Elite Mages' Academy

Chapter 162: Disguised House Arrest

The experience proved to Xiao Lin—who had not undergone any training before—that riding a dragon-eagle in the air was definitely not something to look forward to. The entire journey brought with it bumps and turbulence, and the dragon-eagle improvised its flight pattern from time to time. A couple of tumbles in the air was more than enough to make him empty his stomach.

Fortunately, the flight did not last very long. When the dragon-eagle landed again, Xiao Lin’s face turned pale and he quickly rolled down from the dragon-eagle’s back with two weakened legs. It took him a very long time before he could suppress nausea in his chest. Only then could he look at the surrounding environment.

He was on the top of the mountain. He could see the majestic silver resurrection tower of New Washington City in the south–a sign that it was not too far away from the city. There were heavily armed soldiers pacing nearby and the roar of dragon-eagles were heard in succession.

“This is the dragon-eagle knights’ residence,” Lilith walked over and dispelled Xiao Lin’s confusion.

“You seem to be quite adapted here.” Xiao Lin glanced at Lilith, who looked as right as rain.

“I usually come here to play, but it’s still very difficult for me to control a dragon-eagle by myself. Not everyone can learn advanced riding skills,” Lilith said, shaking her head.

Even though Xiao Lin had the feeling that the particular knight who brought him back deliberately tried to make his head spin in the sky, he did not care about any of that after having come back alive. He heard Song Junlang mention before that the barracks of the dragon-eagle knight regiment was a place of strict control, since they were the most elite unit of Judge Academy. People from other academies could not simply approach it without permission.

When Xiao Lin came to that mysterious military base for the first time, he was incredibly curious to walk around and take a look. A couple of steps later however, he was stopped by the knight who brought him back. The knight had already taken off his helmet. He was a blonde American who said a few words in English with a blank face.

Xiao Lin looked at Lilith, who immediately helped to translate. “Commander Harry has ordered us to stay here for now.”

Xiao Lin was puzzled, and so was Lilith, but the American did not explain anything further. Instead, he sent someone to arrange a place for the two of them to stay and left at once.

It was a very simple place to live. It was a three-story building that seemed to be rather old with yellowed walls, and rooms with mostly broken doors and windows. Lilith told him that the place was the earliest dormitory for the knights. After the new building was built, the old one was left unused.

The room arranged for Xiao Lin seemed to have been prepared at the last minute. There was nothing else except a simple table, a chair, and a bed. Meanwhile, the bathroom was hopeless and it was a far cry compared to the city’s hotel conditions.

Lilith had a rare look of embarrassment on her face introducing the history of that building since the residence arranged for her was not there, but at the newly constructed and well-equipped dormitory. The difference in treatment was more than obvious.

Xiao Lin did not really care about all that, but what irked him was the presence of three or four soldiers hovering nearby at all times downstairs. He could feel their vigilant glances, even though he was just standing there and chatting with Lilith.

Xiao Lin was very angry. Those people were clearly watching him, so he waved his arms heavily and vented to Lilith, “I’m not a prisoner! Lilith! I am not a prisoner of your academy!”

Lilith had a tight frown. “I’m afraid this is a misunderstanding. I think Commander Harry will explain more when he returns.”

“There’s someone else who accompanied me to New Washington. Can you bring him a message and at least let him know that I’m safe now?” Xiao Lin was helpless. Lilith’s earlier inquiries revealed that they had been missing for more than half a month and he could imagine Song Junlang’s desperation.

“I’m afraid I can’t!” Lilith’s face also showed a look of displeasure. “They also forbade me from leaving the knights’ residence.”

Xiao Lin was very much surprised. Although his time spent with Lilith was not too long, she gave him the impression that she was fearless. Were there actually things that she was afraid to do?

Lilith continued to murmur, annoyed, “The lowest-ranked members of the dragon-eagle knight regiment are at least Gold. Their combat strength is raised even more when they act in tandem with their dragon-eagles.”

Xiao Lin rolled his eyes immediately. As it turned out, it was only because Lilith knew that she could not beat the knights. If that were not the case, an order like that would not be able to restrain her at all.

Xiao Lin had no right to object. He spent the first night of his return in the shabby dormitory. There were no lights in the corridor and no one provided him candles, so the past few days were very gloomy. The weather was not forgiving, so moonlight was absent, sinking the entire dormitory into darkness when night fell.

The knights allowed him to move freely only in the corridor downstairs, but he did not want to have a staring contest with those Americans in the dark. He therefore washed up and went to bed early, but he tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

He had no mood during the day because of his disguised house arrest by the Americans. Now that he calmed down and carefully recalled the scene in The Final Land, he suddenly felt that something was not quite right.

High Priest Asabanor!

Xiao Lin suddenly stood up in the dark and began thinking carefully. On the eve of the day where The Final Land was about to be destroyed by a tornado storm, the mysterious tadpole-like text erupted suddenly from his body and formed a black channel. Asabanor still caught up at the last moment, and he vaguely remembered that Lilith had been pulled into the passage using the flame chain.

With Lilith’s safe return, did that mean that the dead old man’s spirit had also returned to that world? After considering that possibility, Xiao Lin suddenly felt a creeping feeling. His heartbeat quickened slightly and his entire self became alert. He could not help it after all the suffering the old man caused him.

A few minutes later, however, he relaxed again and shook his head before falling back in bed. If Asabanor did come back, it was impossible for him to stay nearby for long. Though the old man’s strength remained unknown, he could not possibly be stronger than the entirety of Judge Academy, and their location was none other than the Americans’ capital city.

Additionally, if he remembered correctly, only the high priest’s head was left in his soul state and it was uncertain how much his power had declined. It might have even been possible that Asabanor did not even manage to return and that his soul had dissipated during the journey.

Moreover, it was America’s Judge Academy that destroyed the ancient Thunder Kingdom. As the saying went, third parties should never be involved when settling disputes. The unhappiness caused to Xiao Lin in the daytime gave Xiao Lin a slightly malicious thought—if the high priest really did come back alive, it would be one hell of a headache for the Americans.