After having spent the night at a well-established inn, the students of the Clover Academy made their way to the city square in the wee hours of the morning.
The fifty students were led by a few professors of the academy. As they made their way through the crowded streets, they saw that the streets were filled with temporary stalls that were selling tools that a Magus would usually require.
Everywhere they looked, they could see Magi of all ages buying and selling items, the atmosphere was extremely boisterous.
It seemed that the entire City of Glassford had turned into a large marketplace.
Adam was walking with Valerian lazily lying on his head, both looking around curiously. The former couldn't help but click his tongue in regret. "Tsk, if I had surplus potions, I would have sold them all here."
Of the various items being sold, potions were the best-selling items. After all, potions were a very valuable type of commodity to a Magus especially considering that they'd have to spend more than a year inside a dangerous secret plane.
Lisa gently grabbed Valerian from Adam's head and scratched his tummy with a doting smile. "It's so fascinating that Little Val can reside inside your mind. No wonder you decided to bring him along."
She and Edward had chosen to leave their familiars behind in Moon City. After all, when a group entered the Soaring River Secret Plane, it was guaranteed that they'd be separated.
The two of them didn't want to risk letting their familiars alone inside an unknown place. After all, both Ennea and Aquila were young magic beasts, and there was a high chance that something dangerous could befall them if they were left alone inside the secret plane.
Adam saw Valerian cheerfully playing with Lisa and smiled warmly. "Yes, he's very special."
Hearing Adam praise him, Valerian turned toward him and beamed. "Myu~"
Seeing this, Lisa's heart melted. She tightly hugged Valerian. "Little Val, you're the cutest!"
Adam's lips twitched. He thought to himself, I wonder if you'll think the same if you learn he's actually a dragon.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})As the people approached the city square, they came across Magi of the other three major races. The people of Moon City weren't surprised by this, after all, they were used to seeing and living with different races in their city.
However, for people from other places, it was a surreal experience. Rarely did they witness people from all races coming together in one place.
Suddenly, Adam caught sight of a few kids in the distance who looked very familiar to him. Upon closer inspection, he realized that he had seen some of them in the Clover Academy's entrance examination a couple of years ago.
The youth focused on the orange insignia on their cloaks and wondered, "MA? Isn't that…"
Edward followed his gaze and looked at the group of students in the distance wearing black and orange cloaks. "Ah, they're from the Murphy Academy. That's the second-best magic institute for humans in the Southern Federation."
"That's right, so it was the Murphy Academy." Adam nodded in understanding.
"Usually kids that fail to meet the criteria for entering the Clover Academy, choose Murphy Academy as their next choice," Edward explained.
"Ohh…" Adam nodded in understanding. "No wonder I can sense slight hostility in a few of them."
"Just ignore them." Lisa chimed in as she cradled Valerian in her arms.
"Yeah, I wasn't going to make things difficult for them or anything." Adam shrugged and then continued to walk with the group.
Suddenly!
SCREECH!
A majestic magical beast with pristine white feathers flew over the crowd, generating strong waves of wind causing the people below to involuntarily crouch. The creature released a deafening cry, announcing its arrival.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The magical beast had a long pair of wings extending from its back with a wingspan of over fifteen meters. It had two pairs of limbs that ended in sharp talons and had the head of an owl.
"Ithikari!" The crowd instantly recognized this magical beast that was native to the Baja High Forest. Seeing such a creature land in the city square, they couldn't help but wonder just who it was.
But more importantly, where did they get the guts from to fly on a steed and land near the portal?
"Oho!" Adam chuckled. "Lord Elrod seems very refined and restrained in person, but he's actually quite the showoff."
"That Ithikari is Lord Elrod's familiar?" Edward asked in surprise. He had never met the man, only heard from Adam that he and Berger were good friends.
"That's right." Adam nodded. "Come, let's go meet them."
…
In the city square, tens of Magi from different organizations had surrounded the Ithikari from all sides and had brandished their weapons.
They looked at the three elves sitting atop the magical beast and spoke with clear hostility.
"Magus, how dare you fly over the city's airspace?"
"Who do you think you are?"
"Get down and surrender yourself this instance!"
Daneli, who was sitting behind his mentor, was furious seeing the weapons pointed at him. He roared, "You fools! How dare you—"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})However, Atiel placed a hand on his shoulder and interrupted him. "Don't be angry, brother. They don't know any better."
Daneli didn't say a word after. However, he continued to glare at the Magi surrounding them. Meanwhile, Elrod, who was sitting at the forefront, laughed in a carefree manner.
"Haha, was I not supposed to fly over the city? Ah, apologies, apologies."
One of the Magi pointed his spear at Elrod and threatened, "Dare to take this lightly! Don't blame me for what I'm about to do—"
"Hold it." An elf with blond hair and topaz eyes suddenly appeared beside the guard and reprimanded him.
"L-L-Lord Celador!!" The guard nearly peed his pants when he saw the elven representative and also the one in charge of protecting the city till the time the portal closes speak to him.
Celador ignored the guard and walked toward the Ithikari. Then, he respectfully bowed with his hand over his chest. "Lord Elrod, welcome to Glassford."
Everyone who saw this was shocked out of their wits. Celarod, a Rank 3 Magus, was actually bowing to this newcomer! They couldn't help but wonder just who the hell this unknown elf was.
Elrod, along with his two apprentices, got off the Ithikari and landed on the ground. The former walked toward Celrod with a smile and then clasped his shoulders.
"Raise your head, Celador. We are equals."
Celador looked into Elrod's eyes, smiled, and faintly shook his head. "I will forever be your junior, Lord Elrod."
While the two Rank 3 elves were catching up with each other, a figure suddenly appeared behind Daneli and Atiel like a specter, putting his arms around their shoulders and catching them off guard.
"Did you guys miss me?"
