I immediately take off my own coat and slowly spread my wings. It isn't nearly as graceful as Declan own display, but by the way, he nods approvingly, I think I'm doing something right.
He approaches slowly, the metallic feathers of his wings shimmering in the light. We both seem transfixed by the display of the other, but he breaks the tension by crouching when he reaches me so he can take a closer look at the details of my wings.
"Truly extraordinary. You know, I've never met anyone with a soul stat even close to high enough to get this. However you earnt these numbers, you might be the first person to complete the divine quest."
I flinch as he slowly strokes the joint in my wings where the digits spread from the main limb. It's surprisingly sensitive there, which gives me an idea, but I know he's only doing this for his own research. I'm getting no sense of an anterior motive from him at all.
"What do you mean?"
"Soul is a notoriously hard stat to raise. And when I say notoriously hard, I mean it. I've been alive for almost three hundred years, and outside of kill and level rewards, I haven't gained a single point."
"I'm sorry. I can't tell you how I got this far. I don't know."
"I know, Ms Cass. And even if you did know, I doubt I would take heed. I am not immortal, and I... well, let's just say I don't have forever to try and become an angel. My efforts always have and likely always will be focused on training my mind."
He brushes the tip of the joint, and I feel a tingle in my spine. He notices my discomfort and stands quickly, clearing his throat and brushing his hands off on his scrubs. He seems to really be going for an image of fitting in because there really are no factors aside from his wings that would give the impression of leadership.
"So, this will be slow going because of your low body stat. I've only ever taught myself and two others how to fly, and since they were both body focused, I'm not sure how strong your body has to be to fly."
"I'm fine with slow going."
"Good. But make no mistake, this won't be easy. Flying was one of the hardest things for me to learn."
I nod and sheathe my sword that I had been loosely holding the entire conversation. The Lancer kneels and sweeps his hand over the grass while mumbling something under his breath.
An array of colourful runes appear just above the grass and he taps a few of them, dimming some.
"Quick question, Ms Cass. Do you know how to swim?"
I hesitantly nod. I've never had an issue with swimming, but I know that wings can be a huge detriment.
"Good. Lesson one. Gliding."
The ground between us splits with a hardly audible crack, and my half disappears, leaving me suspended in the air for a moment.
In a moment passes in almost comical slow motion as I begin to fall. All the while staring at the smiling face of my boss.
----------------------------------------
The moment passes and I'm tumbling through the air, my half outstretched wings making the wind buffet me around helplessly. I'm far too surprised to cry out, and I've taken control by the time the impulse has passed.
I panic, though, windmilling my arms and trying to flap my wings. It's a pointless exercise as I have none of the instincts that would allow me to even have wings.
I push out my wings as far as they can go, extending the limbs to their limit. My rotation slows and I quickly default to falling head first, my wings keeping my orientation straight.
I can see downwards properly, and as Declan hinted, I can see an expansive ocean stunted only by the cliff face I'm Falling parallel to.
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It's far away, so far that I'm still probably not even halfway there. The scale of height I'm falling through finally hits me, and my jumbled stomach finally protests enough for me to do something about it. My eyes can't stay open with the wind hitting me at the speed in going, and shouting them alleviates the nausea.
I have time to try and alter my wings slightly, so I bend and flex my new muscles in tandem, panicking ever so slightly the entire time.
The goal here is obviously to slow my descent enough to survive hitting the water. I've stopped accelerating, so all I have to do is drop my current speed by about half.
With a gargantuan effort, I curl my body back so that I'm in the stereotypical skydiver's position on my front. I realise the issue all too late and the force of the wind pushes my wings far back instantly, nearly crippling them.
-49hp
"AUGHHHH!"
My wings are useless. One is obviously broken somewhere and I can feel an intense grinding somewhere, and the other is probably torn somewhere deep.
"DECLAN! HELP!"
He's my only chance at this point. My wings are too weak to fly, and my body is too weak to land in one piece. I trust that he won't let me die during a lesson, but I'm running out of time.
I open my eyes for a second, and I'm no longer calling alongside a cliff over an ocean, but falling over the original landscape. And I'm falling slower. Much slower.
The wind buffeting me is slowing me enough that the sinking feeling is gone. I can see Declan not far below me, his sword is drawn and he's waving it around in smooth looking motions, the blade glowing blue slightly.
I'm lowered onto the ground gently, and the wind suddenly disappears, letting my wings fall painfully to the ground.
-11hp
"Ow."
Declan crouches next to me as I push myself up to my knees.
"So, I'm sorry about that. Apparently, you need more than 25 body to fly. Here, let me speed that up."
A soothing coolness spreads from the base of my wings throughout my body. A stream of green numbers also flicker past my vision as well.
+10hp
+9hp
+8hp
+7hp
+6hp
+5hp
+5hp
+5hp
+5hp
"There you go. A rather simple healing spell, but it depends heavily on the recipient's body stat. The effectiveness drop-off is quite savage."
I tuck my wings up and return them to where they were when I wore my coat, against my butt and legs. I stand with surprising ease, stretching slightly as all my tensed muscles make me feel constricted.
"What do you mean drop-off? And can I learn that spell?"
Declan crosses his arms, switching into what I hope is teacher mode.
"The drop-off of a spell is the point where it becomes less effective. For healing spells, at a point, it heals less no matter how much mana you pour into it. That spell starts to drop-off almost immediately, and it drops off by about 50%."
According to the numbers that I read while trying not to focus on my aching wings, that makes sense.
"In terms of whether you can learn it, that depends on if you chose a class. I was a healer when I was younger, then I picked up a sword and became a spellsword. Since then, I've changed my class several times, and am now a Lancer Commander. There are some perks to not choosing a class, but I personally recommend you do."
"Wait, you can change class?"
He seems surprised. Despite him knowing my situation, he must have expected this to have already been told to me.
"You can. When you reach level 20 of your class, you can drop the class, or change it for another. It's a bit more complicated than just that, but you can have many classes throughout your life."
"What about spells?"
"Well, like skills, some of them will remain if you lose the class."
"Sorry, I mean, can you teach me about them? I don't really know what mana is or how it works."
"Ah."
Declan steps back and furrows his brow.
"I suppose that magic can be the focus of today. I feel I owe you that since your... the... falling incident."
He kneels quickly and brings up the display of glowing runes again. A quick flurry of motions later and I feel a slight rumble beneath me. The green landscape flickers, and we're suddenly back in the black metal cube that I saw the younger soldiers training in.
Rows of chairs and a series of chalkboards appear. I smile at how familiar the new classroom seems. It's nostalgic for many reasons. The number of times I've taught in similar places makes me feel warm. I could spend all day swimming in my memories.
"Ms Cass. Please take a seat."
I shake off the comforting images in my mind and sit on a chair, standing immediately as I sit directly on my wings. It takes a minute of rearranging my feathered limbs and trying to sit until I'm comfortable.
I look up to Declan standing at one of the chalkboards, using a blue piece of chalk to draw all kinds of complicated diagrams, formulas and images.
I sigh internally. As exciting as the concept of magic is, I have a feeling this is going to be the least exciting side of it.