What's so attractive about fantasy genre?
Isn't it all about getting vicarious satisfaction from hearing or seeing amazing experiences that are beyond our wildest imaginations?
Everyone has a fantasy or two.
When people find novels or movies that can satisfy their desire, they indulge in them quickly. I think it is obvious why they would.
I also have such a fantasy.
I'm talking about those.
The knights who ride on the backs of flying monsters and soar to the sky…
When I was a kid, I read fantasy novels and wondered how great it would be to have that kind of experience.
Standing on the top of the cliff and facing the fresh wind, I sighed.
I should be happy…
Although I became the mounted instead of the mounter.
"Here, get on my back, Idy."
"Keruk. I never thought I would become the first human rider in the lizardman history."
The strange cla.s.s t.i.tle lingered at my ears.
What a horrible mix…
[Talaria's Wings]
From the edge of the cliff, I spread the gigantic wings and lowered my body to take a stance.
"All right. Get on, Idy."
"Keruk Keruk."
She found it amusing for a moment. She then carefully got on my back.
"Keruk. I never even dreamed I would become the first human rider in the lizardman history."
"Keruk. Keruk. Captain, if you want, you can always ride me."
What am I going to do by riding you?
Wait, hold on here…
Are you speaking in innuendoes?
"Hey!"
"Keruk. Keruk."
I can hear Idy's laughter from the back.
I knew that she was teasing me, but it was still giving me the creeps.
"Hey! Don't fiddle with my arm! You are going to get in my way of flying!"
"Keruk. Keruk."
Oh my, you are having so much fun here aren't you?
I think I should start flying right away so she won't play around.
I'll show you the true meaning of motion sickness from flight.
I'm going to have you go through an extreme course of the pain from flight motion sickness.
I took steps and jumped from the cliff.
Talaria's Wings' flight effect was activated. Like that, our flight begun.
The weather was completely clear. There wasn't even a single lump of cloud.
The jungle stretched to the horizon. It was a great sight to behold during flight.
"Keruk! Keruk!"
Is it fun?
Is it exciting?
Soon, I'll show you h.e.l.l.
"Keruk. Captain, I think I'm going to throw up."
"… Hold it for a bit. I'll slow down."
To show h.e.l.l to Idy who had been making fun of me, I performed a few aerial acrobat flight moves, and I regretted it immediately.
Unable to endure the motion sickness, Idy vomited.
She threw up right on my back.
Because it happened due to my overdone flight moves, I can't even complain to Idy…
… Ugh, seriously…
In the end, we landed and found a water stream. We were able to fly again after I washed my body and changed clothes.
I was no different from a fancy taxi service with exemplary driving.
d.a.m.n it. d.a.m.n it.
"Captain… I am really sorry. Are you very angry?"
"It's all right… It happened because I was acting out. Don't mind it."
Who would I blame this on?
Gosh.
There were a few reasons why we could comfortably fly through the sky on a clear day like this.
First, there was the information about that Ihaoi Continent that Lee Jun-suk sent after obtaining it from a Hard Difficulty manager.
Perhaps it was because the continent was covered in lush jungle with tightly packed trees. There weren't many large flying monsters living here.
Secondly, from the last round, while I spent 24 days in the jungle, I figured out the levels of most of the monsters here.
Finally, while Idy and I are combined like this…
Combined? That sounds kind of weird.
With Idy on my back, we could fight off ordinary monsters with ease.
Because I'm flying with Talaria's Wing's flight effect, I don't need to use my body to fly.
In addition, there is the Wind Spirit's Blessing and Blink Skills.
Idy is also on my back, wielding a long spear. With her in charge of attack and checking the rear view, this is perfect.
There probably isn't anyone who could beat us on aerial combat, at least on 12th Floor Stage.
Because of these reasons, I was certain about the safety of the flight, so I decided to fly to the destination instead of walking on foot.
It is not just hard. The mental exhaustion from crossing several hundred kilometers is no joke.
We need to constantly cut away gra.s.s and tree branches getting in our way as we walk through narrow s.p.a.ces between trees.
There are countless bugs and poisonous plants.
Also, the environment is hot and humid
Although I like things tough, that's only when I'm grinding for the sake of developing skills.
I focused on flying as I thought about a lot of things, but Idy carefully started a conversation.
"Captain. I think we had been flying for quite a while now. How about we rest for a bit while eating packed lunch?"
"Okay. Let's do that."
Her voice still felt apologetic. That was bugging me.
I think I should at least compliment her by telling her how delicious the food is as I eat it.
Her motion sickness will be gone too if we spend an hour or two on the ground as we eat the lunch.
Although I made up my mind to compliment her cooking to make her feel better, the thought was unnecessary.
The packed lunch was delicious anyway. I would have only compliment her on the food anyway for how delicious it was.
It is the best, Idy.
"Keruk. Eat heartily, Captain."
Idy looked pleased. She smiled like a doting mother as she watched me eat.
Seriously…
I think you could even open a restaurant.
Actually, in the past, I a.s.sumed lizardmen would eat raw food. I was completely wrong.
Maybe Idy was extraordinarily skilled in cooking. Regardless, her cooking was far tastier than the food I used to eat in Korea.
"Keruk. Why did you think lizardmen would eat raw food?"
"Even monkeys eat raw food too. Keruk."
Um… You got me there.
"Keruk. You should be mindful of this from now on. I've heard that humans are the only intelligent beings in the world that you came from. However, that is not the case in other worlds. You will meet various beings as you progress through the Tutorial. If you step out of bounds with your words carelessly, you could hurt their feelings, so you need to be careful."
She was right.
I was careless and rude.
At the Fourth Floor, I treated goblins as just mindless monsters. I was astonished when I learned otherwise. To think I became complacent about this fact again in such a short period of time.
"Your tendency is probably influenced by the fact that the other beings you met so far were all enemies you had to defeat. Overthinking about the enemy's culture or showing respect could occasionally come back to hurt you as poison. You could think the way you do unconsciously. However, from now on, most likely not all beings are going to be your enemies."
I should be careful and remember Idy's advice.
Where would I go to get advice like this?
"Thanks, Idy. I'll remember it well and be careful from now on. Also, if you are upset because of what I said, I apologize."
"Keruk. Keruk. It's all right. You take my nagging seriously. I'm thankful."
'You worried for nothing' was what Idy essentially said. I looked at Idy and smiled quietly.
This rascal is good at talking too.
It was a very unique fate that lead to our meeting and what came after.
I met her as the enemy at the Fifth Floor's boss room. Who would have thought that I would be spending time like this with her and become close with her?
I thought about when we were standing on guard against each other with weapons pointed at each other and when she suddenly made mating proposal confession to me.
Our relation started with that, and it came this far.
It's very interesting.
She is my advisor, supporter and even teacher.
I think it would be also fine to call her my family.
She is different from the people at the Order of Vigilance.
When it came to the members of the Order, even when I got close to them and got to know them well, the relationship felt very business-like; it was more for just the social structure.
We were close because it was necessary and convenient for each other.
In comparison, when it came to Idy…
Our relationship was not like that. Instead, we had a closer, intimate, and supportive relationship.
Our relationship was not out of necessity.
What would I do if Idy could not help me in progressing through the stage anymore?
I would still want to be with her.
When she is around, I feel comfortable and supported.
We understand each other easily and can smile together.
The fact that I have a friend like her, and the fact that someone like her is with me through the Tutorial when I had been alone for all this time…
I am thankful.
[G.o.d of Adventure has satisfied smile on the face while watching you.]
[G.o.d of Adventure is very impressed and sympathetic after having read your thoughts.]
G.o.d of Aventure's Test [Completion Rate: 39/224]
We finally arrived at the destination.
It took two days of flight.
I put my hand out and felt out the empty air.
I could feel an invisible wall.
I tried operating mana, but even mana could not penetrate the wall.
I'm guessing even fire won't work.
This is the edge of the 12th Floor Stage, the eastern edge.
This was the destination that I wanted to get to.
It has not rained in the past few days, so it is relatively less humid today.
It won't be raining for the next five days.
The wind is blowing from the east to the west.
Kuuuuu… It is perfect.
"Now, let's get started, Idy."
From the large bag we had prepared earlier, Idy brought out a heat stone.
Keruk. Just toss it like this?"
"Yes. Think of it as throwing it to shatter the heat stone. Throw it toward trees or ground."
The heat stones will do the rest.
Heat stones are able to exude fire continuously for half a day once they start.
Their effectiveness is proven.
There were plenty of trees and gra.s.s around.
In an environment like this, a small seed of fire, even ones from a freshly tossed cigarette, could burn down the entire forest.
Actually, it would not take 800 heat stones. Even 20 would be enough to cause a huge firestorm.
"Keruk. Captain, the air is too hot."
When Idy tossed about a dozen heat stones, because of the spreading fire, the temperature around the place increased rapidly.
Lizardmen were cold-blooded, so they were sensitive to temperature change.
I flew pretty far away from the flame.
"Keruk. Now it is a little better."
We watched the fire spreading from a distance. It was incredible.
Burn up, by experience points!
"If you are going to play with fire, you should do at least this much, haha."
"Keruk… Keruk."
This is strangely exciting.
I'm feeling pleasure from burning down a forest using a manmade fire.
The flame was slowly burning everything and expanding. I watched it quietly, and it was just fun.
It felt like my chest was opened up completely. It was fun and exciting.
Hahaha.
"Now, Idy. Throw a heat stone over there too. Let's raise up the fire faster. More, more!"