The sleek steel flying vehicle cut through the wind at incredible speed while also maintaining invisibility against the flying beasts.
Elias Thunderspark was silent, eyes closed, and the man beside him had long become serious. The vehicle was not normal, not one crafted in a factory but an amalgamation of abilities.
There were four riders, each one responsible for one function. The man that greeted Elias was responsible for the cargo hold and the people inside; his talent made sure they didn't interfere with the vehicle's movement.
Another, who was at the driver's seat, manifested the vehicle and drove it. The person by his side, on the other hand, caused the vehicle to phase through objects. This talent also reduced the air pressure due to high-speed movement. He could also achieve something akin to short teleportation.
He was the very reason they could move long distances in a straight line; even as flying beasts were on their way, the vehicle would just pass through them.
The last was the invisibility guy who hid the ship. Unless they encountered something that could see through that, they are safe.
This made them highly effective in extraction and rescue missions.
The vehicle passed through layers of defense and landed them at one of the city airports that had long ashen grey walls and broken gates.
A journey that would have taken days was done in half an hour. That's how fast they were moving.
Hunter Elias tapped his badge against the cargo man's badge before he took his box and left.
At the airport, his attire loudly announced who he was, and a transportation vehicle belonging to his organization came to carry him.
These were services set in place to ease movement. With his box, he rode for a few minutes until he reached a mansion made of old stones, the same old stone that made the majority of the city's buildings.
There was no door to the mansion, but a touch from him made the stone shift, and he entered. Passing an unkept garden, he reached the hall of the house and dropped the box uncaringly.
Sasha's groan escaped the box, and she crawled out frowning but gladness on her slumped shoulders.
Hunter Elias threw away his cloak, coat, and some heavy instruments with a strained and furious mood. He sat on a couch and leaned back.
'Now, they will ask me to take some extra duty!'
He was still reeling from the rescue request he had asked for.
'My plan for this month will be in jeopardy. I need to train Sasha, and I need to explore that ruins and hopefully get the gemstone for the golem… Argh!'
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
'The moment they call, I can't do all that!'
"Big brother, thank you!" Sasha's soft voice came to him. It should have cooled him down but only served to aggravate his mood.
However, hearing silence from her as she kept stillness, only her heart beating with uncertainty, made him acknowledge his rudeness.
"It's okay!" he forced out. "Prepare, we will go and register you!"
"Alright!" Her voice was low and measured; he felt bad. He sighed—she is innocent.
"I'm fine!" he said, trying to make her feel at ease.
"What about him?"
Hunter Elias turned toward the red-skinned boy. "Argh. I forgot. Call the emergency line."
A doctor came and demanded Elias be taken to the hospital. After that was arranged, Sasha and her brother went to register.
***
The sleep was uncomfortable, but then it changed, lull and relaxing. After he was fully rested, Elias's eyes slowly opened into a white room. A drip was attached to him, his heart no longer aching.
A slow pulsing sensation was in his hand; his eyes flew open, and he raised the stump. Then he turned to the other; he felt it—his thumb twitched.
"Congratulations!"
Elias snapped at the speaker. Sasha—she had changed. Her clean face, well-parted brown changing white hair, and calm demeanor brought out her beauty in full glory.
She smiled seeing Elias stare at her amazed.
"You have been asleep for four hours now. Doctors said you have no venom in you. Also, the red skin will wane in time. But you need extra treatment on your left for it to work."
Maybe it was the treatment, but his tongue had swollen, and his jaws were fastened.
"They also said you may feel uncomfortable around your face, and talking might not be possible for now. And the last treatment will be delivered the moment you wake up for medical reasons I don't understand."
A nurse came and stood beside Sasha using her talent on him while also looking at numbers on the screen.
"This injection is an antidote, and it causes deep sleep. If you are already asleep, we might fail to take proper readings," the female nurse explained emotionlessly before administering an injection.
Sasha quickly said, "All these treatments are very expensive."
His eyes drooped as he thought, 'You want a refund!' This sleep was more helpful as it truly soothed his mind.
He spent a day in the hospital and moved to Sasha's home the next morning.
"My brother was on a sudden mission. But he left some instructions for me: one, to tell you where we are, and two, to ask you what your plans are!"
"My book?" Elias asked the burning question.
"Aha. That is another instruction." She pointed to a box at the center of the hall. "We can't pick it up, so we left it where you dropped it."
"Thank you!" Elias said as he stood before the box. Gravity Force rippled out from him, passing the box and the book inside. The box floated up, and Elias focused on the book that flew toward him resting on his body like a magnet, Elias placed the box gently.
"Cool telekinesis-like ability!" she said. "I can do that too!"
Elias jumped away from her. "Don't!"
"Haha. You are afraid. So you saw me awakening!" Sasha laughed before she showed him two bracelets on her hands.
"I have these. They control my output and its effect." Saying that, lightning crackled on her fingertips before touching an unassuming rock on the table.
The rock flew above and behaved as her hand moved. "You see. Just like you!" Then the stone shifted and changed form into a small sculptured stone dog.
It moved and wiggled as if it were alive.
"I call him Stony. He used to act on his own as if alive, but his Energy Gem got exhausted. And now I have to supply energy if I want it to move."
Elias stared at the stone dog jumping around on the floor and even barking.
"We have a lot of them. All around you are Stone Relic Crafts that can function. Shall I show you!"
Her lightning sparked forward and touched a random wall. It cracked and then caved in a pattern before hands molded, and a giant stone came, upper humanoid and wheels on the lower part.
"Where am I?" Elias had never seen anything like this. It looked like high technology but also not. The stone craft seemed too old to be that, and it was not sophisticated like current technology.
"You are in..." She smiled. Seeing Elias gazing with deadpan eyes, she pouted, "You are no fun!"
Sasha pulled out a large stone book, her lightning snaking around it as it floated. The book opened; pages made of thick, durable leather, and the writing and the pictures were carefully made using colorful clay ink.