The sun slowly rose, shining its warm rays upon the group's camp. The Omega Squad, along with their captain and vice-captain, were already up and fully prepared to continue their journey. As they stood beside their griffin, they felt that something was off. No—someone was missing.
"Where the hell are those two idiots?!" Crystal shouted at Vota's knights.
"They're still in their tent, m-milady…" they quickly answered, intimidated by the ice queen's cold gaze.
"And you didn't bother waking them up?!" She didn't give him time to answer. Crystal immediately stomped her way toward Vota's tent, with Decus slowly following behind.
Crystal was greeted by two deeply asleep young men as she entered the tent. Not only did the tent reek of wine, but the two were snoring loudly, with no care in the world.
"Get me two buckets of water. Now," Crystal ordered Decus behind her, coldly gazing at the sleeping pair.
The screams of Vota soon followed as she dumped the cold water on both of them.
"Damn you! Can't you be more gentle?!" Vota complained, pulling up his large soaked body and grabbing a half-empty wine jug, gulping down the rest in one go.
As if not reading the mood, Vota still joked around as he lightly kicked the still-sleeping Spes.
"He isn't dead, is he?"
"We don't have time for your idiocy," Crystal sighed, her anger visibly restrained.
"Decus, grab that boy and tie him up behind my griffin." She didn't bother trying to wake Spes properly—they were already behind schedule.
"As for you, we're leaving now. Whether you can catch up or not is up to you." Crystal gave one final word before leaving with Decus and Spes.
Crystal waited while Decus finished tying Spes behind her seat. He had to keep the ropes strong and secure—if they were even slightly loose, it could be deadly during the flight.
"Don't be too harsh on him. He's a nice kid," Decus said as he double-checked his knots.
"We don't need kids. This quest needs more men, not more burdens," Crystal whispered angrily.
Coincidentally, Vota and his men approached just as she said the word burdens.
"Whenever you're ready, milady!" Vota shouted sarcastically as he jumped onto his griffin.
Crystal just coldly glared at him and proceeded to mount her ride. With everyone present, the group finally took to the skies, continuing their route toward the Port of Orsus.
As Crystal guided her griffin forward, she slightly turned her head to glance coldly at Spes.
"Stop pretending to be asleep. I know you're awake."
Spes slightly opened one eye in surprise—he never thought he'd be caught in the act.
"You will die before we even get close to the artifact," Crystal said bluntly, not even checking if he was listening.
"If you want to live, you have to be stronger. I don't want me or my men to bury another companion."
Spes didn't know what to say. He simply took the advice to heart. It wasn't about getting drunk or delaying the schedule—he was simply weak. As he was about to lower his head in quiet shame as he always did, he suddenly remembered the words of the Grandmaster as he let go of the Necronomicon:
"Losing a battle doesn't mean you've lost the war. What makes someone truly strong is the will to rise after a fall. So get up… and face your next fight."
"Teach me!" Spes bit his lip and shouted at Crystal in front of him.
"What?" Crystal asked, confused by his sudden outburst.
"Teach me to be strong, then!" Spes shouted again, louder this time, thinking she hadn't heard him.
"If that will raise your chances of survival, then I will train you personally."
Spes sighed in relief at her response. He never thought she'd agree to teach him after their tense first meeting and his earlier display of weakness. All the tension in his body finally relaxed as he closed his eyes, slightly proud of himself for reaching out.
He couldn't see it, but in front of him—though it was subtle—it was still there: a slight smile broke through Crystal's usually cold expression.
"He really is a nice kid," she thought, remembering Decus's words.
The group flew for hours nonstop before landing to camp again in the afternoon.
"What's wrong?" Crystal asked Decus, noticing the worried look on his face.
"The griffins… they're getting weaker and weaker. We've been pushing them past their limits." Decus gently caressed the exhausted griffin slumped on the ground.
"These were the orders we were given…" Crystal could only pat Decus's shoulder. There was nothing she could do about the griffins' condition.
"I'll be training the kid for a bit. Take care." Crystal left before Decus could respond. She walked away, leaving him by the griffin with a small smile on his face.
"This'll be interesting," Decus murmured. He wanted to follow her and watch the show, but he didn't feel comfortable leaving the tired griffins unattended.
"You'll miss out on all the fun," Vota and his knights called as they passed by Decus, rushing toward where Crystal had gone.
Turns out the entire camp had already heard the rumors about Spes being personally trained by Crystal. Now, both Vota's men and the Omega Squad surrounded the pair, forming a human fighting ring.
"I bet 20 qals he won't last a minute," an Inquisitor grinned, tossing a few coins in his hand.
"I'll take you on. The captain'll decimate him within 30 seconds," his friend laughed, confidently placing his bet. He thought there was no way a scrawny kid like Spes could last that long against their captain.
There were many other small bets and games like this between Vota's knights and the Omega Squad. Everyone waited in anticipation for the training to begin.
Meanwhile, in the middle of all the commotion, Spes felt slightly overwhelmed by the crowd surrounding him. He hadn't expected his training to be witnessed by the entire camp.
As he shook his head to ignore the stares, his view suddenly shifted, his eyes catching only the bright blue sky. Spes realized what had happened as the cheers erupted around him—Crystal had foot-swept him, sending him flat onto the ground.
"First lesson: never let your guard down."