Making wings was not nearly as easy as Mike would have hoped. He was torn at first between making smooth wings or making them out of feathers. After several minutes of deliberation, he decided that if he would be flying through the sky, he wanted to look good doing it. He began making feathers one by one as he constructed them into wings, using his rare fragments for the project.
He wasn't the most creative person, and he needed to step back and look at his creation several times through the process. The first time, he realized that the wing looked absolutely horrible, and looked more like a triangle than the nice curve he wanted it to have. The second time he stepped back and looked, he noticed that he had accidentally been bending several of the feathers in awkward angles.
It took him a damn long time, but thankfully he knew something else he could do to not be completely unproductive while he worked. His mana flowed into the pile of coins that sat next to him as he worked to make the wings as perfect as he could make them. He worked for hours and hours on end as each feather was given a place, and was attached to the others. He had needed to make a long, supporting bone-like protrusion with his fragments, as having the wings made of purely feathers would result in him having no control over them. He was in a bit of a race against time, as he was trying to complete the project before he finished infusing all of the coins.
His hands were shaking with excitement as he finalized the last feather, and attached the wings to his back. Oddly enough, they still stuck to his skin, even through his armor. It was interesting seeing the fragments somehow pass straight through the material, but it was helpful enough that Mike wasn't going to question it. Mike was dying to leave the bank vault and test out his new wings, but he only had roughly another half hour of infusing to do, so he pushed the limits of his patience and waited to finish.
The second the last coin was done, Mike sprinted out of the building. He ran at near top speed, headed straight for the wall. He jumped, perfectly aiming his trajectory and planting a foot on top of the wall, kicking off of it again to gain even more height. He powered his next jump in mid air with Burst Step, sending him ever higher.
Mike didn't have a very strong fear of heights, but it would be a lie to say he wasn't a little uncomfortable as he looked down at the ground, which was now nearly 200 feet below him. Mike spread his arms and his wings as he felt the air catch them, and he began gliding. Unfortunately, Mike didn't have much practice with the wings, which in retrospect probably should have been the first step in learning to use them instead of sending himself high into the sky. His glide quickly deteriorated into a semi controlled fall as he picked up speed.
The only thing that kept it from being a complete disaster was that even without much control, the wings still acted to slow his momentum by at least a bit. This also resulted in his momentum shifting forward, as well as down. He was half gliding, half falling as he moved away from the wall during his descent. His legs slammed into the tops of trees, slowing him down as he smashed though at least one or two of them.
He hit the ground with a loud thud, the air in his lungs being forcefully expelled. He stared at the sky above that he had just fallen from. He wasn't hurt, at least as far as he could tell. That would save him from another trip to Aarons hut at least. Actually, it would be a trip to the village hospital now, since that had been built.
He walked over to the wall once more, determined to get a handle on his new wings. He repeated the process he had gone through several times, minus the burst step for additional height. Each time, he felt like he was getting a bit better at it. He still wasn’t good, but he was getting there. By the end of his practice session he could consistently glide for a solid 6 to 7 seconds before losing control of his trajectory.
He pulled his wings back into his soul, the feeling of an extra limb disappearing as they detached from him. Having had the wings on for so long, it felt weird for a few minutes after they were gone. Mike likened the feeling to taking a beanie off after wearing it all day. There was a few minutes after where it felt like you were still wearing it.
Mike didn't have anything immediately pressing that needed his attention, so he decided it was finally time to go and do some hunting. He hadn't gotten the chance to for a while as something seemed to always need his attention or some project pulled his attention away. His hammer had been waiting for him within his soul, and he could feel the impatience radiating off of it.
“Don't worry, you will get some action soon enough.” He assured his weapon, which seemed to calm it down. Mike was fairly certain he was just personifying the hammer, but it at least helped him calm his own thirst for battle a bit. He began the journey to the mana barrier, when he stopped at the spider's den. He had forgotten all about it, and the beast master that was inside. He entered the cave, wanting to see what Martin had been up to for the past two weeks. He noticed a very immediate difference as soon as he walked in, with there being 3 distinct branching paths right at the entrance.
Each had a sign, which was marked with letters and numbers. The first one read “DR: 1”, and under it had various group sizes accompanied with levels the group should be. The second and third had similar setups, with DR:2 written on the second and DR:3 written on the third. Mike opened the dungeon menu, looking for where Martin may be.
The man was deep within the caverns of the third branching path, and was marked by a softly glowing white dot. Each of the tunnels had an orange dot at the end, which his menus told him signified boss monsters. Mike walked down the third corridor, reading the sign in more detail before he did.
DR: 3
1: level 30
2: level 25
3: level 24
4: level 20
5: level 17
Mike would certainly be asking Martin about this when he saw the man. He walked down the tunnel, seeing very few branching paths on his way down. It appeared that Martin had made the path down much more linear than it had been before, which Mike thought was quite a good change. He wouldn’t wish for anyone to be lost in the caves for as long as he had been. He walked past several tarantulas, noting their levels and types.
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He didn't see any that were over level 25, and not as many tarantula guards as there had previously been. He walked further down, eventually reaching Martin. He was standing next to a very large spider which was in the process of digging a large stadium like room, much like the one Mike had fought the matriarch in. He identified the spider, surprised at its low level.
Tarantula Matriarch (level 33)
“Why is it so weak?” Mike asked, startling the beast master as he approached. The man quickly regained his composure as he responded.
“As the owner of the dungeon, it is limited by your level.” He said. “I could be doing so much more if you would just go and get stronger.”
Mike raised an eyebrow at the unexpected jab. “I’m already the highest level in the village, and you are telling me I’m not raising it quickly enough?”
“Yes.” Martin replied simply. “By the way, what did you think of my organization here? The signs at the entrance let people know which tunnel they should go into for a good challenge.”
“I had no clue what any of the numbers on there meant. For instance, what is DR?”
Martin seemed eager to explain everything. His slightly manic nature creeped back in from when he had been isolated in the forest for over a month. “It is the danger rating of each tunnel. There is a danger rating 1, 2, and 3. I still haven't finished work on this one though.” He pointed to the matriarch, who was still digging. “We are getting close. As for the other parts of the sign, they signify the group size, and level of each group member that is recommended for taking on the dungeon. Maybe I should make that more clear, since clearly it wasn't as obvious as I thought.”
“What are you doing this all for?” Mike asked.
Martin's face darkened a bit before he spoke. “Like I had said before when I accepted this new profession, we need to get strong if we want to survive here. I am doing this so the village as a whole can grow. They can go through my dungeon, gaining levels and strength as they do. If everyone gets stronger, then we are more likely to thrive.”
“Oh.” Mike said, thinking about what he had just been told. “What if people die in the dungeons, won’t that cancel out the benefit this would bring?”
“If a few die to make future death less likely, then it is something that just needs to happen. I know it sounds horrible, but nobody will be entering here without understanding the risks involved. I will be sure of that.”
It made sense to Mike, even if it did sound ominous. “Alright man, I'm just glad you have the best in mind for people.” He left the cave, heading once more to find a hunting ground. Along his way he practiced a bit more with his wings, occasionally jumping and gliding for several hundred feet. It was fun, but it really still didn't have any practical application. He had taken a few embarrassing tumbles, but there was nobody around to see it anyways. He did have the slight issue of his wings disappearing mid-flight as he passed through the massive barrier of mana, but it had only been for a split second. That split second was still enough to send him spinning to the earth.
He had grumbled particularly loudly that time around. Day turned to night as he continually practiced his flight, going every which way looking for something to fight. He had found several enemies that were over his level, and one nearing level 40, but it had only been enough to grant him a single level in his class. As he glided through the sky, he heard a loud scream, quickly followed by a flash of light off in the distance.
He used burst step, redirecting his momentum towards the commotion. While he was now traveling quickly towards his target, his wings were now completely useless as they trailed behind him, catching air and making him lose his balance as he fell once more towards the ground. At least this time, he was headed straight for where he wanted to go.
__________
Isaiah layed on the ground, broken and defeated. His sword had long since fallen from his grip, and sat stuck into the ground just outside his reach. He strained his body, stretching as far as he could to reach his weapon, but his hand fell just a few inches short. He looked up, seeing all of his other party members in a similar state. All except for one. Their mage, Lila, was fighting against the earth elemental with all the strength she had left. In one hand was her staff, and in the other was a sword conjured from her mana. Dirt covered her body, and the metal plates that lined her armor were dented and bent in several places. He watched as she tried to leave, kiting the elemental away from the rest of the group.
Their healer, whose name Isaiah couldn't remember at that moment, had bolted the second the first of the group had fallen. The rest of the group had just met him earlier that day, and reluctantly added him to the group since he was the only healer in their camp who had evolved. The earth elemental denied Lila all attempts of leaving the immediate area as walls of stone and dirt rose from the ground all around them.
The walls were only about twenty feet high, but given that Lila was heavily invested in her magical abilities, her physical stats were lacking to say the least. She attempted to cut through the barrier only for her sword to bounce off the wall.
She ran around the perimeter, casting spells and swiping her sword at the elemental as it followed behind her. Her attacks dealt damage, enough to knock small chunks off the elementals body, but she was taking in just as much if not more damage than she was dishing out. She finally seemed to come to a decision, ready to sacrifice herself to save the rest of the group. Isaiah knew what she was doing, as she had mentioned it during the countless hours the team had talked during their travels. Nearly all her mana was dumped into her sword, and she lunged at the elemental, stabbing her sword deep within its body.
She screamed as pieces of her body flaked away from the mana exhaustion, and her sword exploded in a shower of light as she detonated it within the body of the elemental. She was sent flying into one of the earthen walls, a hollow thud accompanying her falling to the ground. Her body was a husk of what it had been just moments ago, and there was but a bare vestige of life left within her eyes.
Isaiah wept at the loss of such a close friend. She wasn't yet dead, but with the way things were looking, she wouldn't last unless she got help immediately. He was just about to scream when his breath caught in his throat, his words lost as he watched the elemental rise once more. It stood on its two legs, its main mass in shambles. All that remained was the legs, the lower quarter of its body, and a single limb that barely counted as an arm anymore. Despite the weakened state of the elemental, they were hopeless to do anything against it.
It walked over to Lila, and raised one leg to stomp the last breath of life out of her. She had fought hard, and given her life for the battle, but it wasn't enough. Their foe was just too strong. His head fell into the dirt, his eyes shut tight. He didn't want to see what was about to happen, as he knew it would make the wait so much worse for when he inevitably would meet the same fate. The expected boom occurred, with silence following soon after.
Isaiah opened his eyes, wanting to face death and show courage in his final moments. He knew it wouldn't matter, as nobody would see it anyways. He had expected to see the corpse of his teammate laying bloody and broken on the ground, but instead saw rubble that was once an earth elemental. Within the ring of rocks and dirt stood a man clad in full body armor, and wielding a hammer.
Behind him trailed two luminous wings that glowed a deep blue color. Isaiah had been religious throughout most of his life, but had given up on the existence of a god several years ago. In that moment, his faith was restored as he took in the form of the paladin of justice that stood before him.