Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(1-3VOL)

Vol 3/Chapter 55: The Rules

"What a coincidence seeing you here again," said Aria the six-winged angel who had greeted me at the triumph plaza earlier. She came over and said hi when I reached the chief referee.

"Oh...it's you!" I recognized her right away, the overly friendly stranger.

"I thought we'd only meet again at the flying contest. Didn't expect to run into you so soon at this less popular magic contest," Aria said happily. The chances of meeting someone familiar were quite low in this contest.

"Haha...I'm surprised too. The flying contest is too thrilling, so I chose this one instead," I said with an awkward laugh, not sure how to respond. We weren't very close and didn't have much to talk about.

"But..." Aria seemed to notice something and looked at me in surprise, "What happened to your wings? Are you injured?"

"Um..." I looked back and felt even more embarrassed. The tip of my top right wing was bare, easily noticeable if you looked closely. But I couldn't hide my wings while flying now. I had no choice but to stutter an explanation, "Got...caught in a door..."

"How could you get your wing caught in a door? That's so careless," Aria asked with a strange expression, though still sounding concerned, "It must have hurt a lot right?"

"Haha...it did hurt!" I couldn't help grimacing. Thankfully she didn't ask how I could still fly with an injured wing...

It wasn't a door at all! Cyra had forcefully plucked a large handful of feathers from my wing.

To be honest, she went too far! The pain was excruciating, I nearly fainted on the spot.

But I didn't let her bully me without retaliating. As a two-winged angel, how could I not fight back against a six-winged one? So I decisively returned the favour, plus my "Universe Shift Level 9" amplification...

Alright, I admit I overdid it a little. I was quite impulsive and tore out most of the feathers on her left wing, leaving the tender flesh exposed.

"Let's not talk about it..." I felt a headache coming just thinking about it. It would take at least two to three days for new feathers to fully grow back. Though the speed was fast, the biggest nuisance was being unable to hide injured wings.

My area of injury was small so it was fine. But Cyra really couldn't be seen now. She probably had difficulty even flying. Could only hide in her room, definitely unable to watch the contest.

She's probably still cursing me now...

I regret it and feel awful about the outcome, though I've apologized. Going overboard despite my good intentions, I can't help feeling very guilty.

"Feliciana!"

The chief referee was doing a roll call in the air with a notebook, my name came up.

"Here!" I quickly responded. Looking at the angels in the sky, there were only around ten, including the spectators.

"Since participants are few, we'll determine the winner in one round. I believe everyone is clear on the rules?"

After taking attendance, the chief referee reiterated the competition rules. Once everyone indicated understanding, she flew to the front to lead us to the venue.

"Reaching six wings in just a month, you're truly a genius. The magic contest is different from other events, no luck is involved, purely a test of ability. Only top masters with exceptional magical attainments dare participate."

Aria kept buttering me up mid-flight.

"Stop praising!"

I felt I really couldn't take it anymore and returned the compliment, "You're participating too, means you're also a top master!"