Chapter 131: Chapter 119: Silver Wings! (Third Update)
“Why is it that despite the theory of the enormous golden fish, mages can’t find even the slightest trace of it?”
“Why does the Void Realm say the golden fish is right above the sea and can be seen without any ritual?”
“There’s only one answer.”
Ash murmured, “We are inside the golden fish, and the Time Continent is just above the White Mist.”
Sonia instinctively wanted to argue, but when she matched the information she had with this conclusion, she found that it fit perfectly, offering a flawless explanation of the golden fish’s true nature!
“Right,” she suddenly remembered, “didn’t the only Mage’s Handbook I’ve ever read mention that after explorers found the golden fish, they climbed more than eight hundred floors and still couldn’t reach the top of the golden fish?”
“On second thought, if the golden fish is really as massive as eight hundred floors, even with the White Mist obstructing, mages shouldn’t have failed to find any trace of it… And in the Sea of Knowledge, the only place where you can’t reach even after climbing more than eight hundred floors is…”
The two of them stared blankly at the White Mist-filled sky.
After a while, Sonia asked blankly, “But how are we supposed to climb up there?”
Yeah, how were they to climb up to the sky?
Even though they knew that the Time Continent was right above them, and getting there would make them two-winged mages, where was the way up?
The sky had not lowered a ladder reaching to the heavens, and there was no Heavenly Ascension Tower on the ground, not to mention that there were no natural landscapes more than a meter above sea level in the Sea of Knowledge.
They were not like explorers adept in Earth Magic Faction abilities, capable of constructing a building out of thin air; their only method to gain height was to have the Substitute stand on top, with the Sword Maiden on the Substitute’s shoulders, and Ash on the Sword Maiden’s shoulders.
Could Ash summon thousands of Substitutes to stack himself up? That was also impossible, for he only had the “Substitute” Technique Spirit and didn’t possess the “Multiple Substitute” Miracle, so he could only summon one Substitute.
If he summoned a second Substitute, the first would disappear. To summon two Substitutes, his best method would be finding a second Substitute Technique Spirit, and then using both Technique Spirits together to create the “Double Substitute” Miracle.
Therefore, the use of Technique Spirits was a skill, generous in some aspects and conservative in others.
“Is there any flight miracle?” Ash asked.
“One-winged level flight miracles are rare,” Sonia shook her head. “One-winged level mobility miracles are basically rapid movements on the ground, and even if they momentarily take to the air, it’s only to overcome obstacles, not to truly fly.”
“This doesn’t even improve at the two-winged level, only that the movement speed is faster, the magic power consumption is less, and the agility for changing directions is more flexible. Real flight miracles only become common at the three-winged Holy Domain level.”
“Because the prerequisite for achieving the Three-winged Holy Realm is the complete unfolding of the Silver Wings and Golden Wings.” Sonia raised her hands, imitating the flapping of wings. “Do you think a mage’s Void Wings are just for show?”
“Ah? Aren’t Void Wings used to intimidate opponents? Before a fight, everyone compares their Void Wings, and whoever has more and more complete Void Wings is stronger.”
“That’s just the sociological usage. The real Void Wings are the embodiment of a mage’s accumulated knowledge. Each Void Wing can provide immense assistance to a mage…”
“Immense assistance?” Ash paused, spreading his Silver Wings, “Other than letting me go to the bathroom at night without turning on the light, what other help does it offer?”
“Silver Blessing.” Sonia spread her hands, “Haven’t I told you before? The full extension of the Silver Wings only proves that our silver magic power has reached its limit. Only when we successfully advance to the Two-winged, leave the Sea of Knowledge, and reach the Time Continent will the Silver Wings start to shimmer—that’s when the Silver Wings are in their perfect state.”
“The shimmering Silver Wings will grant the mage an eternal blessing, often related to the mage’s primary magic faction. Even a mage who has just been promoted to Two-winged can achieve over a 20% increase in combat power through the Silver Blessing, and with some luck, even a 100% increase.”
Ash caught on, “No wonder you were so insistent on dragging me to find the golden fish tonight…”
A 20% to 100% increase in combat power could be crucial to his prison break plan for tomorrow. If it was for the Silver Blessing, it would indeed be worth giving his all.
Sonia felt the effects of the alcohol rising again, her cheeks slightly flushed, “I told you I just wanted to see the scenery of the Time Continent as soon as possible… and you promised to help me realize my dream. Finding the golden fish is part of that dream, so of course, I had to drag you along.”
“That’s true. So when will you sing for me? I need to judge from your singing whether I’ve taken on a conscience-stricken, dirty job.”
“You’re just looking for an excuse to make things difficult for me, aren’t you? Then here I go, ‘My body feels so light, not a hint of weight to it…'”
“I apologize, I was too presumptuous. Let’s talk about flying miracles, talk about flying miracles.”
At this moment, Ash also unraveled a doubt in his heart; he had felt for some time that his Silver Wings were somewhat lacking compared to the Silver Wings Valcas had shown. They were not shiny or stiff enough. He had previously thought it was a matter of lighting, but now he realized it was a developmental issue.
Without having opened the gates to the New World for even one day, his Silver Wings were ultimately the virgin wings of the uninitiated, not the mature Void Wings.
Sonia paused, “After a mage obtains the perfect pair of wings, they gain not only the Silver Blessing and Golden Blessing brought by the Void Wings, but also a qualitative change due to the wings becoming a pair. Mages can then soar in reality using their wings directly. For this reason, the requirement for most flying miracles is the Three-winged Holy Realm, and at the very least, a complete Two-winged.”
Simply put, flying miracles are like luxury cars and yachts, exclusive to the rich with at least Three-winged status, and the wealthy have no intention of devising a low-end version that the poor can also afford.
She looked up at the murky sky: “Even if we find a flying miracle that One-winged can use, explorers have built a tower with a staggering eight hundred stories, yet failed to reach the top. Even if we exhaust all our magic power, I’m afraid we still wouldn’t be able to fly that high.”
“The most effortless way for mages to fly would undoubtedly be using the Void Wings—there can be no other. Knowledge is our most effortless set of wings.”
Ash stood up and let his Silver Wings flutter, which did nothing but rock the small boat slightly.
Sonia said helplessly, “Even if you haven’t learned Wind Skill, you should know you need a pair of wings to fly, right?”
She too showed confusion, “If the flying miracle can’t fly that high, and Earth Magic can’t build a Heavenly Ascension Tower… How did those legendary mages, who claimed to have found the golden fish and smuggled aboard, manage to climb to the Time Continent? Are we thinking about it wrong, or is there a stairway to heaven above the Sea of Knowledge, or perhaps, a way to gain a pair of wings in advance?”
“If all we need is a pair of wings…” Ash said softly, “We have them too.”
Sonia was taken aback and saw the Observer pointing at his own Silver Wings and then at her Silver Wings.
“That’s preposterous…”