Chapter 20 - 20: The Journey Part 1

All ten contestants that had resided within Strangers Manor had all gotten aboard the airship and stood on its deck. Soon the platform they used to board had slowly began to recede until it completely returned to the ship.

With the platform no longer extended the ship began to rise up into the air and soon gave a full view of the entirety of Basttenhoven. The sight of this was a first for Lucas who keenly admired the view.

"Amazing!" He exclaimed genuinely as he experienced what it felt to be in an airship for the first time.

The other contestants however never really showed how they felt about it, including Aron who had also been experiencing his first time aboard an airship. Despite this however, Aron only leaned against the rail with his hood up as he faced the front view the ship gave.

'Gr, I can only see his back' An irritated Oxin thought to herself before finally turning to scan the other contestants.

As she did this, the other contestants all began looking at each other either directly or stealthily, aside from Aron who didn't seem to care and Lucas who was distracted.

'I feel a strong presence of mana on here. I can't tell how strong it is but I'm sure it means the people present are capable.' Mirai thought to herself as she felt a strange tingle on her skin ever since the ship became fully boarded.

"Hmph. Just weaklings everywhere." Jagu on the other hand scoffed at everyone he laid his eyes on. Not seeing anyone who caught his eye simply by looks alone. Jagu would soon turn to Aron and prepare to speak, however Aron spoke first.

"We are roughly less than half a day away from reaching the next airship belonging to Galos Academy. Probably to give us time to either prepare or tire each other out." Aron muttered and caught everyone's attention before he turned to face them.

"I was told the journey has always been about students competing against each other for supremacy, so much so that death is a common occurrence during this process. So although they said this phase shall remain the same, it's obvious the real focus this time will be the aristocrats trying to belittle everyone else." Aron quickly explained before walking passed Jagu and heading towards a door leading into the airship.

"Sounds like you're just making excuses" Jagu replied irritatedly and caused Aron to come to a halt before lowering his hood and walking up to Jagu.

"I heard most capable man beasts can tell if someone is lying just by looking into their eyes. So answer me Jagu, am I lying when I say you can't ever hope to even come close to beating me?" Aron looked Jagu and in the eyes and asked bluntly with a smirk on his face.

As Jagu looked into Aron's eyes, he felt a strange chill invade his body. This feeling although rare, was still familiar to Jagu, this feeling was fear. Jagu found himself frozen unable to speak.

'What is this...how dare he speak to me like that. But, why am I not speaking, why isn't my fist buried in his face. My body won't allow it...all my senses are telling me to move away.' Jagu grit his teeth at Aron but didn't utter a word, nor did he even move.

"I see. Despite your appearance, you're nothing special. Either accept that and work hard to change it or keep lying to yourself that you're strong and get crushed along with your useless pride." Aron turned away from Jagu and advised before proceeding to enter the interior of the airship.

Even after Aron left, Jagu didn't utter a word. Instead the large man beast let out an annoyed growl before going inside as well.

"They both think too highly of themselves, no matter how talented they are, they can't hope to compete against an aristocrat who has received training since a tender age and has had everything they need to improve themselves." Sharla crossed her arms and expressed her view on the matter in a displeased tone.

"I disagree Sharla, I think that not only is it possible but we shall bear witness to it." Mirai added in her ever so gentle voice before leaning on the rails and closing her eyes.

After Mirai did this, the remaining contestants averted their gazes and simply looked at views the airship had to offer.

Hinako and Jin stood close to each other silently without uttering a word. Not too far from them, Evanora was doing the same all by herself. Despite Oxin being on her own as well, she seemed more upbeat and energetic than anyone else present.

The only person who seemed to have taken an initiative in trying to interact with the others was Lucas who approached Scarlett.

"Uh, Hey. It's pretty impressive to make it in the top 10 so I'm guessing you're working hard to provide for your family back home as well. You know and change how aristocrats view us haha." Lucas laughed nervously as he attempted to spark a conversation.

"I'm an only child, my father is dead and my mother is nothing but a cheap tavern whore. I'm working hard for myself and nothing else. I couldn't care less about how aristocrats see me or others." Scarlett replied bluntly before looking away from Lucas rudely.

A little further away from Scarlett and Lucas, Jin showed a faint smile on his face and shook his head.

"Is something funny?" Hinako asked in a rude uncaring way but Jin turned to her to answer anyway.

"The idea of aristocrats changing who they are just seems so laughable. A part of me can't wait until we face them, it will be a sort of justice don't you think?" Jin asked while showing a helpless expression and heaving a sigh.

"That is not the reason we are here Jin. Put aside your honor and principles aside for once and focus on the bigger picture or everything our parents died for would have been for nothing." Hinako warned in a low yet serious tone before going silent.

Meanwhile in a well decorated room within the ship, Aron was casually laying on a bed with his head facing the ceiling.

"So far everything is moving just as Ariel explained but it's too early to truly be sure. Best I just lay down until things become interesting." Aron concluded before closing his eyes.

Soon night would fall without anything of note occurring so the remaining contestants simply returned to their own assigned quarters.

The night was tranquil and silent with only the sound of the air gently moving against the airship. But just a little after midnight had passed, the sound of an explosion had reached the airship, instantly alarming everyone.

"What was that?..." Lucas who had been laying on the bed in his quarters quickly got up and questioned before rushing out of the room.

By the time he got to the deck, he found 8 other contestants standing on the deck looking forward. Jagu, Oxin, Mirai, Sharla, Jin, Hinako, Scarlett and Evanora had all gathered and were all looking at the sight of the explosion.

In the slightly far distance two other airships could be seen hovering in the skies. One was grand and luxurious like the one Lucas and the others were on, while another was simple but was in bad condition as many damaged areas could seen on its surface.

Just as the contestants were observing from afar, a bright light had emerged from the deck of the luxurious airship and shot towards the simple one.

Another explosion followed but this time, the simple ship began to slowly descend to the ground below before crashing violently onto the ground.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked in a curious tone and with narrowed eyebrows as he watched the scene unfold.

"Are you blind or just stupid. It's like contestant 10 said, the aristocrats are targeting non aristocrats. Did you really think they'd let people like us just enter the academy." Scarlett rudely replied with a frown on her face and her arms crossed. While Sharla who stood not too far from her narrowed her eyes as she noticed something.

"Judging by the way that ship is turning, we are next." Sharla pointed out causing everyone present to show a serious expression.

"So what? All I have to do is fight and put them in their place." Jagu growled and suggested as she showed an excited look.

"That won't work." Jagu's excitement was cut short as Aron finally decided to come up to the deck. Jagu was not the least bit pleased by this and was ready to retort when all of a sudden Scarlett stepped forward and spoke first.

"He's right. A battle here is one between airships and that's one we can't win as their ship is far more equipped for battle. We'd have to use the alternative way of travel to at least be able to fight on equal terms if confronted" Scarlett explained hurriedly and almost immediately Lucas raised his hand.

"What Alternative?"