The airship “The Savage” was fast. The scenery on the ground kept shifting. Lush forest and flower fields soon became rivers and raging waves.
About half an hour later, Angor felt the air getting thin and it was difficult to breathe. He looked aside and saw Sailum’s lips went pale. The boy’s nostrils were working rapidly, releasing lumps of white vapor.
“You okay Sailum?” Angor asked worriedly.
Sailum’s cheeks were red, and his eyes were not concentrating. He replied in a weak voice, “I’m fine. Just… a little dizzy, about to… throw up something.”
“The Savage is currently flying on Parmigi Highlands,” The first mate announced in the speakers. “We’re arriving in 30 minutes. All talents, prepare to depart.”
“The Parmigi Highlands lies along the border between Goman Kingdom and Evernight Kingdom, with an average altitude of 3,500 meters,” Angor thought about the map he read in Sunders’ library.
Then he put a hand on Sailum’s forehead. It felt hot. Sailum’s face was all red like a ripe apple.
“I think he got altitude sickness when we’re going up too fast,” said Angor. He checked Sailum’s pupils before saying, “It isn’t serious. He just needs more oxygen.”
“What should we do?” Nausica quenched her pipe and approached Sailum, concerned about the boy’s health.
Sailum tripped and was about to fall. Angor acted quickly and caught him, “Get him off the deck for now. The cold air in the sky will make it worse.”
Angor and Nausica assisted Sailum away.
“Let’s go to the common room and get some hot water. Hydration is important in such a situation,” Angor suggested.
Besides hot water, the common room also had sufficient oxygen thanks to the magic arrays.
“You know healing skills too?” Nausica chuckled at Angor. They had placed Sailum on the resting bench. Nausica was getting water for him.
Angor rubbed some of the positions on Sailum’s body skillfully to sooth his condition as he explained, “I know some first-aid. My previous teacher taught me.”
“Your teacher is a doctor?” Nausica handed a glass of water to Sailum.
Sailum was blushing. He hid his face under his scarf in embarrassment. Angor reached under his clothes to rub his acupuncture points earlier. Such an unknown technique felt really weird, and Sailum wanted to stop Angor. Amazingly though, the stress in his chest faded a little after being massaged.
However, he still wanted to hide in shame.
Sailum took the water glass and hid his face behind it.
Angor did not notice Sailum’s bashful response. Back in Padt Manor, he always used such Chinese massage to help his teacher, Jon, and he got used to such “close touch on the skin”. He saw such a technique as an ordinary way of treatment, and he forgot that no one in this world knew what he was doing.
“No,” Angor remembered his days living with Jon. No matter what Angor asked, his teacher always provided ideas. Jon was a real scholar who knew everything in heaven above and the earth underneath.
“My previous teacher was a knowledgeable man,” said Angor. He preferred not to talk about Jon too much. Jon’s identity was a sensitive topic. He knew Nausica was only looking for casual chats, but Angor would avoid unnecessary trouble.
After resting in the common room, Sailum’s condition became a lot better. The redness on his face vanished.
He wanted to go to the deck again to watch Brute Cavern from above.
“Don’t. We’re getting off soon. We’ll live there anyway, just take it slow.” Angor stopped him.
Nausica had been looking out of the window, “Well, even if you go there now, you won’t see what you wanted to see.”
The scenery outside could clearly be seen from the small glass window. The entire highland area was covered in brown and green. There was nothing that stood tall on the ground, only smaller, cold-resistant vegetations. They could not see the end of the highlands. Everything looked the same.
The ground was uneven. Higher areas were mostly broad and flat, with occasional snow patches. Most places had grass on them.
Such a barren land was completely contradictory to the “amazing and colorful place” Sailum expected.
Sailum peeked from the window with a disappointed expression. He still had hope. They had not seen any structures from here, and that meant there could be surprises.
However, another announcement from the first mate interrupted his idea.
“Arriving. The Savage is about to land. All talents gather at the exit.”
They could feel the airship going down slowly. Sailum checked from the window again. There was only desolation.
Nausica smiled at him, “We’re already lucky enough to join Brute Cavern. Try not to think too much.” She turned away, “I’m going to get my things. Let’s meet at the exit.”
Angor bid farewell to the sulking Sailum and returned to his room for his luggage and bird.
On the narrow passageway in the airship, Angor ran into the other talents, who all snickered at him. They probably should, considering how Angor looked like.
He was carrying too much and most of his luggage belonged to Toby!
The two large oil paintings made his packet extra oversized. He was like bringing a traveling tent with him. Of course, those who saw him were all laughing in secret.
Angor complained at Toby, who disregarded its master with a raised beak. Angor messed up Toby’s feathers in frustration until they began to ball up and Toby tweeted in protest, which did not help the bird escape from Angor’s “demonic fiddle”. In the end, Angor still had to carry all the stuff.
Angor reached the gathering point with a pile of things on his back. He did not see Sunders and Flora. Only the talents and Phantom Servants were here.
The talents walked off the airship one after one, following the instructions of the servants.
When everyone had left the ship, the Phantom Servants boarded The Savage again and disappeared from people’s view.
Ten talents and a bird stood on the barren, brown earth.
The cold wind on the highlands blew over, causing everyone to shiver.
People looked around. They only saw endless grass fields. They were standing on the slope of a plateau, with a bottomless abyss about a hundred meters away from their position. Every direction led to more wasteland. There were no traces of buildings.
So… where was Brute Cavern?