"... After I spotted you, I flew above you and waited for the storm to disperse before finally swooping down." Said Talis lightly as she hugged Vanimo and retold the events of their adventure.
"You could have come down and helped us, Talis." Said Lazuli blandly as she looked at Talis, who raised an eyebrow before firmly shaking her head.
"And risk Vanimo getting injured from the icicle storm? No, thank you. His body is fragile, and his skin is very delicate." Remarked Talis firmly as she looked at Lazuli before shifting her focus to Vanimo, gently rubbing his body with her soft, fluffy wing while he lay atop her lap.
"Oh, I'm not that weak Talis. I had told you I could've withstood some little ice." Stated Vanimo confidently as he looked at Talis, who tilted her head to the side before suddenly chopping his stomach with her wing, causing him to grunt in pain.
"If you can't even handle that, you would've turned into a bloody mess trying to withstand the icicle storm. I know what's best for you, so be quiet next time; I don't want to argue with you." Said Talis firmly as she narrowed her eyes to Vanimo before shaking her head, causing him to reluctantly nod while rubbing his stomach.
"Anyway, let us focus on getting to land. None of us want to be out here floating across monster-infested water." Remarks Alexander as he claps his hands, gathering everyone's attention while he turns around, looking in all directions across the vast sea.
"Do you know where we are?" Asked Vanye as she looked at Alexander, who shook his head while his eyes softly glowed, indicating the use [Heroes Gaze].
"No idea, but I think we're really far away from Asckbon; for two-and-a-half days, we were tossed around like rags while trying to survive that storm." Replied Alexander with a shake of his head as he stood up, causing the raft to rock, though it remained stabilized amidst the calm waters.
"Oh, speaking of that, are you guys not hungry or thirsty?" Asked Alexander as he looked at everyone, his words serving as a catalyst.
Following my words, I heard three stomachs growling in hunger while all of them began to look at the ocean, clearly thirsty.
"H-How are you completely fine, Alex?" Asked Vanimo as he rubbed his dry throat and looked at Alexander, who faintly smirked while reaching into his space pouch.
"This is why…" Said Alexander as he grabbed four separate vials containing his viscous golden ichor before handing them to Talis, Vanye, Vanimo, and Lazuli, respectively.
"Mhm, better." Muttered Lazuli softly as she didn't hesitate to drink Alexander's blood, causing her thirst to completely disappear.
"Y-You drink your blood?" Asked Vanimo with a skeptical gaze as he looked at Alexander before copying Talis and downing the vial, causing him to shiver in delight while he smacked his lips.
"I didn't know you were a fool, Vanimo." Said Alexander blandly as he folded his arms and looked at Vanimo, who suddenly blushed in embarrassment while awkwardly rubbing his head.
"Hehe, I-I see now." Said Vanimo awkwardly as he lowered his head while Alexander rolled his eyes.
"Hmm, delicious." Muttered Vanye as she licked a drop of blood off her cheek, causing a certain part of Alexander's body to react.
'I don't know why, but I found that hot.' Thought Alexander as he looked at Vanye with a lustful glint, only to shake his head.
"Alright, now that everyone is good, let's, um… Head in that direction. I think land is closest in that direction." Said Alexander as he clapped his hands before turning around and pointing slightly left, causing everyone to eagerly nod, minus Vanye.
"You think?" "Yes, 'I think'. I mean, if you know for certain where land is, by all means, point us in the correct direction." Remarked Vanye and Alexander, as the former skeptically looked at the latter, who rolled his eyes while gesturing to the sea.
"Let Alex decide. His heart will lead us in the correct direction." Stated Talis lightly as she glanced at Vanye while Lazuli nodded in agreement, confusing the two siblings.
"His heart?" Asked Vanye skeptically as she looked at Talis, who didn't bother to elaborate, her focus shifting to Vanimo.
"How do you think he found you? Did you think it was pure coincidence?" Remarked Lazuli blandly as she side-glanced Vanye, who furrowed her brows, while she closed her eyes, ignoring her.
Glancing at my swords, I shook my head and reabsorbed them into my body; using them as paddles was very slow, and I didn't want to spend a month or two trying to return to land.
'Hmm, I can use both wind and fire mana, so maybe I can make something akin to a thruster?' Thought Alexander with a curious expression as he slowly maneuvered to the back of the raft while everyone else was forced to move forward to help distribute the weight.
"What are you doing, Alex?" "Trying to make a thruster." Remarked Talis and Alexander, respectively, as the former looked over his shoulder while the latter pointed his opened palm in the opposite direction.
Using my mana, I continuously ejected a decent-sized flame from my palm as it shot out several meters before eventually dispersing inot the air; however, I noticed we were slowly moving and gaining speed.
Curious to see how fast we could get, I kept this going for a few minutes, and although we didn't go all that fast, it was definitely better than using my swords as paddles.
"That was quick. I thought it would take longer." "Heh, I never said it would be hard." Remarked Talis and Alexander, respectively, as the former leaned against the latter's back while he faintly smirked.
"Oh, Talis, why don't you help me, actually? I planned to split up my focus between fire and wind, but doing so would limit how strong I could make my flames. However, if you help, I could focus solely on my flames while you used your wind to strengthen it." Stated Alexander with slightly widened eyes as he turned to look at Talis, who nodded, prompting her to sit beside him while she outstretched her wing parallel to his arm.
"Okay, so just kind of create a funnel around the flames, and everything should happen automatically. Remember not to use too much wind; otherwise, you'll snuff out the flames. The ratio is sort of like 3:1 or something like that; I never bothered to scientifically test it or anything." Said Alexander as he looked at Talis, who tilted her head in confusion before simply nodding, causing him to chuckle while shaking his head.
Starting easy, I once again continuously expelled decent-sized flames from my palm while Talis used her wind mana, creating a funnel or vortex around it, as I said. Since it was our first time working together like this, we needed a few minutes of practice to get our synergy correct, but once we felt confident, we decided to go all out.
"Alright, ready?" "Hah, the Queen of the Skies was born ready!" Stated Alexander and Talis, respectively, as the latter proudly raised her head into the air while the former rolled his eyes.
"I suggest everyone tightly hold on." Said Alexander as he glanced at Lazuli, Vanye, and Vanimo before nodding at Talis.
Just like in previous times, I continuously expelled flames from my open palm, though this time, the flames were massive in size as I focused all of my efforts on expelling the most fire possible. The flames reached a staggering three meters in height and trailed for nearly fifteen meters before they finally dispersed.
Alongside that, the raft began rapidly gaining speed as we swiftly passed our previous fastest record. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to keep this activated for a long time, half an hour at most, but depending on how fast we go, it might just be worth it.
Once my flames stabilized and stopped growing, Talis created a funnel around them, strengthening them as they more than doubled in size and distance. With her assistance, our speed increased rapidly to the point where Vanye, Vanimo, and Talis were forced to sit at the front to make sure the raft didn't tip.
"Haha, it worked!" Stated Alexander with a smirk as he glanced at Talis before looking at the ocean, watching how fast they sailed across the vast sea.
"How fast are we going, Lazuli?" Asked Vanimo as he glanced at Lazuli, who looked at the ocean and the sky only to shrug her shoulders.
"There is no way to accurately measure how fast we're going… But we're going fast." Replied Lazuli calmly as she glanced at Vanimo, who awkwardly chuckled while rubbing his head.
"Well, I guess that's my fault for asking such a question." Muttered Vanimo softly as he shook his head before shifting his focus to Talis and Alexander.
With Talis and working together, we sailed across the sea at incredible speeds for tens of minutes, though as I had estimated, around the thirty-minute mark, my mana reserves began to dry up, and I fell onto the floor in exhaustion.
"T-That was p-productive." Said Alexander weakly as he looked at Talis, who lowered her wing while nodding.
"Now, you must do that a few more times, and we will be good." Said Lazuli, her words causing Alexander to groan while Talis used this chance to snuggle with Vanimo.