Chapter 130: First Day of School

"Brother!!!"

"Boss!!!"

Pandora and Killian hurriedly catched Regis who suddenly appeared in front of them and collapsed.

"How did he get here? I didn’t sense him even a little bit..."

Killian spoke as he frowned in confusion.

Meanwhile, Pandora only had a worried expression on her face.

"Let’s carry him to his room and call a priest."

She didn’t care about anything else at this moment as she only cared about his safety.

Knowing this, Killian just nodded and didn’t speak any further as he helped carry Regis on his shoulder.

***

It took the two of them a few minutes carrying Regis back in his bed.

"My goodness, how is he so heavy?"

Killian breathed heavily as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Anyways, let me call a priest no—"

"No need."

Before he could speak any further, a voice interrupted him.

"You’re awake, Brother!!"

Pandora exclaimed joyfully as she hurriedly hugged the newly awakened Regis.

"Urkk... Pandora... too tight..."

Regis protested as he had difficulty speaking due to her tight embrace.

"I-I’m sorry..."

Pandora blushed as she distanced herself from him in a hurry.

Regis sat up in difficulty as he clutched his head, hurriedly checking where the Shard of Tinateria was.

Only after seeing that it was placed on the bedside table did he calm down.

"What happened back then?"

At this moment, Killian posed a question with a look of confusion on his face.

Pandora glared at him and said, "We must let Brother have some rest first—"

"No, it’s fine." Regis interjected from the side and waved his hand, "I don’t know what happened either."

After a pause, he continued, "Initially, I woke up early and took a bath before going straight to the Training Grounds in order to try learning the aura art I got from the Temple of Light..."

"I just opened it and light suddenly filled the surroundings. Though I think I was able to instantly learn everything in the manual."

Upon hearing the latter part of his words, Killian perked up and asked, "What? Then do you know where the manual is?"

Remembering what happened earlier, Regis shook his head and replied, "It suddenly turned into particles of light..."

"Really...!?" Killian’s eyes lit up, a shocked expression appearing on his face.

"Then that aura manual must have been a special one..."

"Special?"

Regis and Pandora both looked curious as they looked at him.

Clearing his throat, Killian explained, "Well, there are two types of aura manuals. Normal type and special types."

"Normal types are manuals that you need to read and memorize before trying to apply it in practice."

"However, as its name says, Special types are special in the way that it can bestow the information directly on the user’s memory. But the catch is that it only has a limited number of uses."

"Of course, this is not only limited to aura manuals but also to magic grimoires, holy scriptures, and even evil tomes."

’So it works like when I retrieve an evil craft from the red space...’

Regis thought to himself.

Looking at both Pandora and Killian, he didn’t know how to explain his newfound power.

***

A navy blue flag swayed lightly along the wind.

Engraved on it was a dignified emblem that consisted of a book with a crown on top of it.

The shining rays of the golden sun above in the sky shone on it, bringing about even more of its elegance.

Below the flag stood a building that could only be described in two words: massive and majestic.

The architecture style was like that of the buildings of victorian era.

There were also other buildings beside it that although a bit smaller, still radiates the same grandeur that it has.

A sea of students wearing elegant navy blue uniforms adorned with silver engravings could be seen going in and out of the buildings.

One particular student with shell pink hair stood amidst the crowd.

A middle aged man a woman who looked to be in her late twenties stood on each of her sides.

It was none other than Dahlia.

"Uncle Doron, Aunt Glorietta, I’m kind of nervous..." She spoke as she slowly gulped her saliva while looking at the massive building in front of her.

Seeing the anxiety on her face, Doron laughed and said, "Don’t worry, it’s normal for you to be nervous on your first day of school."

"Sweetie..." Glorietta smiled at her as she spoke, "You wished to attend the Grandella Academy in the future, right?"

Dahlia nodded while her eyes remained fixed on the huge building before her.

After a moment, Glorietta continued while patting her head, "Unfortunately, only the Royal Family has a quota wherein their descendants or anyone that they recommend can be directly admitted to the Grandella Tournament where talented youths will fight to prove that they are worthy."

"As for us Ducal Families, we only have quotas that we can use in order to directly admit someone to the Royal Academy."

"Of course, the Royal Academy is also the most elite of the elite academies in the Acheron Kingdom... though it could never compare to Grandella Academy..."

"Hey, Sis. Don’t dampen the mood like that lest Dahlia become demotivated."

Doron spoke as he put his hands on Dahlia’s shoulders, "Don’t listen to her, just do your best because this is a part of me and your friend’s promise."

"Really...?" As soon as she heard his words, Dahlia’s eyes began to brighten.

Doron clicked his tongue and smiled, "When did I ever lie to you?"

At this moment, Glorietta facepalmed lightly and said, "My apologies, it’s just that my experience in Grandella Academy was hellish..."

"Pfft! Don’t be so silly, Sis. Dahlia is different from you so it will be fine."

"Says the one who wasn’t able to get admitted..."

Hearing Glorietta’s rebuttal, Doron had no other choice but to purse his lips and silently looked around, "The weather’s nice..."

Witnessing their antics, Dahlia couldn’t help but let out a giggle.

Doron and Glorietta both turned towards her and smiled, knowing that they were successful in cheering her up.

"Sis, why don’t you explain to Little Dahlia here why we chose to enroll her in the Royal Academy?"

Doron spoke with a certain glint in his eyes.

"Tsk, you’re passing your responsibilities to me again, huh?" Glorietta rolled her eyes.

However, Doron ignored her and only looked at the sky as he muttered, "That is one large bird right there... amazing..."

In the next second, her annoyance was replaced by kindness as she crouched and smiled at Dahlia, "Sweetie, you can look at the Royal Academy as a stepping stone."

"Ehhh?" Dahlia tilted her head as confusion filled her eyes.

Glorietta nodded, "In order to join the Grandella Tournament, you must be at least 16 years old. Meanwhile, the Royal Academy has a curriculum for those 15 years old and below. This is, of course, in preparation for the tournament that is held every other year."

"After you finish the curriculum of the Royal Academy, most organizations in the human territory will get on their knees in order to get you to join them. However, what’s more is that you will be able to skip a large chunk of the tournament."

As he heard her explanation, Dahlia became even more confused as she hadn’t really known much of the details concerning Grandella Academy.

Since she also focused on training, she hadn’t had the time to search more about it.

She listened attentively as Glorietta kept speaking, "Grandella Academy is known for treating everyone based on their power."

"In there, statuses like being a noble or a commoner don’t have even the smallest of significance. It’s also the reason why it was the dream of almost everyone in the world."

"The Grandella Tournament is divided into countless segments as it covers the territory of every race in the world."

"This means that passing the curriculum of the Royal Academy would allow you to skip most of the arduous process. And since I know that you’re excited to meet your friend again, you must do your best, okay?"

As Glorietta finished explaining, Dahlia’s eyes shone with a myriad of emotions.

Determination, perseverance, bravery, excitement, and... longing.

She then bowed towards the two, "Thank you, Aunt! Thank you, Uncle!! I will surely not waste this opportunity that you have given me!!!"

Seeing the blazing fire in her eyes, Doron and Glorietta glanced at each other and nodded.

"Then off you go!"

"Just do your best, okay!? No matter what happens, I will always be proud of you!!"

Dahlia smiled before walking towards the entrance of the Royal Academy with a serious expression on her face.

’Regis... please be safe. You promised that we’ll meet, right? You promised that you won’t die...’

’So, I’ll wait for you. Let’s meet at the Grandella Academy Tournament...’

As they watched Dahlia’s back, Glorietta looked at Doron and posed a question with a frown.

"Hey, I know that you always use that friend of hers in order to motivate her, but are you sure that he’ll be able to attend the Grandella Academy in the future?"

Doron looked at her and only raised one of his eyebrows in response.

"Well, I mean, he clearly doesn’t have any connections. I know that you told me how strong he was, but is he really all that? What if he’s just all talk? Won’t her heart be broken?"

Knowing that her concern was understandable, Doron sighed, "Since Dahlia isn’t with us, I think I can say this now."

"What?" Glorietta tilted her head as she looked at him in confusion.

Doron cleared his throat, "Initially, I was very embarrassed to admit this, but... her friend, Regis... was able to defeat me."

"What!?"

Glorietta’s eyes opened wide as extreme shock became apparent on her face.