The Falkgen's wind blades collided with Arthur's skin, causing a metallic clinking to reverberate throughout the corridor. They left white marks on Arthur's Iron Skin, but he wasn't injured in a way that mattered.
Seeing how futile its attack was, the Falkgen chose to dive personally with its talons trying to rip through Arthur's flesh. Arthur didn't use any skills and simply sidestepped fast enough for the talons to miss their marks.
He grabbed the monster's leg and began spinning while it tried to flap its wings to flee.
"Let's dance!" Arthur laughed as the monster struggled. When green light began to surround them, Arthur knew that the monster was summoning a tornado.
The wind began to gather as they tried to cut through Arthur's flesh. Seeing this, Arthur's hands began to radiate golden light as fire appeared.
"You didn't think I would have so many tricks, huh?" Arthur laughed as the Falkgen screeched. Arthur let go of it when he sensed it uses its mana on its talons.
The Falkgen ballistically flew away once Arthur let go of it and as he suspected, the talons elongated to be as long as swords know.
"Alright," Arthur grinned. "Let's get demonic then." His hand began turning into a monster's as the Falkgen dived in again.
***
The light faded from the Falkgen's eyes as Arthur pulled his hand away from its heart. He frowned at the blood dripping from his hand as it turned human again. It was bluish, a trait of the Falkgen's race.
[You have leveled up.]
He has finally reached Level 36 after hunting for a day in this place. As he was standing thinking about his extra four Legacy points, a voice appeared in his head.
'Eighty-Three Students has passed.'
It was the first time that he had heard this announcement. After a moment of confusion, he thought that perhaps the one sending them is Rayxin himself.
Since ha had been with Rayxin this whole time, he didn't get an announcement. Arthur thought it was a good time to start trying to get off this island.
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
Arthur smiled as he felt his strength increase once again. However, his legacy had more messages that made his eyes widen.
[New skill has been absorbed.]
[Wings of Wind (C): A skill to use the winds to glide and low-speed flight. A second of flight costs 7 points of mana.]
"What?" Arthur wondered if he has seen right and had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "What?!" He repeated.
'I can fly?!' Arthur tried to calm himself down as he didn't know if Rayxin was watching him right now.
The excitement Arthur was feeling was unbearable and he couldn't keep still. After all, one thing that made awakeners super-entities is their defiance of gravity. To soar across the sky was a thing of legends and Arthur was no presented with such an opportunity.
'That means… almost 37.5 seconds of flight if I use all of my mana. If I combine that with restore, that would be… 75s.'
Arthur was fidgeting. Even though it was a low-speed flight, it was still flying. He ran back to the hall he fell into and looked up to see the window.
"Alright." Arthur breathed in and out as he used his skill. The 'link' he always felt to his skills activated as his mana turned to the wind that surrounded him.
As if it was programmed, the wind started lifting his body upward. Even though he was unstable at first, his skill allowed him to gain balance as he rose higher by the second.
"Let's pump it." Arthur grinned as he poured his mana. His speed began accelerating as the sand began rising underneath him due to the wind.
The sun glared in his eyes as he saw the window get closer to him. With another portion of his mana gone, he was out in the open.
"OHO!" Arthur couldn't help but shout when he was soaring through the desert toward the forest. However, his mana began to run low and the wind carrying him got weaker until he rolled awkwardly on the sand.
"Ah," Downcast, Arthur sighed. His moments of flight had been short, but they were still liberating and awesome to have. He stood up and checked his mana and he had a quarter left.
"Maybe it's time that I take the crystal and create a boat. Can I ask Rayxin to teleport me, though?" Arthur pondered with his hand on his chin. At that moment, he felt something coming from afar.
'They have finally shown themselves.' Arthur snapped his head toward the deeper parts of the desert. He could feel the existence of the Enders just like the one he felt before the Chains of Fortune.
This confirms his fears; there's a fallen one among the students. Without further ado, Arthur began sprinting toward the deeper parts of the desert.
The Ender's existence was barely noticeable as if it was about to fade out. Arthur also sensed that it was a distance away from him. He had revealed enough of his powers and he didn't want to teleport in front of Rayxin, no matter how helpful the manticore was.
His feet left deep marks on the sand as he felt the temperature start dropping. It became with a slight frosting on the sand until it turned to an ice-desert. The dunes were covered with snow as sand rolled underneath them.
The chilling breeze of the desert made Arthur shiver but he didn't slow down. Even though the sun was high, the fog began to arise.
"Damn, Rayxin needs to tune it down with this abnormal weather," Arthur grumbled as it felt like someone has thrown the climate's elements into a blender and expected it to work together.
Fatigue began accumulating and Arthur needed to take a rest. Even though his high stamina allowed him a high-regenerative speed, his breath became shallow due to the cold.
'Fuck it, I'm not taking this.' Arthur spread his arms as the flames covered his body. He was like a human torch now but he didn't care. 'A warmed-up human torch, at least.'
At the expense of his mana, Arthur's travel across the ice-desert became a lot smoother. He felt the existence of the Ender disappear suddenly but he kept traveling in the same direction.
When it finally reappeared, the Ender was in a different direction and Arthur changed ways. It disappeared again as Arthur was close to him but he didn't care. He can already feel the sound of battle cutting across the silent desert.
Arthur slid down a dune as he saw the fog twist itself and flee as two figures clashed against each other. With how high the fog was, Arthur couldn't tell their appearances but can see someone struggling.
A powerful spear ripped through the fog and made a clearing for Arthur to see. The first face that he saw was a familiar one: the spearman that has tried to attack him earlier in the Chains of Fortune.
As he looked at the receiver of the attack, Arthur's heart clenched. Without thinking, he used his shadow space to appear in front of the incoming attack.
He raised a barrier that deflected the man's spear. Arthur could see the surprise in the man's eyes as his attack was deflected so effortlessly.
"Who are you and why are you interfering?" The spearman's voice was deep, suiting his battle-crazed look. Arthur on the other hand ignored him and turned to the petite person behind him.
"Are you alright, miss?" He had to act like a stranger, but he knew this person. Ellen stood in front of him with her small frame, blood trickling down her arm as she breathed in huffs.
"Move," Ellen spat a single word, but it came in a whisper. Arthur could see from her pale face and messy hair that it had been a difficult fight.
"I would, gladly. I simply fear this isn't your fight."
"You need to listen to that snobby brat, girl." The spearman interrupted, placing his spear on his shoulder. "You might have been trying to get that crystal first, but it's pointless without strength."
From the man's words, Arthur understood that this fight was after one of the crystals required to pass. He stood there quietly as he had no idea what to do.
He had no obligation to take the crystal from this man to help his friend, not to mention unfair. Furthermore, even though he was distracted by Ellen's appearance, this man was dangerous.
Arthur had felt the Ender's existence earlier and it must have been this man using his strength. Arthur could feel the bloodthirsty aura still surrounding him.
Even more, he could feel the Ender's energy coming out of his body. The man was muscular, but he seemed extremely tired. Arthur wondered if this was a price for using the Ender's powers.
"It was mine," Ellen said through gritted teeth as she took a step forward. Arthur sighed and raised his hand to stop her.
"Miss, you'll die if you go against him. However," Arthur turned to the fallen one. "You have attacked me earlier on the Chains of Fortune. Allow me to give you a small payback."