Zalia stood at the door to the tower, hyping herself up to make a move. She couldn't wait here forever. Eventually she would need to make the move to go outside and get something done. She didn’t really have a plan on what to get done other than get back home and make one. She took a deep breath in, exhaling slowly as she built up confidence. She had felt no change in the aura of corruption since the creature had first flown over.
Zalia gently pushed the door open, the hinges giving a quiet creak as the view of the outside appeared once more. She kept her eyes cast away from where she had last seen that monster, checking around the rooftop for undead by habit. Finally, she moved her gaze to the sky where she had seen it and… it was clear. Her heart began slowing down from its panicked beat and she let out another deep breath. Who’s to say such a creature would take notice of her anyways?
She stepped out of the door onto the balcony and the background cries of the shades reached her ears once more. They were back to their normal moans, tormented yet not agitated like they had been not so long ago. Squaring her shoulders and steeling her mind, Zalia set off from the balcony using the Manifest ritual spiced with Dodge-vine that she had decided to name Structure Creation. It was a simple name she could use to describe her bridging technique.
She made her way down to the rooftop, Boreal close behind, and looked across the city. The undead outside the walls were in chaos, many sprinting around at speeds she hadn’t seen before. It was like they had gone into a panic, maybe at a surfaced memory of their last moments of life.
“How the hell am I going to get through that?” Zalia wondered.
Maybe the chaos would cover her movement and any sound she made but that was doubtful. She would have liked to walk through the walls of the houses with her new armour but was not about to leave Boreal behind to find her own way. Maybe a sprint through the horde would be possible. Boreal and herself were definitely faster than even the Bronze ranked undead at their full speed so the idea wasn't necessarily a bad one. It would have been if she were trying to get to the keep but trying to flee the island entirely? Not so much.
Besides, she had this new armour she needed to test out a little. Being an heirloom item it would repair itself slowly over time if damaged so she wasn't worried about breaking the new shiny armour she had found on a corpse. A thought occurred to her and her Herbal magic ability confirmed it. It did things like that, only giving her the intuitive knowledge about ritual possibilities when she thought about them. Zephyr gave the element of air where Manifest gave the element of, well, physical manifestation. The two of those used together were a natural combination to create wings.
She tried the ritual and it worked, summoning a pair of translucent, wispy wings over her shoulders. She could feel them like two new limbs, the experience extremely odd. Despite the fear in her mind at even the thought of the monster she had seen and the horde of agitated undead beneath her, Zalia was excited. She had been wanting to find some sort of flight for a while and could have had it long ago if she had properly examined each herb combination. Now that she had discovered this, she would need to go try every combination she could later.
For now though, she looked over to Boreal and used the same ritual on her, adding a little bit of Snow-leaf for effect. Similar wings, only frosted with ice, appeared on Boreal’s back. With the wings, Boreal reminded Zalia even more of a mythical creature from her homeworld. Boreal mreowed in surprise, hopping around with little flaps to test out the new limbs.
“Wanna try fly over that?” Zalia asked, pointing towards the milling horde.
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Zalia and Boreal jumped from the keep roof, flying low over the wall and then dipping down towards the street. To begin with, they were somewhat clumsy as they got used to the flight. Because of their Iron rank dexterity and intellect stats, they were soon swooping over the horde, out of reach. They stayed quite low to avoid being near the shades but still high enough to be above the undead. It was a sweet middle ground that allowed them to move through the city at speed.
Zalia refrained from whooping in joy, keeping their passing as quiet as she could. Despite the sense of freedom and happiness in the flight, the lingering horror and fear of what lay just beyond sight in this place remained in the back of her mind. Still, she allowed herself to feel some joy. Letting fear control her was a surefire way of remaining stuck here forever.
They soon reached the pillar and began flying up and around it in a spiralling ascent. She noticed that the crow had joined them as well, weaving in and around Boreal. The crow was much better than them at flying, only to be expected with a lifetime of experience. More, maybe, due to the semi-godlike nature of the animal.
They made it to the ceiling and began the long glide across the distance, the wispy translucent wings behind her holding her aloft without difficulty. With the crow nearby, she couldn't help but notice that she had fashioned the wings in a style resembling the crow's own pair of wings. The difference being the translucency and the trailing edge of the wings blurred as if unfocused. They left a light misty trail that lasted barely half a second before dissipating.
They dove as they reached Zalia’s own island, circling the pillar as they fell in a controlled manner. They landed before the cave entrance, the wings dissipating entirely at Zalia’s dismissal. She would have to be careful using that ability as the amount of Zephyr it used was costly. She would have enough to use it maybe three more times on both her and Boreal before she was out.
Congratulations! You have learnt the passive skill ‘Flight’.
Flight - passive
Tin - Your maneuverability is increased and your air resistance is reduced while in flight. This scales based on the rank and level of this passive.
Zalia smiled. The passive wasn't strong as usual but it could provide her with some nice things later on.
Congratulations! Herbal magic has reached Iron 14.
Congratulations! Survivalist has reached Iron 19.
The two skills had increased over the course of her flight. She was getting real excited to see what Survivalist would give her at Bronze. Historically it had given her two passives and reduced her reliance on some general needs like food or sleep. She wondered if it would reduce her need to breathe or even slow her ageing.
She slipped into the cave, Boreal and the crow following her. If the crow was going to stick around she would need to name it. She just needed a good name to give it.
She crawled through the smaller section of tunnel, walking through the larger one before entering her home. She froze as she entered, seeing a very small frog-like creature sitting on the ice by the deep pool. It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand with a soft, pastel-coloured body in shades of pale blue and lavender reminiscent of icy landscapes. Its belly was a shimmering white, almost like the glistening snow. It had large, round eyes with a beautiful iridescent sheen, like tiny frozen sapphires. It noticed her enter and jumped quickly back into the pool with a soft plop.
Boreal immediately bounded over and stared down into the depths of the pool, touching a paw to the icy water.
“Get away from there Boreal!” Zalia hissed.
Boreal reluctantly backed away, though she didn't seem concerned.
To be fair, the little frog had seemed more scared of her than she was of it. It was most likely not some kind of predator, though she didn't doubt it had some type of self defence. She exhaled as she watched the pond, glad that the worst thing that had come out of it was a cute little frog. She was already collecting half a zoo of animal friends and she most definitely wanted to add that frog to her group if she could. She moved up to her and Boreal’s small sleeping spot and lay down to rest in the crude bed she had made.
Her eyes closed as a troubled sleep overtook her, Boreal burying next to her to sleep.