“Yeah, we see that but not everyone will always be as grateful as we are. They’re overprivileged asshats so be there in their place just because of lineage and money. Someday, I’m going to be part of that society, rich and obno—”

After hearing this, another overlapping conversation inserted itself within the boundaries of the ears of his mind, impulsively listening through the borders around them. Down farther, just a few walls away grated voices filled with sudden frustration and hate.

“My sons beginning to get on my nerves, but nothing is more hellish than knowing the politics of this Academy is going to the rocks. He’s doing well learning, I know, but he’s getting trumped by those blasted privileged brats. If not for their positions, they wouldn’t be able to push my child off that list of top students.”

“Why? What happened? I thought your son got good scores enough to get him on the list?”

“He did, but the council saw fit to put the illegitimate child of our Prime Magician on the list when in the first place they said he isn’t going to be on the roster. He’s a blasted magician, not nobility. This is just plain favoritism, you know that we’ve given to the school and become good patrons but nothing of their actions bears a good reputation and governance towards our kingdom.”

“I agree, they’re lax on a Sagan than a Kabay. I’m not a Kabay, but the Kabays have been doing better service and management. Even the ones who work here have better service when they look like Kabay citizens.”

“Probably much better to say, they’re finally doing right and properly serving our kingdom. The Prime Magician should have done more work considering their plights if you ask me, that’s the reason why the Kabay rightfully frightened her. Honestly, I don’t even want to think she was pregnant, to begin with.”

“Woah, that’s not a good way to say to a child’s death, but it’s true. She pushed herself so much that her child died, knowing that theirs a clear faction war that should have stopped her. But it was surprising to learn about the timely way the successor was brought.”

“Hmph, you think that’s not planned. I bet she already had him before but had to hide him because of her appointment. Remember the past four years before the incident? She was such a disappointing wreck making so many mistakes during a few Oculars. I heard she had such a frustrating time and the only way to make her feel better is to have one of her magician helpers sleep with her.”

“Oh, I heard that’s true. Especially those who’s been good Light magician users. Imagine getting a good go with her—”

That was the last straw, as Mitt felt his blood trickle down his nose, a surge of alarm ran into his mind. Knees buckling from the pressure of his own doing, he let himself go from the strain and he laid on the floor. Like he was knocked over even though he was only standing still.

In retrospect, he shouldn’t have done such a risky idea of a warm-up as if he doesn’t know the extent of his malpractice. Though he could tell that there were voices around him, he could easily discern that soon he will have to explain to his mother again why he had to be resting after a short practice.

▓▓▓▓▓

Burning Slitark sunlight rained on the spotless shiny dark wood deck of the Sunflora airship, traversing smoothly through the high skies of the Kingdom. Below looked like a sea of green mixed with stray spots of town, tiny and almost indistinguishable as they blend with the expanse of trees. Further beyond that are large bodies of water, one is of a lake to the far west and a vastly expansive sea on the opposite.

The ship veered farther over to the skies above the sea where the reflection of the light did not keep the clarity of the shallow waters become hidden by the opaque light, rather it shined bright and clear. Though it became darker in color, with the rest of the sea becoming hidden with less light reaching its depths.

Thin, muscled arms of a ten-year-old girl steadily perched on the edge of the railing of the dock. Viewing the world under the sturdy airship, its alchemic metal exterior glinting a little shine from the reflection of the light under. Like the vast waters automatically becoming a mirror to the bright ceiling.

Shade caused by the airships passing parted schools of underwater critters and all kinds of creatures curiously waving its body underwater, but the girl on the deck continue to look glum. Tired not from any form of exhausting physical activities but rather from the mental capacity she had to endure in terms of studying books of all kinds.

From historical figures to the ideal philosophy of the noble class with their concept of manners and etiquette, she was forced to swallow the lessons like a bitter pill for days, morning till afternoon. She didn’t get to be as willing to do them compared to the superficial fencing training that she had to take, because her father wanted her to learn the exact ways the nobility and all royalty had to take within the Kingdom.

She couldn’t deny her father the dishonor of dismissing her lessons, the teachers he wanted to come along with during this trip to the mainland city of the kingdom. Instead of being pissed for every hour, she was scolded for inattention, she swallowed her pride for her father. The captain of Sunflora she admired the most, Captain Rifeus Uran.

He was on the second level of the top deck right now, speaking with one of the merchants who had been traveling with them and is now returning to the mainland city. He wore a simple white shirt, with its sleeves folded up to his elbows. His dark hair swept back and his tanned skin equaled the girl’s tanned ones.

The girl’s eyes followed the actions of the people around her before she looked back into the sea. Ruminating how much more time she would wait until one of the maidservants hired to help her wear a dress for the mainland come to force her into one. Cocking her brows at how uncomfortable the dresses the merchants offered to her felt like a decisive punishment, even though her father assured her that she could have them altered.

Sadly, none of the seamstresses within their community could easily make the clothes less scratchy. Talk about materials of an unusual kind. She would rather pick her clothes, with a shorter skirt and a less fancy type of cloth for the dress. Fashion for this young girl isn’t something she’s uneducated about or lacks self-awareness of her body. Still, it’s a trifle fickle and unnecessary if these types of clothes would just stop her from helping on the ship.

“You don’t need to do anything for the ship during this week, Jacoba.” Captain Uran said to her at the start of their journey. “I’ve told you before, you’ll be helping during our time inland. Better prepare yourself since it’s high time we get ourselves on the markers of the kingdom’s premiere city. Isn’t that, right?”

She marvels at how smooth sailing they made traversing over the lands with a few other airships visible on their way to the docks of the central city of the kingdom. Aware that they’re all here to start establishing their names and begin rounding through the events of the coming Ocular. That’s right, many people treat the coming weeks before, during, and after the Ocular event as a time to establish connections. Like a long-term festival of progress and communications as if there is no time between to truly do such things.

She’s not a merchant, so she can only partially accept and understand everything they’re doing. But all she wants to do is marvel at the capacity of the Sunflora with its new engineering and mechanic. The pride of her father and the people of Sunflora.

Since long as she could remember, she’s been surrounded by people continuously improving their lives from stray mining shards to smithing and creating ships from those shards. They’re stray shards that have landed inland and are almost on the brink of corruption. However, their group has mastered mining them and determining which ones can and cannot be used.

Those shards that cannot be used are sold to alchemists or the Academy by either legal or illegal means. Their lives have been in certain danger until they evolved their work to expand by creating a process for mining shards and protecting certain sectors, enough to create an official business.

To this day, she marveled at the ingenuity of their engineering faction where they merged certain shard components and magic into smoother machinery mechanics. Instead of sinking into magical streams and significantly relying on stored limited magic shard power sources, they have now infused shards and metal components enough to create a living influx conductor for the entirety of the shard’s magic within a complex machine.

The core is now a beating heart that could control the influx of magic with better ease by lessening longer conductors into shorter conductors. These spells help shorten the process of distributing magic within the ship, that way it wouldn’t take minutes to power a certain part of the ship. As well as create stronger magic infusion for the metals around the ship.

However, these types of magic are not something simply alchemic with one spell order, it takes ten to twenty spells within one part. Meaning, the lead mechanics Ronata and her wife found a way to make the magic flow better within the machinery. Collaborating with good meanings smithery’s from non-established workers from several branches of work that saw their potential.

Though, it was the captain who managed to communicate with these helping hands that’s why they managed to develop their art better than his engineers intended. For that matter captain, Uran became a businessman, not by choice of ambition but to help his crew and their small community to flourish into their own company.

This is what occupied the girl’s mind, then it shifted to the colorful banners that greeted them as they entered the rowdy docks of the inland city. Double the crowd occupied the entirety of the largest docks she has ever seen, since living with her father and coming with him on their journeys every year.

Suddenly, the light from above covered her eyesight, her eyes adjusting to the dimness and making her see better details from the rest of the docks. There was a large warehouse that welcomed each ship with Festoons guiding each ship in graceful waves and gliding through the air as if nothing.

The mouth of each entrance hovers over vast waters on a rocky wall several feet that watched the waters of the sea. Gliding Festoons greeted the Sunflora as they waved a neon-lighted stick over the heads of the drivers for the crew to take notice. A lot of shouts could be heard from this Festoon, all instructions to them and to follow their guidance.

“Enjoy the view while we’re here, dear,” Uran said to his daughter, Jacoba, as he hovered a stiff umbrella above her head. “But I remember the woman I hired to teach and take care of your needs as an upcoming rich merchant lady said that you should avoid spending time on deck, or your complexion will be ruined?”

“Dad, do you even believe that?” Jacoba looked up at her father, her slightly green eyes looking at him. “I’d rather spend time in the kitchen than locked up with her for an hour. Trying to teach me to stick with her when I could help on the ship is torture.”

Heaving a sigh, Uran nodded, “I agree, but right now, when we’re on the battlefield of the rich and noble, impressions matter. So, bear with it dear, we’ll get those sponsors and make our business legitimate enough that we won’t have to gripe for money.”

Sighing, Jacoba didn’t understand, but she was fine. The woman teaching her acts funny when she’s angry, but having it done every day is tiring. Tomorrow is a different story, it’s the time to see if her training paid off. Lesser moments to have her time to play outside without being monitored enough to be deemed obnoxious and wavering to her father and the Sunflora’s name.

What she, would do for her father? She can probably endure the scratchy dress, she won’t wear it the whole day. Probably.

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