Chapter 222 Development Inequality
Arthur was stunned to notice the strange moving object he was mounting. This was the first time in his life he had ridden in a carriage not pulled by horses. If Mana Train can make Arthur amazed then this thing really blows his mind.
"Is your first time riding a Mana Cart?" Hanru asked with a grin on his face.
The man in black who picked up Artur at the train station introduced himself as Hanru. He didn't have a last name but from the clothes he had and apparently, Hanru didn't seem like a slave.
There is a possibility that he was a former slave. Artur didn't dare to ask such a sensitive question of someone much stronger than him.
"Mana Car?" Artur tilted his head.
"Mana Cart.. Cart.. This is one of the inventions of the Military Academy after Mana Train was founded. Similar to Mana Train, Mana Cart also uses Mana Stone as fuel." Hanru explained slowly.
After confirming that Artur was indeed a class A student, Hanru's cold demeanor changed. He became fond of explaining things that Artur did not understand. Considering he comes from a remote town, there are many things that Artur doesn't know.
"Mana Cart" Arthur repeated Hanru's words while nodding.
The difference in the progress of the Military Academy with the rest of the world is really partial. Entering the Military Academy area is like entering a new world with a different culture. Artur doesn't want to say much about this inequality and he doesn't want to know what causes it either.
However, Hanru still explained to Artur, "The Mana Train, Mana Cart, and other inventions of the Military Academy were intentionally not disseminated throughout the human alliance. There were several reasons but the main one was to prevent divisions within the alliance.
"Knowledge is a weapon, or rather with knowledge humans can create weapons. If you think critically then Mana Train and Mana Cart can be used as rebel mobilization tools to attack remote areas quickly.
"Humans aren't the only mana species in this world. Elves, Warbeasts, and even now the new mana species Demons, will pose a threat that we will never be able to solve. Only with unity can humanity contend with these enemies.
"That's why the Military Academy decided to hide their true power and not share it with the public"
Arthur just nodded back, not that he agreed but he had no interest in arguing with Hanru. Artur is no longer a kid who wants to look smart and a hero in front of adults.
If that didn't have a hand in his life then Artur would prefer to remain silent. Besides, what can a would-be mage like him do to change the Military Academy's policy?
"Ah.. We've arrived. Bring your things and don't miss anything. My job is end here, next you just have to look for the room number according to the card I gave you before." Hanru stopped his Mana Cart right in front of the dormitory gate.
Arthur returned to reply by simply nodding, his attention stolen by the giant gate in front of him. This gate is so big that an elephant can pass under it. Thick walls limit Arthur's view of anything hidden behind this gate. 𝗳𝒓e𝚎𝙬𝒆𝙗𝚗o𝙫e𝗹. 𝐜𝐨𝙢
Checking the room card in his pocket again, Artur got down from the Mana Cart. Saying his thanks to Hanru, Artur then walked towards the giant gate.
There were no guards in front of the giant gate and he, sure enough, didn't have the strength to push the gate open. But when he was two steps in front of the gate, suddenly a blue light shone on his body.
Arthur gasped in surprise and wanted to run away but he suppressed his body's natural reaction to stand still. It wasn't long before the blue light disappeared and the giant gate began to shake.
Slowly the giant gate began to open revealing what was hidden behind it. Arthur's heart was beating very fast like the sound of horses running on the battlefield.
In front of him was a scene that could be said to be majestic. A large building that towered up to the sky, making the ground below dark.
Artur didn't want to count how many floors this building had, but his eyes were filled with the body of the building because it was so wide. Arthur couldn't hold back the reaction of his body and gulped down his saliva hard.
He never thought that humans would be able to build buildings this big. The biggest building Artur had ever seen was the mayor's office, and even then it wasn't even a quarter of the height of the building in front of him.
Stilling his heart, Artur forced his feet to step through the giant gate approaching the giant building in front of him like he was hypnotized. He didn't even notice the beautiful gardens around him and the huge fountain with a statue of a person in the middle.
The closer he walked the more Arthur looked up to see the building. Until finally he could not see the whole building even though he still had a few tens of steps away to be able to touch it. Arthur realized that this building was bigger than he had imagined.
Without realizing it he was already in front of a glass door with the words "Class A Dormitory" above it. Artur reached his hand out to reach the glass door in front of him but before his finger could touch it, the glass door was opened.
Luckily Artur had prepared himself for a new surprise otherwise he would have jumped away when the glass door opened by itself. Artur tried not to be dazed and entered the dormitory building.
The sight he found during these few minutes was enough to toss and turn Artur's understanding of the world. But still, fairness is the son of a bitch.
Now a new problem arose, how would Arthur find his room in the middle of this gigantic building? Artur took out the room card that was in his pocket and recalled the number "A 158" written even though he had memorized it many times.
Looking right and left, Artur couldn't find any clues or maps of the building at all. He was forced to ask someone but he did not see anyone.
Artur chose to try walking randomly, at least it was better than standing confused at the entrance.
A minute passed and Arthur was still walking without finding anyone.
15 minutes passed and the situation is still the same.
30 minutes passed and still the same.
Until when Artur felt he had entered the wrong building, a young man his age suddenly came out of a door. Artur and the boy stared at each other for a while before the boy's brows furrowed.
"Ah! I am sorry, I got lost. Can you show me where to find my room?" said Artur quickly while showing his card room.
The youth glanced at Artur's card room before asking, "Are you a new student?"
"Yeah" Arthur had a bad feeling.
The young man suddenly smiled brightly while pointing in one direction, "Your room is on the 15th floor, that way there is a staircase in the right corner."
"Ah?.... Thank you," said Artur kindly while hiding the scream "15!!!" in his heart.
Walking across the deserted passage in the indicated direction, Artur found the staircase the young man had mentioned. He turned to look back at the young man who had shown him the way.
The young man waved his hand and smiled broadly. His face was blushing may be due to the hot weather but Artur never thought that the reason was that he was holding back the laughter that was about to explode.
Complaining about his fate, Artur corrected the way he was carrying his rather large bag and started up the stairs. He kept looking down at his feet trying to push his body to continue up the stairs one by one.
Several minutes passed and beads of sweat started to form on Artur's forehead. The hot weather outside makes the air inside the building a little stuffy. Even so, Artur had not even passed his fifth floor yet. There were still ten more floors and hundreds of stairs he had to climb to get to his room floor.
Artur wanted to look up but he was afraid his determination would be broken by the sight of unending stairs. In the end, Arthur could only grit his teeth and force his body to continue up the stairs.
Several tens of minutes later his shoulder, which was carrying a heavy bag, began to ache and the joints in his legs began to feel numb. Even so, Artur had not even passed his ninth floor yet.
It was then that he started to hear footsteps like someone was running down the stairs. For the first time from starting up these stairs, Artur raised his head.
He saw a man wearing a gray baggy jacket that covered his head. Artur who was in a lower position saw his face covered with sweat. His fair skin elegantly complimented his nose and mouth and left pleasant memories of his lucky appearance.
His blonde hair was cut short, sticking out from the sidelines of his headgear. He looked wet from the sweat that had drenched his entire body.
Artur and the young man stared at each other and fell silent. Each of them has the same question "What the hell is this guy doing?"
But unfortunately, only Artur can keep this question in his heart. Meanwhile, the man in the jacket asked him out loud without the slightest hesitation.
"What the hell are you doing?"