Bhujerba gleamed above the clouds, a city built on ore and ambition. Skystone veins pulsed faintly beneath its streets, making the whole island shimmer in the sun. Airships groaned into docking bays, sails whipping in the constant wind. Miners trudged through alleys, faces smeared with dust, while nobles paraded past in jeweled masks.
Clive's party moved together through the noise, their boots striking stone. Vivi lingered by a railing, wide eyes staring into the endless blue beneath them.
"It's so far down," he whispered.
Mog fluttered up, smirking. "Careful, black hat. You'd slip right through. Might bounce once, kupo!"
Vivi squeaked and stumbled back into Serah. She laughed and steadied him, while Lunafreya laid a hand on his shoulder. "Do not fear the height, Vivi. The world itself carries us here."
At the Hunt Board, the clerk barely glanced up. Clive laid stamped contracts across the desk. The man logged them with a tired grunt. "Bounties accepted. New postings each morning. Check back if you're still breathing."
No surprise, no fuss—just another band of hunters in his ledger.
---
Their first quarry was a Sky Lamia lurking in the mines, her song coiling through the tunnels like silk threads. Vivi slowed, his staff drooping, lips beginning to hum along.
"Vivi, no!" Serah cried.
Mog darted in, smacking his hat. "Wake up, kupo!"
Vivi gasped, shame burning in his eyes. Clive surged forward, Ifrit's fire cutting through the illusion. Auron's blade silenced the Lamia for good, while Lunafreya's soft light banished the lingering charm.
The next was a Rocktoise Veteran, its shell gleaming like living stone. Clive's sword sparked uselessly, Auron's katana skittered across its back.
"We need fire," Vivi said firmly.
Clive nodded. "Together."
Ifrit's blaze roared down Clive's blade as Vivi's Firaga engulfed the beast. Cracks spread glowing red. Lunafreya's blessing steadied their flames. With a single strike, Auron split the shell. The Rocktoise fell, shaking the cavern.
Their third hunt nearly broke them. A Marlboro Tyrant slithered from the brush, breath foul enough to choke them. Serah gagged, Vivi collapsed, Mog flailed uselessly.
"Stand!" Auron barked, bracing himself like a wall.
Lunafreya thrust her staff down, Oracle wards blossoming like petals of light, shielding them from the worst of the fumes. Clive burst through the haze, sword blazing, plunging fire into the Marlboro's maw until it burned from the inside out.
Mog coughed on his back. "This is not Mog's favorite, kupo."
"Mine either," Vivi groaned.
The fourth seemed almost laughable: a Bomb Swarm drifting down, bodies flickering.
"Mog is fireproof, kupo!" the moogle boasted.
They exploded at once, sending him tumbling, fur singed black. Vivi scrambled to douse him with Blizzard, Serah giggling despite herself. Clive and Auron finished the stragglers, while Lunafreya soothed Mog's burns with a sigh.
The fifth hunt, a Zombie Knight, dragged its cursed blade across stone, despair washing over them with each step. Clive staggered until Serah's blessings wrapped him in light. His sword flared brighter, Vivi's Firaga lanced true, and the knight crumbled to dust.
When they returned, the clerk stamped their papers without even looking up. "Rank IV."
---
But the real test waited above the cliffs.
The Sky Terror Wyvern screamed as it descended, wings blotting out the sun. Its talons shattered bridges, fire rained from its jaws. They fought for hours, Vivi's spells scattering in the storm, Serah's arrows nearly spent, Mog darting in and out with frantic squeals.
"Hold the line!" Clive shouted, Ifrit's fire blazing.
Auron's katana split scale after scale, his steady presence anchoring the chaos. At last, Clive and Auron struck together—flame and steel driving deep. The Wyvern shrieked, plummeting into the abyss.
Their bodies ached for days after, but the clerk stamped their papers the same as before. "Confirmed."
---
The climb to Rank V took weeks.
A storm of Sky Elementals swirled above the cliffs. Vivi pushed past his limits, Thundaga splitting the storm. He collapsed, only to feel Lunafreya's healing light steady him again.
A Coeurl Stalker prowled the shadows, striking faster than sight. Auron intercepted calmly, redirecting its feral speed until Clive's fire finished it.
The Rogue Construct rose from the ruins, blades spinning. "Mog's got this!" he shouted—seconds before being dangled upside-down. Vivi blasted it apart, Serah doubled over laughing, while Lunafreya checked the moogle for bruises.
Sahagin Raiders burst from the rivers, tridents flashing. Serah and Mog shifted seamlessly, arrows and transformations weaving in rhythm, holding the line while Clive and Auron tore through their ranks.
Then came the Wyvern Brood. Fire rained over the bridges, wood and stone collapsing. Serah's hair singed, Clive burned his palms raw, Vivi nearly toppled into the abyss before Lunafreya pulled him back with a wave of light. Together, they grounded the brood.
---
But the last trial dwarfed them all.
The Antlion Queen stirred in the mines, mandibles snapping, sand swirling. Mog strutted forward. "Easy, kupo—" Her jaws snapped around him, muffling his squeals.
"Mog!" Serah cried. Vivi screamed, unleashing fire that forced her to drop him. The moogle tumbled free, wings scorched.
The battle shook the tunnels. Auron bled, Serah's quiver ran low, Vivi's staff cracked, Mog barely stayed on his wings. Lunafreya held the collapsing stone with glowing wards, her voice steady as the caverns trembled. Clive leapt, Ifrit blazing white-hot, and drove his sword through the Queen's skull. She convulsed, sand collapsing as her body stilled.
They staggered into the daylight, bloodied, breathless, alive.
At the Board, the clerk stamped their papers without looking up. "Rank V. Done."
---
The climb had taken weeks—weeks of blood, exhaustion, and near-death. Clive bore it heavily, Serah smiled through her fatigue, Vivi doubted himself despite his spells, Auron stood silent, Mog strutted, and Lunafreya whispered: "We endured because we stood together. Do not forget that."
But in the streets, eyes lingered too long. Hunters muttered, miners sneered, merchants whispered.
"No one climbs that fast."
"They cheat. Or worse."
"Spies. Archadian. Rozarrian."
Clive's jaw clenched, Serah's smile faltered, Vivi shrank beneath his hat, Auron's gaze sharpened. Mog waved it off, wings twitching proudly.
But Lunafreya alone heard the truth beneath the whispers: fear. The city of Bhujerba had turned cold.