Chapitre 8: Ambush
Over the next few days, Rachel returned to the ship's deck every day in hopes of meeting Kyle there, only to be disappointed every time.
But on this day, Rachel was suddenly feeling hopeful once again!
After a week, the Oasis Seeker had finally passed through the Reality Rift and entered the skies of Green Realm without any mishaps.
This meant that the shutters over the ship's deck would finally be opened, allowing passengers to bask in the sun while taking in the beautiful scenery that stretched across the horizon.
True to its name, Green Realm was filled with vegetation and greeneries, making the landscape that much more scenic and easy on the eyes.
With this change, most passengers would visit the ship's deck for the fresh experience, especially after being cooped up for a week.
This was what Rachel was banking on.
Rachel already knew Kyle's room number since the other day, having seen Kyle fiddling with his room key, on which his room number was carved. However, directly visiting his room to chat might appear a little thoughtless.
If things went badly, her actions might even irritate a mage of his level. That was something that she could not risk happening.
Even though he appeared to be amiable, who knew what Kyle would do if he was truly irritated?
Rachel might not know Kyle well, but she definitely knew that the Head of the Pierce Family, Anthony Pierce, had never hesitated to take his anger out on others whenever he was frustrated.
That was what power and stature could do to an individual!
In their eyes, people were separated into two different groups.
There was one group comprising of those who were beneficial to stay on good terms with, and then there was everyone else.
Thus, Rachel had already decided that she had to approach Kyle carefully and inconspicuously, slowly assessing him personality-wise. If she found him to be suitable, then she was prepared to tap on all resources at her disposal in an attempt to pull him over to her side!
Right now, that was the only way she could think of in order to have a chance of getting her family back on the right track.
Seated near the entrance to the ship's deck, Rachel made sure to keep her eyes on the faces of every person who came to add to the growing number of people on the deck. As expected, the majority of passengers came and left.
Yet even after half a day of waiting, there were still no signs of Kyle.
Rachel could only sigh in regret.
It seemed like things were not going to go that smoothly for her after all.
Just as she was wondering about what to do next, a familiar face suddenly emerged from the entrance.
Too bad it was not the one that she was looking forward to seeing.
"Good to see you, Rachel! I see that you came here to enjoy the wind too!" Samuel Pierce smiled amiably when he noticed Rachel's gaze on him, immediately turning to approach her.
"Good to see you too," Rachel's answer was brief, but she too smiled in response.
Samuel Pierce was the heir apparent to Anthony Pierce, and was considered elite among the elites. From his looks to his talent, to his bearing and the way he handled matters, there were hardly any faults that could be picked with him.
However, Rachel could not help but feel uneasy whenever she looked at his smile. Somehow, it felt as if there was a completely different persona hidden underneath that façade of perfection.
"One thing I hate about travelling to the Master Realm is this boring journey. Don't you wish we can quickly establish ourselves in the Master Realm so that we can stop doing this in the future?" Samuel whined as he sat down beside Rachel.
"I am sure the Family Head has a plan in mind," Rachel answered.
"Father does have a plan, but-"
Samuel's words were cut off halfway as a sudden impact struck the Oasis Seeker, forcing both of them to hurriedly grab the bench itself for support.
This impact was much weaker than that of the ship being struck by a spatial storm, but that was not the end of it. The ship continued to rock back and forth as if it was being repeatedly struck from multiple angles, something that was completely unexpected upon exiting the Reality Rift.
Screams of fear were heard from the weaker hearted, and many of those on the deck immediately crouched down onto the ground for increased stability.
"What is going on?" someone shouted in panic.
As if wanting to answer that question, a voice echoed across the ship at this moment.
"We are the FADAI, the Frontier Against Discrimination Against the Intellectually Challenged! We proclaim that the Oasis Seeker is guilty of discrimination against the intellectually challenged, participating in the banishing of intellectually challenged individuals from the Master Realm! For that crime, we sentence the ship to destruction! All the passengers on board are accomplices for supporting the owners of the Oasis Seeker, and shall accompany the ship in death!"
There was a moment of silence on the deck, then loud clamouring sounded out simultaneously in every group as they fell into despair.
Should the Oasis Seeker really go down, even if by some miracle the FADAI were to let them off, how were they supposed to save themselves from this height?
"What are the ship administrators doing?"
"Why are they not doing anything about it?"
"Are we going to be okay?"
Those were the three questions that entered Rachel's ears the most as the other troubled passengers continued to whine while crouching down on the deck floor.
She could not blame them though; even the anxiety within her own heart was gradually growing deeper as well!
"This is an ambush by the FADAI! We actually managed to get ourselves involved in an incident with those extremists! To think that we thought it would be safe now that the Culling Scourge had just been put down. How unlucky can we get?!" Samuel almost cursed under his breath from the frustration.
He had seized the opportunity when everyone was crouching down to steal a peek at the perpetrators positioned beyond the deck's parapets, but what he saw made his blood chill.
A large group of riders had sneaked up on the Oasis Seeker and quickly surrounded it, each of them riding atop a griffin.
Moreover, they did not seem to be ordinary griffins.
The disproportionately large upper body as well as the black coloured beak – those were Blast Griffins, capable of firing shots of energy into the distance as a ranged attack!
They were the main culprits that had been repetitively attacking the Oasis Seeker, causing the rocking of the ship.
The ship might be holding an impressive defensive enchantment, but at this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Blast Griffins manage to break through the defences and directly damage the ship.
When that happens, the Oasis Seeker might truly fall from the skies, bringing all of them along with it!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone