It was another day of gentle winds and wide-open seas.
Ruger spread his Nightmare Wings and hovered in midair. Illusory feathers occasionally flickered across the black wings, but there were very few left now. Instead, patterns of flame flashed over most of their surface, brightening and dimming like breathing. His Nightmare Wings had always been membranous, naturally without feathers, so this looked more pleasing to the eye.
This was already the second version since his initial success. In terms of flight alone, it was only a minor improvement, but it could be considered a major adjustment.
Ruger flew leisurely around Small Island, deliberately keeping his speed low and staying close.
As he flew, he felt out the changes and pondered them.
During this time, his thinking had shifted in several directions. He had even considered modifying Zan Zemanla's Flame Torrent as well, so it would better complement his alterations to Scorching Wings. In the end, however, he had abandoned that idea. First, Zan Zemanla's Flame Torrent was already an exceptionally refined spell. Second, although approaching a problem from another angle was sound, under those circumstances, it would merely have been a way of avoiding the difficulties before him.
He had decided to keep confronting the problems with Scorching Wings. Even if he eventually reached the point of modifying Zan Zemanla's Flame Torrent, he would first need to make further progress on this side. Only then might switching angles and directions genuinely offer an easier path to success.
As he continued analyzing the spell and drawing on that special communication with the spell and the world, his understanding of Scorching Wings had grown rapidly over these past days.
Ultimately, he had made another major compromise, sacrificing flight capabilities to obtain the first version-his initial success.
After that, however, he had changed