Inside the tightly wrapped cocoon, Kayden curled up into a fetal position and was breathing deeply.

‘What’s happening? Why did everything suddenly go dark?’

One moment he was falling through the air, the next he felt like he was trying to go through metamorphosis. He couldn’t recall exactly what happened in between, but he wasn’t actively trying to remember. The only thing that was in his mind right now was how uncomfortable he felt and how it seemed like he was melting.

“Hold on! I am melting!”

Kayden felt the cocoon wrap around him tighter and tighter while he himself was dissolving into a pool of hot liquid.

‘Holy sh*t! What is happening?’

Before he knew it, he had completely liquidized and was trapped in a cocoon no bigger than a regular soccer ball. Kayden couldn’t feel anything, not his arms or legs, not his head, not anything! he even tried speaking but only a slight gurgle came out. The entire process didn’t hurt him in the slightest, though.

‘What in the world is happening?’

This was now the second time he had asked this question. Out of the blue, without any warning, his body of goo started writhing and contorting into something else, something of a familiar shape. In just a few seconds, the constraints around him loosened and he was free again.

“I’m free!”

Chirp! Chirp!

“What?”

Chirp!

“I’m a bird?”

“Kayden! Don’t worry, I can understand bird speak! Good job on figuring out how to transform. Now fly!”

Chiiirrrp!

Kayden was still a little bit confused, but he knew that now wasn’t the time. He tried flapping his wings as hard as he could, but couldn’t even get it to move. His body had entirely changed into something else, and he had no experience with flying whatsoever. These new body parts of his were causing him great anxiety.

“How do I F#cking fly? Oh my god, I’m about to hit the ground, aren’t I? Heeeelpp—”

“Don’t think of it as trying to move your arms! Spread your senses to your new body and move those new limbs of yours!”

Kayden heard the System’s advice loud and clear and he proceeded to test it out. He closed his eyes in concentration, focusing on his new appendages that were located at the keel of his sternum. By exerting his strength into it, he managed to make it move.

“I did it! I managed to flap my wings! I can fly!”

He could feel the wind breeze through his feathers, his wings that lifted him with every flap. Mankind’s dream to take to the skies is being fulfilled by Kayden right at this very moment. He felt… free!

‘This must—'

Splat!

There lay a broken bird on the floor, legs and wings akimbo. It seems that mankind’s dream will never be fulfilled, for today, Kayden had failed to achieve greatness.

“Huh, I thought that you would be fine once you managed to transform, but I guess the laws of physics just aren’t kind to you today.” Ezekiel walked up to the unconscious bird. As he got closer, he noticed that the bird was slowly growing in size, vaguely resembling a humanoid shape. The black surface of the body kept undulating until it completely reverted to its previous, human form.

The jet-black mana that wrapped around Kayden dissipated into nothing as Ezekiel stood over the broken man. From a glance, he could tell that the injuries he sustained were quite severe.

“Thankfully, you aren’t dead yet. Our party has a healer that could heal you in a jiffy. Count yourself lucky.”

As he slung Kayden’s arm over his shoulder and lifted him onto his back, Ezekiel activated his clairvoyance ability and made sure that the two assailants were nowhere near them. At the same time, he also noticed the massive distance that he would have to carry his ‘luggage’ across.

“Why did I even come all the way out here?”

***

“U-urgh…”

Kayden awoke to shimmering green sparkles showering him in a resplendent glow. The light momentarily blinded him before he slowly sat up, and an audible yawn escaped from his mouth as he rubbed his tired eyes and looked around him.

The first thing he noticed was the unfamiliar room he was in. Had he been carried here by Ezekiel? The last thing that he remembered was that he had managed to fly, so what’s up with him waking up here? Perhaps he had passed out from exhaustion?

He looked around for any signs of the ranger, but only found a System notification that obscured part of his vision. The blue box served as a comforting sight for he was in a state of unrest.

[User is being targeted by tier 2 spell: Damage Transfer]

 

A handy little thing that Kayden noticed was a message written with smaller symbols right beside the notification. It read: “Last sent 10 minutes ago…” Seeing as there was nobody else in the room with him, he put two and two together and came up with a conjecture of what happened.

‘Let’s see… I fought Mr. Barbarian and was sent flying. During my time in the skies, I figured out transformation magic and learned how to fly. What happened after that? Did I fail?”

Kayden racked his brains and tried to find the right memory to no avail, but he remembered distinctly that he felt a sharp pain pierced through his entire body.

‘I… probably failed. But I somehow survived, and it was most likely Ezekiel that brought him here to see a healer.’

“Speaking of healers…”

He thoroughly checked his body and was surprised to see that all his wounds had healed, leaving not a single scratch.

“What a great healer!”

He even checked his stat page to make sure, and sure enough, it listed his health at a healthy 173/173.

Hmm? Hold on…

 

“My level increased? And so did my health and mana too…”

“Ah! Kayden, you’re finally awake!” The familiar bubbly voice exclaimed in his ear, “You don’t know how worried I was! You were lucky that you managed to turn into a bird! It made the fall lighter for you! What if you died and I have to go back to being the brat’s System? What if you fell into a coma and leave me trapped forever with your body? That would be mortifying!”

“You’re worrying about yourself, not me!” He rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Anyway, what happened while I was out?”

The System explained. “After you embarrassed yourself by unceremoniously smacking onto the ground, the ranger carried you all the way over here, where you were treated by one of his party members.” The voice paused, before adding, “Unfortunately, your opponent managed to flee when his lackey came to carry him off. Ah, you managed to knock him unconscious at the end, so the fight could be considered your victory.”

Kayden wasn’t sure about that judgment. The fight had been a one versus two from the very beginning and the lackey never joined in except at the very last moment to bail his partner out. While others may be satisfied with the results, he wasn’t. In fact, he was far from it.

Even though he had beaten a B-ranked adventurer with only the help of another fellow C-rank, Kayden considered it a failure.

‘Unlike the fight with Matou, I was both fully prepared and had the help of a teammate. Even then, I nearly lost my life. To add insult to injury, I even had the System to help me. I’m still far too weak.’

If Kayden truly wanted to step out of his master’s shadow, then strength was a must. And to achieve that he had to grab every last opportunity he could get.

“System, can you explain to me about leveling up?”

“Okay! It’s really simple. Leveling up increases your health and mana points. There are also new features you can unlock once you reach certain levels. Also, it gives you a stat point!”

“Stat point? What’s that—”

The creaking sounds of the door opening interrupted whatever question Kayden was about to ask as he stared at the newcomer. He could see bright blue eyes shining through the gap, staring right back at him. Noticing that she had been found out, she stumbled into the room, her face flushed.

“Ah! Ezekiel told me about your talking to yourself, and I didn’t want to interrupt… Sorry...”

‘Great. Another person who thinks I’m crazy.’

Kayden was slowly starting to accept that this was his life now, with people constantly mistaking his out-of-the-norm behaviors for insanity. He recognized the girl in front of him and it made him sad, it was one of the ranger’s party members, one of his party members. This was the second time they met and already she had gotten misconceptions about him. What misfortune!

“Um, were you the one that healed me? If that’s the case, thank you for saving my life.”

He owed a lot to the girl before him and thus, made his thanks as heartfelt and sincere as possible.

“Y-yes I am! Um… you’re welcome!” She stepped forward and gave him a shy smile.

As soon as she stepped forward, Kayden detected a faint scent of blood, like the smell of rusty metal. He looked towards the robed cleric and saw that her sleeves were stained with a bleached red.

“What in the…”

She noticed Kayden’s gaze and quickly hid her hands behind her back. Her face flushed as she gave him an embarrassed smile.

“A-ah! Don’t worry about it. It’s just… my method of healing requires some sacrifices…”

“S-sacrifices?” Kayden’s face paled. “Don’t tell me… forbidden magic?”

Forbidden magic was exactly what it sounded like. Magic that if you were caught using it, you would be sentenced to either eternal life in prison or death. The rule of thumb was that magic that used sacrifices, like necromancy or demoncraft, were categorized as forbidden. Just like the tiers of spells, some random wizards from the west would constantly update the world on spells that are forbidden, which is honestly a thankless job due to how many different spells are made every day.

The priest observed the horrified expression on his face and immediately tried to clarify and defend herself.

“It’s not what you think! I-it’s just some beasts!”

“What? Those poor animals!”

“Noooo—”

Kayden laughed, which made the priest blush harder. He already knew that it wasn’t forbidden magic when the System had scanned it earlier, but he couldn’t help but tease her. The perfect revenge for thinking that he was crazy. After all, he was clearly not!

“By the way, I don’t think I got your name. What is it?”

“Oh! Ezekiel said that we’ll be doing a complete introduction to the party once you’ve recovered. If you’re feeling okay, let’s go!”

‘Hmm? Does that mean… I got accepted to the party?’

Kayden cheered. He had been worried that having a target painted on his back would make the Schwordz guy decline his request to join the party. After all, he was just a C-ranked adventurer with two B-ranked adventurers on his tail. Who in the world would want that?

“Ahaha… He probably was mesmerized by my fighting ability. Coupled with my peerless intellect, the pros far outweigh the cons!”

The priest tilted her head in confusion at Kayden’s words. Her hood slipped off as she did so, revealing her long, blonde hair that reached the middle of her back.

When she heard Ezekiel explain why he wanted Kayden in the party, she had agreed. It could be summed up as “Better he be with us than against us. Illusion magic is terrifying. Plus, we need a rogue”. There was nothing said about his intellect. In fact, the very first thing she warned about was Kayden’s ‘abnormal state of mind’.

“A-anyways, are you ready?”

Kayden gave a smug grin.

“Of course! Let’s meet the party!”