Flying

'So, how exactly do you fly?'

Wang Shòu pondered the same question that humanity had been pondering for thousands of years.

While he had read novels about the protagonist turning into a bird and describing the feeling of flying, these were written by authors who had never experienced the sensation themselves.

In other words, the description of flying and the feelings associated with it were just guesses by authors attempting to describe how it felt to fly.

'Oh well, let's just give it a try. Sometimes trying it out is more valuable than just guessing...'

Wang Shòu quickly hopped to the top of a huge boulder and looked down.

He hadn't thought much about it before, but now, as he had turned into a Rookidee, the ground seemed farther away than he expected.

Perched atop the weathered boulder, Wang Shòu's heart raced with anticipation and trepidation. He had been a human, a mouse, and even a lizard, but now he was a bird with feathers replacing skin and wings replacing arms.

'Umm, if I remember correctly, I just need to lift my wings and fly?'

Holding onto that thought, filled with fear and excitement, Wang Shòu took a leap of courage, jumping above the boulder.

Involuntarily closing his eyes for a second, Wang Shòu opened them again as he felt the brisk wind hitting his feathers.

As he fell, pulled by the planet's gravity, Wang Shòu felt nothing but exhilaration and excitement in his heart, rather than the fear of crashing into the ground.

Perhaps this feeling was an instinct that belonged solely to creatures who embraced the sky and flew as they pleased?

Emboldened by the weird, exhilarating feeling ingrained in his DNA, Wang Shòu spread his wings, trying to gain control over the air in an attempt to fly.

'Perhaps I can do this in my first tr-Fu*k!'

He felt a bit arrogant but suddenly the pull of gravity took control. Wang Shòu panicked as he realized he was descending faster than expected.

Smack!

Flapping helplessly in the air, Wang Shòu fell to the ground, his face kissing the earth first, stirring up a fair bit of dust around him.

"Cough, cough!" Wang Shòu coughed violently as he blew the dust away with his wing.

'Ow, ow, ow... that hurt...'

Feeling aches and pains in his body, Wang Shòu winced as he stood up again from crashing into the ground.

'Well... that was a catastrophic failure...'

'I should have known that would happen... even birds don't automatically know how to fly, let alone me.'

Wang Shòu sighed wryly, feeling that his previous thoughts of succeeding on the first try were foolish.

'Anyway, calculating the time when I left Xiong Yong, it should be around 20 minutes... I should probably head back.'

Wang Shòu switched back to Pikachu and headed back to where Xiong Yong was.

But before that, he looked back.

'I should probably come back here every day to learn how to fly.'

Then he ran forward, not looking back.

It didn't take long for him to see Xiong Yong, who was just sitting there bored, lost in thought.

As Wang Shòu arrived back, Xiong Yong jolted back to reality and greeted him, waving his paws.

"Grr!" (Hey, Boss Lei Feng! Your 'business' took longer than expected!)

Tilting his head slightly, not understanding what Xiong Yong meant, Wang Shòu didn't care and spoke.

"Pika, Pika." (Yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, we're going to stay here for probably a few weeks before we head to the middle region.)

Hearing that, Xiong Yong had a question mark on his head.

"Snort?" (But Boss Lei Feng, weren't you trying to enter the middle region? Why wait few weeks?)

Facing Xiong Yong's question, Wang Shòu had anticipated the question and replied.

"Pika, Pika." (Well... I know a few friends who will be heading to the middle region along with me. It will just take a while for them to come here.)

"Grr?" (You have friends? Are they as strong as you, and who are they?)

Xiong Yong asked, expressing his surprise. He never expected that Boss Lei Feng had friends! And since they must be as strong as Boss Lei Feng for him to consider them friends!

"Pika, Pika." (Well, they are certainly strong. You'll find out when they are here.)

Wang Shòu said, shaking his head, not revealing any more information.

Before he went back to where Xiong Yong was, after thinking for a while, he found that it would be best to stay here for a few weeks. He would feel more secure if he stayed here to get stronger before going to the middle region. Plus, he needed to learn how to fly as well.

So he made up an excuse that his friends would be coming here in a few weeks. Besides, it wasn't technically a lie.

As he had the Split Pokemon privilege, friends coming here also served as a convenient excuse to cover up why a bunch of Pokemon suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Wang Shòu deliberately didn't mention how many friends were coming or when they would arrive.

After all, while Split Pokemon was cool and all, it was under the premise that Wang Shòu could multitask between multiple Pokemon.

'And if I want to do that, it would probably take a few weeks... though if I'm lucky, it might take a shorter time than expected...'

Wang Shòu thought, stroking his chin. But suddenly, he remembered crucial information from his past life.

'Though that reminds me... if I remember correctly, wasn't multitasking considered impossible and thus a myth back in my previous life? If that was true, then what should I do, system?'

[In your past life, that would be correct. But now we're in the Douluo World, and you are far stronger than a normal human. This means that while your brain isn't more intelligent, it's stronger and can handle multitasking.]

'Oh, I see. Basically, it's not like I'm smarter, but I can handle more pressure on my brain and also remember more stuff too.'

Wang Shòu nodded, understanding what the system meant. But suddenly he sighed, feeling despair.

'Sigh. Learning how to fly, learning how to multitask, and also trying to get stronger too. And not only that, there is Xiong Yong to worry about... the next few weeks are going to be very exhausting...'

And so, three weeks passed amid Wang Shòu's despair. In the forest near the middle region, a small chubby bird could be seen flying slightly above the trees.

'Woohoo! This is amazing! The feeling of flying is awesome!'

Wang Shòu chirped happily, feeling nothing but exhilaration as he flew through the sky.

After countless attempts and failures, Wang Shòu had finally learned to fly after three weeks!

Though he hadn't become proficient enough to be highly agile in flight, Wang Shòu was satisfied that he had finally learned how to fly.

Regarding learning how to multitask and getting stronger, Wang Shòu hadn't been slacking off either.

'Status Window'

Then a blue profile appeared, and Wang Shòu viewed his status window while flying.

[Name: Wang Shòu]

[Race: Rookidee]

[Ability: Unnerve]

[Type: Flying]

[Level: 25 (750 years old)]

[Pokemon: Pikachu (33), Charmeleon (31), Clefairy (29)]

After three weeks, Wang Shòu hadn't become dramatically stronger, but apart from Rookidee, all his other Pokemon were around or above the 1,000-year-old mark.

After these three weeks, Pikachu had finally leveled up again, reaching level 32. In terms of spirit beast cultivation age, that would be 1,750 years old!

Moreover, after these three weeks, Wang Shòu had managed to learn how to multitask!

Initially, it was quite difficult. There was no guidance or someone to teach him how to multitask. Plus, Xiong Yong wasn't exactly intelligent, so asking him was futile.

He came up with the idea of using both hands to draw two different things on the ground. With his right hand, he would draw a circle, and with his left hand, he would draw a square.

At first, it was extremely challenging, and Wang Shòu was tempted to give up. But after an entire day of practice, he became a bit more proficient.

Seeing this progress, Wang Shòu became motivated and began trying to draw more complex objects. After three weeks, he had finally learned how to multitask and could operate two Pokemon simultaneously. With enough effort, he could even manage three Pokemon at once, although it would be challenging.

In a serious battle, Wang Shòu still needed to concentrate fully on the Pokemon he was fighting. Therefore, he needed to become even more proficient. Nonetheless, progress was evident.

'But... that's not the hardest part.'

Wang Shòu, who was still flying, landed on a branch, covering his face in despair.

'Sigh, Xiong Yong was the hardest one to manage in these three weeks...'

Wang Shòu sighed, not wanting to recall what had transpired over the past few weeks.

He didn't know why, but Xiong Yong seemed to be a battle fanatic and would always ask to fight with him.

Fortunately, after beating Xiong Yong, Wang Shòu as Pikachu had leveled up to 31, making him1,250 years old. So, while it took some time, he managed to defeat Xiong Yong relatively easily.

Afterward, Xiong Yong would challenge him every day. Wang Shòu didn't mind, as this was the primary reason Pikachu reached level 33.

However, that wasn't the reason why Xiong Yong made the past three weeks difficult for Wang Shòu.

'I should have just let him eat what he wants!'

Wang Shòu said, speechless of his past action. In a moment of foolishness, he persuaded Xiong Yong not to eat other spirit beasts, promising that he would take responsibility for what Xiong Yong ate each day.

And now... he had to spend a few hours daily scavenging for fruit and also learning to hunt ordinary fish and birds!

Wang Shòu was absolutely terrible at preparing food, and while Xiong Yong was an omnivore, he was primarily a carnivore and wouldn't be satisfied with just fruits.

Since Wang Shòu said he would take responsibility, he dedicated several hours each day to learning how to cook.

And this had been going on for three weeks, leaving Wang Shòu thoroughly exhausted. However, it wasn't all negative.

Firstly, after tasting Wang Shòu's food, Xiong Yong had become more loyal to him. Although Wang Shòu wasn't entirely sure if it was just his imagination, but Xiong Yong now seem to worship him.

Secondly, his culinary skills had greatly improved, now comparable to those of a chef in a decent restaurant. Wang Shòu was grateful that he had watched cooking shows in his past life so he can use it as teaching materials when he cooked.

So did he regret it? No, he is glad that he persuaded Xiong Yong to not eat other spirit beasts. Though he do need to teach Xiong Yong how to cook, in case he is away.

'Sigh, anyway...I believe it's time to head to the middle region and introduce Xiong Yong to other Pokemon.'