Chapter 103: Mother Cloud Spirit
Of course, Levi would never allow that kind of situation to happen.
Because he could simply transform back into human form.
In his human state, Levi would no longer absorb moisture from the air on his own.
A human body was far too heavy for air currents to support, so Levi would simply fall from the sky.
An ordinary person would naturally be killed by such a fall.
But Levi was obviously not an ordinary person.
He had plenty of ways to avoid ending up in such a predicament, so there was no need to go into that.
Back to the main topic.
Levi dismissed his white cloud form and returned to human shape. Then, continuing to expend Magic Power, he transformed back into a white cloud once more.
During this repeated cycle of transformation, Levi's understanding of the spell deepened further and further, and his experience points increased at an ever-growing pace.
Before long, he reached the requirements for an upgrade.
Without hesitation, he advanced the spell. The corresponding spell crystal in his mind melted like water before reforming into a new shape.
Not long afterward, a more complex spell crystal appeared within his Sea of Souls.
His Sea of Souls underwent another slight strengthening.
Of course, it was only a level increase from 1 to 2. For Levi, who was already a Third-Ring Wizard, the benefits were minimal.
Levi had long been mentally prepared for that and had never expected much from it.
His consciousness touched the newly formed spell crystal, and information about it immediately surfaced in his mind.
[Cloud Condensation!]
This Level 2 spell consumed more Magic Power and allowed Levi to transform into a dense, compact cloud.
The Magic Power consumption of an apprentice-level spell was still negligible to Levi.
Without wasting any time, he cast the Level 2 spell.
As Magic Power rippled outward, he quickly transformed into a new cloud body.
This cloud body was noticeably denser and thicker than before. It was no longer loose and scattered. Its outline was more stable, and its size had expanded to roughly the volume of a cloud large enough for two or three people to encircle together. Its color remained pure white, and its shape could be adjusted slightly according to Levi's will.
Levi extended his Spiritual Power deep into the cloud body and discovered a simple magical pattern within it.
It resembled the spell crystals in his Sea of Souls, though it was much simpler.
This magical pattern increased the cloud body's degree of solidification, allowing it to temporarily support lightweight objects weighing no more than ten pounds.
At the same time, it no longer drifted with the wind so easily. It possessed a certain degree of autonomous directional control, was unaffected by gentle breezes, and could fly somewhat faster than before.
It could also undergo limited transformations, forming a cloud shield or cloud curtain for basic protection and concealment.
To Levi, these abilities were fairly ordinary.
The only aspect that truly interested him was the solidification effect.
Unfortunately, a lifting capacity of less than ten pounds was still rather useless in his eyes.
He calmed himself and continued practicing the Level 2 spell.
Meanwhile, the war at Frostfang Pass had finally come to an end.
The combined forces of the Kingdom of Valeria and Silverclaw Viscount had suffered a crushing defeat and fled in disarray.
The final tally showed nearly two thousand casualties on the allied side.
Among the dead were the commander sent by the Kingdom of Valeria, Silverclaw Viscount, and many other high-ranking figures.
Another four thousand, nearly five thousand people, had been taken prisoner.
Sky Knight Rune had displayed his ability to stand suspended in midair.
The sight alone caused many soldiers—and even some knight-level core personnel—to fall to their knees and surrender on the spot.
That was why so many prisoners had been captured.
After a brief screening process, they were sent to the rear to perform labor-intensive work such as mining ore and digging coal, all under the supervision of dedicated guards.
With their addition, construction of the new city accelerated once again.
To give the prisoners hope and reduce the chances of unrest, Sky Knight Rune, acting in the lord's name, announced that any prisoner whose ransom was paid by the Kingdom of Valeria would be allowed to return home. Those whose ransom was not paid would instead undergo labor reform here.
Other than nobles, who would ever have a ransom paid for them?
As a result, the overwhelming majority of the prisoners would be staying here for labor reform.
Rune further informed them that the labor reform period would last five years.
Once the term ended, they would regain their freedom. They could also choose to become residents of Hornreach.
Those who performed exceptionally well or made outstanding contributions during the reform period could receive reduced sentences and might even be granted land.
On the other hand, anyone who caused trouble or stirred up unrest during the process would face severe punishment.
In serious cases, the penalty would be death by hanging.
After laying down these rules, Rune was confident the prisoners would not cause problems in the short term.
His attention soon shifted to other matters.
The end of the war was only the beginning.
There were countless issues that Sky Knight Rune, Yalina, and the others needed to handle—especially since Levi, the lord himself, had become a complete hands-off manager.
On the military side, Rune had to dispatch personnel to hunt down the fleeing allied soldiers.
He also needed to station troops at key locations to secure control over Silverclaw Territory, drive off opportunistic nobles from the Duchy of Silverbrook who had come hoping to profit from the chaos, and closely monitor developments within the Kingdom of Valeria to prevent a surprise attack.
That was only the military aspect.
There were many other matters as well.
For example, they needed to calculate the spoils of war: how many suits of armor had been captured, how many swords, how much grain, and countless other resources.
All of this required a large number of people to process and organize.
In addition, Yalina and the others still needed to determine the true extent of Silverclaw Territory's accumulated wealth...
It could be said that there were countless matters demanding attention.
Sky Knight Rune, Yalina, Nightingale Miss Odelle, and the wolf-eared girl Little Red Riding Hood, Emily, were all so busy they barely had a moment to breathe.
Even Rapunzel wasn't allowed to go back and was dragged into helping.
Since she was pure-hearted (and a little simple-minded), there were many tasks she simply couldn't handle.
So she was assigned to cry.
Literally cry.
Using the tears she cried through her ability, they brewed healing potions. Just as Levi had done before, she wore a bird-beak mask and a wax-colored robe, posing as a wizard physician and treating wounded soldiers returning from the battlefield.
The effects of Rapunzel's tears were comparable to a First-Ring Spell-level Healing spell. Diluted into potions and administered to soldiers, the results were quite good, and the recovery rate was remarkably high.
The only problem was—
Rapunzel was nearly crying herself blind.
She was almost out of tears.
On the first day, the sight of wounded soldiers made tears pour from her eyes like water from an opened faucet.
But by the tenth day, seeing injured soldiers had already left Rapunzel somewhat numb.
Sure enough, doctors do not become hard-hearted without reason.
Later on, Rapunzel even needed the help of various props to force herself to cry.
It was a rather tragic story.
Meanwhile, Levi was in an exceptionally good mood.
Because his Cloud Spirit Polymorph had finally reached the level of a Third-Ring Spell.
[Mother Cloud Spirit!]
A Third-Order magical creature that, when fully expanded, could reach a diameter of one kilometer, covering roughly 0.7 square kilometers—about the size of one hundred football fields.
In addition to abilities such as Rainfall and Lightning, it possessed a remarkable power:
Division.
When the main body could no longer grow stronger, it could absorb external energy and split off Cloud Spirits that remained completely under its control.
When enough Cloud Spirits gathered together, the resulting spectacle was exactly what Levi had once witnessed atop Gem Mountain—
The Kingdom of Clouds.
The Land of Giants.
And to Levi, it represented a mobile Sky City.
His heart couldn't help but stir.
Of course.
For a single Cloud Spirit Mother to produce as many Cloud Spirits as existed in the Kingdom of Clouds would require centuries of growth, perhaps even longer.
But Levi had a shortcut.
The Dragon Blood he had collected within Mist Swamp.
That dragon blood contained terrifying amounts of energy—perfect for the Mother Cloud Spirit to absorb and use to divide and produce Cloud Spirits.
As soon as the idea occurred to him, he acted.
Levi first cast Polymorph.
As Magic Power rippled through him, his feet rapidly turned transparent, transforming into strands of pure white cloud that slowly spread across the ground.
Then his torso and arms began dissolving and reforming.
His human flesh-and-blood body faded away, replaced by soft, fluffy masses of cloud.
The cloud mass emitted a faint glow, while tiny magical runes drifted around its edges.
In little more than the blink of an eye, Levi transformed into a cloud mass three kilometers in diameter.
He performed the transformation high in the sky, which was why no one noticed.
Had he transformed inside the castle, the commotion would have been far too great.
After all, the Mother Cloud Spirit covered an area of approximately 0.7 square kilometers.
Once fully expanded, it could envelop the entirety of Coldwind Keep Town.
The townspeople would certainly realize something was wrong.
The sky was different.
No one would notice that behind layers of white clouds, another enormous cloud had appeared.
Naturally, no one would know that this cloud was as solid as the ground itself and could be walked upon without falling—
No one except Levi.
At the moment, a barrel of dragon blood rested atop the cloud.
The blood of the Seven-Headed Dragon.
The blood of a Seven-Headed Dragon whose strength even Levi's Third-Ring Detection spell had been unable to assess.
Its blood contained power so immense that "terrifying" was the only suitable description.
And now, that power could be absorbed by Levi's transformed Mother Cloud Spirit to create Cloud Spirits through division.
Rune, despite possessing physical strength comparable to that of a First-Ring Wizard as a Sky Knight, could only bathe in diluted dragon blood.
But Levi's Mother Cloud Spirit form could withstand much more.
After all, it was a Third-Order magical creature.
Still, this was his first attempt, and Levi wasn't entirely confident.
So he decided to start by absorbing a single drop of dragon blood.
The transformed Mother Cloud Spirit extended a cloud-made hand, drew a single drop of dragon blood from the crystal barrel fashioned from Fire Crystals, and absorbed it into its body.
The previously calm dragon blood immediately became violently turbulent, as though it had been provoked.
A torrent of power erupted outward, seemingly intent on tearing Levi's Mother Cloud Spirit form apart.
Countless golden specks appeared within the dragon blood, dazzling and brilliant.
Like a virus, they sought to infect Levi's Mother Cloud Spirit Form.
His originally pure white form seemed on the verge of turning golden as strange changes began to emerge.
At the same time, a phantom image of the Seven-Headed Dragon appeared within Levi's mind and launched an assault against his Spiritual Power.
For a brief instant, Levi was genuinely at risk of losing control.
Fortunately, at that moment, the ten spell crystals within Levi's Sea of Souls began vibrating simultaneously, blocking the attack of the Seven-Headed Dragon's will contained within the dragon blood.
At the same time, deep within his Mother Cloud Spirit form, the now extraordinarily complex magical rune suddenly erupted with brilliant white light.