Part 1: Operation Fruit Salad
The Obsidian Leviathan cut through the clouds, flanked by the five Wind-Drakes of squadron. The journey to the Aerie was smooth, the Aether-Stream acting like a calm highway in the sky.
"Captain," Vor'takh called out from the back of his drake, flying alongside the helm. "If we wish to gain the favor of Sky-Father Zephyr, we should not arrive empty-handed. He has a... weakness."
Elian leaned over the railing. "A weakness?"
"Sun-Gold Pears," Vor'takh said, pointing a clawed finger toward a small, glowing island floating a mile off the starboard bow. "They grow only in the direct sunlight of the Upper Stream. They are sweet like nectar, but... difficult to harvest."
Elian looked at the island. It looked peaceful. Lush greenery, golden fruit hanging from the trees.
"Difficult how?" Elian asked.
"The guardians," Vor'takh grimaced. "Storm-Monkeys. They throw lightning. And feces. Mostly feces."
Elian turned to his crew. "We're stopping. A gift for a King is worth a detour."
"But," Elian added, raising a finger. "No killing.
These monkeys are likely considered sacred or just part of the ecosystem. If we slaughter them, we look like butchers. We are thieves today, not warriors."
He looked at his stealth team.
"Jax. Isara. You're up. Titan... you're the distraction."
Part 2: The Nature Documentary
The ship drifted silently toward the Island of Eternal Noon.
Sylvia Rain stood on the bow, her floating camera drone hovering at the perfect angle to catch the golden light hitting her hair.
"Hello, Aetheria!" Sylvia whispered dramatically into the crystal microphone. "We are currently approaching a hostile jungle island. The objective: secure the legendary Sun-Gold Pears for a diplomatic mission. The danger level is... extreme."
Behind her, Titan was trying to tip-toe. The eight-foot-tall, armored tank looked like a walking earthquake trying to be a ballerina.
"Titan," Elian whispered. "Go make noise."
Titan nodded. He walked to the center of the clearing and banged his shield with his mace.
CLANG! CLANG!
"HEY! MONKEYS!" Titan bellowed. "I HAVE BANANAS!"
The trees erupted.
Screeching, blue-furred monkeys with sparking tails swung down from the canopy. Dozens of them. They swarmed Titan, chattering and throwing static shocks.
"It's working!" Titan laughed, blocking the lightning sparks with his Gorgon Shield. "They love me!"
While the monkeys were distracted by the shiny metal giant, Jax and Isara dropped from the trees above.
They moved like shadows. Swipe. Swipe. Swipe.
They weren't using daggers; they were using soft sacks. They plucked the glowing golden pears with surgical precision, filling the bags without shaking the branches.
"Look at that technique," Sylvia narrated, panning the camera to Jax. "The Shadow Dancer class utilized for agriculture. Truly inspiring."
SPLAT.
A half-eaten pear, thrown with the velocity of a fastball, hit Sylvia directly in the forehead.
The camera shook. Sylvia staggered back, wiping sticky golden pulp from her eye. A baby Storm-Monkey sat on a branch above her, cackling.
"Cut the feed," Sylvia hissed, her professional veneer cracking. "Cut the feed!"
"Retreat!" Elian signaled. "Bags are full!"
Jax and Isara vanished, reappearing on the ship's deck with four heavy sacks of fruit. Titan backed away slowly, still blocking debris.
"Thanks for the fruit!" Titan waved to the angry mob.
As the ship pulled away, Vor'takh landed on the deck, inspecting a pear. He took a bite, juice running down his chin.
"Perfect," the Sky-Kin nodded. "The King will be pleased. And you smell... remarkably clean for a monkey encounter."
Part 3: The Crystal Hive
An hour later, the tone shifted.
Caelum, who had been meditating at the prow, suddenly stood up. His blind eyes narrowed behind his cloth wrap.
"Captain," Caelum warned. "High-density mana ahead. Sharp. Buzzing."
Elian looked forward. A jagged island made entirely of translucent, purple crystal floated in their path. It didn't look lush; it looked sharp.
And it sounded like a chainsaw.
HUMMMMMMMMM.
"The Crystal Hive," Vor'takh said, his hand tightening on his spear. "Territory of the Jewel Wasps. We should go around. Their stingers can pierce dragon scales."
"Jewel Wasps?" Kael, the blacksmith, perked up. "Rank C monsters? They harvest Aether-Glass to build their nests. That glass is stronger than steel and conducts magic like water. If we had that... I could upgrade the ship's hull to withstand a Category 5 Storm."
Elian looked at the hive. Then he looked at his crew.
"We aren't going around," Elian decided. "We need that glass. And we need the Royal Jelly for Luna's potions."
"This isn't a stealth mission," Elian declared, drawing Winter's Eclipse. The black blade hummed, hungry for mana. "This is a raid."
Part 4: The Live Feed
Sylvia cleaned the pear pulp off her face and reactivated the stream.
"Update," she said, her voice dropping an octave to sound serious. "The Eclipse Guild has engaged a Class C threat. The Jewel Wasps."
The sky above the island darkened as a swarm of metallic, crystal-winged insects rose to meet them. Each wasp was the size of a wolf, their stingers dripping with acidic venom.
"Roger, clear the sky!" Elian commanded.
"With pleasure," Roger grinned from the crow's nest.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Three wasps dropped out of the sky before they even reached the ship, their crystal wings shattered by high-velocity rounds.
"Valen, Titan! Frontline!"
The two tanks stepped to the railing.
"Come on!" Valen shouted, activating [Solar Flare]. His sword became a beacon of light.
The swarm, attracted to the brightness, dove at him.
"Shield Wall!" Titan roared.
The wasps slammed into the barrier of light and steel. The sound was like hail on a tin roof.
"Elian, go!"
Elian vaulted over the shield wall. He didn't fall; he landed on the back of a hovering wasp.
The camera drone zipped around to catch the action.
Elian rode the wasp for a split second, using it as a platform. He leaped off, spinning in mid-air.
Winter's Eclipse slashed a dark arc through the swarm. The blade didn't just cut; it froze.
Five wasps turned into blocks of ice and shattered against the deck.
"Lyra!" Elian shouted mid-fall.
Lyra strummed a violent, discordant chord.
[Song: The Shattered Glass]
The sound waves hit the crystal island. The massive, hexagonal combs of Aether-Glass vibrated.
CRACK.
A massive chunk of the hive broke loose,
tumbling toward the ship.
"Got it!" Caelum extended his hand. Using gravity magic, he caught the falling debris—tons of valuable Aether-Glass and honeycomb—and gently lowered it into the cargo hold.
"We have the payload!" Caelum shouted.
"Clear them out!" Elian landed back on the deck. "Sylvia! Barrier!"
Sylvia, realizing she was on camera, posed dramatically. "Hydro-Sanctum!"
A massive bubble of water erupted around the ship, pushing the remaining angry wasps back. The insects buzzed furiously against the water shield, unable to penetrate.
"Orion! Punch it!"
The Obsidian Leviathan surged forward, accelerating through the swarm, leaving the confused wasps behind
Part 5: The Bounty
The ship drifted into calm air again.
The deck was covered in wasp carcasses (valuable crafting materials). The cargo hold was full of Aether-Glass and Royal Jelly. And the galley was stocked with Sun-Gold Pears.
Sylvia ended the stream. "And that, viewers, is how Eclipse does a grocery run."
She slumped against the mast, exhausted. "My mana is drained. You people are insane."
Vor'takh walked among them, looking at the dead wasps. He picked up a severed stinger, testing its sharpness.
"You fight with the fury of a storm," Vor'takh said, looking at Elian with newfound respect. "And you harvest with the greed of a dragon. Sky-Father Zephyr will enjoy you."
Elian wiped monster ichor from his sword.
"We have the fruit for the King," Elian listed. "We have the glass for the ship. We have the jelly for the medicine."
He looked ahead.
The clouds were thinning. Rising out of the mist, towering miles into the sky, was a structure that defied logic.
Floating islands made of white bone and transparent wind-glass spiraled upward like a stairway to heaven. Thousands of Wind-Drakes circled the peaks.
"The Aerie," Caelum whispered.
Elian sheathed his sword. The fun was over.
"Look sharp," Elian commanded. "We're knocking on the front door."