Chapter 411: Noticeable Changes In Academy

"Okay, okay, the test is over." Lian raised his hand and said in a surrendered tone.

One looked at him for a few more seconds and finally his master activated the Colony House again.

[One — Resting.]

[Recovery Efficiency: +20%]

Lian closed the panel, it seemed like a simple ability, but its use was not simple at all, he no longer needed to find a way to move One around.

He could take him to cities, pass through gates, enter buildings and in the future if his colony became larger, not only One, but also other commanders and powerful members could always be carried with him.

An army that no one could see was always with him.

It was an interesting thought but for later, for now, it was time to go to the Academy.

He left the mount section and went directly toward the transfer gate area.

Nine months ago, to get from his own country to Base #9, they had first needed to use the Base #3 and then travel through the Ruined Realm for the rest of the way.

At that time, there had been no direct route.

But during the past three days, he had heard several Awakened people say that the transfer network of Base #9 had expanded greatly.

With more than several thousand kilometers of the surrounding areas stabilized, many new portals had also been created.

Maybe one of them was directly connected to his own country.

He spent a few minutes searching among the large boards in the transfer center and finally asked one of the workers about the route to the capital.

The answer was better than he expected, there was a direct route.

Base #9 — Capital Transfer Center of His Country

Lian looked at the name of the route for a few seconds, nine months ago, something like this had not existed.

Now traveling between their world and one of the farthest bases of the Ruined Realm had almost become as simple as buying a normal ticket.

The transfer cost was not cheap, but it was not something he cared much about, so he paid.

A few minutes later, he was standing in front of one of the large portals, its surface was shaking like a wall of blue light.

Lian looked at Base #9 one last time and then entered the portal.

The sounds disappeared and the world became dark, for a moment there was nothing.

He could not feel his senses or his weight, it was almost as if his body no longer existed and then the light returned.

He heard the sound of many people talking.

He blinked and found smooth stone under his feet, several large portals were around the hall and hundreds of people were moving through marked lines.

Agents, Awakened people, families and workers were moving around and route signs and shops came into his view.

Lian stood there for a few seconds, there was no smell of blood, no burnt ground and no Calamity feeding on corpses.

There was no strange sky above him and more importantly, he could not feel any danger.

He took a deep breath.

In the Ruined Realm, it was impossible to truly feel calm and at any moment something dangerous could happen that no one expected.

And the color of the sky in the Ruined Realm was depressing and suffocating.

But now he had finally returned to his own world, the same beautiful, calm, clear blue sky that did not have that constant heaviness that had unconsciously become part of his life in the Ruined Realm.

He had just realized how much he had gotten used to the constant presence of danger.

"I’m back." The corner of his lips rose slightly and he whispered very quietly.

Maybe this city was not his birthplace but this world was his world.

Lian left the transfer center, took a taxi and went directly to the Academy, during the entire trip he only hoped that Kain was at the Academy.

After all, there was a very high chance that his childhood friend was currently in the Ruined Realm, hunting and advancing.

There was only a small chance that he would be at the Academy at such a random time.

Almost half an hour later, the Academy gates appeared through the car window.

He unconsciously leaned forward a little and looked at the same walls, the same large Academy symbol and the same buildings that he had seen on his first day when he entered.

For a few seconds, memories that now seemed very old returned to his mind.

On the first day he came here, he was a boy who did not even have a successful Awakening.

Someone who had only managed to enter the Academy because of his analytical ability.

A student whose presence here was considered a mistake by many people and some had even openly made fun of him.

And now Lian leaned back against the seat, one of his classes was unknown and abnormal, a class that challenged all known limits.

He had completed his first evolution.

He had devoured a Calamity.

And a giant ant was also sleeping inside a space connected to his existence.

It had really been a strange nine months, although he had only felt and truly experienced around thirty days of it, and even a little less.

The car stopped in front of the entrance and he paid the cost and got out, he looked at the entrance gate for a few moments and then entered.

And almost at the same moment, he felt something strange.

At first glance, nothing had changed much, the educational buildings were the same and the stone paths were still there.

The old trees were still on both sides of the path, even the voices of the students moving between the classes and dormitories were familiar.

But the atmosphere was different.

Lian slowed his steps a little, his eyes moved among the students.

First, he noticed the groups, it was not that there had not been groups before, it was natural for students to move with their friends and teammates.

But now their structure was much clearer.

Some students had small symbols on their clothes, several large groups almost always moved away from the others.

And every time one of those groups passed through the path, the weaker students unconsciously moved aside.

No one gave an order and there was no clear threat but the people’s behavior showed everything by itself.

Hierarchy.

During the first nine months of the school year, the positions had become fixed.

The strong people were known, the influential people were known and there were also people that others preferred not to bother.

Lian could see it in their eyes, in their movements and in the short silences that appeared when some groups passed by.

But this was exactly what bothered him, something here was out of its natural balance.

Although hierarchy always existed everywhere, now it was too obvious, as if someone had forced the law of the jungle to be followed in the Academy.

"It could also be because of the students’ competitive nature." He whispered to himself, after all, the students were still young and the feeling of competition among them was strong.

But he did not know why, but he felt that this obvious change had another reason, a reason that he definitely would not like.

In the end, at least for now, he ignored it, he could ask his friend about the details later.

His first target was the dormitory, if Kain was at the Academy, the dormitory was the best place to find a sign of him.

But the second reason was even more important.

His phone.

Before entering the Special Area, he had left it in the locker of his room, probably hundreds of messages and calls were waiting for him...or maybe not.

But there was one message he was really waiting for.

The blacksmith.

The Ancient Rank armor was supposed to be ready much earlier and after nine months it was almost impossible that it was still unfinished.

Just imagining seeing the final result made a small feeling of real excitement appear inside him.

An Ancient Rank armor, with such armor he no longer needed to worry about defense, at least not until his enemies became terribly powerful.

But before he had even covered half of the distance, two people stood in front of him.

At first, he did not pay much attention, he thought they were just students coming from the opposite direction.

But they did not move aside and Lian raised his head slightly and recognized one of the faces almost immediately.

Darren.

His classmate in the Elite Class, a man who called himself Rodrick’s best friend, although he was only one of his dogs and nothing more.

And more importantly, someone Lian had given a rather unforgettable lesson to on his second day at the Academy.

His eyes then moved to the person beside him, at first he could not recognize him, but his face looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before but only vaguely.

After thinking for a moment and using his brain more, he remembered him too.

The same man who had tried to make fun of him from among the crowd on the first day of the Academy, during Professor Aldric’s test.

His name was not important, but his face was familiar to him.

And by looking at them, he noticed something, something about both of them had changed, not only their appearance, although their equipment was much better, the flow of mana around their bodies was more organized.

And Lian was almost sure that both of them had completed their first evolution.

But what attracted more attention was their behavior.

Their shoulders were pulled back, their chins were raised and the way they looked at the students around them, they did not only have confidence ...

They acted as if they owned this place.