Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 138: Levitation Experiment
Tauro’s party left the mountain village at noon and resumed their journey home.
The villagers gathered to see them off and repeatedly expressed their gratitude. Several had tears in their eyes, and Rumeya soon began crying as well. The others kindly pretended not to notice.
His time repairing houses and working beside the villagers had apparently created a genuine bond.
During the following days, the party traveled and camped much as they had on the outward journey.
At night, however, Tauro secretly experimented with the new ability he had gained from defeating the griffons: [Levitation].
The possibility that he might finally be able to fly, one of the great promises of fantasy, made him too excited to wait.
“Everyone is asleep… All right. [Levitation]!”
Tauro’s body rose lightly from the ground.
“Oh! This is fascinating… but is this as high as I can go?”
He stopped approximately fifty centimeters above the ground and showed no sign of rising farther.
“It’s certainly levitation, but this isn’t what I imagined.”
Disappointed but still curious, Tauro continued testing it.
He floated toward a nearby tree, caught the trunk, and discovered that he could pull himself upward almost effortlessly using only his arms.
“I understand. [Levitation] is reducing my effective weight. The fifty-centimeter distance isn’t simply a fixed ceiling.”
Tauro climbed to the top of the tree and released his grip.
Instead of plummeting, he descended slowly while he remained close to the trunk.
“Could it work like this…?”
He kicked away from the tree to move beyond its surface.
His body suddenly dropped.
“Whoa!”
Just before striking the ground, Tauro stopped and rebounded to approximately fifty centimeters above it, as though an invisible cushion had absorbed his momentum.
“That was frightening… The effect must surround me like a sphere. While I was beside the tree, it used the trunk as a supporting surface and lowered me slowly. Once I moved away, I fell until the ground entered the effect’s range.”
His heart still pounding, Tauro began to understand the ability’s structure.
“At the very least, it appears able to prevent fall damage. It also consumes very little magic power, so it could be useful if I learn how to apply it properly.”
He tested the sensation further by jumping and running while levitating.
“I should determine what happens over water.”
Tauro used [True Eye] to inspect the surrounding forest and located a river nearby.
“Perfect. I’ll try it there.”
Still floating, he hurried into the trees.
That was a mistake.
Tauro crossed the boundary of the defensive barrier Aeris had placed around the campsite.
Aeris immediately woke and warned Leada, who shared her tent. Shin, Rumeya, and the coachman also sprang up and armed themselves.
On his way toward the river, Tauro heard the distant commotion.
“Oh no. I forgot about the barrier.”
Realizing what he had done, he hurried back.
He found everyone prepared for battle and quickly explained that he had been the one to cross the boundary.
“I should have recognized you even through such a simple barrier, so I bear some responsibility. Even so, what were you doing alone in the forest in the middle of the night?”
“I’m sorry.”
Aeris sighed and turned to the others.
“I apologize for waking everyone. Please return to sleep. I’ll speak with Tauro.”
Once Leada and the others had withdrawn, Aeris faced Tauro, who was sitting rigidly under her stare.
“Knowing you, I assume you acquired another ability and couldn’t resist testing it.”
She had read him perfectly.
Tauro broke into a cold sweat.
“I acquired [Levitation] and wanted to learn how it worked.”
“[Levitation]? That’s an extremely rare ability, normally associated with exceptional skills such as [Sage], [Saint], or [Hero].”
Aeris kept her voice low, but her surprise was unmistakable.
“Is it really that remarkable? At the moment, I can only float about half a meter above a surface.”
Tauro described everything he had discovered.
“Abilities generally become more versatile as their users gain proficiency. [Levitation] may eventually develop far enough to resemble [Flight].”
Aeris sounded exasperated that Tauro had dismissed such a rare power so quickly.
“Perhaps. The conditions under which I acquire abilities are so specific and restrictive that I never know how normally they’ll develop.”
Because Tauro still didn’t fully understand the system governing his unusual skills, he could only wonder whether [Levitation] would grow as Aeris predicted.