Chapter 219: Travelling Spark

Kalon stopped a short distance from her and watched the sparks jump between her fingers.

"Show me that again."

Josinia nodded and raised her hand.

Lightning crawled up her forearm in thin unstable threads, then snapped outward and scorched another shallow line into the dirt. She didn’t have much control over it, but the affinity was true.

"When did it awaken?" Kalon asked.

"Just before you arrived. I was cycling earth and water the way you taught me, and something under them opened. I wasn’t even trying!"

Kalon activated Arcane Sight.

Lightning sat clearly in her body now, freshly surfaced and still settling. Beside it, earth and water remained active.

"That’s brilliant... Try using it a bit more accurately."

Josinia turned toward a wooden practice post at the edge of the field.

She planted her feet, pulled the charge into her palm, and pushed it forward. A crooked bolt shot from her palm and struck the post hard enough to split the outer layer and leave a black burn down its side.

She exhaled sharply, pink eyes bright with effort.

"That is the skill?" Kalon asked.

"Yes, yes!. I can gather the charge and release it in a line. If I push more mana into it, it hits harder, but it becomes harder to aim."

"What’s the name?"

"Travelling Spark... It’s B+ Rank!"

Kalon smiled at her.

"Well done, I’m proud of you."

Josinia blushed slightly and tried again. The second bolt was cleaner. The third still drifted wide, but the delay before release was shorter. Kalon watched the pattern of it, the way her shoulders tensed before each discharge, the way her footing slipped whenever the recoil jumped back up her arm.

After several more attempts, he stepped in and adjusted her stance with one hand on her elbow.

"Stop leaning into it. Let the charge leave your hand. Don’t throw your whole body after it."

Josinia corrected herself and fired again. The bolt travelled straighter. The burn mark on the far post sat closer to the centre.

She looked back at him with open excitement.

"It works better."

"It works, but is it ready to be used in combat yet?"

Josinia lowered her hand, lightning fading from her fingers.

"Then let me test it properly."

Kalon studied her face. There was no hesitation there. Only the same drive she had shown since the day he first helped her awaken earth.

"You want a real battle?"

"Yes."

"Not sparring."

"Not sparring," she confirmed. "I want to know what it feels like when someone is actually trying to hurt me."

Kalon was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded.

"There is a planet with collapsing sky islands. Some of them are hostile. The people there have wings, and the weaker island breed conflict. If you want, we can go there? I will back you up of course."

Josinia’s pink eyes sharpened immediately.

"Take me there, please."

...

They travelled together.

[Initiating Travel Sequence...]

[Adapting both bodies to suit conditions...]

[...]

[You have arrived!]

[Welcome to Delphinium!]

Wind hit them at once.

Josinia staggered one step as the open sky and floating island network filled her vision.

Massive island hung across the pale blue sky, connected by long flight lanes. In the distance, rubble still fell from damaged island into the air.

Her white hair whipped sideways in the high wind as she stared outward, lips slightly parted.

"This is..."

"Delphinium," Kalon said. "Stay close."

He focused on Seraphina’s location and moved them to the outer approach of her platform. The Sky-Queen was already there, speaking with two winged attendants. The moment she saw Kalon, she dismissed them and came forward. Then she noticed Josinia.

Seraphina’s storm-grey eyes moved over the purple-skinned woman with clear surprise. Today, the queen was wearing white robes that left a large amount of her G-Cup breasts on display.

"Island saviour, you brought someone."

Island saviour? Josinia repeated in her head.

"She is my woman," Kalon said. "I need a hostile island. One with people who will fight."

Seraphina’s wings shifted behind her. "Hostile?"

"She needs real combat practise, and I thought we could knock out two birds with one stone by helping you get rid of some of your troubles."

The Sky-Queen’s expression changed. For a moment she looked as if she might refuse.

Taking the man who had been stabilising her islands into an active conflict zone was a risk to him. But then she remembered how strong he was, and realised he could most likely handle himself.

"There are a red-wing groups on the southern fracture line," she said at last. "They take from weaker islands and refuse my authority. I can fly you near their island. I will not enter their territory with you unless I must."

"That’s more than good enough."

Seraphina still hesitated. Her eyes went to Josinia again, then back to Kalon.

"If you get hurt..."

The sky Queen tried to hide a blush.

"I won’t, don’t worry."

And even if I do, absolute mend will fix that problem immediately.

Seraphina exhaled once through her nose, then spread her giant white wings.

"Hold on. Both of you."

...

The flight was rough.

Seraphina carried them across open sky in a hard descending line toward the southern fracture. Below them, healthier islands gave way to broken ones. The air grew colder. Flight traffic thinned. In the far distance, a jagged island hung lower than the others, its edges were blackened.

Seraphina released them on a ridge overlooking that shelf and did not land fully.

"That is as close as I take you," she said over the wind. "If you need extraction, signal. I will be watching from above."

Kalon nodded. Josinia was already staring down at the hostile island, lightning faintly prickling across her fingers from nerves and readiness mixed together.

They descended onto the shelf on foot through a broken path.

The island was harsher than the ones Kalon had saved.

The stone underfoot was dark and cracked. Temporary camps and scavenged metal structures filled the centre. Figures moved between them with open weapons and no civilian posture.

Then the first of them noticed the newcomers.