The players on board were scattered throughout the cabin, every one of them overflowing with curiosity. Some huddled around the windows, marveling at the vast landscapes passing below, while others wandered through the interior, marveling at its design. The dirigible was roughly the length of a commercial airplane but several times wider, giving it an almost regal presence in the sky.

  When Sean walked over to his friends, he felt a sturdy reverberation beneath his shoes with every step, as though the floor was made of limestone rather than wood. The low, steady hum of the engines reverberated through the vessel.

  “What a strange material!” he muttered, eyeing the greyish, patterned floor. “It looks like wood but feels as tough as metal. Is it some kind of alloy?”

  “Hey, everyone!” Someone’s voice echoed from a corridor, likely belonging to Storm. “There are twenty rooms with numbers on the doors. Room one is the largest, and two to four are decent-sized. The rest are basically small cubbies, just big enough to lie down in.”

  Curious, Sean followed the others to inspect the rooms. Sure enough, the smaller rooms were tiny — barely enough space for a bed, with almost no standing room. The doors to rooms one through four were locked, but from the outside, it was clear the largest one was about the size of a decent hotel room.

  Sean nodded thoughtfully and gave his analysis. “The biggest room must be for the headmaster, and the other three for the staff. That leaves us with these cozy little… partitions.”

  “Cozy? Well shit!” complained Prominence. “It’s so cramped that my cheap apartment feels like a palace compared to this.”

  A few chuckles rippled through the group.

  “Having a bed is a blessing; it’s still better than sleeping on the floor somewhere,” Zero pointed out with a shrug. “Think of it like staying in a capsule hotel.”

  That was true. Compared to the cramped conditions of an airplane seat, at least the room had a bed where they could stretch out. Besides, they wouldn’t be staying in this game for all of the time while travelling to their destination, though it probably wouldn’t take long anyway.

  Suddenly, a male voice rang throughout the room. “Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome aboard the dirigible. I am your captain — Astralium,” announced the headmaster’s familiar voice. “I wish you all a pleasant journey—”

  “And I am your helmsman, Eleanor Faulkner!” a cheerful female voice interrupted, causing a few players to exchange curious glances.

  Sean’s eyes darted to a nearby yellow-bronze pipe, realizing that the voices were coming through what must have been some sort of megaphone.

  “Ahem. There are a few important notes. As you’ve seen, the section of the corridor from rooms six to twenty is yours. Feel free to allocate yourselves as you see fit. My room is number one, and while you’re welcome to come to me if you need something, intruding without an important reason is absolutely forbidden!”

  There was a brief pause, then the voice added, “Apart from that, you are not allowed to walk on the deck unless you wish to go flying down from the sky! There is a cafeteria in hall one, and hall two is where the washrooms are. As for hall three, it’s a lounge; everyone is welcome to go there.”

  “One last thing, this dirigible will not operate at full capacity without your contributions. To address this, you’ll be able to access your Shadowlink Marks to take on tasks related to the ship’s maintenance. Some of you with the required professions will also be assigned specific roles — non-negotiable.”

  After the announcement ended, the group of players turned toward each other and began discussing room allocations. Sean was assigned room number “10” and his party members all got rooms near his one. The others split off into their respective groups, sticking close to friends and familiar faces.

  Wasting no time, Sean hurried to his room and tucked his belongings beneath the small bed, including his two weapons. One was the automatic crossbow, which had been his trusty companion for over a month, whereas the other was an obsidian-like magic staff he had won in the most recent auction that the academy held up just days ago. He had used the merit points he’d saved up to secure it, and the staff still had that new-weapon vibe.

  Glancing around the compact room, Sean noticed the tiny, thick window — no bigger than a soccer ball — set into the wall. It offered a glimpse of the outside, though the view was murky and hard to make out.

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  He let out a breath and, almost instinctively, summoned his status screen.

  KuroUsagi

  HP: 100%

  MP: 43/43

  Power Rank: Second-stage Initiate Attunement

  Elemental Affinity: Umbra (88%) | Pyro (74%) | Electro (53%)

  Mana Aptitude: Inferior bright grade

  Meditation Technique: Myriad Elements Method (second level, 32%)

  Status: Healthy

  Strength: (18)

  Agility: (18)

  Vitality: (18)

  Magical Power: (16)

  Infused Mana (total): (43)

  Spell Repertoire: {Shadowy Grasp}, {Shadow Arise}, {Umbral Shield}, {Flame Dart}

  Ever since obtaining the inheritance, his meditation progress had increased by leaps and bounds, allowing him to reach the second stage of Initiate Attunement in record time. However, as soon as he logged in following the intermittent 0.5.1 version update, a mission regarding the inheritance popped up, and it seemed that he had to wipe out the bloodline of the enemy of the deceased Magus. Furthermore, this was strange graded as a three-star or above mission, and it had a death penalty for failing to complete it. How menacing.

  But regardless of the ominous nature of the hidden plot that came along with his hidden profession, he was getting a lot of boon from it. The living experience of the deceased Magus was so vivid that Sean could recall them in intricate detail. While certain sections of the knowledge were locked, he could still access powerful spell models, particularly those from the Umbra element and similar.

  No longer did he need to create spells from scratch or rely on purchasing them from the academy or fellow players. With this advantage, his path to becoming one of the top players seemed all but assured!

  While thinking of his future, Sean absentmindedly shut his eyes as he lay on the bed.

  ***

  As the dirigible soared through the sky, Victor stood at the helm, his gaze locked on the distant horizon. Eleanor, stationed at the controls nearby, skillfully manipulated the various levers and switches with ease, while her eyes never escaped the holographic screen filled with untold knowledge of Earth.

  “We’ve been flying for half an hour now,” Victor remarked, breaking the silence. “It seems everything’s running smoothly.”

  “Of course!” Eleanor replied, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Were you getting cold feet, thinking we might crash, Patron?”

  “Me?” Victor chuckled at the statement. “You do remember I’m an Elemental Adept Magus, right? If things go south, I can fly out of here while the rest of you plummet to your death.”

  “Blergh! That’s true,” Eleanor scoffed, sticking her tongue out playfully. “Still, this dirigible’s performance is better than expected. It should handle storms or even low-level magic attacks without issue. A short trip to Brightmoon City? That’s a piece of cake.”

  Brightmoon City was actually not that far from Thornwood Village, being only sixty or so kilometers away. By carriage, it would take two days at most, but with the dirigible cruising even at a slow pace, Victor estimated they’d arrive in just two hours — it didn’t feel like much of an expedition when he thought about it. Perhaps he should’ve charted a course for a larger city further away.

  “No, better to focus on nearby locations first before venturing too far,” he muttered under his breath.

  Wasting time on the way wasn’t Victor’s style, and he knew the players would lose interest quickly if they spent too long in transit. Besides, there were a few intriguing spots around Brightmoon City that he planned to explore, places that might lead him closer to his true objectives.

  One thing to note, Victor was on the verge of forming his second sigil. After obtaining the mountains of mana crystals from the Steelrose Order’s citadel, his progress had skyrocketed, but it might take a while before he could take that step. However, he felt that an intense battle could perhaps accelerate this progress. For one thing, he wished to fight an equally powerful Magus.

  “Speaking of which, do you have a name for this ship?” Victor asked, recalling that it still lacked a proper name.

  “How about… ‘Fairy Hugger’? Eleanor said with a grin, glancing at Victor.

  He blinked, caught off guard. “Fairy… Hugger?”

  Eleanor nodded enthusiastically. “It fits! Plus, every time I’m about to hug Lizbeth, she looks at me like she’s ready to fly away. So, it’s perfect for a flying ship, right?”

  Victor was lost for words. “That’s… any other suggestion?”

  She grinned, giving him a bad feeling. “Fine, how about ‘Floaty McFloatsalot’?”

  Victor almost choked on his own spit. “Absolutely not!” Where the heck did she learn that kind of language? Isn’t that some kind of internet slang?

  “Alright, alright. ‘Lizzy’s Escape Route,’ then! Because she’s always trying to wriggle out of my hugs,” Eleanor offered, half-joking, half-serious.

  Victor couldn’t help but shake his head in desperation while holding back his laughter. “We’re going to need something that doesn’t make us sound like a joke. Can you imagine what other Magi would think if they heard the ship had a name like that?"

  Eleanor tapped her chin in thought. “Then, what about… ‘Lunaria’?” she suggested, this time with a more serious tone.

  “Lunaria… the Lunaria,” Victor repeated the name and nodded in agreement. “Now that sounds like a ship that belongs to a Magus.” For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Eleanor had saved the name for last, just to mess with him.

  “I know, right? Lunaria is a great name!” she exclaimed, proudly puffing out her chest.

  Victor smirked. “Well, I’m not sure if the name’s strong enough to ward off any danger that comes our way…”

  “We’ll be fine, Patron.” Eleanor gave a confident toothy grin. “I can feel it.”

  While nodding, his eyes never leaving the horizon. “Let’s hope you’re right, Eleanor. Let’s hope you’re right.”

  It was at that point of calmness that Victor spotted something intriguing happening on the ground below.