"Good luck," Ax said as he parted ways from Eine.

  The raven perched on her shoulder poked her, pulling her hair towards a separate direction.

  "Ow! Oh, okay, I get it. That way," she compined as she followed a separate crowd towards a cliffside.

  As the crowd again separated into three smaller crowds, the raven guided her. Standing at the edge of the cliff, she was met with a wide, hard wooden bridge. It led to a...

  "Ship?" she asked herself. Half confused and curious. As she looked to the bow of the ship, she saw two massive whales.

  Her eyes grew wide in pure awe.

  "Skyfaring Whales!" she excimed, her eyes sparkling with intrigue. She immediately took the bridge and jumped on deck. Running past other seekers, pushing some of them aside, and standing behind the figurehead. Her mouth dropped in pure amazement.

  The whales looked much like humpback whales but rger, and there were two of them. They looked rubbery bck, but much like humpbacks, their pectoral fins were a different color. Tipped in a bioluminescent purple, the patterns glowed in the dark softly.

  Soft veins spread across the flying mammal, the tail and underbelly sharing the same glow.

  "They're beautiful... I've only ever heard of them, such pretty colors..." she continued.

  As the bridges were lifted from the cliffside, the flying ships began to move slowly. The momentum made Eine almost lose bance, but she stood up straight. As her gaze lifted, the glows of the two whales were brighter, like fireflies but much... much rger.

  They lifted their heads and called to the other ships, preparing to depart. As they lifted their fins... they started swimming, pulling the ships along with them. These gentle giants were only an example of the fauna native to Nexus.

  The wind blew her hair back; she closed her eyes and embraced the soft breeze blowing against her skin.

  "Maybe... this won't be so bad after all..." she mumbled to herself. As she finally jumped back on deck.

  One of the coordinators of the trial walked up to her, holding a white folded cloak in her arms with a metal canteen on top and a small box of 10 apple slices. "Here, these are required for the trial ahead," the woman said. She is wearing a white cloak over her armor herself.

  "Ah, thank you," Eine said as she took them off her hands awkwardly. Attaching the canteen to her waist and wearing the cloak over her bck leather jacket. She had to attach her sword to her waist too, however.

  "Hmm, this isn't too bad..." she said as she inspected how it looked on her.

  ***

  It was 11 am.

  Eine had two regur, red apples for her breakfast and headed over to the main deck. Every other seeker had simir ideas. Eine looked over the rails, and she saw a vast desert under her. However, as she looked closely. She could see the ships heading over a desert town with sandstone buildings.

  A coordinator jumped down the crow's nest, her white cloak flowing in the wind.

  As she stood straight, she screamed.

  "Seekers! Your first trial begins now!" catching everyone's attention.

  "We will be flying over a ruined town! Abandoned years ago due to the fauna that resides here, the cloaks hung on your shoulders will work as sails, gliders." She expined as she raised a silver token overhead. '333Γ' Engraved unto it.

  "There will be 333 of these tokens spread throughout the desert! Find one and hold onto it till the trial ends in one week, and you pass! Almost exactly a third of you will pass; fight amongst yourselves if you have to! Your canteens will become empty, however there are oases spread throughout the desert filled with drinking water, fill them up there if you are thirsty!". She expined.

  But a grin spread across her face.

  "However, you aren't the only ones thirsty here. Before any of you die, we coordinators will drag you back to the ship," she continued as she tossed the token off deck.

  "Now jump! The trials start now!" she screamed.

  Without missing a beat, Eine got a running start and leapt off the ship.

  Diving through the air, the strong gust of wind blew her braids free; she bared her teeth in a beaming grin. After falling a certain distance, her cloak spread open like a parachute, significantly decreasing her momentum.

  "Whoah!" she screamed as she fell through a cloud. Eine opened her eye to look around, and she saw a stone house she wanted to nd on. She tried maneuvering in the sky, finding it difficult. The cloak shifted to allow her to glide through the air like a wingsuit.

  As she flew faster and faster... and even faster... Her eyes, which radiated in unbridled joy and excitement, shifted to dread. "Shit, I'm going too fast!" she compined as she headed straight for the sandy dirt past the building.

  Her eyes immediately shifted to horror as she lost control.

  "No no no NO!" she screamed as she fell headfirst into the sand.

  ***

  "Ow..." she compined as she sat up. She got sand all over her clothes, her hair, and most importantly... her armor.

  As she flexed her right hand covered in metal. Sounds of sand being crushed could be heard. Grains getting smashed, ground into dust.

  Crush, grind, rustle. These were the sounds she heard and felt as she started to stand up straight, as the sand slipped into the crevice of her boots as well as her arm.

  Her face contorted in a cringe.

  "I fucking hate this," she compined as she walked. Mumbling profanities under her breath.

  "At least it can't get any worse than this," she tried to assure herself, calming herself down.

  Almost immediately something the same size as her jumped out of the sand, dousing her in even more sand.

  "...", As Eine slowly turned around, she saw an orange scorpion standing in front of her.

  ***

  For lunch she toasted a scorpion leg over her fming sword stuck into the ground. She was sitting down on its corpse as she chowed down into it. The raven is looking at her with its lower jaw wide open.

  She got up and threw the half-eaten leg on the ground and picked up her sword, sheathing it.

  "Now... to find the token..." she mumbled under her breath.