"Ah!" Corryn shouted, throwing his upper body up as he woke up.

This earned his a yelp, due to his aching and injured body crying in pain just as he.

"Ow! Owwww!" Corryn whined, before looking around. He noticed that he was in a bedroom of sorts, and based off the way it sort of... glided, an airship, too.

"You've awoken." A voice said to his left.

Corryn was hoping for someone he met, and not the one that literally cleaved his hip.

Corryn rolled out of his bed and reached for the Aegis, but found nothing. He decided on using the nearby lamp as his weapon, and threw it at Bea.

"Stop." She said deflecting it.

"Why are you here?!" Corryn asked, holding his hands of defensively.

"I requested to speak with you. After all, my job was done when my client, Bana, escaped." Bea explained.

"Client? You a mercenary?"

"Of sorts." She replied.

Corryn squinted his eyes at her, before shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm good. See ya'." He said bluntly. He left the room and she watched him do so in mild annoyance, despite having no expression on her face.

"Where are my friends? Can I call them that? They left me with a murderer..." Corryn mumbled.

"I murdered no one." Bea stated, walking right beside him as he exited the interior of the ship.

"Had I not burned my wound closed, I was dead." Corryn said with a half-lidded eyes, still completely exhausted and injured.

Corryn spotted the entire group, with whoever helped him stop Patroka, and even Mòrag and Brighid had joined the party.

"Hey, who's idea was it to leave her with me? And where the hell are we going?" Corryn asked stomping over to the deck they stood on.

Everyon turned to him in shock, seeing he was awake, and walking no less.

"Why are you out of bed?!" Nia asked.

"Why not? I woke up." Corryn asked in confusion.

"It's been two hours, you buffoon! You shouldn't have woken up for another eight at the least!" Mòrag shouted herself.

"Well... too bad! I can't let you guys do whatever you want! Where the hell are we going and who the hell is she?!" Corryn kept asking, growing irritated that he was out of the loop.

"Why are you so mad?" Pyra asked.

"We're headed to Indol. The Praetor wishes an audience with you." Fan informed.

"Whom?" Corryn asked, making everyone look at him in disbelief.

"The.. Praetor... Praetor Amalthus?" Fan asked, trying to see if he just didn't remember.

"What's a Praetor? Is that like a priest?" Corryn said rubbing his temple.

...

"He's your leader? Him?" Mòrag asked the others.

"Perhaps it's better we address the benefits in seeing the Praetor to him." Brighid suggested.

"Someone gets it..." Corryn smirked.

•

"So this guy not only knows how to get to the World Tree, but is the Driver of Malos, Cole, and you?" Corryn asked Fan.

"Correct." She said with a smile.

"Shouldn't I kill him?" Corryn asked with genuine confusion, starting to smile.

Mòrag, Nia, and Mythra all punched Corryn, making him cover his body as they beat him up.

•

"I thought... Blades return to their cores when their Drivers die...?" Corryn asked hold his jaw, on the floor.

"Aegises, remember?" Mythra said shaking her head.

"Damnit."

"I guess no matter what I need to find out how to get to the World Tree from him. Also, why are we at the Leftherian Archipelago?" Corryn asked standing up.

"Indol is currently positioned beyond the Cloud Ridge. It would take quite some time to sail around, so we'll be traveling over land from here." Fan explained.

"Wait! Sorry, gotta more important question—" Corryn said with excitement.

"You can have multiple Blades?!" Corryn asked in shock.

"Uh... albeit rare, it is certainly possible." Fan nodded. "The amount of stress on the driver increases with the amount, and I believe the Praetor to be the only one with three."

"Wow... what the hell have I been doing?! I can manipulate ether so I wonder how many I coul—" Corryn's rambles were cut off when he felt his coat was tugged a bit roughly.

"You don't need any other Blades." Pyra said calmly, insanely furious that he'd take on more Blades, with the Legendary Aegis as his own.

"Wha..." Corryn wanted to retort, but kept quiet feeling her gaze on his back, the trembling of her hand felt through the grip she had on his clothes.

"I'm sorry..." He apologized sincerely, genuinely understanding how that may come off after their promise.

"If we're to be walking over the Cloud Ridge, we'd best get moving." Mòrag intervened.

~•~

After passing over the many sandy structures that led just beyond the Cloud Ridge, a sudden incline in the cloud sea, the group began passing under a tunnel, sustained by unknown means.

It was a sight for sore eyes, because the tunnel allowed vision of the ridge's floor and the Cloud Sea.

Corryn on one hand, was shocked by the display, seeing many passive aquatic creatures swim over head, and some even poke their head in the gap of the mysterious tunnel.

"Holy shit! This is so cool!" Corryn awed.

"Does he not get out...?" Mòrag wondered. "He was a Salvager. Getting out was all he ever did." Nia replied.

"You wouldn't find much near civilization, so our travels were in much more desolate areas." Gramps chimed in. "That makes sense. Most stuff is lost at sea." Brighid hummed.

"Corryn is in trouble." Poppi suddenly announced.

Everyone turned back to see Corryn had his upper body in the water, scaring fish as his lower body hung into the tunnel.

"Corryn! Get down from there!" Pyra shouted, standing under him to make sure he didn't fall.

Corryn laughed, but soon regret it as water flushed into his lungs. Corryn threw himself down and coughed as he landed in Pyra's arms.

"Lesson learned..." Corryn wheezed.

•

Trotting through Fonsett Village, the group made their way through with no issue, since it was the safest route— no monsters in sight.

Corryn looked carefree, which was confusing to many despite his last battle.

"Is it so weird to be happy when you're home?" He suddenly asked, making them all flinch.

"Psychic, remember? Besides. This is a second home if anything... it's away from the cowards in the sky." Corryn revealed.

"I was wondering what you meant. The Celestites' home... far above the sea. Beside the World Tree. What's it like?" Brighid probed.

"Ha! It's paradise. It's... it certainly is a paradise," Corryn mused. "But the thought of being holed away while others die... sickens me. Celestites are weak. Mentally... Physically. All we've got going is our powers. And it fueled our greed and selfishness."

Corryn looked up in the sky, but the others saw nothing but sunshine.

"I detest those bastards." He spat.

"You took your sweet time..." a familiar dunce called out, stepping in front of the group for the third... fourth(?) time.

"Ugh. Hey, Shellhead." Nia greeted to Zeke, who had constantly been cast aside by his unfortunate luck stat.

"Hey." He greeted back unconsciously.

"I'm here for something different this time. You, kid," Zeke pointed at Corryn. "Lets see how good you really are. I've been waiting here for three whole days already— so no questions, aye?"

"You don't know when to quit, huh?" Corryn asked, using his powers to twirl Pyra's Aegis from his hip and to his hand.

"All you, Corryn." Nia nodded, stepping back with the rest.

Corryn stood off from Zeke with the Aegis held defensively in front of him. Zeke drew his Buster-sword and smirked as electricity crackled around his feet.

With the blink of an eye, Corryn was slashed in his side, right where he was by Bea, getting sent flying into a tree on the small Titan they were on.

Corryn screamed in pain and held his hip in agony. His eyes trembled as he stood up, feeling the wound open much more than the first time, blood gushing immensely.

"What the hell?! That's a low blow, you son of a bitch!" Nia shouted, trying to heal Corryn from afar, but Zeke rushed by and straight after him.

"He wasn't there, Nia. He'd have never known." Mòrag reminded. Nia clicked her tongue and watched Corryn slam his flaming palm on his side, cauterizing his wound, and most of his left pectoral.

"Thunderbolt Zeke. Tantal's most powerful Driver, and the crown prince." Mòrag revealed.

"Royalty, huh?" Corryn asked weakly, meeting a heavy hack from Zeke with an irregular guard, his free hand holding the side of the Aegis.

"Almost down in one hit? How'd you even make it this far?" Zeke laughed, the clash between swords showing no headway.

Corryn reeled the Aegis back, letting Zeke fly over him as he rolled backward, kicking his torso and landing on a knee.

Unrelenting, Corryn chased after Zeke as he rolled against the planks of the pier, charging flames into the base of the Aegis.

Zeke dug his sword into the planks, needing to leap forward as he accidently cut off the far end of the pier. He lunged faster than Corryn anticipated, and the two clashed, but ultimately flew back towards the group.

Corryn slid his feet into the dirt and flushed himself with ether, making green sparks fly off his body and into the Aegis, where the clash was reversed— Zeke's sword being parried away by a sudden spinning slash coated in flames.

Continuing the spin on his heel, Corryn twirled like a top and slashed Zeke into the same tree he hit.

Zeke was quick to leap up as Corryn appeared with Mythra's Aegis in hand, piercing straight through the tree with a calm glare.

"He's fighting a lot differently than before?" Fan noted. "Maybe it's because they aren't using their Blades." Tora suggested.

"No, I believe she refers to the intensity of their strikes. They're aimed to kill." Bea spoke up after her long silence.

"You'd know." Mythra scoffed, having switched since Corryn did so with the Aegis, of course.

Corryn flipped over a horizontal slash, ducking under the same one as Zeke cleaved back, spinning his blade vertically to block a stab aimed for his gut, being shoved back by a kick soon after.

The two suddenly disappeared from their positions, lashes of blue and gold flying around. This was beyond what Nia and Tora were expecting from someone they believed so moronic. The cases of bad luck must have been really bad luck.

Corryn reappeared with a few afterimages tailing after him, slashing in several directions no one understood— before switching back to Pyra's Aegis and planting it in the ground.

"You can't hide—" Corryn's body burst with green and red ether, before he erupted into flames coated with gold.

Suddenly, Zeke reappeared and fell on his side, soon scrambling to a knee. There were dozens of cuts in different sizes, and three burns across his stomach and arms.

"Man. All that with no Aegis? I have to say, chum, I'm... impressed." Zeke stood up and leaned on his Buster-sword.

"You have ten seconds to explain what your deal is before I take your head off." Corryn declared, making Mythra's eyes widen.

"Heh. I guess this jig is up. I'm an envoy hired by Indol... I volunteered to test the Driver and Aegis. Safe to say you passed." Zeke said with an awkward smile, his Blade, Pandoria sliding in front of him as Corryn took a step forward.

"You people can't do anything properly. It's just all about violence... As soon as I start having fun." Corryn muttered under his breath and began the last walk to the ship taking them to Indol.

Everyone else watched as he walked away, and instead approached Zeke.

"He was never this cold, right?" Zeke asked, taking out a green, luminescent vial and drinking the liquid inside. His wounds slowly healed as the others eyed Corryn.

"Eh. Depends. You did cut open the same wound he got literally four hours ago." Mythra said with squinted eyes.

"That's a new form of unluck..." Pandoria mumbled.

•

Corryn held his hip in mild annoyance as he stared across the room at Zeke, the two in the ship's inn and in bed.

Beside Corryn was Pyra and surprisingly Bea, who still clung to the group after having no where else to go.

The tension in the room was only rising as Corryn's carefree attitude was slain by the fight before.

"So... twenty questions—"

"Shut up."