Land of the Blades

34. Snake

I managed to fix about an fourth of the ship's damaged before I started feeling lightheaded. I stopped and almost lost my balance.

—Are you alright?

—Yes, just a bit tired. Maybe I shouldn't have skipped breakfast today —I said, sitting on the ground and hoping my head stopped spinning—, in any case, fixing the ship will take me more than a couple of attempts.

—We can take the time for you to fix it without pushing yourself too much, he has been gone for years, so it will not make any difference how much time it takes us.

—You are probably right.

Antarc helped me stand on my feet and we "put the ship away" by pulling the trigger of the gun once more. It apparently recognized our intentions and reacted to it, so we could hypothetically summon several ships as Rider has done, but I doubt either of us had the "mana" to keep them materialized for long. It didn't matter, as one ship was all we needed, after all. We went back to our plan to tour around the island, visiting some places that hadn't changed too much aside from being covered by snow and ice. After a couple of hours, we finally reached an entirely new sight, the greenhouse Caster had mentioned before. It was almost as big as the school's first floor, and its walls were almost entirely made of glass, but sturdy enough to withstand the weight of the snow and the strength of the wind. Its insides were quite the remarkable sight, an oasis among the frozen dessert. There were all kinds of vegetable growing in different types of pots and mini-gardens, and there were even some fruit trees. Everything was growing thanks to the biggest of the glowing orbs I had seen, which rested on a pedestal over a fountain in the very center of the building.

—You are really excited about this —Antarc said, sitting on a bench near the fountain and taking a book out of his bag.

—Am I? —I asked, only then realizing I had been jumping and running all around the place, seeing and smelling everything—, I guess I am, but I can't help it, everything looks so tasty.

—Well, eat whatever you want.

—Can I? Really?

—Caster is the only of us who eats, and he lost interest on the greenhouse shortly after we finished building it. Nowadays he only drinks coffee, and sometimes asks Cinnabar to make him cookies or other pastries. We are the ones who ended up tending the greenhouse most of the time.

—Then I'll dig in! —I said already about to bite what I thought it was an orange.

I came to realize by its sourness that it was something closer to a lime. After seeing the way my face contorted, Antarc actually started laughing, which was a pretty rare sight. I ended up eating the whole lime, it was a new taste after all and I didn't wanted to waste food. I immediately started looking for something more sweet to eat, but then I heard the very distinctive sound of a whistle.

—That sounded pretty close —Antarc said, walking towards the door, and I followed carrying a couple of vegetables.

Just by exiting the doors, we were able to see two gems standing near a cliff, with a sunspot appearing behind them further into the sea. We ran towards them, finding out that they were the youngest pair among us, the new Goshe and Morga.

—Good Morning! The adorable and reliable Phosphophyllite has arrived with his lovely assistant. Would you mind if we take over this? —I said, trying to give a good impression.

—Am I supposed to be your assistant? —Antarc said under his breath, not reading the cues.

—Eh? O-of course —Goshe said as his eyes started sparkling—, please show us the skills we had been hearing about!