“Whoooooo!!”
“Fwaaaahhh!!”
The intensity of the blowing wind was no joke.
It felt like it could easily sweep away a person.
“Uh, Mom, this place is way too dangerous.”
“Hm? It’s okay. Our daughter is really nervous, huh?”
I tried my best to suppress my trembling body as I looked toward the edge of the rocky mountain.
Beyond it, the vast kingdom unfolded in the distance, with thick clouds blanketing the sky above.
That meant this place was higher than the clouds.
“W-Wait, you’re saying my first flight is happening from this height?!”
“Our daughter, you can do it, right? Your mom and dad did it here too.”
Mom smiled as she continued explaining.
“It’s tradition for dragons to have their first flight here. It’s not that old of a tradition—it started when the kingdom was unified.”
Mom smiled at me as she said that, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile at all.
“Three thousand years sounds pretty old to me…?”
“Hmm… Is it?”
I was already in shock from their different concept of time, but even more than that, I was horrified by my fear of heights—something I had forgotten about since my past life.
‘I moved around so little in my past life that I completely forgot I even had acrophobia…!’
I screamed internally, though no one could hear it.
– Tremble tremble tremble.
“…Minho, are you really scared?”
“Y-Y-Yes…!”
I was so terrified that my legs wouldn’t stop shaking.
Mom looked at me with a worried expression.
Mom, this isn’t right. Please save me.
I tried pleading with my eyes, but Mom simply pulled me into her embrace and said something utterly hopeless.
“What should we do? You have to do this no matter what.”
“If not today, the winds will only get stronger…”
“It’ll be even harder if we come back later.”
Ah, I want to crawl on the ground for the rest of my life.
Who even wants to fly in the sky?
Damn it, I should’ve dreamed within my limits.
– Tremble tremble tremble.
– Fwaaaahh.
“…Hic.”
“Oh my, the wind is strong.”
Every time the wind blew, I felt like I would be carried away, so I burrowed deeper into Mom’s arms.
“Minho, let’s do our best.”
“…Uuugh.”
Mom set me down and gently patted my head.
I started to calm down slightly, but as soon as another gust of wind hit, my body instinctively shrank in fear.
– Tremble tremble tremble.
“Minho, why are you acting like that?”
“…N-No, s-sis…”
“Hm?”
My sister crouched down and spoke to me.
“I-I h-have a f-fear of heights.”
I ran toward her and clung to her, whispering in her ear.
“Ot.”
As soon as she understood what I meant, her grin turned into a clear smirk of amusement.
Then, she leaned toward me and whispered back.
I could hear her trying to suppress her laughter.
“Oh yeah, you do have acrophobia, huh?”
“…,.”
“But you said you wanted to become a bird? That you’d come flying to see me?”
– Pfft.
She covered her mouth with one hand and laughed while looking at me.
My face turned bright red with embarrassment.
“I-I forgot! I never even got out of bed!”
‘…How could you forget something like that?’
“You forgot too, sis.”
“I’m not you, though.”
She whispered again, sounding exasperated.
“Your face is so red.”
“…Whatever.”
“Are you sulking?”
“I’m not.”
Really, I wasn’t.
I was just a little disappointed in her, that’s all.
“What are you two whispering about?”
“…Ramir!”
“Hm?”
Ramir must have noticed our secretive conversation, as he started walking toward us.
But in his hand, he held a wooden staff as tall as he was.
“What’s that staff?”
“This? It’s a magic staff.”
“…Ooooh.”
A magic wand.
I had only ever seen those in movies or anime.
Seeing one in real life felt surreal.
Unlike me, Ramir acted like this high place was nothing.
As I stared at him in a daze, he suddenly blushed slightly and asked,
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…Um, Ramir, aren’t you scared?”
“Of what?”
“Being up this high.”
“I’m not a kid. Why would I be scared of a place like this?”
– Tremble tremble tremble.
Wait, are staffs usually objects with a will of their own?
Looking closely, his hands were trembling slightly, too.
– Tremble tremble tremble tremble.
“I-I’m not scared of something like this!”
…Wipe off your cold sweat before saying that.
Sweat was trickling down Ramir’s cheek.
“…You’re sweating, though?”
“…The wind, isn’t it cold?”
Wait, w-w-what?
It’s because it’s hot! Yeah, it’s hot! That’s why!
“Minho, the sun is closer here. So, it’s really warm here, right?”
That… actually made sense.
Since I had immunity to temperature changes, I couldn’t tell, so I just decided to believe Ramir’s words.
This passive ability couldn’t be turned off, after all.
Come to think of it, this is another world, so I guess it makes sense that going higher could make it hotter instead of colder.
I felt oddly proud of myself for learning a new piece of knowledge.
“But why are your hands shaking?”
“……”
“……”
“…T-Tremors.”
Oh, so he has hand tremors.
That makes sense.
He must’ve treated his wrists pretty roughly.
Wrists are precious; he should’ve done proper stretching.
“But Minho, are you really flying from here?”
“Yeah, apparently I have to.”
As I talked with Ramir, my nerves gradually eased up.
“Minho? Do you feel a little better now?”
“Yes, Mom!”
Just at the right moment, Mom called me.
I excitedly dashed toward her—
Only to be snatched up by Dad midway.
“Mom’s tired, so let’s train with Dad~”
“…Okay!”
“You don’t sound happy about it.”
“I wanted to hug Mom…”
“Well, you can hug Dad instead!”
Dad wrapped me in a tight hug.
His rough beard pricked me a little, but it still felt nice.
“…It stings.”
“Ahem! It’s my day off, so I didn’t shave.”
And just like that, the real training began.
“Alright, Minho, release your Polymorph. You trust Dad, right?”
“Y-Yes!”
I released my Polymorph and returned to my dragon form.
“…Our daughter looks beautiful even as a dragon. Don’t ever leave Dad’s side when you grow up—men are all unreliable.”
“Whoa.”
“This is my first time seeing Minho in dragon form!”
“…Oh.”
People behind me, seeing my dragon form for the first time, started complimenting how beautiful I looked.
“Heh, hehehe, t-this is embarrassing.”
“Alright, now let’s fly in style!”
“Yes!”
I walked on all fours toward the edge of the cliff.
“Okay, take a few steps back, then run forward and jump. Can you do it?”
As soon as you jump, spread your wings and flap them. Got it?
“I-I’ll try! I-I’ll do it!”
“Good. Don’t look down, just keep your eyes forward.”
“Yes!”
I can do this.
I’m the strongest.
I can do this.
Even though I was still nervous, I kept reassuring myself.
I am the strongest.
I wanted to fly so badly that I was granted this body.
There’s no way I can’t do it!
“Minho, if anything goes wrong, Dad will fly right over and catch you.”
“Yes!”
If Dad says that, then it must be really safe.
Mom wasn’t stopping me either.
I decided to trust them.
Even my sister and Ramir, both smiling, were cheering for me.
“H-Here I go!”
“You got this!”
“Yeeeeessss!!”
The moment I answered, I dashed forward with all my strength.
‘Aaaaaaahhhh!!!’
‘I don’t care, Dad will save me anyway!!’
My four legs left the ground—
-Flap flap flap flap.
‘Ah, this isn’t working.’
My body was falling.
Four weak flaps—so weak and meaningless—
And then, pulled by gravity, I began to plummet endlessly toward the ground.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!”
“Save meeeeeeee!!!!”
-Yooooo…
-Ooooo…
-Ooo…
My screams echoed off the rocky mountains.
The ground was getting closer.
“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!”
[Skill: Polymorph activated!]
Wait, why?!
Even my status window was malfunctioning now?!
[The King chuckles, saying ‘Oops, my mistake.’]
“Mister!!!!”
[He apologizes.]
This crazy bastard?!
You just nearly killed a person—no, a dragon—and all you have to say is ‘Sorry’?!
Do you think saying sorry fixes everything?!
“I’m going to kill you…!!”
[What exactly can you do?]
“I’m literally falling to my death!!!”
I had already broken through the clouds.
Skydiving without a parachute.
This was insane.
“Waaahhh!! S-Someone save me!!!”
I was too scared to look at the ground, so I twisted my body to look behind me—
A white dragon was rapidly descending in my direction.
I instinctively knew who it was.
“Dad!!!”
“Just hold on a little longer, Minho! I’ll get you soon!”
“Please save me!!”
I could see my tears scattering into the sky.
“Buweeeeehh!!”
[Skill: Flight activated.]
…What?
– Flap!!!
The moment the message popped up in front of me—
A massive pair of golden wings burst from my back.
The very instant those wings flapped, covering the sky—
I stood in midair.
No joke. I was literally standing in the sky.
– Shwaaaaaaa!!!
Something white flashed past me.
“A-Ah! Dad!!! I did it!!! I succeeded!!!”
It was Dad.
Because I had stopped so suddenly, he hadn’t been able to slow down in time and ended up flying further down.
Overwhelmed with joy, I excitedly waved at him.
“Ugh… Just head up first! I think I overexerted myself—my wing got strained!”
What? Why is he so weak?
Now that I think about it, Dad seems weaker than Mom.
Is it because he’s always sitting at his desk?
“Okay!!”
I flapped my massive golden wings and soared higher.
If I didn’t move my wings, I would stay still. If I flapped harder, I ascended.
When I stayed still, it felt like I was standing on air, which wasn’t a bad feeling at all.
“Mom!”
“M-Minho?! H-How did you do that?”
“I-I just flew, you know?”
“H-How are you flying while still in Polymorph form?”
“I-I don’t know… It just happened…”
Mom tried to hide her shock, then suddenly started running toward me.
“M-Mom, that’s dangerous!!”
“My daughter! You’re a genius!!”
Before she could hug me midair, I quickly landed back on the mountain.
“That’s dangerous!”
“Sorry, I was just too happy.”
[Skill: Flight deactivated.]
And just like that, my first flight was a huge success.