Narrator's Pov
Cocolia silently put Ryan's phone down on the small table in front of her, looking to her right, he saw the young man she had given her life to...
"C'mon~ just a little bit"
"You're not getting that thing close to me, Stelle"
Who was recoiling slightly at the attempt of that racoon girl of getting him to hug what seemed to be a medium sized trashcan...
"C'mon~ just give it a warm hug" Stelle smiled.
"Stelle put that thing down we'll have to leave soon" Ryan looked at the girl with some disgust.
"Ugh...you're so boring" Stelle grimmaced as she put the trashcan down on the floor.
Cocolia let out a soft sigh, looking through the window, she was able to see the thousands of stars trying to catch up to the train, the "jump" as they had called it, gave her this honestly mesmerizing view, but it was a view that very quickly stopped, she saw how Ryan stood up and she also did the same, and soon, the man named Welt approached.
"We are here, the Xianzhou Luofu is in front of us, take a look" Welt spoke as he approached the window on the opposite side of the wagon.
Stelle and Ryan followed the adult, with Cocolia slowly walking behind them.
"It looks...like a giant boat" Ryan pointed out and then Stelle spoke
"It's bigger than Jarilo-VI"
"You could say that the Luofu is the planet of those who live there" Dan Heng spoke as he approached the small group alongside March.
"Dan Heng~! Did you regret not joining us and you're coming with us?" Stelle smiled putting her hands on her hips.
"No, I just came here to wish you all a good journey, if things really are as serious as that Stellaron Hunter said, then we won't be seeing each other in a while" he explained and March snickered slightly.
"He means that he'll miss us" the girl explained with a chuckle.
While the group saw through the windows at the ship they'd be getting into, Himeko entered the wagon with Serval to her side, she then grabbed her phone, starting to speak through it while her voice echoed through the speakers of the express just as the blonde trailblazers joined the group.
"This is the Astral Express, I repeat, this is the Astral Express, We have arrived in Xianzhou territory, Requesting landing permission from ground control... f-from the bridge, I mean"
"Welcome to...Luofu sky port...Starskiff Haven" a slightly glitched voice went through the speakers this time. "Please await transfer...please await transfer...please await transfer"
"Uh...miss Himeko! Are the communications broken?" March asked towards the woman who shook her head.
"This is why I don't believe in AI" Stelle sighed rubbing her forehead.
"Something's not right here..." Welt frowned lightly.
"Looks like that woman wasn't lying uh..." Serval let out a soft sigh. "Good to know we didn't reject her then"
"The signal is repeating but no one is guiding us in to dock" Himeko frowned and walked close to the group.
"A vessel arriving at a deserted spaceport... isn't this how horror movies start?" March shivered slightly.
"What's a movie?" Ryan asked looking at March.
"So much to learn and so little time" Stelle sighed deeply.
"The jade gate is now open" the glitched voice spoke again. "On behalf of the Luofu: Welcome, guests from afar, please proceed to dock in accordance with the guidance"
"It's still an automated messaged...you'd think someone would at least direct a word to us after opening the gate" March sounded a bit dissapointed.
"The signal broke off, looks like that's all there is" Himeko spoke before looking at the group "I'll move the Express, please be sure to be completely ready before setting off"
"We will, stay vigilant here, Himeko" Welt looked at the red-headed woman who chuckled lightly.
"Don't worry Welt, I'll have Dan Heng with me" the woman smiled before walking away.
"It looks so cool~" Serval smiled as she looked through the window at the Luofu.
"Dan Heng, you know about the Luofu" Ryan spoke getting Dan Heng's attention. "Do you know if I could get myself a weapon there? I can use my scabbard but...getting an actual weapon would be nice"
He thought for a few seconds but then sighed. "If you wanted a weapon, probably the Zhuming ship would've been a better choice, that's where most weapons for the Cloud Knights are forged, you might be lucky and find a blacksmith that could help you, but I can't be for certain"
Ryan copied his sigh and looked down at the empty scabbard in tied on his waist. "I guess I'll have to use this until then, I'll try to look for someone while in the Luofu"
After barely a few minutes, the express stopped, Ryan looked through the window...seeing what seemed to be a lot of huge metal boxes stacked above each others...
"Is everyone ready?" Welt asked as he looked at the group of trailblazers and Ryan.
"Ready as ever!" March smiled.
"Ready for my first expedition, Sir!" Serval also smiled taking her hands to her hips.
"Can I go to the bathroom first?" Stelle asked rising her hand.
"You should've gone earlier Stelle" March deadpanned at her friend.
Ryan silently looked at Cocolia, who was approaching behind him. "Cocolia, I need you to stay here"
"Uh? Can I know why?" She asked a bit curious.
"You still don't have control over those new abilities from my path, it'd be better for you if you stay here and train them, besides..." He made a small pause before he leaned close to her ear, whispering something to Cocolia.
The blonde woman opened her eyes a little and nodded. "I understand, I'll try to be careful"
"Okay, I'm leaving" Ryan nodded back at her before looking at the trailblazers.
"Well, if everyone is ready, let's go" Welt announced as he walked towards the door of the express.
Ryan soon walked out of the express, the various containers stacked on top of each other made it look like if those were walls, he frowned lightly and looked up at the 'sky' of the Luofu.
The strange feeling that went all across his body now seemed more palpable, he was almost certain now, for some reason...
He felt as if he was being hunted.
....
"Are you sure that this is wise? Shouldn't you wait before going out?"
"Don't feel alarmed Luocha..."
Jingliu looked at the surroundings, even through her blindfold she knew exactly where she was, coming back to the Luofu clearly wasn't going to treat her Mara in the slightest...Luocha might be right, she should wait for some time before showing herself, but...
"You can go back, I can look for that person while I do my thing" Luocha looked at the white haired woman.
"Don't bother yourself with this...if what the woman in black said is true, then this person could be dangerous, we need to be careful" She explained as she started to slowly walk.
"A young man with the power of death at his disposal, capable of even slaying gods...do you truly think someone like that could exist?" He asked and slowly followed the woman, the giant coffin gently floating over the ground and following him.
"I do not know, but I shall see that for myself, I will start looking, I know this ship, it'll be easy for me to avoid the cloud knights...as long as Jing Yuan doesn't get in my way, there shouldn't be a problem" at the woman's words, Luocha slowly nodded.
"Do you think he'll join our side? To help us kill The Abundance..." His voice came out slightly uneasy.
"Whether he has the strength to join us or not, I'll see it for myself, we can't blindly trust that woman in black" Jingliu spoke turning to look at Luocha. "Be careful, if you find him, contact me immediately"
"I will, have a safe Hunt"
Luocha slowly bowed his head but when he looked back up the woman was already nowhere to be seen, if she disappeared so quickly, then he already knew that she'd have no trouble moving around her own turf...
....
"Mr.Yang! There's people hurt!"
March's voice had some panic in it, as soon as they took a turn, they saw a few men on armors, either on the floor or leaning against the containers, the group quickly approached one that seemed to still be breathing.
"Ryan" Welt looked at the mentioned who immediately nodded.
"Got it" he got closer and knelt down, starting to use magic to heal the soldier.
Welt narrowed his eyes slightly, looking around at the scene, the various wounded guards and the marks of slashes and remnants of small explosions around.
"Everyone, be with your guards up" he ordered and the rest nodded. "Ryan, how is he?"
"All wounds are closed, but he's unconscious, lost too much blood" the white-haired stood up and tightly grabbed his scabbard. "What do we do with him?"
"There're others here, we know that now, they're a few who are still breathing, we'll treat them, and then we'll put them somewhere safe, then we'll look for help" Welt spoke and the rest nodded.
"I suppose we can't just take them with us...not with the monsters around" Stelle sighed and scratched the back of her head. "I don't like escort missions anyways..."
"I'll heal all the alive ones right away"
Ryan put a hand on the ground, letting a large magical circle form under him, said magical circle extended getting to cover all the guards in the area, with a golden light all the guards who were alive started to slowly heal, even if none of them woke up, in just a few seconds they were all completely healed.
"Serval, Stelle, you two group up all the soldiers and put them somewhere safe around here, Ryan, March and I will continue a bit deeper to see if we find more survivors" Welt looked at the trash panda and the blonde woman.
"Got it Mr.Yang!" Serval gave him a thumbs up.
"We'll pile them up~" Stelle smiled and bent down to pick up a soldier putting him over her shoulder. "We won't take long"
Welt nodded and looked at Ryan and March. "Let's go, hopefully, we can find more survivors"
"Yes, Mr.Yang!" March nodded quickly at his words.
The three of them followed down the path, taking a turn they caught a glimpse of another soldier, they quickly got closer to examine him, but be seemed to already be dead.
"He doesn't seem to have any wound...but he's already dead" Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Could it have been poison?" March asked a bit nervous.
"I don't think so" Welt narrowed his eyes a little but then quickly looked up. "Watch out!"
Ryan quickly dodged by jumping to the side while Welt did the same making sure to take March with him, 2 creatures fell on the ground attacking but due to their dodging they ended up hitting the floor instead.
"Are those...Reavers of the Antimatter legion?" March nervously asked.
The beings indeed looked similar to the Reavers from the Antimatter Legion, but their bodies seemed more nature-focused, roots and golden petals spread all across their bodies, like if they were made of plants.
"Be careful, they might look like Antimatter Legion but we've never found this kind of monster before" Welt rose his voice stepping in front of March who anxiously summoned her bow.
One of the creatures immediately started to run towards the small group, the second one going around to try and flank them, Welt quickly tapped his cane on the ground, letting the space bend gravity increase on the approaching monster that fell on one knee completely unmovable, meanwhile, Ryan dashed towards the second one with the scabbard in his right hand.
He drove his left hand across the scabbard, covering it with ice forming a sort of blade, the monster lunged at him with both blades directly pointing at his chest but he quickly slid across the floor letting the monster go above him, standing up he cut the monster's back open and then forced his left hand into the wound, he exhaled softly and his left hand started to spurt out fire, the magic attack quickly burning up the monster from the inside out.
The monster fell down to the ground with its body completely charred and Ryan looked at the other one, who was already pinned on the ground with multiple Ice Arrows piercing its body.
"These things are a bit gross..." March grimaced a little.
"I don't think these are Fragmentum monsters..." Welt got down on one knee to inspect the body pinned down on the ground
Welt was about to touch the monster but it suddenly sprung upwards, Welt jumped backwards and saw the monster freeing itself from the Ice arrows.
"Was it playing dead?!" March asked a bit scared by the sudden movement.
"It regenerated!" Ryan quickly turned around and blocked the blades of the one he had burnt, though now, it was completely healed.
"Ryan! Deal with that one, I'll take care of this one" Welt pushed his glasses up. "March, pin him down"
The girl didn't waste a second and immediately started to shoot arrows, the moment see dodged a few of them but quickly got caught by one on its leg that expanded covering the Ice and sticking him on the ground, he was about to free himself but a small black sphere appeared close to his chest, though the little black hole quickly expanded consuming the monster completely before disappearing without a single trace of the enemy.
Ryan pushed the monster back, the Ice around the scabbard disappeared and was replaced by a faint layer of black smoke, for a split second, the black cloak and hood appeared around his body slashing the monster's torso splitting him in half, both parts fell to the ground completely limp as the black smoke started to slowly consume its body, Ryan sighed and the cloak and hood disappeared as well as the smoke around his scabbard.
"These monster are capable of regeneration...or more accurately, capable of coming back to life" Welt drove a hand to his chin.
"We can't let our guard down then..." Ryan sighed softly.
"Guys we're back!" Stelle quickly approached alongside Serval. "Ou-...did I miss the first encounter?"
"We already put all the soldiers in a safe place" Serval spoke before looking around. "What happened? We heard you guys fighting while coming here"
"We found some weird, plant looking monsters" March explained. "Apparently they can come back to life..."
"We need to two-tap them then, got it" Stelle immediately nodded with her head.
"We should continue, and be cautious, we don't know what else we could find" Welt looked at the path before them. "I'll go in front, Ryan, please keep an eye from the back" he asked towards the boy who nodded his head.
The group continued walking, thankfully not engaging in any other fight, or at least THEY didn't engage in any fight, as soon as they reached some stairs, they saw a group of soldiers shielding a woman with fox ears and tail, around them, more of those monsters completely surrounded them.
"Miss Tingyun! Fall back!" One of the knights got himself in front of the woman. "They're Mara-Struck, we've already lost them"
Tingyun looked around for a few seconds before finding the trailblazers. "E-Excuse me! We need your help!"
Welt quickly narrowed his eyes and looked at the rest of the group. "Let's go"
With a collective nod, all of them tightly held their weapons and jumped to join the battle.
★ ★ ★
A/N: Okay, after 2 months this is what you get, I don't know if it's good or bad, I only know that Elden Ring: Nightreign is fucking good and that I've already got all achievements, goodnight.