Chương 263: (258) 4.37. Magic Cloud House

On their way to return their bowls, Vin and Lumel ran into Shia, currently in the middle of enthralling a small gaggle of avisul with a tale about the Sacred Forest. The moment she spotted them, however, she paused her story and waved.

"Vin! You're finally up!" she laughed, smiling as she bid farewell to her new friends before making her way over to them.

"I know Telin said it would be a few weeks, but I figured I'd give you one before I started trying to wake you myself. How do you feel?"

"Honestly, better than ever!" he said, trying not to notice how Lumel frowned slightly at him. His reaction to seeing the edge of the village and the drop that followed was no doubt still fresh in her mind.

"What have you been up to?"

"Get this. I gave them a tree!" Shia said, her grin widening as she pointed off toward one of the clouds drifting alongside the village.

"The avisul seemed particularly interested in trees when I mentioned them, so I figured, what the hell, I wonder if I can get one to grow up here. It was tricky, as I didn't have that much dirt, but I made it work. They brought me an entire small cloud to work with, and guess what?" She paused for a moment, letting her excitement build.

"Growing a tree up here on the clouds pushed me over what I needed to prestige!"

"Seriously? That's awesome!" he laughed, giving her a high five. He'd had to teach her what the gesture meant weeks ago, and she had long since mastered both the art of the 'up high' as well as the 'down low' by now, even if she was still just a bit too slow to hit those occasional ones in the middle, much to her growing annoyance.

"Well don't leave us hanging, what did you pick?"

"Druid of Bonds," she said, clearly pleased with her choice.

"I know, it sounds kinda weird, but the class ability was too good to pass up. At the cost of additional mana, I can pass on any damage I should take to nearby plant life that is already imbued with my mana, which means I finally have my own defensive ability that I can rely on. Not to mention it came with the Relationship Reflection passive. I had no idea what it would do, but it turns out that I can enter a trance similar to meditation and flawlessly replay any encounter I've had with anyone in the past.

It's been amazing getting to revisit all the times my master and I spent with one another, and I've already picked up on a few new things from his old lessons he put me through when I was only a child that I completely missed at the time!"

"That's great, it sounds like you got the perfect prestige for you," he said, smiling at the Druid's clear exuberance.

"Do you happen to have any idea how close Scule was to his own? Now that the rest of us have prestiged, I'm a little worried he's going to feel left behind if he doesn't join us soon."

"Oh trust me, I'm already planning to mock him relentlessly if that happens," Shia said, grinning at the thought.

"But I wouldn't worry too much. I'm pretty sure he's closer than you think. Oh, and before I forget! You mentioned the other day that you wanted to try speaking with one of the Cloud Whisperers, right?"

"If possible. Currently, my only air-aligned spells are Sense Air and Whispering Wind. I'd love the chance to try and add to those while we're here."

"I figured as much! I spoke with one of them earlier this morning about it, and they said they'd be happy to show you some of the basics. Here, let me explain where you can find them. You're going to need Lumel's help for this one…" It turned out the Cloud Whisperers had their own small island they lived on, separate from the main one. From what Shia had picked up around town, it sounded as if they were almost like the shamans of this village.

While Telin was technically in charge, the five Cloud Whisperers held a lot of silent power behind the scenes. Thankfully, life up here in the clouds was fairly simple and easy going, and there weren't really many reasons for them to butt heads.

"I'm going to go check on my tree and make sure it's doing alright. Let me know how the lesson goes later!" Shia said, waving at the two of them before walking off. As soon as she was out of earshot, Lumel turned to him.

"Are you sure you're up for this? There's no shame in taking another few days to just rest and recover."

"Yeah, I think I'd rather have something to focus on and keep my mind off other thoughts," he admitted, shivering as the dull-red eyes of the World Eater flashed in the back of his mind once more.

"Sorry, but could you help me out? I know I could ask one of the avisul to fly me, but I'd really prefer not being dangled over the empty sky by a stranger if at all possible right about now."

"Of course, Vin, don't worry," Lumel said, gently taking his hand in her own and gripping it tight.

"I'm here for you." The two of them followed Shia's directions, heading toward the edge of the village once more. But before they could get too close, a familiar purple bubble popped into existence around them, causing the world to shift before they suddenly found themselves standing on a totally different cloud. This one couldn't be larger than a few acres, and Vin gulped as he tried to ignore the fact that it was next to impossible to escape having the edge of the cloud in his view regardless of where he looked.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Right in the center of the cloud-island was a giant building that looked a lot more haphazardly constructed than he'd expected. Having witnessed Madam Trebella's impressive manor or the majesty of the floating library, seeing a building that looked like it had been built by two dozen separate people, each with their own idea of what it should look like, caught him by surprise.

The different floors widened and shrunk as it went up, and it even leaned over at one point, supported by a pillar with what looked like a spiral slide of all things built around it. There were windows of all shapes and sizes, and even a pool jutting out one side halfway up the building. It was as if someone had handed a piece of paper to a four-year-old and asked them to draw a house up on a cloud.

"Well now, who do we have here?" a shrieky voice called out, followed shortly after by an avisul poking their head out of one of the upper windows.

"You're two of the visitors! Do you two need something?"

"I'm something of a wandering mage," Vin explained, calling back up to who he could only assume was one of the Cloud Whisperers.

"Is there any chance I could ask you to teach me some of your air magic?"

"A mage?" a second voice rang out as yet another head popped out two stories lower in the building, turning to peer at them. This face looked distinctly younger than the higher one, and he wondered if age had anything to do with where they lived within the crazy building.

"What makes you think you're worthy of learning our magics? Have you ever once stopped to listen to the clouds?!"

"Uh… kinda?" he said, scratching the back of his head as he thought back to the weird arcane discovery he'd made from touching the Chef's pot.

"I noticed earlier how you use layers of mana to alter the very makeup of the clouds, somehow. I'll admit I have no idea how you do it though!"

"Really now?" the first one asked, hopping out of their window and gently drifting down to them without so much as a single flap of their wings. Vin could sense the magic supporting them, and he received the expected notification as well, sans the experience he used to get with his old class. New spell witnessed! Tier 1 Air Spell (Slow Fall). Damn, guess it's not just witnessing spells from my allies like Shia thought. Oh well, these new arcane discoveries seem potent enough.

As the avisul landed in front of them, Vin felt his Generalist Mage title kicking in as well, informing him quite expectantly that the Cloud Whisperer standing before him had an air affinity to their mana. If I end up unlocking another title, that one might be the first to go… I don't think it's told me anything that wasn't obvious a single time now. The older avisul was peering at him curiously, so Vin peered right back.

Just like the other avisul, this one wore clothing that was clearly derived from the seaweed they harvested from the ponds. Though he also had a small necklace of fluffy clouds dangling loosely from his neck, as well as anklets at the base of each talon that looked the same. Vin wasn't yet at a point where he could guess these people's ages, but the Cloud Whisperer was clearly much older than he was.

"I'm Frinnol, one of the Cloud Whisperers for our humble village," he said, folding his arms and attached membranes together and giving a slight bow.

"It sounds like you have in fact taken some time to listen to the clouds, which means I'd be more than happy to share some of our knowledge with you. In return, I simply ask that you do one favor for me."

"What's the favor?" Vin asked warily, already thinking back to the blanket favor Madam Trebella had asked them for way back when.

"You are travelers, are you not?" Frinnol asked, getting nods from both of them.

"Ever since coming to Edregon, my people have remained safe, choosing to remain within our own fragment. We Cloud Whisperers keep the village close to the center of our fragment, away from any who would do us harm. We are largely a peaceful people, and we avoid conflict whenever possible. Even so, one of our own left the village a few months back. A young lad by the name of Quill. He was one of our most talented fliers, and the longer he remains out there, the more concerned we grow.

In exchange for showing you a little of our magic, I only ask that if you come across him, you please let him know that we are sorry, and we hope he'll return before long."

"I can certainly relay the message," Vin said, realizing Quill had to have been the one who spoke to Madam Trebella and visited the floating library.

"I've actually heard word of one of your people traveling about Edregon, and pretty recently too, if it's any consolation."

"Thank you, that does make me feel better," Frinnol said, baring his needle-like teeth as he smiled and turned toward Lumel.

"Would your shy friend like to partake in these lessons as well?"

"I'm okay, but thank you," Lumel muttered, keeping her face hidden beneath her hood as she turned toward him.

"I'll come back later to help you return to the main island. If that's okay?"

"Thanks, Lumel, you're the best," he said, giving her a quick hug. He saw a small smile hidden beneath her hood, before she vanished with a flash of purple. The flash startled Frinnol, who flinched back, before laughing at his own reaction.

"My, what curious magic you travelers bring with you! If I were only a few decades younger…" Shaking his head with a sigh, he motioned for Vin to follow him behind the large building.

"Alas, I am far too old to betray the clouds I have sworn my life to." Vin followed the older mage, and they each took a seat on the fluffy ground. A gentle breeze washed over them, and Vin blinked as he realized it was coming from the house itself.

"Well then, my young mage," Frinnol said, tilting his head slightly and nodding toward him.

"Where shall we start?"