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That should be well past impossible for any of the wizards onboard, yet the revelation wasn’t even properly done yet. Arhart was still motioning, and Captain Sharshaw tracked the movement to the gauges for the secondary batteries. All of which were also full.

It said a great deal of the captain’s battle-tested spirit that her heart only skipped three beats in that moment.

Filling the primary battery would take a wizard who was well past attunement or imbuement phase. Maybe a wizard in their innate phase, or even the transformative phase? It was all speculation, Captain Sharshaw hadn’t reached such heights herself and only had their reputation for copious mana to go off of.

Topping off every single battery that swiftly demonstrated a degree of mana Captain Sharshaw had never even heard of people wielding, outside of myths and legends. There was someone powerful on this bearship. The question was, why hadn’t they acted earlier?

Likely the same reason Captain Sharshaw had no idea such a wizard was even aboard: they were traveling covertly. Driving off all the occorites by themselves would have no doubt drawn the exact attention the mystery wizard was seeking to avoid. Fueling The Ursender allowed them to offer help to those aboard without giving away their identity. It was a generosity indeed, because any wizard with that kind of mana wasn’t going to be seriously injured by a mere crash.

They were saving everyone else with their donated mana, an act which Captain Sharshaw deeply appreciated.

Checking the readouts from the treadmill room, she found power was topped off there, too. That sealed it. A wizard and familiar of incredible power working in conjunction was the only explanation. But what they’d provided was too much for mere escape, too much by orders of magnitude.

With a presence like this aboard, Captain Sharshaw had to interpret the implications of such a gift properly. The safety of everyone flying under her care might very well depend on it. Once more, her eyes drifted back to the flock of occorites.

It was easy to lose sight of in the all the chaos, but each one of those occorites was made of pieces from other vessels. Bearplanes and bearships brought down, only for their wreckage to fuel further tragedy. How long had this flock been terrorizing the skies? How many more would fall before they were stopped?

Was it wishful thinking, or the hidden wizard’s true intent? There was no way to be sure, so Captain Sharshaw could only turn to the most reliable compass she’d ever stumbled across: her own intuition.

“Charge the shield and tell every pilot to start preparing the cannons, fast. Someone among our passengers has presented us with an incredible opportunity. It would be a disgrace to The Ursender’s good name not to make the most of it.”

TWENTY-THREE

The stabilization field crackled into existence along the Main Deck moments before The Ursender’s engines roared to life, a stark contrast to the pitiful putter they’d been emitting moment’s prior. If not for the enchantments, nearly everyone aboard would have pitched to the floor. Instead, they felt nary more than a slight pull as the bearship blasted into a whole new league of speed.

Yet rather than flee, the ship was turning around, heading back toward the flock of occorites.

“Attention, all passengers, there has been a change in developments. Due to an unexpectedly high amount of donated mana, we are confident in our ability to fend off the occorite without exposing The Ursender to any significant danger. Please remain in position and do not attempt to move about on the deck, as the enchantments may not be powerful enough to keep you from falling at these speeds.”

Murmurs ran along the deck as curiosity took hold. There was barely time for gossip to even begin properly building before the cannons fired. Rather than just one or two, every single cannon that could be aimed forward had been utilized, creating a series of detonations that sent two of the larger occorites tumbling from the sky.

The fact that the occorites were already in cannon range drove home just how close they’d really been. Wanda was glad they had enough mana to survive, though it was a little surprising how quickly Captain Sharshaw changed her plans.

Despite the initial volley, several of the bearship sized occorites survived and attempted to attack, only to slam into mana barriers that were practically opaque. The previous version was like peering through weakly tinted glass, while these may as well have been a physical material with how dense they appeared.

Not only did the occorites fail to break through, they damaged themselves upon impact, as if the giant energy-beings had slammed into a stone wall.

Rumblings of doubt rapidly turned to whispers of amazement as The Ursender rocketed into the center of the flock, now able to fire its cannons from every angle. The sky burned with blazing blasts of mana that turned the once deadly occorites into chunks of raining scrap.

The massive grand bearship at the heart of the flock attempted to overwhelm them, racing forward only to meet a concentrated volley of cannon fire that had nearly everyone on deck covering their eyes. Wanda was able to keep watching though, which was how she saw the enormous hole get torn in the grand bearship, a vast chunk of its inner material sent cascading down to the passing ground.

Somewhere down below would be blessed with an incredible bounty, this much occoreal-infused material was an unthinkable amount to harvest for a wizard in her imbuement phase. Given the size of the occorites and the depth of their flock, Wanda suspected this would be a treasure-trove for just about any wizard, save maybe those at the highest phases.

Many of the wizards around Wanda watched the materials falling with an expression resembling physical pain. If not for the captain’s warning, Wanda imagined a great deal would be rushing to the edges of the deck casting spells or imbuement to try and grasp some of the dropping opportunity for themselves.

One or two did actually try to move, only to go crashing down as their faces went pale and sickly. That was enough to discourage the rest, even if they did stare hungrily at the raining remains of so many occorites.

And there were a great deal of remains to watch. Wanda expected the captain to back off after her initial salvo and destruction of the grand bearship, only to find the feat repeated once, twice, three more times in rapid succession. In moments, an occorite flock that had brought down countless vessels was reduced to a pittance of their former numbers. It seemed likely The Ursender would run out of targets before going dry on mana.

Wanda gulped at the spectacle, awestruck and intimidated all at once. This was the power of mana on full display, what it could do when truly harnessed and directed. Foes that were insurmountable, decimated in the span of minutes, when all that changed was the amount of mana available. It also gave her a new degree of respect for Parriel, who would one day be able to make devices like the cannons if he continued to pursue enchanting.

Parriel himself had commented more than once that enchanting was perhaps the least impressive specialty at its beginner levels. Apprentice Enchanters were able to do little more than offer minor boosts to a team’s equipment. But as they grew stronger, the potential of an enchanter rose at an exponential rate few others could match. Most major cities relied on the mana-powered defenses and infrastructure only enchanters could provide.

Watching yet another round of cannon fire send the final occorite bearship plummeting toward a massive stretch of forest below, Wanda struggled to find any major threats remaining. Only the smaller, birdlike occorites that she and Wumble had fought in the stairwell were peppered in the surrounding skies. Dangerous to an average person, though not a major threat to any well-made bearship.

That didn’t stop Captain Sharshaw from sending out a few final volleys before The Ursender began turning around. As they settled into a new bearing, the engines roar dimmed and the stabilization field tapered down as their speed fell off to more manageable levels.

“All detectable occorites in our vicinity have been eliminated.” Captain Sharshaw delivered the words flatly, showing the same composure she had when circumstances seemed dire.