254 Arriving at the Academy!
The news about an Official Mage appearing in Luinard traveled fast. Everyone knew those were figures who should not be disturbed.
As for those guards who acted that way with Arthur, well, their captain punished them with the increase of their training, rising it up to almost impossible levels.
Arthur was unaware of most of these things. What he had in mind was to go toward the One Hundred Thunder Academy before Elena.
“Do you know where the academy is, right?” Arthur said to her as they both walked on the streets.
“I do, and with the pet you gave me, then reaching there will be easy, but we shall rest today and go tomorrow, right? There is plenty of time.”
“Of course.”
Elena wanted to rest and explore the city after such a long journey, but Arthur was not feeling like it. He had to go first and get his position as a teacher before Elena got there, or else she would think he was just a scam!
“I can’t let her know I only have the token but not the position. It will ruin my reputation!”
He still strolled around the city with her, visiting some places to eat, and searching for interesting in the many shops Luinard offered, but when it was nighttime, and they were both sleeping in an inn, Arthur left the city.
Arthur did not fly or anything extravagant like that. He wanted to leave the city with no one realizing it, especially Elena.
A cloaked figure dashed through the city, climbing up the walls without a single guard noticing. It was in the middle of the night, and some of those guards were actually sleeping!
Luinard had a decent defense and manpower, but they were so close to the One Hundred Thunder Academy it made them lazy! Just by having such strong school around them, it gave the city protection, making these guards more lazy than usual.
“I will use that to my advantage.”
It went smoothly. Not a single guard or person noticed anything out of the ordinary, like a random youth climbing up their wall and jumping around like a ninja.
What Arthur did not know was that Elena had the same thought. She wanted to reach the school as soon as possible, eager to learn, so she left the inn without telling Arthur, leaving Luinard right after he did.
The only difference was that she left through the gate like a normal person, and then used the Griffin to fly toward the academy right afterwards.
She was not an Official Mage who had the attention of everyone, so leaving the city turned out to be a piece of cake for her.
Arthur used his flight spell after jumping through the city’s wall, going at top speed toward a mountain range not that far from the city.
The closer he got, the more his lightning essence flickered with anxiety, as if it was arriving at its natural habitat.
One Hundred Thunder Academy had been built in that location precisely because of the natural occurrence of thunders, and the exorbitant amount of mana in those mountain peaks.
The reason most of these schools were at the top of the ranking was their location! An excellent spot with high mana would make creating strong mages easier, making the power of those schools to grow year after year.
It was almost impossible to steal the top spots from these schools. Arthur and his wives would have to work hard for Odemore to be successful.
But that was a thing to think about in the future. What Arthur had his focus on was to reach One Hundred Thunder Academy, quick to return to his day-to-day training!
The path to reach the rank 2 was a tough one, and Arthur hoped that such a strong school would have the means to help their talented students reach it!
Arthur also needed their help to gather information about Hiley and the others, so he was going there to turn into an absolute beast!
“Huh? Is someone following me?”
Elena was still somewhat far from Arthur, but his sharp senses did not fool him. He realized someone was following him, so he waited behind a tree for the person to show up.
Ten minutes passed, and when Arthur saw the Griffin flying high in the sky, he internally cursed.
“Fuck. Why is she here? Now I have to speed up!”
She was supposed to be inside the city, only going toward the school the next day. That fact gave Arthur time to reach the school first, but now his plan had the chance of failing!
For that reason, he not only used his flight spell but also his teleport, repeatedly, quickly passing through Elena, going toward the school like a madman.
There was a barrier around the school for protection. It was always active, and only those who had the school’s token with them could pass through it without problems.
Arthur flew past it like a bullet! The person responsible to greet the outsiders did not even see him, only waking up after hearing the wind!
“This should delay her for some time!”
He kept flying, passing through the forest area, and then he saw it! Six mountains with buildings at their peak! It was like 6 different small cities, and each one of them was higher than the other!
With no idea of where to go, Arthur went to the first mountain peak, which was the lowest, and look for help.
When he got closer to it, he was surprised to see the quality of such buildings!
All of it was made of with something that reminded him of marble, and the architecture was exquisite, and truly beautiful.
Whoever built the entire school was surely an expert, making even Arthur, who saw countless cities in both that world and his previous one, shocked.
The place had some enormous buildings and a lot of free space for the people to walk. It reminded Arthur of the so called ‘sects’ from some books he used to write before going to that world.
Then, an old man with a long-white beard appeared. He was someone who knew all the students, and Arthur was someone he did not know!
But that should not be possible. Without the token from the school, not even a rank 2 mage could enter without causing a tremendous commotion, warning everyone from the school before it could actually enter.
“Who are you, little one?” The old man said.
Arthur was taken aback, seeing that someone had noticed him so fast. When he looked at that old man, he felt an incredible pressure, as if it was someone he could not go against.
“I am a friend of Laura. We both met, and she gave me a token to enter this school, as I am currently without one.”
“Laura? As the school’s leader apprentice? Wait here. I will call her to make sure this is real.”
The sentence from that old man surprised Arthur. He had already guessed Laura had a prominent position inside the school, but the apprentice of the leader? That was the highest one can get!
Everyone in the first mountain peak was new students, as the higher the peak, the higher the power you need to go to it. They had strange faces upon looking at Arthur, wondering who was that youth.
“Is he a new student? I remember some are arriving these past weeks.”
“I betcha. He will soon learn the ceremony for the new students.”
Arthur heard them talking and their laughing, causing himself to laugh.
“Do they really think they will pull out a prank on me? I am not at your level, kiddos.”
It took some time for Laura to return with the old man, as she was in the higher mountain peaks, but when she saw Arthur, Laura ran toward him, giving him a tight hug!
“Arthur! You really came! Willard, he is my friend and also an Official Mage, so he should get the proper care!”
“Oh? Really? An Official Mage this young? Hey, kiddo, show me your power.”
The fact the old man was skeptical about his power was understandable, but when Arthur released most of his mana, the old man had his eyes wide-open.
“It is enough, kiddo, or else the students around will pass out. Follow me. I will show you the school, and you can talk with your girl later.”
“Girl? I am not his girl, you perverted old man!”
“Hahahahaha!”
~~~~
“All the peaks are similar, with the only difference being their quality,”
“The first peak, for example, is where most of the new students are allocated, and you have to increase your power to at least the third circle to have access to the next peak,”
“They all have alchemy supplies, enchanting supplies, forging and spell books, but the higher you climb, the better the quality of such things are!”
“Also, the teachers have their own ranking, and if these students want to learn from the best, they have to increase their own power first, as the best teachers are up in the higher peaks,”
“There are things like a mission board and tournaments, but these are things you will learn with time.”
The old man kept explaining basic things about the school as they flew higher into the fourth peak.
“We arrived. Ta-dan, this is your house!”