V5 Incline 1: Nin

Gods above, we're quite lucky with this camp. Unlike so many others from the weeks prior, the way up this one isn't so insufferably steep. The others can walk up and down at their leisure just fine. Provided they're careful.

And... Well, while Rose is capable enough to handle the climb both ways. She's very insistent on hitching a ride on me either way. It's fine as a favour... But it's not just a favour when I'm having to haul most of our supplies!

She could certainly just say she's scared to move on her own, what with those pointed tips of hers? But her admittedly cute pride is getting in the way of her admitting to that. Actually, while she's on my mind. I wouldn't be surprised if the moment I finish climbing, she just runs right into me.

But, thoughts like that on mind only make me more cautious. Especially with all this food I have in my arms and claws. I stop, looking back to Baltanthan, and I let him pass me. My eyes wander in the wait, all the way to our destination, which is much clearer a sight now.

I can't see it clearly, but there's a golden sparkle up there that doesn't fit in with the clouds covering the mountainous midriff.

"I wonder how long it would take me to get up that..." I comment my thoughts a little too loudly, catching my partner's attention. He stops, looking towards Thrurstradtur's mountain as well. The mountain that leads all the way to the city on its peak.

"Easily a few days the way we are going," he comments, pointing rather pointlessly given the distance. I set aside my slight smirk and try to find his direction, anyway. My eyes come across a barely visible road as I focus on my eyes. The magic flowing through them in such an obviously crude manner. A spiralling road that's wrapping around the mountain, from bottom to top.

"Now, is that a hopeful guess or an empirical one?" I ask him, letting my smile come back as I find a moment to relax my magic-rich muscles. Not that they need the rest. It's just nice to pretend I can still feel the way I used to.

"Could not even tell you, not that it matters. I'd just be getting more and more excited as we got higher up the mountain." he explains, giggling a little as that typical misery of his tries to settle back in. Only to vanish as a flash of something appears in the distant view.

A vehicle of some kind, one spinning its way around a lengthy, towering rail-line. All the way up and above towards Thrurstradtur. I think Baltanthan mentioned something about these machines before. Spiral-trams- No, spiral-trains. I think?

"Say, how different do you think entry would have been by one of them?" I ask him, not entirely familiar with such an uncannily familiar machine.

"You'd see the deepest depths of the city first, but I'd rather walk up. That way we can see Suhurlodst, too," he answers, though it's a bit of an odd one.

"We're going to the Academy anyway, so why'd you want to see it on the way in?" I ask, trying way too hard to not slip anything in.

"Not the Suhurlodst Academy of Arcane Learning and Understanding, the Ringed-City itself!" he clarifies, exasperated by my ignorance of the land. But can he blame me?

"Ringed-City?" I add on to the string of questions, my brow cocking up.

"No point in explaining it now, I'll tell you what I know when we are actually there." he dismissively waves, and I try my best to shrug with all this food on-claw.

"That's fair, looking forward to any other sights?" I move us away from so I'm not getting peeved over his attitude. Not that, that is the most annoying thing about him, anyway.

"I don't know of any others beyond the great gnomon that dominates the city of Thrurstradtur specifically," he says, shrugging as he considers everything.

"You barely know anything about the city you have been this excited for?" I go, my expression of disbelief all but hidden from view. Not that I want my bug face to be seen by anyone, really.

"Technically, I am excited about a professional environment to learn magic in," he says with a growing giddiness. The magical wind all but clearly coming off of him as he experiences such an arcane high as that.

"Why do you want to learn magic there, though?" I ask him, gesturing for him to move up so we can get back to the task at hand. We've got a bit of a climb to make, still, and it will just pass on by with all this talking and hearty travelling.

"What do you mean?" he goes as if it's not obvious.

"Well, I learned how to do this," I say to him as I do my little magic trick to the best of my current situation, "On my own. You clearly learned that on your own. So why go to a school for it?"

"The same reason anyone goes to a school. Sure, I could learn the basics, but that place has more knowledge than would have ever occurred to me," he rightly points out, and I start to nod.

"Makes sense, fair enough." I chirp, thinking back to any education I've gone through. While so much seems useless at the time, a lot of it is relevant to what you need to do. Even if it's only a practice situation, seeing it will prepare you for the future.

"It also helps that they have some of the best equipment on the continent for such learning." Baltanthan tacks on, the mental image much clearer in his head than it is in mine. For all of the uniqueness of this land with magic, it doesn't feel all that more advanced than where I am from. If anything, a lot of this land seems backwards. Vapooliar had a sword, not a gun, and the gun Heiya had was a musket of all things.

"Why this one in particular?" I ask, minding a jagged rock as I turn up on the path.

"What do you mean?" he asks back, lingering in a way that forces me to stop.

"Why do you want to go to Suhurlodst the most? What about it makes it stand out the most?" I ask him, shrugging a little as I try to look back towards the peak with Thrurstradtur on it. I can only guess so much, and what I can is not that much at all.

"Thrurstradtur-Suhurlodst is a united front. Never mind all of the people in the country's official borders, people from outside the home nation. Gods above, rumour has it they even get patronage from the royal family of the Seven-Peaks Union of Jherikra!" he clarifies as it settles in my mind under one idea. Top-floor.

It was like this a lot back home, a child of the bottom floors was raised above his station. Someone from the top floors went down a little and started from there. More money and resources to put into their education, so it was much better. Much fancier.

"Lot of prestige then." I go, understanding the idea all too well. Life's not fair, we can't choose who we're born to.

"Yes! It is also the closest one that I know of..." he sheepishly clarifies, and I huff at it. A huff that quickly develops into a quiet chuckle with how much my mind focuses on his tackiness about it.

"I wonder if I'll actually learn anything..." I mutter quietly, though, unlike the chuckle, or maybe like it, Baltanthan catches on to it. Not that I had an actual intention to develop the conversation.

"Why wouldn't you? It's an academy. Being there means you're going to learn," he huffs himself, his tone rich with the rare earth element of 'What? You Stupid?'

"Well, that's the thing. I'm going there because of a friend, I've opened up about that. She's going to be there, as she said Thrurstradtur is the best way for me to get back home." I say, clarifying things and jogging his memory.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" he asks, lingering again as the question almost strikes me as rhetorical.

"Could not tell you, Baltanthan. I just know she said something along the lines of they had the means to get me home again." I say, not sure what else to make of it as he starts to laugh.

He stifles it a little, "And here I am going there to get away from home!"

"I just hope it won't be too difficult to do." I say, hoping way too much for an easy way about this when life has already thrown so many hard things my way.

"Nothing ever is, so don't get your hopes too fanned." Baltanthan remarks, his next step sending some pebbles my way. I linger, watching the path carefully as it settles in they were just kind of there. No food-ruining danger to worry about.

Still... With such deadly thoughts on mind...

"Oh, trust me, I can fan my hopes all I want, and it will still turn out better than what I have been through before." I tell him, thinking of how I became what I am. A monster, an osibindah. Never mind my literal death that followed right after. My actual death, I died.

I actually died.

"If you say so, Nin." Baltanthan huffs, truly having no idea at all as to what he's on about.

"And I do." I say without skipping a beat, walking once again as the camp entrance finally settles into view. Really need to talk less if we're going to make a quick journey of our damn entrance.