatively well despite being locked in eternal darkness."
"Is that true…? Then, light never comes here, Navigator?"
"Indeed. Stardale's only source of light are the vast number of stars that dwell above it. For that reason, it's common to find Moon Elves inside during certain times of the year."
"Moon Elves? I thought they went extinct… And certain times? Does that mean they migrate somewhere?"
"We've actually got a Moon Elf in the Hero Academy. Her transfer was fairly recent, so I'm not surprised if you haven't heard yet."
"About your second question… It's the Moonlight Eclipse, an event that only happens a few times every year, where the amount of Light Affinity energy the Moon exudes is enough to
cover Stardale in a thick blanket of energy."
Percivale circulated the mana in his body. He focused a bit more on his feet, willing the Spatial energy to cloak it.
He stared at the cliff edge in front of him, shifting sights between it and another safe path to the side that led downwards but would take much more time. He ultimately decided to take the former option.
Taking a deep breath, he leapt off the cliff. As soon as he left ground, he poured even more mana into his legs, which slowed his descent.
He landed on the bottom a few seconds later, without harm.
"What should I do, Navigator?"
"Your next course of action should be to look for a place to stay. Based off my calculations, the mission will be much longer than the first two. This is because we, rather, Dignitas, doesn't know where Feather Shifter is, only that its inside Stardale."
Before Dignitas had briefed Andrea on the artifact they were planning to obtain, the latter had not a single clue as to what Feather Shifter even was. The Unseen had never taken the time to investigate Stardale as much as their more important points of interest, so a lack of manpower meant it was not as easy to do so.
For the most part, Stardale's inhabitants couldn't care less about tourists or newcomers. They simply let them do as they pleased, as long as no harm was being directed at the city.
This was much more noticeable when Percivale entered the city. There was no wall, nor guards inspecting people's identities.
Andrea explained that despite this, Stardale was quite formidabble in its own right. Their security wasn't anything to scoff at; crime in this place was nil.
Entering a nearby hotel, Percivale walked to the receptionist and booked a room for himself using the currency Andrea had lent him.
And just like that, his first day in Stardale passed quietly. Following the Navigator's recommendation of clocking off earlier than usual, the young mage slept peacefully.
That was, until a loud bang suddenly erupted outside, shaking Percivale awake.
"Take a look outside for me, Perci."
"R-right away." Immediately standing up, Percivale ran to the window.
His room, which was situated on the fourth floor of the city, was blessed with a picturesque view of Stardale's streets. If not for the smoke that was now clouding the streets, he would've been able to see the stars.
The smoke made way for multiple darkly-dressed individuals to walk in the direction of the hotel.
And then next came the smell. Even as Percivale still hadn't fully adapted to the abrupt explosion, he was forced to experience more of its adrenaline-inducing scents. The sense of danger filled him at that same moment, but he continued watching the scene outside.
Below them, he could see that multiple guards had come out from the inside of the hotel and were preparing to engage in combat with the invaders.
"Halt, you rats. This is the Skylark Hotel–what business do you have here?" One of the guards stepped up and shouted. "Depending on your answer, your punishment might lessen when we arrest you."
Percivale didn't know it, but the guards were each B- rank, making them almost as strong as the professors of the Hero Academy. In comparison to them, the aura the invaders emitted was almost pitiful. One glance and even Percivale could surmise that they weren't above C rank.
None of the invaders felt a sense of danger. Instead, they stood there with smiles that exhibited malicious intent.
The leader of the invaders also stepped up. He was slightly stronger than his fellow troublemakers, but Percivale could feel that there was something off about him. Like he had an object that could back up his cockiness.
"It's obvious none of us can defeat you all. Heck, if you charged at us altogether, we'd lose our lives. But we have an artifact with us that can help turn the tides…"
The ringleader raised his arm slightly. There, he was clutching a medium-sized box, one just enough to fit in the palm of his hand.
One of his subordinates came forward and opened the box, slowly revealing the object that was hidden inside. And when everyone present, including Percivale, laid their eyes on it, their eyes widened.
It was a small feather that seemed like it belonged to a normal bird. If one were to look purely at its size, it was nothing impressive.
But this was an artifact, and nothing to scoff at. Colors ranging from the lightest of shades to the darkest seemed to have been painted onto it, granting the feather hundreds of different hues. The colors, as the creators had intended, were meant to represent the various affinities present in the world.
There was no mistake. Percivale had found what he was looking for.
"It's the Feather Shifter, Navigator. I found it." He instantly notified Andrea.
"Really?! That was fast. Your voice sounds like there's a catch, though."
"Y-yes. It's in the hands of an organized group of thugs. Their leader is planning on wielding it in battle against the hotel's guards."
Andrea didn't reply for a few seconds, as if trying to clarify something. "I see. Then, we'll have to wait for an opportunity to arise. For now, just keep an eye on the people using it."
Just then, the leader started acting. With a slight of hand movement, he sneakily placed the Feather Shifter onto his breast pocket. An almost transparent energy immediately covered his entire body.
"You?! How did you manage to steal one of Stardale's treasures?"
The guard captain seemed to have an idea of the artifact his adversaries were planning on using. With a frustrated huff, he charged at the man, planning on using his superior speed to seize the victory before the battle started.
The invaders' leader reacted, bringing his hands to his right. The empty space to his side disappeared, and a portable cannon made from electricity appeared.
Without wasting time, he began outputting an unexpected amount of mana into the cannon. A slight hiss could be heard from the barrel of the cannon, before five large cannonballs were fired, each of them made from lightning energy.
Lightning was known for its speed. It was one of the only affinities that could match Wind, and Space in terms of agility. As such, even the captain found it difficult to successfully dodge all of the cannonballs.
His superior reaction time and reflexes granted him the leeway to dodge the first two, but by the third, he was finding it hard to stay out of harm's way.
It was on the fourth cannonball that the attack managed to land dab smack in the middle of the captain's abdomen. A loud crack was heard from his body, and he fell down, paralyzed.
"Hah! Come and get it!"
The leader seemed to have no intention of stopping. He continued firing more cannonballs, with each of them later on hitting every single one of the guards before they could even react.
This was Feather Shifter's power. The insane cost reduction granted to its user allowed them to output their mana at normally dangerous levels while still lessening the burden received.
In the right hands, it was an especially powerful artifact. And right now, it was in the hands of a ragtag gang of thugs who planned to wreak havoc on Stardale.