Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

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 silver. 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 chose 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 I would be travelling 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:

"Whoosh whoosh"

Oh well, I shook my head regretfully to indicate it was nothing. She stopped gaining height and turned back, flapping her wings to accelerate forward quickly.

"Wait up..." Seeing her skilled maneuver, I was caught off guard and could only hurry to follow behind her backside.

"I can really fly now!"

Seeing the trees and buildings rushing by below, I couldn't help spreading my arms and yelling out excitedly. Flying this high and looking down on the land was an amazing feeling.

Although I had flown during the battle with Minos, that was near-ground combat. It didn't count as true flight in my mind.

Flight is a human dream, hence the later invention of airplanes.

Yet my first real flight happened in this alternate world after I became an angel. I had never flown in an airplane back on Earth.

"What do you think?"

Nicola slowed down to come parallel with me and shouted loudly. We were close enough that I could just make out her voice.

"Awesome!" I didn't hold back using the best compliment to answer. If not for worrying about disrupting my wing beats, I might have started dancing around.

"Haven't you been on a plane before?" Seeing her also excited with a big smile, I couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"That's different!" Nicola said it was a completely different experience. "On a plane you're just stuck in a metal box. Not the same at all!"

"So this is your first time flying too."

Seeing her so happy, I laughed as well. Then I added a belated greeting, "How does it feel?"

"If you insist on asking how I feel right now..." Nicola smiled ahead and replied.

"It's - fucking amazing!"

The destination village was over 200 km away by road, but because of mountains and lakes in between, the direct distance was less than 100 km. So in just under two hours we arrived.

It was still not top speed since the wind made it hard to keep our eyes open. If we went all out, it probably would have been even faster.

Landing in the wilderness nearby, we walked into the village and knocked on the door of the address for the recipient. An old man came out trembling and took the delivered letter. Following my cue, he pressed a fingerprint onto the task card to acknowledge completion. Now we just had to go back and turn it in to collect the reward.

"Thank you, that will do," Nicola thanked the recipient briefly before we turned and took off again.

The return trip seemed even faster, and within another hour plus, we were back in the sky above Norvale.

"Let's just go straight to the second task," Nicola reminded me not to land in the city yet. Then we flew together towards the magical beast clearing quest location.

This was a small path leading to the royal capital. Although not an officially maintained highway, it still saw a fair amount of daily travellers due to transportation needs.

According to the quest notes, right below us was the frequent ambush spot.

"Let's land and take a look first," I said and touched down into the bushes by the roadside.

"If you want to keep your wings out, better not go too close to the road," Nicola warned even though the path was empty right now. Don't risk being seen by accident.

I nodded, then thought of something.

"Take out your Condensation Sword first."

Despite just a low level beast, better safe than sorry. I don't want to get caught off guard or have any accidents. Going all out was crucial.

And we were out in the wilderness now, so no need to hide celestial weapons either.

"Watch me then!"

Hearing my suggestion, Nicola immediately felt her weapon was finally seeing real action. Very smugly, she held out her palm and summoned the Condensation Sword.

Although I had seen the reveal already, it was still impressive every time.

"Too edgy," I pursed my lips, unwilling to admit she looked so damn cool.

"You're just jealous!" Smelling dissent, Nicola became unhappy. But she also realized she had been a bit childish just now. She could only scratch her head and hand me the sword.

"Seeing you covet it so much, I'll let you try it first."

"Pfft, it's not like I haven't used it before."

I took the sword and swung it around. Whether due to my strength or the sword's lack of weight, it felt like swinging through the air.

"Can you make another one?" An idea came to me seeing her empty-handed.

"Oh right!" She seemed to have never considered this issue before. Hearing me say it, she immediately tried.

Unfortunately it failed this time, the blade only halfway formed before suddenly disintegrating into crystalline dust.

"What happened, did it fail?" I asked concernedly seeing the result.

"Felt like I lost control..." Nicola's expression was a bit strained as she breathed heavily while sitting on a rock.

"Are you okay?" Seeing her so drained, I immediately regretted it. The beast wasn't even defeated yet. Big trouble if something went wrong.

"My power's probably not enough yet," Nicola thought for a while and concluded. "I felt I really couldn't maintain the shape halfway through the second sword."

"Then don't push yourself," I quickly said, relieved that she looked much better after a brief rest.

"We can try again after you get stronger."

Nicola nodded in agreement, but her face still showed regret.

"Too bad, if we each had a sword, we could probably annihilate a lot of top enemies."

"Made using light elements right? Why don't you teach me, and I'll try?" I suddenly wondered and asked.