The group of four finally makes it out of the forest. The ground beneath them becomes rockier and more sloped as they travel, slowing their pace massively. By the fourth hour of hard travel, with intermittent breaks, ?elare collapses and groans.

  “I apologise. I’m not built for this sort of travel. My body isn't all that strong, even though I'm trying my best.”

  Vis looks down at him with frustration and is about to berate him, but Astraea pushes him aside lightly. She offers a hand, which he takes after a moment of deep breaths. He stands up slowly and releases her hand. Then, he moves his arms around in a circle and jumps up and down. A confused yet satisfied look is on his face as he says, “Oh, wait. I'm alright now!”

  Astraea suppresses a grimace and exhales audibly.

  “That is good. We shall continue, in that case.”

  They resume their journey, and partway through, Hunter falls back in the group's formation to be beside her and whispers, “That was kind of you to do. I don't want him to feel useless on our first proper expedition.”

  Astraea returns the whisper.

  “Of course. Do note that it took a lot of my energy- he was pushing his body beyond its limit to keep up and I had to restore many of his muscles. I cannot do such a thing again for some time, and now I am likely to be the slowest.”

  Hunter nods and returns to the front. Some time later, ?elare moves next to Astraea and does his best to help her journey, offering a hand whenever she struggles. They pass through the clouds, the top of the mountain finally being in view.

  As they climb towards it, the relatively calm conditions begin to give way to strong winds that increase in intensity the closer they get. This forces them to be even more cautious, but they press on. Two hours later, the sky begins to darken and they are forced to convene.

  “I estimate we have another three hours to go until we arrive at the summit,” Hunter shouts over the wind. “We can press on into the night, or we can attempt to rest in an alcove. There is one not too far ahead of us now.”

  Vis replies, “I can continue, but the other two look drained.”

  Hunter looks at them. Both are panting for breath, Astraea visibly shaking.

  “Let's rest. We've made a lot of progress today,” he says.

  They take another ten minutes to arrive at the mentioned place. It is a small indentation in the mountain, shielded from the wind. Astraea sits against the wall and closes her eyes while ?elare leans forward, panting.

  Not wasting a moment, Vis shatters an orb identical to the one in the forest, and the same equipment materialises. He lays out four bedrolls, which barely fit in the space, and hands the exhausted pair some jerky from the sack. They devour it ravenously while Hunter looks over them with concern in his eyes, but no more words are uttered as each of them rest until the morning.

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  Hunter is the first to awaken. He looks outside to see relative brightness and nods to himself. As he looks back to the others, he hears movement from outside their camp. He dashes out, catching a glimpse of a black, feline creature moving out of sight. This gives him twenty seconds of pause before he shakes his head dismissively, deciding it is not important.

  He shakes everyone else awake individually and after securing the equipment like the last time, they set off again. Astraea and ?elare have mostly recovered, so the journey takes half the predicted time, and the slope levels off. Vis is the furthest ahead, so he sees the top first.

  Somewhere around thirty buildings are dotted around the roughly circular area, all of them small and made of stone. Placed in the centre, surrounded by those, is a construction larger than the rest.

  It is a circular tower with a large diameter, extending around ten metres up, and a huge base with no entryway visible from this side. Atop it is an open space, unshielded from the wind. Two women stand atop it, their arms spread. They seem to notice Vis as he steps up, and one of them appears to shout something that he cannot hear.

  All four of them make it up, and a man emerges from one of the small buildings, coming out to meet them. He has bags under his eyes and a look of worry permeates his features. Despite this, he speaks with sophistication.

  “Travellers, welcome! May the Air Elemental bless you. I am so glad you have arrived, as we were running out of time. Quickly, come with me.”

  Hunter hesitates for a moment but decides to trust the man, who takes them to the building he emerged from. Inside is a compact home with a cauldron in the centre and two beds at the side. Lying on one of them is a boy, looking to be no older than twelve years old. His face is red and he is rasping for breath. The man runs over and looks to the party.

  “My youngest son is extremely unwell and we have not been able to figure out what the problem is. We have given him healing potion after healing potion and all that has happened is him feeling better for a few days, but he just gets sick again.”

  Astraea is the first to react, walking over and placing her hand on the boy's forehead.

  After a few moments, she frowns.

  “Nothing is wrong. This is not a physical ailment.”

  The man lets out a despairing cry at her words and shakes his head adamantly.

  “There has to be something you can do! I was told you would be able to help us.”

  Hunter chimes in, “Who told you that?”

  “A young man. He looked similar in age to the lady here, but he didn't give me his name. He told me to request help from the Emperor and that he would send someone capable.”

  Astraea narrows her eyes at the man and says, “Where is he now?”

  “He and his escort team are still here. Apparently he has something to discuss with one of you.”

  ?elare glances at Astraea

  “I can hear people approaching our location right now.”

  The door opens and closes quickly, a nondescript grey ball being thrown in. It rolls right next to Astraea and the child and ?elare sensing it releasing mana. He shouts.

  “It's a bomb!”

  Astraea reacts instantly, diving on top of it. Mere moments later, she feels it erupt with flames. Her stomach is blown open with immense force, coating the ceiling in red and leaving a gaping hole in her body. The exposed flesh sizzles as it is largely cauterized by the fire. Shortly after, the rest of them are knocked off balance by an incredibly powerful shaking, which causes the ceiling to collapse after only a moment. Vis uses that moment to shield ?elare from the falling debris, while Hunter dashes to the man and child, taking the impact for them.

  The door opens once more to reveal a group of three people. One man is kneeling with both of his hands to the ground, sweat pouring from his face. A woman removes another identical bomb from her belt, and standing in the center is a man staring in with a gleeful look on his face.

  “I greet my sister's new friends!”