Chapter 18 – Conflict
Conflict
Very soon it was Abyssal Bone Forest Academy’s turn, and Dorotte led the way, stepping through the door first.
The acolytes hurriedly followed. When Leylin put more force in his legs, there was a sturdy reverberation coming from the floor beneath his shoes, as if he was stepping on a limestone floor.
“What a strange material! It looks like wood but it’s sturdier, is it some kind of alloy?”
Leylin looked at the greyish, patterned floor and couldn’t help but think about it.
“We’re here! This section of the corridor, from number ‘13’ to ‘32’, is the area designated for our Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, you all can allocate on the rooms on your own. Remember, my number is ‘14’. Look for me if you need something!”
After he finished talking, Dorotte turned, and his black cloak fluttered as he entered his room with the two servants.
“Alright! Now let me designate the rooms!” Kaliweir stood out and said.
“Hng!” Jayden harrumphed and casually picked a room, number ‘18’, and walked inside.
Kaliweir’s face turned red, and then white. He clenched his fist several times, only to put it down. “Good! Jayden chose room 18. Next, Beirut, you will be in room 15, Raynor you’re in room 16……”
Jayden left, and the remaining acolytes, Beirut, Raynor, and Leylin, were in the same clique as Kaliweir. As for Guricha and his group, they did not dare to object at all.
Leylin was allocated room 20. He didn’t say anything and hurried into his cabin.
The room was rather small; it was just a partition. There was enough space for a bed, but hardly any room to stand at all.
This reminded Leylin of the beds on the trains in his previous world, which were also as cramped, with barely enough room to stretch his limbs.
“Having a bed is considered good; I was just sleeping in my seat when travelling in the Great Plains of Death!” Leylin comforted himself.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the dirigible, I am your captain – Kirkwul Kroft Leebar, I wish you all a pleasant journey ahead!”
“There are a few announcements of note. Apart from the professors, the rest are not allowed to walk on the decks unless you wish to go flying down from the skies!……The cafeteria is in Hall 1, and Hall 2 is where the washrooms are. As for Hall 3, it’s a lounge; everyone is welcome to go there!”
A low pitched male voice rang throughout the room. Leylin looked around and noticed the sound was coming from a yellow bronze pipe, but did not know if it was an air duct or megaphone.
“We’re taking off!” Leylin felt weightless for a moment, and the ship swayed. He hurriedly scrambled towards a window.
This window was only the size of a soccer ball and was very thick, so it was hard to see what was outside.
Following the dirigible’s ascent, the ground became smaller and smaller, and gradually, the camp in Leylin’s view turned into a black dot.
Leylin placed his cross blade and crossbow aside and laid on the bed.
“I heard Professor Dorotte say that the journey will last for roughly a month, what a long period of time! Half a year has already passed since I left my family, but we still have not reached the academy yet!”
Absentmindedly, Leylin shut his eyes.
“Ding……Ding Dong……”
A melodious note rang, waking Leylin from his sleep. Leylin climbed out of bed and looked out the window, and was greeted by darkness.
“It is already evening!”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening!” Right now, the cafeteria is providing dinner. Today’s menu is foie gras with truffles roast chicken, white bread, squirrel meat……”
This time, the pleasant voice was that of a female’s.
Leylin rubbed his stomach and hurriedly stood up. He straightened his clothes and ran towards the cafeteria.
The corridor was rather dim and there was a small lamp every few steps, which produced a yellowish glow.
The surrounding wooden cabin doors opened, and acolytes came streaming out from them.
Right now, Hall 1 was already packed with acolytes but Leylin did not see any of the professors there. He wondered if there was a special room for them.
On the ceiling of the hall was a very large white coloured rock, which emanated a bright white light, just like a miniature sun.
The cafeteria was filled with long tables and white chairs, and it looked a little like a university canteen.
“Hey! Leylin, here!” In a corner, Beirut beckoned to him, sitting with a few other acolytes from the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.
“I’m here!” Leylin collected a silver coloured tray and cutlery, and after deliberating, he picked up a slice of white bread, a fried chicken drumstick, fruit salad, and a bottle of apple cider, and sat beside Beirut.
“You guys sure are early!” Leylin greeted them.
“It’s you who’s late, could it be that you overslept?” Beirut said teasingly.
Leylin sat down, and gulped down half a bottle of apple cider, “Yeah, I did oversleep a little!”
Looking around the surroundings again, “Are we also travelling with these acolytes?”
At this moment, besides the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolytes, the hall was also filled with acolytes from other academies. These boys and girls sat together according to their respective academies and seemed distant towards one another.
“That’s right; we are on the same dirigible with Sage Gotham’s Hut, and a few other academies! As for Ennea Ivory Ring Tower, they are headed in a completely different direction from us, so we could only go our separate ways!” Raynor explained.
“So it’s like this!” Leylin said with a tinge of regret. “George and the others have all boarded the dirigible on the right, and it looks like the distance from Abyssal Bone Forest Academy is rather far. I think there’ll be some problem with communication next time!”
After eating dinner, the masses returned to their own rooms to rest.
Every day, apart from eating meals and sleeping, there did not seem to be anything else to do. This boredom lasted a whole fifteen days.
One evening, the groups did not wish to go back into that tiny cabin room after eating dinner, so they sat around the table and started to chat.
“Beirut, what’s wrong with you?” Leylin looked at Beirut, who seemed to be in slight discomfort, and asked.
In these ten days, Beirut, who was the reincarnation of a chatterbox, had spoken of topics ranging from his family tree, to how a dish in the capital was created as if he was speaking fondly to a lover.
Leylin and the rest had already adapted, from being annoyed at his words to getting used to them, and now it was the only joy on this boring journey.
“Yeah! I still want to listen to your past relationships!” Raynor began to jeer.
“I have finished saying everything!” Beirut rolled his eyes, “I cannot think of what to talk about anymore!”
“I’m so bored!” Beirut lamented.
“Endure it; it’s only another half a month away! It was quite a distance from your home to the campground, so how did you spend your time all that while?” Leylin encouraged him, albeit a little curious.
“My house is located in the Porter Kingdom, which is on the edge of the Great Plains of Death. So we reached the campgrounds after walking for half a month!” Beirut said helplessly, as he rolled his eyes again.
“No wonder!” Leylin shook his head.
“Jayden, this is something that I saw first, what do you want?” A silver tray clattered on the floor, letting out a crisp noise.
Leylin turned around and saw Kaliweir growling, his hair slightly standing up like a furious lion.
On the other side, Jayden poked a golden barbequed chicken drumstick with his fork, “It belongs to whoever takes it first!”
Not only did the crowd not stop them, but they all appeared to be waiting to see a good show
On this tiresome journey, Kaliweir and Jayden felt that the other party was unpleasant to their eyes, especially when Jayden tried to take in two henchmen.
They had restrained themselves in the earlier conflicts due to fear, as the Magi were around. However, things seemed to be out of control now.
Leylin furrowed his brows.
“It’s you who forced me to do this!” Kaliweir roared, and the muscles in his body tensed. It seemed like he had added a layer of muscle on his body.
As a noble, he had naturally trained with the techniques of a Knight. Also, he seemed to have already ignited his internal life energy, thus becoming a proper Knight.
[A.I Chip! Scan target!] [Beep! Kaliweir, Strength: 2.5, Agility: 2.7, Vitality: 3.0, Status: Currently using a secret technique] [Examination of the secret technique: After circulating, strength increases, Agility increases!]
“Today, I will let you know that you must lower your head in obedience before a prideful lion!” Kaliweir shouted, and moved his legs. An afterimage remained, as he dashed towards Jayden.
[Alert! Alert! Radiation detected! Status: Recommend distancing from the source!] The A.I Chip’s voice sounded in Leylin’s ears.
“Radiation source? Could it be that a Magus has taken action?
“Haha! I will let you know today, who exactly is the number one amongst the freshmen!” Jayden laughed loudly and took out a green badge from within his chest pocket.
“Pilis-Duwasha! Creature of the green! Hear my calls of summoning, and come out to the mortal world!” Jayden chanted in a strange voice.
What he used was a very rare language, but surprisingly, Leylin had actually understood every word of it.
With the incantation, a layer of light emerged from the green badge and a few brownish vines appeared from the ground and elongated, like a confused snake that was dancing wildly.
* Chi Chi !*
The vines danced as they protected Jayden from the front, and as one vine was sent forward, it tripped Kaliweir down to the ground.
The layers of vines continued to coil around him, and Kaliweir was soon wrapped in it completely, with only his face exposed.
“A magic artifact!” The surrounding acolytes cried in surprise.
“To be able to use a magic artifact, one must at least be a level 1 acolyte! He……He has already been promoted to a level 1 acolyte?”
The crowd clamoured, and they looked at Jayden with gazes of respect. This only caused Kaliweir’s face to redden even further.
“How is this? As long as you swear to obey me, I will release you!” Jayden walked to where Kaliweir was.
“Ne……Never! The pride of Golden Lion family will never be dishonoured by my hands!” Kaliweir veins popped as if they were going to bleed anytime.
“If it’s like this, then I have no choice!” Jayden shrugged his shoulders and the vines continued to tighten, and few cracking noises even came from within. It seemed like a few of Kaliweir’s bones had been broken.
The surrounding acolytes could not watch on any longer and were about to persuade Jayden.
Bang ! The dirigible swayed, and the light dimmed.
A few of the acolytes fell onto the floor, “What happened? Did we meet with some intense turbulence?” Leylin’s eyes flashed.
“Hu!” “Hu!”
The windows cracked open, and violent gusts of wind came rushing in.
Accompanied by the sound of the wind, there were also countless blue electric currents scattering in all directions.
Looking at these, Leylin pupils shrank to the size of a needle, “Thunderstorm? Where are the Magi on the dirigible?”
“You insignificant vermins, you actually dare to trespass the domain of the mighty Pendra!”
A voice reverberated, accompanied by a violent thunderstorm.