[Eon's POV: ]
'Now this is the real sky island…'
We all stood on the decks of our ships and looked ahead as the massive landmass suspended in the sky became visible at some distance away.
Everyone gasped as they saw the majestic place and the great, unexpected beauty of all the magical structures in that place.
For those who were seeing the island for the first time, this was a place full of magic and some worldly phenomena.
We were close so we could see most of the island in front of us and even from only this front view, it was undeniably a massive place with many colossal structures on it.
It was an ethereal place. A place so full of wonders, beauty, and danger that even to many of the students who would be spending a great deal of time on this unique landmass, this place seemed out of reach, and to a few, it might even seem too grand for someone like them to stay on.
'They will get used to it though. People change every day when they are on this island… or so they say.'
At the heart of the sky island stood a giant castle, a magnificent structure that towered over the landscape before us.
It was tall, grand, broad, vast, and much more. It covered a third of the island after all.
That castle… it was the place where we all will spend most of our time for the next three years. The grand academy of hope.
It was big, and more than that, it was so tall it seemed to pierce the sky itself.
"That thing…" Rein gripped my hand as she looked at the tip of the castle that was barely visible to us thanks to the bright light shining at the top of it.
I knew if someone aside from me among the students is able to see the true form of that light, it would be this pretty girl beside me.
[[ "The [Source] that is said to exist there from the birth of this great institution. Looks gorgeous, right?" ]]
She looked at me with big eyes and nodded like an impressed child.
She had lived a long life but in those many years, she had only been to wars on the continent or had roamed around the places.
Not just anyone could be on this island after all. So even for the two of us, this was the first time we were seeing this amazing island, and that gorgeous academy castle.
'Still, the things the two of us know about this place, especially me, are even more than probably the teachers that had been a part of the academy for hundreds of years...'
And though bad sounding, the two of us were gifted with a very unique ability to see things that others might not be able to ever even fathom during their lives.
Just like right now… everyone here was looking at the academy castle and the bright light glowing at the top of it but only we could truly see the beauty, the ethereal ecstasy that small light possessed.
It wasn't just some light, it was the light from the source that was powering most of the systems, magics, barriers, and facilities that were part of this academy.
It looked more phenomenal than the Aether core that we got during the exam in that room.
For us, the simple yellow or white light was a mix of all existing colors. Something so ineffably attractive that even I couldn't help but compare it to the image of my master's true form that was still as fresh as ever in my mind.
Being compared to her would be the second greatest compliment something or someone could ever receive from me but that thing at the top definitely deserved it.
'And considering how it was made after the long, combined efforts of all the original [< Masters >], it definitely deserves that much praise…'
Anyway, the island looked amazing and now… we were about to land.
The nine ships that had been in sync were still in sync as they formed a parallelogram of three rows and columns to fit the landing area of the academy.
The small journey was magnificent and fun and now that we had finally reached our destination, I looked at my partner and nodded at her with a smile.
"Welcome to the academy, Uriel."
"You too, my dear-dear, darling Lucifer," she replied with the same warm smile as me and kissed my cheeks.
Here, we weren't Axion of Heliox and Reinelle of Atraxia. We were simply Lucifer and Uniel, some simple <D> rank adventurers with no unique background.
We were here for mostly a simple life and fun but both of us also had many things we needed to learn from this place.
Yes, we were strong and knowledgeable compared to most of the students present in this place but we still weren't the best.
We needed to be the best in our fields to achieve the small goals that we had set for ourselves and to lead the group that would probably someday become the core of the whole world.
That was a faraway dream though and we didn't have to think much about that for now. What we should think right now though…
[ Welcome to the academy of hope, 4434 young ones of the 3693rd batch. I hope your journey was at least bearable, Huhuhu~. ]
It wasn't the voice of the headmaster but a voice just as distinct and recognizable as him.
It was a female voice. Gentle, and sharp. Filled with strength and spoken without using any unique energy or magic or skill.
It was a strong, authoritative voice that rang throughout the area and entered our ears as gently as the voice of the headmaster.
It clearly came from above though, so everyone looked up and the two of us followed their gazes.
Almost everyone here knew this person so there actually was no doubt about their identity.
If one was talking about the academy and some of the most important people of the academy, she would be some of the very first individuals people would name after our dear, 'good' headmaster Merlin.
If he was the heart of the academy, the one who maintains and sustains everything and looks after everyone, then this person was the protector that protects and helps every one of the people belonging to this great institute.
One of the strongest in the world, a being that had famous accomplishments probably even greater known than the headmaster's, someone who had personally taught some of the greatest of the world, the proxy of the headmaster, the former first seat of the house of prism, one of the most famous [Hero] of past era, and someone who was one of the most beloved characters in this world.
"Vice headmaster Oddfrid. [Master of all weapons] and the person who taught basics to my grandpa, your great uncle, that bastard emperor of ours, and many more [King] ranked knights, as well as to many mages, and those with multiple fields of mastery."
Rein smiled as she looked up at the gorgeous lady flying above us with her royal blue cape fluttering with the winds.
She personally liked her and even for me, there was no reason to not respect her.
She was an amazing person and someone we would see often now that we were in the academy.
'Still, she looks more attractive and intimidating from close than I thought.'
With a full silver armor covering her body, she flew above us, her dark green hair dancing with the passing currents of air, and her sharp but gentle eyes overlooking every one of us one by one, personally observing and finding strengths and flaws in us.
That gaze was like that of a ferocious beast who was looking over her own children, observing them with care but still with great precision.
Her pointed ears reported her elven lineage, but she was an anomaly like us. Someone who was an elf, one of the closest races to nature, and still, she had a unique condition where she couldn't use the Mana in nature.
It wasn't like she couldn't feel or perceive it but her strange physique naturally just rejected the Mana like the 'ones cursed by Mana'.
It was strange but that strange condition made her what she was right now, the master of any and all weapons known to the world, as well as someone who had long surpassed the rank of a [King] ranked knight.
It was cool but…
[[ "Aick! She just smiled at us didn't she?!" ]] Rein exclaimed with surprise as hugged my hand as soon as our eyes met with the light green eyes of our vice headmaster and we saw her smile at us.
It was a quick small smile so I knew not many noticed it but we saw it clearly, and I could even tell that smile was a smile of excitement and fun.
[[ "After what absurd things we did during the exam, it is natural that she would be excited to meet and have some fun time with us, no?" ]]
It would naturally be absurd that some duo cleared an area full of thousands of monsters, guarded their assigned locations and prevented any and all harmful incidents, took down a freaking minotaur, and even took away the core of that grand magic creating the island.
She would naturally be interested to meet and talk with someone like that so that smile was easy to interpret.
It would be fun to meet her personally but it wasn't time for that now.
So, she finished her greetings, gave the small instructions after the airships passed through the giant golden gates of the academy, and landed on the open platform before the academy castle.
The academy castle itself was a unique place divided into outer parts which were just beyond the golden walls before us, then there was the main middle part where all of our classes would take place and then there was the inner area, the special area that was used for most of the extracurricular activities.
Academy would be a nice place but… I didn't think someone would try to touch my Rein as soon as we walked down the airship.
Not at least touch her with their souls…
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