The passage wasn’t instant like he expected. Instead, he floated through a void, able to see the dungeon flash before him. The path that they had taken was revealed in images around him. There were even monsters and rooms he didn’t see. Each image flashing for only a moment before moving to the next. The entire process only lasted a few seconds, but it was an experience he would never forget. Noticing the exit rushing towards him, disappointment settled in, wishing to experience it again.

The gate closed behind him, mana territory letting him notice the gate’s mana dissolve. He would not be traversing that gate again. Instead, he looked forward, and saw his friends waiting on the steps. It was the same staircase they used to descend; the dungeon having returned them to the surface. The sun was up, and the light leaked down the stairs. Climbing slowly, they talked about the passage. Luke spoke reverently, as he recalled his experience.

“That was amazing. I didn’t know that the keys were so beautiful. Whenever I read about the items, no one ever mentioned the experience.”

Nodding along, Mash responded while still dazed from the experience.

“I hope I can get a skill for that. Just imagine it.”

“If anyone is going to get that skill, it’ll be me.”

Jill’s response was quick, and undoubtedly the truth. Afterall, she was the one with spatial magic, and he didn’t let it bother him. Honestly, he would be glad if any of them could get the skill. Plus, there was something else he wanted to try. He got the idea as soon as he received his skills and would finally be able to test it.

Since his creations worked as extra limbs, he should be able to make wings and take flight. He wanted to test it in the dungeon but knew that flying in the labyrinth was against its rules. Not wanting to be punished, he held back from exploring the possibility. Now though, he could try and do it. Mash teased the others, hinting at what he had in mind.

“We are heading further east, right? I have an idea, something that would be a lot faster than riding a cart.”

He left it at that as they passed through the entrance. The sun was out, and it was surprisingly warm. The cold season was ending sooner this year, but it still should’ve been cold for another week or two. He was excited to fly but saw the concern on the others faces. They needed to figure out what happened.

“What day is it? How long were we in there? We need to find out now, let’s go check the inn.”

In a panicked run, Jill rushed towards the inn while speaking quickly. Reaching the same conclusion, Mash followed her. He wanted to know as well. How much could time be distorted in a dungeon? Mash didn’t know, but the labyrinth wasn’t supposed to have that problem. The fact that it did, attested to the theory that they were sent to an entirely different dungeon. That being the case, almost any amount of time could have passed, and he worried for Jill. What if they were too late?

Hoping that wasn’t the case, he saw Jill push into the inn. Following quickly, he entered the inn behind her. They didn’t stay in the inn before, opting to camp by the entrance to the dungeon. It was larger than he expected, since the town itself was small. This floor of the inn was a restaurant and bar, and the smells were quite good. Looking around the room, there were only a few people inside, most were either eating or drinking something. Jill didn’t pay any attention to her surroundings and stomped over to the innkeeper.

“What day is it?”

She spoke forcefully, and the innkeeper was obviously displeased. The man looked at Jill confused, probably astonished by her appearance. Even though she wasn’t as monstrous as Mash, there was certainly something unnatural about her now. Mash thought that he wouldn’t answer her, but the man seemed familiar with this reaction. Jill though was unable to contain her own worry and tried to press the man. Mash didn’t want to steal the innkeeper’s attention and shuffled behind Red, but the motion got his attention. The innkeeper finally noticed Mash and started to stare at him. Mash took the opportunity to do the same.

The innkeeper was an older gentleman, and he wore a very elaborate uniform. Beneath a black coat, he wore a plain white shirt which both fit him tightly. The Man was rugged and muscular, and he was burly enough that it was obvious through his clothing. His dark brown skin seemed unusually tan, and his face was covered in a few tattoos. His hair was white, but he didn’t look old, rather his face lacked any wrinkles. He had large round glasses which cause his eyes to bulge a little.

The most striking thing that Mash noticed, was his mana supply. Mana Territory revealed the man’s power and even the nature of his mana. His mana roared viciously and shone a brilliant orange red. The large amount of fire mana surprised Mash, he had to wonder why the man was working as an innkeeper. Guessing, he believed that the innkeeper was around level 100.

Mash tried smiling as politely as possible, and the innkeeper finally dismissed him. He probably decided that Mash wasn’t a threat and chose to answer their question. His voice was surprisingly nasally, and he pushed his glasses up as he spoke.

“It’s the 3rd day of the 14th month. I can see that- “

“Over 2 weeks!”

Jill cut the innkeeper off and looked towards the others. Staring down Mash she spoke again with even more urgency in her voice.

“You said that you have a faster way to travel, right? How long would it take to get back to town?”

Mash thought about it, but he really didn’t know. He would probably be faster than any carriage but didn’t have any expectations. He could only give her his best guess.

“I don’t know exactly, but it will almost certainly be faster than any carriage.”

Responding to Jill, he saw Red apologizing to the innkeeper. Mash planned to do the same and was relieved to see the man nodding in understanding. Rushing past him, Jill dragged Mash outside while explaining her situation.

“We needed to make the first payment at the start of the month. My family had most of it already, and might’ve earned enough on their own, but I’m getting worried. If we head back to town now, we might still have time to sell the items and pay off the debt. Either way, I need to go back and see that they’re ok. Plus, we all want to sell the items?”

She rushed through her reason and looked hopefully at the group, the last sentence phrased more as a question. Shrugging his shoulders, Mash deferred the decision to the others. Honestly, he wanted to help his friend and it would still let him try his skills out. Jill and Luke nodded in ascent, obviously worried for Jill’s sake. Grinning, Mash led them out of the town. He would need some room for this.

Once outside the town, Mash motioned the others to move away. ignoring their questions had been difficult, but he didn’t want to spoil the surprise. Now, it was time to let the plan out, but he decided to do it with a demonstration. Mash started growing wood out from his back, cutting through his clothes. He had started wearing the mending clothes before entering the dungeon, and wouldn’t mind it getting a few holes. As they kept growing larger and larger, he started shaping them into wings, like those he saw on the flying snakes. He kept growing it out, even beyond the limits of his mana territory.

Once he felt that the wings were large enough, he looked to his friends. They were staring at him; surprise was missing from Luke’s and Jill’s faces. Red was the only one that looked unaware. He sighed, realizing that they already expected this. His excitement remained, and he began flapping the wings in imitation of the snakes. It took more energy to move such massive wings, but he managed to do it. Slowly, he began to lift from the ground. As he rose higher, he sped up, and quickly flew towards the sky.

He shot upwards, laughing triumphantly as he soared. The rush of wind caused his hair to shake wildly, his wings catching some of the wind to propel him even faster. He wanted to go higher, to penetrate the clouds, but now was not the time. He would do it after they got back to town. He descended to his friends, forming a suitable mechanism to carry them. He only needed to think about it for a moment but came up with an easy solution. He grew his arms out, until they were several times larger and dangled beneath him. As he approached his friends he interlocked the hands, in order to form a simple seat. He yelled out to them as he dangled his hands to him.

“Come on. Trust me, it’s unreal and you need to experience this.”

Despite his confidence, they got on apprehensively. Jill was the most eager and got on first. Luke and Red were much slower. As soon as they were seated, Mash took off again. He started slowly, but as he got higher, he sped up significantly. He was burning through energy but wasn’t worried about that. His persist skill would let him fly endlessly, regardless of size or weight, so long as he didn’t need to stop. The others had been scared at first but were now just enjoying the sights. Within a few hours he had experienced things more amazing than he could’ve imagined. He thought that he wouldn’t mind living a life like this.

The silence didn’t last though, and they began talking about the things that they passed. They pointed at whatever drew their interest, and Mash enjoyed descending slightly for a better view. They flew over mostly forest, but from this height were able to get a better view of its scope. He had seen this forest many times, as it was directly beside his home but never understood how big it was. It easily surpassed his home, both in area and height. There were two enormous trees in the distance. Even without being close to them, he could see them shoot through the sky and past the clouds. He made a mental note to visit them later.

They were flying fast, easily several times faster than any cart or carriage. Faster than even a horse, they would reach the town quickly. Taking advantage of speed, Mash performed some tricks, much to the fear and amusement of his friends. Adventurers tended to be thrill seekers, and his friends seemed to be enjoying the experience. They flew quickly, arriving at the town in a rush of motion.

As they approached, Mash flew lower to the ground. Several people on the road, had pointed and a few panicked in fear. He considered stopping before getting to the town but decided against it since he knew that he would pass out as soon as he stopped. Therefore, he didn’t stop his descent and landed in front of the entrance. The stone wall was just as bleak and overbearing as he remembered it. Being the tallest structure in town, it would cast a shadow over the outer city. When working there, he learned of how much time the outer city spent in relative darkness.

There was a small army of guards waiting at the entrance, more than handful of them ready to attack. They relaxed when they saw that they were all humanoid. Red and Luke doing a lot to settle their nerves. Stopping completely had been a mistake, and he fell unconscious as soon as he stopped.

It didn’t take long for him to wake up, with Luke’s and Red’s healing he regained consciousness in a few minutes. The guards still didn’t look happy, and one of the captains stepped away from the crowd approaching them. As this happened, Mash disconnected from his wings and arms, returning to his usual size. They would dissolve eventually so he just left it there. Thinking about it, he wasn’t certain if it still functioned like that, but didn’t think it would matter either way. Wood was always useful, and he was certain his mana-wood would be more valuable.

“Identify your name, race and purpose for visiting this city.”

Red answered for all of us, introducing each of us. She had introduced the others normally but said that Mash was a demi human. Knowing that it was the best answer, he kept his mouth shut as she showed the knights something. Mash noticed that it was her adventurer badge, and similarly flashed his own. She explained that they needed to sell some items from the dungeons and pay off some debts. The captain looked them over, before nodding.

“Since you have the badges, we will let you in. I will send someone to the guild to confirm that you have visited today. Furthermore, I will tell the guards of your friend’s appearance, and creations to avoid another incident like this. You should register his appearance and abilities at the guild, so that others don’t attack him.”

Mash was surprised by the obvious respect he was giving them. Thinking about it, he came down to two conclusions. One being that the captain recognized Red’s background and didn’t want to risk offending a noble family. The other possibility was that his little display was usually more common with people who were over twice his own level. Flying with such a massive size would take unreasonable amounts of mana, and most people could recognize that. Although his badge would have proven otherwise, maybe the captain thought they hadn't updated their badges yet.

After listening to the captain’s words, Mash just stared dumbly. Of course, the guild would have things in place for adventurers that changed physically. While that made sense, he knew that his wings would always cause a ruckus. They couldn’t risk it if the wing belonged to another creature. He would do as the captain recommended but doubted that they would ever get comfortable with him flying towards the town. With a bit more direction, they entered the town. First, they would visit Jill’s home.