In a small courtyard clearing.

Gauss was filled with anticipation.

3rd circle spell [Fly] lv1(1/10)

"Are you really sure you've mastered it?" Aria confirmed with him again.

"Would you like to try it first?" Gauss looked at her.

"Well... never mind. I'm afraid of heights. What I meant was, maybe you should try it on some other creature first, like Ulfen."

Aria patted the giant wolf beside her.

"He's tough-skinned and thick-furred, so it won't hurt if he falls."

"Forget it, it's fine. I'll do it myself to get a more direct feel." Gauss shook his head, declining her kind offer.

"Besides, it's okay, I have a safety measure - Feather Fall."

He had quietly purchased this spell not long after obtaining Fly and practiced it to a usable level.

He could prepare Feather Fall on himself before casting Fly.

If the flight was suddenly interrupted by an accident and failed, the moment his body began to fall, he could immediately use and cast Feather Fall.

The effect of Feather Fall was to greatly reduce falling speed and prevent any damage from the fall itself upon landing.

Of course, if he was attacked by enemies while airborne or fell into special areas like lava or toxin-filled grounds, that was beyond what Feather Fall could avoid.

As long as they were used together, Fly was quite safe in most situations.

However, one must also recognize that flying itself carried significant risks.

Because being high in the air made one an easy target for concentrated fire, and the options for dealing with risks were more limited compared to being on the ground.

Moreover, as a 3rd circle spell, Fly itself consumed considerable mana and was quite difficult. It wasn't something ordinary spellcasters could use casually, nor could it serve as a regular travel method. It was more suitable for specific scenarios.

These were the inherent limitations of this spell.

But no matter how many drawbacks were mentioned, this spell remained incredibly appealing.

Gauss's heartbeat began to accelerate.

He had also been looking forward to flying for a long time.

"I'm ready to begin."

After informing the three of them.

Under three pairs of curious eyes, Gauss first prepared a Feather Fall on himself. If any accident occurred, he could activate the spell immediately by triggering the Feather Fall mana within his body.

Then, he closed his eyes to focus, calming his excited emotions, and took a deep breath.

After clearing his mind, he began continuously communicating with his body's mana and the Fly spell model within him.

A 3rd circle spell, with current proficiency only at lv1 (1/10), and theoretically he had mastered this spell across levels, so forget pursuing speed - even casting it successfully was very difficult.

After several failed attempts in succession.

Finally, mana began to slowly flow from the magic cup.

Gauss felt mana beginning to be consumed.

Then, his body was enveloped by a peculiar energy.

The first sensation was a slight feeling of weightlessness, his heels slowly leaving the ground.

But it wasn't like normal jumping, nor the feeling of being lifted by force. It was a natural suspension, as if the planet's gravity had lost its effect on him.

As he willed it in his mind.

Thinking, "Upward!"

Immediately, his body began to rise.

One meter, two meters...

The ground quietly receded into the distance.

Aria's excited face was gradually shrinking, and the sky's wind freely blew past his body.

He quickly rose above the surrounding buildings and continued ascending.

Looking down, it was a perspective ordinary people couldn't see.

The tiles that once needed to be looked up at were now clearly spread beneath his feet. The bustling pedestrians and carriages on distant streets became moving specks.

He instinctively felt a mixture of excitement and slight fear, this electric-like thrill instantly spreading throughout his body.

Unobstructed winds continuously blew past him, making his robe flutter loudly and feeling quite cool.

Gauss felt an unprecedented sense of freedom filling his mind.

All worldly constraints were completely broken at this moment.

So amazing!

But perhaps he was too excited.

Suddenly, the light, nimble energy enveloping him failed.

After a brief wobble, his body rapidly descended toward the ground.

With Aria's loud reminder, Gauss activated Feather Fall.

The falling speed quickly slowed, then he landed gently on the ground.

Gauss's boots touched the ground.

His excited mood still hadn't calmed.

His body and consciousness seemed to still be recalling that weightless feeling of breaking free from gravity's constraints.

"How did it feel?" Aria eagerly stepped forward to ask.

"Excellent, like gaining true freedom." Gauss's lips curved upward.

Even though he had some fear of heights in his previous life, this first flight didn't bring much panic, only a liberating sense of freedom, with a peculiar feeling of security.

"However, I still need more practice. This spell is quite difficult."

Although he had Feather Fall as insurance, constantly "crashing" due to accidents wasn't ideal.

If it came to a critical moment where it was needed, not to mention wasted time and missed opportunities, the mana consumption for landing and taking off again was substantial.

Since he had reported in advance, he could continue practicing Fly nearby.

He soon prepared for a second ascent.

This time, he specifically waited until he had completely calmed his emotions before starting again.

Feather Fall was applied first, then after several failed attempts, he successfully cast Fly again.

His body was once again enveloped by that light, nimble energy, carrying him in all directions according to his will.

Besides ascending, he could also move flexibly left and right.

But currently, he still didn't dare fly too fast.

The moment he had that thought, he felt the flying energy becoming unstable.

It was probably related to skill proficiency.

Currently, he could only maintain steady flight at a relatively slow speed.

However, he didn't fly too far.

Leaving this area and flying randomly at high altitudes would violate regulations.

There was even a risk of being shot down by the city's large bolt cannons.

So, mastering Fly didn't mean he could go wherever he wanted.

There are countless paths, but safety comes first. Flight regulations must be firmly remembered.

Further away, some passersby noticed him flying in the air, pointing fingers one by one, showing envious looks.

Even commoners knew that flight ability was normally the exclusive domain of "advanced professionals."

The term "advanced" here needed quotation marks.

Because the most basic Fly required a level 5 spellcaster to master, and level 5 was already an unattainable "big shot" for ordinary commoners.

However, there was actually a 2nd circle Levitate that could also achieve the effect of leaving the ground.

But normally, relatively few people learned it purely to enjoy flight capability. It was generally used for temporary danger avoidance and floating transportation.

Because Levitate's effect was different from Fly.

Levitate was limited to vertical movement only, unable to achieve autonomous horizontal movement, and had height restrictions with lower tactical flexibility. It was mainly for avoiding ground threats or reaching specific positions that weren't too high.

Only Fly provided true three-dimensional spatial mobility.

Beyond that, one could only rely on special items, like flying potions, flying carpets, or specific boots, cloaks, or ring equipment.

Gauss ignored the onlookers, completely immersed in focused practice.

When proficiency reached lv1 (5/10), he began attempting to fly with his companions.

At first, he only dared to bring Aria along for a simple attempt. After confirming it was fine, he brought everyone up.

"Remember not to resist."

After casting Feather Fall on each of them one by one, as he attached Fly's mana to his teammates.

Soon, Shadow and others experienced the same weightlessness as Gauss.

Then they could also fly freely.

Yes, after being affected by Fly, their subsequent flight path was controlled by themselves, not by Gauss personally.

The only things he could do were cast and dispel the spell effect.

It consumed his mana and required him to maintain it during the process. Once the spell was interrupted, the corresponding target would fall.

Like Gauss, his teammates experiencing flight for the first time were equally excited.

Even Aria, who could previously fly through her animal transformation ability, said according to her that the feeling of flying as an animal was completely different from flying with Fly in normal human form.

Everyone moved freely in the air.

However, Gauss had reminded them not to fly too fast, otherwise there was a risk of falling.

Actually, Fly provided the greatest enhancement for Gauss.

Because he mastered some ranged attack methods. When facing opponents without anti-air capabilities, he could completely control better sightlines and attack ranges through hovering, striking targets from an elevated position while opponents couldn't even touch his robe.

For others, the effects were relatively more limited.

However, Gauss currently still urgently needed to continue improving Fly's proficiency.

Attempting to cast another spell while airborne significantly increased the difficulty.

His mastery of Fly needed to be very high.

Fortunately, for Gauss who possessed the panel ability, the biggest difficulty in learning Fly was getting started.

Once he got started, he could quickly accumulate skill proficiency through continuous, extensive practice.

During ongoing practice, both Fly and Feather Fall's proficiency gradually improved.

...

3rd circle spell - Fly lv2(17/20)

1st circle spell - Feather Fall lv3(5/50)

Looking at his practice results, Gauss was quite satisfied.

When idle with nothing to do, he would also practice using Fly. He didn't need to fly very high, just a few fist heights off the ground.

But it must be said, Fly consumed mana really quickly.

Normal speed flight was fine.

Once he increased speed slightly, mana consumption would accelerate.

It was important to know that his total mana capacity was extraordinary, at least several times that of other spellcasters of the same level.

Even so, he still couldn't achieve flight freedom.

No wonder he rarely saw people using it normally.

Presumably, even level 5 spellcasters who mastered this 3rd circle spell used it relatively infrequently in daily life due to limitations of total mana capacity.

So while the threshold appeared to be level 5, the actual level requirement for comfortable use would be higher.

As for flight altitude, there were no restrictions, but one still needed to be cautious.

The higher the altitude, the thinner the air would gradually become, and it would get colder with increasingly turbulent air currents.

Moreover, the activated duration of Feather Fall as insurance wasn't unlimited. If the altitude was too high, exceeding Feather Fall's range, then it would be game over.

For now, he could only maintain a few hundred meters altitude.

Gauss had also tested flight speed. Currently, he could only maintain about 15 meters per second, not too fast but sufficient.

Equivalent to normal car speeds on city roads in his previous life.

Moreover, this speed could continue to improve along with his Fly proficiency level and mana intensity.

But as the saying goes, the faster he flew, the more mana would be consumed dramatically.

Currently, he was still some distance away from achieving high-speed flight in the air like in previous life films and TV works, nimbly dodging attacks while releasing counter-spells in the gaps between evasions.

Returning to reality.

Gauss rode on the Ostrich's back, with Sena City gradually receding behind him.

Beside him, Aria and others were quietly watching the distant scenery.

This time, the commission their team accepted wasn't at sea but returned to inland areas.

Seemingly sharing the thought that Sena City was currently in troubled times, both Rachel and Adelle suggested he accept a commission away from the sea direction.

This commission was quite interesting.

It was a long-term commission.

And similarly, an informal commission from the Adventurers Guild.

It seemed that their perfect completion record of such special commissions last time made the guild more comfortable entrusting these more "internal" confidential commissions to them.

In other words, they already received treatment as half-insiders.

Gauss thought for a while but didn't refuse.

Because this commission perfectly suited their current team's situation.

The specific content of the commission was: assist and train villages or human settlements north of Sena City to strengthen and improve their militia's basic self-defense capabilities, and eliminate overly active low-level monsters in surrounding areas.

This commission didn't have rigid kill count requirements, focusing more on "cultivation."

Compensation was calculated as weekly salary, and all loot during the commission belonged to the team.

The salary was 15 gold coins per person per week.

For Gauss who currently had over a hundred gold coins on hand, this was still a decent commission.

Mainly because it was relaxed and provided numerous opportunities to face low-level monsters.

He also needed some time to digest his recent substantial gains, practice flight techniques, drill coordination, continue learning Fireball, practice various basic abilities of his second professional advancement [Sword Soul], and so on.

"I need to quickly learn these basic sword and fist techniques during this period." Gauss held the skill book in his hand.

They weren't difficult.

Just the most basic techniques used to improve militia members' physical fitness, while also looking for promising talents. If found, he could help lay the foundation for professional advancement.

"Let me take a look too." Aria responded.

Each of the four of them had received some basic training techniques and knowledge related to their own professions.

In the East Branch office of the Adventurers Guild, over ten kilometers away.

Rachel stood by the window, facing a certain direction.

"They should have set off by now, right?"

"They've been on the road for a while." Adelle answered.

"I hope they have a smooth journey." Rachel thought about Gauss.

He truly was a professional with incredible talent.

Like this commission, it was practically tailor-made for him.

Normal adventurers couldn't possibly access it at all.

Only promising talents like Gauss, who were recognized early by the Adventurers Guild, could receive such treatment.

Superficially, it seemed like a tedious commission requiring physical and mental effort, just with slightly abundant compensation. But the underlying significance wasn't that simple.

Because such commissions could accumulate substantial reputation for adventurers.

Almost every later legendary adventurer who gained fame had similar experiences.

Leaving their footprints across vast countryside and border regions, protecting local peace, their reputation would quietly accumulate through word-of-mouth among the people.