Rick paused at the edge of a cliff overlooking Harmonia's old territory. He licked a finger and raised it into the air, testing the direction and speed of the wind.

"Yep, seems just about right," he said.

"You act as if you're like a damn eagle or something," Len retorted.

"Half of the way to get things done is just looking good while you're doing it," Rick replied proudly.

"And more than half the time you look like an absolute idiot doing anything, so what does that say?" Len countered.

"Oh, the sweet uninitiated. It's all about the product at that point," Rick winked.

Len shook his head, moving up next to Rick to survey the world beyond. His stomach tightened at the sight of the drop below.

Rick had chosen the ledge carefully. It was high enough up the rise that they'd have a lot of distance to fall, thus a long distance to travel, getting them close to the obelisk.

Len looked in the direction of their target, an unknown depression hidden beneath the forest's trees and growth.

"All right, the way I figure it," Rick began, "we'll run as fast as we damn well can, right off the edge here. Activate the enchanted blocks you made, just before we take our last leap. Using whatever weapons we have to propel us forward as we fall. You sure the enchantments are good, right?”

"I'm sure they're good," Len assured him. "When have you known me to make a bad enchantment?"

"Well, there was that one time, remember the exploding set of armor?" Rick raised an eyebrow.

"That was admittedly three times and I was just learning how to enchant at that time. I didn't know anything about how runes could overload materials and cause them to spontaneously explode if they got too much mana," Len defended himself, his hands moving animatedly with his words.

"Right,” Rick sounded skeptical.

“And how about those shattering swords that you made?" Len asked.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. That was—okay. Admittedly, that was a few times with different materials but you have to learn, you know? What's the old saying? Eggs, omelets and breaking them, right?" Rick gave a winning smile.

"Mm-hmm. That's what I thought," Len said.

"Well, enough about the past.” Rick quickly moved on. “Today is about the future of destroying or changing the past's future, I think. That makes sense, right?"

"About as much sense as it's gonna," Len replied.

"Cool, cool," Rick breathed out, shaking his hands to warm himself up. Showing that he was at least a little apprehensive about his own plan. "Okay, so one short run, one quick jump, and we'll be there." He clicked his tongue, giving Len a thumbs-up.

"Nearly there," Len said, trying to reassure his friend. And maybe himself at the same time. It was a long way down and a long distance to cover with that fall.

It would cut off a day or two’s travel.

"Okay!" Rick clapped his hands and moved away from the cliff, casting a glance down at the ground to check it was free of obstacles. Len followed him.

Rick shifted his packs around, making sure they were secure.

Len checked them and patted Rick on the shoulder.

“Good to go.”

Rick nodded and exhaled, he turned, facing the cliff and the forest beyond.

Rick pulled his front pack away from his chest, checking the double enchanted plate they'd made the night before.

He pulled the activation rune out of his pocket, putting his hand and the rune up against the slot he wanted to insert it into. Rick bounced on his legs, breathing out, shaking his head. "Here goes... I guess everything. Fuck it!" With those words, he ran, charging at full strength his tempered body and blue liquid core pushing him past human limits.

He hurtled forward, throwing up dust, rocks, and snow in his passage, as he reached the end of the cliff he pushed his hand holding the rune forward and pulled it out from between it and his breastplate his feet cracked the stone of the cliff edge as he leapt off and into open air.

He soared up and away from the cliff as he drew his hammer and javelin.

Mana flared through his hammer, the boom throwing him forward and upward, countering his fall.

"Hell fuckin' yeah!" Rick yelled, equal parts relief, jubilation, and excitement.

"Fuckin' adrenaline junkie," Len shook his head, his heart still pounding in his chest.

As one's cultivation and tempered body grew, more and more things that would have been impossible came into the realm of reality and became doable. But still, there were some things, such as throwing yourself off a damn cliff, that caused even him to worry.

"Hurry up, old man!" Rick yelled back, already a hundred meters away from the cliff and falling slowly.

Each jab with his javelin or swing with his hammer slowing his descent and pushing him towards the obelisk.

"Fuck," Len muttered under his breath.

He turned to where Rick had started his run from. He put his feet into the two divots that Rick had created in the rock face.

Len breathed out, shaking his hands, and grabbed the activation rune. He put it just above the enchanted metal plate, ready to push it in at a moment's notice.

Do or die.

He looked up, not allowing himself even the time to think about what he was doing, he ran, his footsteps throwing him dozens of meters.

The hardest thing when your body became stronger was about having something strong enough to push off of. Each step threw him forward, minimizing how much he pushed himself up, the wind pulling at his hair and eyes.

The cliff approached quickly, too quickly. He was one step away. Len shoved the rune into the plate, pulling his arm free as it activated. He ignited a burst of heat behind him, his toes gripped the edge of the cliff for a split second forcing mana and all of his strength through his leg.

The burst of wind and his strength shot him forward, the enchantment reducing his weight.

Gravity was still not going to let him go that easy.

Len tore Larry's sword free of his scabbard, slashing at the air, pulling himself forward and up. He didn't gain the altitude he'd lost already, instead using that to drive himself forward towards Rick's figure and the obelisk beyond.

Len let out a primal yell, a blend of relief, excitement, and adrenaline. He wasn't sure which emotion was fueling his lungs as he pulled out his javelin, repeating the process he'd learned when they'd climbed the rise just the day before.

Now, however, several cores were strapped to the javelin and the sword, allowing him to draw from their stored power instead of his own. This would dramatically increase his range.

As he got used to the rhythm of jabs, slashes, and falls, Len started to take in the sights. The green forest below, the stained mountains curving their way to the north and west, and in the distance, the rugged terrain of the Amori Nation. Forests turned to hilly grasslands, which then turned to the vast deserts beyond.

He had traveled these lands for decades, moving from city to city, from safe harbor to safe harbor.

He’d travelled deserts, mountains, jungles and forests—only the suicidal travelled by sea.

For having killed the wrong—or right—person. Pissing some guild or crafter off.

Shaming someone with powerful connections, or strong in their own right.

At times, he moved for fear of being discovered and exploited for his knowledge and abilities.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

What a life he’d lived.

His eyes widened as his elementally attuned senses sent the hairs on the back of his neck standing on edge.

Len slashed out with his sword, dodging to the side as two of the white birds that had attacked them just a few hours before cut through the air.

The wind sliced at him as they passed through where he'd just been.

"Birds!" he yelled in warning to Rick.

He had the bow on his back as well as arrows but using them was a two-handed affair.

He’d lose the ability of his sword and javelin to guide himself through the air. Worse still, while he was firing, the arrows wouldn't pull him towards the direction he was firing as they only affected themselves in flight. So, he would continue to drop quickly instead of spreading out his drop into a more pseudo-glide.

Should've grabbed some damn rocks. He started swinging for the obelisk, not looking to conserve the mana held in the cores strapped to his blade.

Look like I’ve well and truly fucking lost it now!

Len increased the number of mana pulses he threw out, seeing the twenty or so birds above him.

Another three tilted their heads, bringing their wings in close, dropping quickly, gaining speed faster and faster.

Len waited until they were nearly upon him, committed to the dive, slashing out again, this time his sword aimed at where he anticipated one of the birds would be.

They passed in a white blur as his blade missed the bird. Len jabbed out with his javelin, stabbing into the bird's body.

He grunted with the sudden weight

"Gotcha."

Len flicked the bird off of his javelin as quickly as possible.

It wasn't the time to think about harvesting cores. The birds let out indignant squawks as one of their own plummeted to the ground below. Len spotted two more diving for Rick.

"Rick, two on you!" Len yelled.

Len used the weight-altering enchantment upon the sword, reducing his weight further, and slashed out in the direction of Rick back and forth.

“I got em!” Rick yelled back, he used the javelin to move to the side and swung out with his hammer, followed by a boom and the birds being pulped in the side their limp bodies losing all direction as they dropped away.

"We need to get down on the ground!" Rick yelled. Using his javelin again to get him back in the direction he wanted to go.

Len gritted his teeth. They were only halfway to where the obelisk should be located.

"Agreed," Len yelled back. Birds dropped from the circling group above. "Four more!"

Rick jabbed forward, hurtling away from Len at a deeper angle towards the forest floor below. Len slashed out with his sword to follow behind.

Birds altering to where I’ll be. He’d have to slash right before they arrived to stay out of reach of their beaks and claws.

He couldn’t lose concentration on where he was going, the amount of mana useable by his enchantments, as well as the birds coming for him.

More birds broke away and those that had dove and missed were rising back above, readying for another dive.

The four broke apart into two groups of two. Len and Rick dodged them, the second back nipped at Len but missed, disappearing below to flare out their wings and rise once more.

Half a dozen broke away, spreading out their grouping.

They were adapting and changing their patterns quickly.

He played cat and mouse with the diving birds, learning how tightly they could bank, when was the last moment that they couldn’t pull up from their dive.

He could now hear other creatures in the forest below, whooping and calling out, eager and excited to face those that dared enter their territory.

The forest was blurring underneath him, they were a third of the way to the obelisk. The forest covered its positon.

"Fuckin' trees!" Rick yelled out. His hammer howled as a tree splintered, blowing apart and creating an opening in the canopy he dropped through, he pitched his javelin down to the ground, and reached between his front pack and breastplate.

The enchantment plate.

Len followed behind, aiming for the opening. Another half dozen birds were coming at him in two staggered groups.

He jabbed with his javelin, his sword low on mana, three of the four mana cores he’d strapped to it had crumbled to dust already and the last was only a third full.

They’re going to reach me before I reach the opening.

He jabbed for the ground, speeding up his descent. The birds altered their trajectories, he swung again, they tried to bring him into range and shot past, having to flare out their wings, lest they hit the tree canopies before.

Then the second group of three were upon him. He slashed out frantically, but he couldn’t change his direction too much, else he miss the opening Rick had created.

The leading bird’s beak cut through his pant leg, hitting his calf and throwing him into a spin, the bird’s neck snapped from the impact.

The enchanted plate was directional it only created the floating effect when pointed at the ground.

He threw away the javelin for fear of impaling himself on it and reached for the enchanted plate.

Two more birds were coming right down on top of him.

An arrow passed him as he smashed through the leaves of a tree, entered the gloom under the canopy. One of the diving birds spiraled away, dead. The second opened its wings, catching the air and diverting away.

Len threw the sword away and dragged out his canteen, pulling out the water within and the heat all around him, infusing it with mana. He put it between him and the ground and evaporated the water into an explosion of superheated air, throwing him up, slowing his momentum.

He hit a tree with his leg, plowing through it, then his chest nearly smashed into another, the enchanted plate, repelling him from it, slamming him back first through another tree, clipping through a branch with his arm, he reached for the rune keeping the enchanted plate active as it kept pushing him off of everything that it faced, throwing him around.

He tore the rune out, bowling through some bush, before coming to a stop.

Len ran mana through his body, removing the nausea and keeping him alert as he drew his dagger from his belt and stood up shakily. His packs were torn up, as well as his clothes and his armor was marred, but he just had some cuts and bruises.

Noise drew his attention as Rick came through a large leafed plant, pushing the leaves away with one arm, his other hand holding his bow with an arrow laid on it.

"Well, that was one way to do it," Rick said.

Len lowered his knife, looking around the forest around them. "You see where my javelin and sword went, by any chance?"

"Well, the javelin went that-a-way," Rick pointed off into the forest, "and the sword, probably that-a-way," he pointed in the other direction. "I got no fucking clue, my dude."

Len used his sight, peering through the world. He couldn't see the javelin at all. But the sword was sticking into a tree not that far away.

“Not how I was expecting that to go,” Len said.

“Yeah those birds were real dicks about the whole thing.” Rick said.

Len grunted and headed for the blade. “How far off are we from the obelisk?”

“Not too far at all and it looks better than I thought down here,” Rick said.

There were large leafy plants on the ground and things growing up the trees, but one could see most of the ground and between the low lying plants and trees with relative ease.

“Nothing to do but hike out the rest,” Len spotted his sword glinting in the early morning sun, about five meters up a tree, embedded about halfway through it.

Len looked at the tree, then his fist and the sword.

“Sorry tree.” Len punched the tree with resonating strike, his fist blasted away chunks, the tree creaking and groaning before it gave up with a few final cracks, leaves brushing against other trees as it landed in the forest, bouncing before coming to a rest.

Len walked down and pulled the blade out of the tree the way it went in, looking down the tang.

“Doesn’t look bent. Okay, so you got a direction?” Len looked over to Rick with his compass out.

“That way!” Rick pointed off into the forest as something hit the leaves above. “Ugh fucking nasty, best be moving!”

Len followed after him. The birds definitely didn’t have constipation.

“Makes you wonder if they took a dump on you because they were angry before they were mana mutated,” Len said.

“Some mysteries are best left the hell alone!” Rick yelled back.

Fair enough.

They continued their journey onward to the obelisk.

"Wait up," Len said, slowing their pace through the sweaty jungle. Rick glanced around, searching for the threat.

Len held an arrow over his bow and on its string, pointing in the direction of his interest.

"Look, Mana plants," Len said, slowing himself down so he could reach the glowing plant.

It had a large flower on top of yellows, blues, and purples, the colors winding down its stem into the ground. Large pods underneath the leaves glowed under his mana sight. "Should be good for the stamina."

Len plucked the seed-filled pods, taking all but one. He tossed two to Rick, keeping two for himself. He smelt the outside of the pod before biting into it, widening his eyes in appreciation. "Little tart, but tastes good." He finished off the pod quickly. "I'll keep the seeds so we have some extra."

He took out his knife without using the mana blade to cut open his second pod and extract a couple seeds, adding them to his pocket.

"Can feel my energy coming back to me already," Rick said.

"As we hit our second core, we're going to start to need mana-infused foods. This gives us a little bit of a head start," Len said.

The amount of energy their bodies required to move as they did was truly massive. Even an easy walk that they were doing right now, it still consumed a lot of energy from their bodies as they went.

They could eat a lot or use mana to make up the difference.

Food that had been altered by mana would be required to recover their stores. While their bodies became more economical in the amount of food that it needed for the day-to-day, they were completing feats that were so beyond what humans could do, it wore them down quickly.

"Keep an eye out for any other mana plants," Len said.

"Are you thinking of raising a farm?" Rick asked.

"Well, if we don't have any readily available, we might need to. I don't remember mana food being that available on the market unless you wanted beast meat, and even that was highly sought after, most of the sects and guilds taking it to empower their own people."

Rick grimaced. "Fair point. Don't forget the first rule of the apocalypse. Few people are your friend, fewer people you can trust, and everything is worth killing over by someone."

Len finished off the remainder of the fruit, his own memories crawling back up to him when that mantra had been only too true.

"How far now?" Len asked.

"No more than an hour," Rick said.

"One last push, then.” Something shifted in the jungle. Len drew the arrow upon his bow back along with his string as he raised it. Seeing the creature prowling towards him.

He breathed in the last little bit, the bow creaked. Need something stronger.

Len released. The arrow cut through the beast's chest, coming out the other side, it took a few drunken steps forward, dropping it to the ground before it even knew what had happened.

"That's the third one now," Len said.

"Those birds really got everything agitated and pissed off around here," Rick said, moving through the underbrush as he drew out his dagger, the one he'd relieved from Dominius. He stabbed the beast in the neck, making sure it was dead before cutting into its stomach.

"Should be far enough away from where we last saw them to not attract any more though, right?" Len asked, drawing another arrow.

"Yeah, I think we should be okay now. I think it would be for the best if we were to climb back up that rise on our way back to Plynthia." Rick said as he pulled free the beast’s core.

"Fair enough. I think I'll feel safer with a bow in my hand than having to try and dodge them with melee weapons in the middle of the damn sky." Len scanned around them no threats stuck out to him.

The jungle was so thick to block most of his elemental pulses.

Rick snorted, standing up and cleaning the gore from his hands, blade and core before sliding the core and blade away. "Well, you did make one hell of an entrance, bouncing off of every tree you could find—sorry, going through every tree you could find.”

Len gave him his own bird, turning in the direction they were heading and picked his way through the jungle.