Chapter Twenty Eight

The killer birds flew fifty feet above Jason as he channeled the wind he felt blow through his hair. He imagined the air which buffeted him being directed around him, constricting him, holding him in an embrace. He felt it bend to his will ever so slightly as his shirt lifted like there was an air vent right below him.

The drain on his mana was nearly nonexistent due to the constant supply wind. He didn't need to create it, just direct it. Jason increased the wind pressure as he jumped. He directed the gust he controlled to the bottom of his feet.

Feeling purchase on nothing, He kept his balance on air for a split second before falling on his face. "Ninety seven." He groaned as he got back up. He had been working on his wind element for a better part of three hours. It had taken at least half of that time to gain an understanding of the element enough to control even the slightest amount.

It wasn't like fire skin or ice skin. He didn't need the wind element in order to survive. It was more like a necessity. Like getting a driver's license was an option, but he didn't truly need it.

He looked down off of the building. He knew what it meant not to need something. He swallowed a dry lump in his throat. "If I don't create a need, it may never happen." He said dryly.

Without truly believing what he was doing, he wrapped himself in the wind element again, then dropped. He felt his stomach lurch as the speed of gravity took over. He increased the density of the wind, trying to have it catch him in the air. He felt this descent slow, the mists of the dungeon drawing ever closer regardless.

"Fuck!" He roared as he took the wind element and wrapped it even tighter around him, creating a second skin. As soon as he did, he felt his descent stop completely. He opened his eyes to see a misty wall just an inch from his face. He rose slightly from that position and felt the wind respond to his need.

A gleeful smile replaced his earlier look of horror as he shot up, flying against the large building. He flew in between the other skyscrapers, fulfilling his childhood dream to fly like a superhero. He couldn't even say how long it took before he got back on track. Tears filled his eyes out of wonder of what he was doing. Here he was, an ex park ranger, floating in thin air in a land of skyscrapers that would put Earth's largest city to shame. The sheer ridiculousness of it all made him giddy. For the first time in a week, he opened himself up to the possibilities of this new world.

He wasn't always going to be running for his life. One day, he'd be free to fly around the world, to make it his own in a way only someone like him could. It was less of a thought, and more of a need. He realized that he was some sort of power house. Someone who was breaking the rules of the game, yet it felt natural, like he was meant to do it. He was a level ten in this world, he knew that people who were level twenty were just starting to learn the basics of flight, yet here he was, hovering in the air and activating his mana saber.

"Alright you fucking pigeons," He looked up at the birds that had torn him to pieces. "Round two."

Jason shot upward, the wind supporting his need to go fast. Even with his speed, his mana drain was still nonexistent. He sliced in an upward arch, severing a head from the nearest bird and began their kamikaze attack.

Jason used his temporal shift alongside his flight in order to avoid attacks, but he had to do it less than using it as a form of transportation. His ability to fly allowed him the space to dodge and maneuver, which resulted in birds raining from the sky.

After the tenth bird fell, each began to charge an attack. He recognized it as the wind attack that tore a hole through his head the last time. He condensed the wind around him to hopefully guard against the attack, then he summoned five condensed fireballs and sent them towards five of the beasts.

As soon as his attacks hit, the blast of air they charged detonated, causing five more to fall. "I've got you, bastards!" Jason yelled in triumph as he summoned more fireballs and send them flying.

If there were any people on the streets below in the city dungeon, they'd probably hear small explosions, then look up to see exploding birds not unlike fireworks.

Jason laughed maniacally as he sent one fireball after another towards the birds. He still had to dodge the occasional blast of air, or steel wing shrapnel, but for the most part, he had figured out the dungeon once again.

He wasn't even surprised when he reached the end of the city and found a bird the size of a plane waiting for him. It seemed that this dungeon didn't have a boss door. Instead, the dungeon allowed enough distance between him and the large bird for him to stop and recover his mana.

The bird resembled the smaller ones in small ways. Firstly, the feathers glistened in the same metallic light, giving it an almost machine appearance. Secondly, it's eyes were the same yellow with bloodshot irises, which looked directly at him. And third, yet most important, it wouldn't attack until he hit it first.

Jason waited a few minute, checking his phone just to be sure that he was a hundred percent full on mana. Though he understood the dungeon, it didn't mean that this part would be any less difficult.

Summoning his flame element mana saber, Jason took off into the air, once again allowing the wind skin to cover him. He floated up to eye level with the creature. It stared at him with its curious eyes. He went as close as he could to the beast, feeling as if he could just talk to it instead of fight. This creature was the first one he had met that showed enough intelligence to hold itself back from fighting.

"Well, this was fun." Jason smiled as he brought his mana saber down into the bird's eye. "Sorry, but I'm not looking to make a friend here."

Wind picked up quickly as the large beast flapped its wings. It screeched its protest from having been stabbed in the eye. The tempo of the wings increased, and Jason could see multiple bolts of wind forming from them.

Instead of waiting for the assault, Jason created condensed fireballs which matched the number of wind bolts he saw. He shot them forward, canceling the creature's attacks and sending metallic feathers flying in every direction.

The bird shrieked, then called the wind to it, gathering the feathers that had been blown from its body. They grouped together in a mini gleaming tornado. It sent the attack spiraling towards Jason who tried to weather the attack with his wind skin.

While his condensed wind skin was strong, the large bird's control over the element was on a whole other level. He couldn't stop himself from getting shallow cuts everywhere, and what's worse, the attack didn't dissipate. Whenever it seemed the tornado would let up, the creature flapped its wings once more, adding more energy to the attack.

"I've had enough!" Jason roared as he used temporal shift to teleport behind the beast. "Over here, you overgrown chicken!" He yelled to get the thing's attention. That really got it angry.

Jason began condensing the largest fireball he could while the bird beast turned to face him. Then it did exactly what he was expecting.

The creature flapped its wings once more, adding more fuel to the tornado, and sending it towards Jason, but he wasn't about to take the abuse laying down.

As the tornado neared the beast in order to pass it, Jason shot the condensed fireball into the eye of the storm. A large explosion rocketed throughout the city. Glass fell from the windows of the skyscrapers below from the impact.

When the smoke began to clear, Jason saw the face of the bird, but instead of its fury, he saw that its eyes were blank. When the rest of the smoke cleared, he saw why. Chunks of bloody bird were falling to the buildings below, when he focused on the creature, he saw that half of it was blown clean off.

Jason flew to the nearest building and collapsed. A headache had come on as soon as the fireball was thrown. He had condensed all his remaining mana into that one attack. If it hadn't worked, he would definitely have become bird food. He fell to his back and began panting heavily. His black t-shirt was drenched in sweat from the heat of the blast, as well as the exertion of the fight.

He took out his phone and looked at his notifications.

'Congratulations! You have defeated Dungeon Levels {11-15}

Reward $12,000

EXP 13,200

'You have leveled up!

'Current Level: 11

EXP: 5,300/11,500

HP: 240

MP: 290

STM: 100

Armor Rating: 20

Current Skills:

English Scribe: Intermediate

Cooking: Beginner

Cardio: Intermediate

Hunter: Apprentice

Hand to Hand Combat: Beginner

Sword Skill: Apprentice

Spellbook:

Novice Fire: level 7.5

Novice Water: level 7.0

Novice Wind: level 10.0

Novice Earth: level 0.0

Novice Light: level 3.2

Novice Dark: level 1.2

Novice Time: level 3.4

EXP Bonus: 20%

EXP to next Level: 6,200

Spells Unlocked:

Temporal Shift: Mastery: 100%

Arcane Thrust: Mastery: 2.46%

Mana Saber (Elemental):2.39%

Hurricane Kick: Mastery: 1.0%

Flash Heal: Mastery: 2.87%

Revive: Mastery: 0.00%

Sneak: Mastery: 1.30%

Mana Skin: Mastery 6.0%

Frost Bolt: Mastery 5.10%

Fireball: Mastery 5.10%

Light Ball: Mastery 3.10%

Flight: Mastery 5.3%

Other spells may be unlocked upon experimentation and advancement in rank.

INT:29

STR:26

VIT:24

AGI:35

WIS:46

DEF:24

'You currently have 5 attribute points to distribute.'

Balance: $55,816'

He put his phone back in his pocket and looked up to the misty gray sky. He stayed there for a few minutes, gathering himself after the dungeon. It may have been the fastest one he cleared, but it was by far the most challenging. It was like he had to relearn how to walk in order to fight, and part of him wondered just how many times he'd need to make adjustments to the way he perceived this life.