Chapter 58: The Ctulhu Academy

The air rustled in the far distance, and they soon spotted Milliani flying atop a pale white figure with enormous white wings.

"What in Ctulhu’s name is that!?"

King Eboncrest exclaimed.

"Wait, isn’t that Arlo!?" Isadolla exclaimed, recognizing the young man at a glance.

King Eboncrest stood rooted to the spot in shock.

"Guess the young one took after my special Vorath Angel form. Hahaha."

"But why are his wings white? I’ve never seen white wings on any member of the Vorath family before..."

Isadolla said, curiosity and a wide smile spreading across her face.

The Flying Vorath form was an incredibly special form among the Vorath, and the number of people who possessed it could be counted on one hand, all of them female.

Seeing a male possess the same physique, yet with strange white wings instead, brought an even greater smile to her face.

But the same couldn’t be said for King Eboncrest, whose eyebrows soon furrowed as a flash of light passed through his eyes.

’That is no Vorath form, Isadolla. That’s the basic Fallen Angel form. He is the one I sensed a couple of hours ago. Finally! Finally!!! But he still needs time...’

"That’s a really special form, Isadolla. Really special," he replied.

Isadolla was even surprised to see the genuine smile on her husband’s face. Such a smile was rare for anyone outside their immediate family.

"Why are you shivering?" Arlo suddenly asked as he turned his gaze toward Princess Milliani.

"I’m not, you sleek neck..." she replied with a snort.

Arlo grinned.

"I can feel your goosebumps against my skin, not to mention the trembling..." he replied.

Princess Milliani snorted again.

"That’s because the air is too abundant," she lied.

Arlo’s grin widened.

"Also, your claws are digging into my chest. Don’t tell me you’re actually afraid of heights..." Arlo said.

Milliani’s grip only tightened further.

"Well, aren’t you afraid of suddenly falling?" she asked.

Arlo shook his head.

"I’m not."

And truly, he wasn’t afraid of falling from this height.

Even if the Fallen Angel Transformation suddenly ended, he still had his thruster feet, which he could use to save himself before he smashed into the ground.

There was no way he could be harmed simply by being thrown from any height whatsoever.

"Well, I... I am," Princess Milliani finally struggled to admit.

Arlo turned to look behind him and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when he saw her reddened cheeks.

"You don’t have to be. You won’t fall while you’re with me," he replied with a wink.

Princess Milliani’s face immediately turned red like a tomato before she regained her composure and smacked the back of Arlo’s head.

"Ow? What did you do that for?"

"Your charms won’t work on me, you idiot. You’re a kid, not a man!" she said as her cheeks quickly returned to normal.

She sat upright on his back, puffing out her chest while turning her head to the side.

"Well, you’re also a girl, not a lady," Arlo replied.

Princess Milliani snorted in disdain.

"You dum-dum, I’m eighteen!" she declared.

Arlo’s eyes dropped.

"And what age are you?" she asked curiously.

"Sixteen?"

"MUHAHAHAHA! Kiddo!" she mocked.

Arlo suddenly took a sharp dive upward, causing her to hurriedly cling to him in fear.

"You!" Princess Milliani roared, her heart nearly bursting from her chest in shock.

Arlo grinned, pleased that he had managed to get back at her, but his amusement was interrupted by the system.

[You have 30 seconds before you run out of Mana.]

The warning immediately sobered him.

Arlo slowly glided down through the various castle structures before finally landing back in the garden.

Princess Milliani collapsed onto her knees the moment her feet touched the ground, breathing as though she had just run for her life.

Arlo immediately picked up his shirt and quickly put it back on.

"That was... that was... amazing!!!" Milliani screamed excitedly.

Arlo smiled broadly.

[Why bother with that? All I see is a waste of time...] the system’s unimpressed voice rang out in his mind.

’I have also never flown on my own before. It’s my first time being this close to the clouds. This can help improve my proficiency with the wings in case I suddenly need them.’

’And besides, I need her to have fewer restrictions around me if I’m going to gain easy entrance into the Cthulhu Academy and live well within this Vorath settlement.’

’She’s a worthy connection to have, the princess of the Eboncrest family. You get my point, right?’

[Nice, nice! Now I’m starting to like your thinking. Just like mine.]

The system responded with a sinister laugh.

It had been afraid the young man was beginning to give in to his hormones because of his age, but unknowingly, he was simply being a very wise manipulator.

"Arlo, can we go for one more round?" Princess Milliani asked, pouncing on him with puppy eyes.

"Well, that also sounds uncouth with this type of position..." Arlo said.

Princess Milliani raised an eyebrow before glancing down at herself.

She hurriedly jumped off him like a scared rabbit.

"You!" she screamed as Arlo grinned evilly.

"That said, I’m already out of energy. It’ll take some time before it fills up again," Arlo said.

Princess Milliani pouted before falling onto her back in the grass.

"That said, Princess Milliani, I was asked to meet you by the Queen for a reason..." Arlo said, bringing up the real reason he had come across her in the first place.

Princess Milliani sat up and turned her attention toward him.

"Oh yeah? And what is that?"

"About the Cthulhu Academy entrance exam, or so. Her Majesty said you would be able to help me out..."

"There’s the book. The first few pages talk about the entrance exam. It’s just to test your knowledge of Dark Mana, and there’s also a degree of manipulation you have to demonstrate before you can be allowed in. Just check the book first, and if you don’t understand something, you can ask me..." she said.

She suddenly stretched out her hand toward the book. Dark gas coated her entire palm, forming a circular, rotating vortex at its center.

With a flash of light in his eyes, Arlo watched as the book slowly rose from the table as though lifted by invisible hands before drifting toward Princess Milliani.

She caught it in her palm and tossed it to him.

"That’s very cool. How did you do that?"

"Nah, that’s basic Mana manipulation. You should be able to do at least this much before you’re allowed into the academy," she said.

Arlo’s eyebrows furrowed, the amazement quickly disappearing.

’Guess this will be tougher than I thought.’

He didn’t even know how to properly coat his hands in Mana yet, let alone turn it into a force capable of dragging objects toward him.

He had thought his entrance into the academy would be smooth, but now he needed to learn as much as possible about his Dark Magic.

Thankfully, he had an expert manipulator right beside him, one who was willing to help him overcome his weakest area.

And immediately, Arlo got to work. He dragged the large book onto his legs, opened it to the first page, and began reading, doing his best to understand and comprehend everything written within.

The more Arlo read through the opening pages of the book, the more he began to understand the purpose of the Cthulhu Academy, along with its origins and the entrance examination required of every student who wished to enter.

The Cthulhu Academy was essentially open to all Vorath younglings between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three.

Surprisingly, the academy had not existed until roughly a hundred years ago. Before its creation, each settlement had been responsible for training its own clansmen according to its own methods of Vorath cultivation.

However, when the humans created their Orama military group, the Vorath witnessed just how rapidly ordinary humans could transform into formidable opponents.

In response, they came up with the idea of creating a large organization dedicated to improving the strength of every Vorath while also encouraging cooperation between Vorath from different settlements, allowing them to coordinate more effectively during wars.

With that purpose in mind, the Cthulhu Academy was created, becoming a necessity for every Vorath youngling who possessed the required aptitude.

Fortunately, those requirements only consisted of two things, both of which would be properly tested before one was allowed into the academy.

Those two things were Knowledge and Bloodline Proficiency.

The knowledge aspect was the simpler of the two, as one only needed to be familiar with the basic history of the Vorath, possess some general knowledge about the different types of Vorath, understand the fundamentals of Mana, and know other information of a similar nature.

The more difficult test was the Bloodline Proficiency Test, which focused on how well one could utilize their individual bloodline.

Depending on their bloodline, a person would either be tested on their ability to manipulate Mana Attributes, something possessed by several of the rarer Vorath species, or on how effectively they could utilize their Vorath bodies.

The Vorath were essentially divided into two classes of fighters.

The first was the Mage class, people like Princess Milliani who could manipulate Mana to produce supernatural effects and grant themselves greater power.

The second was the Warrior class, consisting of Vorath who possessed diverse physical forms and relied primarily on their bodies for strength.

Among these types of Vorath, one could find everything from tentacles to enormous muscles.

They were the physical powerhouses, and their examination would focus on their ability to control their bodies and utilize their natural strength.

Arlo, despite becoming somewhat muscular in his transformed state, would definitely not be recognized as a Warrior-class Vorath. He was much more suited to the Mage class.

Therefore, what would be tested was his ability to manipulate Vorath Mana.

"I understand now,"