Elqi recovered slightly and slowly opened her eyes. However, the moment she did, she felt a throbbing pain in them, accompanied by a faint, stinging ache in her brain that made her knit her brows.
She felt something soft nearby, and she subconsciously hugged it tighter. A faint, refreshing fragrance drifted into her nose, soothing her various discomforts.
After a moment, she finally regained some clarity and opened her eyes again to look…
Elqi realized she was hugging Rosily. Surrounding them was the vast, open sky, and a sensation of weightlessness washed over her. She was still a bit dazed and hadn’t fully reacted to what was happening.
Rosily noticed she was awake and glanced at her, a slight curve appearing at the corner of her mouth as she spoke a bit louder.
“You’re awake?”
“…”
Elqi was stunned. She hurriedly looked around and found the sky beneath her feet while the ground was above her head. A city was rapidly approaching them.
‘No, we’re falling…’
It took only one second for her to understand the situation.
“What-what-what is going on? Why are we so high in the sky?” she screamed, simultaneously tightening her grip on Rosily.
She had thought they had already hit the ground, but she never expected to still be in the air upon waking. ‘What exactly happened during the short time I was unconscious?’
If Rosily hadn’t forced the staff to change direction earlier, they would have crashed straight into the ground. At most, they would have just left a massive crater. Elqi had magic tools on her person that could protect both her and Rosily, which was why she had been so reckless with the acceleration.
But now, falling straight down from the sky, she worried the magic tools might not be able to handle the impact…
Just as Elqi was thinking this, she realized she didn’t feel any air resistance during the descent, as if something was blocking it.
Rosily raised her arm, spreading her five fingers toward the rapidly approaching ground. A thin, silver sphere of light lingered around them like an eggshell, decelerating them by pushing against the air.
Seeing this, Elqi was surprised. This spherical shell felt very familiar; it was similar to when she used Wind Control Magic. However, her version usually had two air vents at the top and bottom rather than being a perfectly closed sphere, as that made it easier to control.
The flight magic she used was essentially a combination of a Featherweight Spell and Wind Control Magic, using the airflow rotating around the staff for propulsion. True elemental flight magic involved wrapping oneself in a sphere like Rosily was doing, which allowed for both flight and defense.
Seeing Elqi’s curiosity, Rosily explained.
“I couldn’t replicate your magic, but I tried doing something similar with Sword Qi. It seems to be somewhat effective.”
Their descent speed was gradually slowing.
Elqi was shocked. “This… it must consume a lot, right?!”
Converting Magic Power into Sword Qi required both Magic Power and Spirit Power. It was completely a two-for-one losing trade.
“It’s alright.”
Rosily felt it was fine, though the fine control of Sword Qi gave her a bit of a headache. She still preferred a more rugged way of using it — for example, continuously releasing a Sword Qi Slash toward the ground to slow down…
Elqi opened her lips, wanting to say she could use magic to help with the landing, but a sudden sharp pain in her brain told her that now was not the time to push herself.
When magic goes out of control, it backlashes against the caster.
‘Why at a time like this…’
Elqi’s left eye closed uncontrollably, and only then did the pain in her brain subside.
Rosily looked down and said, “Hey, we’re falling right into the Academy. Get ready for landing!”
“Ah…”
Elqi felt her body jerk. Rosily was holding her by the waist, and that sudden jolt almost made her vomit stomach acid.
The silver-white sphere enveloping the two of them, which had been so thin it was almost invisible, gradually solidified. The power contained within it grew more immense, and at the same time, their falling speed slowed significantly.
Directly below Rosily’s gaze was a small forest. It was a partition within the Crimson Academy, located between the Library and the Arena.
Keen-eyed observers had already spotted them while they were still high up. Now that they were lower, they were drawing even more attention.
The silver sphere fell straight toward the lush canopy. The moment it made contact, the branches and green leaves were pulverized into fine fragments.
Once they hit the ground, Elqi felt she was still alive and her limbs were intact. Resting on something soft made her not want to get up. However, after the experience of the world spinning around her, the aftereffects hit once she stabilized. Her stomach began to churn, and Elqi snapped her eyes open, rolling off Rosily to the side. She knelt on the ground and began to violently heave up stomach acid.
Rosily sat up in the small crater and watched Elqi, who was suffering and vomiting. Not only did she have no intention of offering comfort, but she also just sat there, admiring Elqi’s messy and undignified state.
After watching for a while, she looked up at where they had just fallen from.
Amidst the dense canopy, a cylindrical void had been carved out of nothing. The dimming sunlight fell through it onto the ground, forming a prominent pillar of light. Right in the middle of that pillar of light were Rosily and Elqi.
Elqi’s body trembled slightly. Ignoring her dignity, she flipped over and lay on the ground, closing her eyes to rest and recover right there.
Rosily also lay down, but she turned on her side. Her orange-red eyes remained fixed on Elqi’s face.
When the Academy guards rushed over and saw the two girls lying in the pile of debris, they didn’t know what to do.
—
At a park in the Crimson Academy, two pretty girls were sitting on a roadside bench. They were being secretly scrutinized and discussed by many onlookers.
Everyone was talking about how they had fallen from the sky and remained unharmed, while also discussing things related to Rosily.
After some time, Elqi finally settled her body. That faint pain in her brain had disappeared, though it still felt a bit heavy. It seemed the aftereffects wouldn’t be completely gone anytime soon.
She sat on the bench with her head slightly bowed.
Rosily sat beside her, her hands moving through Elqi’s brown hair to pick out the wood fragments caught within.
Both of them were currently in a state of disarray, their clothes messy and bodies dirty. Elqi was just dirty and disheveled, but Rosily’s right sleeve was completely gone. Her originally fair and delicate arm was now stained with the yellow of soil and the green of grass.
Just as Elqi was enjoying this rare moment of peace, a group of people suddenly surrounded them. Her expression turned cold, and she prepared to summon her staff, but after attempting the summoning spell, she found it was ineffective.
‘Huh? Where is my staff?’
‘Wait, where did my staff fall?’
Elqi started to panic a bit.
On the other side, Rosily blinked her clear eyes as she looked at the well-dressed girls in front of her, each possessing exceptional beauty.
A slender girl stepped forward and grabbed Rosily’s hand, a worried expression on her pretty face.
“Rosily, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Rosily said with a light laugh, shaking her head.
“I was scared to death when I saw you fall from the sky just now.” The girl let out a breath as if she still had lingering fears. “I’m so glad you’re okay. It’s truly wonderful that you’re safe!”
“Yeah, Rosily, I was breaking into a cold sweat for you too.”
“Me too, me too!”
“And me.”
Several girls crowded around Rosily, pushing Elqi off the bench. They gathered around her to tidy up her clothes and hair.
Rosily accepted everyone’s attention, smiling with a silly expression as she said to them, “Thank you for worrying.”
“…”
Elqi, who had been pushed several feet away, felt both angry and helpless seeing this scene.
More people continued to gather, asking Rosily what kind of special training she had participated in. Some even asked if she needed to go to a hotel outside to take a shower, though Rosily declined.
Rosily responded fluently, chatting with several people at once without showing favoritism to any of them. It was practically a natural talent.
Elqi watched from the side, gritting her teeth the entire time, but she had a limit to her patience…
“Hey!” she shouted, causing the girls to stop their playful chatter. They all turned to look at her.
One girl spoke in a sarcastic tone. “Oh? Isn’t this our Academy’s ‘top scholar,’ Missy Elqi? When did you get here? How did I not see you just now?”
Being the center of attention made Elqi gasp slightly, but even so, she stepped forward quickly, pushed aside the girls blocking her path, and grabbed the wrist of Rosily, who was surrounded in the middle.
“Elqi?”
Rosily was still confused when she felt the hand on her wrist squeeze a bit harder.
Elqi’s intention was to tell Rosily to stop talking, but her wrist strength was quite average. She didn’t say anything and just pulled Rosily toward the exit, but the other girls blocked her path.
“Elqi, you can leave, but you can’t take Rosily with you.”
“Rosily doesn’t belong to you alone. What right do you have to take her away?”
“That’s right! Rosily has always belonged to everyone!”
“To everyone!”
The girls spoke one after another.
Elqi’s eyelid twitched. In the past, she would never have done something like taking Rosily away in public. But today, she was a little different.
“What, do you all want to fight it out with me?”
“…”
“…”
The girls fell silent.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Rosily immediately stepped in to play peacemaker.
“Oh, everyone, please don’t argue. Elqi and I still have some matters to discuss with the Academy teachers. Everyone should head back first. If you’re free, we can continue chatting later.”
After she said that, the girls stepped back, their cold gazes turning warm as they looked at Rosily.
“Then you promised, Rosily. We’ll go out and play together in a few days.”
“But Missy Elqi, you’ll probably be staying in the Library then, right?”
Elqi turned to look at that girl and couldn’t help but spit internally.
‘Bitch!’
Then, she angrily pulled Rosily away. They quickly broke through the circle of girls, and her pace gradually slowed down.
Rosily walked by her side.
Suddenly, Elqi stopped and turned to Rosily, saying very seriously, “They just treat you like a toy, and every single one of them has an ulterior motive!”
The women in the Academy who actively approached Rosily all shared a common trait: they all came from Noble families.
Rosily narrowed her eyes slightly, smiling at Elqi’s serious expression.
“Then what does Elqi see me as?”