Chapter 201: Elf King Statue.

Shu Li took a startled step backward and bumped straight into Ace’s chest.

“Huh?” He turned to look at the blond boy.

Ace steadied him by the shoulders {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} and lowered his head, saying gently, “Careful.”

Bathed in the setting sun, his golden hair gleamed brilliantly. A soft, warm glow veiled his handsome face, and his green eyes sparkled like gemstones beneath starlight.

For one dazed instant, Shu Li saw Ace’s face overlap with the Elven King’s.

His heart clenched. He blinked hard, realized he had imagined it, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“What’s wrong?” Ace asked with concern.

“N-Nothing!” Shu Li pulled away from him and moved two steps to the side, wondering what was wrong with him. Why had he mistaken Ace for the Elven King again?

Sure, they both had golden hair and green eyes, but their appearances were worlds apart.

It had to be because he hadn’t seen the King for so many days and had started missing him. It looked like he needed to settle down at the magic academy as soon as possible, reunite with the Mother Tree, and return to the Elven Kingdom through its root system.

After composing himself, Shu Li looked up again at the towering statue a meter away and examined it carefully. He realized that it bore only about a seventy-percent resemblance to the Elven King.

The craftsman who had carved it possessed extraordinary skill, producing a work so lifelike it seemed almost beyond human hands. Yet no matter how exquisite the craftsmanship, it could never capture the Elven King’s unique presence and bearing.

What was more, seemingly on purpose, the sculptor had toned down the Elven King’s beauty considerably.

Who had carved this statue?

Shu Li’s gaze traveled downward until he spotted the sculptor’s name on the stone pedestal.

Danlov Girard.

The Mage Sovereign had actually carved the Elven King’s statue himself.

Of course. It could only have been the Mage Sovereign.

The Elven King had sealed off the Faerie Forest for more than ten thousand years. Ordinary humans could never have seen him. Other than Danlov, who had grown up in the Elven Kingdom, who else could possibly have carved his likeness?

Ace stood before the statue, studying it from top to bottom. A strange look flickered through his eyes.

Dixio and Budno circled the Elven King’s statue once, then put their heads together and whispered.

“Doesn’t look like him. Not at all.”

“Right! The King is a hundred—a thousand times better-looking than this!”

Angel noticed Kumandi holding his notebook and quill, diligently sketching away. Curious, he leaned closer and discovered that Kumandi had drawn every statue in the plaza.

“What’s the point of... that?” he asked in confusion.

Kumandi drew quickly, his smooth strokes capturing each figure with remarkable accuracy. Without stopping, he replied, “I’m recording them so I can write an account of our adventures across the continent someday.”

Angel’s mouth formed a perfect O.

No wonder Sperien privately called Kumandi their quiet genius. The way his mind worked was on a completely different level from theirs.

While the rest of them were still marveling at how lifelike the statues were, Kumandi was already gathering material for his future travelogue.

Amanda ran over to the dragon statue and inspected it from every angle, trying to guess which dragon from Dragon Island it depicted. Unfortunately, the statue had no color, so he couldn’t identify it by the color of its scales.

Nasha had never seen the Elven King. She simply thought his statue was the most beautiful one there.

Seeing several Mage Apprentices gathered around the central statue, Seidler introduced it to them.

“This statue depicts the great Son of Light—the Elven King, Freyus Estel.”

“Wow!”

The Little Fairies let out exaggerated gasps in perfect unison, their clear eyes brimming with genuine adoration.

Nasha tightened her grip on her magic staff, utterly astonished. To her, the Elven King was a legendary figure, an existence akin to a god. She had believed she could never possibly meet him in her lifetime.

And now, before the gates of St. Velia Magic Academy, she stood face-to-face with a statue of the Elven King.

As she gazed at his heroic figure, yearning shone in her eyes.

If it were the Elven King, surely he could destroy the evil dark forces, couldn’t he?

Moresy stood beside Seidler with his arms folded, gazing up at the Elven King with a complicated expression.

For a Dark Elf born in Wanaku, the supreme ruler was the Dark Elven King, Ang Olachiri. As Moresy grew older and learned more about the history of the Dark Elves and white Elves, he gradually became curious about the Elven King.

When he first left Wanaku to travel the continent, he had crossed mountains and rivers all the way west, hiding at the foot of Mount Sesis and gazing from afar at the mysterious Faerie Forest.

He hadn’t known what he was hoping for. He had simply felt an intense longing for that land.

Unfortunately, he was a Dark Elf. He could never enter the Elven Kingdom or meet the legendary Elven King.

Withdrawing his gaze, Moresy’s blood-red eyes shifted toward the blond, green-eyed Mage Apprentice. In a lazy voice, he said, “Ace Ter, you have an interesting name. Your surname is the same as the Elven King’s. Your family really knows how to choose names.”

They had exchanged names in the carriage, and when the blond Mage Apprentice introduced himself, Moresy had remembered that unusual name.

Suddenly addressed, Ace turned and replied with impeccable courtesy, “Thank you for the compliment.”

Moresy frowned as he studied Ace’s dazzling appearance. “I’m only stating the truth.”

It was extraordinarily rare for a human to look like this. The boy possessed beauty that could rival an Elf’s.

Shu Li smiled and asked Seidler, “Why are there so many statues outside the magic academy?”

He had also noticed that most of them were Danlov’s work.

Seidler’s expression turned solemn.

“They are all heroes who protected the Austin Continent. When the Mage Sovereign founded St. Velia Magic Academy, he carved these statues of the heroes so that future generations could honor them. The Elven King led the forces of light into battle against the Dark God without regard for his own life, paying an enormous price to win ten thousand years of peace for the Austin Continent.

“As followers of the Light God, we must never forget their glorious deeds. That is why the Mage Sovereign had these statues erected before the academy—to remind every mage that when darkness descends again, we must fight bravely as they did, without fear, standing united to defeat the Dark God once more.”

When he finished, silence reigned for half a minute.

Clap, clap, clap—

Applause suddenly rang out.

Everyone gathered before the Elven King’s statue turned around at once.

A brown-haired young man in his early twenties stood three meters away. He was handsome and tall, dressed in an ornate magic robe, with an elegantly designed high-ranking magic staff tucked beneath one arm.

“Very well said!” The young man stopped clapping and beamed at them. “My name is Hector Snowo. I come from the northern Pross Empire. I’m a Senior Mage Apprentice, and I arrived to enroll at the magic academy today. My lifelong dream is to become a great mage like the Mage Sovereign Danlov!”

Shu Li blinked his gray-green eyes.

What an incredibly outgoing human.

Hector Snowo... Huh? Why did the surname Snowo sound vaguely familiar?

Wait. He said he came from the Pross Empire?

The Little Fairies exchanged glances, seeing the same surprise reflected in one another’s eyes.

The count’s corpse inside that coffin had been a Snowo. This young man was also a Snowo. Could they be from the same family?

Shu Li swept his gaze over him and spotted a small snow-wolf emblem at the edge of the young man’s cloak.

Sure enough. It was identical.

Three years might have passed, but Shu Li still remembered the snow-wolf emblem on the coffin vividly.

What a coincidence. They had actually encountered a younger member of the Snowo family here.

Shu Li had always wanted to know whether Danlov had successfully returned the coffin to the Snowo family after leaving the Faerie Forest, and how the Snowo family had reacted upon learning of the count’s death.

Unfortunately, Danlov had returned to the Magic Tower, and the two of them had never exchanged letters, so Shu Li had no idea what had happened afterward.

Now that he had come to the Central Court, Shu Li had already planned to visit Danlov once he had settled in and ask him about what had happened with the coffin.

He simply never imagined that he would meet someone from the Snowo family right outside the gates of the magic academy.

“Hello. I’m Sperien, from the Sesis Mountains. I’m an Intermediate Mage Apprentice, and I’m also here to enroll at the magic academy today. It’s nice to meet you.” Shu Li smiled and introduced himself politely.

“You’re a mountain villager?” Hector looked him over in astonishment.

Weren’t mountain villagers supposed to be dirt-poor, ignorant, and lowly? Yet not only was the boy before him exquisitely handsome, even his presence was as pure and refreshing as a mountain spring. One glance was enough to make people instinctively like him.

“Yes.” Shu Li did not miss the fleeting surprise in Hector’s eyes.

Hector pointed toward the Mage Apprentices beside him. “Are they mountain villagers too?”

“We are. He and she aren’t.” Kumandi pointed to Nasha and Ace.

Hector regarded the five “mountain villagers” with obvious skepticism.

One unusually striking mountain villager was one thing, but how could all the others be so good-looking too, like young masters from noble families?

They had to be messing with him!

Intrigued, Hector didn’t call them out on it and instead asked their names with a smile.

The members of the Light Squad introduced themselves one after another.

When Hector learned that Nasha came from the Dalia Empire and Ace from the Izera Empire, his silver-gray eyes studied them intently.

Mage Apprentices from four great empires—their backgrounds certainly couldn’t be ordinary. They were worth befriending.

“And these two?” He looked toward Seidler and the hooded Moresy.

Seidler said, “I’m Seidler, a fourth-year magic student.”

Moresy waved a gloved hand. “I’m just a random passerby. Don’t mind me.”

Seeing that he had no intention of answering, Hector didn’t press him. Instead, his attention snapped back to Seidler.

“A fourth-year student... You’re a Magic Instructor!”

“Huh?” Shu Li and his companions stared at the white mage in confusion. “You’re a student at the magic academy too?”

He was already a Magic Instructor. That was an incredibly high rank!

Seidler answered calmly, “Yes. As long as I haven’t advanced to Saint Mage, I remain a student of the academy.”

He proceeded to explain the academy’s rules.

St. Velia Magic Academy had five years, organized according to magical rank. Mage Apprentices were first-years, Initiate Mages were second-years, Mages were third-years, Magic Instructors were fourth-years, and Grand Mages were fifth-years.

Whenever a mage advanced in rank, they automatically moved up one year. The higher the year, the fewer students there were—and the older they tended to be.

Seidler was quite talented. At thirty, he had advanced to Junior Magic Instructor and become a fourth-year student. Ten years had passed since then, and although he had risen to Senior Magic Instructor, he was still a fourth-year. That might remain unchanged for another few decades—or even centuries.

For humans, cultivating magic was extraordinarily difficult. Beyond Magic Instructor, every step upward was a towering peak nearly impossible to climb. Unless Seidler advanced to Saint Mage, he would never graduate.

Yes.

A diploma from this magic academy was extremely difficult to obtain.

More than two thousand years had passed since the academy’s founding, yet fewer than a hundred Saint Mages had ever received one.

Fortunately, fourth- and fifth-year students did not have to attend classes at the academy every day. They were free to spend most of their time however they wished, as long as they returned to the academy for their final examinations.

That was also why, after encountering eight Mage Apprentices near the teleportation array, Seidler had decided to personally escort them to the academy.

As an upper-year student, he had a responsibility and obligation to look after his future juniors.

Once Shu Li understood the academy’s rules, he clutched his cheeks in horror.

Danlov is terrifying!

He actually made humans stay students for that many years!

In Shu Li’s original world, people graduating in their twenties were everywhere. But in this other world, someone might spend their entire life without ever obtaining a diploma.

Even Fairies, a long-lived race, stopped attending school after the age of fifty. From then on, cultivation depended entirely on the individual. If they didn’t understand something, they could ask their elders, though most preferred reading and researching on their own, learning however they pleased. The very idea of “graduating” or “not graduating” simply didn’t exist.

Seeing Shu Li’s shocked expression, Hector assumed he was frightened. The corner of his mouth lifted, and he declared with absolute confidence, “I’ll definitely get my diploma within three hundred years!”

Moresy said, “Oh? Ambitious.”

Unfortunately, in the past ten thousand years, there had never been a human Saint Mage under three hundred years old.

Hector clenched his fist and lightly thumped his left chest, declaring proudly, “Of course. Before leaving home, I swore to my grandfather that I would never return until I became a Saint Mage.”

Moresy gave him a thumbs-up and grinned. “Not bad. You’ve got determination.”

As expected of a young nobleman.

Naive and arrogant.

“It’s getting late. We should enter the academy,” Seidler reminded them.

If they kept talking, night would fall. He needed to get these Mage Apprentices settled before the instructors finished their classes for the day.

As for Moresy—

Seidler turned toward the Dark Elf who had been trailing behind them.

“You wait here.”

Moresy looked displeased. “Why?”

Seidler said expressionlessly, “Nonstudents are forbidden from entering the magic academy.”

Moresy clicked his tongue and stopped.

Seidler led the Mage Apprentices onward. Just as they approached the academy gates, Amanda suddenly cried out.

“Oh no! I forgot to pick up my recommendation letter!”