Leon blew out the candle after finishing clearing the thoughts that were spinning around his head by writing them into his diary. Notes about elemental essences, cold refining were added to mention of Feather Fall and Floating Pills, of which he"d managed to make several of the former and only three of the latter in the end. Do not form above a fire that is hotter than smouldering coals, use water to cool the cauldron. He added with a heavy sigh. He"d caused several craters in the walls while discovering that little thing. Fortunately Feather Fall Pills were slightly more forgiving when it came to temperature control or there would be many, many more.
Lastly, he wrote of what he"d learned about the Empyrean Shattered Isles so far, with the intention of adding to these notes when he returned. He also scribbled down a note for Jin Li, in case his lover came out of his closed cultivation while he was away.
Don"t worry about me, I"ll be back soon. The coeurl are in the main stables being cared for, please bring them back if I cannot do so first.
His brush paused and heat flooded his face as he quickly scribbled an endearment before blowing dry the ink and folding the note before placing it beneath a carving of a Coeurl cub On the table. Rushing to his bed, he dove beneath the covers, still feeling a little embarra.s.sed, but he quickly fell asleep so did not dwell on it long.
As morning came, Leon automatically reached for the cold s.p.a.ce beside him before waking enough to recall just why it lacked heat and he drowsily pouted for a moment. He padded over to his stove to add a little wood to it in order to cook some breakfast, deciding to cook the last two eggs in stock to eat. As they boiled, he checked over the things in his interspatial bag, which included a blanket and a spare set of robes. Naturally, a lot of the s.p.a.ce was taken up by jade bottles of pills and potions as well as an earthen jar of various dried vegetables and rice; he hoped that this would be good rehydrated as soup. Being an alchemist, he was expected to take his cauldron, taking the portable stove wasn"t overly necessary, but wasn"t too much a burden and could heat a kettle of tea or soup.
He did not linger over breakfast but wrapped himself with a warm, waterproof cloak he"d bought recently and hurried over to the outer school plaza with his things. He was the only outer school student to be picked in the end, the other fifty nine members hailed from the inner school. Leon even recognised a few to his surprise, some he had met as Leo, another as Leon, but he didn"t know any of them well. They were guided by a Teacher to the griffin nests and one by one boarded the awaiting beasts.
They flew above the tree line in a northerly direction, sharply descending at one point only for the beasts to find a strong air current that allowed them to glide upwards and high up the vertical peaks facing them. They circled west for a short way, flying amongst the clouds, before descending upon an artificial stone platform carved into the mountain"s side. Above the clouds, there was no snow here, just the crunch of frost beneath their feet as they made their way inside the mountain.
Sheltered from the cold air and basking in the heat from two braziers filled with magical firestones, the alchemists relaxed visibly before slowly dispersing and finding their team leaders or team mates waiting around the edges of the ma.s.sive cavern. Pike was waiting with Troy and Velana had already met with them. The taller martial artist joked as he stated that the mages would likely be last. He was not wrong.
Sixty teams of six was a great number of people, not to mention the Mage teachers and former seniors who were there having opened the portals or were waiting to guide the students through. The cavern was quickly filled with bodies. Two mages would guide the ten teams of students through each time. One would hold the key totem of each team, in order to guide them back as well as protect the portals and the other would follow the ten teams using enchanted origami birds to watch their movements. This information would be sent by one of two twin crystal mirrors to the school, which would be sent to other enchanted mirrors in order that the students left behind could witness their favourite teams whenever they wished. The spell was similar to the bubbles made for the illusion challenge of the Standings, just more anch.o.r.ed.
Pike"s team came through the portal in the third wave, having drawn lots in the beginning. The two mages gave out the breakable totems, which were the size of a waist pendant and also gave to each team one spelled interdimensional bag. This had much more s.p.a.ce than their individual interspatial bags, but was enchanted that things could be put in, not taken out. Whatever it contained would be what they were judged on in the end and the team was also free to claim the contents and distribute it amongst themselves. Of course, this was another reason for creating a team that had core trust amongst themselves.
Leon took a deep breath as he followed Pike out of the cave in which this wave"s teams appeared in, Velana and her partner brought up the rear. Troy was clearly excited, although this was restrained, still reminded Leon a little of Sun when it came to exuberant energy. Roman was as nervous as himself, not able to hide it, but kept following the two martial artists with resolution. Meanwhile Caelus belied his bulk by moving forward with much ease and lightness of foot.
Pike looked around hoping to gain his bearings, though such wasn"t easy to do. There were more than thirty lands they could have appeared on after all. In the end, Pike shook his head as he paused beneath a tree whose girth was worth at least five of Caelus" "I don"t recognise this place, I"ve not been here before," Pike had ventured these lands almost four times, once as a team member and three times as its leader, "I"m not sure I can distinguish it via the maps I viewed either."
He had Troy climb the large tree, warning him to be careful. The Empyrean Shattered Isles could be said to be ruled by monster birds after all. The agile youth seemed to vanish into the canopy, which barely moved as he traversed it and it was almost fifteen minutes later when he finally reappeared.
"There is what looks like a lone mountain or volcano in that direction," Troy pointed west. "And some sort of clearing that way, but there"s also a large flock of birds circling around that area as well. The nearest edge seems to be that way," he pointed to the north east. "But these place is definitely dense with trees. That one only peaks over the main canopy, there are several taller trees that are two or three times as tall." He patted the ma.s.sive tree behind his back.
"Did you see any other isles?" Pike asked him, but he shook his head. It seemed they could only take their chances on this isle for now. With his description, Pike had narrowed the list of possible islands that they could be on down to about three, but he would have to see more of the land before he might be sure.
"Let"s go to the clearing," he decided.
"Are you sure?" Caelus blurted out in question. "What about the ma.s.s of flying beasts?"
"I have a hunch," Pike grinned, patting his the fair-sized hammer at his hip as he spoke. "Besides, mountains contain minerals, minerals tend to be good for points so I suspect that most of the teams will head there first. I"d rather not follow the crowd or attract more attention from the wild beasts by being a part of it." He was the team leader, so they all agreed to follow him. Pike went ahead with Troy and Caelus following, Leon and Roman walked behind them while Velana and her fox partner continued to protect their backs.