The ocean stretched endlessly beneath me, a vast sheet of blue broken only by the glint of sunlight on waves.
My crimson wings cut through the air without effort, each flap carrying me forward like a spear piercing the sky.
As I flew, I felt the force of my movement gathering around me, the raw energy of the air tearing apart under my speed. I pulled it into myself, absorbing it, refining it, shaping it into Essence. The flow was constant, and I directed every drop into my constitution. Four hundred points in one push.
The change was instant. My body hardened, bones and muscles reinforced by Essence. My wings grew stronger, every flap sending me forward faster than before.
The air bent more easily to my will, and the resistance that should have slowed me down instead became fuel, carrying me faster across the ocean.
My speed doubled, and then climbed again, until even the vast waters beneath me blurred into streaks of silver and blue.
