Voidwalker hunt - 3

The first rays of dawn fell gently upon the two figures sleeping against the guardrails of the airship. Their heads rested against each other, their bodies covered by separate blankets. Despite the morning light illuminating the deck, neither of them woke. They had spent most of the night talking and now they slept from exhaustion.

The cold morning air drifted across the deck, and eventually found Atmik. His eyes slowly opened, then the light filled his vision.

For a few moments, he simply stared at the early morning sky. Then he looked beside him. A black-haired, golden-eyed beauty was sleeping peacefully against his shoulder. Her black hair had fallen loosely around her face.

For a few seconds, Atmik simply stared. Then, last night’s conversation returned to him. It came back gently, like a tide caressing the shore. Then, the embarrassment followed, as his face turned red.

He pulled his gaze away. No. He decided it was better not to remember.

For some reason, the side of Atmik’s neck felt strangely sensitive. He reached up and rubbed it. A slight pain followed. An odd sensation, he couldn’t explain.

I guess that’s what I get for sleeping like that, he thought.

Beside him, Freya shifted slightly. But she didn’t wake up.

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By the time the airship began its descent, Freya was awake too. Barely. She yawned through most of the landing, looking as though her mind was not fully present there.

The massive vessel descended between the trees. A moment later, its hull touched the ground, and everyone on the airship began disembarking.

The moment Atmik’s felt the moist earth, he felt a sense of relief. After spending a day inside the airship, it felt almost comforting.

He followed Freya, keeping roughly half a metre distance between them. His eyes instinctively scanned the place: a riverbank skirting at the edge of a thick forest. The area had clearly been cleared by hand to create enough space for the airship to land.

And not far ahead stood the new faces that were waiting for them. A group of twenty adventurers.

"You kept us waiting, Knight-Captain," a deep voice called out. Then, a man stepped forward. He was enormous. Even Wijaya who stood close to almost two metres tall was smaller than him.

The man wore silver mithril armour that covered most of his body. His ash colored hair framed a rugged face, while his deep-set brown eyes gave him intensity.

Atmik’s gaze lingered on those eyes. Troublesome, he thought. There was something different about him. A kind of man who listened more than he spoke. And someone who was harder to deceive.

"Apologies for making you wait, Sir Escanor." Wijaya gave a slight bow. "We had a little detour on the way.”

"I assume the two children mixed in with your knights were the detour." Escanor’s gaze moved toward Atmik and Freya. He had understood the situation without Wijaya needing to explain anything else.

"Uh... yes." Wijaya glanced toward them. A subtle professional signal that said, Introduce yourselves.

Atmik stepped forward first. He extended his hand.

"I'm Atmik. It's a pleasure to work under you."

Escanor didn’t take his hand immediately. He looked at them. Then returned to Atmik’s face.

"You have soft hands for a warrior," he said.

This was where the lie should have ended. But Atmik had expected something similar. He didn’t hesitate.

"I'm an ability mage."

He smiled.

“...That makes sense.” He said, finally accepting his hand. “Thank you for coming."

After that, Atmik quickly stepped aside. That could have gone worse, he thought.

Then it was Freya’s turn.She stepped forward. Her expression was stoic, though the droopy eyelids made it obvious she was still exhausted.

“I am Maya,” She said in a soft voice and extended her hand.

With disinterested eyes, Escanor took her hand.

The moment he did, his expression changed. His eyes widened and disinterest that had been present a moment earlier disappeared.

"Miss... what did you say your name was?"

He stared directly into her golden eyes. Freya didn’t respond. SHe didn’t even seem to notice him. She simply stood there.

"Maya." Atmik answered. "Her name is Maya."

Escanor turned around and slowly looked at him.

"...Why are you answering for her?"

Before Atmik could speak, Wijaya stepped in.

“They are married."

The words caught the attention of several adventurers who spared a glance at the two briefly.

Escanor looked at Wijaya. Then at Freya.

"But still?"

"My apologies.” Atmik gently took Freya’s hand.

“She's a little shy.” He gave a small smile. “And recovering from a senior injury." He guided her away.

Escanor watched them leave. After a moment, his expression returned to normal. “Fine.” His voice became serious.

“But let me warn you.” He folded his arms. “This is a voidwalker hunt.” His gaze swept over them. “We don’t know what we’re going to encounter.”

He looked directly at Atmik. “Don’t drag us down.”

“We’ll be fine.” Atmik’s answer was calm.

“No, we’ll be fine. You can trust our abilities.” Atmik smiled.

“We won’t disappoint you.”

Escanor stared at him for another moment. “If you say so.” He turned toward Wijaya. “Knight-Captain, unload the equipment."

And just like that, the entire camp sprang into motion.

Knights began unloading the supplies from the airships. Crates and cartons were carried down with swift ease.

In all this movement, Atmik kept his attention on Freya. Something was clearly wrong. Compared to her usual assertive, arrogant and demanding self. She looked lost.

It couldn't be called mere exhaustion, as it rarely stopped her from reminding everyone around her that she was Freya Valkyria.

But now, she simply stood there quiet and with her eyes distant.

"Hey.” Atmik approached her. “Are you alright?"

Freya gave no response. “Master?” He called. Still nothing. Then, he sighed and placed both hands on her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake.

"You there?” “...Master?"

"Huh?" Freya startled. Her eyes focused on him. For a moment, she simply stared.

Then she realized how close they were and her expression immediately changed.

“...What are you doing, you lecherous dog?"

Her fist rose and as she was about to send him flying, another voice cut between them.

"A married couple flirting in public, how exciting."

Both turned. A woman stood a short distance away. She wore a long-sleeved, kimono-style robe. A mask covered her face, concealing everything except her eyes. She also had a folding fan rested in one hand.

Atmik and Freya looked at each other, did a silent nod, and turned back to the woman.

"Ha-ha. Is that what it looked like? We were just having a conversation about her health."

"Uhm... is that so.” The masked woman tilted her head. “How exciting."

"Yeah." Atmik gave an akward laugh."I'm Atmik, and she's Maya.” He took a brief paused. “ But I supppose you already heard that.”

The woman remained silent.

But Atmik wasn’t particularly the type to stop at that. He took a step closer.

"And what about you, beautiful lady?" He asked, a bright smile playing on his face.

But, the woman gave no reaction. For several seconds, the woman simply stared at him.Then she slowly raised her fan until it covering the lower half of her mask.

"...A young boy asked me my name.” She paused. “How exciting."

Atmik blinked. Whatt does that even mean? His smile became increasingly akward. Did she through us? Even Freya who was never fazed by anything seemed to be weirded out. Before Atmik could think of a response, another man approached.

“You shouldn’t tease the young ones like that, Kyouko.” The man laughed.

"I'm Sebastian, and she's Kyouko.” He extended his hand. We're a mage duo from the Dragon Tamers guild. Nice to meet you."

Atmik shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too.”

"So you're an ability mage?” Sebastian glanced at him. “I heard you introduce yourself earlier."

Atmik knew surprisingly little about the world’s magic system. Most of what he knew came from observing Candra and the things Freya told him.

According to her, Ability mages were mages who instead of casting magic with the traditional five elements — Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Space — possessed an inherent core ability with its own mechanic.

Still, Atmik nodded. "Yeah."

“That’s pretty impressive.” Sebastian grinned.

“That makes you the fifth ability type mage here.”

“Five?”

Atmik’s expression remained neutral. But internally, he was panicking. That’s more than I expected.

He had chosen the lie because Freya had told him ability users were rare. But having the real four gathered in one place was nerve wrecking.

"Are you one too, Sebastian?"

"Me?” Sebastian shook his head. “No,I’m a fire mage”. Then, he pointed toward Kyouko.

“She’s the ability type.” He glanced at her. “Isn't that right?"

Kyouko didn’t answer. Her eyes were fixed on Freya. Atmiked notice. So did Freya. The two stared at each other and neither pulled away.

The noise of the camp seemed to fade around them. Freya’s golden eyes narrowed slightly.

“What are you staring at?”

But Kyouko’s gaze remained unchanged. Then she spoke.

"...You are strong."

Her voice was quiet and almost emotionless. Freya frowned. “What?” But Kyouko simply turned around and walked away.

"Huh? Sebastian stared after her. “Kyouko?” She didn’t stop. “You’re leaving just like that?”

He sighed.

“Sorry about that.” Sebastian pressed his palm against his hair. “She can be a little bit eccentric despite her age.”

His eyes then moved toward the other adventurers.

“Come on, I'll introduce you to some of my friends.” He smiled. “They're people from all around the world."

Atmik glanced once more at Kyouko's retreating figure. Then at Freya. She was still after the masked woman.

“Really? I guess I'll be able to learn a lot from them.”