(Written while listening to: "Lord of the Rings - Sound of Eagles(Jamayr Productions ver.)" by Howard Shore on YouTube)
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"Acknowledged. With this I conclude our first and also a final "lesson". You have now in your hands all the knowledge required to improve on your own from today onwards, in regards to being a knight." Gandeon said.
"I must admit you had quite a ride with all of that. But the real challenge starts from now on." He stood up and so did Laito.
"I have called the War Council. It begins in a short time and you are hereby invited."
"Yessir!...- Where is it going to be held?" Laito asked.
"Main prayer room, right next to Sun Altar." Wizard answered.
Laito face turned pale.
"You mean…- at the bottom of the… stairs? I just climbed them! Dammit."
"Ah yes. I forgot it could be quite troublesome for you lot…- Want a ride down?." Gandeon raised an eyebrow with amusement.
"It's not that it's particularly troublesome, but it is a huge waste of time with how ridiculously tall they are…-"
"Wait."
"By saying "ride" you mean…-?" Laito asked with hope growing in him.
"Exactly." Font of Wisdom confirmed. "Now, come on here." And then he approached the large window.
"Yes! How much time do we have?" The boy asked and followed him promptly.
"I think we can afford a small detour. They won't begin without me anyway." The old man knew what Laito's question was really about and decided to entertain the youngest Incandescent.
"Allright I am heading first, see you in a moment." And with that Gandeon opened the window…-
…-And jumped out of it.
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Laito waited for a few seconds.
And then he heard:
"
A shrill yet powerful cry of a bird of prey, followed by a thunderous sound of huge beating wings.
"So dramatic." Laito muttered to himself, but he couldn't help himself to stare with admiration.
In the midst of a free-fall, the aged commander suddenly spinned with flourish and released his Transcendent Transformation Ability.
He has turned into an enormous eagle with pure-white plumage and glowing golden eyes. Just looking at him in this form could fill people allied to him with a feeling of enlightenment like they were blessed with some degree of wisdom.
The Saint now turned Giant Eagle started to slowly circle around the Cathedral's tower so that Laito had it easier to time his jump.
"Aaaaand…- Now!" When he felt the moment was right he jumped aiming for the neck of the bird.
"Yipee!" Laito fell down for a short moment.
Thankfully, his training wasn't wasted, as he managed to guess the timing correctly, which resulted in him softly landing exactly where he aimed for.
Now the reincarnator was riding the big bird. And he had FUN doing it.
As promised Gandeon took a turn and flew away from the tower while gaining altitude.
At some point they ascended above even the level at which the artificial sun was glowing.
The only reason they weren't burned to crisp by it was some "miracle thingy" related to Sun God recognizing his Knights, at least that's what Laito understood of how it worked.
But he also knew that the gods were dead, a fact that complicated things a little bit.
At that moment he pushed these thoughts away and just enjoyed the view.
It was quite a spectacular one. Unfortunately it reminded him of his vision at the beginning of this Trial, the landscape looking from up high looking exactly like it was depicted then. It was hard to believe it was already three months ago. The time in the real world does not stop while the Aspirants undergo the Nightmare, so it brought an additional level of urgency to solve this.
And at that moment the preparations were over. Although at the first moment when he was thrown into this Nightmare he almost instantly faced the deadly danger of being swarmed by Undead Awakened Beasts. He managed to turn the situation around and even gained support from a powerful organization while at it. If the Nightmare ended there, he wouldn't mind, even if it wouldn't earn a powerful Aspect. But apparently, Fate was not finished with him and the Nightmare continued far longer then one would expect from it being the First one.
The beautiful view over the sprawling cities and the wilderness beyond(including the dead no-no zones beyond the reaches of light) made Laito feeling slightly wistful.
'I hope dad's doing okay. And Minoru also. Shame we weren't able to go to that U.A festival together. I really hope that all of this is soon going to end…- one way or another.'
I also must remember that after waking up there's also the Winter Solstice to worry about. Every day I spend here is one day less to prepare for that and I don't think I will be here long enough to pass the nearest one. It's still around half a year from now.'
While he was thinking this he noticed they started to descend slowly.
'The time is up. The fun is over…- now into the hell we go.' He thought bitterly.
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'I have a feeling that I forgot about something, but I can't put a finger on it.'
'Hmm'
'Ah! I got it. The clutter I left in front of the Commander's office!'
'Meh.'
'I will just tell Dory to take care of it later.'
'Hehe.'
'I guess I am quite petty in the end. And it's not my fault that she can't let go of that arrogance of hers, which keeps her "punishment" to get nonstop extended.'
'Ok, focus now.' He brought his thoughts back to "present".
The Giant White Eagle approached the ground and landed as softly as he could at the feet of the ginormous Cathedral.
Just as Laito jumped off him, the eagle turned back into the his human form.
"I hope you enjoyed the view. Personally, whenever I want a moment of peace there is no better place than high up in the air." Gandeon commented.
"Now, if you follow me." he gestured at Laito to follow him.
"We two have a meeting to attend and...- unfortunately, we all expect an "important" guest to appear there." The Font of Wisdom said while cringing slightly at the mention of the mysterious "guest".
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[4 years left until MHA plot beginning]
[Chapter End] The story is not over yet