Capítulo 19: Arriving At The Academy
“It’s a matured giant storm sprite!
“Damnit! How could we meet with this kind of things on this path, didn’t we clear it before?”
“Where are the Magi of the various academies? We need their help!”
A few flustered voices sounded.
“Let us first activate the large-scale defense spell formation. If not, those acolytes will surely die!”
After some incantations, all the walls on the dirigible were enveloped by a layer of milky white light. All cracks in the dirigible flashed with a green light as vines climbed up and firmly blocked any openings.
“Hu hu…… “Leylin’s face turned red as he panted heavily.
When the giant storm sprite spoke earlier, the acolytes had all felt an ice-cold force pressing down on them.
Immense, boundless, and raw malice! Leylin found it difficult to breathe.
Fortunately, after the defense spell formation was activated, Leylin felt much better as the pressure lifted.
Otherwise, most of the acolytes in the hall might just die from suffocation moments later.
“Human beings, you must pay the price for your folly!” the giant storm sprite howled.
As the sound waves travelled through the defense spell formation , the milky white light vibrated.
“Mighty being of nature! Please appease your fury! We have a letter here!” A familiar voice rang beside Leylin’s ears, it was the dirigible captain.
“This is the letter of agreement that we had with His Majesty, the storm king sprite, which grants us passage through this area!” Kirkwul said with a voice full of confidence.
“Letter of agreement?” The giant storm sprite’s voice contained suspicion, which he followed up with a furious roar, “Pendra is free! The agreement does not bind me to it!”
“Keep roaring! Rage on! Damikan Buthra!” With the incantation spoken, the thunderstorm outside became ten times more violent than before.
“Damn! It is actually a wanderer, I have hit the jackpot!” Kirkwul’s voice sounded once again, but it did not carry the usual confidence and was infused with exasperation instead.
“Everyone attack together!”
* Rumble! *
Many bright coloured lights flashed continuously outside the window, clashing with the lightning.
The dirigible gradually started to sway.
Leylin’s face turned slightly pale. He could only pray for the Magi to use their might and chase that darn giant storm sprite away, otherwise he would not even be able to escape since he was stuck high up in the sky.
“Bang!”
There was another rumble, and the dirigible recovered its stability.
“Has it left?”
“It is only a giant storm sprite that has just matured, it is only comparable to half of an elemental Magus at most. There are nine of us here, so it running away is natural!
The voices of the Magi discussions sounded from outside. It obviously did not take a lot of effort for them, which eased the minds of the acolytes.
As expected, when the acolytes heard those words, they all shouted and cheered loudly.
“Woo! To our great Magi!”
“Damn it! I thought I would fall and be smashed into minced meat!”
“Haha! Look at that coward; he actually peed in his pants!” The acolytes all mocked an unlucky acolyte and vented the fear that they had held in their hearts.
Leylin’s eyes scanned the surroundings.
When the giant storm sprite spoke earlier, Jayden had already released the vines binding Kaliweir, and right now it seemed like Kaliweir had escaped. However, although Jayden’s face was rather pale, he stood his ground and maintained the pose of a victor.
“The A.I. Chip did not detect that Jayden was carrying a magic artifact earlier. It seems like it was only acquired recently, and the only means of that is through Dorotte!”
“It seems like after obtaining the magic artifact, Jayden has been leading Kaliweir into picking a fight with him impatiently. If not for this incident, it is very likely that he would have succeeded!” Leylin thought to himself.
Because of the interruption from the giant storm sprite, the fight between Jayden and Kaliweir remained unsettled as it drew its curtains.
From then on, Kaliweir tried his best to avoid appearing in the same place as Jayden. It seemed like he was afraid of his opponent’s magic artifact.
This fight had greatly influenced Leylin’s thoughts.
“Kaliweir has already ignited his internal life energy, and got through the bottleneck and became a full-fledged Knight. However, in front of an acolyte with a magic artifact, he is still as weak as a lamb! It seems like the strength of Magi greatly surpass that of Knights!
“Originally, I thought I must ignite my internal life energy. But after this, if I haven’t ignited it before reaching the school, then I’ll give up on it! I definitely have to pour all my attention and energy into my studies to become a Magus!” Leylin made up his mind.
The time slowly passed, and the dirigible finally reached another continent.
In addition to the incident with the giant storm sprite, the dirigible had several encounters with other flying creatures. This led Leylin to realise that not only was the Death Seas difficult to navigate through, it was the same in the skies.
Fortunately, Kirkwul’s letter of agreement was still rather effective in front of the various large creatures and no conflicts were started.
During this period, the dirigible alighted several times and sent several Professors and acolytes off. The dirigible slowly became more vacant.
Another dozen days passed unknowingly.
* Bang! * The dirigible landed and the whole interior shuddered.
“We have arrived at the Abyssal Bone Moor! Attention to all acolytes of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy! Please bring your belongings and leave the dirigible in an orderly fashion!” A voice rang through the cabins.
“We’ve finally arrived?” Leylin packed his belongings and quickly left the tiny space he had been holed up in during the past month.
“Jayden, Kaliweir, please take attendance!” Dorotte held a black staff, with a large green jewel embedded in its tip.
“Alright!” Jayden and Kaliweir nodded their heads and started accounting for the attendance.
Leylin glanced at Kaliweir. Ever since the incident in the dining hall, this youth had turned much quieter and often holed himself in his own room. Looking at his face now, he seemed to be gloomier than before.
On the contrary, Jayden was extremely lively, and according to some rumours, he had already been accepted by Dorotte as an apprentice.
Apprentices were different from other acolytes as their status were higher, and they could even freely obtain a lot of advanced knowledge from their professor.
A dozen or so people walked out of the dirigible.
“So this is our academy? It seems to be a little desolate!”
Leylin looked at the surroundings, and it seemed rather desolate. There were a few small trails with obvious traces of others using it before.
There was a wooden sign in the middle of a crossroad, riddled with several holes.
There were directions written in black, showing the various locations.
“The land of shadows and death – Bone Abyssal Moor!” The words twisted, and Leylin felt his scalp gone numb.
“Hehe…… Follow me!” Dorotte stretched his body leisurely, and his white bones creaked and crunched as if they were going to fall apart at any moment.
“Pay heed! Although our academy’s acolytes do a scheduled cleansing, there are still some living creatures, and polluted and evil beings roaming in this area. So if you were to stray off, I think we would be able to pay respects to your deceased body soon afterwards!”
Dorotte snickered, and the acolytes’ faces all changed. They followed behind Dorotte closely, for fear of losing him.
The group gradually traversed across the Abyssal Bone Moor.
“What is that?” Leylin walked in the middle of the group, and suddenly something black flashed in front of him. It seemed to be a blue creature with a horn.
“A.I. Chip! Begin scan!”
“Task initialising, Begin Scan!” The A.I. Chip chip’s robotic voice sounded.
“Ss! Whatever it is, it’s much stronger than the direwolves and may have some strange tricks up its sleeves. A Knight would only die if they encounter one!”
Leylin hurriedly squeezed forward. In this land where danger lurked, it seemed like the black-robed skeleton, Professor Dorotte, was his only insurance.
“It seems like our little acolytes have finally understood the dangers!”
The green flames in Dorotte’s sockets flickered as he said indifferently.
The group proceeded forward, and very soon the barren earth lessened and more forestry could be seen around them.
Very soon, Leylin entered a black coloured forest.
He did not know if it was an illusion, but Leylin felt as if the sun in the sky had dimmed after entering the forest, and there was a layer of white mist in the surroundings giving off a chilly feeling.
Leylin hurriedly looked down and crouched.
“Kak!” A piercing sound rang.
A black raven with red eyes swooped down and passed by Leylin’s position, its sharp claws headed towards the face of a female acolyte.
Boom!
A ball of greenish liquid struck at the raven directly, and the raven cawed as it fell onto the floor. A white smoke arose, giving off a corroding effect.
The female acolyte remained rooted to the ground and suddenly cried loudly.
Only seconds later, the raven on the floor disappeared without a corpse and there was only a huge impression left in the corroded earth.
“It seems like these red-eyed ravens increased in numbers yet again. I think I will need to distribute more missions after we return, and let the acolytes cleanse this area!”
“What are you all looking at? Let’s go!”
Dorotte’s voice sounded at the front and the crying female acolyte rubbed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she walked forward.
Leylin was startled, and hurriedly followed.
After another hour of journeying, the group arrived in the centre of the Abyssal Bone Forest.
“This is……” Leylin saw a spacious area in front of him.
And what was projected before their eyes was a large graveyard.
In the hearths of the Abyssal Bone Forest, a large graveyard sat there unknowingly.
This graveyard was extremely huge and was marbled in black and white, seeming luxurious.
Only, it seemed to have been forsaken for some time. Many of the graves had weeds growing on them, and some even had vines. Occasionally, the ravens caw on top of them, giving off a terrifying vibe.
“Welcome to your home of shadow and death – Abyssal Bone Forest!” Dorotte snickered, but no matter how Leylin saw it, Dorotte seemed to be taking joy in their unfortunate plight.
Capítulo 20: Selection Of Mentors
“The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy has a satirical sense of humour, huh; they actually have their academy under a graveyard!”
Leylin shook his head, but he felt rather comfortable, the pores on his body were all open and absorbed the air of the surroundings here.
“A.I. Chip! What is the situation now?”
“No wonder! There is an increase in the energy particles here, which obviously benefits Shadow and Dark element Magi. It is like the novels from my previous world, where one must occupy an area that is filled with spirit energy when they practice the cultivation techniques of immortals!”
Leylin gained a slight understanding of the academy’s choices.
“Password!”
At this moment, Dorotte had already brought the group to the centermost area in the graveyard, where there was a huge grave. Black marble stones were piled up one by one, making it resemble a huge black castle.
Beside the marbled door, there were two stone statues.
On the left, there was a two-headed dog with spikes growing on its body.
On the right, there was an earthworm with a pair of wings and razor sharp fangs protruding out, exuding a cruel aura.
These two statues were lifelike. They had black jewels for eyes and looked as if they were alive.
When Dorotte walked in front of the statues, the earthworm on the left side spoke in a parched voice. With each opening and closing of the mouth, dust from the stone continuously fell down onto the floor.
“Enough! Jumal, don’t you recognise me?”
Dorotte had a look of annoyance on his face.
Right after Dorotte spoke; the earthworm and huge dog both guffawed. Their voices brought about a huge wind, which flipped the robes of the acolytes behind.
“Dorotte! Although we are pretty familiar with each other, rules are rules!”
Both of the statues seemed to have come alive. The huge dog licked its paws, and let out a female voice.
“Or, would you like to play with us?” The earthworm lifted its claw and made a human-like gesture, beckoning with the claw, “Then come! I feel itchy all over my body!”
“Alright! Alright! Let me think!” Dorotte rolled his eyes.
“Oh! Damnit! I should really take the head of the pig who set up this defensive spell formation and shove it up their ass!”
Dorotte suddenly bellowed.
“Hurry and say it! What is the password?” The huge dog roared and there were sparks coming out from its mouth.
“The secret password is – I hate smelly bones!” Dorotte spoke softly.
Leylin’s mouth twisted, and only by using a strong willpower did he manage to suppress his laughter. Although Dorotte wore a skull, Leylin was extremely certain that he was currently sulking.
“Haha! The password is correct!” The earthworm and huge dog laughed loudly and let them pass.
“I bet the overseer keeping watch with the crystal ball is laughing to death right now!” The huge dog snickered, then returned to his original stone platform and changed into its former statue state.
“Puchi!” An acolyte finally found it hard to bear and let out a noise.
“Hng!” Green flames suddenly ignited within Dorotte’s sockets, “It seems like we must educate the new acolytes on how to respect their professors!”
*Pa!* Dorotte snapped his fingers.
“Ah! What is this, don’t come over here, don’t come over!” The acolyte who laughed out loud earlier retreated several steps and fell onto the floor, wailing loudly.
“Rousey! What is it!” An acolyte beside him walked forward.
“No……Don’t come over!” Rousey screamed, and his face gradually twisted.
Seeing this scene, the nearby acolytes all felt a chill down their spines.
“Magi are equal among themselves, so they can afford to play jokes on each other. However, acolytes must always maintain their humility!”
Suddenly, Leylin understood the code of conduct in the Magi world. Only with equal strength, one will have the status to speak to another.
Jayden and Kaliweir also seemed to be deep in thought.
“Carry him up and let us go in!” Dorotte pointed at Rousey, who was still screaming.
Both of his servants walked over and carried Rousey, one on each side.
“Both of them are at least Grand Knights!” Seeing how the two servants subdued Rousey so easily, Leylin’s eyes flashed.
After opening to door to the grave, they all appeared in front of a stone staircase that spiralled downwards.
The flight of stairs was spiralled and descended all the way into the depths of the darkness until they could not be seen anymore.
Dorotte used his staff and knocked on the floor. *Dong Dong!*
Blue flames started to light up one by one, illuminating the ground within.
“Apart from the colour, it’s similar to an ancient castle from the medieval times!” Leylin exclaimed, and tread down the stairs of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
Leylin did not know how long exactly he walked for under the illumination of the blue flames, but it was definitely over 20 minutes.
“So huge! The area of this underground building is so much larger than the area of the graveyard on top, and it is not even by several times. It almost resembles an underground kingdom already.”
Leylin calculated in silence.
“Our Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was constructed in the Gregorian Year 324, and it has been almost one thousand years since then…… As for our academy founder, it is Merlin Falek Driwilc……”
Dorotte led at the forefront, and occasionally gave them a few sentences of explanation.
“The door which you all had entered from earlier is the main door! And besides that, there are still many exits inside the academy. As long as you have become a proper Magus, you can apply and chose an uninhabited, empty grave for your own personal passage!”
Dorotte explained.
But Leylin’s lip never stopped twitching, “The purpose for us to advance as a Magus is so we can obtain a grave? How delightful!”
However, ever since the unlucky guy was used as an example earlier, Leylin only dared to rant in his heart and didn’t say it aloud.
Our Abyssal Bone Forest Academy is divided into several large areas: the dormitories, classrooms, laboratories, gardening areas, trading post, mission area and such. As for their exact locations, someone will bring you for an induction later. For now, all of you must follow me to register at the administration area, and then we’ll commence the selection of your professors!”
Dorotte came to the front of a slightly larger room, and pointed at the words on the steel door, “This is the administration area, however, I believe none of you will be willing to come here again in the future!”
Seeing the symbols on the door which seemed like both words and patterns at times, Leylin finally acknowledged that none of the characters were anything like what the brat1 had encountered in the past.
“Oh! I’ve forgotten that you guys don’t know the ancient Byron language!” Dorotte tapped his head, “No worries! This is one of the basics of incantation, you guys will learn it in the future!”
“Dorotte, huh? Enter!” An aged voice sounded from within, and the steel doors moved automatically. A steel hand opened the bolts on the door and even beckoned them in.
Leylin followed Dorotte inside and realised that this room was extremely large. An old man with white beard and red eyebrows was seated at the wide, black office desk. He was scribbling something with a feather pen, and beside him was a stack of parchment.
Behind him, there were countless bookshelves of over ten metres tall, and parchment and even crystal balls were disorderly arranged on them. It looked just like a library.
“You’re late!” The old man put down the quill pen in his hand, and his wrinkled face smiled gently.
“We met with some trouble along the way, a wandering giant storm sprite, so the dirigible was a little damaged, and hence the delay in time!” Dorotte explained.
The old man said, “That’s really unfortunate!”
And then he looked at the acolytes at the back and his bright eyes shone brilliantly. He scanned through the acolytes, before finally landing on Jayden.
“It seems like you are well rewarded this trip!”
“Of course!” Dorotte pointed, “Jayden, come over here!”
Pulling Jayden to his side, “I have made a contract with him already! He is now my personal apprentice! Hurry! Settle the procedures for him!”
Dorotte took a stack of forms from a heavy black pouch and handed it over to the old man.
“Mn! Fifth-grade acolyte, not too bad!” The old man took out an object resembling a pair of glasses with gold threads around its rim and hung it on his nose.
“Definitely! Melda, that scum, he actually pushed such a troublesome thing to me, haha! Now I want to see him angry!” Dorotte gloated loudly.
“So then! Jayden! Are you willing to become the personal apprentice of Dorotte?” The old man asked.
“I accept!” Jayden looked at Dorotte and agreed in a low voice.
“Good!” The old man took a sheet of parchment and wrote something on it, then handed Jayden a black sack too, “This is yours, hold it well!”
“Are the procedures done? I have taught him those meditation techniques, and right now I have to rush back to my experiments! It was difficult enough to find some inspiration along the way, but I did not have any ingredients on hand, do you know how much I was suffering?”
Dorotte let out a shrill voice and pulled Jayden along, leaving the room quickly.
“Alright! Mister Dorotte’s task is completed. What’s next are the things that you guys should be mindful of!” The old man knocked on the desk and drew the attention of the acolytes back to him, and then said in a satisfied manner.
“Since all of you have already handed in the fees and achieved the criteria for the contract, you are all acolytes of our Abyssal Bone Forest Academy now. Right now, all of you will begin with the selection of your professors!”
“There are two methods to choose a professor. The first is to chose by placing your name inside the crystal ball and my treasure will pick a professor for you! This method is absolutely free of charge.”
“Excuse me? What is your treasure?” An acolyte asked cowardly.
“Oh?” The old man laughed, and suddenly a black python appeared on the table, “This is my magical pet! Spotty! It does not recognise any of you, so I think it’s the fairest for it to choose! Any other questions?”
“No……No more!” Seeing the large python, the acolyte quickly retreated backwards.
“There is also another method, which is for the acolytes to choose their own professors. Here with me is a list containing short introductions of various professors and their requirements, all for your choosing. Of course, if you choose this method, you will need a magic crystal as payment!”
“It doesn’t matter which method you chose, but once you have decided on your professor, you can never change again!”
The old man said, “Next up, I will call your names, and you will come forward and tell me your choice!”
Regalos
-- Regalo
recibido Estado de energía semanal
200+ Ranking de
Poder 
22 Piedra de
Poder También te puede interesar
Comentario de párrafo