Remian opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar darkwood ceiling. He felt movement; the bed he was in, in fact, the entire room and the floor, was moving… “An airship?” Remian guessed. Squeaks sounded. There were two lynxmice in his room. One of them sent out a message. [He is awake!] “Where am I?” he asked. The other lynxmouse approached and scratched itself behind one ear. [I don’t know. Here?] “Where is here…?” Remian shook his head and changed his question. “Are we in an airship?” [Yes! We’re in the new airship! Uh… the old one. The new old one!] the lynxmouse struggled to explain. “This is the new second-hand Sky Galleon Mindy bought?” Remian guessed. “Mikii!” [Yes, yes!!] “Which means… we went from Fal’herim to Ashdale, and then left Ashdale… have we taken Iron Legion trainees on board?” [Not yet.] “Fresh out of Ashdale, then, and en route to Itarim.” Remian figured. “So… what am I doing here?”

Remian passed by a library, a gym, and a dojo before he figured out that the fourth floor were basically all facilities. Making a full circle, he went down a floor and found a massive food court, an inn (probably meant to cater to the airship crews when they docked), three empty lots, elevators and toilets. There were shops dedicated to selling clothes, strong drink, accessories, books… Wait. What? Remian found himself staring at the bookstore. “How did that get here?” “Uh… I brought it here. From Ashdale. It’s one of Lydia’s friends. He said he wanted fresh and and the freedom of the wild frontier, but I suspect he might want something more with Lydia than just friendship.” Mindy grinned. “He’s got all the basic magic books, if you’re interested.” “I’ll definitely take a look.” Remian said, brightening. Access to knowledge would be priceless for the developing clans. It brought a lot of considerations to mind, such as the future of these clans, the l

They made a stop at Germat, selling off their cargo before turning around and heading back south. “I can’t believe the prices of tools and machinery has gone so high.” Mindy scowled. That was on their shopping list but the prices of those goods in both La Vive and Germat had skyrocketed. “Maybe we can pick up something at Itarim.” Remian suggested. “We have passengers waiting there anyway.” Yup, despite their best efforts, their little vacation had turned into another supply and passenger run. Mindy just couldn’t resist. Still, Remian was intent on bringing her to see more of the countries she so casually visited, something more than just the airport. In contrast to Germat’s strict rules, the market in Itarim was a chaotic, almost confused affair. There were a good number of empty stalls. People here seemed to be in a hurry to leave. “Why all the fuss?” Mindy asked. “Apparently, that new vein of mana crystals isn’t that far from here.

“That’s… not going to solve the fundamental problem.” Mindy protested suddenly, cutting through the murmurs of agreement and affirmation from other students. “Then what would?” the lecturer asked pointedly. “Uh… I don’t know…” Mindy hesitated. “Maybe we should try searching those hard-to-reach places, like the deep seas or the frozen north. Maybe there’s a way to make mana crystals that we simply haven’t found. Maybe we can find ways to use less mana, so that just our natural mana is enough and we don’t need crystals.” The lecturer nodded. “Certainly. But those ideas will take time, and we seem to be oddly short of time all of a sudden.” “Why is it sudden? How was it that nobody realized we had a mana shortage earlier?” Mindy had to question. “We only got the results of the prospecting cycle recently. We all expected better findings, thinking at least half of the potential sites should have rich deposits. We never thought there would be only one.” Remian frowned. For some reason,

Days since last Beast Tide: 43. Current Kill Count: 1734 (85 since yesterday). 15 days since last Beast Wave. The same day that Mindy and Co. leave Ecclesia at sundown. *** “Deepsilver! I challenge you!” Wulfgar roared toward the waters of the Black Lake. At the time, Deepsilver was on the edge of the lake, head above the surface, watching with some interest as Jim, George and a crew of others set explosives across Rocky Ford with some help from Charlie and his airship. “Do you think this will really work?” Jim asked George dubiously. “The theory is sound. Destroy the ford and there is simply no way across the river for the average Tier 3 or 4 Wild. This could really cut down the threats we face if and when we have to face the next Beast Tide.” “I thought you said they’d stopped already?” Jim mentioned. “The Beast Waves have stopped, yes. We expected one yesterday and just like last week, they didn’t show. I tak