The rest of the day flew by.
As afternoon classes wrapped up, Yumei received a short, expressionless message from Jin Minhe:
[I'll meet you at the parking lot. 10 mins. -Jin]
She was mid-run when the alert blinked on her ring interface.
They were doing it now—between classes, before and after meals—weight training laps around campus. Maxius had his wing weights, Lufei carried slim qi-bracelets at the base of each leg, and Yumei herself wore reinforced training bands across her calves, forearms, and core.
It wasn't fast.
But it was effective.
"Team stamina and endurance," she muttered between breaths. "If we don't prep now, we'll burn out when it counts."
They ran for twenty minutes—four miles through winding walkways, up two flight tiers, and across the long skybridge toward the Sky Beast Resting Zone.
The clouds above shimmered in layered gold.
And floating quietly on a cushion of thunder and golden mist—
Mystic.
In her solid whale form, resting belly-down atop a fluffy compressed cloud-bed. Two long, graceful fins on each side swayed gently with the breeze, catching golden light in smooth arcs. Thin arcs of lightning flickered across her hide, harmless and playful.
Above her, a thick hovering cloud rained down strong, cooling currents, not a gentle mist but a true, invigorating downpour. Mystic harnessed her wind power, adjusting airflow from her body to swirl and shift the cloud with precision—giving herself a sweeping, rotating shower effect, letting the downpour arc across her massive back.
Her eyes were closed in a lazy, contented way.
She cracked one open when she sensed them approach.
The cloud above her immediately dispersed.
A new structure descended in its place—golden cloud stairs, soft and shimmering, spiraling downward toward the students' platform.
Maxius zipped ahead—wings slicing air as he darted through the remnants of the cloud, letting the rain splash down his feathers. He did a sudden twist and skimmed low—sending a full-body spray of water toward Lufei.
The emerald deer squealed, tail flicking, and stomped one foot indignantly.
"Maxius—!" Yumei warned.
Too late.
Mystic lifted her tail.
SQUOOSH.
A sudden spout of water fired from her blowhole—nailing Maxius mid-drift and catching Lufei full in the flank. Yumei got a generous faceful of it too.
They all froze, dripping.
Mystic rolled slightly, glowing eyes filled with absolute mischief.
Yumei wiped her face slowly and gave Mystic a sharp, commanding look.
The great cloud whale rumbled in what could only be described as laughter, but she behaved after that, turning her body so her side lowered enough for boarding.
"Let's go," Yumei muttered, climbing the steps with Maxius and a soggy, grumpy Lufei in tow. "We're picking up Jin Minhe. After that…"
She tapped her interface.
"Grocery shopping."
Mystic snorted.
"Or maybe…" Yumei amended, considering the training demands of her team, "…a short beast hunt. We could use high-energy meat. Something nutrient-dense for recovery."
Maxius clicked his beak in approval.
Lufei didn't complain.
As they settled into the soft platform of Mystic's back, Yumei reached forward and patted the whale's side thoughtfully.
"Also," she said aloud, "we're signing you up for size-adjusting control technique classes."
Mystic turned one luminous eye toward her.
"Seriously," Yumei said, tone softening. "I feel bad leaving you behind all the time. You're part of the team too, and if we can get you to shift size safely and efficiently, we won't have to keep stashing you in the clouds or sky zones every day."
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on Mystic's back.
"I'll get you enrolled soon. You'll learn well, and I'll stop feeling like a horrible person. And more importantly, it'll probably save me from going bankrupt or being hunted down by debt collectors when you accidentally crack a building."
Mystic blinked, then made a small, indignant noise from her blowhole.
"Yeah, yeah," Yumei smirked. "Let's just both agree it's in everyone's best interest."
Mystic rose into the sky with a pulse of qi, golden clouds curling behind her as she banked smoothly toward the far side of campus—her four fins gliding in tandem, her body weightless but her presence massive, regal and proud.
They picked up Jin Minhe outside the dorm parking lot, where he waited silently beside his Glutton Panda. The boy said nothing as he stepped onto Mystic's cloud-back, but his gaze lingered on the storm-charged runes across her hide and the precision with which she adjusted her flight angle.
"Cool," he muttered.
"We're going hunting," Yumei said. "Short trip. Wild Zone near my house. Let's see what's lurking on the outskirts."
⸻
The Hunt Begins
The Wild Zone was quiet at first—broken trees, low grass, a few thick-bellied birds skittering between tall reeds.
Then movement.
Yumei signaled silently. Maxius veered right, Lufei took flank left, and Mystic stayed overhead—her glow dimming as she rode a cloudstream.
The first beast lunged—a two-star E-class armored mongoose. Lufei dropped her Veil of Serenity, shielding Maxius as he burst into motion.
"Phantom Blade."
Maxius cut through it with an invisible slash, drawing a confused hiss from the beast as it fell, never knowing what struck it.
Three more came.
Orders snapped from Yumei like clockwork.
Lufei: "Mindroot Pierce."
Mystic: "Sky Cloud Domain."
Maxius: "Shadow Lockdown."
They moved like a veteran squad, eliminating nine enemies in total. The strongest, a three-star C-class lightning wolf, tried to resist—but Mystic slammed down behind it and released a Thunder God Strike.
Ashes.
⸻
Sky Beasts Strike
As they collected the beast meat and cores, Mystic tensed—eyes rising skyward.
"Above—!" Yumei shouted.
Sky beasts. Four of them. Long-winged raptors with silver flame beaks and razored talons, diving from the higher cloudline like sharpened thunderbolts.
Maxius shot up instantly—
"Sky Ascension Counter!"
He met the lead raptor mid-dive and spun, invisible wing slashing through its neck.
Lufei raised a Mirror Vine Wall, deflecting a second raptor's talon strike and pinning it long enough for Mystic to release a localized Storm Pulse.
One raptor tried to pierce through with a focused dive—but Jin Minhe's Glutton Panda suddenly burped, expanding in size, and body-slammed the bird out of the sky.
"…He's getting better at aim," Jin muttered.
Later, they followed Mystic's drifting cloudform through a narrow canyon rich in elemental mist. The rock faces sparkled faintly—qi-rich vines trailing downward.
Yumei's eyes narrowed.
"Star-level herb region."
She crouched beside a patch of glowing red-veined sprigs. "These sell high," she said. "The kind of stuff the academy uses in forging pills for advanced trainees."
Maxius and Lufei began gathering carefully. Mystic used microcloud lifts to gently shift dense soil without disrupting roots.
Yumei bent down, grabbed a stalk, and yanked.
Snap.
Behind her, Jin flinched.
"Stop."
She turned, halfway to uprooting another.
"You're butchering the roots," Jin said. His voice was still soft, but there was a flicker of emotion behind it now—tension. "They won't survive storage like that. You're destroying the meridian lines."
He knelt beside her and demonstrated. His fingers pulsed with controlled qi.
He gently traced a spiraling vein down the stem, then pressed a finger into the earth—and the herb lifted cleanly, roots intact, leaves glowing.
"…Okay," Yumei muttered, backing up. "You win."
Even Lufei was picking better than she was, her hooves surprisingly gentle. Maxius pretended not to notice.
"Do you want some for yourself?" Yumei asked, watching him continue. "You're a Healer and a Refiner. It wouldn't hurt to grow a few or sell the extras. Could trade them for your own beast gear."
Jin paused, fingers still dusted in qi.
"…That makes sense," he said, and nodded. "Thanks."
They fell into quiet teamwork after that—Jin guiding, Yumei adjusting, the beasts working like a coordinated harvesting crew.