I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1252: The Independent Nation of Ryugan

After everyone settled into the airship, Northern and Eisha went down to say their goodbyes to Anike. It wasn’t going to be final—Northern had a feeling they would see each other again. Anike said as much herself.

But he most certainly wouldn’t get the chance to visit here again for a long time. His mother too, since they wanted to stick around now that they’d found something worth staying for.

Afterwards, they ascended back to the airship as it groaned to life. The storms surrounding its hull crackled with contained fury, and the engines roared to life—silently, somehow, that contradiction of power and quiet that still unsettled him.

As soon as Northern and Eisha arrived on deck, the massive Thunderhead pierced forward with its bow, drifting across the sky. First with a slow movement, like a colossal sky beast testing the wind. Then it vanished with incomprehensible speed, swallowed by distance in a heartbeat.

Anike and the others who witnessed it stood in the air, marveling, their eyes fixed on the vast sky long after the ship had disappeared from sight.

The Thunderhead Dreadnought flew across the sky with tremendous speed, like a missile tearing through the clouds. There was a single destination in mind: the place where Nebulous Lord had found Abyss Tyrant.

At some point, Thunderhead reduced its flight pace to maintain the level of essence it was burning from Northern’s soul.

’Sustainable. Not comfortable, but sustainable.’

The Tower of Trammel had possessed a crystal system designed to absorb atmospheric essence to maximum capacity. But Thunderhead was far more powerful—such ambient essence couldn’t satiate its hunger. The intake alone wouldn’t be enough to run at the level of speed the ship was truly capable of.

Northern had to be the one fueling the aeronautical system directly. He could switch between atmospheric essence and his own reserves, of course. But Thunderhead would slow down or speed up respectively, and right now, he needed speed more than comfort.

The group had packed plenty of barrels of food and water from the Vallithians, so even though they flew for two and a half days, it wasn’t much of a hardship. In fact, it was almost enjoyable—the hum of the engines, the endless sky, the simple rhythm of travel without immediate threat.

Judgment woke up a few hours after departure and was utterly deadpan upon hearing she’d been thrown away by Anike, forced to journey with Northern. She despaired openly, muttering about her fate, and at one point looked ready to leap off the airship and fly away. But the sight of the threatening storm crackling around the hull made her reconsider.

Northern put Nebulous Lord in charge of her afterwards—watching her movements, making sure the girl didn’t slip away when no one was looking.

Eventually, they came upon a high mountain. At first, it seemed like any other: a dark spike rising through the cloudbank, solitary and unremarkable.

But as Thunderhead descended, the truth revealed itself.

The kingdom was carved into the mountain like a crown of stone.

Terraces wrapped around the peak in concentric rings, each one lined with buildings that looked as if they’d grown from the rock itself—sharp-edged, weather-smoothed, slate-roofed. From the air, the city felt vertical, stretching downward more than outward, clinging to cliffs with a stubborn, ancient confidence.

Veins of silver-blue light ran along the terraces, marking aqueducts or magical conduits that glowed faintly even in daylight. They traced the city’s shape like constellations trapped in stone.

’Someone spent centuries building this. Carving life out of nothing but rock and will.’

As the airship drew closer to the Sky Dock, Northern could make out wooden platforms braced into the mountain with colossal chains. Lantern braziers burned blue to guide their approach. Ropes whipped wildly in the gusts, and dockhands in heavy furs moved about their work, their silhouettes tiny against the immense cliff face.

Below the ship, the mountain plunged into a sea of clouds. The sensation was like floating over the edge of the world—and for a moment, Northern let himself simply look.

Thunderhead finally settled onto the dock with a groan of chains and timber. They had arrived at the Independent Nation of Ryugan.

As they stepped down, soldiers in blue and white uniforms wearing open-faced helmets approached them. Their hands rested on weapons, but no one drew steel.

Many on the dock stood enraptured by the vast and threatening mass of the Thunderhead Dreadnought. The only reason they’d even allowed it to land was the absence of violence—no cannons firing, no troops descending in waves. Such a massive vessel flying toward them, they had initially assumed it meant war.

And that assumption was understandable, given the recent battle. But with no signs of aggression, the soldiers had calmed themselves and reassessed the threat. They seemed relieved when only a handful of humans descended from the airship. Northern caught the tension bleeding out of their shoulders, the subtle exhales.

Northern and his crew were escorted to the Admiral’s office. They entered a massive tower that jutted from the dock like a sore thumb—all sharp angles and military precision—and were led to the lounge where they waited.

Northern simply sat down with one leg crossed over the other. Knight Eskedar and Chrysalis took seats nearby, along with Alystren and the Elf, who was now camouflaging herself to blend in with the surroundings.

The lounge was an open hall area, populated by others waiting for their own purposes. A man with white hair and a receding hairline sat reading the Dailies newspaper, his eyes never lifting from the page. A mother and daughter occupied another black sofa nearby, the younger one fidgeting while the older sat perfectly still.

’Waiting for the man in the family, maybe. Or someone else entirely.’

Northern didn’t know their story, but they were certainly waiting for someone. Everyone in this room was waiting for something.

After a while, the soldier who had led Northern to the lounge returned from the inner offices. He stopped before their group, posture rigid.

“The Admiral will see you now.”

He said it curtly and escorted Northern alone to the Admiral’s office.