Shima assud it was a custor. It was not. Dasha went over and opened Shima’s door for her. Waiting outside were two young boys with boxes. Dasha dropped down to their level.
"Excellent work." He patted them on the head and gave a nod. "Co inside."
Dr. Thornton scowled. Aya and Shima were plain confused.
"Who are these youngin’s?"
The boys walked and carried the boxes. Dasha pointed to the carriage. "Put it inside. To answer your question, they bought so necessary materials."
"I...see."
"Shima, would you mind letting use your kitchen?" Like a father, Dasha placed a hand on the boys’ shoulders after they were done. "I wish to make sothing for them."
The boys went wide-eyed. They expected a reward but food too? Their excitent couldn’t be hidden.
This was how to instill loyalty among children like this. This little actions and rewards that would spread across his small network.
An hour later, when the boys left with big smiles, Dasha returned to the main area where Shima was adding the finishing touches to the carriage. She rolled out from underneath the carriage and flipped to the feet. The first thing she said?
"Do you know what a battery is?"
"I do."
"Ah, great! That will make a long story short. See, the carriage is like...like the reigns are draining you of your mana or Qi or whatever you call it. That’s how it powers itself."
"You use no other power source?" Dr. Thornton asked.
"I’m going to assu she asked about other power sources," Shima said, "and yeah, duh. I use Essences."
"Like Divine Essences," Dasha stated.
"Woah, woah, that’s—I an, I’ve never seen one, but yes, a Divine Essence, a Demonic Essence, a Succubus Essence. Little ball thingies that you can actually change the shape of if you have the proper device. Anyway, they work as—"
"Generators. Power sources. Batteries. The carriage saps them dry."
"Yes, precisely! You’re good at this!" Shima grinned, hands on her hips. "Doesn’t feel like I need to explain anything to you."
"No. Please do."
The Professor kindly gestured and the engineer happily explained. Dasha noted down every detail in his head while Dr. Thornton clicked her tongue. Convincing her that this was all worth it was more trouble than Dasha anticipated. The elitism was incomprehensible to him.
To learn from isolated tribes regarding herbs, to learn from college students on fresh new ideas, these were all valuable. Everything had value in various intervals but value nonetheless. To dismiss it in the na of arrogance was foolish. Only when one possessed all the knowledge in the world could one dismiss everything and anything.
Neither Dasha nor Dr. Thornton were not there yet.
Soday.
The reigns were attached to Dasha’s black gauntlets, taut over his shoulder blades and leading to the carriage. With windows and tal made from dragon fire, it was a beast of a carriage that the engineer proudly proclaid required the power of three pegasi to carry forth.
"Go on," Dasha told Dr. Thornton. "I have checked the carriage myself. You have as well. Trust in the science."
"The science of so backwater mud human?" Her tongue clicked, arms crossed and fingers tapping. "Ridiculous."
Aya opened the carriage door and took her seat. After a long look, Dr. Thornton shook her head and joined. The carriage doors closed.
Click.
The lock chanism activated. The magic circles on the wheels and roof glowed montarily.
"I feel it," Dasha told Shima. "It’s working."
"Great! Excellent! Want to take out for a test drive first or...?"
"No ti and I’ve double-checked everything already." With his Qi Sense. "The logic holds. The math holds. Everything is running as it should."
"Well, if you believe in my work that much, then I’ll believe in it that much too!" Shima exclaid.
Dasha lit up his Golden Pellet and fueled himself with Qi. The weight of the carriage behind him, worth nearly that of a small building, he leapt over to the pen. As though on the moon, the carriage followed in a perfect flow.
Shima gave a thumbs-up. The gate opened. Sigurd’s fad Tarnkappe hid away Dasha’s form. They were ready to go.
Dasha ran out and to the outside world, a magical carriage rode out. It went slow at first as he adjusted the ropes over his shoulder, then—
Electro-step, Qinggong, and Burst.
’...!’
This was his first ti using all three in conjunction. Dasha Pang was a man often focused on the spiritual side. That wasn’t to say he didn’t train and practice. He did. But as he gained greater political influence, as the roles of the Professor and Myth grew, there wasn’t as much ti to do so.
So it ca as a surprise to feel himself fly through the air for a burst of a second. His Deftness managed to keep up, the world as clear as could be and in slow-motion.
Dasha did it again and up, up, up, he went. It took five minutes of hopping on Electro-steps in order to finally leave the Sukhothai and reach the rooftops of the neighborhoods of the Underground. The carriage smoothly followed behind him. The sight was slightly out of the ordinary, yet at the sa ti, being out of the ordinary was being ordinary in the Underground. A riderless carriage earned so looks of confusion but nothing more.
Everybody minded their own business, although there were a select few who wanted to shoot it down—
’Electro-step.’
Dasha was too fast. Combining his Qi Sense with his speed he could avoid any and all obstacles.
Dasha headed west. It was an unfortunate direction. The neighbourhoods of Maryana, Darya, and Mira were to the east of the Sukhothai, not the west. Therefore, he went higher. Higher until he was certain there was no danger—because the western neighbourhoods were indeed dangerous. He joined the pegasi and the griffins that took to these altitudes to travel. From down below, they were sotis hard to see.
One thing was clear to Dasha: this was going to be a long and worthwhile journey.
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