Chapter 9: Academy?
As they approached the grand fortress, they started descending.
[If I remember correctly, flying above the Guardian Cities is strictly prohibited. Only the highest echelons of the military have that right.] Andrew though.
They landed near a 5 metres tall, dome-shaped gate through which a 10 metres wide road was passing. People were going in and out through the gate at fast paces. Some of them were on foot, some of them on their animal-driven carriages. Occasionally strange shaped vehicles drove by as people made way for them.
[Are those the cars Uncle Coral was talking about? What principle are they using to move like that? Technology sure is weird...although, people of the old might have thought that our magic is weird as well if they saw it.] Andrew silently pondered. His thinking was suddenly interrupted by the looks of the people before them.
The traffic at the gate seemed to stagnate for a bit. He was just about to ask Vlad what was going on when suddenly, the people on the street moved to the sides with their heads lowered a bit and sincere smiles on their faces. Vlad took the initiative and stepped forward with a smile as well.
"Lord."
"Welcome back, Lord."
As he passed by, the people on his sides politely greeted him. The looks directed at him were full of sincere admiration, some of them seemed even thankful.
The siblings looked at each other confused, before quickly following. They were greeted with the same sincere and kind smiles. An older woman on the side even took the opportunity of gently caressing Andrew's shoulder as he passed by. A small girl on her left showed a look of confusion.
"Grandma, who are those two?" she asked timidly.
"Oh dear, they must be the retainers of that Lord. So young and yet so brave. Remember their faces. In the future you must show them the same respect as you show the Lord himself." She spoke gently to the small girl. The girl nodded and a green light flashed through her eyes before disappearing quickly.
Soon, the trio passed through the gate. Andrew and Aisha then looked around the bustling street. On the sides, there were tens of shops selling all kinds of things ranging from food to materials and even paintings. The condition of the building themselves reminded Andrew of the slums he grew up in. They were old and dilapidated. Cracks and marks could be seen on almost all of them. One thing struck him as very different though. The people seemed way more energetic and healthy.
He remembered the people in the slums. They looked very thin and sad. The people he was seeing now though, seemed well-fed and they were happily going about their businesses. Aisha was looking around with great interest. For her, this was the first time she saw so many people as she was too young when they left the Heavenly Eye Guardian City and didn't remember anything from back then.
As they walked deeper into the city, the state of the buildings was becoming better and people's clothes much more refined. Obviously, the status of the people living here was way higher.
The walk proved to be longer than Andrew expected. After about two hours they were already very deep into the city. Andrew didn't remember how many lefts and rights they took and at this point, he was sure he would get lost the second he stopped following Vlad.
After another ten minutes, they reached a three metres tall gate with two metres tall fences on its sides. The gates opened slowly and an old woman in a black suit was waiting.
"Greetings, Young Master." she bowed and greeted Vlad. Then she stepped aside with her right hand pointed towards the inside of the yard.
"Please." she said.
As they walked in, the siblings were quickly surprised. The yard was bigger than they expected but that wasn't the reason. In the distance they could see a small sized hill and atop of that hill, a huge mansion.
[Hmph, rich boy.] thought Andrew.
"This is my home. Come, come, we have things to discuss." Vlad said as he walked towards the mansion.
As they entered, they were greeted by three servants.
"Welcome, Young Master. Is there anything you require?" a middle aged man asked politely as he glanced at the siblings who were looking around with great interest.
"Just bring some food and drinks to the study room." Vlad answered before going up the stairs with the siblings. Soon, they entered a small room. The layout of the room was pretty simple. On the sides and back there were many shelves filled with books, while in the middle there was a round wooden table with four chairs surrounding it. In the left corner there was also a simple wood desk with something resembling a black book on it. The trio sat at the table in the middle.
"Now, there are some things we need to talk about." Vlad said. The siblings nodded politely. After all, they would have to be very dumb to not realize that the "boy" before them was a very important person!
"First of all, I've met your teacher, Coral, before." he said. Aisha then interrupted him.
"Do you know where Uncle Coral is? We haven't seen him in months, is he alright?" she asked concerned. She didn't notice Vlad's eyes twitching when hearing the word "uncle".
"He is alright, yeah." he then muttered "What are the chances of him not being alright?"
"But anyway, he asked me to help you a bit if I find you. Who would have thought that you would be the ones to find me haha? Anyway, he hopes that you two quickly become accustomed to the way society works. He blames himself for taking you away from civilization for so long. As it is, you two have no social skill whatsoever and no connections. After all, the world is full of tricksters and thieves so he thinks it would be best for you to enroll and get familiar with other people first." he said.
"Enroll?" asked Andrew with a confused look."Enroll where?"
"At the Academy, of course!" Vlad said confidently.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone