Dark clouds painted the sky a dull, silver foil.
Fortunately, this was not a sign of Stormterror's return, but merely an ordinary cloudy day. The Mondstadters could not endure any more turmoil for now.
"Hah—" Jibril stretched languidly, facing the sky, her enormous wingspan unfurling in the humid air.
Her body stretched and a series of popping sounds came from her joints as her bones realigned.
"Didn't you sleep well last night?" Lumine looked at the girl's poor complexion beside her, a worried expression on her face. "Still thinking about that dream?"
"Mm... no~" Jibril forced a slightly tired smile, but her hand, hanging by her side, reached out and naturally slipped into Lumine's.
The girl's cheeks instantly flushed crimson and she nervously glanced around.
Perhaps due to the weather, there weren't many people in the Plaza of the Anemo Archon today, and the green figure who usually performed there was still cooped up in the tavern.
So, after a symbolic struggle, Lumine let the other person weave their fingers between hers.
"Why are you two always so clingy?" Paimon circled the two, asking curiously.
"B-because..."
"Because that's what good friends do." Jibril gently scratched Lumine's palm with her fingertips, answering calmly.
[I thought you were just good friends]
'...'
Jibril had no intention of responding to the system.
She planned to temporarily block this guy, partly because of last night's dream and partly because she realized she truly couldn't beat the system in terms of annoyance.
But, perhaps whether it was the system or Paimon, someone always had to give out quests. Just as Jibril was enjoying a stroll with Lumine, a quest found them.
"Jibril, Lumine, I've been looking for you for ages~"
Amber waved and ran over from a distance, greeting the two. The bunny-ear headband on her head bounced cheerfully with her steps.
Seeing this, Lumine instinctively pulled her hand back as if shocked, her ear tips red as she greeted, "A-Amber, good morning!"
"...Good morning."
"I don't have much work this morning, Acting Grand Master Jean gave me the day off, hehe..." Amber smiled shyly, then suddenly seemed to remember something, looking at Lumine with expectant eyes.
"Oh right, how's that wind glider I gave you last time?"
"It's great! It's just... I always fly too high without realizing it." Lumine replied. "Actually, it's mostly thanks to Jibril's guidance~"
"Uh... right."
Right, is it right?
She seemed to have been using Spatial Shift all along... "Ah! Sometimes I really envy Jibril, she was born with her own wings." Amber lowered her head in disappointment, mumbling to herself.
Facing two intense gazes, Jibril couldn't help but step back, her originally flamboyant wings retracting slightly.
"Oh, speaking of which. You definitely don't have a gliding license yet, do you?"
"A gliding license? What's that?" Paimon asked, puzzled.
"It's pretty obvious from the name, isn't it?" Amber explained, hands on her hips. "Only with a gliding license! Can you legally fly in Mondstadt City~"
Paimon and Lumine quickly exchanged glances, both looking troubled.
"Mm... Lumine and Jibril have been flying in the city for so long, we've never heard of such a thing before..."
"Exactly! It's because you two are flying around the city all day that everyone noticed!" Amber put one hand on her hip, her red bunny ears shaking slightly with the movement.
Seeing that the method of feigning ignorance wouldn't work, Paimon sheepishly stuck out her tongue. "So, Amber, did you specifically come to deliver the gliding license today?"
"How could that be? Knights have principles."
"A gliding license requires passing an exam first, then it's issued uniformly by the Knights of Favonius. And I—"
Amber lightly cleared her throat, straightened her back, gently tugged at the collar of her uniform, and a brilliant smile appeared on her upturned face.
"Am here to be your examiner today, to supervise Lumine's gliding license test!"
"After all, I'm the one who gave you the wind glider, I have to take responsibility~ Acting Grand Master Jean would definitely say the same."
"Uh... what about me?" Jibril pointed to herself.
"Hmm... Jibril doesn't need to take this test, right?" Lumine propped her chin, lowering her head to examine the Flügel's feet dangling in mid-air.
As the girl moved inadvertently, the golden chain wrapped around her ankle gently swayed, brushing against her skin, leaving... uh, anyway, her feet weren't touching the ground.
"Cough! W-wouldn't that be like asking a normal person to take a walking license test?" Lumine coughed as she then waved her hand as she feign composure.
Jibril, however, had no reaction. She was thinking.
Did Lumine just secretly call her abnormal? Or was she still holding a grudge about that punch... It's all the damn system's fault!
"Miss Jibril is naturally exempt from the test. In fact, I don't even know how to set the assessment standards..." Amber sighed helplessly.
"Hmm, although it sounds troublesome. But since Amber is the examiner, then..."
"I'll take the test myself." Lumine clenched her fists and said firmly.
"Of course, Lumine will definitely pass!" Amber agreed. "It's just a small test. Your flying ability during your battle with Stormterror is well-known throughout Mondstadt, so there'll be no problem."
"Hmm, that being said... we still have to follow the rules and gliding standards~"
The girl lowered her head and rummaged through her waist pouch for a moment, then pulled out a book as thick as a brick and handed it over. "Here, this gliding guide is for you. You don't have to memorize it, but you should familiarize yourself with it."
"For example, no two people on one wind glider, no taking off with oversized heavy objects, no using Anemo Slimes to take off, etc..."
Lumine nodded seriously, indicating she had noted it, while Jibril stroked her chin beside them.
As the saying goes, "rules are meant to be broken." If she were to be judged by the rules in this book... wouldn't she, who uses Anemo Slimes to take off every day, be a criminal?
"Hehe... Anyway, you should read it thoroughly. When Lisa taught me magic, she also made me read many thick books first!"
"It looks really thick..." Paimon sighed helplessly, looking at the thickness of the book in Lumine's arms. "But there's no other way, let's just read it first."
"Okay! After you finish reading, come find me at Windrise!"
After enthusiastically bidding them farewell, Amber leaped onto the plaza railing and flew out of the city with her wind glider.
As the "chief examiner" the girl's wobbly takeoff posture truly made Lumine and Paimon hold their breath.
After Amber's figure completely disappeared, Lumine pulled Jibril along to read the [Gliding Guide] Amber had left.
However, after only a few pages, she noticed something unusual.
"It seems more like a fairy tale?" Paimon tilted her head slightly, carefully examining the childish illustrations on the pages. "Is the Knights of Favonius's Gliding Guide... this style?"
"At least it's a good story." Jibril said with a smile.
"Ugh... never mind, let's go find Amber quickly!"
They found the Outrider waiting on tiptoes on the cliff edge at Windrise.
"Ah, you're here!"
Amber turned her head at the sound and ran over excitedly. "Have you read the Gliding Guide thoroughly? Are you familiar with all the rules and regulations?"
Lumine smiled awkwardly. "I've read it... but..."
"Mmm, that hesitant tone, I understand, I understand." Before Lumine could finish her sentence, Amber interrupted her, full of empathy.
"The Gliding Guide is just so dry and boring, I can't read it either... Ah, don't tell Acting Grand Master Jean I said that."
Amber clasped her hands together and playfully stuck out her tongue, and the three of them shared a knowing smile.
"Actually... I think the story in this Gliding Guide is quite interesting?"
"An interesting story?" Amber paused, then her eyes lit up. "Are you talking about the cases in the appendix!?"
"I like some of them too, especially the one about illegally taking off with an Anemo Slime! Using the burst of airflow when an Anemo Slime is broken, they say you can fly really, really high in one go. I really want to try it—"
Jibril also excitedly added, "Yes, yes, I heard that when a large Anemo Slime jumps, if you step on its head, you can also bounce very high!"
"Hmm? Really!?" Amber excitedly grabbed the Flügel's hand, her eyes sparkling.
Lumine: I'll try it another day...
Seeing that the few of them were rapidly heading towards being outlaws, in order to preserve the dwindling dignity of the Gliding Guide and also to protect the Anemo Slimes (?), Paimon quickly interrupted them.
"What are you talking about! That book is about a little bird wanting to learn to fly..."
"Huh... Ah!?"
Amber snatched the "Gliding Guide" back from Lumine's hand in shock. Within a few seconds, her entire face turned scarlet.
"This! This seems to be my favorite fable book from when I was little, not the Gliding Guide..."
Fumbling to put the book back in her bag, the girl's voice grew softer and softer. "I'm sorry... I put it with the Knights of Favonius Gliding Guide yesterday, I must have picked up the wrong one when I left."
"Is it possible to mix up these two books?" Paimon asked, puzzled.
"Uh... it's a bit embarrassing to talk about this now."
"But the reason I mixed them up might be because, in my heart, this book is the guide that taught me to fly..."
She looked up at the cloudy sky and said gently but firmly, "'What matters is not the strong wind but courage; it is what makes you the first birds in the world.' That's the sentence that gave me the courage to fly, to become an Outrider, and the gliding champion of Mondstadt City..."
"Alright, alright!" Amber shook her head vigorously, almost flinging off her headband. "Enough of this, let's start the test quickly!"
The girl turned to face the cliff, flashing Lumine a brilliant smile and giving a big thumbs up.
"Don't be nervous, just perform at your usual gliding level!"
Following the direction of Amber's finger, the scenery suddenly opened up.
Countless white rings, like overlapping lotus petals, left the cliff and spiraled downwards, like guiding beacons, finally blooming in layers of light around the [Symbol of Mondstadt's Hero] in the center of Windrise.
"Follow the route I've marked for you, and fly smoothly all the way to the finish line!"
"Go, Lumine!" Paimon circled in front of the girl, clenching her small fists to cheer her on.
Seeing the other party's gaze, Jibril also smiled and gave Lumine two thumbs up. 'Hmph, it's just a gliding test!'
Lumine took a deep breath, quickly ran to the edge of the cliff, then bent her knees and jumped.
The wind glider suddenly unfurled behind her, and her body soared into the air again, swiftly descending. The already distant ground rapidly receded in her vision, gradually blurring.
Flowing clouds brushed past her ears like mist and the vast plains were rendered into a grey-green scroll by the cloudy day's color temperature. Millennia of flowing wind lifted her body, rushing into layers of mist in mid-air, entering the hazy painting.
If there were more sunlight, this would surely be a delightful sight.
The girl didn't fly fast; in fact, she deliberately lowered her flying speed.
Thus, when she passed through the first ring of light, she glided through it with ease, like an acrobat performing a difficult stunt.
Lumine was trying to "enjoy" flying, and Jibril?
She had already been doing that for a long time.
In the past, when flying in an airplane, she could only sit obediently in her seat, marveling at the clouds outside the window instead of being among them. Soon, she would feel uncomfortable all over, unable to sleep well, and might even get a stiff neck.
Now, she could freely control her flight path, with a wide field of vision and her body could sway freely with the flight. Compared to teleportation, Jibril loved the unconstrained sense of freedom she had imagined as a child even more.
Being able to fly is indeed an exhilarating thing!
If possible, you could just fly aimlessly for three days and three nights.
Fly into the clouds, fly to other nations beyond Mondstadt, fly to all sorts of places you've never been and when you're tired, find a place to land, eat a big meal, sleep comfortably, and wake up to continue flying—this ultimate experience is much more fun than games.
Unfortunately, now is clearly not the time... the test requires every second to count!
Moreover, Lumine hadn't forgotten that she didn't actually grow a pair of wings; they were just props.
Controlling the wind glider, Lumine gracefully landed on the ground. She looked around the finish line and quickly found Amber standing by the bushes.
"Very good. As expected of you, who can maintain balance even in a storm, you passed smoothly."
"Where are Jibril and Paimon?" Lumine asked puzzled.
"They went to the second checkpoint." Amber blinked. "There are two more tests in Mondstadt City~ You didn't think getting a gliding license would be that easy, did you~"
"…"
She had never found a gliding test enjoyable.