"Storm Wyvern, Dracominuere tempestum- generally considered the runt of the litter among known wyvern species. These pseudo-dragons which lack breath attacks are as large as a grown man from head to claw. Their hides come in shades of gray, sky blue and rarely, one may spot an albino among their offspring. However, their diminutive size should not fool you; unlike their bigger cousins, these wyverns are pests because of their swarming habits. Given enough time, their weyrs may grow large enough to impede aership travel and may need culling. Their leather is used for everyday articles and the most basic of adventurers’ gear. Are considered a harbinger of mana storms which lends them their moniker...”-from Philiarz Warnerskemander’s Bestiary for Adventurers: ‘Exotic Beasties and Where to Find Them.’

T’duos’day was the day the sole inhabitants of the Sturm Keep’s caverns had been waiting for. That is, not counting the various fauna that prowled in and around the aerlands like the storm wyverns and electric catxocotls—those were nowhere to be found; the apex predator was making her presence felt.

Besides, the storm wyverns had dwindled in numbers after being culled for causing a nuisance. For Arthur, the conditions were just right for what he was about to do— even the weather was agreeable. He and Aeskyre had a light breakfast, rechecked the Azure Surfer to ensure everything was in order and moved to the testing phase.

Aeskyre led Arthur to another cave system large enough to berth a couple of aerships. It opened outside, where the Erythean sun was just rising to grace another day. Arthur was dressed in his aviator jacket, leather boots and a turtleneck sweater. He also draped a scarf halfway around his face to keep out the early morning chill from his nose as well as leather gloves to protect his hands.

Meanwhile, Aeskyre was clad in a sundress that seemed to mockSturm’s Keep wintry disposition; she was also barefoot and didn’t seem bothered by the cold rock of the caverns…at all.

Standing there in companionable silence, they watched the sun rise, ringed in a halo, through the haze of a faraway mana storm as they waited for the sky to brighten up. There were other aerlands floating across the sky like pods of orcas stalking through the fog. It was Arthur’s first time outside and the draconic woman seemed to be of the mind to let her cooped up guest soak in the scenery and the ambience of his first excursion.

Some aerlands had patches of greenery while others were bare as if they’d been scoured clean by the vagaries of weather. There were also some wreckages of wayward aerships that didn’t escape the harsh storms of Sturm’s Keep.

Outside of a blueprint, it was the first time that Arthur was seeing aerships in the flesh, or given their derelict and weatherbeaten state, in their bare bones.

Despite their broken frames, there was some sort of otherworldly fascination to them; The tattered mana sails flapping in the breeze, the broken masts and wood that was slowly being leached of its colours by frequent mana storms.

Some of the barrels that had carried whatever cargo the ship was laden with had been broken into; picked clean of their contents by storm wyverns and whatever passed for birds of prey in these parts.

Arthur also bet that some of the damage was from the woman standing besides him. The sight of an aership torn in twain sent an inadvertent shiver crawling down his spine. He was living with a monster in the shape of a goddess.

There was no sound of life, making the atmosphere eerie in the ship graveyard. While it unsettled him to no end, except for wailing of a morning breeze, Arthur didn't mind the desolation. He was going to have free reign of the sky. Even with his amnesia, it still hammered home just how this world was different from his original. He could still tell, like a feeling in his bones, that he was indeed an unwilling visitor from another world.

“Ready?” Aeskyre prompted, rousing Arthur from his reverie.

“Yea, I am as ready as I’ll ever be.” Arthur replied. He pulled down the goggles from his forehead and made sure that his scarf fit snugly and wouldn’t be blown about his face. Then he stepped onto the Azure Surfer that was still on the ground, inert while holding the mana sail away from the board.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Aeskyre stated. It had the reassurance of a warden telling a prisoner that they were being watched.

‘Erm, okay?’ Arthur quizzed internally, while outwardly nodding in assent. Taking a deep exhalation, he slotted in the sail’s mast and waited. Barely a beat passed as a familiar turquoise glow shone in his face, making his skin tingle as mana was funneled into the sail’s collectors. Arthur felt the mana thrumming through the boom beneath his hands. And this close to the phenomenon, his [Mana Sense] had never been so clear.

Without fanfare, the mana engine flared to life with a soft, barely audible whine of an electric motor. As the board gained a bit of lift, he adjusted his stance, finding his balance. The heel of his right boot, delicately positioned above the pedal shifter slowly eased the mana being fed to the Aertherite crystal as the craft compensated for his weight.

Then eyeing the opening of the cave, Arthur fed a little more to the small engine which responded with short sputtering bursts of thrust. The Azure Surfer glided across the cave floor towards the lip where a sheer drop disappeared to the clouds below.

‘This is it,’ Arthur thought, releasing the breath he had been holding. He tensed his legs and shoulders and then gradually depressed the pedal to divert even more power from the sail. The Azure Surfer cleared the edge of the cavern and took a steep dive that almost wrested the wind from his lungs.

Arthur’s mind ran a mile a minute in panic, assuming that it hadn’t worked as he approached the clouds meandering at the bottom of the cliff before he realized he had let go of the pedal.

As the air whistled past, Arthur shook off his stupor and reoriented the board's engine to face the clouds below. Gradually, he pushed down the pedals with the heel of his boots prompting renewed clamor from the engine.

The Azure Surfer stopped acquiescing to the whims of Eryth’s downward pull as the engine picked up steam and the mana sail flared brighter. At that moment in time, Arthur was coasting parallel to the cliff face. He zoomed past the mouth of the cave catching a momentary glimpse of Aeskyre with her arms akimbo.

Arthur cackled gleefully as the wind muffled his laughter. He kept his eyes peeled ahead, dodging outcropping ledges and vegetation that sprouted on the aerland’s bluff, ascending higher still until he left Sturm’s Keep behind him. He breached the clouds shrouding the upper peaks of the mount and emerged into the wide blue yonder.

There, the risen sun was painting the sky in motley strokes of reds, oranges and yellows. It was exhilarating and worth committing every reminiscence of it. The azure went on and on for leagues with no form of curvature whatsoever. Unobstructed, his eyes drank in the view and plunged his thoughts into a mesmer.

In that moment, whether Eryth was flat or a super planet so big its curvature couldn’t be seen was not something he dwelled on. Not when the sky was of a richer shade of blue, more so than his home. It awed him to no end as it seemed impossibly higher than he was used to. Layers upon layers of clouds were segmented into different formations, soaring high above yet he could distinguish which type ended where.

‘Like the depth zones of an ocean’, he mused.

Further out, Arthur saw more of the aerlands and tall peaks of mountains which caused swirling vortices from the way they pierced the clouds .They were higher than the summit of Sturm’s Keep.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” commented Aeskyre as she levitated alongside.

“Yea, Eryth’s so big. Just look at her.” Affirmed Arthur

“Mmh, that she is. I want to try something though, don’t panic.”

“I am definitely not liking the sound of that.”

Aeskyre sidled close to him and wrapped her clawed hands around his waist. The action rekindled the memory of the time he was almost throttled to death by the same hands that so gingerly held onto him.

“ Wha— what are you doing?” exclaimed Arthur as he tried to squirm.

“Be still, we’re testing your engine.”

“Lady, sometimes I forget how eccentric you are.”

She planted her feet right behind him and tested her footing. The Azure Surfer’s engine did not show any outward signs of being taxed and the mana sail did not show any change either.

“Sturdy…” Aiskeyre observed. “I think we have yet to test its limits. However, it is neither the time nor the place.”

“I agree—Wait, is something the matter?”

“Cast your eyes over yonder,” Aeskyre pointed towards the horizon.” A storm’s afoot.”

“That’s unnerving. I don’t see anything,” said Arthur as he followed her index finger. “How do you know a storm’s coming?”

“I am a storm dragon? “ she answered, with a one arched brow. “ I can smell a storm from leagues away… tsk and more of those pests. Leave this place.”

“I’ll defer to you then,” Arthur said as he eased the Azure Surfer into a gentle descent towards the Sturm’s Keep.

True to Aeskyre’s word, sometime after they had made their way into the Keep, there was a storm the likes of which Arthur had never experienced before. Fierce gales battered against the sturdy walls like a rancorous mob of titans pounding their fists against the rock.

From time to time the loud peals of thunder would cause the cavern to tremble but Aeskyre assured him the Keep had weathered worse. ‘That’s what you get when you throw mana into the mix’ Arthur opined as they sat down to an early brunch. ‘ a hurricane on steroids.’

“What plans do you have next?” Aeskyre asked, dribbling copious amounts of honey over her pancakes.

Arthur looked up from his notes, scrunched his face as if he was thinking hard and shook his head, “I have no idea but I want to get some rest for a few days. Maybe I’ll try tinkering with storage enchantments. I want to get that Locus affinity as soon as possible. I might want to prep the workshop before I start building the actual aership engine.”

“Hmph, hardly restful,” she sniffed, “ With the way you’re working, I would think you were trying to overcompensate for something.”

“Er, short of twiddling my thumbs there isn’t much to do around the Keep.” He said hesitantly. Then he blurted, “ I just want to see the world out there.”

“Hmm, suit yourself. Do you partake of alcoholic beverages?”

‘Huh? You’re not going to stop me?’ He thought as he blinked owlishly. Aeskyre’s glare reminded him that she’d asked him a question and he promptly tripped over his words to answer.

“Ah,” he scratched at the back of his name. “ I think I do,” he said. “ But…not to the point of taking leave of my senses.”

“Is that so? I never took you for the type.”

“Why? Think I look too soft for you?”

“On the contrary. I would think that you would know to hold your liquor.”

“Reason being?”

“You have the body of someone who looks like they are used to doing menial work. Your muscles are well defined, there are small scars at the joints of your fingers and calluses on your palms. Also, the first time I saw you, your skin was tan from laboring under the sun. Either you were a soldier, or a farmer. I would stake my gold on the former.”

“Haha, I am flattered.” Arthur chuckled wryly. “ You’re close but not quite. Believe it or not, amnesiac as I am, I don’t see myself being a trained killer.”

“Mayhap one of your kin was a soldier and trained you how to wield a weapon. I don’t see you gallivanting across farmland and shoveling manure.”

“Riiiight... because that would make more sense. I am inclined to agree.”

“I will be out for a couple of days. I trust that you’ll hold down the Keep while I am gone?”

“Uh yea. Where are you going though?”

“You should know better than to nose around in a lady’s business [Lost Worlder].”

“Fine, fine. At least melt down some ingots so that I can start working on the next project before you go. I don’t possess draconi magic that can melt fantasy metals the way you do.”

“ The forge should let you melt any of the metals using mana. It’s easy to work it the way you would the heater plate in the kitchen.”

“It’s too slow.” Arthur protested, gauging the dragon’s reaction. When she did not berate him, he added “I don’t think there is a manual for using the forge anywhere in the library. That thing is old.”

“I concur with your sentiment.” Aeskyre replied in resignation. “Just leave me the blueprints and I’ll have it done tonight. It should be ready by the morrow. However, I will do no more. Anything else?”

“I also need some pulleys and pitons. I think there were some molds for those in the forge. The blueprints you need are on the top pile in the study.”

Aeskyre got up with barely a word and headed towards the study to look at the aforementioned blueprints while Arthur remained in the kitchen. He put down his notebook from where he was looking at storage enchantments and rubbed at his bloodshot eyes.

Resolved, Arthur was ready to try his hand at making his Bag of Holding. Hopefully if he did manage to get a successful enchantment he would have his leather bag become a magic item. If the material was deemed too weak to hold the runes, then he’d have to wait until he was in civilization and get a custom order from an expert [Leatherworker] or a [Tanner] instead.

“On second thought…” He groaned as realization dawned on him. “ There is no need to risk the duffel bag if there is a high chance that the enchanting would fail.” With that, he decided that he was not knowledgeable enough to attempt meddling with the only possessions he brought over from his world.