The fire had long died down. Bones crackled faintly in the embers, ash curling toward a quiet sky. Ailith stood, stretching her limbs while Rei finished tying the last of the wolf pelts into a tight bundle using torn straps from the beasts themselves.
They didn't talk for a moment.
Just wind and smoke, and the weight of silence.
Then Rei broke it with a slight grin. "Hey... you think we can fly if our level gets high enough?"
Ailith didn't even blink. "We can at Level 6. So yeah."
That caught him off guard. He blinked. "Wait, what?"
Her crimson eyes shifted to him. "Don't you know how to use physic power to fly?"
"Physic power?" Rei echoed, eyebrows raised.
She tilted her head, eyes narrowing. "Wait—don't tell me you don't know what physic power is."
Rei looked at her for a beat... then away. "There wasn't anyone in the mountains to teach."
In his mind: How the hell would I know how to fly? And what the heck is physic power? Most novels have mana or aura. And this girl... how does she know everything? Who even is she? Is she... well-known?
Ailith crossed her arms, letting out a small sigh. "So you don't know physic power."
"No," Rei admitted. "I don't."
Ailith tapped a claw against her cheek. "Alright, listen. Everything and everyone has physic power. You have to learn to channel it. Wrap it around your body. That's how you fly."
She paused.
"But wait—so you weren't using physic power just now?"
Rei shook his head slowly. "Yeah... I didn't."
Ailith stared at him. "So how the heck did you kill all those wolves?"
Rei shrugged. "With my hands."
Another deep sigh from her. "You didn't use any physic power?"
"No," Rei repeated, calmly. "I don't know how to use it."
She placed one hand on her hip. "It's an invisible force. People who've advanced to Level 1 or higher can use it—to reinforce their body or weapons. At Level 6, you can use it to fly."
Rei blinked again. "...Okay."
Ailith took a step forward. "Close your eyes."
Rei didn't argue.
"Focus on your heart," she continued, her voice calm and firm. "You'll feel it. It's like a force inside you. Try to awaken it."
Inside his mind, Rei sighed hard. How do these people in this world live with these kinds of rules? Flying with invisible forces? This isn't even aura or chi or anything normal. Ugh. Whatever. I should just focus. I don't wanna get called dumb.
He concentrated.
Silence filled his thoughts. Stillness. A breath held.
Then—
Something stirred.
He didn't see it. But he felt it. Like a pulse at the edge of awareness. A current running through his blood. Lightless, weightless, invisible.
He opened his eyes slowly.
"I felt something," he said.
Ailith's eyes glimmered faintly. "Good. Can you move that to your body? Wrap it. Try imagining yourself flying."
He nodded once, hesitated, then closed his eyes again. He focused. Pulled on the sensation. Imagined flight—not running, not leaping—rising.
And then—
It surged.
Physic power erupted across his limbs like a spark catching fire. His body lifted—abrupt, weightless, and—
The world was gone.
Blackness. Silence. Stars.
Rei blinked—and space surrounded him. Endless void. Floating. Above him, the sun burned, massive and blinding.
"What the hell—?!" he gasped.
Heat pressed into him. The vastness overwhelmed.
And then—
He fell.
He crashed back to earth like a meteor, a sharp shock of air breaking around him as he smashed into the ground where they had just eaten, leaving a deep crater where fire and ash had once been.
Dirt scattered. Trees trembled.
Ailith stood frozen, eyes wide, staring down at the impact zone.
She didn't speak.
Couldn't.
Smoke curled up from the crater's edge, and in its center, Rei sat—dazed, confused, hair ruffled by the force of his descent.
Ailith blinked once.
Still in shock.