442 Opening Ceremonies (1)
Around fifteen minutes later, Instructor Garrison returned with Kurza, and after knocking on the dorm’s front door several times, Cynrik finally appeared wearing his school uniform.
“Are you guys trying to get me scolded by the Headmaster? We are already behind schedule, and I just received word that the other teams, their Instructors, and Headmaster Rivia are already waiting at the portal.” Garrison pushed Cynrik to the side and entered the dorm, only to find the other members of MyrkLys lounging in the living room.
“We have been ready for a few minutes and were waiting on your arrival, Instructor. You can hardly blame us if you didn’t make it here fast enough.” With a snort and a sip of coffee, Cynrik countered rudely.
“Ivar, shut up; you were adamant about bringing along half of the pet supplies you own because, I quote, “My children won’t be bored.” How the hell are you such an overly doting parent?” Standing up to greet Garrison, Brance spat before scratching the well-behaved Milo behind his right ear.
“No time to argue; hurry up, we have 10 minutes to make it across campus; I don’t care if you are fully packed; get a move on.” Resisting the urge to smack Cynrik in the back of the head, Garrison spun on his heels and exited the dorm in a full sprint.
“Tsk, he just had to take off running; Garrison didn’t even wait for me to tell him I had a way to get there faster. Group up, everyone…you too, Kurza.” He said with an evil grin before catching Selene by the waist and placing his right hand on Brance’s shoulder.
Hearing his name, Kurza walked over but suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Pushing down the strange fear threatening to consume him, Kurza joined the group circle and placed his hand on Benny’s shoulder as the boy held Melody’s hand, who held Gabby’s hand, who was being held around the waist by Brance.
With everyone linked through physical contact, Cynrik channeled a large amount of Mana in the form of a bubble that covered the party and sunk into the Shadow Realm with the other six people.
When he noticed his body sinking into the ground, Kurza let out an ear-piercing scream, which in turn caused everyone to laugh as the familiar weightlessness took hold of their bodies.
“Quit your yapping. Last time I sent you here without explanation; this is one of my skills. It allows me to enter a parallel reality. Here, gravity is feeble, and we can move unobstructed.” Dragging the group down to a nearby large shadow tree, Cynrik gave a summary of the Shadow Realm to Kurza before kicking off and jumping in the direction he knew the Transport Portal was located.
“Keep up, newbie; you don’t want to get lost because only Ivar can enter and leave the Shadow Realm Freely. Even I, who has a Shadow Affinity, haven’t been able to link up with this place yet.” With that said, Selene got a running start and jumped into the air after her boyfriend.
“Don’t worry, Kurza, I won’t leave you here to rot; Selene and my Brother are just trying to scare you. From what I know about this place, so long as you are within a 5 Kilometer radius of Ivar, he can easily pinpoint your location. Come on, Gabby, we can’t let those two get too far ahead.”
“Kayy, Milo Big Boy form!” Gabby chirped as she tossed Milo into the air, signaling him to grow to his full size. Half a second later, the small cat had grown into his full size and chased after Brance, Cynrik, and Selene with Gabby sitting on his back.
“Did that Cat just turn into a giant saber tiger?” Kurza asked with a pale face.
“Yep, he does that; come on, Melly, oh, Kurza, you can stick with us; Melly doesn’t have high stamina, so we are always at the back of the group. So long as you don’t stray too far from us, you will be fine. Off we go.” Benny said with a smile as he scooped up Melody into a princess carry and jumped off the branch.
Seeing he was being left behind, Kurza took a deep breath, channeled some light Mana into his legs, and chased after the members of MyrkLys.
—
Not far away, Brance and Gabby had caught up with Cynrik and Selene, and the four were casually chatting as they traversed the greyscale landscape.
“Well, lookie here, our fearless Instructor hasn’t even noticed we aren’t tailing him,” Cynrik stated as he pointed toward the sky, where everyone could see Garrison running at full speed.
“Although it’s pretty irresponsible of him not to double-check, he could also assume you know the way and will make it there on your own, Cyn.” Rolling his eyes and keeping pace with the sizeable Sabertoothed Cat carrying Gabby, Brance looked up and noticed Garrison’s focused yet worried look.
“Something has him out of sorts. Is it just me, or does he look nervous?” Brance asked as he tapped down on a branch before kicking off to carry his forward momentum.
“Rightly so; he knows Darling will likely start some shit since we can’t bring him in public without causing a ruckus.” Flipping through the air like an acrobat in an attempt to get some good movement practice in, Selene added with a giggle.
“Yep yep, I agree; Big Bro Cyn is prone to snapping at random people if they so much as look at him wrong. Brancie, do you remember how he almost fought that guard at our First Egress?” Rubbing Milo behind both ears and making the big cat purr as he ran, Gabby thought back to the incident that seemed like it had happened years ago.
“Hey, Gabby, how are your workbooks coming along? I’m sure you remembered to bring them with you; I shouldn’t have to worry about you making your deadline.” Glancing over his shoulder at the young woman who flinched hard at his words, Cynrik smirked evily, earning him a smack in the back of the head by Brance.
“Stop teasing her. There was nothing wrong with what she said since it is T.R.U.E. you have proven time and time again how easily you fly off the handle at people who aren’t part of our inner circle.”
Unfortunately, Brance still wasn’t entirely used to his increased STR stat. The casual hit he tried to land on Cynrik was forceful enough to trigger his spidey sense, causing Cynrik to juke out of the way of the attack.
pAnDa (nov)e1 “FUCKING HELL BRANCE! CONTROL YOUR STRENGTH, MAN!” Cynrik shouted with bloodshot eyes.
“Eh, my bad….” Brance replied while sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
“My bad, my ass; if that had hit, you woulda snapped my neck; hell, you even triggered my passive, meaning you could have seriously hurt me!” reigning in the bubbling anger in his chest, Cynrik snorted and plotted his revenge.
There were thousands of pranks he had devised over the years, and it was time to start using some on his brother finally. He wasn’t mad, and in actuality, Cynrik was never in danger since he quickly dodged the attack, but it was enough for him to vow to get back at Brance in the future.
“The Transport Portal is ahead; group up so I can take us out.” After passing Garrison and moving past the near accidental death, Cynrik calmly stated while slowing his pace.
Luckily, Benny, Melody, and Kurza weren’t too far behind. Once they caught up and grabbed hold of each other, Cynrik pulled the group toward the sky, where they could see two groups of students, a handful of professors, and Headmaster Rivia standing a short distance away from a huge stone arch.
—
“Where are they, Headmaster Rivia? This is exactly why I was firmly against having a group of First Years take part as our Tier-3 team. They can’t even show up on time after we have already delayed our trip by a week!” A man wearing a white Professor uniform stated arrogantly. His uniform alone was evidence that he was a Head Dean.
“Head Dean Cromwell, you can’t seriously believe that any group of students who are strong enough to become Tier-3 beings in their first year lack the ability to carry a team of their own.”
“Even if they are First Years, each of the six members of MyrkLys is a genius in their own right, not to mention each is abnormally strong enough to skip a full Tier when fighting.” Crossing his arms and glaring at the man named Cromwell, Geralt tapped his foot before checking the time on his Watcet.
In addition to his hook-shaped nose, beady eyes, and perfectly groomed and styled mustache, Cromwell was a skinny and gangly tall man who could easily fit into the role of a villain based solely on his appearance. Apart from being extremely arrogant, he was strong enough to have claimed the title of Head Dean and Assistant Headmaster.
Cromwell’s long, slicked-back, greasy amber-colored hair was neat enough but needed a wash. Despite his villainous aura, his straight posture, manner of speaking, and secondary air of superiority suggested he came from a pompous and prominent family.
Aside from being one of four peak Tier-5 staff members on VSFA’s payroll, Cromwell was also a member of the Board of Directors for the Academy, so when it came to decisions about finances and materials allocation, his words held almost as much weight as Geralt’s. Lastly, he was the Head Dean of Year Six and the technical second in command, with only Geralt as his superior.
Geralt was about to say some flowery words to calm the man down when he felt a ripple in the Space off to his left, a sign that either someone was teleporting or breaking the fabric of Space with some other type of movement ability.
Half a breath later, a black and purple ring manifested on the ground as the members of MyrkLys rose up from said glowing ring, breaking free from the shadow realm and landing on the cobblestone pathway.
“Yo! Sorry we took so long, things to do, skills to learn; I am sure you know how it is, Headmaster,” Cynrik stated cockily while waving to Geralt.
“About damn time, Student Ivar; how long did you plan on keeping us waiting. Not only are you and your group the last to arrive, but you have delayed our travels by a full week, all so that you can reach Tier-3.” Cromwell said while spitting out each word laced with anger and disgust.
Yet before he could continue ranting, a massive amount of killing intent smashed him to the ground as Cynrik and a very pissed-off Selene synchronized their pressure and focused solely on Cromwell with 12g of force.
“IVAR, SELENE, RECALL YOUR KILLING INTENT THIS INSTANT!” Panicked by the sudden attack on Cromwell, Geralt’s booming voice earned him a glance from Selene and a glare from Cynrik.
“No can do, Headmaster Rivia; people like him need to be taught that there are some people you can’t afford to piss off. Tier-5 means nothing if you haven’t trained your body enough to handle 12g of Killing Intent. Every member of my faction has trained under 15g. How the hell did this guy become a Head Dean?
“Sigh, here we go again,” Gabby said as she held Milo in her arms and shook her head.
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