Looking at my bewildered face, Leena chuckles.
“No need to look so confused, Jacob. The academy is just magically concealed behind a barrier. Ilyrana vanished because she passed through it,” she informs me.
“Oh…”
At this point, I should just stop getting surprised at all the abnormal things I see, and just accept that magic is at work everywhere.
With Leena and Zakira entering the barrier next, the rest of us follow them nervously. Though well, our nervousness blows away the moment we pass through.
“What the…!?”
The grandeur of the Elven magical academy is such that I momentarily forget to breathe. Unlike what I expected, the structure is not built inside a giant tree as every other structure in the Elven Kingdom, but instead, it is a castle— given, a castle unlike any other I’ve ever seen.
Made purely out of white marbles, it seems to faintly glow against the sun. The fortified walls surrounding it are high, so is the open archway in front of us (with a couple of guards are standing on each side). The open grounds around the castle are also vast, and looking closely, I can see several Elves playing around or simply relaxing there.
“Welcome to our magical academy, everyone,” Ilyrana, who was waiting for all of us to enter, addresses us again. “As you can see, a guest badge has been attached to the front of your clothes. Please remember not to take it off under any circumstances, or you won’t be able to stay inside the barrier surrounding the academy.”
Looking down, I find that there’s indeed a round and shiny badge pinned to my shirt with the word ‘Guest’ written on it. Everyone else has similar badges like mine— well, all except Ilyrana herself.
Although she’s wearing a badge, it’s quite different from the rest of us (understandably, as she isn’t a guest but a regular student). While ours look like they’re simply made out of iron, her badge is made out of pure gold— with the number “1” boldly engraved on it.
“Other than that, just remember not to leave the group, and you will have a great time. Let’s go inside, then, shall we?”
We move through the archway, stepping inside the castle and entering a giant hall.
“This is the assembly hall. We gather here whenever there are some major announcements to be made —”
…
…
After the assembly hall, Ilyrana shows us the classrooms, cafeteria, library, and a few random activity rooms. As expected, all of them look grand and elegant— basically reflecting the history, power, and wealth of the Elven nation.
And as it’s still daytime, we’re encountering a lot of students as well. One thing I notice is that wearing badges is compulsory for everyone, not only the guests. Apart from iron and gold, there are silver and bronze badges as well— with the majority wearing the bronze ones and a curiously few wearing the silver. As for gold, Ilyrana is the only one with that.
[Special privilege for the princess, maybe?]
I guess so… though the golden badge is not saving her from all of this, huh.
[True.]
Pink and I are, of course, talking about the ‘entertaining thing’ Leena was so excited about— the news of my duel with Ilyrana has certainly reached this academy. And while no one’s directly coming to Ilyrana’s face about it, I can see the mocking smiles directed towards her and hear the snide remarks of the students wherever our group passes by. This is quite surprising because none of them seem to care that Ilyrana could easily hear them.
I mean, are they mad or something? Do they not fear her, the princess of their own country? Aren’t they afraid of the consequences?
[It sure looks like they don’t.]
Even the people in our group are starting to feel quite awkward due to this— everyone except Leena, that is. Looking at her enraptured expression, I can tell this is what she was hoping would happen and that she’s enjoying every second of it.
As for how Ilyrana is feeling about all of this— again, I have no idea. She’s keeping up her smiling face and continuing on with the tour as if nothing’s happening. Honestly, it’s kinda sad and pitiful. I respect her for not bursting out already.
“We will now enter the training grounds. It will be a little crowded, so make sure not to get lost,” Ilyrana warns before leading us through another door.
As she said, the training grounds are indeed more crowded than any other place we’ve been to. Not only that, they are shockingly vast as well, divided into multiple dueling platforms and individual practice spaces— all fully occupied with dozens of others lined up for their turn.
Though before we could go down the stands and see them up close, a small commotion spreads throughout the place. I can see more and more people turning their heads to look at us, quietly talking among themselves while pointing fingers. I also heard someone shout “Ilyrana is here, go tell her! Quickly!”
A few seconds later, people move aside to form a path leading up to the stands, making it possible for us to see a single black-haired woman walking towards our group. Although her face is exceptionally beautiful— owing to the Elven features and her sharp golden eyes— she’s carrying a look of haughtiness that I’ve only seen on shitty people like my former bully, Alex. Needless to say, I don’t have high hopes for her.
Wait…
As my eyes wander down to check out her bountiful assets (yes, they’re top-notch), I notice a golden badge pinned above her breasts— the second one I’ve seen today— with the number ‘2’ engraved on it.
“You already know what I want, Ilyrana,” the woman says loudly, folding her arms while looking up at us.
“Not now, Saria. I am giving a tour to our human guests,” Ilyrana replies coldly.
“I am sure they won’t mind. And anyway, you know the rules. You cannot refuse,” Saria says with a smirk.
“…”
“Are we really doing this, now? Have you forgotten what happened last time?” Ilyrana asks, raising her eyebrows.
“That was a long time ago and I’ve leveled up a lot since then. And anyway, if a human can defeat you, I certainly can. You don’t deserve that badge, Ilyrana,” Saria answers with a ruthless look on her face.
…
“… so be it,” Ilyrana says quietly. I can sense a cold fury in her voice.
Then, with a sigh, she turns around to look at us.
“I am sorry, but that girl over there is challenging me for a duel. And unfortunately, according to the rules of our academy, I cannot decline it while being on the training grounds— especially when the challenger wears the same badge as mine,” she informs us.
“But don’t worry, it will be over in a few minutes. I will make sure of that.”
*gulp*
I gulp down the saliva in my mouth. The eerily calm face of Ilyrana is giving me a strange sense of foreboding. I have this feeling that this woman, Saira, has just made the biggest mistake of her life; she has given Ilyrana a way to vent out her pent-up anger.
Can you tell us the reason for the long break in between updates
It takes time to write, and have a life, and plan out plot things...
@Lawtonaaj There are these setbacks too, but my theory is that when money dries up, he releases one or 2 chapters to keep up. My theory.