One Last System

Levi's means of taking to the air were different from my own. He didn't use any of the methods I knew of nor any of the ways I low-key expected him to use.

He didn't construct a formation around himself that would go against the laws of physics that normally bound everyone to walk on the face of the earth rather than flying above it. He didn't try to overpower it with his sheer muscle power either.

In fact, when seeing him suddenly defy gravity without any sort of preparation at all, I couldn't help but gawk at the sight.

Because Levi… He simply wiggled to and fro on his feet, as if trying to warm up his ankles. And after lifting his legs for just an inch above the ground… he refused to come down, acting as if gravity no longer shackled him.

'What the heck?' I opened my eyes wide, staring at how Levi simply floated higher, going several meters above the bridge before leaning forward and drifting forward.

"Hey, Arty," Mia tugged on my sleeve, forcing me to look down and away from the sight of Levi just… floating several meters above the bridge. "Why did you want him to fly?"

"Oh, it's simple," I smiled, ignoring my curiosity regarding Levi's method of flying while focusing on the adorable curiosity brimming in Mia's eyes. "You know how every cultivator emanates an aura? Something like a shadow of the power that we have at our disposal?"

"Yeah," Mia nodded her head, "I remember reading somewhere that it's formed by the spiritual energy we either failed to absorb properly or residue from spells that are not perfectly efficient," she pointed out, causing my eyebrows to move up my forehead.

"I actually never thought about what aura is," I admitted without any shame. "But it's nice to learn something new," I grinned slightly, reaching out and rustling Mia's hair. "What I was worried about, though," I then moved back to the topic at hand, "is how Levi's aura could attract the monsters that we are worried about. He is stronger, so his aura is far greater than the aura of those people," I added, nodding my chin towards the cultivators currently waiting for Levi to pass over the bridge before they would start crossing it themselves again.

"You think those monsters are not attacking because they deem those people not worth their time?" Mia pushed a bit deeper into the topic. "Like, coming out to attack and consume any of the cultivators passing the bridge would cost them more energy than they would gain… or something?"

My grin became even wider as I moved my hand off the top of Mia's head and brought it down on her shoulder, only to then pull her closer for a side embrace.

"That's my girl," I smiled happily, pressing the girl against my side while pride filled my face.

"Mhmm," Mia gave out a strange, small sound. A satisfied smile then appeared on her lips as she enjoyed the small cuddle.

"Wait," I added, seemingly out of nowhere. "Let's leave the cuddles for later," I suggested. "We need to start setting things up for the night!"

Yet, as I soon became aware, saying that was a far easier task than it was to actually putting those words into proper use.

After confirming that Levi safely landed on the other side of the river and allowing people to cross the bridge again, we took some time to calculate the sunlight we had left. Then, we rounded up people into two groups, those who could still cross today and those that would have to wait until tomorrow.

We then ended up leaving the first group alone, unwilling to put them to any use as doing so would potentially slow down the transportation process and lead to more chaos down the line. As for the other group…

"Guys!" I shouted out loud as soon as I managed to gather all of them in a relatively one place. And with over a hundred people left for me to manage, I could already see the struggle that communicating with all of them at once would be. "I need half of you to start gathering whatever building materials you can find nearby, while the other half will dig out shallow trenches!"

I took a breath to calm my heart rate down a little before swallowing my saliva to properly moisturize my throat.

Or to be honest, I just bid my time, waiting for the message to go across the entire group of people I was trying to manage.

"Use the dirt you excavate to raise the walls on the trenches. Then use whatever the scavenging party will find to construct slightly tilted roofs over your holes!"

I closed my eyes and held my breath in, forcing the giggle that came out straight from my soul to remain behind the barrier of my lips.

Laughing out loud at the silly swordplay I intentionally let out wasn't the part of the image I wanted to create.

"Hey, do you want me to dig or scavenge?" Mia asked as soon as the people started to split into two further groups and go to complete their own tasks.

"Huh?" I shrugged, not expecting this kind of question from Mia at all. "What the hell are you talking about?" I then asked while looking at her with my eyes wide open.

"Huh?" Mia shook a little, not expecting my reaction either. "Didn't you just tell everyone…"

"No, wait, stop," I raised my hands and waved them at Mia's face, stopping her before she could even finish her sentence. "Those orders do not apply to you. How could I allow you to do this kind of work?" I then asked, as if requesting a scientist to explain the truth about the universe and life to me.

"…" Mia failed to find the right words to reply to me, opting to just stare me down instead.

Then, rather than flaring up, she simply put a cheeky smile on her lips while leaning her head to the side.

"So you want me to save my strength for when the night falls?"