The next morning, I walked out of the room and stretched lazily, a slow breath escaping my lips as the cool morning air brushed against my skin.
"Mhh… that was really great."
A satisfied smile appeared on my face for a brief moment before my expression slowly turned serious again.
Right.
I still had a lot to do.
"System, tell me where to go."
A panel appeared almost instantly.
'Go to the mana pond you created first. Then I will tell you the next thing to do.'
"The mana pond?"
Interesting…
"Okay," I answered calmly.
Without wasting any more time, I began walking toward my destination.
As I passed through the village on my way toward the forest, someone unfamiliar caught my attention.
A man with black hair stood in front of one of the houses. He wore armor, and a sword rested by his waist.
I had never seen him before.
He was knocking on the door when suddenly, as if sensing my gaze, he turned and looked directly at me.
For a brief moment, our eyes met.
Then he simply looked away and continued knocking.
…I didn't think much of it and kept walking.
Honestly, I didn't even know why I looked at him in the first place.
But for some reason…
I got a bad feeling from him.
"Heh…"
I lightly shrugged it off and continued forward, eventually leaving the village's territory behind.
Once I crossed into the forest, trees stretched out ahead of me.
I turned right and followed the path deeper in.
I wanted to reach the mana pond faster, but the only way I knew was running, and that would waste stamina.
And I still didn't know how to fly using magic.
I should try it before saying I can't… but how exactly?
As I thought about how to use my elements to achieve flight, the System suddenly spoke.
'Are you not going to ask me how to use your elements to fly… or about skills… something?'
My eyes widened.
I jumped back instinctively as the System panel appeared out of nowhere.
But mid-motion, I realized it was just the System.
"…Hey!! Don't scare me like that!!" I shouted.
'Wow, you're scared by just this,' she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
I ignored her tone and kept walking.
"I'm not asking because I have pride."
'Oh? And what does that pride have to do with you not asking me?'
"You already know. You read my mind all the time."
'Correct. Now continue figuring out how you can fly.'
"Figuring it out, huh…"
So I'll be able to do it before reaching the pond.
Alright.
The System said I'm figuring it out… so I'm figuring it out.
I just need to think it through.
If I use the air element… I should be able to lift myself off the ground.
And then… fly.
So let's try that.
I started by controlling the energy around me.
"Okay…"
Then I began mixing it with the air surrounding my body, carefully shaping it into something I could use.
I pushed it upward.
And in that instant…
My body slowly lifted off the ground.
"…Oh?"
A slight surprise escaped my lips as I stabilized myself mid-air.
It actually worked.
I hovered just above the ground, feeling the air shift and swirl around me as I adjusted my balance.
So this is flying using elemental energy…
Not bad.
Then…
"oww! That hurt."
I fell and hit my head hard.
"Okay, I expected to get it in one try, because that is how it always is every time I try something new. I don't even know what I am saying," I said as I sighed.
I haven't done many things to say that, but the words just came out.
I shook my head to remove the thought from my mind as I stood up.
"This is just the first try."
"Failure is normal in life, so I might as well just try again."
I tried again, but this time instead of using the mana around me, I used the energy in my body. After releasing some energy, I immediately turned it to air.
Then I made it surround me like previously, but more like second clothing than something revolving around me to keep me in the air.
I hovered a bit lower than the first try so that if I failed again I wouldn't unnecessarily hurt myself.
I moved slowly forward a bit to see if I would fall down, and I didn't, so I tried moving faster, and then I fell again.
"Okay, I don't want to fail again as I don't want to waste time on this, and if I do fail again I will just walk or run."
After I said this, I tried again. And this time I still put it on as second clothing and used both energy from the surroundings and myself. But this time I released the energy in one large amount as pure air and controlled it. And it successfully worked.
At first, I moved slowly and near the ground. But as I kept going, I was slowly increasing my altitude. I also increased my speed a little.
And the reason I didn't start with air elemental energy immediately was simple.
I was just too lazy to think that far ahead.
"Okay, let's go," I said as I started heading toward the mana pond.
After going for a few seconds, I felt that I was going too slow.
I really want to be quick, I thought as I looked down at the trees I was passing by.
"Nah, it's okay actually."
It's better than walking and faster. I'll be there a few minutes earlier than if I walked.
A few minutes later, I landed.
"Okay, the way I fly is getting better and better," I said with a happy smile on my face.
"Maybe when I next fly to reach somewhere a bit far, I would be a master at flying with air."
I removed the smile on my face and asked, "What do I do next?" as I looked at the mana pond ahead.
'Go near it. Just reach out and touch the ground,' it answered.
I started walking toward it.
Once I reached it, I bent down and touched the ground.
After that, I asked, "What next?"
'Channel all your magical energy you have right now.'
'After that, make it go as deep as you can, and then I will temporarily give you access to your time element,' it said.
"Wait, I have a time element!?" I asked, my eyes and mouth widening as I became lost in thought over what the System had just told me.
'Yes, you have the time element.'
"If I do have it, then how come I have never seen it?" I asked with narrowed eyes.
'In fact, you don't just have the time element. You have all of the elements, but…'
"Wait, wait, wait. Let me guess, you sealed them," I said as if stating the obvious.
'Yes, I sealed them,' it replied.
"Then just hurry up and unlock the time element so that I can get this shard," I said.
'Okay. The time element has been unlocked temporarily for four hours.'
"Hmm…"
I noticed that it was four hours instead of one minute or something.
I wanted to ask about it, but then I thought I might need it for something in the trial.
I cleared my mind and turned my attention to the task at hand, which was channeling energy into the floor as deep as I possibly could.
"Stop! Thy energy has arrived at the designated area. If you go any further… never mind. It's not like you will retain any of your past memories," a panel appeared in front of me, warning me.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop. What should I do next?"
Then the System said:
"Die!!"
A/N
Thank you for reading.