Ten minutes later, Zuri flew out onto the third plane. Shockingly, the third planewas much busier than the previous two. There were many more avians flying across the skies. Intriguingly, a good portion of them were sparring with each other, or fighting strange flying monsters.
“Hehe. Is this your first time on the third plane?” An avian guard chuckled as he observed Zuri’s stunned expression. “It is a whole world different from the previous floors, isn’t it? Everyone here trains hard so they can defeat the Corridor Guardians and advance to the next floor.” The guard rubbed his chin as he muttered wistfully, “If it were not for my injury, I would have beaten the seventh floor.”
Zuri attentively listened, and got the general gist of things. So, she needed to defeat a Corridor Guardian before she could advance to the next floor. That made things simple. “Where can Zuri fight the Corridor Guardian?”
The guard’s brow jumped in shock. “Aren’t you a little too young to—” He paused, and his eyes widened as he recalled a recent rumor. “Wait. I heard the second plane had birthed a young genius. But, I was under the impression it was a boy. Heh, I’m sure this will shock a lot of people.” The guard then said as he pointed towards the North-East where an air corridor connected to the next plane. “You’ll find the Corridor Guardian next to the Air Corridor. Be careful, child. You might be a genius, but they are pretty strong.”
“Thanks!” Zuri thanked the avian guard and then zipped across the sky toward her destination.
“Ah, youth.” The avian guard happily rubbed his chin as he admired Zuri’s speed. She was fast, even for an adult. Perhaps, she would really defeat the Corridor Guardian.
“Hahaha! I, Somo, have finally emerged from training! Today, a new legend is born!”
The guard turned to look at the golden-feathered avian who caused a commotion as soon as he stepped out of the air corridor. The avian was no more than a child, that looked to be in his early teenage years. Despite his age, the child oozed uncommon confidence that bordered on arrogance, and possessed a powerful aura that suppressed even the guards.
The child, Somo, grinned when he saw the wary glances cast his way. “Ah, sorry. I was so excited that I failed to control my ki.” He then promptly withdrew his aura, and his presence reduced to that of a handsome, cute child. Still, no one would forget the previous visage. Right now, he only looked like a sheathed sword.
Somo laughed as he spread his wings. “Get a good look! You are all bearing witness to the beginning of Zuma’s greatest legend.” With those words, he flew toward the next Air Corridor at an inconceivable speed, shocking all those left behind.
The avian guard stared at the silhouette that shortly became a dot on the horizon. ‘Hold on. If he is the rumoured genius, then who was that girl?”
Elsewhere, Zuri sped through the skies, zipping through the skies like a bullet. Within a few minutes, she finally reached the next Air Corridor.
Unlike the previous two, this Air Corridor was heavily guarded. Several guards closely watched the surrounding avians, there presence a heavy deterrent against any who thought they could sneak through.
Zuri watched as some warriors challenged the guards. Those that won received a medal and were allowed to pass, but those that failed were told to return later. Importantly, though, the fights were non-lethal. They fought with wooden weapons provided by the guards. The winner was whoever delivered three clean strikes first.
Zuri was confident in her victory after watching the guards. Defeating these guards should not prove too difficult. She was just about to fly down when a loud guffaw broke the solemn atmosphere.
“Hahaha! The great Somo has arrived!” a golden radiance shone under the sun as Somo appeared before the crowd. “You all pay attention! You’re about to bear witness to a legend!” With those words, Somo arrived before a Corridor Guardian. “I choose you, sir. Be thankful. You will have a story to tell the future generations.”
The chosen Corridor Guardian faced Somo with a nonchalant gaze. Somo was neither the first, nor would he be the last challenger with a few screws loose. Unfortunately, there was no correlation between sanity and strength, so the guardian could not afford to take it easy just because Somo acted like an imbecile.
The Corridor Guardian signaled and a young avian rose to the air with a chest. The avian opened the chest on the guardians command, revealing many wooden weapons.
The Corridor Guardian took out a few wooden components and screwed them together to form a nine-feet-long wooden spear. He then looked at Somo and said, “Choose your weapon.”
To the surprise of all the onlookers, Somo shook his head and raised his fists. “These are all the weapons I need.”
The Corridor Guardian’s eyes narrowed. “Oh. An Elementalist.” His expression immediately turned grim as he got into a battle stance. Elementalists were the pride of the avian race. He could not afford to look down on one, no matter how young!
Somo grinned and cracked his fingers. “Hope you’re ready.” After the guardian’s approval, Somo charged forth like a rocket. Boom! The air split apart as he suddenly appeared before the Corridor Guardian.
Swish! The Corridor Guardian thrust his spear at the incoming child. To his shock, the spear stabbed through the child’s chest! “No, wait!” The Corridor Guardian recognized the lack of feedback. At the last moment, Somo manipulated the wind to and immediately swiveled around as the afterimage dissipated.
‘Too Late.”
The Corridor Guardian grimaced as he looked up. Clamp! Somo, who hovered upside down, grabbed the guardian’s face and said with a shit-eating grin. “Give up.”
The Corridor Guardian frowned, but he set down his spear. He could feel the immense ki building on Somo’ palm. If the child released that ki, he would be lucky to escape with a scarred face. “You win. I give up. You may go to the next floor.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Haha, that’s awesome! I’m one step closer to my legend!” Somo laughed as he released the guardian. He then received a token from the guardian, and was about to leave when a loud gasp rang through the crowd.
“My lord, that little girl is fierce!”
‘Huh? Who’s stealing my spotlight?’ Somo frowned and followed the crowd’s sightline to see a dark-skinned avian girl fighting against a Corridor Guardian.
Like Somo, Zuri chose to fight with her fists—it was what she was most used to after all. Unfortunately, she was not an elementalist like Somo, so she could not manipulate elements to aid her fight. She was having trouble keeping up with the guardian’s movements, since he could expertly fly in all directions.
So far, Zuri barely managed to keep up by parrying hits at the last second, but she could not match the guardian’s mobility. This was no surprise. These guardians had been fighting in the skies for many years. Zuri, on the other hand, only knew how to fly in a straight line.
‘Hmph. She’s going to lose.’ Somo was about to fly away, but then Zuri did something that left him and many others shell-shocked.
The guardian charged at Zuri with his spear pointed at her chest. He had already hit her twice before. This final strike would secure her disqualification.
However, just when victory was in the guardian’s grasp, Zuri suddenly folded her wings, allowing gravity to plummet her just below the strike. Before the guardian could react, she once again spread her wings, dashed upward, and punched the guardian in the stomach.
Kach! The Corridor Guardian coughed up blood and his wings went limp as he momentarily lost consciousness.
“Ah! He’s going to fall!”
Zuri panicked when she saw the guardian falling, realizing she had messed up. She was too used to fighting monsters and also trained with a monster like Rider. She had never learned the concept of holding back. Kashi himself acknowledged her strength long before she became a werewolf. With her werewolf strength added to that, there were very few individuals in the world that could survive her punch.
Fortunately, the guardian wisely backed off at the very last moment, which greatly reduced the impact.
Despite her panic, Zuri reacted quickly. She dove down and caught the falling guardian, and then gently delivered him to the ground. Several medical personnel swarmed her at the bottom, and began checking the guardian’s vitals.
Even though the fights were meant to be non-lethal, severe injuries from mistakes were common in any fighting competition. As a result, these medics were more than prepared for any accidents during the trials. Still, even with their experience, they could not help but look at Zuri with fear in their eyes after examining the guardian.
“How is it?” A middle-aged guardian with a stern gaze asked as he descended.
“He’ll live.” One of the medics reported with a relieved sigh. “But he’ll be bedridden for a few weeks at the very least. To be honest, he’s lucky he escaped with his life.”
The guardian frowned and glared at the sullen Zuri. “You’re vicious enough.” He took out a brass token and tossed it to her. “Here, you won this. You can go now.”
“Z-Zuri is sorry.” Zuri caught the token, and then climbed into the skies. She wanted to stay and make sure the man was alright, but Kashi’s mission came first.
When Zuri returned to the air corridor, a guardian with cold eyes confronted her. These guardians were old friends closer than brothers. Injuries were a common part of their job, but they could not forgive this girl who almost killed one of their own just to show off her strength (at least that was the way they saw it). “Your token and name, please.”
Zuri could feel the unbridled hostility. She meekly held out her token. “Zuri is Zuri.”
“Zuri, is it? Where are you from?”
Zuri panicked, not sure how to answer, but then help came from the most unexpected place.
“Oi, since when is a challenger’s nest important?” the arrogant Somo shouted as he flew over and snatched the token from the guardian’s hand. “Are you going to report her to her parents or what? Don’t you have any shame, bullying a kid?”
‘Who’s calling who a kid? Look in the mirror, brat! ’ The guardian wanted to shout, but he held his tongue and flew to the side. “Do not lose your token. You must show it to the guard when you exit, or they will assume you snuck through. You can pass now.”
“Here’s your token.” Somo gave Zuri her token, and then safely tucked his away in his tunic. After this, he grabbed Zuri’s arm and looked at her with fervent eyes. “Hey, I like your style. How about you become this great one’s first student?”
Zuri looked at the golden boy, wondering if he was crazy. “Zuri cannot. Zuri already has a teacher. Gray ojii-san did not say I can get more teachers.” With those words, Zuri wrenched her arms free and then flew into the air corridor. Before the current sent her upward, she smiled and said, “Thank you.”
“Kuuu~” Somo’ feathers ruffled and his cheeks flushed. “She’s strong, and she’s cute!” Overcome by excitement, he clenched his fists and punched the air. “Master, I have found my wife!”
“Ah! I forgot to tell her about the Garden!” Somo hurriedly flew into the air corridor. “Wait for me!”
***
“Well, it’s now or never.” After waiting for so long, Kashi jumped into the maelstrom. If any avian were present, they would have screamed in shock because the daeben remained unharmed despite the slicing winds all around him, almost like an air corridor had appeared in that spot.
“Gotta get moving.” A pair of dragon wings grew out of Kashi’s back and he activated [Mana Eyes]. Kashi’s world suddenly turned several shades of chaotic blue, revealing that the winds were caused by chaotic mana.
Only a small tunnel snaking through the chaos remained free from the blue mana. But, as Kashi looked down, he saw a rapidly approaching blue wave. If he didn’t move, he would soon become consumed by the disastrous winds.
Kashi immediately took off, following the twisting tunnel path. Along the way, mana occasionally broke into the tunnel, forcing Kashi to twist and evade with expert skill. If the avians were present, they would have balked in shock. Kashi’s dexterous movement should have been impossible at sonic speeds, but the draconian somehow managed to pull them off with seeming ease.
Kashi flew through the gaps with a solemn gaze. He could not afford a single error from this moment on. Even with his dragon scales, he would perish if the winds swallowed him. In fact, he only dared to challenge this run because of the cheat item in his right hand – a rolled up painting of his previous location on the first plane.