Daily Life on the Journey (Part 2)

Yet, for Fú Nī Yà, this problem was rather simple.

After all, her mentor was Master Valentin, the legendary Conjuration mage.

A primary characteristic of Conjuration magic involved moving objects across space and time.

Clutching her staff, Fú Nī Yà cautiously made her way to the rear of the Sky Ray, reaching the very edge of its massive form.

She peered over the side, but from their lofty position in mid-air, everything on the ground appeared as a mere speck to her.

To rectify this, she cast a first-tier Transfiguration magic spell, [Eagle’s Sight], to enhance her vision.

With her sight sharpened, the ground below became crystal clear, allowing Fú Nī Yà to swiftly locate Albert, Aila, and Mitchell within the caravan before she waved her staff.

“Spatial Displacement!”

Given the considerable distance, this second-tier spell proved as challenging to cast as a third-tier one.

Nevertheless, the young girl managed to execute it, albeit with noticeable effort.

Failure, however, held no peril; unlike other spatial spells that used space itself as a reference frame, Spatial Displacement anchored itself to a person.

Consequently, even if the spell faltered, there was no risk of being swept into the turbulent currents of spacetime.

Indeed, many spatial spells, if miscast, would often result in the caster being ripped apart by spatial anomalies, leaving not a trace behind.

Yet, to this day, no known instance of Spatial Displacement failing and drawing its caster into a spatial vortex had ever been recorded.

It was for this very reason that the spell served as the foundational spatial magic for countless mages.

A faint shimmer flickered before Fú Nī Yà’s eyes, and in the next moment, she found herself back on solid ground.

Correspondingly, only Albert and Aila stood before her; Mitchell was nowhere in sight.

Mitchell had taken her place aboard the Sky Ray.

“Well done, little Nī Yà!” Aila exclaimed, her voice brimming with excitement.

Albert, a hint of approval gracing his features, added.

“Send us both up as well.”

“Understood.”

Fú Nī Yà nodded to them both, then once more transformed into a robin and ascended towards the Sky Ray.

Observing yet another robin wobble clumsily upwards, the Sky Ray’s small eyes widened, filled with profound bewilderment.

‘Why are there so many clumsy birds today, incapable of even basic flight?’

‘It truly isn’t easy to survive this long.’

Performing the same maneuver to reach the Sky Ray’s back, and having swapped Albert into position, Fú Nī Yà, for the third time, transformed into a robin and flew upwards.

The Sky Ray offered only a string of bewildered question marks.

Before it could fully process its confusion, a searing pain erupted from its back.

“Ugh!!!!”

It turned out that the moment Fú Nī Yà had brought Aila onto the Sky Ray’s back, Aila had wasted no time, launching an eager assault.

Her sword-spear, wreathed in battle aura, plunged savagely into the Sky Ray’s flesh, drawing a copious gush of blood.

Having exchanged places with Aila and returned to the ground, Fú Nī Yà looked up to see the Sky Ray thrashing wildly in the sky, desperately trying to dislodge the three figures from its back.

Yet, the chasm in strength between them was immense; after embedding their weapons into the Sky Ray’s back for leverage, the trio easily maintained their footing.

Ultimately, the Sky Ray’s frantic struggles merely succeeded in splattering the gushing blood from its wounds onto the ground below.

On the other side, Albert’s broadsword struck one of its fleshy wings, and with a surge of battle aura, nearly the entire wing was severed, sending crimson blood gushing forth like a spring.

Under the excruciating pain, the Sky Ray fully succumbed to madness.

“Ugh!!!!”

Following a colossal roar, countless wind elements converged upon the Sky Ray’s back, coalescing into a furious hurricane.

The gale howled so violently that it carved deep gashes into the Sky Ray’s own hide, seemingly in a desperate attempt to take Albert and the others down with it.

The smaller Sky Rays nearby, having noticed the commotion, turned their bodies and opened their mouths, unleashing a barrage of wind bullets towards Albert and his companions.

However, Albert and his allies had anticipated this.

“Holy Wall!”

Mitchell raised his left hand high, and a golden shield materialized abruptly, enveloping the trio.

As the chief priest of the Swan Knights, Mitchell naturally did not wield battle aura like Albert and Aila.

Instead, he commanded a distinct form of energy beyond magical power and battle aura: divine magic.

Deities existed in this world, yet they did not require the faith of mortals; rather, they drew their divine power directly from the daily lives of ordinary people.

For instance, Kulerne, the God of Commerce within the human pantheon, would gain a wisp of divine power whenever a human completed a transaction.

Thus, while temples in the mortal realm served as places of prayer, their primary function was to safeguard activities related to their deity’s divine portfolio.

Taking Kulerne as an example once more, one of the most crucial duties of his temples was to protect the trade routes connecting various regions.

Nevertheless, all endeavors required power, and so deities would often grant a portion of their divine power back to their mortal followers, enabling them to cast divine spells corresponding to their divine duties.

Pader, the God of Light and the chief deity of the human pantheon, would gain a proportionate amount of divine power with every increase in the human population.

As his devoted follower, Mitchell’s assignment to the Swan Knights was therefore entirely fitting.

The divine magic of the God of Light typically revolved around radiance, healing, and protection.

After completely fending off the external attacks, Mitchell nodded to Albert and Aila, then with a sweep of his left hand, the shield that had previously only protected the trio instantly expanded outwards, enveloping the entire Sky Ray.

The assaults from the smaller Sky Rays were all blocked outside, while the tempest unleashed by the large Sky Ray carrying Albert and his companions was quelled by Mitchell’s divine power.

Though this Sky Ray was enormous, it was ultimately only a fifth or sixth-tier creature; both Mitchell and Aila possessed the individual strength to slay it.

Albert, however… would face a slight challenge doing so alone.

The Sky Ray let out a mournful cry, and upon hearing it, the other Sky Rays immediately scattered and fled.

The trio did not hinder their escape—for in hunting, one must never commit the folly of draining the pond to catch the fish.

Once the smaller Sky Rays had vanished into the clouds, the trio intensified their assault.

Sword-spear, broadsword, and double-bladed sword ceaselessly carved wounds into the Sky Ray’s back, and before long, the wretched creature ceased its struggles, slowly plummeting lifelessly to the ground.

As for Albert and his two companions, they had already leaped from the Sky Ray’s back; while they couldn’t fly upwards, descending from several hundred meters posed no difficulty for them.

The Sky Ray’s corpse lay spread out silently in the center of the grassland; its colossal physique, had it fallen upon the caravan, could have easily decimated more than half of it.

Blood gushed from its wounds, forming rivulets that converged into a crimson lake, exuding a distinct scent of rust.

The caravan members rushed over to process the carcass, knowing that any delay would invite flies and various scavengers, such as Lizard Birds, to claim their share.

While such creatures were easily driven off or eliminated, no one, presumably, would relish eating food they had touched.

Indeed, Sky Ray meat was edible, its tender flesh considered a rare delicacy.

Fú Nī Yà stood at the edge of the crowd, observing with a touch of novelty as the knights and chefs meticulously butchered the colossal creature.

From within the throng, hushed exclamations of awe occasionally arose.

After all, the creature was truly immense.

On the other side, Albert approached, coming to stand beside Fú Nī Yà.

“Would you like a coat made from Sky Ray hide?”

“Are you trying to freeze me to death by offering that now?” Fú Nī Yà rolled her eyes with a helpless sigh. “Let’s talk about it when summer arrives.”

Seeing her reaction, Albert chuckled, then stroked his chin as he inquired further.

“Besides that, is there anything you’d like to say to me?”

“Hm? Say what?”

Fú Nī Yà looked utterly perplexed.

“Like, perhaps, how killing the Sky Ray was cruel… Don’t you want to tell me that?”

“Why would I say that?” Fú Nī Yà retorted with an exasperated huff. “Am I really that naive? Albert, you’re not mistaking me for a ‘bái zuǒ’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, literally ‘white left,’ often used disparagingly to refer to Western liberals, implying naive or hypocritical compassion), are you?”

“Bái zuǒ? What’s that?”

“No, it’s nothing…”

Realizing she had spoken out of turn, Fú Nī Yà quickly amended her statement.

“In essence, the happy society I envision building with you, Albert, is predicated on the concept of ‘society’ itself, not on anything else.

Therefore, it can only be established with races that possess social structures.

You cannot speak of ‘society’ to animals like Sky Rays; they simply wouldn’t comprehend.

It’s like birth control: you can discuss it with humans, elves, orcs, and dwarves, but can you discuss it with a Sky Ray? No.

Given that, we cannot apply social principles to them; instead, we must adhere to natural principles—the law of the jungle.

To solely emphasize social principles would be akin to preventing wolves from hunting sheep; it would serve no purpose other than to cause their populations to explode and negatively impact other social races.

That would be putting the cart before the horse.”

“You certainly have a way with words,” Albert chuckled. “It seems you’re not as purely kind-hearted as I once thought.”

“Kindness without boundaries only harms everyone in the end.”

Fú Nī Yà spoke with utter seriousness, yet her stern expression, combined with her petite frame, made her appear to Albert as nothing more than an adorable child attempting to feign gravitas.

“Yes, yes~ Miss Maid is truly impressive~”

Albert chuckled as he playfully pinched Fú Nī Yà’s cheek, only for the girl to angrily swat his hand away.

“No cheek-pinching!”

“How about head-patting?”

“No head-patting either!”

“Alright, alright~”

Albert shrugged nonchalantly, then, seizing Fú Nī Yà’s inattention, he relentlessly ruffled her hair with both hands.

“!!!”

Fú Nī Yà gasped in surprise, and by the time she fully processed what had happened, all that remained was a disheveled mess of her long hair.

“Albert!!!”

The girl furiously yelled after the retreating Albert.

****

After extracting and preserving the most valuable hide and meat from the Sky Ray, the caravan resumed its journey.

The portion taken by the group amounted to less than a tenth of the Sky Ray’s total mass; the remainder would serve as a feast for the local wildlife.

After all, the caravan simply could not accommodate any more.

Fú Nī Yà, Albert, Aila, and Mitchell returned to their carriage, where they ate some dry rations to sate their hunger.

Jo, having just awoken, caught the scent of blood on Albert.

“Your Highness, the scent on you is…”

“We just hunted a Sky Ray,” Albert replied, a hint of regret in his expression. “It’s a pity you were resting, so we didn’t disturb you.”

Hearing Albert’s words, a flicker of regret couldn’t help but cross Jo’s perpetually serious face.

While he usually maintained a solemn and proper demeanor, this did not mean he was devoid of ordinary human emotions or immune to boredom.

After days of continuous travel, he, like the others, was growing stifled with boredom.

With a self-pitying sigh, Jo stepped out of the carriage, mounted his horse, and rode off to clear his head.

Fú Nī Yà, meanwhile, picked up the book about staves and continued to read.

An intriguing idea about staves had begun to form in her mind.

Gradually, the sun dipped below the horizon, and the moon ascended above the treetops.

Moonlight—crimson, azure, and faded yellow—pierced the night sky, spilling through the window into the carriage’s confined space, rendering the darkness strangely luminous.

Realizing it was no longer suitable for reading, Fú Nī Yà put away her book, rubbed her eyes, and leaned her head out the carriage window to observe their surroundings.

Countless fireflies danced amidst the grass and shrubs, adding a tranquil beauty to the dreamlike night.

In the distance, a city stood, emanating an extraordinary, captivating glow, much like a colossal crystal lamp.

Ordinarily, the caravan would have halted by now to set up tents and rest, but tonight, they continued their journey.

Their original plan was to reach the city and rest there for the night, but the hunt for the Sky Ray by Albert and his companions had caused a slight delay.

That city was named Pointe, renowned throughout Lohiris as the Crystal City.