Daily Life on the Journey (Part 1)

On the grand avenue north of Saint Mir City, a caravan comprising hundreds of carriages was steadily making its way along the road.

Above, several strangely shaped birds circled the convoy, squawking raucously.

Suddenly, a fireball, no larger than a palm, shot forth from the caravan, hurtling towards the flock of birds.

Whoosh—boom!

The fireball struck the birds with precise accuracy, erupting in an explosion.

“YES, RPG!”

Witnessing her attack successfully hit its target, the young woman hoisted her staff onto her right shoulder, her left hand raised high, letting out a triumphant shout.

Albert, riding his horse nearby, shook his head in resignation, shrugging as he spoke.

“That’s not how you hold a staff.”

“Of course I know that, but this way is more exciting.”

“Have it your way.”

Upon hearing Fú Nī Yà’s reply, Albert conceded that he simply could not fathom the young woman’s reasoning.

****

Just then, another flock of these birds shrieked and screeched as they swooped towards the caravan.

They were called Lizard Birds.

These irksome creatures were ubiquitous in the southeastern regions of Lohiris, as well as within the federal kingdoms of Burno and Mogra.

Resembling the pterosaurs from Fú Nī Yà’s past life, they possessed large, reptilian heads, wings covered in a single membrane with sparse feathers, and long tail plumes.

Primarily scavengers, these creatures also harbored a fondness for fresh meat, habitually preying upon passing merchant convoys.

While they rarely harmed people, every successful raid left the caravan’s meat supplies utterly plundered, earning them a notorious reputation as the most troublesome native inhabitants of the area.

Had it not been for their agility, prodigious breeding capabilities, low-value hides, and unappetizing flesh, exasperated adventurers would likely have long since banded together to eradicate them entirely.

Unsurprisingly, Albert and his companions found themselves under attack as they passed through.

Fú Nī Yà, having been cooped up in the carriage for days, was growing restless, so the appearance of these creatures was a welcome distraction, like a pillow for a sleepy head.

Thus, the young woman eagerly engaged in a game of target practice.

The staff, a gift from Master Valentin, was quite heavy, so Fú Nī Yà typically avoided using it for everyday magic.

However, during their journey, she had repurposed it into a makeshift weapon.

This time, the young woman shouldered the staff, treating it as her personal RPG launcher.

“Fireball!”

Amplified by the staff, the fireball Fú Nī Yà conjured was considerably larger than those she cast without it.

Overcoming the carriage’s jostling, and after a brief moment of aiming, the young woman launched the fireball.

The fiery orb arced gracefully through the sky.

Having spent several days together, the caravan members were now accustomed to the magic of the half-elf mage named Fú Nī Yà, thus the fireball soaring overhead elicited no surprise; they merely watched it pass above them.

Whoosh—boom!

The fireball collided with the Lizard Birds, exploding in a surge of flames that incinerated them completely.

“YES, RPG!”

The young woman shouted excitedly once more.

Concurrently, a faint pop-up window appeared from the system, indicating the amount of skill experience gained.

She glanced at the notification; since Lizard Birds were not particularly formidable, they offered meager experience, merely a few points.

To amass wealth by hunting these creatures, one would likely need to work tirelessly, day and night.

After waiting a while longer and confirming that the troublesome creatures had been scared away, Fú Nī Yà returned to the carriage.

Since Albert was currently out scouting on Jo’s horse, Jo now occupied Albert’s seat in the carriage.

He sat there, feigning sleep with closed eyes, for riding was arduous work, and after a morning of jostling on horseback, he was utterly exhausted.

The elderly butler and Martha Idis, as Albert’s steward and head maid respectively, were attending to various chores in other carriages.

Aila sat alone, bored, and upon seeing Fú Nī Yà enter the carriage, her eyes gleamed with excitement.

Unfortunately, a stern glare from Fú Nī Yà prompted Aila to sheepishly avert her gaze.

Fú Nī Yà settled onto the soft cushions of the carriage, placed her staff aside, and picked up a book detailing staff construction, beginning to read.

As time passed, the system continued to display pop-up windows in the corner, chiming incessantly with notifications of experience gain.

The young woman had long grown accustomed to these sounds, and far from finding them irritating, she now found them rather melodious.

****

The sun gradually ascended to the zenith of the sky.

Due to the season, it hung obliquely in the south, its rays streaming through the window into the carriage, illuminating the book pages to a pristine white.

Fú Nī Yà, reading under such light, soon felt her eyes ache.

She set the book down, intending to rest for a while and eat some dry rations.

Time was pressing; the caravan needed to reach the next town before nightfall, leaving no time for a hot meal at midday.

However, just as Fú Nī Yà retrieved snacks from a box beneath her seat, a clamor erupted from outside the carriage.

“Hmm?”

Fú Nī Yà, puzzled, picked up her staff and stepped out of the carriage, with Aila excitedly rushing out behind her.

A knight on horseback galloped up to Albert, reporting loudly.

“Your Highness, a small group of Sky Rays has been sighted ahead!”

“Sky Rays?”

Albert reined in his horse, his eyebrow arching, a hint of excitement in his expression.

After days of travel, he, much like Fú Nī Yà, had grown weary of idleness.

While Fú Nī Yà had Lizard Birds to entertain herself, he, a melee combatant, could not; he certainly couldn’t chase after a flock of birds with a sword, could he?

That would be utterly foolish.

Moreover, due to weight restrictions, the caravan carried no bows or arrows.

“Elaborate on the situation for me,” Albert instructed the knight.

Meanwhile, Fú Nī Yà turned to Aila beside her, bewildered.

“Sister Aila, what exactly are Sky Rays?”

Seeing her confusion, Aila patiently began to explain to Fú Nī Yà.

Sky Rays were creatures that dwelled in the ‘sky sea,’ akin to manta rays found in the ocean.

They possessed flattened bodies, ranging from ten to a hundred meters in length, and floated in the air by virtue of the abundant wind elements concentrated within their skin.

Because their skin was so rich in wind elements, their pelts consistently fetched astronomical prices.

After all, wearing clothing made from Sky Ray fur in the summer felt like carrying a block of ice against one’s chest; such a refreshing sensation was irresistible to all.

‘So, if that’s the case… Albert and the others are planning to hunt this group of Sky Rays?’

Fú Nī Yà mused.

At that moment, Aila took the initiative.

“I’m taking little Niya ahead; you two hurry and catch up!”

She first waved and called out to Mitchell and Albert, then, with a princess carry, scooped Fú Nī Yà into her arms, her battle qi surging as she sprinted towards the front of the caravan.

“Hey, wait, Ai—mmph!”

Aila’s sudden movement caused Fú Nī Yà to cry out in alarm.

Especially Aila’s ample bosom, which repeatedly pressed against Fú Nī Yà’s face, making the young woman feel as though she were being held underwater, nearly suffocating her.

Before long, the two arrived at the very front of the procession.

Aila gently set Fú Nī Yà down on the ground, and the young woman finally regained her breath, panting heavily, her gaze unconsciously tinged with a flicker of fear as she looked at Aila’s chest.

‘Large breasts… so frightening.’

“Mnnn~”

Just then, a sudden shriek from overhead captured Fú Nī Yà’s attention.

The young woman looked up to see a Sky Ray, approximately eighty meters long, gliding through the sky above them, accompanied by several smaller Sky Rays.

Clustered together, they obscured the sun, casting a vast shadow upon the ground below.

“Hmmph… a Sky Ray this enormous?”

“Is a Sky Ray of this size considered rare?”

Hearing Aila’s exclamation, Fú Nī Yà couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

“How should I put it… I suppose they are rare,” Aila mused before replying.

“Adult Sky Rays inhabit the skies above the clouds; though their numbers are not small, they are seldom seen.

Only smaller Sky Rays, with less concentrated wind elements in their bodies, fly lower and are encountered more frequently.”

“They live above the clouds? What do they eat then?” Fú Nī Yà pressed on.

“Higher up in the sky, there are countless floating islands,” Aila explained.

“Sky Rays feed on the creatures found on these floating islands.”

“Floating islands!?”

Upon hearing this, Fú Nī Yà’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

‘It would be a terrible shame not to seize an opportunity to visit such an essential landmark in a fantasy world.’

‘I absolutely must arrange a trip there someday!’

She resolved inwardly.

Just then, Albert and Mitchell arrived on horseback.

Albert carried his highland broadsword on his back, while Mitchell bore a double-headed longsword and Aila’s sword-spear.

One was a seventh-tier, the other an eighth-tier combatant, and neither could afford to squander their battle qi on mere travel, unlike Aila.

“Well?”

Albert reined in his horse, dismounting beside Fú Nī Yà before asking.

“Didn’t do anything, just waiting for you two,” Aila replied with a shrug.

Though she alone could have dispatched the Sky Ray, she wasn’t the only one in the caravan restless with idleness.

If she had gone ahead and solved the problem by herself, Albert and Mitchell’s resentment would likely have plagued her endlessly afterwards.

“That’s good then,” Albert nodded, turning to Fú Nī Yà.

“It’s fortunate you’re here this time.”

“Me? What about me?” Fú Nī Yà asked, utterly bewildered.

“Because you’re a mage,” Albert answered.

Only then, after hearing Albert’s explanation, did she grasp the reason.

Sky Rays were Level Five demonic beasts, meaning their subjugation required a four-person party with an average of Fifth-tier strength, and crucially, a mage.

Before the Fifth-tier, only mages possessed the ranged attack capabilities necessary to bring a Sky Ray down, allowing the rest of the party to then engage in a concerted assault.

“But aren’t all of you above Fifth-tier?” Fú Nī Yà questioned, even more perplexed after his explanation.

“You should be able to use battle qi for ranged attacks, right? What do you need a Third-tier mage like me for?”

“We need you to fly us onto the Sky Ray’s back.”

“Can’t we fight them from below?”

“That would be too foolish, and frankly, impractical.”

“Professional adventurer guilds employ various traps to ensnare Sky Rays from the sky before hunting them, but we lack such equipment, so we must trouble you,” Albert said, shrugging, then added, “Besides, you also need combat experience to hone your skills, don’t you?”

…

Fú Nī Yà pondered for a moment, compelled to admit that Albert had a valid point.

‘Fighting an aerial enemy from the ground… that does seem rather foolish.’

Moreover, she indeed needed practical combat to accumulate experience.

As for flight… for melee combatants who cultivated battle qi, achieving flight typically required reaching the legendary tier.

After all, battle qi refined the elements within the body, whereas flight demanded the manipulation of external elements; the two were fundamentally divergent paths.

Only upon becoming a legend could a melee combatant forcibly control external elements through sheer mental power, thereby achieving a ‘might makes flight’ effect.

“Alright,” Fú Nī Yà conceded, nodding.

She then crossed her arms, beginning to ponder how they would ascend.

‘First and foremost, a direct flight spell is absolutely out of the question.’

‘Whether through sight or hearing, any creature capable of surviving in the sky like a Sky Ray must possess exceptional sensory abilities.’

‘If I were to simply fly up, being detected would cause undue trouble.’

‘While Albert and the others’ assistance would prevent serious injury, being thoroughly embarrassed was a certainty.’

‘Fú Nī Yà had her pride, after all!’

“Then there’s only one option left…”

Fú Nī Yà murmured, simultaneously holding a spellbook in her left hand and her staff in her right, softly incanting a spell.

“Avian Form!”

As her words faded, Fú Nī Yà’s body shrank in mid-air, transforming into a robin that fluttered its wings and landed on Albert’s shoulder.

“How adorable!”

Upon seeing this, Aila immediately stepped forward, intent on ‘getting her hands on it,’ but Albert, well aware of his sister’s nature, had already turned to shield the robin that was Fú Nī Yà, rolling his eyes at Aila.

“Go as far away as you can.”

“Yes…”

Aila replied, her head bowed in disappointment.

“Chirp chirp~”

The robin chirped twice, hopping, seemingly relishing in schadenfreude.

Immediately after, it flapped its wings once more, wobbling unsteadily as it ascended into the sky.

Fú Nī Yà had barely used this spell since learning it, hence her lack of proficiency.

Due to its flattened body, the Sky Ray perceived objects with its upper half via sight and its lower half using bat-like echolocation.

Although it was curious why this robin flew like a novice, it paid little attention, as small birds were not part of its diet.

Sky Rays subsisted on insects like dragonflies.

Thus, the robin safely flew onto the largest Sky Ray.

Fú Nī Yà reverted to her half-elf form, her weight abruptly increasing significantly, yet the Sky Ray showed little reaction.

To its colossal size, the weight of either the young woman or a robin held no substantial difference.

The young woman secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, the challenge remained to figure out how to bring the other three up.