The late afternoon sun stretched long shadows across Merasca's twisting streets as we slipped away from the Adventurer's Guild.

  Even though it was a busy trading city, Merasca retained its ancient charm. It was one of the more important cities of Ethenia, ruled by the Salt Duke. On paper, that gave it the same status as Waybound City, which was ruled by the Lightning Duke. Towering spires of worn limestone reached for the sky, carved with stories from centuries ago. Narrow canals wound between cobblestone roads, each bridged by graceful arches, while bright awnings over shops fluttered in the soft breeze.

  We ducked into a cramped alleyway wedged between two tall buildings, the upper floors of which nearly brushed each other overhead.

  It was the perfect spot to hide ourselves from the crowd. Shadows pooled here, offering a welcome break from curious stares. These outfits were special. The black color was enchanted with magic, so it blended into the night better, and it even made the wearer’s mana signature impossible to detect. I appreciated this gift a lot.

  I locked my hands behind my back and tried to strike a properly dramatic pose—this “Cheonma” persona had to look the part. Cheonma, also called Chun Ma, better known as the Heavenly Demon. I had to play the part since this might as well be the first time the world would know this name.

  “The plan is coming together,” I said, deliberately lowering my voice. “We’ve registered. Next, we just have to—”

  “Hey, boss,” Lilian cut in, her tail swishing under her cloak. “Are we really gonna hang out in this alley all day? I’m dying of boredom. And hunger.”

  “Hey, what is ‘boss’? It’s ‘my liege’ now.” I stayed in character, refusing to break my intimidating posture. If we wanted people to buy into our masked act, we had to nail it now.

  Solara leaned against the battered stone wall, chuckling quietly. “Chill, Lunardoom. A little patience isn’t going to kill you.”

  Instant effect. Lilian’s shoulders tensed under her hood, and even though her expression was hidden, I could practically sense her glare.

  “Ugh, enough with that name,” she snapped. “It sounded way better in my head.”

  “Sure it did,” Solara said, barely stifling a laugh. “But ‘Lunardoom’? Seriously? Feels like something a moody teenager would scribble in a diary.”

  Lilian’s ears flattened beneath the hood, her red eyes sparking dangerously. “And ‘Sunspot’ sounds so amazing? Please. It’s like you’re hawking sunscreen on the beach.”

  Do they have sunscreen in this world? I wondered while Solara pushed off the wall, and my Demonic Sphere traced the smirk behind her mask. “At least mine doesn’t scream, ‘please, I’m so edgy, please take me seriously!’”

  Lilian’s ears twitched. They inched closer, the tension playful but spiraling out of control. Normally, their spats were kind of fun, but we were supposed to be all mysterious and menacing right now.

  I let out a loud sigh, letting my carefully arranged pose slump a bit. “Alright, that’s enough. We have more pressing things to worry about than cringey nicknames.”

  They both fell silent and glanced my way. For a second, I felt pretty good about recapturing their attention—then I caught the mischievous glint in Lilian’s eyes.

  “Oh, sorry, Cheonma,” she teased, the grin clear in her tone. “Did we ruin your ultra-spooky, brooding vibe?”

  “....”

  Solara raised a finger to her lips, pretending to think deeply. “Yes, how dare we mess with your dark, edgy aesthetic, mighty Heavenly Demon?”

  I felt my face heat up under the golden mask. At the same time, my lips twitched in annoyance. I wanted to beat them up suddenly.

  “Of course I have to act the part,” I said, clearing my throat too forcefully. “We want people to think we’re serious—”

  “Riiight,” they both said in unison, as if they’d rehearsed. My shoulders sagged in defeat. So much for that ominous aura I’d been trying to cultivate.

  “…Anyway,” I said, trying to steer us back on track, “we need to find a good place to lay low. An inn won’t do. They might not let in masked people. Even if they do, it’d be difficult to not get caught since you two are so useless.”

  ““What?””

  I headed deeper into the alley, hearing their muffled argument behind me. Despite my best efforts, my newly crafted persona felt in shambles. As we left the busier roads of Merasca, I tried ignoring the whispered commentary trailing me.

  “Did you see him standing there? Hands behind him like he’s a stage villain—”

  “I know, right? Bet he practiced in front of a mirror—”

  I picked up the pace, doing my best not to listen as my eyes twitched. Anyway… this was an old city, and so it had plenty of space for us to find some discreet hideout. Preferably one where I could maybe salvage a shred of dignity.

  ****

  We left the city center behind, traveling to Merasca’s outskirts where the buildings thinned out and paved streets gave way to dirt roads. The late afternoon sun drenched everything in a golden glow, strangely serene given our shady mission.

  After our talk in the alley, we spent nearly an hour prowling the city’s winding streets. Then, we finally stumbled onto exactly what we needed. Solara spotted it first—a looming silhouette hidden among the trees, clearly forgotten by time.

  “There,” she said, pointing up a gentle slope. “It’s definitely empty.”

  As we pushed past tangled bushes, I had to admit she’d found the perfect hideout. The structure might once have been an opulent manor, complete with impressive columns and big windows. Now it was a relic, the stone fa?ade crumbling, windows shattered, doors half off their hinges. Ivy snaked across the walls, and wild roses choked the old garden paths.

  Solara halted at the bottom of the cracked marble stairs, looking the place over with her head tilted back. She let out a melodramatic sigh from deep in her chest.

  “What is it with us and random abandoned mansions? Are we cursed?” she asked, her voice echoing in the still air.

  Lilian trudged up beside her, keeping her hood low enough to cloak most of her face – though her ears twitched nervously. “Could be fate. Or maybe the universe just hates us. Or maybe it’s simpler than that. Maybe the young mas- Cheonma just likes abandoned mansions.” She muttered under her breath, glancing warily at the darkened interior that stretched beyond the open doorway.

  I ignored their chatting and strode up, planting a boot on the cracked step, trying to look authoritative again. My mask helped hide the unease I felt—one side of the roof looked like it was threatening to cave in.

  “It’s practical,” I said. “Nobody’s going to bother us here, and we can secure it easily.”

  I pretended not to notice the collapsed section of the roof.

  Solara let out another big sigh, even more dramatic this time. “Great, we’ll finally have rats for roommates. I’ve been waiting for this.”

  I decided to ignore that little jab and led the way up. The front steps shifted alarmingly under my weight, and the battered double doors were basically wreckage—one was on the verge of falling off completely, the other half buried in the entryway rubble.

  Stepping inside kicked up dust motes that swirled in the slim beams of sunlight poking through holes in the ceiling. We stood in what was once a grand entrance hall, with floors of cracked marble, a sweeping staircase missing a few rails, and broken portraits down the hallway on our right. The silence was thick—punctuated by the occasional scrape of something scurrying around the corners. Hopefully just rats…

  Lilian gave an exaggerated shiver that might’ve been half real. Her advanced senses probably picked up far more than Solara or I could.

  “So spooky,” she mumbled, ears flicking under her hood. Then she forced a joke, “But hey, at least it fits our creepy persona, right? The Demonic Cult in a spooky mansion.”

  Solara nudged her lightly, steering her toward a dark corridor. “After you, Lunardoom. The rats are waiting for their mistress.”

  “...Bitch?” Lilian growled in response, making me chuckle behind my mask. Despite it all, their banter always kept things fun.

  “Come on,” I said, venturing in farther and trying to assess how structurally sound this place was. “Let’s split up a bit and see if it’s livable.”

  The next hour flew by as we claimed what we could of the mansion. I checked the ground floor—despite appearances, some rooms looked stable enough.

  Solara flitted to the second story to scope it out, calling down that the west wing had basically collapsed, but the east wing wasn’t too bad. Lilian stalked around, sniffing out potential dangers or lurking squatters.

  In the end, we chose three adjacent rooms on the east side that still had most of their walls and doors intact. The furniture was mostly rot and dust, but at least the fireplaces were in decent condition. By dusk, we’d turned a corner of the ruin into a passable hideout.

  Solara lit a few lanterns from the stash we’d bought in town, chasing the deeper shadows away. I set up basic magical traps and wards at the windows and doors—nothing flashy, but enough to warn us if intruders showed. Our cloaks and masks went on hooks by the door, letting us finally breathe a little.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “At least the ceiling’s tall enough for me,” Solara said, stretching her wings now that she wasn’t hiding them any longer. “By the way, I’m sleeping with you. Why did you bother finding three different rooms? Two should have been enough.”

  I was about to reply when my attention was pulled to the background. Lilian staged an epic showdown with a stubborn rat that refused to vacate what she claimed as her room. Her silver hair gleamed in the lantern light as she jumped over a fallen chair, practically roaring, “OUT, you vermin! This is MY place now!”

  Solara laughed so hard she almost dropped her lantern. “Look at you go, mighty Lunardoom, terror of furry intruders!”

  “SHUT UP!” Lilian barked, and I noticed a tiny smile on my face when the rat scurried off under a busted cabinet.

  These two were fun company. I only worried for Nebula… No, that’s for later. She’ll be here soon, in a week or so. I’ll figure it out then. Leaning against the doorway, I watched them and felt a small swell of contentment.

  The mansion was partly in ruins, and the way forward was uncertain. Nevaramis, the rough adventurers, the incoming students, the intended kill—it was a lot of things to keep track of. But at this moment, with these two beside me, everything felt strangely right.

  ****

  Night had fallen, draping the abandoned mansion in shadow and silence. We'd made decent progress setting up our temporary hideout, clearing out most of the rubble and critters from what would be our main room.

  I lounged on a dusty yet surprisingly comfortable old couch, staring thoughtfully at the cracked ceiling. Lantern light cast a warm glow across the room, turning what should have been a creepy derelict into something almost cozy. My golden mask sat on a side table, and I rubbed my chin, lost in thought about our next steps.

  Particularly the problem of flight.

  "There's no way you thought I'd sleep in another room when you want to sleep with him alone." Lilian's annoyed voice cut through my musings.

  She was sprawled across another ancient sofa, tail flicking lazily back and forth as she glared at Solara.

  "Oh, please, quit complaining," Solara responded with a shrug, seated nearby with her wings gently extended. She was meticulously cleaning her feathers, plucking bits of dust from her crimson plumage. "It just makes sense. Think about it.”

  “I can’t think, you tell me.” Lilian tested her.

  “Well… uh… Imagine this. We’re suddenly attacked, or if suddenly the flying island is seen in the sky when we’re in bed. Since Iskandaar can’t fly, I should be by his side so that I can carry him right away."

  “....” I stayed quiet I watched their stupid argument.

  "And I'm the one who can smell danger a mile away," Lilian countered. "Besides, I've been sleeping in his room longer than you have. Seniority."

  "That's not even—"

  I tuned them out again, returning to the problem at hand. Ha-Yun's suggestion of mana strings was promising, but it would take practice. Essentially, I'd be shooting hardened strings of mana from my hands to swing between structures. But while it might work for getting around Merasca, it wouldn't get me to a floating island in the sky. Besides, to incorporate that into fights, I’d have to train for a long time.

  I kept thinking of alternatives.

  But even after minutes, I found no solid answer.

  "Thinking about your inability to fly again, little boss?" Lilian's voice broke my concentration. She'd paused her argument with Solara to turn her attention to me, yawning exaggeratedly.

  Solara chuckled softly, glancing up with a playful gleam in her eyes. "Don't worry. I'll carry you to the flying city. Though I might drop you once or twice for fun."

  I sighed dramatically. "Very funny, ladies. But seriously, carrying me is going to work this time, sure, but there'll be instances in the future where I do need to fly by myself. I can easily do that without needing any Skill once I reach 7th ascension—my martial power will be enough then to use some of the flight techniques I know, but that's more than 30 levels far. I need a reliable method till then."

  If it was just a way to travel to the flying city, there was another option. I didn't have it, but I was supposed to if things hadn't gone wrong in the Highlands…

  We'd been so focused on survival after the fight with Ao’kai that I'd forgotten about gathering materials for the item I'd planned to craft. It was going to be an important item… Among its other abilities, it was a teleportation device of some kind, so while it didn’t allow me to fly, it could have solved the current dilemma.

  Between nearly dying multiple times and meeting the Mountain Gods, my third objective had slipped away entirely. I'd have to find another source for those materials. Maybe Nevaramis will have them.

  That aside, I did know several flying techniques from the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon God. The problem was that they required great Qi control and power than I currently possessed. I did have enough Qi Control, but not enough power. By “power” I didn’t mean Qi quantity.

  I had enough control, thanks to Mana Manipulation [Master], and my Qi was greater in quantity than everyone who shared the ascension ranking with me.

  I checked many of the boxes. But where were some problems regardless. Lack of internal structure, and Qi Density were mainly the issues here. Without them, it was stupid to try flight techniques.

  Murim wasn't Xianxia. Flying was one of the greatest feats in Murim. These flying techniques needed Qi Density that only Transcendental ranked martial artists typically achieved.

  Lilian's grin turned teasing. "Maybe Lunardoom can carry Cheonma, hmm? I can walk on air, you know?"

  "Absolutely not," I replied immediately, though her words made me pause.

  Her Moon Walk ability was fascinating. There were some martial arts that allowed similar effects—double jumps by solidifying the air using Qi—without needing Transcendental QI Density. But they weren't as free-flowing as Lilian's skill. Those techniques didn't last more than a few jumps, either.

  Still, in the worst case scenario, I could learn them from memory.

  "Walking on air," I muttered, turning the concept over in my mind. "If I could adapt something like that..."

  I guess I already had an option at hand then. Better than nothing.

  Solara paused in her preening, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Hey... why not use that weird glowing-ring trick from the Winter Festival? The one you used against Ashvarak. It made you fly pretty fast, didn't it?"

  I straightened abruptly, eyes widening. "Ah, I almost forgot about that. Photon Ring? That… might actually work."

  Photon Ring. The ability that the Crippled Heaven, a future variant of mine, had used. He'd advised Solara that I learn the ability too, giving her some instructions. Since I'm supposed to learn that anyway, and it allowed flight, why not focus on that?

  "Photon what?" Lilian perked up, ears twitching with curiosity. "Hey, what's this about?"

  Solara and I exchanged a glance. She stared at me for a moment, and I nodded, giving her silent permission to explain.

  "I, uh..." Solara began, clearing her throat. "During the Winter Festival, I met an older Iskandaar from a future. Not 'the' future, but one of the possible outcomes. He sounded like a sad, broken man.”

  “...Then what?”

  “As an older Iskandaar, he was stronger than ours one. I saw him use this powerful ring made of pure Stellar Mana. Or Stellar Qi I guess since it's Iskandaar. He called it the Photon Ring. Think of it like standing inside a lightning-fast flying wheel. There was also something called Event Horizon, I think, but he couldn't use it,” she needed her report.

  As a modern man from Earth, I was familiar with both terms.

  Photon was a particle of light, and a ring made of that was a fancy way of saying Light Ring. But the Event Horizon was more science fiction. It was the boundary of a black hole, the ripple, the aura that dragged everything closer. Interesting choices for technique names, future me.

  "....." Lilian went quiet, her ruby eyes fixed on me. "Hey, young master, you never told me about this. What future?"

  "It's part of that skill. The one I used against the Vampiric Father,” I said, choosing not to reveal the specifics.

  I trusted the girls, don't get me wrong, but this was a world where trust serums and mind reading existed. Like Solara warned me a few months ago. It's not like knowing the exact mechanics was going to help them in any way, but it could help my enemies. So I stayed quiet.

  "Ah..." Her expression softened in understanding.

  "Anyways," I stood quickly, pacing thoughtfully around the dusty room. "I don't really remember how it felt, so I don't know how to use it. If I can just replicate it..."

  "It was like this," Solara said as she stood up. With a snap of her finger, a ring of fire formed on her back, like a vertical halo. "Although it wasn't flickering like the flame... It was pure light. Starlight."

  "That looks cool," Lilian interrupted, then looked at me with an amused glint in her eyes. "So you're gonna be practicing flashy glowing donuts all night? I think I'll just stay in my own room then... Or should we find popcorn and cheer?"

  Solara chuckled. "As long as he doesn't burn down the mansion."

  I grumbled softly but nodded decisively. "Yeah, laugh it up. But if I get this down... it'll make everything easier." I wasn’t getting carried by nobody.

  Thus, my training began.

  There had to be more than just forming a ring of light, but I started with that.

  I stood in the center of our makeshift living room, feeling the cool night air against my skin through the broken windows. Focusing inward, I drew on my Stellar Qi, willing it to flow toward my back. The familiar warmth of stellar energy pooled in my core before I directed it upward along my spine.

  "Hey, take that off. You'll burn it off otherwise," Solara said, gesturing at my shirt. “It’s expensive, you know? Ha-Yun will be mad.”

  Lilian moved closer, fingers already reaching for the buttons. "Here, let me help."

  I considered arguing but decided against it. She was right—I'd burned through enough clothes already with various training accidents.

  Lilian's fingers deftly unbuttoned each fastening. The fabric slid from my shoulders, exposing my skin to a slight chill. I shook my head at Solara's whistle at my toned body and quickly refocused on what I was doing.

  With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and concentrated harder, channeling my Stellar Qi toward my upper back. The energy surged, and I sensed a flicker of light manifesting just above my shoulder blades.

  "It's starting!" Lilian exclaimed.

  She was right. I could feel it—a warm, tingling sensation at the top of my spine as light sparked into existence. But just as quickly as it appeared, the energy dispersed, the light flickering away like a candle in the wind.

  "Damn it," I muttered, opening my eyes.

  Solara crossed her arms. "What happened?"

  "It's hard to concentrate it into a ringed shape," I explained, rolling my shoulders. "The energy wants to disperse naturally. I need to contain it."

  I had Master level Mana Manipulation, though. This shouldn't be beyond me. The problem wasn't generating the power—it was shaping it correctly and maintaining that shape.

  So...

  I closed my eyes again, drawing deeper on my reserves. This time, instead of letting the energy flow naturally, I forced my qi out deliberately, mentally crafting the perfect circle as I externalized it. I envisioned the ring forming behind me, a perfect halo of stellar energy.

  The resistance was there—my qi wanting to follow its natural pathways—but I pushed against it, molding it with sheer willpower. I felt the energy bend to my command, taking shape exactly as I envisioned.

  It didn't take more than a minute with my level of mana manipulation. I felt a bright, warm feeling come from my back.

  I heard both girls gasp simultaneously.

  "Nice!" Solara exclaimed, wings fluttering in excitement.

  Lilian circled around me, her ruby eyes wide with wonder. "Feel any change?" she asked.

  I concentrated on my body, searching for any new sensation or power. The ring behind me crackled with energy, but it wasn't... doing anything. It was just sitting there, looking pretty.

  "Nope," I said, disappointment clear in my voice. "I expected this. So far, this is just a decoration. There's definitely a certain breathing pattern or circulation within my energy channels that has to be done right."

  Otherwise, when Solara created that flame ring, it should have had the same effect. I sighed, letting the ring dissipate. The stellar energy returned to my core, leaving only a faint afterglow that quickly faded.

  “Awh…”

  “Hey! We’ll figure it out together.”

  The technique clearly involved more than just forming the ring, of course. It likely involved some complex interaction between the energy and my body, perhaps even with the surrounding air.

  The Crippled Heaven hadn't exactly left an instruction manual. How was I supposed to figure that out?