A Learning Curve - Etrian Odyssey 4 - Boyxboy

Chapter 19

AN: Thanks so, so much Ame_Tasogare for commenting on the previous chapter!

-

Chapter 19:

Stepping foot inside the building called Windy Archives, one of the first things that greeted Blayden and his team was the sight of purple petals gently flowing in a southerly direction. They looked peaceful, majestic even. He knew not to be fooled, though. Those winds were powerful. Bryce warned him not to be complacent. They would easily knock you off of your feet, sending you in the direction the wind was blowing.

Wiglaf whistled, somewhat impressed by the sight of the bookcases draped with wisteria. "I see why they call it Windy Archives," she said as she looked around. "Lucky I'm not into skirts and dresses."

"Bryce warned us that this place will be hard to navigate," Blayden muttered, feeling tense and uneasy.

"Falkner gave me a map," Fletcher said as he pulled out a roll of parchment and unfurled it. "Should make is a little bit easier, right?"

Glancing down at the map, Blayden immediately noticed that there was a symbol of where they could gather materials a few feet in front of them. Unfortunately, it was right in the middle of the wind currents so they couldn't just walk up to it.

Of course not. That would be too easy.

"There's a take point right in front of us," Blayden said as he looked to the east, visually laying his eyes on the gathering spot. "We can't get to it without going to long way. Damn it."

Fletcher kept studying the map, trailing his finger along a possible route to get where they needed to be. "We'll have to go through this door, and then this door and – should we check both take points or go for the one?"

"Both," Blayden immediately said as he shifted on his feet, feeling antsy to get going and get to work. "We can't be sloppy here."

No, they couldn't afford to be complacent. Kirjonen was relying on them to get the materials needed for the potion to save his life. Blayden may not have as much experience travelling the dangerous labyrinths and all the hazards that accompanied them as his brother or Varuna, but he wasn't going to fail.

Moving through the door that was located just south of the entrance, they came across their first obstacle. One of many, it seemed. A fast moving column of air. They won't be able to simply step across. They needed to pull themselves across.

Now what was it that Bryce told him to do...? Oh yeah!

"Use the railing to pull yourself across," Blayden instructed as he strode forward to get the lead. "That's what Bryce told me."

"Seems like a plan," Wiglaf said as she timidly moved toward the column of wind.

Despite all of Bryce's warnings, Blayden still wasn't prepared for how strong the wind really was. If he had stepped out into the stream right where he first encountered it, he would have thrown off his feet, pushed across the floor before slamming up against the railing!

Being the first to cross the current of wind, Blayden immediately turned around and offered his arm to the next person. With a bit of effort, and strength that he had built thanks to his training with Roxbury earlier, he was able to pull Wigaf, Fletcher and Miach out of the wind into a safer location.

They weren't out of the woods yet, so to speak. There were more wind currents to get through.

"Well, that certainly was a thing," Wiglaf murmured as she lifted her hands to smooth down her hair. "So glad that I'm not into skirts."