Chapter 10: Wind Element

[Wind Blade: Covers an item with the wind element making it sharp. With enough proficiency, it is possible to create it without a base item, expand it, and contract it at will. It can also be used at long range.]

That was the skill that Shiba learned on his own while battling. He didn't really know how he had done it, but it was in great part due to his focus on the battle.

Wind Blade couldn't be considered a high-level skill, but it was one that differed a lot from having just learned it to have mastered it. Completely the opposite to Earth Step that was easy to master, and the difference from having learned it to mastery wasn't so great.

Shiba just managed to touch the basics of the skills when he learned it, but since he did it all on his own without any guidance, it was a great feat.

Wind Blade was considered a Combined Skill, so it would be impossible for people of the Warrior Path and the Magus Path to develop it so easily.

After all, combining two energies required far more concentration than just using one. Thus, there is no way they could have so much focus when learning the skill on their own like Shiba had.

That was also why it was far easier for Shiba to learn and use Earth Step regardless of his talent. Just the fact of combining energies was difficult for those training two paths, but the Fake Origin Path didn't have those issues.

After the notification of the system, Shiba sat and started to practice.

He ignored where he was and the potential danger because that was an instinctual act.

Shiba had been enlightened about the wind element, something that could only happen by chance to a mortal.

It was already dusk when Shiba opened his eyes.

[Congratulations on achieving enlightenment about the wind element. Thanks to the enlightenment, the disciple reached level 3 successfully.]

Shiba had pushed himself to his limit in the battle and had been enlightened afterward, so it wasn't strange that he managed to advance to the next level.

Although that wasn't the first time that Shiba thought that he would die, that was the first that he actively battled for his life. Thus, it had a lot of benefits for his training. There was no need to face danger, but when it was unavoidable, being able to continue fighting to survive was a very important mindset.

Previously, when Shiba was at the doors of the death, he survived thanks to Master Liye, but Shiba was sure that he would die until that moment, so although that experience hardened his resolve, it still lacked because he didn't solve it by himself.

[Based on the user's current understanding of the wind element and the achievement of learning a skill without help, the system has a skill recommended to learn, but the disciple will need to learn it in the traditional way.]

Although the system could just make Shiba learn a skill immediately, it wouldn't reward him with one so easily. However, since Shiba showed that he could learn a skill without the system and he had been enlightened, the system gave him a chance to learn one, but it needed to be learned in the traditional way.

Of course, the traditional way was far easier than learning something without any guidance at all.

"I want to learn it."

Shiba could feel that he was far stronger than before since Master Liye's energy was still in his body, and his wound had been healed by that same energy.

However, he knew that the energy left behind wasn't endless, so he wanted to increase his survival rate as much as he could.

Thus, a new skill was something he wanted even if he needed to learn it step by step instead of automatically like Earth Step.

[The skill is called Wind Wings. It was developed by Master Liye's friend. It allows the one using it to fly. It requires controlling the wind element to create a pair of elemental wings on the back.]

Shiba didn't expect something that good. After all, flying was something that he believed only great experts could do.

Of course, Shiba just didn't know about the existence of skill, allowing weaker practitioners to fly. Not even his previous owners had one of those skills.

As long as one was strong enough, flying wasn't an issue without skills, so a skill like Wind Wings was mostly to help weak ones, but usually, only powerful experts could develop skills that mortals could learn that would allow them to fly.

Usually, having a flying skill was proof that one obtained a huge legacy or had an incredible background.

The system starts giving instructions to Shiba, and he earnestly tried to learn the skill disregarding the fact that it was already dusk.

At that moment, he couldn't reach the town in time anyway, so he wanted to focus on learning the skill first.

He had advanced to level 3, so he didn't fear a single night, and it would be difficult finding another beast in such a short period. Anyway, the corpse of one should be enough deterrent for other beasts.

Shiba's body was completely refreshed after the breakthrough and the enlightenment, so he practiced the whole night until he managed to succeed at dawn.

[Congratulations, the disciple successfully learned Wind Wings.]

The wings that he managed to create weren't too big, but they already allowed him to fly a bit. The speed was still just comparable to walking, but as long as it wasn't worse than that, he felt it was already useful enough for his current self.

As long as he practiced enough, he would be able to fly more time and more quickly, so when he decided to restart his travel after eating some of the food on his backpack, he also decided to use Wing Wings as much as he could.

He didn't dare to fly high, so he planned to fly near the ground.

As for the corpse of that bird, he decided to carry it with him. He didn't know if that bird was edible or not, but he believed that it should have some value if he were to sell it at the town.

Although he surpassed the problem of his weapon with Wind Blade, he was conscious that he would need money in that town. He planned to sell some of the spare clothes he had if he was in need, but the corpse of the bird seemed a better option.

The bird's corpse was heavy, but with the strength of a Level 3 Mortal, he could carry it without too much difficulty.

He was a bit slower with it, but he believed that it would be a waste if he abandoned it.

Since he had already walked a bit the previous day and his strength increased, he should have reached the other town far before dusk, but since using wind wings was still slower than running, and he was carrying the bird's corpse, it was almost dusk when he reached it.

The doors of the town would close at night, so it was important to reach it before it, but at least the weather just outside the town wasn't that extreme, so it wasn't strange that someone slept outside.

When the doors were open, there were a pair of guards on them.

The city was surrounded by walls, and there were only two ways to enter. One was the one in the arid zone where Shiba was while the other was at the other extreme.

Of course, if someone could fly or break the wall, it was still possible to enter that town. After all, the walls weren't as impressive as those of a city, but that would catch too much attention and bring trouble.

The guards were surprised to see Shiba since they didn't recognize him, and it was strange having new visitors that came from the arid area.

There was a huge gorge at both sides of the town, and the same applied to the whole border area where there weren't towns.

The towns were created on the only ways to cross, so anyone who came from the arid area that the guards didn't recognize from their town was someone born in the arid area or had come from another of the towns.

Usually, they would stop Shiba to ask several questions and maybe even ask for some money to avoid making things difficult for him if they discovered that he was weak enough, but since Shiba was carrying a corpse of a bird beast, they didn't dare.

Regardless of the status, they knew that the Lord of the town valued those with enough guts to hunt beasts, so they had orders to let pass without questions anyone who was carrying a corpse of a beast.

That could seem somewhat dangerous, but the Lord of the town had confidence in his strength. After all, he wasn't in the Mortal Rank like the guards of the town.

He feared a lot of beasts attacking simultaneously because they may harm a lot of people before he could kill them all, but he didn't fear a single person at the Mortal Rank.

Shiba had stopped using Wind Wings when he felt that he was already near the town, so no one had seen him flying.

When he saw the guards, he remembered what the man in his twenties told him that they might make it difficult for him, but he was surprised when they both just slightly bowed and let him pass without questions.