Chapter 217 – Hiking

As Yuki fell back first through the air, he stared up at the hovercraft as the others began their dive down to the ground. Yuki’s job now was to catch them before they smashed into the ground. He noted their positions and spun around to stare down at the rapidly approaching ground. Then he tucked his arms in and his descent accelerated.

Before he crashed into the forest ground, he summoned the wind to cushion his fall. The moment his feet touched the ground, he looked up to locate the others. Once he found them diving through the air after him, he thrusted his hand out and the winds wrapped around him. He predicted their trajectory and created multiple cushions for them to fall on. Seconds later, they hit against them and he grunted as he strengthened them to make their landing as comfortable as possible.

“Thank you, Yuki,” Akira said as she touched the ground. 

“You’re welcome,” Yuki replied. “See anything on the way down?”

“Everything looked clear to me,” she said. 

“Mmm. Everyone has their things with them?” he asked, raising his voice. The rest answered with confirmations. “Good. Then let’s start the trek. I’ll take the lead for now.”

Without another word, he walked off into the trees. The others followed him. As he walked, he reached out to the earth and the air to create a perimeter around himself and the team. Every now and then, he would send out a pulse of mana to scan the inside of that perimeter. 

‘Monsters should be avoiding us,’ he thought. ‘Our little group here is much too strong for the normal monsters. So if something comes charging at us, it won’t be some pushover.’

He cleared his head and let the information from his surroundings fill it. As he traversed his way to the mountain, the comfort of nature embraced him. It had been a while since he was last outside in the middle of nothing but trees and earth. 

There was some chattering behind him, but he didn’t bother focusing on it. It probably wasn’t about him and if they had questions about the mission, they could always go to him to ask. Instead, he put his sole focus on the task at hand. Scouting out the safest path.

Time flew by. Yuki could tell from the rising temperatures around him as the sun rose higher into the air. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Akira.

“Yuki, it’s been five hours,” she said quietly. “We should switch after a break for a meal.”

“Five hours? Already?” Yuki replied with a small frown.

“Yes. You must be getting tired, no?”

“I probably am,” he nodded. “I just haven’t noticed it yet. Well, let’s take a break then.”

He turned around and waved his hand to signal to the others the break. They found a relatively clear area to rest for a bit and broke out of their bags food that they had prepared. 

Yuki accepted a sandwich that Akira offered to him, giving her a quick nod of thanks. Then the group of seven ate quietly in the peace of the noon forest. Glancing to his left, Yuki stared at the looming peak that awaited them. Giant’s Peak. 

Though it was still a day and a half walks away, its sheer size was already so apparent. It was the second highest peak in Ethros, second only to a mountain in the Montsol range. 

‘The story surrounding it is quite interesting,’ Yuki thought as he turned his head back to his sandwich. ‘They say that it was created by magic rather than natural forces. And there seems to be some research that actually supported that story. If it’s true, then whoever created it must have been the most powerful person at that time. Maybe in history.’

He finished his small lunch and leaned his head back against a tree, his eyes closed, as he waited for the others to finish. Akira ws right. He did feel a bit tired. Constant vigilance and mana usage tended to do that. Initially, he wanted to switch the lead every three hours or so, but it seems that he wasn’t keeping track of the time as well as he thought he was.

Opening one eye, he peeked at the others, some of who were still eating. Akira was chatting with Erica while Zoe, who was right next to them, listened with a slightly amused expression. On the other side, Damian was tinkering with Sarah’s weaponry, muttering to himself as Sarah watched. 

Then his focus landed on Yuna who was slowly chewing her own sandwich that Akira had given her. She seemed lost in thought, staring off at the trees ahead of her with her eyes a little glazed over. Every now and then, her free hand would go to her back and rub a particular spot, her blank gaze unwavering.

‘What’s wrong?’ Yuki wondered. ‘It would be weird to ask right now. Maybe later when it’s more private.’

He remembered back before they had all boarded the hovercraft. Yuna had arrived to the lobby hand in hand with Akira, her eyes a tinged red. Apparently Akira had comforted her. But from what, Yuki didn’t know. 

Though he could possibly hazard a guess.

When Yuna finally finished her meal, Yuki clapped his hands and the group packed up before setting off once again. This time Akira took the lead, Yuki right beside her. The two of them picked their way through branches and over rocks at a steady rate. As they hiked, they talked in hushed voices, Yuki not wanting to disturbed the nature around them.

The topics of their conversation were quite varied. They would go from academic discussion on magic and research to talk about what they might need later for the apartment. Wherever the conversation steered them, they went with it. Then their conversation died as they ran out of topics. With an unspoken agreement, they decided to enjoy the peace and nature around them.

After some time, Yuki was the one to break the quiet.

‘Do you know what’s wrong with Yuna?’ Yuki asked, his thoughts connecting with Akira. Only she could hear his question. ‘She doesn’t seem all that here.’

[I’ve noticed,] Akira replied, an ear twitching at the mental contact. [I asked, but I didn’t pry. She didn’t want to tell me.]

‘I see. Any suspicions?’

[Not really. Maybe something to do with the LIA Taskforce training? The Academy?]

‘Maybe,’ Yuki said. He paused as he mulled over the suspicion he had about Yuna’s situation. ‘I think it’s something else. Something a bit more personal.’

[Oh?] Akira eyebrows went up.

‘Remember when she wanted to speak to me in private?’ he asked. Akira gave him a small nod in reply. ‘What she wanted to discuss was love. I didn’t expect that.’

[She’s in love?] Akira said, her mental voice rising. [With who?]

‘I don’t know who exactly, but I do know that it’s a girl,’ he replied. 

[I see, I see. Nothing wrong with that. I wonder who though.]

‘Well, there’s nothing wrong with that according to us,’ Yuki corrected. ‘However the outside world isn’t that accepting. You should know, right?’

[You told her about the attitude to same sex couples?] Akira frowned.

‘No, I told her to find that out. It’s something that she needs to know before she does anything rash. I don’t want her to get hit unprepared.’

[So you think that her current mood is because of that.]

‘It’s possible, but if it is then I’m still worried,’ he sighed. ‘It’s been two months since I told her to do that research. I don’t know when she did it, but knowing her, it had to have been quite a bit ago.’

[And if she’s still affected by what she found, then that would be a problem,] Akira finished. [I understand.]

‘Exactly,’ Yuki nodded. ‘I’m going to need to find out what exactly is affecting her later. I don’t want her to be distracted during the mission. It could be deadly.’

[I can try asking,] she offered.

‘No, it’s fine. I’ll do it. I’m the leader of this mission, so it’s my responsibility to do these types of things.’

[Alright.]

‘Now then.’ Yuki’s eyes narrowed as he peered to his left. ‘You’ve noticed that pack?’

[Of course. Want to take care of them?] Akira asked, her hand going to the sword at her waist. [A few lesser Fenrir wolves should be easy enough to deal with.]

‘There are twenty of them,’ Yuki observed as he felt the pack racing towards them. ‘You want to split them?’

[Perfect.]

She drew her sword and Yuki flicked his wrists, two daggers shooting out. 

“Something’s coming?” Erica asked from behind them.

“A few things. Nothing to worry about,” Akira replied, twirling her sword. “We’ll take care of them.”

“Should take a few minutes,” Yuki added. “We’ll be right back.”

Then they zoomed off into the trees, leaving behind the rest of the group who could only watched the two of them as they disappeared into the forest.