Chapter 105- Academy Realm (Part 3)

Chapter 105: Chapter 105- Academy Realm (Part 3)

Chapter 105- Academy Realm (Part 3)

The airport was bustling with movement as planes landed there constantly. People came out of them, of all ages. The common combination was parents escorting their children to the candidate city to make sure they were doing well and their needs were met.

As for the kids themselves, they all had the same exact excited and nervous look on their faces. It all dawned on them that they were finally here, and the time for the biggest moment of their lives had arrived.

It was bound to be brutal, and they knew that almost 90% of them wouldn’t have the chance to fulfill their dream. However, nobody cared about that; all they wanted to do was be within that lucky 10% that made it into the academy.

Those who were unlucky fell into obscurity and got forgotten quite easily.

As they walked into the massive building, Rize found himself in a line with the rest of the candidates, as they had to undergo the normal procedures. Both he and Venera wore caps to hide their faces to not get even more attention than needed.

"A lot of people are already here," Rize said.

"Yeah, the tests start tomorrow, and some have arrived several days before to get familiar with the city and everything else," Venera replied. "I was planning to do that, but then I decided to use the time we have to train rather than be here and not do anything of value."

"Wise choice," Rize said with a smile. "I think we will have enough time today to settle down."

As the line started moving, Rize kept analyzing the faces of every single candidate that appeared interesting. So far, all the ones he saw looked way weaker than him. It made him wonder if he was simply a lot more talented or if this was abnormal. However, he didn’t see a single interesting candidate that could pose a threat.

’I guess most of the 100 million are just normal awakened trying their luck at something almost impossible.’ Rize thought to himself. ’But, hm, I like the optimism; I need more of that in my life.’

As they finally reached the end of the line, the two had to pass through a machine that scanned their bodies and then had to sign several pieces of paper related to the test itself.

"May I see your faces, please?" The worker said in a bored tone. He had done this process thousands of times in the past few days alone; he was losing his mind because of it.

"Is that really necessary?" Rize asked calmly.

"It is. I must be able to identify your faces, sir." The man replied, feeling a bit suspicious of the two.

"It’s fine; we will do that. But could you please make it quick?" Venera asked.

"..."

As the two pulled their hoodies off and looked at the man, his eyes squinted. The first thing he thought was how ridiculously good-looking the two of them were. Then, his eyes landed on the girl, and they widened to the extreme. He instantly recognized her, and how could he not?

"Your High-"

"Shhhh, are you done?" Venera asked.

"Y-Yes, ahem, my apologies. Please, keep moving." The man said as he recovered quickly and started typing into his computer.

The two finally passed the long line and walked into the big airport.

"That guy really lost his marbles there, hahaha." Rize laughed. "He looked like he had seen an angel or something."

"It happens," Venera said. "He was probably trained on how to treat high-status candidates."

’Yeah, but judging from the way he looked at us, we are probably his first high-status individuals today or for the past few days.’ Rize thought to himself.

"I’m hungry. Do you want to grab something?" Venera asked.

"Yeah, but where are we-"

Just as they took a turn, they saw an open restaurant. Since this airport was huge, it was filled with such places for people to eat.

"Convenient enough."

"Come on, I need to eat something."

"Yes, Your Highne- ouch." Rize squinted as Venera grabbed his hand. The two walked into the restaurant and ordered two sandwiches to eat. The place was quite busy with the new candidates and their families arriving at the same time. Their trips were perhaps much longer than Venera and Rize’s, so they craved normal food more than anyone else.

"How are we going to figure out where we would stay, Venera?" Rize asked. ’If I remember correctly, in the story, the protagonist received the keys to his dorm room along with a device for the rest of the necessary arrangements. We didn’t get any of that.’

"You will see for yourself in a bit," Venera said with a mysterious smile.

"Hm, if you say so."

"Now eat; we have to leave in a bit," Venera said.

As the two ate their food, people kept coming in, and Rize kept instinctively staring at them, trying to see if he would recognize any of the key characters he had in his mind. Particularly, he wasn’t sure where the protagonist was at that moment.

"I’m certain he will show up any moment..." He muttered as he swallowed the food.

"Who?" Venera heard him and asked.

"No one. I’m just talking to myself." Rize replied.

With that, the two finished their food quickly and left the restaurant. Walking out of the airport, they found themselves in the streets of the candidate city. The place was already bustling with movement after its gates opened for the participants.

It was naturally not as huge as the capital, but it had a different vibe. Their buildings were a lot less modern and more ’fantastical’ in a sense. The magical vibe it gave was something Rize had never experienced before.

He then stared down and saw young people like him walking around, all clad in a uniform. Seeing that uniform sent him back to the days when he first started reading Magus Of The Reverse World, and a smile drew on his face.

The uniform was a beautiful red color with white stripes across the edges. The boys had red and white pants and a red blazer, while the girls had the same blazer and skirts or pants, depending on their choice.

It was even more beautiful than anything Rize imagined, and it made the entire city look so much different. However, Rize’s eyes didn’t linger on the mundane life around him for long as Venera grabbed his shoulder and pointed.

"Look." She said.

"..." His eyes shifted to something truly gigantic, not that far away from them. Overlooking the city was a colossal mountain, easily reaching thousands of meters into the air. Its peak was covered in snow, while the rest of it was jagged rocks and greenery.

Rize couldn’t even fathom how huge that thing was, but the fact that it was several hundred kilometers away from them and yet looked that massive gave him an idea of how utterly ridiculous that mountain was.

"Mount Verozin," Rize muttered.

"It is quite magnificent, isn’t it?" Venera said with a weird light in her eyes. "Beyond that is said to be the Academy city."