Ning brought out a gun from his storage and pointed towards Reever.
"What? N—"
BANG!
Ning shot without hesitation. Lisa cried out when she saw her husband get shot point-blank, but when she realized that the bullet never touched him, she was surprised.
"It's the same thing from back in the train," Lisa muttered under her breath, but Ning managed to hear it.
"Yeah, it's a barrier. See, it works," Ning said and saw the shaking Reever. "Uhh… sorry about that. I probably should have given notice."
"Dear Alexis save me," Reever prayed. "Please don't do that again, brother Ning. I was about to have a heart attack."
"Yes, sorry," Ning said. "Right, so you know it works. Just keep the ring on your fingers at all times, and NEVER ignore the pulses. They will save your life."
"If this works… then it is really amazing, Ning," Lisa said. "How were you able to even invoke such a complicated item?"
"Uhh… can you just ignore that part? It's a trade secret, I guess," Ning said. "Alright, I will leave for now. See you guys later."
Ning walked out of the room and disappeared, leaving Lisa and Reever to remain amazed at the rings he had just left them.
He reappeared back in his hotel and laid on his bed, thinking of the next step in what he would have to do.
"Hmm, let's go see if they are having some enrollment right now," Ning thought and walked out.
He wandered the street of the capital, eating delicious food on the way, enjoying a carefree life. He visited different stores and bought many things that he may or may not need, but still wanted.
He looked at the sceneries, watched the people rush to do their daily job, and finally, after nearly an hour, reached the location he had wanted to come to.
The Aether Tower.
A 3-meter tall wall surrounded what was one of the largest buildings he had seen in his entire lifetime.
The Aether tower was made up of some sort of shiny purple rock on the outside. It was a cylindrical-shaped building with a slightly larger middle portion and a smaller top portion.
It looked slightly oval in shape but clearly wasn't. Even the very base of the tower was at least a hundred meters in diameter.
"Woah, it looks so much bigger in person," Ning thought. There were guards at the gate with people going in and out of the place.
Ning walked up to the gate and asked, "Hello brother, do you know if the tower is accepting students anytime soon?"
"Yes, the preliminary test is going on right now," the guard said.
"Eh?" Ning said with a surprised face. "There's one right now?"
"Yes, it will go on for maybe another 2 hours. Once done, there won't be one for another 10 weeks," the guard said.
"Huh?" Ning was stunned. 'But I haven't prepared or anything. Oh no, what should I do?'
"Can I go and take the test right now?" he asked.
"Yes, if you pass the criteria, they will test you," the guard said.
"Criteria? What criteria?" Ning asked.
"You have to be no older than 40 years. That is the criteria," the guard said.
"40 years?" Ning asked.
'I should be younger than that right?' Ning didn't know how old he was considered to be. He didn't have a soul to be tested, so they could only test the body. However, since the body was newly made, and he had only used it a few times even over the last many years when he was in seclusion.
"Yes, I am younger. May I go in?" he asked.
"Sure," the guard said and showed him the way. Ning thanked the guard and walked into the compound.
Inside the gate, he saw a long line of people queueing up for something. 'That's the test right?' he thought and went there.
He made sure to ask a person in the queue if this was the line for the test, lest he accidentally became a teacher another time.
Unlike last time, he didn't have much knowledge of Aether arts to even be good as a teacher.
Ning waited for his turn, which took nearly an hour to arrive. When it finally did, the line had moved into the open ground floor of the Aether tower.
In front of him were two tables side by side with two different items on them. One of them was a crystal ball that he had seen before, and the other one was a solid metal block with a meter on it.
Ning didn't know what it was, but he walked up to it.
"Place your palm on the metal," the person in charge of that table said.
Ning nodded and placed his palm directly on top of the metal plate. He waited for a bit and the meter gave a reading.
22
"Hmm… something is wrong," the person who read the meter said.
"What's 22?" Ning asked.
"It's… supposed to be your age. But… you are too old to just be 22," the person said.
"Eh? Is something wrong with your machine? I'm 36 years old already," Ning lied without a single change in his facial expression.
On the inside, however, his heart was beating really fast. 'Damn, I haven't been out for long in this body huh? 22 years is what? 9 normal years?' he thought.
The person did something and asked Ning to replace his hands. However, the number still said 22.
"Do you have an identity card on you?" the person asked.
"Ah, yes," Ning said and quickly asked the system to make one for this country. He handed it to the person, who read it and gave him a pass.
Ning then walked onto the next table where he greeted the next person in charge.
"Place your hand on the sphere," the man said unenthusiastically.
Ning nodded and placed his hands on the murky, purple crystal as he waited for something to happen.
