Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"I see..."

I immediately connected the dots on the previous details. No wonder neither friend nor foe found it strange when I used purification magic without an incantation.

"Speaking of which... have you all never tried directly maneuvering the elements within your bodies according to the laws of magic to cast spells?"

I asked them. Being able to do this would enable one to cast magic without incantations. To me, this seemed very obvious.

Although I was also once human, there was no such thing as magic on Earth. So I was unclear on what the differences in the so-called understanding of magic were.

"What are internal elements? What do you mean by directly maneuvering elements?"

Their replies were beyond my expectations. Seeing their blank looks, I opened and closed my mouth, temporarily at a loss for words.

"Can you all not sense the elements within one another's bodies?"

I looked at Selene, then at Eleanora. I could feel the light and water elements within them. Currently inactive since no magic was being casted, there were no signs of any flow.

Meanwhile, there were practically no elements within the three guys. Hence they had no grasp of magic.

"No..."

Selene and Eleanora exchanged glances and shook their heads.

"What about me? You were able to sense my presence from very far away right?"

I said to Selene and pointed at myself.

"That was only because I sensed the aura of light element on you."

Selene looked me up and down and said helplessly.

"After all, I'm a light magic mage. That's why I can do that. Actually that so-called aura should be a very vague perception, somewhat similar to... smell! Although you can smell a scent and know what thing emits that scent, doing as you said - smelling what motions that scented thing is making, that's impossible."

Selene explained her feelings to me in great detail. So to her, it was just like smelling a smell. Not like how I could feel the concrete forms of elements, even their every move.

"So it seems this is the difference in perception..."

I seemed to understand a little better. Looks like angels can perceive elements much more deeply and concretely than humans. Hence their comprehension regarding the principles of magic is also more thorough.

"Alright, now that you're done discussing, quickly get these two light clusters to leave. Have them go farther away. It'd be best if you could find a mountain cave or corner to hide them in."

Adrian spoke up then. Although he would occasionally use enchanted arrows, he didn't understand magic well and thus hadn't voiced an opinion all this while.

"But why does my conjured doll look the same as Selene's, just a lump?"

Actually, I was quite satisfied with the magic I had cast. The only downside was the appearance - I honestly didn't know what to say.

I also didn't know if it was because I had copied Selene's lightball homework, or if that shape itself needed the caster to sculpt it. If it was the latter, I had zero talent in sculpting or drawing so I probably shouldn't consider it.

"It's fine, this is already very good."

Adrian nodded and affirmed me, then told me and Selene to direct the two light clusters floating away into the distance.

That's right, because they had no feet they could only float. And I realized this was very similar to controlling magic cards - no wonder Selene said magic card creation had incorporated aspects of the light figurine spell.

"This spell can last ten-odd minutes at most. Also, once exceeding a certain distance, it can no longer be controlled and will stop moving."

After introducing the basics, Selene shot me a very unhappy look.

"Unfair! Feliciana's looks about the same as mine, yet hers is 'very good' while mine gets nitpicked over and over!"

"Because mine is bigger than yours!"

I was overjoyed to let her taste double standards so quickly.

"You--!"

Selene was about to jump up to retort when Nicola suddenly flew down from the sky.

"The exchange has started! The lake is gone, replaced by the mountain forest we saw earlier!"

She brought the good news we had been eagerly anticipating.

"Camille has been transported over!"

My spirits lifted. This moment had finally arrived! It was difficult.

Now there were no large hordes of magical beasts blocking our path, because... they were dead!

"What are we still waiting for, hurry and run back!"

Alfreed suddenly yelled loudly, giving me a fright. I didn't expect the usually composed him to be so excited at this critical juncture.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately snapped back to their senses and rushed toward the lake district with all their might.

"Hurry! We must get within range of the exchange before they transmit back again."

Adrian urged incessantly.

It all hinged on this moment - to go or to stay. If we missed this, not only would we miss this rare transport opportunity, we might even directly encounter the Goddess of Fire. Our lives would then hang by a thread.

Luckily the distance between us and the lake district wasn't too far. Adding to that our full-strength sprinting, we soon arrived at the lakeside we had passed by earlier.

We were right at the edge of the exchange boundary. Before us was the gravelly beach's border with the mountain forest. The magical beast corpses originally scattered around the vicinity had been cleanly sliced into two halves, compressed right on the boundary line.

Safe home base!

I dashed into the boundary ahead of everyone, finally relaxing as I watched each person behind me step onto the vegetation-covered mud.

This place should be near Tethys Town right? I wonder what's become of that town now.

Just as I thought to fly up to scout for its position, Adrian suddenly grabbed me and said,

"Don't leave the ground. We can't confirm if the sky is within exchange range yet."

I swallowed and nodded, giving up my notion of searching for Tethys Town.

"Also, don't go too deep into the exchange zone. Don't stray too far from this exchange boundary line. Because right after we get transported to the kingdom, we'll be heading out immediately and fleeing south."

He continued advising. Having made plans long ago, he was now steadily executing them step-by-step.

"If my conjectures are correct, the succubus should currently be meeting the Goddess of Fire Michelle and reporting what happened previously. Then they'll transport back to the Dark Continent to search for us. And that'll also be when we arrive at the kingdom."

Alfred explained while leading everyone to travel due south along the boundary, as planned.

Since we had entered the exchange zone from a southeast direction earlier, to more quickly reach the kingdom troops' position south of Tethys Town after transporting over, it'd be best if we were already at the southern edge.

Yet his voice had barely faded when the scenery beyond the exchange boundary suddenly transformed. The barren, rocky wastelands were gone, substituted with the same view as that within the boundary.

"So fast?"

Everyone was shocked. We had only just entered the boundary and walked a few steps!

"Impossible! Camille is alone. She has to exit the exchange zone first to search for the Goddess of Fire right? Even flying to and fro shouldn't take such little time!"

Selene refused to believe it.

"No, it's possible!"

Adrian gritted his teeth, thinking of a possibility.

"That goddess likely noticed something long ago and has been proactively waiting at the edges. Once the lake district transported over, if she hurried to the central island, that would cut travel time by half..."

"Then we're in greater danger!"

Not saying another word, Alfred charged out of the exchange zone.

"Forget all that for now. Just run! Nicola, you know the kingdom troops' position right? Lead the way!"

"This spot seems a bit east..."

After circling around in midair, Nicola flew back down looking rather awkward.

"The previous battleground with the magical beasts should lie southwest. Very far from here. The main kingdom encampment is even further south, out of the mountainous terrain. It'd be hard to reach there relying solely on foot."

Of our group, only Nicola and I could fly. Even carrying one person each, three would still be left behind.

"Let's keep heading southwest then. Flee as far as we can."

Alfred decided after some thought.

"Yeah!"

Hayden chimed in agreement.

"Anyway, the forest environment here has much better cover than the barren wastelands of the Dark Continent. With the trees' concealment, enemies may not necessarily find us."

"But..."

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Where exactly are all those magical beasts that got transported over previously? If they're not in the central exchange zone behind us, doesn't that mean they're also south? Very likely still facing off with the kingdom army. If we head that way, won't we run right into them?"

Upon my words, everyone halted in their steps.

"What do we do then? There's nowhere to go, right?"

Eleanora asked with a crying expression. She, Hayden and the rest originally hadn't thought too much into it. Assuming we could locate allies once back, who knew we would run into so many issues instead.

"Anyway, north where the exchange zone is, is definitely a no-go. We'd just get transported back to the Dark Continent after a while."

Nicola hesitated briefly before suggesting to everyone:

"Why don't we avoid south or north for now and head east first to circumvent the southern region where magical beasts may lurk? This can also serve to confuse the Goddess of Fire on our whereabouts."

"Good idea!"

Everyone nodded upon hearing this. After all, we couldn't reach the main kingdom encampment anytime soon. Ditching the Fire Goddess took priority.

No matter what, we were back in kingdom territory. Safety was assured; no fear of not returning.

With unanimous consensus, we changed direction again, this time eastbound.

...