In a town near the border between the Xylem Kingdom and the Delaer Kingdom stood a town that had been there for almost 400 years.
The town was quite large. It could be compared to a city; however, while most cities had advanced systems to ensure that no one would enter if they weren't allowed, this town did not. It was closer to Uladia in that regard.
Most towns didn't even have walls, but this one did.
And in the middle of it, a circle platform could be seen.
And suddenly, it shone with immense intensity for the first time in many hours as three individuals appeared on it.
The people working there who might have previously been mistook for sleeping workers, instantly shot up from their chairs and stood the welcome the people that had come to their towns.
One of them was a young girl with long pink hair and soft features, while the other was a red-haired boy holding a staff in his hands. A certain expression on his face made the people there raise a brow, but they quickly ignored it the moment they saw the last person...
It's not like he was behind them. It was just that they found it hard to focus on him. As if he was there and not there at the same time.
But, their focus quickly sharpened when they saw the color of his hair.
"S-Shit..." One of them muttered, yet he didn't dare take it out despite having a dagger on his waist.
"Hello, gentlemen. Mind pointing us in the direction of Diamond Academy?" Silas walked down the steps and looked the men in the eyes with a harmless smile on his face.
"That way." One of the men pointed without much thought, gaining the glares of all the men around him.
"I suggest you don't do that." Silas' eyes darted to one of them, who had a crystal in their hands. They immediately dropped it, but it was already shining.
"Sigh... I cannot be bothered to deal with another asshole with way too much pride for his strength-"
"You were saying?" Suddenly, a voice entered Silas' ears, causing him to let out a sigh for the umpteenth time that day.
The person in question was hooded and draped in azure blue robes with some kind of reflective quality in them.
"Just had to be a warrior. Why can't I fight a mage every now and then?" Silas sneered.
"I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you." The man walked forward and took off his hood. By now, the other men who were sitting around the teleportation hub had already run away, leaving only Silas, Nymira, Alex, and the man before them.
"Ever since those bounties came up, the only thing I could think about was claiming your head!" The man roared with a manic look on his face.
"That sounds wrong on so many levels... Also, I don't have time for this. Actually, I should have probably changed my face before coming here, huh... Oh well." Silas shrugged while Nymira looked at him with a scrutinizing glare.
"And they call you intelligent. What a load of bullshit that was." The man chuckled while unwrapping a spear that he had tied onto his back.
"My brain sometimes turns off to recharge... You know... The usual?"
"I'll have your head-" The man halted as Silas disappeared before him.
"Without context, that would sound really weird." Suddenly, Silas' voice was coming from behind him, while a trickle of blood could be seen coming out of a cut on his cheek.
Silas hadn't even let go of his killing intent, yet the man before him could not help but smell the suffocating scent of it all around him.
"Now. It doesn't really matter whether or not you like me. Actually, it doesn't matter if you tell people I'm here. If I were to be completely honest with you, I don't care whether you tell people that I've come here or not. All I ask of you is to let us leave. I haven't gotten anything out of killing humans recently, so I don't really have a reason to end you."
"A-Alright. I'll let you go." The man stuttered out while raising his hands in the air.
And just like that, Silas, Alex, and Nymira were able to leave without a single complaint.
"They're acting like there's a calamity occurring outside their houses." Nymira commented while looking at the houses around them.
The people locked themselves inside houses, shivering and shuddering while watching them walk by.
"I don't get why they're so scared of you. It's not like you go out of your way to kill people." Nymira continued.
"Kingdom's propaganda probably makes it seem so. I'm not surprised. I would do the same." Silas shrugged while Alex looked at him with a slightly angry expression.
"What? I meant that, if I were in the same situation as them, I would do the same. Though, that would require me to be the king, prince, royal, or noble of this kingdom with a long tradition of already brainwashing the peasants into doing work for us." Silas shrugged.
"You didn't need to kill those people back there..." Alex muttered under his breath, but Nymira and Silas easily heard it due to their enhanced senses.
"If I didn't kill them, they would have scammed us the same way they probably scammed a hundred other people that happened to have a little more money than usual." Silas shrugged before continuing- "They also knew our names."
"Don't give me that. I know you. You don't do anything without thinking about the consequences first. You act like everything is a coincidence, but with both, know that's not the case. You want the kingdom to know that we're going to the academy!" Alex sneered, yet despite waiting for a retort, Silas didn't say anything.
He simply stayed silent, walking through the town as if he was oblivious to the fact that everyone was looking at him with fear.
It didn't take long for them to leave the town, and after that, they quickly went toward the academy.
Silas chose not to take a carriage and instead walked it all the way there. It only took about two hours for them to see the academy finally, but by then, the sun was already setting.
Alex looked tired from the long and hilly walk, while Nymira and Silas looked as fine as ever.
The academy, just like the Light Academy, was surrounded by five cities, each one linked to the academy by their long roads that led to them.
"You see that?" Silas nudged Alex, who no longer seemed nearly as angry as him as he was before.
"What?" Alex raised a brow.
"Do you see how the cities are placed?" Silas asked, making both of his disciples look at where the cities were placed with a narrowed eyes.
"Each city has its own force field... Or energy field. Whatever you want to call it. The energy field is translucent, but you can see it under the sunlight due to the slight density shift when the sun's light hits it. At night, its almost completely invisible, but its all a ruse." A grin suddenly appeared on Silas' face.
"How so?" Alex asked as his interest in the topic slowly grew.
Despite Alex not liking the studying part of being a mage, he had to grow to like it. Sure, he didn't love it the same way Silas did, but liking it was the bare minimum. After all, it was half the job of being a mage.
"I'll show you when we get there." Silas grinned while Alex narrowed his eyes in slight annoyance.
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