Chapter 443: Foothold.

Using a spell you had no affinity with took an obscene amount of Spirit Pressure. Sometimes, when the Mage Academy of Camelot gained a child of rare affinity, they would have no choice but to give them a teacher who might very well not have any talent in the child's field. 

In such a case, the teacher would do their best to guide the child in the fundamentals. But, even in that case, the strongest spells the teacher might cast would be Apprentice level Arts. 

However… [Float] wasn't an Apprentice level Art. In fact, it was well known as one of the most difficult to cast Magus Arts in all of Camelot. 

Not only was Leonel casting a Three Star Magus Art he had no affinity with, but he was also using it in a situation he had no business using it in. 

[Float] was only meant to help one hover ten meters above the ground at most. And even then, every second one spent at that height would cost a huge expenditure of Spirit Pressure even for a high affinity wind mage. 

Yet, Leonel not only had no wind affinity, but he was over 500 meters in the sky!

Wind Mages would often use [Float] like an Earth Mage would use a defensive technique. It was only a method of protecting themselves in battle for a short period of time. Every extra meter they soared into the air, the exponentially more Spirit Pressure they would need to use. 

"Send me inside!" Aina suddenly said. 

She hadn't spoken a word since Leonel pressed her against his chest like this. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she found it to be quite comfortable. But, her comfort wasn't worth Leonel strain. 

The fact that Leonel had sent her box and sword in was enough to show that every extra pound was a huge strain to him. 

Of course, it wasn't that Leonel wouldn't rather send Aina in, but rather that sending in a living object compared to an inanimate one was a completely different concept. For the same reason Leonel had to knock Aliard out first before stuffing him into a snowglobe, he couldn't casually send Aina wherever he wanted whenever he wanted. 

In that split second, it was better for him to take this action than explaining his plan. Who knew what might happen? If he told Aina not to resist and that he'd be fine, who knew if she'd believe him?

Just when Leonel was about to answer Aina and agree to her suggestion, veins bulging across his forehead, it hit them. 

"Yip! Yip!"

'Do as I said!' Leonel roared in his mind. 

BANG!

It was just the surge of wind finally reaching them. It was far weaker than what it was on the ground. Yet… it felt as though they had been smashed by a sledgehammer. 

Leonel wrapped his arms around Aina tightly. 

He could feel bits and pieces of rocks and chipped wood rebounding across his back, trying to tear his skin apart. 

"Leonel!" Aina cried out. 

Leonel grinned. In all his life, this was only the second time he could remember Aina calling out his name. 

"Don't worry, I have thick skin."

Leonel sent his voice to Aina's ears. If not for this, it was doubtful that she would be able to hear him at all. 

Aina didn't seem comforted by these words at all, but there was nothing she could do. If she tried to force her way out of Leonel's protection, it would only make everything worse. 

There was no time where Leonel wanted to use his shuttle more, but he knew it would be useless to do so here. 

The shuttle provided too little control. It was great at straight-line speed, but Leonel had just been in a forest. By the time he managed to make it above the foliage, it was already too late to guarantee making it out of the range of the shockwave. 

If the shuttle got hit by the shockwave, Leonel was certain it would be able to hold up against the elements alone, but he would have no control of it. According to his simulations, the likelihood of it crashing into the ground was near 100%. In that case, it was far better to rely on his own body which he had far more control of. 

And, even though the surfboard form of the shuttle gave greater nimbleness, it provided no protection whatsoever. If Leonel brought it out now, it would be more likely to just get lost in all the chaos instead of helping them escape. 

'I'll definitely modify that damn thing!' Leonel roared in his heart as he tumbled through the air like loose trash. 

Every time it seemed that Leonel might be headed toward the ground, he would grit his teeth and activate [Float] in full force again, slowing his descent. It was exactly this level of control he wouldn't have in the shuttle. 

Slowly but surely, the tsunami of earth and walls of wind began to calm. 

According to Leonel calculations, they had been blown over two kilometers away from their original location, and this was after going half a kilometer into the skies. Leonel couldn't even imagine the devastation on the ground. 

Seeing that it was calm enough, Leonel slowly opened his eyes. 

The surroundings were filled with a dense fog of dirt and soil, it was the kind of air one couldn't breathe in too deeply. 

Leonel summoned the shuttle and entered the surfboard mode, instantly stopping his descent to the ground. 

He slowly rose, trying to get to a point where his vision was clear of this mushroom cloud of earth. 

When he finally did, he was already over a kilometer above the surface and what he saw left him stunned. 

Devastation. Absolute devastation. 

Where there once was an endless forest of greenery, there was nothing but overturned earth. The land had become a slosh of broken trees, sand, soil and rock. 

Leonel couldn't even begin to imagine the devastation this had caused to the wildlife and he was even more worried about what happened to Lancelot and the others. 

Aina looked down from her position in Leonel's arms, her heart also trembling. 

They both locked eyes onto the floating city in the distance. 

At that moment, White City finally completed its descent, perfectly fitting into the hole in the ground it had created. 

Seeing such a scene, Leonel shuddered. 

What was the most difficult part about invading another world? Wasn't it gaining a foothold…?

But, what if you came with your own foothold? What if you brought your own fortified city to launch your attacks from?