The journey has been going smoothly so far. It’s easy to follow such a detailed map, and I’ve already memorized almost all of it since last night, so I shouldn’t have any trouble getting lost or ending up somewhere completely unexpected.

  Earth-type monsters occasionally attack me because I’m flying only about twenty meters above the ground. Most of the time they can’t hurt me at all, or I can easily dodge their attacks. Only once did I have to construct several ice walls to block a direct laser-like beam aimed at my chest. The attack was so powerful that it shattered multiple layers of ice before reaching me.

  I wasn’t seriously injured because the power of the attack weakened along the way. I couldn’t counterattack that rank 4 monster, because the moment it saw that I had survived, it bolted off to who knows where, and I’m certain that monster is faster than me.

  I don’t want to fly any higher, because I already ran into a pair of hawk-like monsters, both rank 4. We stared at each other in the air for several seconds, and neither side decided to make the first move. We tacitly agreed not to attack and to continue on our way. Neither of us wanted to waste resources or time.

  Rank 4 monsters in the wild tend to be more intelligent, having formed in much harsher and more unpredictable environments. Those hawks were strong; for a moment I even considered turning around and fleeing. Fighting the two of them would have been extremely complicated, and whichever side won would have been left dangerously exposed to other attacks.

  After not sensing any rank 4 monsters nearby for the past thirty minutes, I decide to increase my flight altitude a bit. It’s becoming annoying to be attacked constantly from the ground, and if this keeps up, I’ll end up landing just to beat them all up.

  I feel the fresh air hit my face, my long hair swaying in the wind, and the entire natural scenery is captivating. I can enjoy the journey thanks to the layers of mana surrounding me; otherwise, flying like this would be torture, unable to see or hear anything. Traveling at this speed without protection would be complete madness.

  I estimate roughly eight hours of continuous flight. According to my calculations and thanks to my mana reserves, I should be able to fly that long without any issues. It would only become problematic if I had to fight along the way, which I hope doesn’t happen.

  Just as I finish thinking that, a group of eight green, bird-like monsters the size of a human appear in my vision. All of them are rank 3, accompanied by a bird almost twice their size. I can clearly feel the difference; the latter is rank 4.

  The monsters hover in the air for a moment. I follow their example and float in front of them without moving a muscle. One of the rank 3 monsters shifts slightly, only to be stopped by a cry from its leader.

  I raise an eyebrow, a bit surprised. I didn’t expect the leader to be able to gauge strength so precisely. I’m not afraid of this group; the leader might be comparable to the duo I encountered earlier, but its companions wouldn’t be able to keep up with us. They’d only be a hindrance.

  The rank 3 bird monsters screech at each other for a few seconds. The rank 4 monster doesn’t respond, simply staring at them.

  I let out a tired sigh, fed up with the waiting. We’ve been motionless for several seconds now. I release my Imra with a clear bloodlust, but only directed at the rank 3 monsters. I want them to understand why their leader isn’t letting them attack me.

  All the monsters go on guard. I can see surprise and panic in their eyes; their Imra isn’t well controlled, leaking unstable emotions. The leader seems to understand my signal, because it doesn’t do anything—just stares at me, looking slightly annoyed, or so I think. It’s hard to read the simple facial features of a monster.

  A few seconds later, everything seems resolved. I no longer feel any hostile intent from them. I decide to continue my flight. I remain alert for a possible surprise attack from behind; the rank 4 monster keeps watching me from the rear the entire time. Finally, once they leave my Personal World, I decide to forget about them.

  I don’t want to waste any more time with the stalker behind me. I could only sense a faint killing intent when it stopped me along with the flying monsters. It seems that the same rabbit-like monster is still following me—the bastard that fired that laser-like attack earlier.

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  I lower my altitude slightly and construct three Joyeuse at maximum power, launching them in less than a second. I’m not surprised to see the stalker dodge them and flee once again. “I hope it got the message and doesn’t come back.” My voice sounds more tired than expected. My flight isn’t dangerous for now, just stressful.

  “These damn birds.” I heal parts of my body where I’d been injured by beaks and claws. I ran into a group of monsters—twelve rank 3 birds in total.

  They all had wind affinity and another one I couldn’t identify. I didn’t feel threatened by them, but fighting so many at once was extremely annoying. I ended up killing them and letting their bodies fall. I’m not going to waste time looking for their cores; some lucky monster will benefit from them.

  Halfway through the journey, while flying over a small mountain, I feel something strange. My Personal World fails to detect something, as if it were being blocked by some kind of ability or object. I move closer to observe more carefully.

  The cave looks highly suspicious. I can’t sense anything inside; something is blocking my perception. What is that? When I take one more step forward, I stop and jump backward in midair. Nothing attacked me, no one stopped me—my instincts simply screamed at me: retreat or die.

  My body is drenched in sweat. For a moment, I was afraid of dying. I felt as if the reaper had placed his scythe against my neck. As soon as I retreated that step, the fear vanished as quickly as it had appeared. What was that? Was it caused by a skill? Is there something or someone hidden in that cave? Or is it just my primal instincts telling me not to enter?

  I bite my thumbnail, thinking. Curiosity urges me to go, but my brain screams at me not to be an idiot, and my heart is caught in the middle of the chaos. I don’t want to die, yet leaving without exploring leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

  I pull out the map and a marker, and grudgingly mark a large X. With a bit of anger, I continue on my way without looking back.

  I don’t want to die, and my instincts are screaming that something extremely strong is in that place. The probability of death is very high. I’ve never been this scared of something I don’t understand. I don’t look back, because my brain knows that if I hesitate even a little, I’ll end up going in—and that could cost me dearly.

  I bring my hands close to my face and quickly slap my cheeks until they turn a bit red. I need to calm down after that bitter experience. My urge to explore is still shouting at me: coward, turn back.

  I calm my mind with my mental skill. A long, sad sigh puts an end to my thoughts of returning today, but someday I will come back. Whatever made me flee today will regret letting me go tomorrow.

  No matter how I look at it, that killing intent came from a human or a thinking monster. It must have noticed my presence but either didn’t care to stop me or was too busy to deal with me at the time.

  My mind no longer dwells on returning. Instead, I’m stuck with thousands of questions, trying to guess the cause of that strange situation. I’ll never know the answer, but at least it distracts me a bit during the long, boring journey.

  Once I pass all the mountains, I finally see an enormous grassy plain stretching in all directions, along with the massive river so characteristic of this region. I have the option to continue straight ahead or divert to follow the river. The second option takes almost an hour longer according to my calculations, but there’s no chance of getting lost—I just need to follow the river, and soon I should see the nearby route.

  A couple of hours later, I finally spot several small boats sailing along the river and carriages traveling the land route. From this distance they look tiny, and no one seems to have noticed me.

  Eventually, someone does notice me, after I’ve passed dozens and dozens of ships and carriages. A small girl with green, mushroom-shaped hair is staring at me as I fly over her vessel.

  I can tell she’s a fairly strong and competent Ruby-rank. She’s ready to attack me at any moment. I slow down briefly and move close enough to send a wave of Imra toward her position.

  A few seconds later, I notice her annoyed expression turn into simple curiosity. I wave goodbye and wink at her before accelerating at full speed, leaving the vessel behind.

  That girl has good senses. The maximum range of my diameter is close to 190 meters, and I can control it in different directions with some limitations. Her detection range is very wide; I felt a skill brush against me, which is how I noticed her.

  At least I finish the day without too many problems. I can already see the enormous city on the horizon, and the excitement of returning after a month away is bursting in my chest. I want to talk to Susan about many things and see Brendu—I miss spending my days with the princess.

  I fly straight toward the school. As I approach, I begin lowering my altitude, and to my surprise, less than a hundred meters from the academy, another person comes flying toward me. He’s wearing the uniform of the school’s security staff. “Who are you? Identify yourself or you will be attacked.” His words carry a clear Imra intent.

  “I’m Maki, teacher and student of the academy.” I take out my identification and show it. His eyes widen in surprise, and before I can hear his response, a powerful spatial mana begins to swirl in the middle.