Chapitre 7: A dangerous night in the clouds
A pristine white colored airship can be seen sailing in the sky. At the forecastle deck of this airship, there stands a man with a serious face, looking at the passing clouds.
There was a heavy burden weighing down on Stan, who's responsible for the 'Radiant Light' guild. If he were to lose even one of his men on this mission, it would be a significant blow to the guild.
Not to mention the drop in overall strength the guild possesses, the other guilds will see it as an opportunity to slowly take over our territory and swallow us up whole.
'No, I can't think like that.'
Stan gave a lasting look towards the [Explorer Permit] he was holding before stuffing it away. A subtle smile started to replace his serious face, as Stan began to silently mutter to himself, "The solution to all my problems will be found 'there'."
Because he was lost in thought, Stan didn't notice that Ian was walking up to him from behind.
"Guild leader, the arrangements with the representatives of the 'Seeker of Dao' guild have been made."
In response to Ian's statement, Stan let out a small sigh, "Ian, I have told you many times to call me brother, if it is just the two of us. By the way, did it have to take so long?" Stan pointed towards the darkening sky when he said that. Stan just couldn't comprehend how arranging sleeping quarters for the 'Seeker of Dao' dogs would take half a day.
Of course, Ian understood the subtle question that Stan asked, and it is indeed true that arranging the sleeping quarters for Greg and his associates didn't take so long. But in order to thoroughly discus the plan for the upcoming mission together, some time was needed.
Luckily, Ian had prepared the perfect excuse for that, "Greg was greatly displeased with the guest quarters I presented. Eventually, I managed to make a new deal by letting them sleep in the cabin of the guild leader. Now we will gain an additional 10% of the treasures that we will find on the island."
Stan started frowning as he listened to Ian's excuse. He was happy that they will now get 60% of everything they find, but why would Greg make a fuss about his sleeping quarters? 'He probably insisted on sleeping in my cabin just to piss me off, and Ian managed to make a profitable deal out of it. Yes, that's probably how it went!'
While Stan was making his own conclusion about what happened between Ian and Greg, it didn't remove the remaining problem he was currently facing, "Ian, you know that the Guild leader's cabin is where I and Cassie were going to spend the night together. Where are we supposed to sleep now?"
The corners of Ian's lips were slightly raised when he heard the response of Stan. It went exactly as he had predicted; he didn't explain to much of what happened with Greg and just let Stan's own delusions fill up the gaps.
"Don't worry 'brother', I have already cleared my own cabin for Cassie to use, while we will share the guest quarters."
Mixed feelings started to arise within Stan. On one hand he was happy that his brother Ian already thought of everything, while on the other hand he found it weird that he and his girlfriend Cassie were going to sleep in separate rooms. Not to mention the anger he felt towards Greg for taking his own cabin.
Sigh*
"Alright, it is what it is. I shall inform Cassie about the new arrangement, could you ask the captain how much longer it will take before we reach the island?"
Stan was already walking away while he spoke. Seeing that the night was already approaching, Stan needed to find Cassie before she goes to their cabin that is now occupied by the dogs of the 'Seeker of Dao' guild.
That said, Ian was already aware about their foreseen arrival date on the 'newly discovered' island. This would be his second trip there, for the last time he went together with young master Chen it took a day to travel there, so it will take another half a day before they reach the island.
'But so far, everything is going just as young master Chen predicted. Oh Stan, Oh Stan, you should have learned when to accept defeat! Kekeke-'
Inside, Ian was secretly mocking Stan while he was looking at his broad back and he would have genuinely enjoyed ridiculing Stan any other moment if the airship wasn't shaking so much.
"Wait, why is the airship shaking so much!?"
He wasn't the only one that noticed how the airship was wobbling around. Stan quickly noticed the abnormal movements made by the airship and decided that he must move quickly to inform himself about the current situation.
Though he didn't need to move far before he saw Tom, one of the 30 Elite men, rushing over towards him. "Guild leader we are being attacked from behind by-
*SCREEECH!!*
-a flock of [Night Screechers]!"
A [Night Screechers] is not considered a hostile creature, as they are mostly asleep during the day. Even if you were to accidentally poke them during the day, nothing will happen, they would never retaliate unless their lives are at stakes. However, if these creatures are disturbed at night, when they are awake, they will become very aggressive.
The best description of the [Night Screechers] would be a giant worm with white-greyish skin like a cloud, with its mouth devoid of any teeth. And when such a flock of [Night Screechers] is clumped together as they fall asleep, they can look like any regular cloud in the sky.
"Shit! One of the clouds we hit must've been a flock of [Night Screechers]!" While saying so, Stan clicked his tong out of annoyance.
*SCREEECH!!*
After that screech the airship shook very violently and a light blue veil that covered the whole airship, appeared in the eyes of Stan.
As Stan witnessed the activations of the airship's defensive mana shield, he couldn't help but grit his teeth while yelling at Tom, "Dammit! The shield went up already?! Tom, you make sure to tell Harry to only scare away the [Night Screechers] with his fire magic and tell Dick that he should use the booster of the airship!"
"Yes Sir!" acknowledging the guild leaders orders, Tom hurried away to inform Dick and Harry.
Stan watched Tom hurrying away to deliver his orders, when he heard a voice from behind him, "It would be best to avoid any confrontation for now. Our men need to be well-rested for when we explore the new island."
Looking back Stan let out a heavy sigh.
*Sigh!*
"I know that Ian, that's why I want Dick to use the booster even though it will cost the guild a lot of magic stones. I just hope that whatever we will earn from that island will be worth it."
Without saying a word, Ian stepped forward and placed a hand on Stan his shoulder and gave a small smile. To Stan, it felt like Ian was saying that everything is going to be alright with this action.
However, Ian's thoughts were anything but supportive 'Stan, oh Stan, what a fool you are, Kekeke!'
Stan was ready to say something when sudden a massive explosion happened at the back of the airship.
*BOOOOMM!!*
*SCREEECH!!*
All the emotional feelings that started to well up in Stan, instantly disappeared when he saw the burning mass of [Night Screechers] that stood out like a sour thump in this night sky.
This situation was exactly what Stan didn't want to happen. With full speed, Stan ran to the back of the ship where he could see Harry and 4 other mages throwing multiple fireballs towards the [Night Screechers].
"Dammit Harry! I didn't want you to waste that much energy." Of course, due to the constant explosions going on, Harry couldn't hear any of it.
By the time Stan finally got a hold of Harry, Tom has already informed Dick who pressed the button to activate the booster. As Stan was berating Harry on his energy usage, the ship suddenly shot forward with incredible speed leaving behind the burning mass of [Night Screechers].
Thanks to the magic shield covering the entire airship, no one could feel the current air pressure.
Releasing Harry from his grip, Stan looked back towards the [Night Screechers] that were becoming harder to see with each second their distance became larger.
*Sigh*
"Let's hope that island will be the key to all the guilds troubles." Stan quietly mutters to himself.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone