“Tek here, whenever someone talks about flying people, I tend to either think of Icarus--or Aladdin. Flying through the air has been one of the best known dreams of man since the days of old. In this world, people fly, but without wax wings--they fly with Magic. I think I will see if anyone sells Magic Carpets, especially since I am seeing a…Whole new world.”

 

The bed began to shake, a small voice whimpered, “No! Noo--”. This was how the girls and I were woken.

 

Sitting up, I looked over to the origin of the noise, to see what was going on, it seems that Mara was having a nightmare, and was thrashing and talking in her sleep.

 

Mia had moved over, and Nana was worriedly staring at Mara as she embraced her--she didn’t seem to know what to do.

 

“Master, may I pass?” Lulu asked from behind me.

 

I moved to the side, and Lulu sat next to Mara and carefully woke her up, beginning to talk to her quietly.

 

We left the room and went into the attached bathroom. I think it may have been Arisa’s suggestion, but we all bathed together. Nothing happened, since we did this to get clean--all the girls, including Mia were fine with bathing naked with me there.

 

By the time we finished, Lulu and Mara seem to have finished talking. Mara apologized for waking us, her cheeks flushed. Lulu lead her into the bathroom, and they rapidly got cleaned, joining us in the living room in around five minutes.

 

Mara explained that she was being having a nightmare about when she was kidnapped. When she tried to escape, she was recently captured again, and the polite-seeming men became worse. They began to starve her, beat her, and worse--to break her spirit, to turn her into a pet blacksmith.

 

This was completely understandable, she had only been taken by the slave trader a few days ago--and she had been captured for almost a month, having tried to escape four days after her kidnapping.

 

Lulu had been able to calm her down, since she and Arisa understood the feeling, having suffered before becoming slaves. Arisa had suggested her sister do it, because Lulu was much more caring and comforting.

 

None of the rest of us would be of any help, since Nana and Mia looked mostly emotionless, and Mia didn’t talk much. Liza would probably try to train her to be stronger, while Tama and Pochi would just convince her to eat a lot of meat.

 

Mara had cheered up by the time she finished cleaning herself, and we left the guest mansion and headed over to the hall, where breakfast was already being served.

 

Entering the hall, Dohar motioned for me to sit across from him. While the girls loaded their plates with meat, he asked me about Mara, who was nervously sitting near me.

 

I explained that she had been sold by a slave trader, and I decided to buy her. I was about to explain some of my reasoning behind it, but he clapped me on the shoulder and said that I was ‘a good man’ who would be doing this for ‘good reasons’. While I didn’t dislike it, I was a little worried about how trusting this man was, after fighting me once.

 

It hadn’t occurred to me before, but he was also almost 250 years old, and obviously had a lot of experience if I were to judge by his level. So, he could probably easily read a younger person like me--I was younger than 30 years old, and had been reset to 15. I had noticed that my mindset had changed a little bit as well.

 

He then said that if I was to stay, he was planning on engaging me to his granddaughter, to Jojori. I happened to glance over at Zajir, who was sitting nearby, he was beginning to glare at me--he was the one who was in love with Jojori, and officially her fiance, but Dohar was willing to engage her to a second person.

 

I said that I was planning on leaving the city today anyway, and when I told Zajir and Dohar, Zajir looked pleased and Dohar nodded. I was planning to leave, since we had seen everything there was to see in Bollhart.

 

The nearest city is four days away.

 

Well, since the path leading there is a well-traveled mountain trail and not a paved highway, it might take five days. There are several carriages going the same direction as us, but since we are all moving at different speeds, we’re not moving in a caravan.

 

However, since we wouldn’t be able to craft, experiment, or do training if we’re together with other merchants--so I stay quite a distance back from them, which is also one of the other reasons the journey would probably take a day more.

 

Lulu has insisted on being the coachman. Arisa has installed a cushion on the driver’s bench during our stay in Bollhart city, so it seems a lot more comfortable now. It seems that inside the cushion is padding and coiled springs that she asked the blacksmiths to make.

 

Mara has been spending most of her time on the driver’s seat, talking to Lulu--she seems to have gotten fairly attached to the girl. Looking to her for comfort and counseling.

 

I asked Lulu if she was alright with this, since she was normally a quiet girl who seemed uncomfortable around most people--she said that she was glad she could help someone, and she really didn’t mind Mara spending time with her.

 

***

Two days after we left Bollhart City, there are finally no more merchants near our camp ground at last, so I take the chance and use the many scrolls that I bought.

 

First, I tested ‘Mud Wall (Mud)’. This caused a one meter tall, one meter long, five centimeter thick “wall” made from mud, to rise out of the ground.

 

It looks incredibly weak, like it would collapse if touched lightly.

 

Lulu and the others who are watching, applaud.

 

Tama wanted to hit the wall, out of curiousity, but I warned her that it seems much too fragile, so she shouldn’t.

 

Next, I harden the mud wall with ‘Hard Clay’--while it’s not glossy like porcelain or normally fired clay, it gives off a feeling of toughness.

 

It seems that neither mud wall, or the hardened wall, won’t collapse or return to normal mud even after time passes. If I had a potter’s wheel, I could make pots to hold Medicine or ingredients for my alchemy.

 

When I tested ‘Rock Smasher’ on the hardened mud wall, it seemed to shatter--dissolving into sand.

 

‘Freeze Water’ works just as the name states.

 

‘Air Curtain’ can deflect an outside wind--but it can also be used to isolate sound in a certain area, which Arisa was rather quick to point out the uses in a whisper. I think she will want to test it away from the campsite tonight.

 

Since the sun has gone down, I can only use ‘Condense’ using moonlight, which only condenses it slightly.

 

I decide to try the other one that came from a ‘bad’ stock, meaning it didn’t sell well because it was often considered useless. ‘Furnace Flame (Forge)’ which I use a distance was from the wagon and the other girls, though I ask Mia to come along with a short staff, so she can use her Water Magic to put it out in case something goes wrong.

 

Putting a copper dagger, which I had gotten from some thieves sometime, and put it on the rock--activating the scroll. The MP consumption is higher than most of the other scrolls, probably because it is Intermediate-Grade.

 

Even though the copper dagger has a much lower melting point than most of the other weapons I could have tried it on, all it does is get hot without melting.

 

Since some of the nearby weeds start to catch fire, I have Mia use a simple Water Ball spell.

 

After that, I try out Signal, Sonar, Fence and Cube--since I am only using the scrolls to get the Skill, which I can then later use skill points on, they are all very weak. But, once I get them to level 10, all of the spells should be much more useful.

 

***

Now it’s time to do the real thing.

 

To make sure that no one gets hurt in case I misjudge the strength of the empowered Skill, I move two mountains away. Only Mara seemed to be slightly surprised, and I asked Lulu to explain that I was stronger than I seemed, no one else was worried.

 

My destination is a place with five Monsters called Soldiers Beetles.

 

Soldier Beetles are beetle-like Monsters--that are as large cars, their levels in the lower 20s.

 

When I reach two kilometers away from them, I activate Sonar and go closer. With the skill level at 10, it seems that the search range is improved from twenty meters, to around a kilometer. The effective time raises from 5 minutes to 50 minutes

 

However, I already have the Radar, so this Skill probably won’t ever be useful.

 

Since I am not 500 meters away from the Monsters, I launch a Short Stun, to check its effective range. Just like Remote Arrow, the amount of shots I can fire at the same time has massively increased--the amount is also the same as Remote Arrow.

 

I shoot one at one of the beetles, and 124 at the other three--divided 20, 40, 64.

 

The result is that the beetle that I shot with a single Stun fainted with a dented shell. The one which gets hit 20 times has its shell crushed, and is half dead. However, the beetles shot with 40 or more--are completely smashed.

 

Well,l this seems like I cannot use it to make normal people faint, but if the opponents are knights or heavy infantry, it’s usable.

 

Strangely, the only Monster I didn’t attack is coming towards me. It’s not running, probably because it has very low intelligence. Since it’s flying here at high speed, I try out my ‘Mud Wall’ spell.

 

Casting Mud Wall, which is max level, causes a gigantic wall to appear. It’s 300 meters long, 20 meters high, and 5 meters thick.

 

The beetle hits the wall and sticks partway into it, buzzing and flapping it’s wings and legs in irritation.

 

Hmm, it looks like I could build a castle overnight--if I ever wanted to.

 

Well, this is a good test for the powered up ‘Rock Smasher’. Without a sound, the wall changes from mud into sand. I had to quickly jump out of the way, otherwise I would have been swallowed by an ocean of sand.

 

The Monster I hit with a single Stun finally recovers after 30 minutes, and like its brethren, it is coming over here.

 

Oh?

 

It can fire stone bullets.

 

I cast Air Curtain, and the stone is deflected--maybe this spell can be used for anti-projectile defence.

 

The beetle becomes a sacrifice to test out Condense--the focusing power increases with skill level, and the condensed moonlight becomes a pale-white laser. Unfortunately, because the source of light is weak, the moon is barely visible, it’s not too powerful--though it does slice straight through the confused beetle.

 

This spell will be much more powerful during the day, especially if I use it when standing in direct sunlight. It could be a laser that would probably cut through castle walls--I probably shouldn’t use it in towns without careful planning.

 

The last spell to experiment with is ‘Furnace Flame (Forge)’--I think I will just shorten that name to Forger. I tried to make a Furnace using a reinforced Mud Wall, but in the end, I decided to use Cube--testing two spells for the price of one.

 

I create a transparent furnace using several Cubes.

 

Oh?

 

It seems that the Cubes are reinforced if they are connected to each other, or overlay each other. However, once they are connected, I can’t separate them without erasing the spell.

 

Putting in a copper and iron dagger into the transparent furnace, I activate Forge. It takes three minutes for the Copper Dagger to melt, and five minutes for the Iron.

 

Cube seems to be around as durable as Shield, and can contain the heat from Forge for around 30 minutes before breaking--this time is increased by layering Cubes.

 

Opening the Menu, I modify the search parameters for the Map--looking for any metal veins in the nearby mountains. There are some for Copper, Iron, and something called Uutz Steel--so I mark them all. Since the Copper is only 30 meters down, I expose it by removing the dirt using Mud Wall. I then mine the ore by adjusting the power of Rock Smasher--I thought of using a Holy Sword, but decided to use this chance to practice using Magic and adjusting the power.

 

After mining all of the Ore, I place them into storage, for Mara to use.

 

I also remember to add a permanent change to the search parameters, so that any ore--especially Mithril--will show up as we travel.

 

***

On my way back, I walk through the sky by using Cubes as footholds. Since the Map showed that there wasn’t anyone nearby who should be able to see me, I don’t bother wearing the silver mask.

 

At first, I make Cubes in the shape of stairs to test the spell out, but since it’s fun to walk on the air, I decide to see how far up I can go. Making more and more footholds, I jump between them with ease.

 

It seems I can see the morning sun on the horizon.

 

There is also a white line that seems to join the ground to the sky over to the east, I wonder what it is? Judging from the map, it’s somewhere in the Bornean Forest. Well, I will probably find out in time.

 

Suddenly, I notice that it’s become surprisingly difficult to breath, I stop and look down--my back grows cold.

 

I made a mistake.

 

I made a mistake!

 

One of the primary rules of being high in the sky is: ‘don’t look down’.

 

Luckily, the fear fades after a few seconds and all I feel now is excitement and anticipation.

 

It seems that I got a little too carried away--according to my Heads-Up-Display, I am at an altitude of 4 kilometers.

 

For the next 10 minutes, I practice moving in the sky as though fighting--3D Maneuver and Space Grasp make it more simple than I expected.

 

I feel like I could fight Dragons or Demons in the air--thinking this is probably raising a flag.

 

There’s a hawk-like Monster with a 5 meter wing-span near the mountain, so on my way back to the camp, I try practicing air combat. If I had wings to allow gliding, there would be even more tactics.

 

>>Skill: Sky Drive Acquired.

 

Sky Drive is similar in effect to using Cube, except--not only does it cost less Magic Power, it removes all the needs of thinking where and when to place a Cube to use as a step, since the platform is generated instantaneously directly under my foot.

 

If I were to use Air Curtain, and moderate my speed, I could take the girls for midnight strolls in the sky. If only I had a Flying Skill, then I could replicate that famous scene from Superman.

 

>>Title: One Who Flies Without Wings Acquired.