---Northern Mountains, Border of Sigma---
"So this is the Sigmaen Sea!" Bement exclaimed the moment they arrived at the Borders of Sigma. Idyllin Mo answered him with a tired grunt. The spatial mage and a handful of people had arrived at the small camp on the shores of the inland sea.
It was one of the way points the wizard used to travel to Sigma and keep an eye out for potential changes. The district was still loosely connected to the weird other world of the creatures who called themselves Ethnarchs. Since the Vampire had moved to Minas Mar, it was only Idyllin Mo patrolling the place from time to time.
"You should rest a little. You seem tired," Karina suggested to him, but the elder only shook his head. He was someone on the latter half of the path to legend. He had his pride. Porting people across
Currently, he was bringing people from Minas Mar here, one by one. They were the advance party that would prepare the Minas Mar's entrance of the Voracious Cloud Continent, and this was the most eastern teleport point Idyllin had.
Apart from Karina and Bement, there were also Jonah, Duhu, and Archer. They were still missing Misto, Ellen, and Shay to complete Field Team 4. They were also joined by Ferdinand to ensure they had a healer on the journey.
But the next person that appeared was not a direct member of their guild, but a lady in her late thirties. She had a strict, serious face, and a scar ran down her cheek. She emitted the aura of a battle-hardened strategist.
This was Amanda Fulcrow, the former vice-admiral of Epsilon's Battle Fleet. Since they settled in Little Epsilon, they had stepped down from their official post and worked in a more advisory function. However, this time she joined the party to take an active role.
"You know, I was here on vacation once or twice. Of course, it was less monstrous," she mentioned, pointing at the mountain cliffs filled with flying beasts and the dark waters that hid unspeakable horrors.
"Right, it changed a lot since I was here as a child," Jonah agreed with her. An awkward silence ensued.
"Well, enough nostalgia, let's get started," the former vice-admiral clapped her hands. While the space wizard vanished again, Amanda stepped toward a wide open field to unload a battleship from her inventory.
Her role in the advance party was the driver. The people of Epsilon had the most knowledge about traversing the northeastern corner of Urth and knew the point of intersection between the two worlds. Among them, there were a few with more knowledge and experience than the Vice-admiral.
"Let's get on the ship while we wait," she suggested. If we keep standing around here, we might draw unwanted attention to ourselves," she said with a wave, inviting them inside, as she walked up the loading ramp.
They were not afraid of the monsters in the vicinity, but they also didn't want any cultivators catching wind of their operation. Since the connection between the continents was unchecked and cultivators were actually encouraged to explore Urth, there was no telling how many were crawling around in the No Man's Land.
In fact, stopping this unknown influx of invaders was part of the advance party's objective. They couldn't put the djinn back in the bottle, but they could put a cork in, to keep more from coming out. Or something like that.
Once everyone was on board, a shield covered the ship and cloaked it, turning it nearly invisible. It could be seen standing right in front of it, but from afar, one wouldn't have a clue there was a massive battleship parked at the shore of the Sigmaen Sea.
Like this, they waited in quiet safety until Idyllin brought the rest of the party. With everyone entering the battleship, it was finally time for the advance party to set off for the intersection of worlds.
"Alright, everyone, put on your seat belts. I'm going to push this baby to the limit. We are going straight to our destination," Amanda announced in an upbeat voice. of everyone present, she seemed to be the most eager to explore the limits of speed with the flying shuttle.
Moments after her speech, the whole team was pressed deep into their seats as the ship accelerated from standing still in cloaked mode to unknown speeds. The party only saw the ground, forests, and mountains vanish in an instant.
Minas Mar was preparing its first steps into a new world.
...
---Minas Mar---
"Tsk, if it wasn't for Leana, we could have joined the advance party," Seth mumbled grumpily. They had just seen off Team 4 and were still standing in the entrance hall of the tower. "I would love to see their faces..."
Because they had lost some time to get the materials for the Aegis and the blacksmith had to finish a third full set in addition to the individual pieces before they could set off, they adjusted their schedule. However, the advance Team had been sent on schedule, or they would have lost too much time. Their original preparations would be done soon; only Seth would take a little longer.
"At least we have some time for proper preparations now," Mina said with a smile, leaning against him. Right, the only positive aspect was that they had some time to prepare for the marriage ceremony now. By the time they set off for their adventurous honeymoon, their base at the rift would be set up.
"Right, right. You shouldn't blame Leana too much, she is just trying her best like everyone else," Fin gave insightful advice.
"Is that a quote you learned from TV?" he asked suspiciously. Fin only grinned cheekily. The bard sighed. He was looking forward to their journey, although the most important objective was not a happy one.
The blacksmith had many reasons to look forward to the new continent, especially his honeymoon with the girls. He had heard about the fantastical sight from master mountain. Getting Fin away from TV was also a big advantage... the quicker he worked, the less cheesy lines she would pick up.
"Well, then, I will get to work for now. The quicker I finish, the earlier we can join the advance team and go on our honeymoon."
"You can do it. No stress," the fairy brute said and gave him a playful punch on the chest.
"You should really stop watching so much TV..." he mumbled as the tower transported him to his workshop. He had a short list of small sets and individual items he had to make from the remaining Sky Dragon Heart Scale, with the biggest point being the full set all the way at the bottom of the list.
The first on the list was a pair of vambraces for Lydia. Apparently, there were a couple of techniques among the skills she inherited from Wepwawet that included blocking and deflecting with her forearms. Since she was an archer, she didn't like the idea of gauntlets and asked for vambraces instead.
Second was a combo of breastplate and helmet for Azul, the four-armed chimera and lighting mage. Although she was a mage, one of her staffs was a spear, and the other was more of a cudgel than a wizard staff. Both were fit for melee combat, and the chimera didn't evade it. A breastplate and helmet to enhance her combat power and max out her defense was only reasonable.
In third was a helmet for Mistopheles, the mist demon. He had already carried several legendary items, Sousuke's Mirage Jacket, among others. He only asked for a helmet.
Then, there was Ferdinand, who had asked for a shield. These were all who had been guaranteed dragon armor pieces, after considering needs, recent changes, and development. Seth estimated it to take a couple of days for them, the days he lost hunting the gorgon.
Afterward, it would be time for Cade's inauguration gift for finally joining Minas Mar properly.