Chapter 144: Frozen Oceans

The ride to the north was fantastic and beautiful.

In my younger years, I had a mild, lingering fear of heights, but after everything I had been through recently, that anxiety had completely vanished. I could lean against the glass and enjoy the soaring altitude without a hint of fear.

It was thrilling, actually.

[Sex in the air....]

’Say one more word and I’ll turn you into a marmot.’

[....]

’Good girl.’

The best part about this military jet was its integrated spatial hull technology. With a simple tap on the main control panel, the interior walls, floor, and ceiling could turn completely transparent from the inside, while remaining fully cloaked to the outside world.

Yoona engaged the transparency mode for everything except the central flight console. After all, how would they fly it if they couldn’t even see it.

Instantly, it felt as though we were flying naked through the upper atmosphere at insane, blinding speeds. Billions of wispy, silver clouds rushed past us like shattered glass, while the setting sun dipped low on the horizon, painting the endless sky in brilliant hues of violet, gold, and crimson.

It was so breathtakingly beautiful that I couldn’t tear my eyes away. It felt as though our jet was actively chasing the dying sun across the edge of the world.

’I have a poetic soul. Maybe I can become an author.’

[I can help.]

’Not anytime soon. I don’t have time.’

As I admired the view, a thought struck me. I leaned over the back of the pilot chairs, looking at Yoona.

"Hey, Yoona... where exactly is Avalon located?" I asked. "I kind of assumed Avalon Academy would be like Uruk, where we’d have to use a massive spatial portal to cross into an alternate dimension."

My inner curious cat was excited to discover new locations and also how they worked, so of course, Avalon Academy was no different.

Yoona kept her steady hands on the controls, offering a calm, informative explanation. "Uruk is a very special, unique pocket realm, babe. King Gilgamesh forged an entirely independent universe adjacent to our own using his magnificent, unmatched grasp of the Laws. That pocket universe houses Uruk, but it still shares the fundamental physical properties of our prime universe. Avalon, on the other hand, is located directly on Earth."

She adjusted a spatial compass rune on her display. "It was established by King Arthur, who later inherited a significant portion of Gilgamesh’s legendary legacy. The precise physical location is heavily guarded by multi-layered illusion arrays, so ordinary mortals can never stumble upon it."

"That’s pretty interesting." I muttered. "Though, it’s easy to guess who made it because of its name."

"True." Yoona nodded in agreement.

Our jet continued its northern trajectory, sweeping over sprawling mountain ranges, active volcanic peaks, and endless tundra.

Eventually, the land below vanished entirely, replaced by a vast, dark blue ocean that stretched to the horizon. As our speed pushed further past the sound barrier, the ocean water below began to freeze over, dotted with massive, jagged ice caps and floating glaciers.

looked out at the freezing landscape below. "Are we heading into the middle of the polar ice caps?"

Yoona chuckled softly. "Something like that."

I glanced over my shoulder at Yerin, who was lounging lazily on the leather sofa behind us. "How in the world did you manage to escape from a high-security academy locked in the middle of a frozen ocean, goblin?"

Yerin sat up, shooting me a broad, chaotic grin. "I have my ways, hubby! When Nova wants to get out, there isn’t a single spatial barrier or security guard in the world who can catch me."

"She’s not wrong." Yoona shook her head with a wry smile, gradually pulling back on the thrusters to slow our speed. She reached out, tapping a series of runic buttons on the primary communication array.

BEEP... CHIRP.

A crisp, high-frequency communication channel connected. A stern, authoritative voice echoed through the cockpit speakers. "Unidentified aircraft approaching Sector Nine. State your clearance protocol."

Yoona picked up her control mic, her voice dropping into her formal, high-society cadence. "This is Student Council President Yoona Rothschild, escorting primary transfer student Seth Fernando, along with Yerin Rothschild and Head of Security Valerie. Transmitting clearance credentials now."

She slotted her silver presidential badge into the console drive.

A brief pause followed before the voice on the other end transformed into an exceedingly polite, respectful tone. "Credentials verified, President Yoona. Welcome back to Avalon Academy. Entry array access is granted."

I leaned forward, expecting the space around us to shatter or distort like a breaking mirror to reveal a hidden landscape, but nothing happened. The frozen ocean and empty blue sky remained completely unchanged.

’The hell! Nothing happened? Are we getting scammed?’ I was speechless.

[You’re partially right, Seth,] Paige’s voice chimed in my mind, explaining the mechanics. [There is a massive, continent-class illusion array wrapping this entire sea sector. To ordinary eyes and radar, it looks like empty water. But once clearance is granted, the array allows your vessel to pass through the optical illusion barrier smoothly without shattering the illusion for the outside world.]

Following Paige’s explanation, I watched the console closely.

Instead of slowing down further to land on the ice, Yoona actually pushed the thrusters forward, pitching the nose of the jet upward into a steep, high-altitude climb.

We broke through a dense layer of frozen storm clouds and my jaw almost dropped.

Floating majestically in the upper atmosphere, completely hidden above the cloud cover, was a colossal floating continent. It was a massive island made of ancient, earth-bound rock and sprawling greenery, suspended entirely in the sky by ancient, glowing gravitational runes.

"Whoa..." I murmured.

[And your porn is more beautiful than this, boss.]

’Thanks, I guess. But I’ll really punish you if you keep ruining moments like these.’

[Yes~]

Looking closer at the underside of the floating continent, I noticed it was pitch black. ’Hey, Paige... project the structural scan of the underside for me.’

[Scanning!] Paige responded instantly, projecting a clear, high-definition thermal layout onto my vision.