Fast As Wind

Not a single guard stopped Malik as he ran out of the city of Light. They knew him from their previous encounters at that gate. However, they also realized that he was in a rush. They were used to adventurers running off on important jobs. So, they started talking about the kid who had become an adventurer so quickly. 

His mind was on the route that would take him to the Harvest village sooner than later. His movement speed was also much faster after leveling up even more than before. He had definitely reached a much better speed because of all his hard work. And begrudgingly, the unknown random instances he was involved with.

'Name: Malik

Race: eldritch seed (temporary) 

Class: Seed Of The Unknown 

Level: 26, 97%


Attack: 49

Defense: 55

Intelligence: 52

Health: 106

Charm: 39'

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Skills: passive

'Scholar elephant memory, Siren's cord, mental fortress, High Spirit veins, Humanoid slime stomach, desert camels second stomach, angelic eyes, blessed mental fortress, Balanced mana meditation, Natural regeneration, dragon heart.

Skills: Active

Wyvern talons, basic dissection, intermediate mana manipulation, high dagger arts, basic cooking, tiger step, intermediate mana sense, Balanced mana meditation, high staff arts, elemental weapon...

Other dragon related skills are blocked due to poor development of the awakened dragon heart.'

The number of skills he had was increasing a lot. Malik made a note to try to see if he could combine them like the elemental weapon creation. If he could cut down on them by mastering all of their forms in different elemental manas, then it would surely make him stronger. 

This wasn't where his thoughts were though. He was focused on the number his stats had now. They seemed much higher since he had reached level twenty six. He even had a high chance of getting to level twenty seven since he was so close. 

But what was the point of some of his stats? He knew how they all worked, but charm was just his mental resistance to certain skills, wasn't it? Wouldn't intelligence serve better? Malik Was trying to think of anything he could use that he currently had to be able to handle any dangers ahead. 

Therefore, charm came to mind as a part of his strength he might not have used yet. But as charm grew, Malik had not made the correlation between charm and the scars all over the body decreasing. Some of them were so faint that it was impossible to notice them without looking from a closer distance. 

Since that was the case, Malik also assumed charm was helping the body fit together more fluently than before. This monstrous body was becoming more assimilated as one thing than what it had been just a while before. An odd thought, but potentially why he was able to better manipulate manas, move, and put his thoughts in to action. 

This meant that charm would always be used and was already helping him a great deal. A good thing. It also gave him a slight curiosity.

Malik hadn't thought about why the body that the cultists had made actually came together. If charm was making the scars on the body disappear slowly, then it was also somehow bringing together all the monster and racial parts of the body as a whole. 

That was still not his focus. While moving, Malik started to focus on what might get him there faster. There was danger and he had warned others. Reinforcements would be coming. Especially since this might be related to the cultists who had already pretended to be dark church members.

Right now, he had already thought of wind mana as the main way to push himself faster. He had used it to push ice and earth spikes faster. It came naturally. Along with the knowledge that many wind affinity archers used wind mana to fire arrows faster or further.

Therefore, using the wind mana to push his speed was natural. He had done it before but had yet to focus on it as a complete skill. That way it might consume less mana than what he was using currently. Just manipulating mana used more of his own mana. So if it was a skill it could be more efficient. 

He was not new to learning and creating magic skills. The system had shown him that with the elemental weapon creation skill and the flame wall skill.

That being said, he followed the route while only pushing his mind to focus on wind mana. The singular focus along with the high spirit veins worked the best. Moving the naturally surrounding wind mana in to his body and around it like a cloak began having an effect.

Sensing his body getting lighter, Malik imagined the wind wrapping him almost like a second set of skin. It was an invisible armor that kept him lighter and almost gave him the feeling of flying. 

As such, he could grasp a better understanding of how wind type monsters might fly. Some didn't appear to have practical wings. He had heard of skeletal undead avian monsters that didn't have any leathery skin or feathers on their wings at all. However, they could still fly.

That wasn't because of their bodies, but their innate wind affinity using the wind mana itself to push them upwards. To move their bodies in the same way they had moved when alive. Regardless of them having memories of doing so from their living state. They still managed to fly.

While Malik wasn't trying to make a flight skill, the principal was similar. As his speed increased, the angelic eyes worked slightly harder to perceive his new speed. It wore on Malik's mentality slightly but pushed him to be better focused. 

Every movement using the wind mana with his body showed him slight flaws in his movements. The tiger tribe steps didn't keep up perfectly with this level of speed. They had to get more efficient to match the higher level that the tiger tribe tendons within the body were being pushed.

Every aspect of the body came together better. The dragon heart had allowed the other lesser aspects of the body to improve to unprecedented levels and would co to use to do so as a higher species. Therefore, the tiger tribe tendons were already above a normal state.

As such, they kept up but the movement technique did not. Hence why Malik was adjusting them so much. The wind he used and the tiger tribe steps were being pushed together. Unknowingly, that was a perfect thing to do.

'Due to instinctual and intellectual growth, the tiger tribe steps and the attempted skill wind buff are being melded together.'

'The skill wind tiger movement has been learned.'

Wind tiger movement- passive/ active

The wind tiger movement is related to one of the tiger tribes' ancestors from ancient times. Its bloodline allowed for a powerful tiger tribe affinity to wind which rarely surfaces within today's age. When it does, they are considered incredibly agile warriors of their tribe.

It relies on wind mana to alter the natural movements of the one using them. The wind mana supplements speed, natural resistance to projectiles, and resistance to some movement rebuff skills.

Using wind mana that naturally gathers around the user, their overall movements are always faster. They will naturally find themselves less buffered by wind overall even in storms.

Using the active effects of this skill, the user will be able to harness that wind to make a strong layer of wind mana that pushes them forward faster. When reaching a higher understanding of this skill, it is possible to learn the wind ripple skill. That allows the user to step on the air itself making them able to move with even more ability.'

Malik found the skill amazing. It gave him insight on an ancestor of the tiger tribe as a whole. He also was able to feel the wind more closely than before. Not in the same way as the spirit veins did, but in a more bestial instinctive way.

He felt himself moving much faster. Felt a clarity he lacked when he had been trying to move the wind to aid him before.

While this might not help when he pushed elemental weapon creations with wind, this helped him move better overall. That was what he needed right now. It made him thankful for the current body he had.

'The corruption recedes slightly.'

Ignoring the prompt, Malik channeled even more mana. His speed almost doubled while he found he was using significantly less mana of his own than before. The high spirit veins were allowing him to draw in mana better. He was also in a slightly meditative state due to his hyper focus on traveling. 

Meanwhile, the adventurers guild became hectic. 

The discovery of dead church of Darkness members and Malik's message for Clara had prompted a larger investigation. The royal knight leading the guard team easily called on the adventurers. Their knowledge and his knowledge pushed their goals together.

As such, not a single bit of hesitation was left. A large force began moving toward Harvest Village where they could potentially stop a monster wave from breaking out. Saving farm land. Saving lives.