Page 3104

Zeff could've carried himself--and been much faster, to boot--but the point here was stealth, and a giant jet stream of water soaring through the sky was perhaps not the best example of that.

Hector had apparently been developing a method of flying using materialized armor--which did admittedly pique Zeff's interest--but now wasn't the time to be experimenting, he felt. He'd have to poke the kid's brain the next time they saw each other.

So he let himself be just another of the young Lord Sebolt's passengers.

Only two others within their group elected not to do the same. There were various materializers and transfigurers who could achieve flight, but it almost always required great effort, risk, or bodily sacrifice. By and large, it was better to just let Dimas handle it, so those two exceptions were all the more notable.

Mario Delaguna and Isela Sebolt were among their younger warriors--not much older than Hector, in truth--but that didn't stop them from making a show of their abilities. In fact, perhaps that was why they were so clearly full of energy and ambition.

Mario was one of the few well-known integrators among the Rainlords, but his mild fame was generally due more to his eccentricity than his inventions. He'd apparently taken inspiration from Abbas Saqqaf's mechanized armor, because he'd created a flight suit for himself. It wasn't anywhere near as advanced, of course, and looked rather haphazard--more like a gliding wingsuit than a true, self-propelling machine--but to the lad's credit, he was at least managing to keep up with everyone.

Isela was less surprising to see. From the moment Zeff had heard that a young Sebolt girl had manifested an alteration ability over density, he'd expected her to one day make quite a name for herself.