Luciel soared to the peak of Mt. Glacies-Titania. He landed and stood amongst the ice and snow, taking a short break before continuing up. He directed his gaze to the sky above, where a turbulent cloud sea lay. Yes, there was another cloud sea, even higher in the sky. However, this one wasn’t as fluffy. Hidden in those dark clouds were raging crosswinds, crackling storm pockets and hail flurries. Navigating through that took more skill than just sheer speed.

In the past few centuries, due to his lingering injuries, Luciel hadn’t been able to take the traditional route to his destination. Long before he was injured, as a precaution he had set down a direct teleportation rune circle on the peak of Mt. Glacies-Titania, that constantly absorbs the pure mana in the air, ready for use at any time the right key activated it. But today, Luciel wanted to once again use the traditional method of going through the clouds with his own wings, using all his senses. If he continued to use the ‘lazy’ way, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to face his ancestors. After all, this route was the training method that had been passed down through their generations.

Once he’d rested enough, Luciel spread his wings, twitched his tail and tensed all his muscles. He manipulated his mana to form a film around his body whilst absorbing the surrounding mana and gathering it at his feet. He gathered a much higher concentration of mana than when he took off from above the Academy.

After he reached his absorption limit, he used all his strength and took off from the peak. The feedback from the force he used caused more than just a sonic boom, it caused the snow that had accumulated for centuries on Mt. Glacies-Titania, to cascade down the mountain sides in a thunderous avalanche.

Luciel shot up in a straight line. He continued to pick up his speed, making himself as aerodynamic and streamline as he possibly could. He got closer and closer to the Dark Cloud Sea. As he got closer, he could feel his skin tingling from the buildup of static just beneath the clouds. Luciel smiled ferociously as he pierced through the static layer and into the Dark Cloud Sea.

The Dark Cloud Sea was extremely dense, you couldn’t rely on your eyes at all. You had to use your other senses to get through. Luciel closed his eyes as he used his wings, tail and mana film to feel any changes that might occur, he didn’t intend to drop his speed at all and continued up.

After flying up for a few minutes, the wind brushing against his wings gained more force in a certain direction, the sound of the wind in his ears got harsher. Not long in and I’m already greeted by a storm pocket. Before he was swept up into the storm pocket, he created a mana platform at his feet, kicked off in the direction diagonally opposite and continued up.

After catching his breath, he felt the tingling on his skin increase until it was stinging, the high-pitched sound of gathering electricity echoed around him, Here come the strikes! Luciel burst forward with greater speed using mana to accelerate his wings and not a moment too soon. An almighty purple bolt of lightning struck through where he’d just been, but it wasn’t over yet. Left, right, up, down, loopty loop, U-turn. Luciel dodged more and more lightning strikes that fell like rain, his hair long frazzled from the residual static. In just 10 minutes, more than 50 lightning bolts struck before he reached the area clear of the bolts. Hehe, a thrill every time. Luciel didn’t have time to rest though.

Just as he got to the lightning free area, something ice-cold and hard struck the tip of his tail, Right… following the strikes comes the hail, the giant hail. Luciel sighed as he once again concentrated mana into a platform and kicked off as hard as he could, rocketing upwards. Whilst he’d managed to avoid the majority of the hail, he still got struck a few times on his tail as the small boulders of ice throttled past. Not as thrilling as the strikes though. Luciel wiped the sweat off his brow.

By now, it had been an hour since Luciel entered the Dark Cloud Sea, by old estimates, the exit should be close. As Luciel was thinking about the exit, his ears picked up on a sound as if the sky was groaning and creaking. The surrounding wind started to gain force and whistled in his ears. The groaning and creaking were steadily getting closer. Accompanying the sound was another, the sound of something large slowly beating against the air.

Sh- I forgot that thing was up here! The hair all over Luciel’s body stood on end as he opened his eyes wide. He wished he hadn’t. Just 10 metres away from him was a jagged, sharp toothed mouth that looked like it could bite the peak off Mt. Glacies-Titania! The mouth was attached to a behemoth that appeared similar in shape to the blue whale, however, this behemoth had spikes that grew in size from the tip of its mouth all the way down its spine to the median notch between the four layered fins on either side of its tail.

Large spikes grew beneath its enormous chin, looking as if it had a beard. The giant pectoral fins on either side were more like Dragon wings in shape and size as they sliced through the air, propelling the behemoth forward. The groaning and creaking, had been the sound of its voice.

Luciel gathered and concentrated as much mana as he could muster into his wings and at his feet. 10 metres… 9 metres… 8 metres… once the behemoth was just 5 metres away from flying into him, Luciel took off at a reckless and uncontrolled speed, nearly giving himself whiplash in the process. He just, only just managed to avoid colliding with the behemoth, however, his tail ended up scraping against the snout of the behemoth.

Luciel broke out in a cold sweat as he mustered all his strength to flap his wings as hard as he could. Don’t look at how slow and leisurely the behemoth is flying. Despite its size, when provoked or catching its prey, its speed is something you don’t want to face. Unfortunately, Luciel is about to face exactly that horrifying speed.

As Luciel’s tail had scraped the behemoth, the behemoth seemed to freeze in the air for a second. Using its colossal tail and pectoral fins, it did a sharp turn upwards, chasing whatever thing had the nerve to hit it.

Luciel’s heart pounded as if it wanted to leap out of his chest. He cast layers upon layers of acceleration spells on himself, trying to gain as much distance from the approaching behemoth as possible before it picked up speed. It didn’t take long before he felt an oppressing pressure from behind him, his instincts were screaming. Faster, faster! Come on, come on, the exit must be close!

Luck was on Luciel’s side. After what felt like a lifetime in this desperate escape, the clouds of the Dark Cloud Sea were finally getting lighter and thinner. Luciel cheered in his heart as he continued flying desperately. Before long, he broke through the dark sea cloud. However, he didn’t have time to enjoy the view. He didn’t dare slow down.

Luciel sharp eyesight spotted a large floating boulder hanging high in the distance, That’ll be high enough! At the risk of mana overload, he concentrated as much of the pure mana in the atmosphere as he could and cast a sonic acceleration spell on himself. Even for Luciel, it was a struggle for his body to handle such speeds. Just as he cast the spell, the gaping mouth of the behemoth broke through the Dark Cloud Sea, its sharp teeth glinting in the light.

Luciel’s muscles and bones creaked as he shot up towards the floating boulder, the higher he flew, the more the behemoth’s body emerged from the Dark Cloud Sea. Once the floating boulder was close at hand, Luciel extended his nails into claws, ready to grab hold.

As soon as he reached the boulder, he cut off the sonic acceleration spell, dematerialized his wings and concentrated the mana into his limbs instead. He dug his claws into the rock of the island and thrust his tail deep into the boulder, acting as an anchor.

The behemoth snapped shut its powerful jaws, roaring at missing its prey despite jumping out the Dark Cloud Sea. It fell back down into the Dark Cloud Sea, spouting a burst of air out of its blowhole in dissatisfaction at the loss of its prey. It grumpily sank back down into the Dark Cloud Sea.

Luciel, who had clung on for dear life due to the sheer force of the air pressure formed by the behemoth snapping its jaws and falling back to the surface of the Dark Cloud Sea, was currently sprawled on the boulder, breathing heavily, and pumped full of adrenaline. Thankfully, the Leviathan never leaves the Dark Cloud Sea unless it has no choice. It simply can’t be bothered if it’s small prey like me.

“Haha… HAHAHAHA! Damn that was scary!” Luciel laughed in relief. “I’d better never tell Bear about this; he’d worry himself to death.” Luciel thought of what expression Phim might have if he ever learned about his thrilling chase, Apologies to my ancestors and the training tradition, but it looks like I’ll be sticking to the lazy route after all. I don’t want my big bear to cry with worry and fear of what might’ve happened whilst he was unaware, if he were to ever find out about this.

Luciel peered down at the Dark Cloud Sea below. Through the occasional lightning strikes illuminating the inside of the clouds, he could make out the huge silhouette of the Leviathan as it sank back into the depths. He kept watching until he could no longer see the legendary beast’s shadow.

And to think that all those scholars and researchers believe that if the Leviathan exists, it’d be lurking in the depths of the ocean. They could probably never imagine that it’s been swimming far, far, far above their heads all along. Luciel smirked at the irony.