Mas, who was adjusting the spaceship, was holding a wrench and a screwdriver in his hands, and wiped the sweat off his face with his hand.
"Whoa… looking way cooler now, my dear. Fixed the navigator too, and even improved the warp system… I really am a genius."
"Mas! Mas!" Kai came running… panting. "Huff, huff… haahh…" Kai took a deep breath. "Hey!"
Mas turned around and replied, "Calm down. What is it, Kai?"
"I did it—I can use power now!"
"Wow, congratulations, kid. Did you just run all this way to tell me that? Or… you want something?"
"I think… I want you to teach me how to pilot a spaceship. Can you?"
"Alright, but with another ship, not this one."
"Yes!" Kai clenched his fist and raised his hand over his head.
"Thank you, boss," he said, with a joyful face.
On the planet Forlis, at one of the spaceship docks next to a fortress, there was a wide field with green grass swaying gently in the breeze. Rows of ships were lined up in great numbers.
Mas and Kai stood in the open field among the greenery, with spaceships lined up all around them.
Mas, arms crossed, standing near the rows of docked ships, holding a bag containing snacks and milk, spoke: "Are you sure?"
Kai replied with a serious face, "I'm sure."
Both of them boarded a spaceship shaped like a large black triangle, slightly bigger than Mas's van-like ship.
"These ships belong to us, the guardians… and only those permitted by me or certified specialists in the organization can pilot them," Mas said with a calm face, holding bread and milk and eating them together.
"Alright, you can try piloting. I'll watch… just press buttons, poke things around, do whatever to make it move. The main point is the thrust lever. Just play with it, kid."
Kai looked confused, thinking to himself: "What kind of teaching is this? How am I supposed to know how to fly… Alright, I'll just mess around with it, maybe I'll figure it out."
As Kai grabbed the lever, suddenly his head felt dizzy. An image of the spaceship appeared in his mind along with words. He blanked out for a moment, then said to Mas:
"Mas… it seems I can pilot it now. I don't know why, but it feels like I've flown before."
Mas, sitting beside him, looked confused, chewing his bread and sipping milk.
"Really? Then give it a try, kid."
Kai piloted the ship for Mas to see. It lifted off—whooshhh—soared forward—fiuuu—and then returned to land smoothly—whoommm, vrrmmm.
Mas, sitting beside him, dropped his bread with his mouth wide open and exclaimed in shock:
"What the hell? It took me a whole month to learn how to pilot, but you did it just by touching the lever… amazing. Alright, you passed, kid."
After that, the two of them returned to the fortress. Mas went to repair a spaceship, while Kai went to see Antear in the large assembly hall and said:
"Antear, I want to go on a journey by myself, alone. Is that possible?"
Antear replied, "No, traveling requires at least two people, like Mas and Ruby. Why do you want to travel alone? Why not go with Mas and Ruby?" She looked puzzled.
"Because I don't want to just search for the guardian of the eastern continent. I want to go on an adventure, explore planets, and see different things in the universe."
Antear spoke with a serious expression.
"Alright, but under one condition: you must find a guide here in this fortress. There are many of them. If you want to travel for your own purpose, then find a guide first."
"Fine, I'll find one. Then I'll set off on my adventure."
Antear stayed silent with a calm expression.
At that moment, Kai walked around the fortress and bumped into a girl with short black hair, wearing round glasses, a white T-shirt under a long black coat, a black skirt, and white shoes. She was slender, about 155 centimeters tall, and carrying a book.
Thud—"Ouch!" She fell to the ground.
"My glasses! Where did my glasses go?"
Kai, seeing this, picked up the glasses and handed them back to the black-haired girl.
"I'm sorry. Are you alright?"
"It's fine, thank you."
The black-haired girl asked, "What's your name?"
"My name is Kai."
"I'm Rese."
Kai asked curiously, "Rese, where are you going? And what's that book?"
"This is a travel journal. I'm going to become a guide, so I have to read a lot. One day, I want to venture into space, see many things I've never seen, and learn everything I've never known."
Kai said nothing, only looked at her with softer eyes than usual, his face calm, but his gaze carried a quiet satisfaction.
"Rese, huh… would you like to come with me? Be my guide?"
Rese froze slightly, her eyes widening as if surprised by Kai's words.
She answered softly, "Yes, I'll be your guide, Kai."