Since Isai had repurposed the stove, the crew gathered around the bamboo fire for dinner, dragging over wicker chairs and cots to sit on.

Rylan and Ezra started by serving the gilderberry-and-bamboo-sap-glazed boar medallions straight from their sizzling skillets, but encouraged their dinner guests to grab any skewer that looked ready from where they were planted next to the fire.

Finally, when they were done searing the medallions, they went over to the earth oven and dug up a couple of the sealed chunks of charred bamboo to hand out. As Rylan carefully split open his own, he was immediately hit by a full-bodied scent.

The slow-cooked boar was tender and delicious, infused with the flavours of bamboo and spring onion. Rylan had the other two meat preparations as well, of course, and while the smoky flavour of the skewered chunks and the sweet stickiness of the seared medallions were each lovely in their own right, the bamboo braised boar was still his favourite.

It was enough to help him cope with Soren and Tamina's light ribbing about his new Skill, anyway. Of course, the many compliments about the food and congratulations helped as well.

As expected, they had made far too much—especially in their earth oven—so once everyone had finished eating, Rylan and Ezra spent some time digging up the rest of the tubes and cramming everything that was left in the now-smaller pantry, causing some of the cabinets to nearly spill over.

Then they finally took a well-deserved break by the fire, while Nazyr and Yuel went to take care of the dishes. Rylan sat down next to Tamina, who shot him a smile before she returned to staring at the flames, her face clouded with inscrutable thoughts.

Looking around, Rylan spotted more grim expressions lit by flickering flames, as people spoke in low tones. Though the mood in camp had significantly improved, there was clearly still a strong undercurrent of tension. They had all worked hard that day to make their departure in the morning possible, but there were still any number of things that could go wrong.

Confident as the professor sounded about his plan to fill the floater with gasified Aetherium, it had never been done before, and there was no telling how well it would work—or how long.

One bit of good news was that Dreadmaw hadn't been spotted all day, meaning it was likely off on a hunt. Its hunts tended to last a while, but still, the massive Ruby-Grade Malequint gapejaw could return at any moment.

Despite these worries, Rylan had a good time joking around with Soren, Tamina, and the various crewmembers he'd gotten close to over the past weeks. That night, he took the bedroll in the middle, and when he hesitantly reached out to take Tamina's hand, she smiled, and didn't retract it.

They fell asleep with their fingers lightly clasped together, and Rylan slept better than he had in quite some time.

The following day started in a burst of activity and nervous energy. Nazyr and Halloth were climbing the rigging, going over seams and knots, while Holly and Yuel were packing up tents and piling their contents up next to the hull, seeming to try and decide what they would bring and what would be left behind.

Bringing less cargo might increase their odds of success, but if the plan failed and they crashed back down into some other uncharted part of the cloudsea, they would need supplies.

Yuel perked up as he spotted Rylan, and quickly grabbed a massive roll of familiar, coarse fur. "Good morning, milord! Say, I was wondering what you were planning to do with this, and in case you hadn't anything in mind, whether I might have it?"

Rylan blinked. "Oh, ehm... sure. I wouldn't know how to cure it anyway."

"Awes. Thank you!" Yuel sing-songed, before skipping back and carefully placing the rolled-up hide on what was apparently the 'bring' pile.

Rylan moved on to the firepit they'd constructed yesterday, only to find a new fire already roaring and Ezra working on breakfast. With a smile, Rylan went over to lend a hand.

After all, he had a Skill to experiment with.

Rylan didn't get much testing done as he still needed to conserve his mana for their departure, but together they made a hearty breakfast. They combined some of the shredded braised boar and leftover rice to make a sticky dough, which they proceeded to bake into crisp, golden-brown pan-baked rice cakes, served with what remained of the gilderberry and bamboo-sap syrup.

As breakfast wound down, the captain stood up, facing her crew with a solemn expression. "I've talked things over with Isai and Nazyr, and as it is, we see no reason to postpone our departure any further. Dreadmaw hasn't been spotted yet, so with some luck, we can make a clean getaway. That said, we expect to depart in about three hours. So make sure you eat your fill, as we won't be stopping for lunch."

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Murmurs broke out among the crew, as people got up for seconds. Thankfully, they'd made plenty. Rylan exchanged glances with Soren and Tamina. His friend seemed excited but nervous, and Tamina calm and collected as usual.

Isai came up to Rylan, looking harried, but with a gleam in his eyes. "Rylan my boy, I require your assistance. Would you mind coming with me?"

Surprised, Rylan got up to follow the professor, expecting to be led to the ship. However, the professor instead walked to a nearby pile of assorted items, grabbed a couple of waterskins, and tossed one to Rylan.

Rylan caught it. "Ehm, professor... where are we going, exactly?"

"We're going to shut down the dehumidifier," Isai answered simply. "Try to keep up, my boy!"

Isai hadn't been joking when he'd told Rylan to 'keep up,' Rylan wryly considered. They'd made excellent time towards the buried chamber, and Rylan had been forced to jog at times to keep up with the professor's enthusiastic stride, all the while listening to the man's excited rant about the article he would be writing about their archaeological discoveries—the parts he could share about them, at the very least.

The spry old man had only stopped walking down in the underground room, where he stared up at the humming dehumidifier and let out a sigh. "What I wouldn't give to bring back some of its components and take them apart... but we can't risk it. I'd much rather not try to find my way back towards the ship through the fog, if I can help it."

Rylan frowned. "Aren't we shutting it down? I thought that's why you brought me, so I could help escort you back to base..."

"Oh no no, nothing like that," Isai replied, waving his hand dismissively. "No, I need you to access the console and try and set it to shut down exactly..." The professor paused to whip an hourglass out of a coat pocket. "Two hours from now! That should give us enough time to get back and do our final preparations."

Rylan's eyebrows shot up. "I hadn't thought of that! That's... yeah, that's actually a much better idea." However, something didn't add up. "But professor... why do you need me for this? I mean, I showed you how to access the console, right? I'm pretty sure you took notes, even..."

The professor turned to him with a mysterious smile, his eyes flicking over Rylan's face, carefully scrutinising him. "My boy... Did you really think just anyone could access it? This is ancient Hermean technology. Frankly, the fact that you can is what's strange."

Rylan's eyes widened. Was there... something special about him? Was that why Maris had contacted him and led him there, why she picked him? Actually, hadn't the captain said Maris had asked them to smash her cage? Maybe she didn't ask that just because the captain has a big hammer... maybe that was the only way they could have freed her!

[Woah...] Arphin sent. [I knew you were something else, Boss!]

"Now," Isai continued, still studying Rylan's expression intently. "It might be just some fluke of fate... but it might also have something to do with your lineage. Too bad you're a Cloudgift; I would've loved to question your parents. Either way, it might be best to keep this ability of yours... hazy. I'm not sure what might happen if this information fell into the wrong hands."

"Right," Rylan croaked, his throat suddenly not very cooperative. One more reason to look for my family.

"Well then, will you give it a try?" Isai said, indicating the console.

Rylan stiffly walked over and put down his hand, even though his mind was still racing. "Ehm... Ethereon, activate console."

The prism lit up with a deep purple glow.

《Welcome back to Aeloria Waeld's local network, administrator. What is your command?》

Rylan shook his head, forcing himself to concentrate on the task at hand. "Ethereon, please set the dehumidifier to shut down in exactly two hours."

《Parsing. Command acknowledged. The dehumidifier is to cease operations in exactly two hours, confirm?》

"Yes, confirm."

《Acknowledged. Timed deactivation of the dehumidifier set for two hours.》

Rylan nodded at the professor to indicate that it was done, but kept his hand on the prism a moment longer. "Ethereon... why do I have administrator privileges?"

Next to him, Isai's head snapped towards him, as the man listened in intently. Though of course, he could only hear Rylan's side of the conversation.

《Parsing. Query understood. Administrator privileges are assigned to the prominent families that make up our glorious empire's ruling class.》

Rylan frowned. Our glorious empire? Our? So... Ethereon isn't just interconnected with ancient Hermean places like this, it actually considers itself a part of the empire?!

Next to him, Isai licked his lips. "Rylan my boy, would you be willing to relay to me what it's saying?"

Rylan hesitated a moment, then repeated its words. Isai just nodded thoughtfully, not seeming too surprised. Perhaps this idea was less revolutionary than Rylan thought.

Arphin was having a field day with all this new information, however.

[So Boss is literally like a scion from some ancient noble family?! And now you're wielding an unmatched sentient death-blade—that's me! This is just like the stories Maris used to tell me!]

Rylan swallowed, turning back to the console. "Ethereon... which of these prominent families am I a part of?"

《Parsing. Query understood. Administrator is part of the Vanguard family, raised to the ruling class for bravery and leadership displayed in a number of large-scale conflicts.》

Rylan's heart sank a little. Awesome as it sounded, he'd never heard of anyone with that last name. He wasn't even sure if that was the actual name, as he got the feeling that Ethereon was simply translating the meaning of some ancient Hermean word.

Either way, he wasn't about to start calling himself Rylan Vanguard.

Rylan tried a few more questions about the Vanguard family, like what their role was in Hermean society, what specific exploits had gotten them raised to the ruling class, but Ethereon just kept repeating the same basic information back to him.

"Rylan my boy," Isai said after a while. "As much as I hate to do this..." he held up his hourglass, the sand inside which was steadily streaming down.

Rylan let out a sigh, then released the prism. "It's all right, professor. I don't think there are many answers to be gained here. At least, not to my real questions."

The professor took him in for a moment longer, then nodded. "Someday you'll find those answers, my boy. Just keep looking."

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