On Track

The situation could have been a lot worse, I grudgingly admitted. Ignoring…everything even remotely related to Ziz, I was unbelievably lucky.

Not because of the ship, even if things weren't as bad as they could have been. The ship was horribly damaged, Ziz having skewered it with its beak to see if it was worth eating and punched a hole most of the way through it in the process. It had thankfully missed a lot of stuff that was really irreplaceable, but it had still ripped through wires and metal and more. You couldn't inflict that much damage on an Airship and not hit something important. It hadn't eaten the engine or anything, but it was still pretty bad.

Not really because of where I was, either. I was on Mantle now, which might have seemed lucky, but as a continent, Mantle was kind of, uh, big. I was on one of the broken Islands in its southwest corner, which I wasn't even sure counted as part of Mantle proper, even if my quest had apparently accepted it. It had apparently been enough for the quest I'd been on, though I didn't even get a level out of it, which was making me start thinking I wasn't getting paid enough for this shit. I mean, I was used to annoying, dangerous quests for pretty shitty rewards, but that was in actual games. Given that I was taking my life in my hands here, I figured I should get more meaningfully compensated.

Regardless, I was on Mantle, but though there were plenty of worse places to be I was probably farther away from my destination then when I'd started. So that wasn't the reason, either.

But the saving grace was that my power, as always, was bullshit. Because of it, I'd figured all of that out in less than a minute. With it, I thought the situation may not have been completely hopeless. It was pretty much built for situations like this, honestly—situations where I had few solutions but a lot of time, because it's not like I was going anywhere without the White Whale.

The ship itself, I'd quickly realized, was fucked. I didn't have the skill to fix it and I didn't have the parts; it was beyond my ability to completely repair. Or rather, beyond my current ability to repair. Since my power boiled the issue down to my skills being too low, however, I was better off than pretty much anyone else in the world would have been. I had the blueprints in my head, a full understanding of how the ship should have worked, and I had some of the materials and a way of actually working with them.

I'd turned everything off to keep from wasting power, gathered up some of the new scrap metal, and started grinding my Crafting skill, making simple things at first, then more complicated things, building them up and melting them down with Crocea Mors, again and again. The sun rose and set, rose and set, and the skill improved until I could ply it to my purpose and started repairing some of the damaged portions of the ship. A good amount of the damage was beyond me regardless of my efforts, for I simply didn't have the parts or a way of working with them, but the metal portions which made up most of the huge hole in the ship? That I could do something about and I did.

By noon on the third day, the obvious damage—the huge hole, primarily—was gone, though parts laid exposed for later repairs. I'd accomplished the work of heavy machinery and hundreds of men with just my brain, Aura, and Elementals, fixing it up. It wasn't the prettiest patch job ever, but that was fine because I wasn't trying to win a beauty contest with it.

But it still wouldn't fly. I'd mended the superficial bits but airships, like beauty, were more than skin deep. I couldn't fix all the damage on the ship by twisting metal alone; getting the ship in the air again would have been, for anyone else, a hopeless prospect.

I wasn't anyone else, though. I was the Gamer—and I was stubborn as hell.

As another point of dubious luck, Ziz had chosen a more or less empty island. I'd explored it during my first day here and hadn't found any sign of human civilization, past or present. As far as I could tell, there were no Grimm on the Island, either—if there ever had been, they'd either left or ran away after Ziz's arrival and hadn't come back even after it curled around another mountain and went to sleep again. That was both good and bad; no Grimm to fight meant I couldn't level up but it also meant I didn't have to put up with the constant distraction of attacks, allowing me to focus on my current problem.

And maybe, just maybe, a possible solution.

I'd kept Levant and Crocea Mors manifested and by my side at all times. Part of that, of course, was to continue to train my Elemental skills—but a larger part was simply so I wouldn't be alone on this island, immediate danger or not. Either way, it was for the best, because of what I needed to do next.

I'd meant to do this for a while now, but had never had the time. The last few weeks had been a constant rush, an effort to get so many things done in too little time. But now, thanks to Ziz Airline's horrible flight, I had all the time in the world and a pretty pressing need.

"I, Jaune Arc, call upon the ancient contract of ages past to summon thee," I said, standing before a trio of prepared circles, readying myself for one ritual after another. I wasn't certain this would work, but…nothing ventured, nothing gained. "I hope that you heed my call. Come, Fire Elemental!"

The makeshift fire I'd built in the first circle erupted suddenly, blazing higher than it should have. A small figure gathered at the center of the flame, bronze skin and blazing red hair. He was a diminutive figure but somehow cut an image of nobility despite that, garbed in cloth of shifting patterns in reds and blues. The cloth left half his chest bare in a fashion that seemed dimly familiar and he looked up at me with eyes that glowed like coals.

But I wasn't done yet.

"I, Jaune Arc, call upon the ancient contract of ages past to summon thee," I spoke again, voice rising. "I hope that you heed my call. Come, Water Elemental!"

From a bowl I'd crafted and filled with sea water rose a small, beautiful figure. A formal gown of deep blue was trimmed in the white of sea foam—the same color as her hair, white trailed down her back like a waterfall. Her skin was light blue, darkening as it dropped lower to royal colors by her hips. Below that, her legs were amorphous, calling to mind both the liquidity of water and the scales of a snake or fish. Her eyes were solid black, like the depths of the ocean, glimmering slightly in the light.

"I, Jaune Arc, call upon the ancient contract of ages past to summon thee," I spoke once more, exhaustion beginning to set in as my power was drained away. Nonetheless, I was determined to continue—and it would have been rude to stop now besides. "I hope that you heed my call! Come, Lightning Elemental!"

Lightning fell from the blue sky, reaching down to strike the crystal of yellow Dust I'd set within the last circle. I hadn't been sure it would work, with the ritual predating the discovery of Dust, but Lightning was vital to my plans.

Nonetheless, I was extremely glad when no thunder followed the strike, though I was performing the ritual as far from Ziz's mountain as possible. Instead, the bolt gathered, congealing into a final figure. The only way to describe him was 'bright.' His flesh, his clothes, his hair—the entirety of his form was colored as if someone had trapped Lightning in a human form. Which, I suppose, I had. White cloth, white skin, white hair, white eyes, he seemed solid but only momentarily, shifting slightly between blinks of an eye. At times, he would flicker, momentarily facing another direction before facing me. I couldn't make out precisely what he was wearing, because it seemed to shift, merging with his body for an instant before tearing itself away in bizarre, twisting shapes.

You call upon the sea—

The storm—

The flame, Fire finished. Why?

I knelt and bowed, putting all the respect I could into the gesture. Whether because of their natures or my proficiency with Summoning Elementals, they seemed more eloquent, intelligent, and dangerous.

"I'll begin in accordance with the ancient rituals," I replied. "My name is Jaune Arc. You have heard my name; please tell me yours."

The three figures looked at me, tiny but judging, and for a moment all was silent. I wondered if I'd erred in summoning more than one, if I'd made a mistake. I'd gained the Affinities by meditating on the elements, but…

Suddenly I was gone. I was torn away in a storm, drowning, burning, falling, and flying all at once. I flew apart in a million pieces and gathered, flashing into existence and fading. I grew and devoured, growing larger as I moved, wiping away all in my path. I covered the world, flowed through it, a power that was everywhere, enormous, and yet somehow unseen.

I saw myself and I was unravelling, coming apart in light and sound, unable to control where I was going, unable to remain. I lived and died between moments and yet in that moment I lit up the world.

I saw myself and I was burning, being devoured even as I devoured in turn. I grew, expanded, ignited, and consumed even as I lost my figure, my form, and became nothing more than heat and light—and I shared both with the world.

I saw myself and I was melting, liquefying in an instant and falling to the ground in a splash. I felt my pieces separate and recombine, was immobile even as I shifted and grew to be everywhere, in everything.

Abruptly, I was not alone. Three figures stood with me, or rather one figure did from three different perspectives. Even as I unraveled, I came together, racing through the sky to return to my body. Even as I burned, I found myself centered, the brightest flame at the core. Even as flowed away, I returned, rising from the earth and falling from the sky to return to the shape I knew.

I felt them and they felt me and we felt free.

My name is Vulturnus, the storm whispered.

I am Xihai, said the sea.

Know me as Suryasta, spoke the flame.

We are one as the ancient contract dictates.

"Our souls are one," I agreed.

I am Vulturnus.

I am Xihai.

I am Suryasta.

"I am Jaune Arc."

Until our souls meet their ends—

"We will be forever one."

Then know; should the skies be torn through with light—

Should the land fall beneath the sea—

Should the whole of your world burn to ashes—

Even then I will protect you.

The moment they finished speaking, I was gone, dropping into a deep sleep. I wasn't sure how long I slept, but the sky was dark when I woke. My dreams had been at once bizarrely joyous and troubled, of a world that was burning, drowning, and fading away, wrecked by titans of fire, water, and thunder. I stood amongst them, beside them, within them as they fought and felt at once like nothing but an insect and all but a god.

When I opened my eyes, I was not alone. I felt Crocea Mors humming in my gauntlets and Levant curled up at one side. Xihai rested at the other and Suryasta and Vulturnus at my head and feet respectively; far enough not to shock or burn, but close enough that I knew they were there. They didn't need to sleep, I knew, but they didn't want to leave me alone while I rested—and somehow, I'd held onto them even whilst sleeping.

A skill has been created through a special action! Through practice with many elements the skill 'Elemental Mastery' has been obtained!

You've obtained the title 'Elementalist'!

I huffed out a quiet breath as I sat back and waited, not wanting to wake them up. I'd let them sleep for now.

And then, we'd see if I could make a broken ship fly.

XxXXxX