Chapter 297: Heimdallr Airport

Author corner:

I will likely not post another Status Window update until Naoto finishes his swordsmanship training, or when the Vermillion Trials begin.

This next topic will be about my Pokemon fanfic. Previously, I stated that I will either continue to update my Pokemon fanfic, or rewrite my current chapters. I did post a couple chapters, continuing it. During this time, I decided that I will start from Chapter 1 again, rewriting each chapter to my liking. This will fix text & grammar mistakes, and any inconsistencies. This will cause chapters to go down. These rewrites may or may not include new content, or shifted content, we shall see.

The primary goal is to make the romance in it more natural, and less targeted. I know I received a lot of feedback about it, especially since I did those polls. I will be starting these rewritten chapters this weekend, but I will try not to affect my current posting schedule for A Gamer Into Trails.

This was the main reason why I have not been answering any comments in regards to who is in the harem and who is not for A Gamer Into Trails. I don't want to confirm readers' expectations, only for it to not happen. Even now, I don't know who all will be in the harem by the time the cold steel games happen.

In regards to the romance in A Gamer Into Trails so far, has any of it felt stiff or unnatural to you readers? Let me know, I'm curious!

As Always, Giliath demands your power stones!

Author Corner End

*****

Heimdallr Airport.

6:50AM.

Main Terminal - Upper Floor.

The Upper Floor of the Main Terminal was wide and spacious. Several fluffy and comfortable white-gray couches could be seen spaced apart. There were one or two people enjoying some relaxation, enjoying the view of a wide-panel glass window that made the entire outside landing port visible. From the Upper Floor, one could easily watch orbal airships take off.

The airport wasn't as expanded as it would become in the coming years. By then, there were enough runways to allow an airship to depart every thirty minutes. That didn't go to say there weren't any runways now. There were still plenty. Yet these runways were different from what ones in my past life looked like. The ones here were much more compact. They didn't stretch on for miles, and on flat surfaces for that matter. Some runways here even had diagonal slopes. That was all for a good reason.

You see, orbal tech really was such a wonder. It did not require any propulsion movement to go at high speeds in order for a plane to take off into the skies. Thanks to the engine systems in place, it allowed airships here to glide along its designated path, and lift off. Most of the time you'll see airships lift off vertically. That was the beauty of the orbal tech. These runways were more similar to how drive-thru car washes worked.

With that in mind, in the Upper Floor of the Main Terminal, a huge pillar could be seen, connecting the roof to the ground. One on the left and one on the right. The pillar was large enough to obstruct a person's view from the Main Lobby. I chose the pillar on the right, and directly behind it, a bluish glow popped into existence. Shortly after, four figures arrived. It was me, Sherryl, Lechter, and Roselia. Quite an odd party I must say.

As we arrived, Roselia's eyes darted around the place. Once a moment or two passed, Roselia nodded her head, showing acknowledgement.

"Umu, you casted that spell well, Naoto. 'Tis one of the more dangerous and difficult spells to master. Looks like going from the palace to here spent about a fourth of your mana. We didn't get vaporized into tiny particles either.", Roselia said, acknowledging my successful cast of Teleportation.

"Now wait a minute, what you 'explode into tiny particles', you saying we could have died just now!?", Lechter retorted, hearing Roselia say that in a calm voice.

"Indeed. Either one of two things could have happened if Naoto wasn't confident in casting Teleportation. One, we would have wound up in an entirely different location due to a miscalculation, or two, if Naoto's mana output wasn't stable, the spell would have likely gone awry during the casting, and as we were in transit, there would be a good chance we would have not come out of that alive. It is not a spell a beginner should treed upon in the slightest bit. I didn't say anything as it was clear Naoto was confident in casting it.", Roselia explained.

"You could still have at least warned us of such danger....", Sherryl chimed in, worry appeared in her eyes.

"Haha, I've done this plenty of times while I was by myself, so I knew I could handle it. At least for now, the maximum number of people I can move at once is five. I would require further training if I were to try casting it on any more than that.", I replied.

"Either way, well done.", Roselia responded to me. She then glanced at Lechter and Sherryl. "Oh and by the way, if you aren't used to such movement between spaces, those with a weak stomach may or may not get a sudden urge to regurgitate.", Roselia suddenly said. Lechter stared at Roselia, before realizing what she had just said. Right then, we all heard a loud sound that struck Lechter's stomach.

"You should have said that earlier, damn it!", Lechter shouted. He clutched onto his stomach, and made a mad dash down some steps further into the distance. He did attract gazes from the crowd of people further in the lobby before vanishing off to a hallway off to the side where the nearest bathroom was.

After we arrived, after those couple of moments, a swarm of people entered the lobby, likely wanting to get their tickets for the next flight. I'm sure compared to yesterday, this amount of people was a lot less, but there were still quite a few people looking to get onboard the next airship. It was the holidays after all, a busy time for travelling.

Our departure was only ten minutes away, but thankfully I didn't need to worry about this long line of people. A certain privilege nobility and higher-ups of government or detective agencies could utilize. The VIP treatment.

"Why don't we ditch that clown and go get in line to get our tickets?", I asked the two, seeing as it was just us three now.

"Isn't Lechter supposed to be your bodyguard or something?", Sherryl asked.

"It matters not to me. Though seeing this crowd of people is unpleasant to my eyes. I prefer to be recluse. I shall remain here until it is time to depart.", Roselia said. Guess she'll be staying here huh? The window gave a great view, so I don't blame her. Looks like she wasn't used to crowds of people either.

"Works for me. We don't have a lot of time to spare so let's go.", I urged Sherryl.

"Okay, Big Brother.", Sherryl responded, nodding her head.

Just like that, we left the Upper Floor and left Roselia behind. She seemed to have entered her own thoughts as she gazed outside the giant window. As we walked, I had a look at the lilac-haired girl before me. She's supposed to be turning ten or so this year, right? A couple years behind me. I would be turning fourteen years old. With how things have progressed, I really haven't had a proper birthday yet, have I? 

I was brought into this world on January 31st. That meant my birthday was coming up in 29 days. I will be fifteen years old before I start my studies at Jenis next year.

Taking a moment to observe Sherryl, she was in casual clothing. A light pink set of leather pants, and a white blouse. Her chest was still pretty flat compared to other girls I've come across, so this outfit was likely very easy to move around in. It was pretty rare to see her not wearing her white gi for once. Sherryl did sense my gaze, and proceeded to look my way as we walked.

"I-I don't look weird, do I, Big Brother? Do you think big sis will be able to recognize me like this?", Sherryl asked, containing a hint of worry in her voice.

"Haha, you look fine, Sherryl. I was just a bit surprised that's all. I know you recently started going to school at St. Astraia, so I thought you would prefer wearing your school uniform over something casual like this. There's a lot of girls who can't make it into that school, right?", I asked. St. Astraia was an all girls' school, and one, if not the most competitive one out of them all. It's where the top of the nobles attended, including Erebonia's princess. It's not just like anyone could enter that school.

"Uh-huh. I had Teacher help me use the connections I previously had to enter St. Astraia. It was a surprise to see Renne enroll too, but I hear she skipped two grades. She's even younger than I am, but we're already in the same class.", Sherryl asked, praising Renne, despite their clear difference in ages. It sounds like the two were in the same class, and I bet they were in the same year as Princess Alfin is.

"So Renne really is attending St. Astraia along with you. She sounded a bit lost, but I'm glad she was able to come to this decision without needing a push from me.", I happily replied.

"Yeah! I am curious as to where Renne and those other three headed off a couple days ago, but school will be starting back up next week for us, so I doubt they'll be gone for long. Still, I could say the same about you, Big Brother. You're looking pretty snazzy yourself. Are you really seeing this as a date?", Sherryl said to me. As she said that, her cheeks turned slightly red. She turned her head down a bit, and noticed I now had a ring on my middle finger. "And that ring looks new as well. It looks pretty expensive. It's the same color as my hair too...", Sherryl uttered. The ring I had was quite exquisite. Its center stretched in a loop, and was colored lilac, just like Sherryl's hair.

This was of course the reward given to me by completing the Quest to spar against Sherryl. It was a pretty amazing ring. I felt stronger the moment I put it on thanks to the stats it gives.

And in the Trailsverse, one could equip two accessory slots. I know I could put on a shit ton of more jewelry and accessories on my fingers and such, but I'm guessing it would only take the effect of two of them at a given time. 

Apart from wearing two Accessories at once, there was a weapon slot, an armor slot, and a boots slot. I was, in fact, wearing a full set of gear this time around. I didn't go into the specifics, but it was based on Sherryl's comment just now, giving me that snazzy look.

I currently had [Training Staff of the Crimson Roselia] in my weapons slot, and my two armor slots were occupied by the 2 B-Ranked armor pieces I had rolled with those equipment boxes a while back. 

To my surprise, it was a set piece. Its appearance was a long leather jacket, colored dark-gray with a light-gray undershirt, and brown pants. High class sneakers came along with it, pitch black. It looked very similar to a certain star lord of another series. I know he often appeared cocky at times, but man, did that outfit of his look good. I decided to take a moment to observe its stats, along with what I was currently boosted to.

[Guardian Armor - B-Rank Armor - 2 Piece Set]

 -750 DEF -750 ADF

[Guardian Boots - B-Rank Boots - 2 Piece Set]

 -5000 HP -25 SPD

[Set Effect: 250 DEF 250 ADF 800 ATS]

  -Special Effect 1: When both pieces of the [Guardian Armor] is equipped, grants Craft - [Disable Trap]. 

-Special Effect 2: When both pieces of the [Guardian Armor] is equipped, grants Craft - [Taunt].

With the recent level up and newly added blessing I received from Sara, my stats further increased. I also had another look at [Sherryl's Adoration], and that had an additional effect I skipped entirely, and it was quite a massive one too. It doubled [Sherryl's Blessing].

Thinking that, I now had a new look at my overall stats.

HP: 53,500 EP: 3400/4350 INT: 1575 STR: 2455 DEF: 2500 ATS: 4000 ADF: 1950 AGI: 297 DEX: 165

Sure enough, these stats were definitely at Reverie levels, haha!

I'm feeling pretty powerful with all of this equipped. But I doubt I could still match against someone like the Thunder God.

I took a narcissistic moment to admire myself, these clothes really were fashionable, aren't they?

"You might look handsome, Big Brother, but don't let it go to your head. What would that Elie person think of you if she saw you like this?", Sherryl retorted, seeing me behave like this. I immediately snapped out of this stupor the moment I heard that.

"Heh, you're definitely right about that. I really do want to see the look of Elie's face the moment she sees me. It has been quite some time since we've seen each other.", I replied, wondering how Elie looks now. She should be the same age as me. She will be turning fourteen as well this year. She was one of other older members of the SSS. We were both born in S1186.

As I thought that, we finally arrived in the near empty line that was reserved for VIPs. It was a surprise to see the line occupied by one or two high-class people. They definitely glanced their eyes at us, but didn't say anything. It was actually the clerk who spoke out to us.

"Hi, we'd like to get our tickets. We made a prior reservation.", I asked the clerk. She blinked her eyes at me, not expecting to see two kids approach her.

"Umm, are you sure you are in the right line, kid? Or perhaps, did you come to get your tickets on your parents' behalf?", The clerk asked, unsure.

I was already over five-and-a-half feet tall, but I guess in her eyes, I was still a kid?

*****

I tweaked Sherryl's Adoration a bit. It will be like this for other Accessories down the line.  This should be a more concise overall calculation of Naoto's stats now. I do round up or down to my liking, so keep that into consideration

If there was anything, his AGI received a massive boost.

Here's a summed % of each stat so you don't have to scroll through my status window a bunch of times (cause I had to, haha!)

TOTAL %S THUS FAR:

HP: +10%

EP: +880 (flat stat)

INT: 95% 

STR: +115% 

DEF: +110%  

ADF: +85% 

ATS: 70% 

SPD: 110%

DEX: 50%

(This is without titles and gear taking effect)