The gentle breeze slipped through the cracks in the Flying Airship's cabin windows, playfully skirting around the travelers, leaving behind a trace of warmth borrowed from the sun, along with a faint fragrance.
Li Ang loved to take naps in such a breeze under the sun; it was the best way to pass the boring travel time.
But the couple sitting next to him kept talking, making it hard for him to fall asleep peacefully.
"...Did you know, the Celestial Group kicked someone out."
"Which one?"
"The Soul Apex."
"Huh? Didn't they just conquer Dark Night Ancient City and rise to the top Knight Order? The Soul Apex is red-hot right now, everyone in the group is a contributor, why would they kick someone out?"
"I don't understand; I heard they kicked out a veteran member."
"How do you know? Could it be that they achieved success and went home to retire?"
"It's definitely firsthand news; I just came from the Holy City, heard it from a member of the Soul Apex in a tavern. Although he didn't say much detail, being kicked out is absolutely true."
"Let me see, the Knight Gazette also writes, 'The Soul Apex is urgently recruiting a Great Knight across the entire Aerial Realm,' such high requirements, huh?"
The traveler rustled through the newspaper, making even more noise.
"Just reached number one, raising the bar isn't surprising."
"Let me check their member announcement... there's one less witch. Such a fringe profession actually mingled with the Celestial Group? Now that the team has become number one, are they trying to optimize their member structure?"
"Wait, they're recruiting a versatile supporter. Why would they kick someone out first and then recruit urgently, did something happen?"
...
During his ten years of traveling through the skies, Li Ang had long gotten used to treating other people's conversations as background noise while he slept.
But if the discussion involved himself, it was still hard to completely ignore it.
Mainly because, as they talked, the sanctimonious face and mocking tone of the Soul Apex leader would resurface in Li Ang's mind.
Deadbeat? Fringe? Optimization?
There's no sense in arguing with those who don't know the truth.
He sat up from his deck chair, lifted the window's shade, and looked at the clear sky outside.
This is the Flos Sky Realm, whether in the civilized realm or the natural realm, it is the most stable and prosperous place in the entire world, with sky islands blooming like flowers, even the wind between the islands carries a fragrance.
Ten years ago, he set off from here.
He was a Transmigrator from Earth, yet didn't acquire any so-called "golden finger" abilities, except for his body growing a few years younger upon crossing over; he was completely ordinary, even learning the language one syllable at a time.
And this Otherworld was exactly like a game called "Nebis Fantasy."
Nebis is the name of this world, referring to the many sky islands floating above the clouds.
Adventurers thrive between these sky islands by piloting the Flying Airship, earning the honorable name of "Sky Knight" as they explore the world's mysteries and reap generous rewards.
Individual capabilities being limited, Sky Knights often form teams, and teams grow into groups.
Especially formidable Sky Knight Orders are praised as "Celestial Groups."
Li Ang, lacking any special talents, started from scratch to become one of the members standing atop a Celestial Group, but he couldn't count the hardships and sorrows he tasted along the way.
"...Everyone, we barely reached number one, and we will implement an entirely new contribution algorithm to reassess each one's prowess and optimize the team structure to stabilize our hard-won position.
"Li Ang, your contribution is far below average, I never expected that you've been holding us back all this time."
At the full team meeting, when the leader, Rams, suddenly directed the accusation at Li Ang, he was still customizing support strategies for each member.
"Are you serious?" Li Ang looked up.
"This is a full team meeting, would I joke about this?" the leader said sternly.
Li Ang's gaze swept over the other members, some avoided eye contact, some closed their eyes, while others held mocking smiles.
Li Ang put down the pen in his hand: "Hard-won position? As the leader, do you really not know how it came to be? When I joined, the Soul Apex was just a mid-ranked small group."
"Yes, you're a founding member, but if veterans loaf off openly, how can we lead the group?" Rams said with a suggestive smile.
Pretending to be clueless?
"The recent key tactics all revolve around my Support Magic—"
"Yeah, which made everyone exhausted to death," a member interrupted Li Ang's words.
From the start, he was sneering in sync with Li Ang's speech.
"There are countless supporters wanting to join our group, and you still count your contributions? With you as a witch?"
A witch is a profession that manipulates the "Spirituality" of things. Due to the differing spirituality of everything, its abilities are unstable and uncertain, requiring vast experience and experimentation to be useful.
Li Ang knew that this profession was misunderstood throughout the entire Air Realm.
But without innate talent or background, by leveraging a witch's ability and a Transmigrator's knowledge and mindset, he was able to keep up with the other strong ones in this world.
In ten years, he almost exhausted all potential of this profession. The Support results he achieved helped the team overcome one challenge after another.
"What's wrong with a witch?" Li Ang stared directly at the sneering member.
"Lacking in damage, I use Elemental Gems to supplement Elemental Attack; when the team's Defense is lacking, I commune with the Earth to summon an Earth Giant as a shield, and when healing is strained, I even summon Healing Power from plants and blessed Ritual Artifacts.
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