Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(1-3VOL)

Flying

After leaving the counter, we went to a inconspicuous corner and started discussing what to do next.

"No wonder no one is taking this delivery task, it's too far away. The destination village is over 200 km away, across two cities. It will take at least 200 km on foot. But the reward is only 400 sila. That's too little for the distance," Nicola complained as he looked at the task card. There was even a simple map on it, marking the approximate distance.

With horses and carriages being the main mode of transportation, a trip like this would take at least a few days. So the meager reward really wasn't worth it.

"Of course ordinary people wouldn't take such an unprofitable task," I said, taking a look at the card and immediately understanding why Nicola choose it. "But maybe not for us."

"Of course!" Hearing that I understood, Nicola revealed a sly smile.

That's right, we can fly!

Now that we've decided how to do the delivery task, there's no rush. Let's take a look at mine first.

"What's your task?"

Nicola took the card from me and read it.

"A magical beast that often ambushes travelers?"

She frowned as she read the brief description.

"This might be tricky. We'd have to get lucky and catch it. Otherwise we'd just be waiting around."

"But it's not far, just on a mountain road near Norvale," I pointed out. The close distance was the appeal for me.

"Then let's do your task first," Nicola nodded. A level 2 quest, the beast couldn't be too difficult. It should be easy for us.

"Or maybe we should deliver the letter first," I suggested another plan.

"Why?" Nicola didn't understand. Her instinct was to clear the nearby task first before traveling far away.

"Look here," I pointed to the task requirements and explained, "We have to bring back an identifiable body part of the beast."

"In other words, we'll probably have to cut off its head and bring it back. With all that going in and out of the city gates, it'll waste a lot of time. Better to just deliver the letter first since we have to come back here anyway."

"You make a good point," Nicola had to agree after hearing my explanation. It was indeed more efficient than killing the beast first.

Without further delay, we immediately headed out of the city at a brisk pace.

...

On a hillside outside Norvale, Nicola and I stopped.

"This should be good, no one else around," Nicola spread her wings first, revealing two pairs of pristine white feathers on her back.

I nodded and dispelled my concealment as well.

"Looks like you've never flown very high before huh," Nicola said as she flapped her wings and ascended into the sky.

"I guess not," I thought back and realized this was true. I hadn't needed to fly much since becoming an angel. This was the first time travelled by flying.

As we gained altitude slowly, the scenery below started to shrink and the visible horizon grew wider...

I suddenly remembered going to the top of an 80-story high-rise with Reilly back in high school. The view now was so similar to back then.

"Reilly, do you remember that tall building near my house?" I called out her old name, trying to jog her memory.

"Huh... what...?" Nicola pretended not to hear me. The wind was too loud up here, only fragments could make it to our ears. All we could hear was: