"Get on."
Nobody moved.
Frost looked at the others, and the others looked at each other, trying to see if any one of them would be willing to be the sacrificial lamb who wanted to go first.
Then everyone looked at Aeolus, and the enormous bird stared back.
Syrn sighed in exasperation...
"We don't have all day."
Jennifer was once again the first to move; she stepped forward, her feet held up by an invisible platform that Syrn had definitely formed for her to walk on.
Honestly, Frost had to give it to Jennifer; she was quite bold, if anything. The bird lowered herself slightly, bringing one enormous wing closer to her.
Jennifer stopped and looked at Syrn, who was standing beside the massive bird while looking at her...
"Do I just... climb?"
"Yes."
Jennifer hesitated before placing one foot against the thick feathers near the base of Aeolus's wing, and fortunately for her, nothing happened.
She carefully pulled herself up after making sure that the bird wasn't going to attack her.
Within moments, she had climbed onto the enormous bird's back and settled between two rows of thick feathers.
"Oh," Jennifer muttered. "That wasn't so bad."
That was plenty of encouragement for everyone else.
One by one, they began climbing aboard.
Jason naturally pushed his way toward the front, earning several annoyed looks, while Naomi climbed up shortly after Jennifer. The others followed more cautiously, leaving Frost standing near the back of the group.
When his turn finally came, he approached Aeolus and stopped beside her wing.
Up close, the creature was even more impressive.
Each individual feather was enormous, with the largest nearly as long as an entire school bus. They were pristine white and surprisingly smooth, shifting subtly beneath the wind while giving off a faint warmth.
Frost couldn't resist, so he reached out and touched one.
'Really soft.'
Aeolus's enormous head immediately twisted around.
Frost froze as a single dark eye stared directly at him, and he suddenly felt goosebumps under his skin.
"...Nice bird?"
Her eye narrowed.
Frost slowly removed his hand.
"Understood."
He climbed onto her back without another word.
Once everyone was aboard, Frost found himself sitting somewhere near the rear, surrounded by feathers so thick and soft that they almost felt like cushions.
The comfort was so great that he allowed himself to relax. Syrn floated down and landed lightly near Aeolus's neck.
"Hold on, everyone."
Frost blinked.
"To wha—"
Aeolus launched forward.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Fifteen screams erupted simultaneously.
Frost's stomach seemed to remain behind as the enormous bird accelerated through the sky with terrifying speed.
His body was thrown backward, and he desperately buried both hands into the thick feathers beneath him.
"FUCK!"
The wind roared past his ears.
His eyes watered instantly.
Behind him, someone was screaming for their mother. Just as suddenly as the acceleration had begun, the violent pressure eased.
Frost cautiously opened his eyes.
His breath caught.
The world stretched endlessly beneath them.
The forest that had seemed impossibly vast from the cliff was now nothing more than an enormous green carpet extending toward the horizon.
Mountains rose in the distance, their snow-covered peaks piercing through layers of white cloud, while winding rivers reflected the golden sunlight like veins of molten silver.
He might have been fooled by the beauty of it all if he hadn't already been so rudely introduced to the horrors lurking within this world.
The sun had risen slightly from the position Frost had first noted it in, so he assumed it was currently morning in this strange place.
And while the view below was undeniably beautiful, the thought of falling from this height was also somewhat disconcerting.
As for his companions, no one spoke for a while.
The general mood was strangely solemn, and for good reason.
'It's strange... I feel oddly calm for some reason.'
Frost glanced at some of the others sitting close to him and spotted Lois trembling, and that was definitely not because of the cold wind.
She wasn't the only one either.
Some stared blankly into the distance, while others kept their gazes lowered, their expressions pale and withdrawn.
Whatever adrenaline had kept them moving through the forest was slowly wearing off, and the reality of everything they had just experienced was finally beginning to settle in.
Frost looked away, deciding to focus on something else.
The strange holographic panel - his status - had disappeared at some point without him noticing, but the moment he thought about it, the translucent blue screen immediately reappeared before his eyes.
His curious gaze settled on it.
'What is this, some sort of game?'
The fact that Syrn had mentioned Evolution Systems meant that she knew exactly what this was supposed to be, but with everything Frost had seen and experienced since appearing in this world, he could already make a few guesses of his own.
This system clearly wasn't something unique to him. His classmates had it as well, and Syrn had asked whether they had awakened their systems, so it wasn't some closely guarded secret either.
Perhaps it was something even the natives of this world possessed, or perhaps the otherworlders Syrn had spoken about had already told them about it.
Either way, there were far too many possibilities for him to come to any conclusions just yet.