Quies slowly stood up, regaining his bearing after going as quick as lightning. His head felt like it was regaining its form, but still spinning.
"This is a view to die for."
Valerie stood proudly near the steep edge of the pyre. She looked towards the blue horizon, a thin blur where dark ocean blue merged into a young blue sky. The sun shone its white light down into the resting city. Behind them stood a few trees, one of them tall enough to shade the two from the heat. Leaves rustled in the unimpeded breeze. At an altitude this high, the wind blew stronger.
Quies breathed in the cool mountain air. It was different at this altitude. The air was barely noticeably thinner, but noticeably less humid. It felt cool to the touch, rolling over his skin like cool mist. He let out a sigh, his warm breath warming the air for just a moment. He walked closer to Valerie, who still looked over the edge.
"Huh, looks taller from the bottom."
"You're acting like you've climbed anything remotely this tall. Well, actually, you might've. Who knows what you were up to in Erisia."
"Ah, well, I tried for a while. Found out the hard way that the further up you go the worse the monsters. So, I lived a… moderately simple life in the lower areas. I had a nice taste of freedom."
Quies looked down onto the resting city of Etris. Slightly past noon, the residents most likely returned to their homes after eating their midday lunch, escaping the heat. He could still see a few stragglers on the streets, but they all blended into one constant blur that flowed through the streets like water through pipes. Or like ants within their colony, but Quies didn't know much about those. He had heard from eavesdropping that the eastern and central luminant had a serious infestation going on with them.
"You know, one day you'll learn that freedom isn't really a thing. At least not true freedom."
Quies looked at Valerie once more, who tilted her head towards his direction.
"What? You really think with all of these figures of power in the world would manumit even a morsel of their power? Hah! Depths, even the world is trying to eat you alive."
Valerie stopped and looked at Quies. She looked undecided. She opened her mouth slightly, but then hesitated and closed it.
"Ah, you wouldn't believe me. I'll tell you eventually."
"Good idea, but you should know that… I take back my words. You're actually quite believable."
"What makes you think I'm not believable?"
"I don't know. Probably how incongruous your stories are with each other. Then again, you do have a lot of experience under your belt."
"That's what spending a little too much time in the depths does to you…"
She looked longingly down into Etris. She mumbled:
"I never want to go back."
A breeze picked up, throwing Valerie's long matte coat up into the air slightly, its weight stopping it from blowing too far. Her jasper hair caught the wind, and her ears slightly turned in the direction of the breeze.
"So, what's the plan now?"
Quies turned away from Valerie and dismounted the Zweihander and satchel he was wearing on the way up here. After so much walking, he completely forgot that he had been wearing it on his back the entire time. However, when he put it down, he felt as light as a feather.
"Well. I guess you could spar. Give me a moment, I have to… prepare things."
Valerie wiped her face and stood for a moment longer at the edge. Eventually, she turned around and began unbuttoning her thick coat. Even with such a cool breeze, Quies doubted that any form of cold could pierce through that.
She took it off, revealing a jet black undersuit with a similarly black set of cuirass and pauldrons. However, it strayed away from the armors he saw at the blacksmith and outfitter. It was angular, but not really sharp. Its shapes weren't elegant, yet they flowed. At the center was a small circular glowing apparatus with a gilded cover shaped in a square. The orange light shone dimly, its light subtly reflecting off the worn surface of the armor. To compliment it, Valerie wore similarly colored baggy pants that ended below her knees, right above her greaves.
"What are you looking at?"
"Right."
Quies took his zweihander out of its rather large sheath. He could swear that it was at least half the weight of the actual thing it was holding. He held the large zweihander with two of his hands, but soon rested it on the leather shoulder plate of his light armor. It wasn't like holding it tired him, but it surely wasn't a walk in the park.
"You ready?"
Quies looked to his left, away from his blade. Valerie stood there in her black diver suit of armor, and on her right shoulder rested an unconventional sword. The sharp edge of the blade glowed a noticeable glowing orange, and looked like it could cut through things simply because of its heat. The air around the glowing edge wavered, as if cowering in fear. The hilt of the long sword was the unconventional part of it. For a sword, it was rather ornate, with glowing parts accenting the dark alloyed metal. A gilded crossguard shaped like a square separated it from the blade, with an electrical apparatus of sorts attached to the dull side of the blade near the crossguard.
"Oh, this? This was the railblade I talked about earlier. Reminds you of an odachi, no?"
"What's an… nevermind."
Quies looked at the glowing edge of the blade, its emitted light hypnotizing.
"Alright enough fawning over my super uber duper really cool looking sword. Close your eyes, let's get down to business."