It was finally Damian's turn to have his skills reviewed and have a light shown on how to improve. He promptly listed his skills.

  "Practical, but boring."

  Damian felt like he had just been backstabbed through the heart.

  Really? Nothing?

  "Ah! Let me tell you about the function of my swords."

  He proceeded to explain their functions. At least he tried to for Storm Dancer, but he hadn't used it yet.

  "What kind of person gets a shiny new sword and doesn't test it right away?"

  Another invisible blade stabbed next to the last one. It was true, he'd wanted to test Strom Dancer, but hadn't really found a good chance. Damian was sure it was going to be powerful and really cool, surely.

  "So, for that new blade, I'd recommend that if you choose to dual-wield swords, you never strike with the other sword first. If that blade does what I think it does, it'll shoot lightning down your opponent's weapon when you clash."

  "Since the source of mana isn't from you, if your offhand weapon is in front of the blade, you'll probably end up shocking yourself. I just saved you from humiliation in the future, so that you know."

  "So... is there nothing else?"

  'sigh' "Let's test how your Wind Form really works."

  "... ..."

  "Donna, please be a dear and pull out some firewood or, better yet, a stick."

  With a produced stick meant for kindling, Elaina asked, "Now use your Wind Form."

  Damian obliged, and she promptly stabbed the stick where his thigh would be. As he materialized, the stick was pushed aside.

  "... ..."

  "What was that?"

  "I wanted to check how your skill worked if you had a weapon intersecting with your body while you became corporeal. Fortunately, you won't be impaled by an enemy. Your skill will push it or yourself out of the way. Although I'm not sure what would happen if someone boxed you into a small space..."

  "Let's not test that... Is there anything else?"

  "Hmm, as you tier up, you might be able to bring people into your wind form. I've seen other skills do the same, but never at tier 4. There's also the possibility that you'll be able to run on air with the Wind Movement skill, but again, that would be an advancement. Just keep practicing your skills."

  'sigh'

  At least they got to the part Damian was genuinely excited for. Thanking Elaina by calling her Big Sis and watching Frey squirm for once. With a deep breath---

  "Thank you, Bi–"

  "No."

  Huh?

  "You're not allowed to call me that."

  ?? What? Why? What did I do?

  "Psh! Hahahah!" Frey was on her knees while holding her stomach; she was dying, laughing at his expense.

  "Psh! Hohoho! Oh, the look on your face. Hohoho." Now, Elaina was laughing, along with the rest.

  "... ..."

  Damian let them laugh for a while. It took a bit too long for his liking. But as they finished, Damian broached the question.

  "So you do have more advice for me?"

  "Huh? No, I couldn't think of anything. Your skillset is pretty straightforward and boring. It is useful and effective, though."

  The final knife plunged into Damian's chest, and he started to feel dizzy.

  "Psh! Hahaha. Ahh~ Too good." Frey was back to laughing so much that she looked to be in pain. She had to wipe a tear from her eye.

  "Ahh, but I really don't have any advice..."

  Damn...

  She hasn't given her own abilities yet. Should I ask?

  A question asked led to a diversion into a new topic.

  ***

  Their group continued down the long tunnel with Fergus's light overhead. There were a couple of offshoot tunnels that ran into the main one they were in.

  As they walked quickly, everyone began to put Elaina's advice into practice. Donna had a small ball of water in her hand and was shaping ice around the exterior, following the shapes Elaina had advised.

  Frey had a small flame that she was moving around the party, getting progressively further away and testing the limits of her control without the control staff's aid.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  They were all using the minimum amount of mana possible, so they could still recover more than they used. All except Damian. He could also practice pushing his wind blades further from his body, but since they were somewhat unwieldy, they could change direction and cut someone. He had only ever used his wind in a blade form.

  Maybe I could try making a ball to practice. But what use could there be in a ball of wind?

  Feeling left out, he proceeded to spin wind in the palm of his hand. It was sharp at first, but as it continued, the wind began to blunt.

  "So, how long does this tunnel go on for? Where does it empty?"

  "There's a reservoir a good distance away from the city that it empties into. It's right next to the Talico Mountain Range. We'll take one of the roads leading from the reservoir and head north-west."

  North-west? That would bring us back toward the country of Shan. North would bring us to the Barrier Mountains, and East would eventually lead us to the country of Pike. South would bring us to the Southern Ocean.

  It'd be a longer journey, but going southwest and around the Talico Mountain Range would bring us to the country of Prism. I've always wanted to visit. It's supposedly a dream destination for artists. However, our first destination should certainly be a city with a Valkyrie.

  "How far to a city with a Valkyrie?"

  "Hmm. If we walk, it'll take about 10 days, and we'd likely encounter patrols along the way. I don't think everyone here has enough stamina to run the whole way. We could find a carriage and cut down the travel time by at least half."

  "Oh! Oh! I've got an idea!" Alex crushed the earth she was trying to form in her hands.

  I'm not going to like this...

  Alex proceeded to share her plan.

  "Hoho~ I like it! You guys can go ahead and do that. I'll be just as fast running the distance." Elaina claimed.

  How fast could she be? Should we give her the body to carry to the next town over? Although the military is still targeting us...

  "Hey, what if I..." Frey added to the plan.

  "I could also..." Fergus commented.

  "I can... just in case." Donna pitched in.

  "Damian, you can just..." Frey gave Damian bad news.

  'sigh'

  ***

  They had reached the end of the tunnel, and a large reservoir met their sight. On the far side of the water, there was a complex where a few water controllers were pulling clean water up. It looked like they were channeling it all into a single large facility.

  "What are they doing?"

  "Oh! Didn't you see it on your way in? They're bringing the reservoir water up the Talico Mountain range. There's another reservoir at the top where they store it."

  "From there, they use gravity to pump the water through an entire system of pipes that provides running water. If you didn't notice, there's not a single well in Gamo. It feeds water to all the nearby towns as well."

  Looking up the mountain, Damian was shocked once again. He had seen it in the distance as they arrived in the city, but seeing it up close felt surreal.

  The entire top of the mountain was gone. Like someone used a large sword and cut off the top. Damian then had a flashback to how Ms. Sanderson handled uncovering the wagons.

  "Is the top of the mountain located around here? Or is it just gone?"

  "Look right~."

  There was another smaller mountain there, and after looking at it for a while, Damian couldn't unsee it. It looked like it would fit perfectly on top of the other mountain.

  "They say it occurred back during the sealing of the evil god a thousand years ago. But with enough time and enough workers, we could do the same. That's open real estate right there~."

  "Is there anything else up there other than the reservoir?"

  "Just some military installations. If you travel 40 days south, you'll find the city of Tangola atop another mountain, missing its top. The top of that mountain is just gone, no idea whether it got destroyed, or is now part of the Barrier Mountain Range. A bunch of wizards rule the city, damn near impossible to get in if you're not rich, a wizard, or a high tier."

  Damian had heard of that city before. There were many such locations on his bucket list to visit during his adventures. He and his group planned to visit every Great Spire eventually. That would take many years to accomplish, unless you had a lot of money to gain a faster means of travel.

  "I'm ready." Donna had been collecting water into her storage. The plan was insane.

  At least it might be a little fun... as long as we don't die.

  Fergus and Donna stood in front of Alex, ready to jump into her arms. Yes, they were going to go flying again, but much higher off the ground this time.

  Frey stood behind Alex, ready to hold onto her back. Higgins was standing a bit ahead of them, a tether clearly visible on her back. Damian was chopped liver, standing behind the group. Another Tether connected him to them.

  "Ready!"

  Here we go.

  Higgins brought out her wings, ready to take off. But this time, she started to shine with light. Fergus's Burst Empower was channeling into her. She had eaten some of his food the other day, and their connection was still strong.

  With a strong flap of her wings, she took off at an incredible speed. One moment, she was standing nearby, and the next, she was flying off into the distance.

  Not a second later, Alex and everyone else were being dragged in her direction, high into the sky. Then came Damian's turn. He was whisked off his feet and was trailing behind everyone else.

  How fast are we going!? Damian could feel the wind breaking against his body. When he opened his eyes to look around, they were well above the trees.

  Looking to his right, he could see the city of Gamo in the distance. The giant tier 7 wraith was still using the royal castle as his throne. Its figure was so massive that he wasn't sure if even Lorenzo could dice it up in a month's time.

  Several fires were still burning in the city; not all of the mayhem had been quelled. Damian could also see large settlements beyond the city walls. Countless people had fled there for their own safety. They had already built small earthen shelters. This would normally result in a fine from the city.

  Looking ahead at his party, he could see himself getting closer and closer to Alex, and Alex getting closer to Higgins. This time, instead of pulling herself and Damian together, she set the tether to only pull Damian to her and herself toward Higgins.

  As Higgins moved along, she wasn't slowed by the extra weight, for Alex's skill didn't exert any force on the anchor point.

  Alex neared Higgins, flying high into the sky. Right before she would crash into the human Valkyrie, Alex deactivated the tether and started to free-fall.

  Frey let go of Alex and started to hover using her Flame Flight. Before Alex could call too far, another tether connecting her to Frey pulled taut.

  It was ridiculous, really. Alex was getting hoisted up toward Frey, hovering mid-air. It reminded Damian of the time they pulled Isaac up the cliff with a rope. Ah, this skill would have worked wonders back then.

  Before Alex's tether could pull her to Frey, Frey was rapidly descending to set them both on the ground. If Alex reached Frey and her tether ended, she'd either plummet to the ground or have to reapply a tether to Frey.

  Even though Frey's skill had improved a lot, she still couldn't support the weight of three others.

  Damian, however, was on his own; he had cut his own tether and was zooming past his friends at high speed. As he flew through the air, he spun on his back, letting the wind carry him further. The sky was so close that it felt like he could reach out and grasp it in his one hand.

  He allowed himself to fall for a bit like this. It was somehow equal parts relaxing and thrilling. He let out a deep sigh and spun to face the ground. He was rapidly approaching the treeline, and right before he'd get impaled on a tree, he activated his Wind Form.

  His form slipped around the tree branches and smacked into the ground in a puff of breeze. He was unharmed when he materialized, but it was scary as all hell.

  The calm he had felt moments earlier was gone, replaced with the heavy thrumping of his heartbeat in his ears. Adrenaline was coursing through his system, carving a memory into his brain that he wouldn't ever forget.

  That was unbelievable, but I want to do it again... Maybe I've gone crazy.