Sighing at the stream, like doing so might solve something, I cupped out some water and drank.
And holy hell, the taste was infinitely better than the metallic hospital tap I’d grown used to.
Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I sighed a sigh of pure content before getting up once again, letting the sun shine where it usually doesn’t.
Yeah, I was still wearing the hospital gown I died in... you know, the one with the butt open.
"Now onto the next best thing," I said, and with nothing but a thought, a little interface flickered open in front of me in a clean grid.
I mean... It’s not like I could do something about the creepy violet eyes.
Inventory:
[Cloak of Flight (Epic)]
[Healing Potion (Grade 2) ×3]
"This should at least cover my behind..." I muttered, snorting at my own joke.
One more thought, and a soft shimmer of blue rippled in the air before the cloak materialized in my hands.
And -
"...oh."
It wasn’t just a cloak.
That thing was a statement.
The fabric that spilled down my arms was soft, heavy, and smooth, and stitched with silver patterns so subtle they only appeared when the light hit them just at the right angle.
Thick white fur lined the mantle, resting beneath two massive frost-blue shoulder plates.
And along every edge, from the hood to the hem, ran a thin, elegant strip of gold.
"This is... a lot," I whispered.
And here I was, a skinny, freshly resurrected twenty-year-old with a hospital gown showing more surface area than dignity.
"Well... might as well."
I swung it around and slipped it on.
The fur mantle settled across my shoulders with a gentle weight, instantly making me look broader... dramatically broader, as if the cloak decided to adopt me into the ’intimidating warlord’ aesthetic whether I qualified or not.
The cloak hung longer than I’d expected, reaching just a bit more down my calves.
It even folded over my arms, looking like something a warlock-general would wear while casually leveling kingdoms.
I adjusted the hood and caught my reflection in the stream again.
And my reflection stared back like I’d evolved.
"Okay... wow," I breathed. "I look like -"
-Ding!
{ You look like a child wearing an Archmage’s wardrobe.}
"...You just can’t let me have one moment, can you?"
-Ding!
{Not with your track record.}
I rolled my eyes, pulling the cloak tighter around me, mostly to make sure the backless gown was backless no more.
But I couldn’t help that grin that refuses to leave my face.
Because somehow, despite everything, the cloak fit, not in the physical sense.
But in the absurd, "this should not be allowed, but here we are" kind of way.
"Alright," I said, shoulders squaring under the fur, "... now I feel like a proper mage."
-Ding!
{Inaccurate, but if it prevents further indecent exposure, I support this development.}
"Sure..." I muttered, not sure if it was an insult or agreement.
I squared my shoulder, and nodded at nobody in particular before stepping away from the stream, ready to actually explore.
"It’s called the Cloak of Flight..." I muttered. "So... how do I fly with it?"
–Ding!
{By using mana. Ideally, not all of it at once.}
I squinted. "You say that like that’s something I would do."
–Ding!
{You fired over one thousand ice projectiles at a bush. I do not trust you.}
"At the massive snake hiding behind that bush!"
"Okay," I whispered to myself, "... let’s test this gently."
I inhaled, focused on the warmth of mana in my stomach, and nudged exactly 1 MP into the cloak.
And the next moment, it felt as though the world around me thickened.
Not visibly, but physically. Like invisible water suddenly wrapped around my body.
And a soft, buoyant pressure pressed up against my entire body, holding me with the same gentle insistence as a warm swimming pool.
"...oh."
I floated a finger’s width off the ground, suspended in an airy ocean nobody else could see.
No magical gusts or explosions.
Just the sensation of being cradled by soft, invisible water.
–Ding!
{Congratulations. You are now a very slow blimp.}
"Hey!" I said, wobbling slightly. "This is progress!"
I instinctively waved my arms to balance myself, which did absolutely nothing.
-Ding!
{The cloak responds to thought, not frantic dog paddling.}
"Right...Mental steering."
I pictured myself leaning forward.
And immediately tilted forward.
And kept tilting.
"Aaa! Okay, okay... ugh, stop!" the cloak kindly corrected my angle, leaving me floating upright again.
"...smooth," I coughed, clearing my throat like the forest hadn’t just witnessed my impression of a falling bookshelf.
"Okay, need to picture it clearly... let’s try two MP a second," I whispered, feeding more mana in.
And the world’s invisible ’ocean’ grew denser around me, supporting me more firmly and lifting me a full foot into the air.
I tried going forward, back, left, and right, and each motion felt like guiding myself through a warm water with thought alone.
"I’m -wow... I’m actually flying," I whispered.
–Ding!
{At 4 kilometers per hour, yes. This qualifies.}
"Hey, that’s fast enough for a proud beginner!"
–Ding!
{Host, a motivated grandmother could outrun you.}
"It’s the journey, not the speed," I muttered, doing another slow, triumphant circle in the air.
And the cloak responded perfectly.
Just two MP a second, and I was gliding like a kid’s first drone flight: wobbly, but functional.
Not through wind or not even thrust, I think... But through this strange mana-ocean flowing around and beneath me, holding me in place, pushing me gently in whatever direction I imagined.
It was like having a personal atmosphere to swim through.
"Alright," I said proudly, "I think I’ve got the basics - "
My foot clipped a bush.
"Ow!"
The cloak instantly tightened the mana around me, keeping me suspended and upright like a disapproving parent holding a toddler by the back of the shirt.
–Ding!
{Recommended action: Increase altitude before attempting evasive maneuvers. Also, look where you are going.}
"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled, rubbing my ankle. "I’m still learning."
And despite the system’s commentary...
despite the hospital gown still fighting the breeze...despite only using two MP a second, and wobbling like a magical airborne shopping cart with one bad wheel...
A stupidly wide smile stretched across my face.
For though it’s been less than half an hour of waking up, I felt I had lived through a lifetime’s worth of fun.
Too bad it can’t always be all fun and games.
And I was about to find that out the worst way.