Daneli and Atiel didn't even sense when this newcomer suddenly appeared behind them. Moreover, the fact that this person approached so close to them without them even being alerted, sent shivers down their spines.
While Atiel was frozen in shock, Daneli instinctively turned around and swung his fist. But he ended up hitting nothing but empty air.
"What?!" The elven youth was shocked.
The next moment, a playful voice came from behind him. "Tsk, tsk, looks like you didn't miss me at all. Attacking me before even saying hi. I'm hurt."
"Adam!" Atiel was first shocked but then smiled cheerfully. "How have you been?"
"Hehe, I've been doing quite alright. How was your trip around the Federation?"
While the two were catching up, Daneli looked at Adam in disbelief. He couldn't help but think, This guy… his movements are so quick! And the way he appeared behind me, is he training to be an assassin or something?
Adam suddenly glanced at Daneli intently staring at him and smiled mischievously. "What is it, Daneli? Were you enamored by my handsomeness?"
"Hmph!" Daneli snapped out of his daze and harrumphed. He raised his chin and viciously mocked Adam. "You, handsome? You're uglier than a troll."
"Come, let's hug it out, ya bastard." Adam approached him with open hands. Although he had a smile on his face, the throbbing veins on the side of his temple gave him away. "Who're you calling ugly? I'll have you know, I was the most handsome boy in my hometown."
"Stay away, you drunkard!" Daneli hurriedly avoided him.
Seeing the two banter with one another, Atiel couldn't help but giggle.
"Atiel!" Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to her from the distance. She turned around and saw Lisa walking toward him with a cute little kitten in her arms.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})As everyone reunited with one another, Celador had already handled the situation of the Ithikari's sudden arrival in the city square. He sent the guards back to their positions and patiently waited with Elrod for the portal to open.
The portal at the center of the city square repeatedly shrunk and swelled with each passing second. The space inside the portal looked dangerous to the onlooker. It was completely pitch black inside with traces of gray-colored lightning that flickered from time to time.
To anyone who gazed inside the portal, they would get a very ominous feeling. Clearly, the portal hadn't fully opened yet and it was dangerous to enter now. However, the rate of shrinking and swelling was slowly subsiding.
It wouldn't be long before the portal completely stabilized and the gateway to the secret plane finally formed.
As everyone waited with bated breaths, the size of the portal drastically shrunk and finally stopped when its radius was around twenty meters. Then, the black membrane inside the portal changed color and transformed into light blue.
"The gateway has formed!"
"It's opened, it's opened!"
"Our time to shine has come!"
As the gateway leading to the secret plane finally formed, everyone standing in the square burst into cheers. The feeling was contagious!
Seeing everyone break into a celebration, even Adam couldn't stop himself from clenching his fists and feeling excited. He looked at his friends around him and asked with a smile, "You guys ready?"
Edward, Lisa, Daneli, and Atiel nodded, anticipation flashing across their eyes. Valerian who was lying on Adam's head also raised his tiny paws and cheered. "Myu!"
Elrod suddenly approached them and smiled. "Everyone, you must be careful inside."
"Yes, Teacher!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Yes, Lord Elrod."
The five of them nodded solemnly.
"Good." Seeing this, Elrod nodded. Then he glanced at the twins and stated, "I'll be waiting for you here. Now, go."
The group of kids confidently walked toward the portal in the center of the square along with the rest of the people who were chosen to go inside.
As they were walking there, Lisa timely reminded. "Check your artifacts. Make sure they're working fine."
Adam didn't have many artifacts on him. He was wearing the Dark Cape which had defensive properties and could also adjust the temperature. Other than that, he had the Ring of Light Fall and his Red Star earring which was a space-type storage artifact.
Finally, he possessed a pair of metal gauntlets, a Rank 1 Artifact that he'd purchased from the Clover Academy's blacksmith. The material used to make these gauntlets was the mysterious ore he possessed.
All of which he had looted from the ancient vampire's lair in Hannes City.
Generally, he refrained from purchasing or using any attack-
type artifacts. He strictly followed the philosophy stated in the Astral Tyrant Manual - the body was the ultimate weapon!
Suddenly, he recalled something and looked at the twins. "You guys have gone over the map, right?"
Daneli nodded. "Teacher had already sorted that out for us."
"Good," replied Adam.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Let's try to group up after entering the secret plane. At the very least, we should rendezvous before we reach the center." Edward chimed in.
"No problem!" Atiel smiled cheerfully. "We'll keep that in mind."
As the group approached the portal, they saw a dozen or so Magi from different factions standing guard and examining the tokens carried by the people who were chosen to enter.
This was to make sure that the number of people that entered didn't cross the maximum capacity. After all, the number of tokens in circulation was only three hundred.
Every participant was given their entry token by their respective factions. The elven twins' tokens were secured by Berger, whereas for Adam, Edward, and Lisa, their tokens were handed to them by the Clover Academy.
As the group finally approached right in front of the portal, the guards checked the authenticity of their tokens and then kept them away.
One of the guards, a middle-aged Rank 2 Magus, looked at the kids and instructed. "You will be automatically teleported out of the secret plane when the time is up. You may go in."
While everyone in the group was nervously gazing at the blue portal that was pulsating with otherworldly energy, Adam instructed Valerian to go back inside his spirit sea.
After making sure that the little guy had gone back in, the youth looked at his friends and smiled excitedly.
"See you on the other side!"
With that said, he jumped inside the portal without hesitation, leaving behind only the echo of his laughter.
Edward, Lisa, Daneli, and Atiel looked at one another and nodded. Then, they simultaneously entered the portal.
What awaited them…
Was a magical journey!
