Chapter 1340: 98. A Beautiful Start

"S-Since...... since you're from the Enhancement School, please go in."

The guarding mage suddenly took a large step backward, widening the distance between them. At the same time, his gaze kept sweeping back and forth across Muen and Ariel's faces, clearly revealing an extremely strong sense of vigilance.

Hm?

Just a single name had frightened him this badly?

Muen was surprised inwardly. After realizing that almost everyone around them had the same attitude, he finally understood that the identity Teacher Mela had prepared for him seemed even more useful than he had imagined.

'You can relax now, right? I definitely didn't bring you here just to step into a trap.'

'Hmph, I'll spare you for now.'

The two exchanged a glance, and both saw the excitement in each other's eyes.

Since there was no problem with their identities, and they were also extremely useful, that meant all of their previous plans could work.

After entering the Origin Tower, forget about investigating anything for now. First, relying on his identity as the leader of the Enhancement School, they would make a huge profit!

Of course, this wasn't corruption.

Before doing any work, you had to obtain at least a little compensation first, didn't you?

His stock of magic scrolls had already been almost completely used up. Hopefully, he could find some incredible good things here.

Thinking of this, even Muen's resentment over knowing there was a pit ahead yet still having no choice but to jump into it weakened considerably.

Ariel beside him was also eager to try. Although she had not really lacked money during this period, frugality and her fondness for treasures had long since been carved into her bones!

She loved it.

If she could obtain more good things, calling this bad guy Teacher a hundred times would be worth it!

"Mm, at least you know what's good for you."

Muen's expression remained cold. He merely nodded slightly, maintaining the persona of a cold and aloof master.

The guarding mage did not care either. He simply raised his hand, took out a strange little flag, and waved it toward the back.

RUMBLE!

The ground suddenly shook. Muen turned his head and saw two enormous stone statues in front of the tower suddenly come alive.

The statues had bird heads and human bodies, with wings growing from their backs. They looked somewhat like gargoyles from stories, but there was not the slightest ferocity in their faces. Muen examined them carefully and discovered that those two bird faces were actually cockatiels with long crests.

They were actually rather cute.

The stone statues came rumbling over, then crouched down in front of the two.

"Please, Master."

The guarding mage returned to calm, though his gaze was still somewhat strange.

"Mm."

Muen calmly stepped onto the stone statue's open palm, then, with lightning speed, secretly pinched Ariel's little hand.

Ariel immediately reacted. She looked toward the guarding mage and revealed an extremely gentle smile:

"Um...... Senior, forgive me for asking, but doesn't this treatment seem a little special?"

Using stone statues to pick people up and transport them obviously could not be normal. Leaving aside all the mages flying around the tower, if the Origin Tower relied solely on this method to transport people, then the mages inside probably wouldn't be in seclusion for ten or twenty years, but instead would be stuck inside the tower for ten or twenty years because the efficiency was too low.

"Special? Mm, of course."

Faced with this obviously stupid question, the guarding mage showed no impatience whatsoever. He merely gave Ariel, who was currently maintaining her cute persona, an even stranger look, then shook his head and answered:

"Being personally transported by the Guardians of the Origin Tower is treatment reserved only for a school head. Since you're holding a school crest, you naturally represent the school head. What's so strange about receiving special treatment?"

School head!

He was actually the school head!

Muen's eyes lit up once again.

He had originally thought that the thing Teacher Mela had given him merely made him an ordinary high-ranking figure who could come into contact with some confidential information. He hadn't expected it to be so simple and direct!

He had simply been dropped straight into the number-one position?

Could it be that he had misunderstood Teacher Mela? Although she had prepared a huge pit for him to jump into, she had indeed been doing her best to help him? Otherwise, with her lazy personality, she would absolutely never have gone through the trouble of arranging such a special identity for him!

No, no, calm down. He couldn't be shocked by such a small matter, and he absolutely couldn't expose any flaw. This identity was the guarantee for everything he would do afterward!

Of course, it was also the guarantee that he could earn a little extra money during this period!

"Cough!"

Muen coughed dryly and pretended to be mildly angry as he elbowed Ariel:

"Alice, I already taught you the rules of the tower beforehand. Why can't you remember them? Did the previous punishment fail to teach you a lesson?"

"Wuu, sorry, Teacher. At that time, my attention was distracted by a certain tall tower, so I couldn't remember."

"I think you're simply too excited because it's your first time visiting the Origin Tower. Forget it, don't let it happen again."

Ignoring the angry glare Ariel secretly threw at him, Muen supported himself with the mithril staff in one hand and placed the other behind his back, then raised his chin slightly toward the guarding mage from above.

He himself had no idea what his gesture was supposed to symbolize, but the guarding mage clearly understood. He waved the flag and said to the gargoyle:

"Go to the seventeenth floor."

RUMBLE!

The gargoyle spread its wings. Its enormous body was unexpectedly as light and graceful as a feather as it easily flew upward.

Fierce wind poured in, but all of it was blocked outside by an invisible barrier. The comfort here far surpassed even Miss Dragon's first-class seat from before. Muen continued maintaining his masterly posture as he looked down toward the base of the tower.

It seemed the Enhancement School was also extremely famous within the Origin Tower. He had only announced his affiliation a short while ago, yet a crowd had already gathered below. Even though he had already flown into the sky with the stone statue, they continued raising their heads, their surprised, curious, and awed gazes following him closely.

"Sigh, suddenly becoming the number-one person in a major school puts a lot of pressure on me."

While sighing, Muen suddenly took out a sheet of paper and began writing and drawing on it.

"What are you doing?" Ariel asked curiously.

"A speech."

Muen did not raise his head and remained extremely focused:

"As a school head who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, giving the people below an excellent first impression is essential. Otherwise, it'll be very easy to lose control of people's hearts, fail to convince them, and make carrying out work much more troublesome."

Without any doubt, he had already completely immersed himself in this identity.

"I see."

Ariel suddenly understood, then spun around on the spot:

"Then as the most, most trusted disciple of you, the school head, if you convert that status, doesn't that make me something like the little princess of the school?"

"More or less."

"Is that so?"

Ariel thought for a moment, then took out a cute bow-shaped hair ornament Muen had previously given her and clipped it into her hair: "Then I need to restrain my temper too. I can't casually hit people anymore. I'm now the adorable little princess of the Enhancement School, so I also need to give those 'senior brothers and sisters' of the school a good impression."

"Beautiful." Muen raised his thumb in praise.

The two exchanged another smile.

The fierce wind danced, the crowd gradually became smaller, and all around them were rainbow streaks from mages flying back and forth, yet every one of them respectfully moved aside for this privilege that only a school head or a master with a special identity could enjoy.

Standing there, Muen felt himself getting closer and closer to the tower, while heroic ambition continuously grew within his heart.

For a moment, he even forgot the dangers ahead, forgot about that convenient senior of his who had colluded with an Evil God, and his mind even began constructing plans for how, as the leader of the Enhancement School, he should display his grand ambitions afterward and continue leading the school toward greatness, so that he would not betray Teacher Mela's trust, nor the trust of all the school's disciples in him!

RUMBLE!

While he was thinking, they had already reached their destination. After setting the two of them down, the stone statue gracefully flew away.

But as his feet touched solid ground, as he felt the warmth brought by the crest in his hand, and as he received the information reflected by the surrounding environment, Muen became even more shocked!

This entire floor actually belonged to the Enhancement School!

"Although what happens afterward will definitely become extremely complicated, I still have to say one thing......"

A gentle breeze lifted the hem of Muen's clothes and tousled his hair, yet even that still couldn't conceal...... the genuine joy he felt from the bottom of his heart:

"I've never had such a beautiful start!"

Just think about what kind of miserable days he'd been living before!

Only at this moment could he finally understand just how fortunate it was to be Teacher Mela's student!

"Let's go! Let's take a proper look at this territory that belongs to us!"

Thinking of this, Muen no longer hesitated. Directly adopting the bearing of a school head, he strode forward toward that entrance filled with endless light...... straight ahead!

Enhancement School, your emperor...... has returned!