Chapter 662: Last days on the Caravan (23)

Kyrian felt the Qi wings behind his back. The sensation was strange. Very strange.

It was as if he had suddenly acquired a new pair of limbs, limbs that shouldn’t exist, that defied the logic of the human body, but that now were part of him as naturally as his arms or legs.

Except that these limbs were not made of flesh and bones. They were completely formed from Qi. Lightning Qi, to be more precise.

Kyrian remained motionless for several seconds, simply feeling that new extension of his being. Each feather vibrated slightly, as if it were alive, as if it were breathing. He could feel every thread of energy that made up that structure, every tiny connection between one feather and another, and every pulse of electricity that traveled across the surface.

It was... strange. But it was also fascinating.

Kyrian tried to move one of the wings. It trembled.

A small movement, almost imperceptible. Like a muscle that had never been used before, responding to conscious command for the first time.

Then it slowly opened.

Lightning traveled across its surface, small electric arcs jumping between the feathers formed by Qi. Violet sparks danced in the air at night, briefly illuminating the courtyard with a ghostly light.

Kyrian narrowed his eyes.

’The control is a little complicated.’

He tried to move the other one. The second wing responded, but a little more slowly. The two were not perfectly synchronized.

One moved with relative ease, while the other seemed to hesitate, as if reluctant to obey. There was a subtle asymmetry between them, a difference in response that bothered Kyrian.

He wasn’t surprised. Forming the wings was only the first step. Controlling them would be an entirely different matter.

Kyrian took a deep breath and continued concentrating.

More Qi left his dantians and entered the two enormous structures behind his back. He could feel the energy flowing through invisible channels, filling every feather, every thread, every connection.

The wings began to grow. One feather. Two. Ten. A hundred.

Each one was formed from an extremely small amount of Lightning Qi, so small that it would be insignificant individually. But the sum of all those feathers quickly became impressive.

Lightning began to flash throughout the structure. The two wings continued growing. First, they reached shoulder height. Then they surpassed his head.

Then they continued. Until, finally, each wing was approximately twice the size of Kyrian himself.

He raised his head. The enormous structure behind him looked almost supernatural.

Two gigantic wings of Lightning Qi. Each feather had a defined shape. Every part was connected to the others through tiny threads of Qi. And lightning constantly traveled across their surfaces.

It was an impressive sight. Kyrian moved his shoulders, and the wings followed the movement.

He closed one. Opened the other. Then did the opposite.

’But it’s not that difficult either.’

In fact, the formation process had been much more complicated.

Creating each feather separately required an absurd amount of control. Each one had to be shaped individually, connected to its neighbors, and energized with the exact amount of Qi. Any mistake would result in an unstable structure that would collapse in on itself.

But, once the structure was ready, controlling the wings seemed surprisingly natural.

It was almost as if his own body knew how to use them. As if it had always known.

Kyrian opened both. The enormous wings filled a large part of the courtyard.

The wind produced by the movement caused the leaves of the tree above him to sway violently. Some leaves came loose, spinning through the air before falling to the ground.

Kyrian looked up. His gaze traveled across the night sky.

The stars shone above, dotting the darkness with points of silver light. The moon was high, casting a soft light over the world.

’Let’s find out if this really works.’

He concentrated his mind. The wings opened completely. Then... he beat them once.

’BOOM!’

An explosion of wind occurred in the courtyard.

A huge amount of Qi was sent into the wings. Kyrian felt the energy being drained from his dantians, flowing through his body and entering the lightning feathers.

The next instant, Kyrian’s body was launched upward. Very quickly.

"Whoa!"

His feet left the ground. One meter. Five. Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

Kyrian continued ascending. The wind violently rushed across his face. His hair was thrown backward.

He opened his eyes completely. The ground was getting farther and farther away.

’It worked!’

A smile appeared on his face. He continued ascending. When he finally stopped rising, he was dozens of meters above the ground.

From up there, he could see his own courtyard. He could also see the rooftops of the nearby buildings.

The streets seemed smaller. The people walking below looked tiny.

Kyrian looked around. A strange sensation arose in his chest. He was flying and flying on his own.

Without a spiritual beast. Without a flying artifact. Without needing to reach a higher realm. Just by using his own Qi wings.

’So this is it.’

Kyrian spent a few seconds appreciating the sensation.

The night wind caressed his face. The stars seemed closer. The entire world stretched out below him, small and distant.

Then he decided to climb even higher. He beat his wings again. This time, however, the movement was not perfect. One of the wings beat first. The other came a fraction of a second later. His body tilted.

"Ah."

Kyrian immediately noticed the problem. The distribution of Qi was wrong.

He had sent more energy to one wing than the other. The imbalance caused his body to lose stability.

His body began to fall. He tried to correct himself. One wing opened. The other closed. His body spun. Kyrian descended rapidly.

"Well..."

He looked at the approaching ground.

"I didn’t expect to be able to fly perfectly on the first attempt anyway."

’BOOM!’

Kyrian landed in the courtyard. The ground sank slightly beneath his feet.

A small crater formed where he landed, but he suffered no injuries. His body had been reinforced by Qi, and a fall from that height wasn’t enough to cause any damage.

He simply stood there for a few seconds. Then he raised his head.

’Again.’