On 26th Night,
It was around 9 P.M, at Baker Hotel, Merchants' district.
Abium, in his black-haired human appearance, stood opposite the mirror and seemed to be in deep thought.
He wore a red vest, black bow tie, long black coat, and formal black shoes.
He gazed at the mirror with a frown, then took out the golden pocket watch from the nearby table and carefully placed it inside his long black coat.
After that, he picked up the bower hat dangling on the peg and put it over his head. Following that, he picked up the Death cane, hanging on the wooden pin on his left side, gripped the golden handle tightly, and walked out of his room before closing the door.
Then, Abium walked out of the Baker Hotel after returning his room key to the receptionist and moved towards the Sky Port through a luxurious carriage.
After an hour of travel, the carriage arrived at the Sky port's parking area, and soon Abium walked out of the carriage.
Then, he moved to the terminal building while walking with the support of Death Cane.
But this time, Abium showed his Airship ticket to the security guards and walked in.
It was not illegal to carry any artifacts. So, the security guards let him in without further inquiry.
Abium adjusted his bowlers' hat as he entered the terminal building and glanced at his airship ticket.
[Airship company name: Zypher Skylines
Airship Number: ZS2456
Passenger ticket number: 2DB34
Class: Normal
Passenger's name: Jeeves
Passenger's identification number: PKCJ63524
Time of Departure: 3 A.M,
Date of Departure: November 27th, 10292 Easica Year.
From: Golden City, Sadel Kingdom
To: White Raven City, Zistedel Empire]
As he looked at the air ticket seriously, a calm female voice came from behind.
"Is this your first time traveling through the Airship, Mister?"
Abium was startled by the unfamiliar voice and turned his head in confusion.
Soon, he saw a young girl, around 20 years old, peeking at his ticket with a curious look on her face.
She had wide-set azure blue eyes, long blonde hair that almost covered her waist, a pretty oval-shaped face, and fair skin. She wore a brown bonnet, a thin white blouse, suspenders, and leather boots that reached her knees.
Abium also saw that she held a small black suitcase in her right hand and appeared more charming.
He stared back at her pretty face for a second and replied with a nod.
"Yes, Young Miss. You are?"
"My name is Nina Williams." She placed her hand on her ample chest and introduced herself with a polite bow.
"I'm an official mage of Williams' family. I coincidentally looked at your ticket earlier and noticed that you are also going to the Zistedel Empire. So, I thought it would be fun to get an acquaintance with you." She said with a smile and continued to walk while dragging her suitcase.
Abium was amused by her words and followed her while introducing himself with short words.
"My name is Jeeves. I'm a fellow roaming mage."
Nina stopped for a second as she heard his words, stared at his handsome young face, and spoke with widened eyes.
"It's my first time meeting a roaming mage, sir. Are you a Battle Mage? I heard from my master once that Battle Mages and Dark Mages are the ones who choose to become roaming mages. Is it true?"
Abium became stumped by her question and replied while shaking his head.
"I'm not a Battle Mage, Miss Nina. I'm a Rune mage."
"Rune Mage?!"
A look of astonishment appeared on Nina's face. She soon moved her face closer to his face, gripped his hand while moving her body closer, and said.
"You are a treasure then."
Abium's cheeks turned red as her melons pressed on his right arm, and he quickly squeezed out from her soft, gripping hands.
"Sorry, I got a little excited." She quickly retracted her hand and apologized.
"It's alright." Abium also returned to his usual self and waved his hand before adjusting his bowler hat.
"So, are you from the Zistedel Empire?" Abium asked as both arrived near the staircase. It was leading to the second terminal.
"Yes, I came here to research a particular artifact and its history. Unfortunately, all I got was nothing but disappointments." She responded in a sulking tone and climbed on the stairs. Then, she suddenly thought of something, turned her face towards him, looked into his amber eyes, and asked.
"Did you prepare scrolls? We will meet some Magical Beast raids on the way."
Abium showed a startled look and asked in curiosity.
"Magical Beasts? Will they attack us during our journey?"
Of course, he knew about the magical beast attacks during the airship travel from his dear elven friend but decided to look ignorant.
Amusement appeared on Nina's face as she saw his puzzled expression.
She then let out a deep sigh and spoke,
"Travelling by airship is not safer, Mister. When crossing through the Zypher Endless forest, Magical beasts will raid the airship from time to time. They are intelligent beasts, so they only attack normal passengers and try their luck to get our artifacts. Although the Zypher Skylines Company would send one third-tier mage and a few second-tier mages to protect passengers, please don't put your hopes on them. They will only act when a VIP guest's lives are in danger. They won't care about normal passengers."
Abium showed a shocked face as he heard those words and soon nodded his head in understanding.
"How many days will it take us to reach the White Raven City?" Abium asked and soon noticed that they had already reached the L4 gate.
Meanwhile, Nina quickly found a seat in the waiting area and responded while sitting comfortably.
"It would take more than three months. If the magical beast raids become more frequent, all mages will be forced to do guarding jobs during the flight. At that time, the destination time will also be extended."
'Forced to do guarding job? This journey will be a more difficult one than I thought it would be.'
Abium's face turned sour as he heard those words and sat beside Nina.
Upon seeing his sour face, Nina let out a chuckle and said, while patting his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Mister. All we have to do is protect ourselves from the first and second-tier flying magical beasts. As long as we help each other, there won't be any problems. We only have to take more caution against the hybrid beasts. Some beasts have some strange warping and mind-related bloodline spells that could pose a serious threat to normal mages like us."
'Something seems strange about her friendly attitude.'
Abium, on the other hand, frowned deeply and then asked.
"Why are you telling all this information to a stranger like me?" He stared at her suspiciously.