Based on her current mana, her maximum flight time was one hour and twenty minutes.
But to be safe, it was better to fly for no more than one hour before heading back.
And while her talent was technically "flight," Lan Qingyou felt the actual state was closer to moving in zero gravity, like being in outer space.
Without something to push off of, she could only hang in the air and wait for the wind to carry her.
She needed to keep that in mind — in places with nothing to push off of, or very little, she had to fly cautiously.
And then there was one final point.
Under no circumstances could she let anyone see her fly.
It wasn't about secrecy. Being able to fly was a skill in its own right, and in a world where everyone could only move during the day, keeping that completely hidden was simply impractical.
The real reason she didn't want to be seen was her legs.
Because she had absolutely no control over them, her aerial posture for a while after takeoff formed a "7" shape — her legs just dangled limply beneath her.
Sure, being seen wouldn't be the end of the world. At most it'd become an embarrassing story to laugh about later.
But social death was still social death.
A person can die, but they must never die of embarrassment.
This was a matter of principle.
"Delicious!"
Once the self-heating hotpot was ready, Lan Qingyou — who hadn't eaten in days — immediately fished out a slice of potato and stuffed it into her mouth.
The explosive burst of beef tallow and chili aroma in her mouth drew an involuntary exclamation.
Ever since the car accident five years ago, she'd eaten nothing but hospital meals.
She hadn't tasted anything spicy in so long. She began wolfing it down.
While eating, she scrolled through the Regional Channel chat.
"What's everyone's basic skill? Mine is Gathering Skill — it costs 20 Mana Points per use, and I've only got 50 total."
"How do you know it costs 20?"
"I snuck outside earlier and tested it right by my door."
"Impressive!"
"Salute to the brave one."
"Mine's Gathering Skill too."
"Same here."
"Looks like we all got the same basic magic. Too bad I've only got 30 Mana Points — one use and I'm done, gotta rest."
"That's still not bad, sis. I'm even worse off — only 1 Spirit and 10 Mana Points. If it really costs 20 like you said, I can't even use magic at all."
"Bro, your Spirit's a bit low, isn't it?"
"Can't help it. Guess I'm just not cut out to be a mage."
"Then how do you gather resources?"
"I used to be a lumberjack, so I picked the Axe. Tomorrow I'll just go back to doing what I know."
"Bro, I picked a Pickaxe. Want to swap tools tomorrow and take turns?"
"What a coincidence! Come on, add me as a friend and let's talk details."
Reading their chat, Lan Qingyou nearly choked on her food.
'Well, well. And here I thought my stats were rock-bottom, but there are masters out there even worse off.'
Still, the guy had a point — Spirit didn't represent intelligence.
A person with high intelligence didn't necessarily have high Spirit.
'But 20 Mana Points per use, huh. So at full capacity, I can only use it four times before sitting around waiting for mana to recover?'
'Oh wait — I also need to reserve enough mana for flight.'
'So three times, then.'
"By the way, what resources does everyone need for their Shelter upgrade? Mine requires 3,100 units of Vine and ten E-rank Monster Crystal Cores. Is that even reasonable?"
"Seems reasonable. Probably depends on what kind of Shelter you have. My Shelter is inside a cave, so I need 3,000 Stone and 100 Wood."
"Can't it be simpler? I need Vine and Stone, plus Wood and Soil."
Seeing them discuss this, Lan Qingyou suddenly remembered that Shelters needed to be upgraded too.
She hurriedly checked what her Tree Hollow required for its upgrade.
[Tree Hollow Shelter (Level 2) upgrade requirements: Wood x2,500, Stone x100, Vine x500, E-rank Monster Crystal Core x10]
It seemed different Shelters required different materials. She just didn't know how easy they'd be to obtain.
She looked at her Gathering Skill and fell silent.
According to the World Will, the higher the Shelter's level, the stronger the Magic Shield's protection.
But that also implied that the future dangers they'd face would be severe.
'Whatever.'
'Since I'm already here, I might as well make the best of it. Future problems are for the future.'
With food in her stomach, her blood was busy dealing with digestion now.
Her brain, wound tight for days, could finally relax at last.
Things being what they were, she might as well sleep first.
A straw-padded "bed" might not be much, but to Lan Qingyou it was still better than the bare wooden board she'd had before. At least it didn't dig into her back.
Though, come to think of it...
'Did I forget something?'
Lying on the straw, drifting somewhere between wakefulness and sleep, the thought flickered through Lan Qingyou's mind.
...
Sleep was always a soothing thing.
Especially for someone like Lan Qingyou, who hadn't slept properly in days.
By the time she opened her eyes the next morning, sunlight was already streaming through the glass window and falling across her bed.
Glug, glug, glug—
She took several swallows of ice-cold mineral water, and the freshly awakened Lan Qingyou couldn't help but shiver.
Then she locked the World Channel and Regional Channel screens, grabbed the sausage she'd deliberately left on the desk the night before, and flew out of the room.
Only now did she finally see what kind of place she'd ended up in.
It was a forest — towering, colossal trees everywhere.
Sunlight filtered through the thick canopy, setting a small stream below sparkling with dancing light. The entire forest looked breathtakingly beautiful, impossibly fantastical.
And this particular tree — the one her Shelter was in — had a trunk at least a hundred meters in diameter.
Compared to this giant, the little door of her Tree Hollow Shelter looked like a sesame seed stuck to a watermelon — utterly inconspicuous.
But that was fine. At least during the day, even if someone spotted this tree, they'd never think there was a Shelter up here.
It felt like a "secret base." The thought gave her a little thrill.
But if it was a tree-based Shelter, why wasn't there a staircase or something?
After all, her front door was at least twenty to thirty meters above the ground. Without her Light Body Spell, she'd probably struggle just to get down.
Puzzled, Lan Qingyou circled the trunk — and discovered that the vines crawling all over it could apparently serve as a way to climb up and down.
'I should clear these vines away. That way I can rest easy.'
Even knowing that no one else could enter the Shelter.
With that thought, Lan Qingyou cast Gathering Skill on the vines.
With a snap, a section of vines collapsed and plummeted straight to the ground.
'Well then. Survival here is pretty hardcore — no auto-pickup, no storage function.'
Gripping vines for propulsion, Lan Qingyou floated down, gathered the fallen vines, and returned to her room.
She selected the shop activation option in the Exchange, then tossed the vines onto the small screen.
They vanished instantly.