Do You Feel the Difference in Power?

Do you feel the difference in power? There's a saying: after three days apart, even a scholar must be viewed with fresh eyes.

Though my body might be like this, my spirit has inherited the righteous heart of a Confucian scholar. Over the past week, I've achieved astonishing growth.

"Grrr…."

"Kyung!"

"Hm, just about that much."

The wolf pack that once tormented me relentlessly had even lower levels than before.

'No, is this even the same pack…?'

Truth be told, I was a bit fuzzy on whether this was the exact same wolf pack I'd seen before. But that wasn't the point anyway.

They were wolves. And I hated wolves.

'Spear Throw.'

Shwaaak—!

I hurled the fork gripped in my hand straight at the Gray Dire Wolf with all my might.

Paat—! "Hekhek… grr—?!"

Maybe it hadn't expected me to attack while it was licking its chops.

Hop.

The Gray Dire Wolf startled but calmly dodged the fork.

"Grrrrr… kyung!"

As it barked loudly at me in relief, seeing the fork clatter harmlessly to the ground…

"Whiiiu—"

I simply whistled softly. And right away—

Shiiiik—! Pffft.

"Just like that."

As if reacting to the sound, the fork sprang up from the ground and pierced right under the Dire Wolf's jaw.

…Thud.

From the leader's pathetic death—

"Kyaeng?!" "Kyakyak!"

A half-beat late, the terrified wolves raised a commotion.

Looking down at the wolves flailing about like mere mobs, I flashed a beaming smile.

"Whiiiuuu—"

I whistled again, striking a suitably dramatic pose.

"Kkaegang—!" "Kangkang!"

Scamper—!

The greatly startled wolves scattered in all directions, fleeing for their lives. Well, excessive slaughter wouldn't do my mental health any favors.

Whiiik—. Clack.

I didn't bother cutting off the retreating wolves' escape. Instead—

Shwaaak.

I quietly swung the fork in my hand to flick off the wolf blood.

"Hehe…."

So this was what it felt like to be the strong one.

This proved that no mere wolf could ever be my match again.

Of course, I still had no guarantee I could shake off birds of prey, so I was being careful not to climb higher than the trees to scout around.

In truth, with this level of strength, conquering the skies should be a breeze…

Shwaaaak—! "Pyyoooooo—!" "……."

…or so I thought. But it seemed a bit premature.

It had definitely been just a tad smaller than the wolves when I first saw it. I had no idea what it'd been gorging on over the past week, but the bird of prey's body had more than doubled in size.

I wasn't sure if my current Airflow Manipulation could keep up with that raptor’s flight speed. And even swinging a fork by hand, I doubted I could land a solid hit on something that big.

'One mistake could mean lifelong regret.'

Unlike dealing with ground animals like the Gray Dire Wolf, facing birds in the sky nullified my powerful advantage: flight.

Regrettable, but I should abandon dreams of sky domination.

Unless I absolutely had to go up there for some reason. Catching ground animals was plenty for growth—no need to take risks.

"So for now, steadily level up—"

….

Of course, air superiority meant a broad field of view, which would hugely help in choosing my path forward.

….

That raptor just flew off in a completely different direction anyway. Should be fine for a while, right?

….

To check if I'm heading toward that fortress-like place on the elf map, I need to confirm my position at least once.

….

Dopamine, hold back?

….

"Gasp."

What could go wrong? Recalling the magic beasts and monsters I'd faced so far, I might struggle a bit, but winning wasn't impossible.

And if things got dangerous, I had my cheat-level emergency escape: the Fairy Realm.

With a light heart, I gained altitude, passing the treetops until I finally reached the vast open sky.

"Whoa…."

The pristine upper air, without a speck of dust. People joke about height differences with "the air's different up there."

And truthfully, at this altitude, differences in temperature and pressure made it far from wrong.

Feeling the clear, refreshing air—distinct from the ground—fill my lungs, I took in the shrunken world below at a glance.

The vast forest. Sure, clearings here and there, an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠elf village, maybe beastkin settlements dotted the landscape.

But amid all that frantic life, no matter where I looked, it was just endless waves of green—making it all seem so futile.

'…Not sure.'

The symbol on the elf village map was clearly fortress-shaped, so I figured there'd be some towering elven temple or the like.

But from the sky, nothing stood out.

Maybe I just couldn't spot it. Or the elf ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠map was wrong. Or—

'Buried deep in the forest…?'

If the structure was hidden within the dense woods, searching from the sky like this was pointless.

'…Guess I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have to go down and search manually.'

As I finished deciding and began lowering my altitude back to the forest—

Fwoooosh—! "…!"

A wave of heat surging from behind. No time to think—I flapped urgently, twisting my body sideways.

Shiiiik—!

By a hair's breadth. A massive fireball grazed right past where I'd been flying.

A moment slower, and I'd have been well-done fairy.

Tensing up, fork gripped tight, I cautiously checked the source of the fireball.

.

.

?

First, that raptor I'd seen flying far away caught my eye.

.

But the massive bird of prey—bigger than wolves—hung limp, neck snapped.

The entity that had made me hesitate to venture skyward, my object of caution… dead so pathetically.

Following its carcass, up the enormous talon clutching it.

Slowly.

Bit by bit.

I raised my head.

Higher.

Higher.

Higher.

Until my neck strained to its limit. Finally—

"Kruuuuaaaaa—!"

"Kkiyaat?!"

I confirmed the face of the colossal reptile with eyes yellow and huge as my entire body.

Bat-like wing membranes. Rock-like skin.

I'd snapped a wolf, and now it was a wyvern.

As I trembled looking up at it, it eyed me with keen interest.

I dismissed the intrusive status windows in bulk and scanned the wyvern again.

So utterly unreal.

Yeah, logically, no way that hulking lizard could fly.

Maybe it was all show—balloon muscles with no substance.

Shiiiik—!

I rode airflow onto my fork, aiming for the thinnest-looking wing membrane.

Ting—! "Grra?" "……."

Yeah. Of course not.

My precious Fork Friend No. 4 failed to even scratch it, plummeting futilely to the ground.

Flap—. Flap—.

Just the wind from its wingbeats felt like it'd blow me away.

I hadn't sensed its presence at all moments ago. How had this behemoth sneaked up?

The answer wasn't hard to guess.

'…From higher up.'

From an altitude impossible to spot from the ground, like birds snatching ground prey.

This giant reptile did the same to lower-flying birds.

'…Why the hell does something like this even exist?'

While folks debated if the next evolution hit 17cm or not, this thing was meters long at a glance. Born bigger than me, no doubt.

The wild's unfairness hit home. But whatever—this was some no-name game world I'd forgotten the title of.

I could accept monsters like this flying around.

Yeah, the world was unfair. Up to that point, fine.

But—

'Why is everything so desperate to eat me?!'

I'd sensed something off when the Gray Dire Wolf ignored other corpses to chase me.

And now, this damned reptile had a bird several times my size in talon, yet ignored it to drool over tiny me.

"Kruuuuaaaaa!" "Kkyaaak!"

Ending the brief standoff, as it lunged with jaws wide—

Crack—!

I urgently deployed a Dimension Corridor and fled to the Fairy Realm.

* * *

Humans can't fly. Humans can't fly. Humans absolutely can't fly.

Biologically, their muscles lack the power relative to body weight, and their dense bones are too heavy. Birds have 7-8 times the flapping strength of humans, with bodies aerodynamically optimized for flight.

In short, the sky is bird territory. Not a space for a puny fairy like me.

I'd forgotten that, got cocky, and nearly became half-roasted fairy. But hey, lesson learned.

'No matter what, never fly higher than the treetops.'

At least this time, deploying the Dimension Corridor right away let me escape. But it had fired a fireball the instant it spotted me.

Also—

'…Right before fleeing to the Fairy Realm, my body froze ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a second.'

Luckily, I opened the rift below me like when escaping the fat elf. If it'd been to the side, I'd have plummeted flat or straight into its gut.

'Well, survived, so all good.'

Yeah, exactly.

.

.

I shoved the unpleasant status window from my mind.

"Alright, let's get going."

With a light, cheerful heart, I set off on my new journey.