Some time later.
December, S1196.
Unknown distance above Liberl's sky.
A vast sea of white clouds constantly drifted around. Most appeared gray due to it being winter. Above the clouds, a gigantic shadowy figure struck the air, and pierced through it. It was colossal. it soon approached a feasible altitude. This figure was far from human. That's because it wasn't. It was one of the largest orbal aircrafts to date that a person ever saw. Its body was mostly red. Massive oars could be seen on each side. It was as if it was swimming through the ocean of clouds.
This orbal airship was the trump card of a secret organization who called themselves Ouroboros.
The Glorious!
It had not been long since this gigantic airship was crafted in secret, and likely by a string of workshops that are known as the Thirteen Workshops. It's quite literally a flying fortress in the sky. It also acts as Ouroboros's main base. Ever wonder why one can't locate where they operate from? It's because Ouroboros constantly moves around, not staying in one place for too long!
All because of the Glorious!
Right now, the Glorious was cruising through the sky above Liberl's airspace.
Some time had passed since the events of Nemeth Island concluded. Paradise was completely, and utterly, annihilated. This happened via a joint operation of three different groups. A group of escaped children who successfully fled the DG Cult led by Naoto von Auslese, a prominent Jaeger corp Zephyr led by the Jaeger King, and members of Ouroboros, led by Enforcer No. II. At the top of the operation was Campanella. To the boy's surprise, even someone like Campanella was disgusted with Paradise's infrastructure.
Campanella even called in a couple of Enforcers who were free. Enforcer No. II, and Enforcer No. XIII, Leonhardt the Bladelord and The Black Fang! That part still played out as it did in the original story. They assisted in clearing out Paradise alongside the three groups. The main difference was that it happened two years earlier than what it was supposed to be.
Before the young prince realized it, an entire four years had passed since his home was razed to the ground. He had gotten acquainted with new friends. New colleagues. He was now working with different moving groups. He was a noble. He assisted a shadowy organization. He also worked alongside mercenaries, gaining combat experience like none other. But as the prince said, all things must come to an end. What happened at Nemeth Island is now over.
Ouroboros sent their flagship over to pick up Naoto with not one, but two new additions in tow.
A girl called Renny Hayworth, a survivor of the DG Cult. She now calls herself Renne.
And a boy, also a survivor of the DG Cult. A couple years younger than Renne. He calls himself Quatre Salision. Both of his parents belonged to the cult, and he felt no remorse seeing his two parents perish during the raid.
Now, both are free. And for the time being, they decided to follow Naoto onto the Glorious. As for Naoto, he was now on his way home. His home that was waiting for him in Liberl.
Not many knew that Naoto was still alive. But to those who did, they were the ones who mattered the most to him. Liberl's royalty knew. The only thing they didn't know was the fact that he was returning now, and not later. Naoto had kept it entirely a secret. He wanted them to be surprised!
Seeing morning dawn once again, I felt the suns' rays pierce into the room. We were quite high up in the sky, so the sunlight was rather bright. My eyes were soon greeted with a violet-haired girl beside me who was happily snoozing away. A far cry from what this girl initially endured. I could see that she was genuinely sleeping. She currently held onto a black rabbit doll in one of her hands.
At the start when we escaped the DG Cult, she would have nightmares every single night. But now, that is no longer the case. As the saying goes, time heals all wounds. I figured that was the best thing to do for her.
I stretched, and lifted my body from the covers.
"Mmm...", I uttered softly. Seeing Renne sleeping beside me still, I didn't raise my voice too high. It was hard to tell the time seeing we're so high up in the sky, but the sun was out, so it was morning at least.
It was approaching the end of S1196.
"I can't believe I've been on the Glorious for the past few months...", I uttered, still keeping my voice soft. Seeing Renne still asleep, I gently got out of bed, and slowly made my way toward my desk. The flight is almost over. I told them I didn't want to go to Liberl right away. The rest of us had to get acclimated again. Time just flies, you know?
Some things have changed since all of us came on board.
Well, not all, exactly. A sad time indeed.
To begin with, Sherryl was the first to say goodbye, for now. This is where things became interesting. She already knew her body was growing stronger. Sturdier. All she had to do was breath, thanks to Gnosis expanding her blood flow. It puts Sherryl's body into a super active state, constantly burning energy. Thanks to that, Sherryl is prime to become a martial artist.
Trailsverse does have plenty of prominent martial artists. I myself was offered to join both the Vander School and the Arseid School, to which I may or may not take up on one of their offers in the future. While I may have the Gamer System at my side, Father's and Phillip's teachings, I am still a beginner of the sword. Rapier Master I is approaching its limit. If it's anything like the normal Gamer System, all skills cap out at Lv100, before they can upgrade to their next tier. I grew quite a bit during this year spent on Nemeth Island, I'll go over all the details later!
Sherryl still wants to serve me in the future as my personal maid. That goal of hers hasn't changed one bit. But she wants to explore the potential she was given. She might be a year younger than me, but she's already beginning to tap into her battle qi. How scary is that? Just knowing that fact alone, Sherryl's potential has skyrocketed compared to a normal person. She became determined to set off on her own path to grow stronger, and will join at my side again some time in the future.
There was just one little twist that was sent my way while discussing Sherryl's departure. But the timing couldn't be any better. Someone aboard the Glorious could very well have become Sherryl's teacher, but someone reached out to us first. When this happened, we were still flying around Calvard.
We met Zin Vathek, a member of the Calvardian Bracer Guilds. A prominent senior Bracer who was on the cusp of becoming B rank. In due time, he will become an A rank Bracer by the time Sky begins, and even receives offers to become an S-Rank Bracer in the far future, despite turning it down several times!
But more importantly, Zin was a martial artist of one of the three main martial art schools inside Calvard. Gekka. Kunlun. and Taito. I do recall Daybreak planned to explore the other branches, but sadly I didn't get to experience that. On that topic, Taito is much more explored before Daybreak. You get to meet a few individuals who train in the style.
And guess what? Zin offered a hand after observing Sherryl's potential in person. That's right, we met Zin face-to-face. It's always a blast meeting new characters! He's as big a bear as he was in the games. Seriously, Zin is one of the tallest and bulkiest figures out there. There's a reason why he's often referred to as a bear you know.
We saw no reason to decline. Sherryl wanted to start her path forward, so she bid us all farewell, and joined Zin's side. Not as a potential member of the Bracer Guild. No, as a member of the Taito School. Zin mostly resides in Calvard still and also attends his dojo rather frequently. It wouldn't be one more year until a guy named Walter Kron kills their master, and the dojo shuts down. For now, Sherryl will be at Zin's side. And when that event inevitably takes place, Zin will likely take Sherryl to journey across Zemuria, as Tamamo and I did.
Sherryl's reunion with her family will be put off for the time being. Just like that, she left. Sherryl was the first to go. What, didn't think it stopped there, did you?
Up next might have been our most interesting encounter. Even more interesting than meeting Zin.
We somehow met a traveling priest. And no, it isn't the onion-haired priest that I met back on a couple occasions.
This man was quite old. Perhaps closer to Phillip's age. He went by the moniker, the Roaring Lion, and was surprisingly, a Dominion of the Gralsritter. He reports to Ein Selnate directly!
This man introduced himself to us as Gunther Barkhorn!
He expressed interest in Van Arkride, wanting to accept him under his own wing as his student. To my surprise yet again, Gunther also practiced martial arts. His style was quite different from Taito. But it gave me my first lead into the other schools inside Calvard. Gunther practiced Kunlun! Didn't think you'd see a name like Kunlun all the way out in the Trailsverse, huh? Well, there are lots of eastern aspects available here. And they're much more prominent in Calvard. Calvard is in direct connection with the far east after all. Its culture is quite different. Just exploring its cities was an eye-opener for me.
Gunther also knew my real identity as Liberl's Crown Prince. It's probably a classified record amongst the Dominion, but he likely had enough authority to know. Apparently, Kunlun excels at swordsmanship, and Van had potential to become a swordsman. So we'll see where that develops in the future. Kunlun focuses on precision, and enhancing one's mind and body, making it as hard as steel. It serves both a good offense and defense at the same time. It can also allow one to perform aerial combat as well, quickly moving around the battlefield. Taito, on the other hand, is explosive, and can easily tear apart a person's defense through punching and kicking. The two styles are quite different, I must say.
It will be interesting to see how Sherryl and Van develop from here. It will also be cool to see them interact with spars in the future!
And like with Sherryl, it wasn't time yet for Van to reunite with the girl he called Elaine. So Van became determined, and decided he would pay back the grace I gave him from not rotting inside that hell hole. He left with Gunther Barkhorn afterward.
After those two left, it was Ennea, Tio, Emma and I. By then, we were already aboard the Glorious, and a few months passed by, making it December of S1196.
I was soon turning eleven years old!