CHAPTER 79: THE FLOATING ISLAND

The carriage passed through the storm, and the Aquadra came into view. Aquadra— a group of small islands which were near each other. Most of them were no bigger than a city.

Far away in the distance, a floating island covered in clouds could be seen; atop it was a large tower made of black and blue crystal-like stone. It scattered the moonlight falling on it into multicoloured lights, which gave it a mystical look.

Underneath the floating island was a huge hole within the very ocean, which possibly led to the bottom of the world itself.

The trio looked at the visage of the mystical Night Tower with admiration and excitement.

"So, that’s the Night Tower?" Hanna asked as she pointed towards the floating island.

Michael answered with a nod and confirmed her words.

"It’s Magnificent..." Anna spoke as her eyes began to glow golden.

The threads of fate appeared before her, however... she frowned because she couldn’t read the threads...

’How is this possible? It can’t be that all of them are limit breakers?’

Her frown deepened, but suddenly she remembered what could be the real reason.

’Is it because of the barrier?’ she thought as she looked at the tower with interest.

Not much of the things interested her to say... after all, reading fate had slowly made her impervious to most changes... but the world had much to offer, and that is why she was so keen to travel her world.

Michael let out a loud whistle, commending the windrazor eagle to move towards the tower.

Moments later, the windrazor eagle landed on the dock of the floating island and let out a shriek.

The people nearby all turned towards the sound of shrieking and looked at the carriage with interest. After all, only a guardian of the Night Tower could command a carriage pulled by a windrazor eagle.

The carriage’s door was already broken due to the omenstorm owl they had met within the storm.

Michael stepped out of the carriage and looked at the people nearby with a smile.

The trio followed behind and stepped out of the carriage one by one.

Hanna looked around the island of Night Tower with interest while Anna tried to read the fate of the people nearby.

But, there was no surprise for her, because she still couldn’t read them.

"It’s Sir Michael!" a person nearby shouted as he pointed at Michael.

Soon, more and more people started to call out to him.

"You are pretty famous, huh?" Neo spoke with a smug smile.

Michael looked towards him with a gentle smile as he answered.

"That’s what being a guardian of Night Tower means."

Neo nodded at his answer.

Michael turned towards Anna and spoke.

"Let us move towards the Night Tower."

Anna nodded at him and looked at the Night Tower in the distance.

"Are all of these people from the tower?" Anna questioned as they walked towards the night tower.

Michael shook his head and answered.

"No... most of them are from the grouped islands. They come to Noctara because it’s much safer and developed."

"Much safer?" Hanna questioned with a frown.

Michael nodded and replied.

"Star beasts... their evolution not only makes them stronger, but it also makes them attracted to human star cores and..." he paused before continuing.

"The star beasts within the water are hard to fight, and they attack the islands too frequently."

"Why doesn’t the Night Tower just kill them all then?" Neo questioned with a puzzled look.

Michael, who was about to answer, stopped as Anna answered him instead.

"If the Night Tower decides to do so, it will lead to two major issues..." She paused and lifted one of her fingers as she continued.

"First... it will leave the star beasts catchers with no prey to catch, affecting their only income source."

She lifted another finger and spoke.

"Second... It’s just a waste of resources, which can be harvested over time."

Neo nodded his head at her words.

"But what about too many star beasts attacking at the same time?" Hanna questioned with a frown.

"We have fortified all of the grouped islands with a runic barrier and provided them with runic devices to call for help in such cases."

"I see..." Hanna mumbled.

Moments later, they stood before what appeared to be a fantastical city.

Its buildings were made of dark coloured crystals with a fixed blend of vibrant flower vines and trees.

"This is?" Anna questioned with a raised eyebrow. After all, she hadn’t read about there being any city atop the Noctara.

"Moonveil... a safe city," Michael replied with a smile as he pointed at the Night Tower.

"The saintess created this city for the people of the grouped islands."

"I haven’t heard about it..." Anna spoke with a frown.

Michael also frowned at those words as he answered after heaving a sigh.

"Of course, we don’t let anyone speak about it..." he paused before continuing.

"The civilians of Azor hail Noctara and Night Tower as a sacred ground. If they found out that we let the islanders of the grouped islands on their land of reverence... it will cause too much chaos."

Anna turned silent and looked at the Moonveil city with respect.

"A metropolis built upon the bed of divine..." she spoke with an awed tone.

Michael smiled at her words and nodded as he spoke.

"A metropolis indeed..."

However, Anna was still not finished.

"Yet it fears its own worshippers the most... a true irony, indeed."

Michael gave a bittersweet smile as he shook his head and spoke.

"Let us continue towards the tower."

Michael stepped forward, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"What’s wrong?" Hanna questioned.

Michael took out an object similar to a pocket watch and opened it. The pocket watch pulsated with a red glow as it displayed the number seven.

"A beast wave..." he spoke with a grim look.

"Beast wave?" Anna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You wanted to know about the dangers of the Sea of Aquadra, didn’t you?" Michael questioned as he looked at Neo.

Neo raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"You don’t mean..."

"Well, it looks like the show is about to start, and we have front row tickets to that," Michael said with a grin.