The journey was silent until a strong wind began to blow their way. Making their movement heavy.
There was also the sound of instruments clashing against each other.
The shouts of men and the roar of beasts can be heard from a distance. The soil ground appeared uneven as if something akin to a metal crawler had passed through it.
They reached the place and Mima stared in awe. They were massive behemoth strange Maha Beasts that had hard skin and multiple legs.
"Welcome to Crab Thrusters"
Reality beat dream, and so Lawa, too, was in awe at the creature before him and the way they clumsily moved.
They were several meters tall, with hard surface skin that cracked around places which allowed movement.
On their back was a structure like a tube. It shifted and changed direction like a cannon.
"Crabs are Bronze Grade Maha Beast, but several centuries ago, a Silver Grade came from them and made Bcraft."
The old man pointed at the tube and some parts of the Crab creatures.
"They use the tubes to send their young ones out of danger when predators come. Until humans came and employed them."
The old man explained as they moved closer to them. The place was windy, and when they came close, they noticed why.
The tube poured out air as the crab sucked in air from their mouth continuously.
"That is how they breathe when they are moving or working. Once resting, they revert back to normal exhale and inhale."
They reached a smaller crab that had a building on top. With a flash of pendent from old man Luno, they were allowed inside.
A serious conversation came about the services they offer. Lawa was shown the map that the thruster can reach from their current location.
The world of Jaha was vast and travelling was the most tedious activity.
Lawa stared at the map and was surprised by its detail. He asked many questions before he could pinpoint the location he wanted to go to.
"Here." He said. Fear can be seen on his face but the handler didn't care.
"That is 29 thousand mountains. Your cost is…"
The average height of a mountain in Jaha is one kilometre, so it has become a measure of distance.
"I will pay for the 10 mountains."
"Alright. That will be 109,475 Orim!"
'Wow. That's a lot. Almost half of my orims!'
Lawa thought but he didn't think that was too much.
"Do you take anything but orim? Like this…"
The man was first shaking his head when he suddenly nodded and snatched the valuable red stone and stashed it away.
"5600 orims!"
Old Man Luno chuckled seeing that.
A permit was printed and also a hooded cloak was given to Lawa to wear. Three objects were attached to it and he had no idea what they were for.
He was then guided toward one of the Crab Thrusters.
They stood before it like ants. Its body was flat, with six long legs on either side. Then soft appendage around its eyes and its posterior.
It used them to swat away prey or carry things.
"You can't go up on your own. It has to take you or it will consider you as an enemy." Said the old man.
Lawa handed over the remainder of the orims that he should have paid for the throw to the Old man for Mima.
"Are you sure about this?" The old man asked with concern.
"No. But I have to go!" Lawa said. His gaze swept around the people. Trying to see if there was someone he knew. No one was familiar.
'They might be hiding.' He thought.
"Mima. Wish you the best of luck!" He said.
"Thank you Master Lawa. Safe journey. I pray you get what you seek?"
He smiled warmly at her.
Under any given circumstances, he might have considered her his woman.
A soft appendage came from the eyes of the crab and wrapped around him. Strangely he felt no fear or apprehension.
It moved up and landed him on its carapace back. Inside the tube was a glass cylinder with four segments.
Each segment will contain two people.
Lawa walked toward a segment that had only one person. The crab allowed him inside.
One of the three small objects attached to his cloak latches onto the glass tube. Lawa became seated and he was firm in place by a liquid that allowed breathing.
"ONE!"
"TWO!"
A man on the ground began to count. And they feel vibrations around them. The eight people began to pray including Lawa.
Malfunctioning and failure were all within possibilities.
That was when he noticed a familiar old man in a cloak looking at him on the ground. They stared at each other until a thrust happened.
It wasn't a boom but a toss.
The wind blew, the scarce trees around bent and dust blew away. Anyone below the Third Stage will have been sent away.
Those inside the sent tube were still trembling. Their eyes close because, at any moment now, they might collide with a flying object, and that may cause a problem.
There was a sudden shift in pressure and temperature. A sudden warmness then cold, then warmness again. Then calmness.
They shot inside a layer of atmosphere that normal flying can't. The air was thin and there was no dust.
Their speed had reduced as they passed through the pressured atmospheres, but the moment it reached that altitude, the speed somehow increased.
In Lawa's perception, there was just a blur.
Then they felt a clink and their speed increased again.
Just now someone has been ejected.
The tube wasn't going to a single destination. It was calibrated in a way that it would eject a passenger when the said passenger came to his desired destination.
In this pressureless atmosphere. The passenger had some degree of freedom. Not to move around but can adjust their sitting.
The thick liquid around them also has become solid and is wrapped around as a belt.
They can rip it off anytime they want, but it is not advisable.
"You are from the Marmara Clan. What are you doing far away from home? "
The man beside Lawa asked.
Conversation was possible, but it was advised to be silent.
Lawa looked at the man. He was lanky, with spoiled teeth and uneven eyes. But a Body Stage Cultivator.
The way the man looked at him disgusted him, and then the man moved. He, too, moved as he shot the Yellowstone he had at the man's face.
The body of the man uncontrollably trembled and he lost consciousness.