Chapter 17: Floating Cloud City
After killing the blue robed man, Sol went straight back towards the carriage. But on the way back, he realized that he left Sophia and Elena without an explanation and protection, so he increased his speed as his heart is filled with anxiousness.
But when he went back, he saw that the carriage hasn't moved an inch. Seeing this, he sighed in relief, but he still felt rather bad for Sophia and Elena for making them wait for him without an explanation.
Suddenly the carriage door was pushed open as two female silhouettes rushed out of the carriage.
"Sol, what were you doing?! Leaping off the carriage without warning us of anything, we want an explanation!" As Sophia and Elena stood before Sol, blocking his way, he could only smile wryly at their domineering act.
"Let's enter the carriage first, I'll explain everything inside." He said as he walked around them and into the carriage.
Sophia and Elena couldn't say anything but follow Sol into the carriage.
After they entered, the carriage starts moving once more, but instead of explaining things, Sol leaned forward and asked.
"Do either of you know anything about a God's Champion and the Divine War?" Elena revealed a puzzled expression when she heard that, while Sophia on the other hand, she made a startled expression before her face turned grim.
"So Elena doesn't know anything, but Sophia do. Then sister, can you tell me what you know?"
"I don't know much, I only heard a bit from some of the teachers in the academy and from reading a few historical books. God's Champions are the as the name implies, a champion of a God that will act for them since Gods cannot enter the mortal world. Nobody knows how the Gods chooses their champion. On the other hand, Divine War is a battle of Gods, nobody knows the reason for the war or what it actually is, but every God will have their champion fight for them in this war. The war happens every few centuries, the last Divine War was said to happen 5000 years ago. Does these things involve the reason why you leaped out the carriage?" Sophia inquired as her face darkens.
"More or less, we were followed ever since we left the mansion. I didn't make a move since they didn't move either. But they suddenly leaped towards us with a faint killing intent, so I decided to intercept them, but since they were too fast, I didn't get the chance to inform the two of you. Anyway, I found out that our tailer are followers of the Church of Light. After I questioned one of them, I found out that the Church of Light have found the champion of their god, so they are currently trying to eliminate the champion of other gods." He then slumped his back against the carriage's cussion as a sigh escaped his lips.
"But, if that's the case, why would the-" Before Elena could finish her words, Sophia said in a heavy voice.
"So they're after your life?" In reaction, Sol just shrugged his shoulder as he smiled wryly.
"Wait, why would they be after Sol's life?"
"Ah, we never told you, Sol was supposedly reincarnated by the Goddess Virs, he was sent here to be her champion." Hearing Sophia's calm reply, Elena stared blankly towards her.
"W-Wha-WHAAAAAT?!?!?!"
In the continent of Orion, where the Earlshide Kingdom is situated, there is a single city that even the royal family couldn't control, the Floating Cloud City, also known as the Free Kingdom of Cloud. Even though this city is located in the Orion Continent, this city is governed by the publicly admitted top school of the 5 continents, Nimbus Academy, which made the city almost seem like a small kingdom. The city, just like the academy, doesn't discriminate against races and have it's own government system. This is the source of the name Free Kingdom of Cloud came from.
Floating Cloud city is situated at the foot of highest known mountain in the Earlshide Kingdom, Cloud Piercing Mountain. The academy on the other hand, can be seen floating above the city. Nobody knows how the academy could float above the city, but it is already publicly accepted as one of the mythical things of the city.
Currently, many carriage and pedestrians can be seen moving towards the gates Floating Cloud city. Usually, even if the city is famous, not many people would come crowding like this, but the fact that Nimbus Academy is accepting new students always brings a crowd to the city every year.
But currently, a certain carriage can be seen moving unhindered into the city. Many people would usually complain about this, but surprisingly, not even a soul dared to complain about this carriage's outrageous act.
"Just by showing the badge the proves you're a Nimbus Academy student could already give you this kind of treatment, how amazing is this school is exactly?" Sol said as he sighed in awe.
When their carriage arrived at the outskirts of the city, Sol and Elena contemplated about the really long line, but Sophia just pulled out a badge which made the crowd all made way for them which caused both Sol and Elena to stare dumbfoundedly towards her for a while.
"Well, the school is publicly known as the number one school in the kingdom, but rumor has it that among other continents, Nimbus Academy is still known as the best academy. So it is not much of a surprise to get this kind of treatment just because you're a student of the academy. Some students even got arrogant because of this, but the ones that went out of the lines are already dealt with." Sophia said as she played around with the badge on her hand
"We have arrived." After the words of the carriage's coachman floated in, the carriage came to a halt.
After the three of them exited the carriage, Sol and Elena glanced around their surroundings while Sophia whispered something towards the coachman before the carriage left the city.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"Let's go, we will be staying at the inn that the city already prepared for everyone that's going to take the academy's entrance exam." Sophia said as she walked towards a certain direction while Sol and Elena followed behind her.
But after walking for a while, they realized that the city is an astonishingly large. Seeing their surprised reaction out of the corner of her eye, Sophia chuckled quietly. Then, as if she was able to read their minds, she explained.
"Floating Cloud city is said to be created by its founder to make a place where all races can live in harmony, so he tried to create a city that can accommodate more than thousands of people. In the end, he succeeded and even managed to make the city to be publicly accepted as a kingdom. The founder of the city is also famous for being the founder and first headmaster of the Nimbus Academy." As Sophia kept explaining things about the city and academy, they finally arrived at their destination.
Seeing the appearance of the 'inn' that was provided by the academy as their accommodation caused Sol and Elena to be dumbstruck.
The 'inn' could only be described with one word, 'Compact', it is only at the size of a small hut and from its appearance, it could only accommodate one person.
Seeing their dumbstruck expression, Sophia let out a muffled laugh as she explained.
"Don't let its appearance fool you, the hut is said to be created by the 2nd headmaster of the Nimbus Academy, he is well-known as a Space-Time mage that created many wondrous things. This hut is said to be one of his greatest creations, it is a gate to a pocket dimension he created using his magic and craftsmanship. The inside is far larger than this shabby looking hut." Sophia then motioned them to follow her as she entered the hut.
Sol and Elena looked doubtfully at the hut for a moment before following Sophia into the hut, but when Sol was a few steps away from the hut, he activated his《Spirit Eyes》and examined the hut.
What Sol saw caused him to gape in shock. Many Space-Time energy accumulated around the hut, forming symbols and shapes. But the thickness and purity of the Space-Time energy is so high that it left him dizzy. Shaking his head, he recomposed himself and unenhanced his eyes before proceeding towards the hut.
When Sol took a step into the hut, he felt as if that the world was turned upside down, causing his mind to be jumbled for a moment and almost tripping himself. As Sol regained his balance, he glanced around the room he entered.
The walls, flooring and ceiling of the rooms are all made out of wood. Various paintings are hanged around the room and a reception table can be seen across the door where Sol currently stood at.
Currently, in front of the reception table, there stood two silhouettes of a girl. Looking closer, it is actually Sophia and Elena that is currently talking to a woman that seems to be the receptionist. But currently, it can be seen that the two of them seems to be rather troubled, so Sol decided to walk closer to see what happened.
"What's wrong?" Sol asked as he tapped Sophia's shoulder.
With a start, Sophia swiftly turned her head. But when she saw that it was Sol, she sighed in relief before explaining.
"It looks like some of the room dimension is having a few distortions, so the amount of rooms have been reduced. We were asked to sleep in the same room to save the amount of available room. But every room only have 2 small beds" When Sophia said that, a hint of blush appeared on her cheeks.
Hearing this and seeing Sophia blushing, Sol finally realized what the problem was, so he lightly sighed before saying.
"It's fine, you two can sleep on the bed, I can either sleep on the sofa or on the floor."
"But-"
"No buts, you're both girls, so I need to be a gentleman and sleep somewhere else." Sol said with a grin before asking the receptionist for the room key.
The room key is in a form of an identification card, the receptionist explained that the card is some sort of pass card that will teleport the owner to the assigned room.
After leaving the receptionist table, the three of them went to a giant dais with a cloud engraving on it. On the dais, there is a pedestal where the card is supposed to be placed for identification.
After they stood on top of the magic circle on top of the dais, Sol placed the identification card he received on top of the pedestal.
Suddenly, light starts to emit from the magic circle that slowly starts to brighten until it caused the three of them to involuntarily cover their eyes. As the light brightened, they could feel the world turning which.
After the light from the magic circle starts to dim, they slowly opened their eyes.
The room can be said to be quite luxurious, it has a pair of small bed with a small table in between. A sofa with a coffee table in front of it and a private bathroom in another room connected to it. The room's flooring, walls, and ceiling is all made out of wood out of wood just like the lobby. But the difference is that the wood inside the room seems to have a calming effect towards the mind.
'This room is a great place to train and meditate.' As Sol tought of this, he saw an inconspicuous magic circle at the corner of the room.
But before he could even take a step closer to it, his mind starts to get drowsy from the travel. At the corner of his eyes, he could see Sophia and Elena not focusing themself from the drowsiness.
"We should sleep, all that travelling was really tiring." Sol said with a yawn before throwing himself on to the sofa.
Hearing Sol's words, Sophia and Elena snapped back to reality, after they finally registered what Sol said, they moved their body sluggishly towards their respective beds before their consciousness drifted off.
-----Chapter 17 End-----