Chapter 69

Tutorial 12th Floor (8)

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What’s so attractive about fantasy genre?

Isn’t it all about getting vicarious satisfaction from hearing or seeing amazing experiences that are beyond our wildest imaginations?

Everyone has a fantasy or two .

When people find novels or movies that can satisfy their desire, they indulge in them quickly . I think it is obvious why they would .

I also have such a fantasy .

The characters who occasionally appear in fantasy novels, such as griffin riders, wyvern riders, or dragon riders…

I’m talking about those .

The knights who ride on the backs of flying monsters and soar to the sky…

When I was a kid, I read fantasy novels and wondered how great it would be to have that kind of experience .

Standing on the top of the cliff and facing the fresh wind, I sighed .

It is the moment where my lifelong dream is about to come true .

I should be happy…

Although I became the mounted instead of the mounter .

“Here, get on my back, Idy . ”

“Keruk . I never thought I would become the first human rider in the lizardman history . ”

The strange class title lingered at my ears .

A human rider, a lizardman who is riding me, a human…

What a horrible mix…

* * *

[Talaria’s Wings]

From the edge of the cliff, I spread the gigantic wings and lowered my body to take a stance .

“All right . Get on, Idy . ”

“Keruk Keruk . ”

She found it amusing for a moment . She then carefully got on my back .

“Keruk . I never even dreamed I would become the first human rider in the lizardman history . ”

“I also never even dreamed I would be flying in the sky with a lizardman on my back . I always dreamed about what I’d be riding . I never once thought about me being the ride . ”

“Keruk . Keruk . Captain, if you want, you can always ride me . ”

What am I going to do by riding you?

Are you going to give me a piggy back ride?

Wait, hold on here…

Are you speaking in innuendoes?

“Hey!”

“Keruk . Keruk . ”

I can hear Idy’s laughter from the back .

Unlike earlier, her laughter sounded lewd . It was raising goosebumps on my neck and face .

I knew that she was teasing me, but it was still giving me the creeps .

“Hey! Don’t fiddle with my arm! You are going to get in my way of flying!”

“Keruk . Keruk . ”

Oh my, you are having so much fun here aren’t you?

I think I should start flying right away so she won’t play around .

I’ll show you the true meaning of motion sickness from flight .

I’m going to have you go through an extreme course of the pain from flight motion sickness .

I took steps and jumped from the cliff .

Talaria’s Wings’ flight effect was activated . Like that, our flight begun .

The weather was completely clear . There wasn’t even a single lump of cloud .

It was perfect for flying .

The jungle stretched to the horizon . It was a great sight to behold during flight .

“Keruk! Keruk!”

Is it fun?

Is it exciting?

Soon, I’ll show you hell .

* * *

“Keruk . Captain, I think I’m going to throw up . ”

“… Hold it for a bit . I’ll slow down . ”

To show hell to Idy who had been making fun of me, I performed a few aerial acrobat flight moves, and I regretted it immediately .

Unable to endure the motion sickness, Idy vomited .

She threw up right on my back .

Because it happened due to my overdone flight moves, I can’t even complain to Idy…

… Ugh, seriously…

In the end, we landed and found a water stream . We were able to fly again after I washed my body and changed clothes .

Since then, I had been flying really quietly in low altitude .

I was no different from a fancy taxi service with exemplary driving .

Damn it . Damn it .

“Captain… I am really sorry . Are you very angry?”

“It’s all right… It happened because I was acting out . Don’t mind it . ”

Who would I blame this on?

I am the one who is the dumbass .

Gosh .

There were a few reasons why we could comfortably fly through the sky on a clear day like this .

First, there was the information about that Ihaoi Continent that Lee Jun-suk sent after obtaining it from a Hard Difficulty manager .

Perhaps it was because the continent was covered in lush jungle with tightly packed trees . There weren’t many large flying monsters living here .

Secondly, from the last round, while I spent 24 days in the jungle, I figured out the levels of most of the monsters here .

The situation now was different from the last time, when I didn’t even know what kind of monsters were here .

Finally, while Idy and I are combined like this…

Combined? That sounds kind of weird .

With Idy on my back, we could fight off ordinary monsters with ease .

Because I’m flying with Talaria’s Wing’s flight effect, I don’t need to use my body to fly .

I don’t need to mind the flight control so much, hence moving my body and making decisions are that much easier .

In addition, there is the Wind Spirit’s Blessing and Blink Skills .

Idy is also on my back, wielding a long spear . With her in charge of attack and checking the rear view, this is perfect .

There probably isn’t anyone who could beat us on aerial combat, at least on 12th Floor Stage .

Because of these reasons, I was certain about the safety of the flight, so I decided to fly to the destination instead of walking on foot .

Besides the speed, covering several hundred kilometers through lush jungle is no easy task .

It is not just hard . The mental exhaustion from crossing several hundred kilometers is no joke .

We need to constantly cut away grass and tree branches getting in our way as we walk through narrow spaces between trees .

We also need to watch out for tree roots underneath .

There are countless bugs and poisonous plants .

Also, the environment is hot and humid

Although I like things tough, that’s only when I’m grinding for the sake of developing skills .

When possible, I like comfort . Is that too obvious?

I focused on flying as I thought about a lot of things, but Idy carefully started a conversation .

“Captain . I think we had been flying for quite a while now . How about we rest for a bit while eating packed lunch?”

“Okay . Let’s do that . ”

Her voice still felt apologetic . That was bugging me .

I think I should at least compliment her by telling her how delicious the food is as I eat it .

Her motion sickness will be gone too if we spend an hour or two on the ground as we eat the lunch .

* * *

Although I made up my mind to compliment her cooking to make her feel better, the thought was unnecessary .

The packed lunch was delicious anyway . I would have only compliment her on the food anyway for how delicious it was .

It is the best, Idy .

“Keruk . Eat heartily, Captain . ”

Idy looked pleased . She smiled like a doting mother as she watched me eat .

Wow, this is super tasty .

Seriously…

I think you could even open a restaurant .

Actually, in the past, I assumed lizardmen would eat raw food . I was completely wrong .

Maybe Idy was extraordinarily skilled in cooking . Regardless, her cooking was far tastier than the food I used to eat in Korea .

“Keruk . Why did you think lizardmen would eat raw food?”

“Because lizards do that . ”

“Even monkeys eat raw food too . Keruk . ”

Um… You got me there .

“Keruk . You should be mindful of this from now on . I’ve heard that humans are the only intelligent beings in the world that you came from . However, that is not the case in other worlds . You will meet various beings as you progress through the Tutorial . If you step out of bounds with your words carelessly, you could hurt their feelings, so you need to be careful . ”

She was right .

I was careless and rude .

At the Fourth Floor, I treated goblins as just mindless monsters . I was astonished when I learned otherwise . To think I became complacent about this fact again in such a short period of time .

“Your tendency is probably influenced by the fact that the other beings you met so far were all enemies you had to defeat . Overthinking about the enemy’s culture or showing respect could occasionally come back to hurt you as poison . You could think the way you do unconsciously . However, from now on, most likely not all beings are going to be your enemies . ”

I should be careful and remember Idy’s advice .

It is a worthy advice .

Where would I go to get advice like this?

“Thanks, Idy . I’ll remember it well and be careful from now on . Also, if you are upset because of what I said, I apologize . ”

“Keruk . Keruk . It’s all right . You take my nagging seriously . I’m thankful . ”

‘You worried for nothing’ was what Idy essentially said . I looked at Idy and smiled quietly .

This rascal is good at talking too .

I suddenly felt that I was fortunate to have met Idy .

It was a very unique fate that lead to our meeting and what came after .

I met her as the enemy at the Fifth Floor’s boss room . Who would have thought that I would be spending time like this with her and become close with her?

I thought about when we were standing on guard against each other with weapons pointed at each other and when she suddenly made mating proposal confession to me .

Our relation started with that, and it came this far .

It’s very interesting .

Now, Idy became my friend and only comrade .

She is my advisor, supporter and even teacher .

I think it would be also fine to call her my family .

She is different from the people at the Order of Vigilance .

This is different from my relationship with the Order’s members who I communicate through the community and meet in person once every two or so months .

When it came to the members of the Order, even when I got close to them and got to know them well, the relationship felt very business-like; it was more for just the social structure .

We were close because it was necessary and convenient for each other .

In comparison, when it came to Idy…

Our relationship was not like that . Instead, we had a closer, intimate, and supportive relationship .

Our relationship was not out of necessity .

What would I do if Idy could not help me in progressing through the stage anymore?

I would still want to be with her .

I like being with her .

When she is around, I feel comfortable and supported .

We understand each other easily and can smile together .

The fact that I have a friend like her, and the fact that someone like her is with me through the Tutorial when I had been alone for all this time…

I am thankful .

[God of Adventure has satisfied smile on the face while watching you . ]

[God of Adventure is very satisfied with your revelation . ]

[God of Adventure is very impressed and sympathetic after having read your thoughts . ]

God of Aventure’s Test [Completion Rate: 39/224]

* * *

We finally arrived at the destination .

It took two days of flight .

I put my hand out and felt out the empty air .

I could feel an invisible wall .

I tried operating mana, but even mana could not penetrate the wall .

I’m guessing even fire won’t work .

This is the edge of the 12th Floor Stage, the eastern edge .

This was the destination that I wanted to get to .

It has not rained in the past few days, so it is relatively less humid today .

It won’t be raining for the next five days .

The wind is blowing from the east to the west .

Kuuuuu… It is perfect .

“Now, let’s get started, Idy . ”

With Idy riding on my back, I flew up to the sky again .

From the large bag we had prepared earlier, Idy brought out a heat stone .

Keruk . Just toss it like this?”

“Yes . Think of it as throwing it to shatter the heat stone . Throw it toward trees or ground . ”

The heat stones will do the rest .

Small fires ignited wherever Idy threw the stones towards .

Heat stones are able to exude fire continuously for half a day once they start .

Their effectiveness is proven .

There were plenty of trees and grass around .

In an environment like this, a small seed of fire, even ones from a freshly tossed cigarette, could burn down the entire forest .

Actually, it would not take 800 heat stones . Even 20 would be enough to cause a huge firestorm .

“Keruk . Captain, the air is too hot . ”

When Idy tossed about a dozen heat stones, because of the spreading fire, the temperature around the place increased rapidly .

Lizardmen were cold-blooded, so they were sensitive to temperature change .

I flew pretty far away from the flame .

“Keruk . Now it is a little better . ”

We watched the fire spreading from a distance . It was incredible .

Wow…

Burn up, by experience points!

“If you are going to play with fire, you should do at least this much, haha . ”

“Keruk… Keruk . ”

This is strangely exciting .

Something is odd .

I’m feeling pleasure from burning down a forest using a manmade fire .

The flame was slowly burning everything and expanding . I watched it quietly, and it was just fun .

It felt like my chest was opened up completely . It was fun and exciting .

I think I’ll set more fires later whenever I get the chance .

Hahaha .

“Now, Idy . Throw a heat stone over there too . Let’s raise up the fire faster . More, more!"