As December arrived, Backlund's weather turned cold and gloomy once more. Most of the time, the sky was shrouded in smog that, while not particularly dirty, was still thick enough to block the sunlight.
Fortunately, compared with the same time last year, the city had shaken off the shadow of war and gained a new lease on life. Factories supplied with raw materials were operating at full capacity, while destroyed homes and buildings abandoned due to the excessive growth of strange plants required vast amounts of labor to clear. That was enough to make Backlund's residents forget the bitter winter and busy themselves working toward a brighter future.
"Is this why you dragged me all the way to this city?"
In the central square of Partis, the city named after the island deep in the Berserk Sea, Xio Derecha stood with her arms folded, watching her friend Fors Wall scribble in a palm-sized notebook beside her and complaining unhappily.
She had sacrificed two precious days off for this trip!
Of course, compared with the steam trains or military airships she had needed to travel while working at MI9, going out with Fors was far more convenient. An hour ago, she had still been at home amid Backlund's endless rain. After a simple Teleportation, she had arrived on an island thousands of kilometers away. The sunlight was even a little fierce, leaving her struggling to adjust.
Whether it's convenience in daily life or mobility in combat, the Apprentice pathway has far too many advantages. No wonder they rarely appear in public, and most end up as Sealed Artifacts in someone else's hands... Thinking of the ring formed from a Traveler characteristic that her immediate superior, the director of MI9, never took off, Xio felt a little wistful.
She couldn't help looking