War For Underworld

Trips of the Apprentices

The next morning

"Well, here's the dune... You think Lady Medina is going to kill us?"

"We're in store for quite the verbal lashing. We better find those Quicksanders." Ilia takes her mind off her lady's potential punishment and focuses on the canyon wall ahead of them. Strong winds exit the canyon, keeping the exhausted noblewoman on her feet. Last night wasn't the best sleep she's ever had, being cold and all. Far from the worst, but she still feels drained of energy. "The valley ahead looks to be carved by erosion from the wind."

"Probably," Mia responds chipperly. Maybe the conditions that ill-suited Ilia last night didn't faze the darkworlder, even with the lack of her armor. Her home is a destitute land depleted of resources, after all. "I don't see any dust clouds, though. How far does it go?"

"I don't know. It's not on the map, and the desert isn't used as a road."

"Maybe there's a way around."

"Even if there were, we wouldn't be following the Quicksanders anymore. There's only one way. Get ready, Mia." The dark knight apprentice sighs, commenting how all this walking is bad for her health. Ilia's assessment of Mia's tolerance might be wrong, but it cannot be helped. They have no other choice but to make their way through the windy valley.

It doesn't take long for Ilia to wish there was an alternative pathway. She uses the formal arts to create a barrier around her, so her body is protected from the cloud of sand, but her view is still impeded. She takes her steel sword and holds it out, using it to follow the canyon walls.

How the Quicksanders get through here is a mystery, one she'll have to ask them. If Jaymes was around, they could fly over the valley...if he felt like doing so. He just recently learned how to 'fast-travel' with more than two people, something he couldn't perform two years ago. Can he take an entire group to the skies? Doubtful. Ilia would've thought Mia knew that ability by now, given how traces of her swordsmanship adapts the Aincrad Style and her tendencies reflect her teacher, but she's adept in the formal arts compared to Ilia.

Right behind her, Mia holds her own with a similar barrier. She doesn't show it, but Ilia is impressed with the other girl's abilities.

The Dark Territory would have won the war with their overwhelming numbers, but at the same time, if the war was fought in lands with plentiful resources and possessed the full might of the Order of Integrity Knights, the Human Empire might have had an arguable chance without the otherworldly aid. It's that one advantage the empire has over the dark realm, the one advantage Ilia possesses over Mia. Or maybe that's how Mia wants Ilia to think. Trained in the swordsmanship of the dark realm's knights, tack on the skills learned from the new emperor, and the Loveblight Bow on her back, created from the resources left by the Reaper of the Woods they beat at the beginning of this ordeal, this girl possibly has the power and skill of an Integrity Knight.

Ilia won't sell herself short, though. Mia may have some advantages, but Ilia has hers. One, she's trained not only in the Norlangarth Style of swordplay but she's adopted the Orthinanos Style as well. That same style held its own against the Aincrad Style multiple times before, her abilities with the arts are higher than Ronie and Tiese. She hasn't fully figured out her Divine Weapon, the healing dagger strapped to her waist, but that doesn't deter her. If only she had a dragon companion like the other trainees...

She looks back again, this time not seeing Mia's form. "Mia, are you still with me?"

"Illy? I'm right behind you! These winds are something else! Can't see anything!"