“And next, we have one of, if not the most prominent individual in the whole of Gaia - the Grand Magus. Other than being the overseer of the Council of Magic who are responsible for investigating and controlling any magical related incidents, the Grand Magus himself often acts as the mediator during unnecessary conflicts since his words are absolute to the point where even the Four Great Rulers fear and respect him. On number 6 we have King Joseph of the Neutral Land. Although he has only 1 territory, the reason he is on this list is because of his defensive capabilities. You see, the city that he rules is called Bastion and it’s nickname is the Impenetrable Fortress because it is surrounded by a barrier 24/7. This barrier is maintained by King Joseph alone and has been protecting them for 20 years now. He is the only one who has reached tier 7 and above in the Protector Tree and presently has the title of Akiniton, a tier 8 level. Now what you need to know is that although there are multiple individuals who have reached tier 8 level, they are not influential enough to be on this list. Okay next we have the Black Hand, a title given to one who has reached the peak of assassination. Since the Black Hand never makes a move, we don’t know who the individual is. However having the title itself is enough to be considered as the overlord of the assassins whose words are enough to stop assassinations of all levels. These 7 people can be considered to be the most important and influential people in the whole of Gaia.

The next topic I will be teaching you is the name of each of the countries. What’s important to know here is that each area of land belonging to each race is called a country. What I am trying to say is that there are 12 countries in Gaia and they are these 12 areas marked on this map that I’ve placed. These 12 countries are named as follows - the country of the Giants, Gigas; the country of the Undeath, Grogaldr; the country of the Demons, Qiliphoth; the country of the Humans, Imania; the country of the Dwarfs, Borgolia; the country of the Elves, Elsiva; the country of the Faeries, Tir na Nog; the country of neutrality, Finmaire; the country of the Aedras,Malakelohim ; the country of the Orcs, Orgari; the country of the Beastkins, Alvus Monacu; and Arsol, yeah the name of the landmass is also the name of the country.

Any questions?”

“Sir, why is it called the Neutral Land?” asked Remidus.

“Hmm, well that’s because all the states or I guess you could say kingdoms present there claim to be independent; not in a self-sustainable way but as in a ‘we don’t interfere in other’s problem’ type of way. So basically, it means that the collection of states which make up the Neutral Land are not tied to any of the major kingdoms and systems.” answered Sir.Lucas.

“Oh, one more thing before I end my class; starting from next week you will start having sparring classes and also after the third class, those who signed up for the dormitory rooms will be directed to their respective rooms. If there are no more questions then that will be all for today.” said Sir.Lucas, exiting the classroom.

“Whew that was a lot of stuff. Did you guys manage to remember all of them?” asked Xavier.

“No, too much for me.” replied Rigur.

“If you listened carefully maybe you would’ve remembered them.” said Melos.

“Yeah, it wasn't that hard. I mean I could hear you mumbling with each other from here.” said Remidus who was sitting in front of them.

“Hehe.” simply smiled Xavier.

“Remidus, how good are the weapons your people craft?” asked Merlin out of the blue.

“Ah yeah, Sir.Lucas did say something about weapons.” said Xavier.

“Well, Sir.Lucas wasn’t exaggerating when he said we are masters of weaponscraft. Most of the weapons we produce are provided to every part of the world and are our main source of income. And of course, the only Soul Forger in the world is also an Ironbark.” answered Remidus.

“Soul Forger?” said Melos.

“Yes, Soul Forger. It is the highest level of craftsmanship given to anyone who has reached the peaks of their line of craft.” replied Remidus.

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“O..oh so he must be really rich then.” said Melos.

“No...not really, but anyways why don’t we walk around outside for a breath of fresh air.” suggested Remidus.

“Y..yeah.” supported Alice.

“Okay then; let’s go.” said Xavier.

As the group went out, Merlin who had decided beforehand to go to the library decided to follow them this time.

Exiting the classroom, Xavier asked, “Are we going to wait for Areti?”

“No need.” replied Melos.

“You know what, during this break let’s try to completely explore the institute.” suggested Remidus.

“Yeah.” said Rigur.

“I guess.” said Merlin.

A few minutes later, they stopped at one of the seats placed in the garden.

“This whole place is much more beautiful than I thought.” remarked Remidus.

“Indeed.” said Rigur.

“Do you have a garden back at Ironbark?” asked Merlin.

“Yes, but not as grand as this.” replied Remidus.

“Hmm, I would like to visit someday.” said Merlin.

“Really?!!” said Remidus, surprised.

“Yes, it would be a nice experience.” replied Merlin.

“Even we want to visit your palace someday.” said the others.

“...... Hahaha of course, when the time is right I will personally invite all of you to my father’s kingdom.” said Remidus.

“Then we will be waiting,” said Xavier with a smile.

As the five of them were having their conversation, a short distance from them Areti and Hermes were slowly walking towards them.

“Ah, brother. Over here.” waved Melos seeing Areti and Hermes.

“Melos, you were also here.” said Areti.

“Yes, we’re just resting for now.” replied Melos.

“Oh, Areti what happened to your right sleeve?” asked Xavier, seeing a torn part; with the rest also seeing it after his remark.

“Ah this? Well there was some scuffle back in our class.” said Areti.

“A..are you okay?” asked Melos, slightly concerned.

“You don’t have to worry about your brother, he’s the one who stopped the fight.” said Hermes who was standing right beside Areti.

“Phew, really? That’s good.” said Melos.

“Hmm now that you say that, our class has been quite peaceful so far right?” said Remidus.

“Yeah, still early for troubles.” said Rigur.

“Rigur’s right, it has only been four days so it’s normal for our class to be peaceful.” said Xavier.

“No no no, your class is the strange one. Every other class has had their own shair of short fights.” said Hermes.

“Really? Well as long as Melos doesn’t get comfortable we will have no conflicts.” said Xavier.

“W..what? Why would I cause trouble? You seem more like that type of person.” retorted Melos.

As the two were bickering about, Alice quietly pulled Merlin’s sleeve.

“What is it?” asked Merlin.

“C...can we go somewhere else?” requested Alice.

“Why?” asked Merlin.

“I...I don’t feel comfortable.” confided Alice.

Looking at her friend, Merlin told the others that the two of them had something to do and they then split up.

As they distanced themselves from the others, Merlin looked at Alice and figured out something was wrong with her.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, a bit concerned.

“I…I feel hot.” replied Alice, holding herself tightly.

Not knowing what to do, Merlin asked Alice, “What do I do?”

“T...take me to...daddy.” she replied.

Realizing that Alice had a hard time walking, Merlin thought of a way to take her to the Tower of Grand Magus. Although at first she was thinking of summoning her golem to carry her around, which she would normally do but this time she was concerned about Alice. Thinking deeply, she took off her robe enchanted with basic protection and a level 2 Air Control enchantment and made Alice wear it. Then she held her hand covered by the robe’s long sleeve and using the Air Control enchantment started levitating Alice slightly above the ground, guiding her with her hand towards the Tower of Grand Magus while slowly depleting her own mana.