S-class heroes could have offices in the main building of the Hero Society. Of course, Heavenly Knight Feed had one despite being unlikely to stop by headquarters.
Feed was sitting in his office and checking a mountain of papers one by one. All of them were references for the current commission; it was the usual amount of documentation for A-class missions.
Feed read the documents with tired eyes. Then he mused as if talking to himself, "How many applicants are there today?"
Zach of Frostel, who had been standing in front of him for quite some time, replied, "Three people."
The pronunciation was a bit unclear because the inside of his mouth was still injured. The man had been attacked by the Iron-Blooded Lord and sent flying in a spectacular manner. His wounds had not yet healed, so he had bandages tied all over his body.
He was truly grateful that he had only ended up like this after offending the Iron-Blooded Lord.
"Who among them are useful?" Feed asked.
"According to your standards, there are none," Zach answered.
For long-term or high-difficulty missions where the required personnel exceeded twenty, a special unit made entirely of heroes would be formed. The person who took command of the group was called the leader. Regardless of clan, they had to obey the leader's orders until the mission was completed. There were only a few rare exceptions to that rule, which was why Zach was acting like Feed's subordinate despite being the leader of the large clan called Frostel.
Zach looked around cautiously before saying, "Leader, it's hard to find anyone who can meet your requirements. At this rate, it'll be difficult to meet even half the required people. Why don't we lower the standards a bit?"
This was a question he had asked several times, but he received the same answer every time.
"That won't work. It will only increase the number of corpses."
"Some of the applicants have successfully completed multiple A-class missions. They're treated as veterans anywhere they go. Now we're rejecting them without giving a clear reason, so our reputation hasn't been good."
"Reputation is only temporary. If we succeed in this mission, that will be reversed in an instant. Don't worry."
Zach held back his sigh, swallowing the words that came to mind: The closed-off winged race was really inflexible and didn't compromise.
He said, "As you know, we only have three days left."
"Yes. If it doesn't work out, we will have to consider cooperating with other forces."
"This...! Do you mean to share our top-secret information with other groups?"
Feed was referring to forces such as the imperial family, the churches, or on rare occasions, the magic towers and mercenaries. Requesting cooperation from other organizations was a loss of reputation in itself. It was no different from openly admitting that there was a shortage of manpower.
"What we need now isn't background or affiliation, but skill. It is just like the will of the ancestors who founded the Hero Society a long time ago," Feed said.
Zach stayed silent.
"However, reputation matters too. What I just said is a last resort, nothing more," Feed continued.
"Yes."
Feed sighed and pressed his fingers to the corners of his eyes. He had not quite stayed up all night, but the occasional naps had only caused his head to feel heavy.
He eventually said, "I'll step out to get some fresh air. I've checked all the documents on the left and approved them. Can you sort them out?"
"I understand."
Feed left his office and headed for the rooftop. As he started moving, however, he realized that it wasn't just his head. His entire body felt heavy. He knew it was because he still had no clear answer on how to deal with this mission.
To make matters worse, the number of participants had decreased even further after the Heroic Battle two days ago. Those who had lost to Luan and those who were seriously injured by Delac could no longer join. Even Zach, who had just delivered a report, wouldn't be participating in this mission.
Of course, this was self-inflicted to some extent, so it was hard to blame others.
Lost in his thoughts, Feed walked around in a daze until he found himself on the rooftop. In the middle of the rooftop training ground, he found Luan sleeping on his back. He asked, "Could it be that you have been out here since yesterday?"
The boy opened his eyes when hearing the voice and looked in its direction. He was a pitiful sight, like some idle person who had been drinking all night and only woke up at noon. He almost looked like an old man.
In truth, this wasn't the first time Feed had gotten that impression when talking to this boy.
"No wonder it felt warm. The sun has already risen this high," Luan murmured. He got up and yawned widely. Then he started stretching. "Please give me a moment. I need to warm up first."
Feed wondered what he meant, and the boy suggested that they have a fight. In response, Feed said, "You haven't eaten yet. Why don't you wash up and fill your stomach first?"
"No. I'm fine. My senses are quite sharp right now."
"You were sleeping without knowing anything just a moment ago."
Luan laughed and slammed his palms together. With the sound of air exploding, a single wing burst out from his back. Its black feathers rustled before being covered by black flames.
Feed stared in a daze. Yesterday, he had laughed with Maxim, but he actually felt admiration for Crowtaker.
That was because of an old legend. During an unprecedented crisis on Mount Morun, the sacred area of the winged race, an outsider bearing the mark of Crowtaker had joined forces with them to save the sacred area.
Now, the sight of Luan with one wing spread out was quite impressive, apart from the fact that he was a bit young. What happened next was even more surprising, though. Luan's body gently rose into the air without a single flap of his wing.
Feed's eyes narrowed subtly as he saw the easy levitation.
"Senior, let's have a round of aerial combat."
"What?"
"The one who loses will buy a meal. How about it?"
A breeze blew.
Feed smiled at the strange yet familiar sight. "You have signed a contract with a spirit."
Luan smiled as well. "Correct."
***
Anyone who learned something new that suited their aptitude would find it fun. In fact, they would likely lose track of time. That was exactly what had happened to me last night.
It was fun to use my internal energy in a new way, and it was even more fun to match my movements to the breeze that Salpha summoned. There was definitely a big difference between fighting with my feet on the ground compared to the air, but since this was the beginning, such differences were refreshing.
More than anything, it was fun because my potential would change depending on how I handled this power. If I controlled the sky, my concept of the battlefield would be much wider. It felt like a previously two-dimensional space had expanded to the third dimension.
Thanks to that, I'd immersed myself in training until my dantian was empty. By the time my body stopped moving, the sun had risen. I practiced internal energy circulation while watching the sunrise before taking a nap to recover some strength.
Feed asked, "Did you sign a contract with a spirit?"
"Things turned out that way. Wasn't that your intention? I think it was because of this tattoo."
"It was, but this is still too fast. It usually takes around one week for winged race members with great talent to communicate with spirits."
I listened quietly as Feed continued.
"In any case, you have signed a contract with a spirit, and you are worthy of sparring with me. Even so, I still have the overwhelming advantage. I think it is appropriate to fight without weapons."
"Let's do that."
I would have a slight advantage if we fought each other without weapons. It wasn't about ignoring Feed's preferred combat style, though. It was because swords were originally at a disadvantage against spears. On the other hand, both of us being bare-handed meant the most important thing was the proficiency of our martial arts.
We rose into the air at the same time. Feed examined my posture and nodded. "I was skeptical, but it is true. I can't believe you can fly this well after just one night."
"We should start."
"Yes."
I was acting a bit cocky, but I didn't think I could overpower Heavenly Wind Knight Feed in an aerial battle. With my current strength, I would lose even when we were fighting on the ground, let alone in the air, which was this man's world.
His strength, experience, and even his physical condition were superior to mine, especially after I'd overexerted myself last night. That was why we had to fight now. I knew from experience that fighting in a bad condition was more valuable than fighting at my best.
I tensed the muscles in my thighs and knees, and immediately kicked the air. Salpha understood my intent and summoned the wind. Complex movements were still difficult, but I could move quite quickly when it was a straightforward charge.
However, Feed didn't panic at my sudden charge and deflected my attack. He murmured, "You seem to have become pretty close to the spirit in just one day."
"We get along pretty well," I replied as I brought my raised leg straight down, using it like a sword to attack from above.
Yet Feed still evaded with ease. The two attacks that I'd thought were quite sharp turned out to be useless.
In particular, kicking was a technique that was tricky to do in the air. Even in the ground, a slight misstep in my posture would instantly throw off my balance. Still, it was fortunate that I was in the air. I wouldn't fall over even if I lost my balance. Thus, it was possible to attack with all my strength and regain my balance immediately.
I used the rebound from the downward strike to flip in midair and regain my attack stance, just in time to dodge Feed's palm. Even though I clearly dodged it, I gained a small wound on my cheek. In addition, my body was pushed back a bit.
I finally understood after making a contract with Salpha. The man in front of me was the most noble member of the winged tribe, who was truly loved by the wind. That meant I couldn't just avoid direct contact with him; I also had to prepare for the aftermath that would occur after the attack.
It was hard for someone like me to consider all of that when I was just starting in aerial combat. For now, I decided to fight while relying on instinct.
We traded blows back and forth in this way, allowing me to learn how Feed had been able to kill the troublesome mutant wyvern in three days. Any creature flying in the sky would suffer humiliation fighting against this guy. This was despite him not using his spear or blessing.
Nevertheless, there was no need to be impatient. I had no reason to feel inferior about my fundamentals. In addition, I probably had more experience fighting against strong enemies.
Of course, regardless of that, I felt that my body kept accumulating damage as the battle dragged on. I was being pushed back one-sidedly. Was I still aiming for victory, or was I just slowly losing? I would only know when the result came out.
Aside from my lack of experience in aerial combat, there was one more reason I was at a disadvantage against Feed: My limbs were still a bit short.
Still, I do think I've grown taller lately. These days when looking at myself in the mirror, it seemed unclear whether I was a boy or a young man.
I had been eating well, training hard, and sleeping whenever I had time. Naturally, my physical growth was rapid. My height had reached around 185cm when I became an adult in my first life, but I wasn't sure about this lifetime.
Baam!
Ugh. I'd been thinking of useless things during the fight and ended up being kicked in the chest.
Feed smirked and said teasingly, "Consider this payback for last time."
It took me a second before I realized what he was talking about. He was referring to last time when I'd grabbed the spear and used the recoil to kick him.
Are you holding a grudge? I wanted to sneer, but I couldn't afford to speak because I was struggling to breathe after the solid hit.
From this point on, I was constantly pushed back. Feed made full use of his limbs and even his wings at times. It wasn't easy to deal with the relentless attacks. He didn't just attack directly with his wings, either. He also flapped them to create gusts of wind, spread them to obstruct my view, and even used them as a shield.
Every time I had a chance to attack, I felt my fists slamming into wings that were as hard as if they had been forged from steel. Meanwhile, I still didn't know how to move my wing. Even if I did, there would be many disadvantages since it was only a single wing.
However, that was exactly what I wanted.