Magical Academy: Rise of the Supreme Magic Craftsman

The cloaking ability of the armor alters its outer surface through the use of a crystalline formation. During the activation of this function, the armor is capable of fully absorbing or bending incoming wave spectrums such as visible light, radio waves, infrared or thermal imaging, and possibly microwaves or others, to render itself completely invisible to the human eye and most surveillance equipment. Of course, Wallace also enhanced this technological equipment so that it could bypass most mana detection spells.

Looking on the outside, the armor was enveloped within a clear "shimmer" as the light was bent around the suit causing invisibility. There is, however, a slight distortion that can be noticed by the human eye during its motion. Additionally, this mode also increases the user's speed slightly, but not as much as it's another function of 'burst speed mode'.

Wallace had to travel from Bluefields City to Araceli Island Group where his spaceship was suspected to have descended. He had to pass several large cities like Linshamn City and Vummerberg opposite the capital's direction on the west coast of the country. 

It was still dark and Wallace took it as his chance to move.

The Float Drive System activated and brought Wallace up in the air. Based on his estimation, it would take about a couple of hours to arrive at his next destination.

***

In a building within the Bluefields City not too far from the hotel where the participants for the international competition were staying, a group of four Magicians was having a meeting. The place was well lit and looks like a normal office room. 

"Four Battle Mages were captured by the enemies, Mark was even injured and we didn't even manage to get a single hair from our target?!

A disappointed young man in his twenties questioned the three Adepts in front of him. The man doesn't exude the aura of a magician and seemed to be an ordinary person. But the person obviously had authority and wasn't afraid of the three. 

"We were sure that the target was in his room 5 minutes before the operation. I was thinking at first that a piece of vital information was leaked, but after analyzing the whole situation, I couldn't find a loophole in our operation. It means that the target's disappearance wasn't due to our operation." The middle-aged man wearing casual clothes answered confidently. Beside him were Mark and the third Adept who attacked them in the building.

"How are you sure? Also, how did he disappear within your sight?" The young man was doubtful but he knows the capability of the three, he just couldn't accept this failure. Only a dozen of them were sent here for their operation, now they lost four Battle Mages, and rescuing them would also be a challenge. The members of their organization stationed in this country weren't that strong and there are only quite a few of them. Unfortunately, they also couldn't use them in these operations with a high level of danger. 

"I couldn't say I'm sure how did he disappeared but about the information leak, our flight's schedule was intentionally leaked to the police with vague information. They shouldn't be too wary of us yet and maybe doubting our true purpose here. But now, there's a lot of Adepts in their company, they should be thinking that we are targetting Wallace." The middle-aged man smiled and answered. He pondered a bit before continuing. 

"It was confirmed they weren't that prepared when Sir Watson attacked the building using his unique magic spell. They were all caught surprised and he managed to injure a lot of students and instructors resulting in a great diversion on the 14th floor. We should've achieved our goal."

The young man sighed after hearing this. Although it was their intention to divert attention and let the Zairus and other officials think that they're targetting Wallace, it was still frustrating that they didn't manage to capture the person with all the effort they made.

Sir Watson, the cloaked person in the room was silent and Mark was only closing his eyes the entire time. He looked like he didn't plan to join their conversation but at the end of their meeting. He still asked something he was curious about.

"About our true purpose here, have they discovered what technology it was?"

***

The sun was already high up in the sky and Wallace was walking within the streets of Linshamn City.

He had arrived in this city several hours ago but hadn't left yet. Not because he didn't know where to proceed but to sound out the situation. He even disguised himself and left some of his things in a hotel before going to the busy street of the city.

He confirmed that there are no rumors whatsoever with regards to any unidentified machine or technology found in recent months.

He tried to probe the people within the city but they seem to be unaware of any unusual events in the Araceli group of islands.

"Ok, the situation shouldn't be that bad, right?" 

He was about to continue his journey to the islands but he heard exclamations from the surroundings. It seems breaking news was being reported in the morning news.

He tried to join a group of huddling people and listened to their conversation.

"What are they doing here?"

"They probably wanted to disrupt the competition and to sour the relationship between the four countries."

"Hmph, good thing that they were defeated and discovered ahead of time." 

"That Z-Company was really a worldwide organization. It's a bit scary though."

"At least, the participants weren't severely injured and were easily healed back to their peak."

"Yeah, I hope that they wouldn't cancel the competition."

"Didn't you listen? They postponed the competition for two more days to ensure safety during the event."

Wallace listened for a while and learned that after he left the place, the building he was staying at was attacked by the Z-Company and targetted the students participating in the competition. Although they were caught surprised by the sudden attack, they fought back and won against the organization and even captured several Battle Mages. 

Wallace stopped in a small store and watched the TV for the live footage of the building. 

"Huh? That's 14th floor right?" He analyzed the place where a hole was smashed in the building. He believes that it should have been his room. Based on the curved of the smashed hole, the penetration came from the outside. 

"Are they targetting me? Coincidence?" Wallace wasn't sure at this time but he'll surely ask Yumi later on.

'I hope she wouldn't be too mad about this.' Wallace could only speculate right now until he got firsthand information.

He returned to his hotel and packed up his things. He was expecting that within this afternoon, he would be in the vicinity of the island group. He had to be careful as he gets closer to the place.

He planned to ride a bus and arrived at the nearest port city, Vummerberg, normally. He didn't want to overuse his equipment to avoid getting traced. 

He was currently wearing a disguise that made him look like a young native of the country and his aura differs in his original one. He doesn't seem to be a magician at all and just looks like a normal traveler.

As he was waiting for his turn for the bus, he was approached by a cute young child in a red dress. She had hair that tumbled over her shoulders and had bright eyes of a young innocent child. She only looked like a 10-year-old kid and could even be lower. 

Wallace honestly felt familiar but didn't think too much about it. The young lady was a Zairusian base on her looks, complexion, and it was further confirmed by her accent.

"Are you lost?" Wallace asked. 

"No." She shook her head and didn't speak further for a time so Wallace asked again.

"Do you need help? Where's your parents?" 

"I'm grown-up and I'm traveling alone. Uhmm... Are you going to Vummerberg?" The kid answered and finally asked shyly.

Wallace wasn't sure if this place considers a 10 years old kid as a grown-up but didn't further question the child.

"Ah, I see. Yes, I'm going there. Is that also your destination."

"Y-yes.." 

"Oh, here's the bus." Wallace got on the bus and noticed that he was being followed by the child.

He left one of his suitcases on the luggage compartment of the bus then went to the middle of the aisle and seated on the left side near the window to see the opposite oncoming traffic. 

His remaining suitcase remained on his lap for safety reasons.

"Can I sit beside you?" It was the same girl. Wallace wasn't surprised and smiled back at her.

"Of course." Wallace gestured for her to sit. 

"Thank you. By the way, I'm Hani. May I know your name, too?"

Wallace almost provided his real name. Although there's a lot of Wallace, it would be safer to use a different name from now on. He chose to give the alias he used in the hotel a while ago. 

"I'm Nortrom." 

Wallace answered and didn't notice Hani's amused expression. The girl then smirked and closed her eyes.