Chapter 104- Academy Realm (Part 2)

Chapter 104: Chapter 104- Academy Realm (Part 2)

Chapter 104- Academy Realm (Part 2)

Rize stared outside through the window at the vast stretches of land before him. The massive forest covered millions of square kilometers and is considered one of the main lungs of the world, providing almost 40% of the oxygen for the creatures living in it.

Rize had lived a good chunk of his life in this exact forest, and yet it still appeared eerie and terrifying to him. How endless it was, and how truly dangerous the creatures that lurked in it were, made its outer beauty merely a facade for the true danger of this forest.

’Getting lost there is like a glorified death sentence. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you might as well give up or pray someone finds you before you starve or get eaten.’ He thought to himself as he rested his head on his hand, falling into deep thought.

"Now that I think about it, this is the very first time I will ever leave this nation," Rize said randomly. "It does feel pretty odd."

"Hm?" Venera frowned. "But you didn’t even come from Sagardia, Rize."

"Huh?" Rize frowned as he looked at Venera. "What do you mean?"

"When Geralt found you, he found you in a small orphanage in a different country. It is quite far away from here, so I doubt that you’re actually from Sagardia." Venera said.

"Wait... really?" Rize frowned. "I don’t remember that at all..."

’Hold on!! This is a huge piece of lore about Rize’s origin! I’m actually not even a Sagardian?!’ He thought to himself. ’That actually makes sense considering the fact that Geralt’s work is usually abroad or in distant places. This is crazy...’

"Well, the first time I’m consciously leaving the empire." Rize laughed.

Venera looked at him for a second. "Hey, Rize."

"Hm?"

"Have you ever wondered who your parents were? Or, well, where they are right now?" She asked. "Is that something that you think about?"

"..." Rize was taken aback by the question. "Hmmm..."

It hit him at that moment that he really never thought about that. Mainly because this wasn’t really his body until a few years after Rize was born, and he was too preoccupied with other matters to think about his parents. But, weirdly enough, he really had no interest in ever discovering who they are or why they left him in an orphanage.

"No, not really. I don’t think they deserve my interest." Rize said. "They left me behind. I don’t really consider them my parents anymore, hahaha."

"..." Venera stared at him silently, her expression slightly strained. Even though she could see Rize was acting carefree, she knew that this would always be something that would follow him. People who are abandoned by their parents would always live with that trauma.

Rize himself had shown her that side of his trauma. He decided to sacrifice his life to save hers in the amusement park, and after that when he told her that she was the first kind person he ever met.

"What’s wrong, Venera?" Rize asked when he noticed that she wasn’t laughing with him.

"No, nothing." She shook her head. "Well, as you said, they really don’t deserve you after they left you behind. If they’re anywhere in the world right now, they will watch you shine brightly and feel guilty that they left you."

"... That’s..." Rize blushed slightly as he looked away. "You’re giving me too many flowers. I’m not that great."

"I have seen you fight with my own eyes. You’re one of the most talented people I have ever seen, and that gift of yours... It is quite scary." Venera said, recalling the scenes she witnessed of Endless Hunger. That ability was unlike anything she had seen before. It felt quite evil and malicious, but with its endless potential, she knew Rize would become a terrifying beast.

"Thank you, same for you."

"But yeah... We’re really going to stay in the air for 6 days... I gotta get comfortable." Rize said as he crossed his arms. ’I don’t like that. The fact that we will be so vulnerable to attacks for so long. But I doubt that anyone would dare to attack us.’

Staring outside again, Rize erased those thoughts from his head.

The journey was indeed long, but he knew it was bound to be safe. Somewhat... surely?

***

Several days passed swiftly while the plane kept flying. They passed the borders of the empire three days into the trip, and the rest of the time, they flew over a humongous mountain range that linked Sagardia with the Academy Realm. The reason they never needed to refuel was because of the nature of the energy used.

They use a simulated core that pumps essence into the jet and keeps it flying for weeks if needed. It was far more efficient than any other fuel in the world. That core was of the same nature as the rocks the Sagardians want to mine in the cave system under the Sagardian Mountain range and also the reason for the conflict.

The views were breathtaking, and they were one of Rize’s favorite ways to spend time aside from training his Endless Hunger and getting even more familiar with controlling it to a better degree.

Other than that, he couldn’t really train or even evolve his Blade of Wrath. It was really boring, so all he could do was talk to Venera and play board games with her. That was, naturally, so much fun.

Venera and Rize were quite the duo on the battlefield, but also outside of it. Their chemistry was perfect, and it didn’t feel like he needed to pretend around her or act a certain way. Rize never realized having a close friend was that amazing, and now that he knew, he wouldn’t exchange it for the entire world.

Eventually, after what felt like ages, the final day of the trip arrived. The butler walked out of the cockpit.

"We are almost there, Your Highness. We will land in 30 minutes." He said.

"Finally... Ugh..." Rize said as he rubbed his face. "That felt like forever."

"Do you still want to finish the game of chess?" Venera asked.

"What’s our score again?"

"32-30," Venera replied.

"Ugh, those first two games don’t count; I was getting familiar with the game," Rize said.

"Are those excuses I’m hearing?" Venera asked with a cheeky smile.

"Tsk, whatever. I will make sure to even the score in the future." Rize said as he stood up and walked to the window that showed where they would land.

In the distance, he saw the edge of a gigantic city, and he instantly felt a thrill rush through his body; he could only smile.

"We are finally here." He muttered. "Hey, Venera, come see. The city looks gorgeous."

"It is, yeah." Venera walked to him and peeked through the window. "I heard the Academy city itself is somewhere extremely special, but I don’t know where exactly."

"If it’s even more special than that, then I really don’t know," Rize muttered.

Slowly, the plane started descending into the airport and finally came to a halt. The door opened for them, and Rize walked out, inhaling the fresh air of the world.

"Aaaaaah, I missed this so much. Life is so good." He smiled as he opened his arms wide. "The Academy Realm! We are here!"