Three days later...

10 years have passed since Erwin found himself outside the 21st district; he was just a kid then, and his memories were confused about what he saw outside of Hakvil; for this reason, the moment when the carriage began to pass through the various districts, Erwin was extremely shocked by the beauty of the cities he was seeing; the streets were not rough like the ones he had seen and seen in Hakvill and in the 21st district in general, the buildings were in a good condition and the people, although they were mostly earthlings, had a look "different" from what he was used to: their clothes were different and elegant looking, and their way of walking and looking around was decidedly different.

Erwin was fascinated by it all, but at the same time, he saw something in those people's eyes that, in the meanders of his mind, had a certain sense of concern: he didn't understand why, and he didn't understand much about it at the time, but he felt that, from now on, he would have to be careful about what he said or did.

He wanted to talk to Elaine, so that he could think of something else, but even just speaking to her terrified him, given the cold and furious looks that the girl used to make every time she interacted with Erwin, and since Elaine at that moment had a lot of thoughts in her head;

So, since the journey would still be long, he decided to read "Focus", the book given to him by Ron; just touching it, Erwin realized how old that little book was; this made him hesitate about the usefulness of what he would read, but as soon as he remembered that the book had been given to him by Ron, any doubt or perplexity disappeared: he blindly trusted his teacher, and he knew very well that without Ron, he would probably not be here today.

Thus, he opened the book without any hesitation, ready to carefully read all the content within the book.

"First chapter... hearing and vision...mmmh"

Erwin began to read the book from the first chapter, curious about what was written in it: but after less than 3 minutes, Erwin began to get nervous, closing and reopening the book.

[D... Damn it! What are these cryptic phrases?! What does "Seeing through the ears" and "Feeling through the eyes" mean?! It doesn't make any sense!] yelled at the boy, who despite his efforts, had a hard time understanding how much it was explained in the book.

Erwin began to leaf through the book, and realized that the words used in the following chapters were similar to those used in the chapter he had just read;

"Elaine... could you help me?!" asked Erwin frustratedly, who in other conditions, would never ask the elf for help; but in that case, he knew that it was vitally important that he could understand what was written in that book;

"For you and everyone else I'm Lucy from now on..." - said the Elf angry, who was trying to empathize with her new identity – "And no, I'm not going to help you."

"Come on, Elaine!" Erwin replied in turn, who certainly expected more than magnanimity from his new travel companion.

The girl zapped him with a glance, calming Erwin's hot spirits in an instant, who only remembered at that moment that he had to call her Lucy.

"Listen to me carefully... I don't know how you lived, but don't you think you should find a solution by yourself?"

"Hey, I'm just asking you to give me a hand! What's the problem?" replied annoyed the boy, who little by little, began to hate the girl, looking forward to separating from her.

"... I didn't think you were soft." countered the girl, starting to look at Erwin with an air slightly disappointed by the behavior she was seeing.

"Who the hell are you calling soft?!" said Erwin, who was about to completely lose his temper;

"I'm talking about you, stupid" – the girl replied, in a provocative tone; – "If the book was really that complicated, Ron probably would have given you some advice, don't you think?"

"... T-That's not the point!" - stuttered Erwin, who, hearing that sentence, had a small gasp.

"No, that's exactly the point. Again, I don't know how you lived before, but forget about finding people to help you without an ulterior motive, especially in the academy. Probably, the reason Ron didn't tell you anything is so that you can get used to solving problems on your own, without anyone's help. Most people you will meet from now on will be competitive and ruthless, and if you don't find a solution on your own to improve and move forward --- you will be left behind" the girl said in a cold tone of voice to Erwin, who received those words as a series of slaps in the face.

His head told him not to believe those words, since either Elaine had never been to Veras, but his heart perceived Elaine's words as if they were true, and in the end, despite the doubts, he became convinced that perhaps those words were not so far from the truth.

"... So how should I do that?"

Elaine looked at Erwin, who had a frustrated and dejected look on his face; she felt a little guilty for responding to him in an unpleasant and cold manner; she knew that his tone and temper stemmed from the fact that she was forced to travel with the boy, but at the same time she knew that there was no need to be so nervous, especially with a person who days before had saved her from a disastrous future.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"I don't want to help you, but... I think that if Ron didn't tell you anything, it means that the answer must lie in the training you did with him; besides, you should analyze word for word what is written in the book: usually the answer is in front of our eyes..."

[In the training i did with him....] thought Erwin, who began to think about everything Ron had taught him since he was little and unable to manipulate mana.

"Thank You... Lucy" said Erwin, who at that moment had finally calmed down; thinking about Elaine's "crude" words, he realized that in fact, He was completely dependent on Ron: from training in the mountain, to everything he had taught him, Ron was the only reason Erwin had managed to progress; now he was alone, and he finally realized that he had to learn to get by on his own. If he wanted to be as independent as he wanted to be, he had to start finding the answers to his problems by using more his head...

"Anyway... Have you been to an magic academy before...?" Erwin asked the elf, trying to lower the tension that was between the two at that time;

The elf understood the boy's intention, and although she didn't really want to talk at the time, she still decided to interact, since anyway, unwilling or willing, she would spend a lot of time with Erwin...

"Yes. In my kingdom, of course..." replied the girl, as she watched the landscape flow before his eyes;

"And... how is it? Is it similar to a normal school?"

Elaine thought about it, after which she replied;

"Absolutely not" – said the elf dryly and directly – "A school teaches you how to behave and things that can help you for the future, while the academy trains you like a future soldier."

Erwin was slightly displaced, certainly not expecting such an answer;

"What do you mean by that?"

"... Just what I said. Do you know why magical academies were born? They were born because, following the numerous bloody conflicts between the various kingdoms, there was a need to instruct young wizards with enormous potential, so that they could use them as weapons..."

"Using wizards.. as weapons?"

"That's right... but this happened several centuries ago, when there was no balance between the various kingdoms; today things might seem different, but if they really were so, then why do academies still exist? Obviously, today everyone is free to do what they want once they have become an official wizard, but what will happen the day another violent and bloody war breaks out? Do you really believe that the wizards in this territory have a choice?"

"In addition, academies promote rivalries and results: if you are not strong, both mentally and physically, you risk being marginalized, and believe me if I tell you that it's not good at all..."

It was a question that Erwin, at that moment, absolutely could not answer; after Ron Hubbard had told him about the academy, he saw that place as a place where he could learn more and more about the world, but listening to Elaine's words, he began to think that that place was not as great as he believed.

"...Anyway, I don't know what the magical academies are like here in Mykotos" – said the girl, noticing in Erwin's face as if he was almost saddened by what he had just heard – "I think the academies here may be different from the ones in Lorien..."

Elaine, while speaking, realized how "ignorant" Erwin was; she realized that, living in the 21st district, she knew little or nothing about the other districts and the way of behaving of the people of "Veras", extremely different from what Erwin was surely used to until now. For this reason, a little out of gratitude, and a little so as not to hear stupid questions, he decided, in that time frame they had at their disposal, to fill in some cognitive gaps that Erwin could have.

"... Do you have any other doubts?"

Erwin was surprised by that question; he expected that Elaine would not speak again until the end, but the fact that she asked him if there was still something unclear stunned him for a few seconds.

But then he thought about it; he looked at the beautiful and well-kept landscape outside his calesse, and thinking of Hakvill, the most sensible question he could ask came to his mind;

"...Why is there so much difference between the various districts?"

"Well... I don't know exactly how or why there are so many differences, but I think it's due to the size of Mykotos."

"To the size of Mykotos?"

"Yeah. Probably, given that the Kingdom of Mykotos is exaggeratedly large, the King preferred to spend most of the resources in the regions closer to the capital where the King dwells. This means that between one district and another there are differences in technology, which increase when you arrive in the nearest districts. Unfortunately, however, this leads to the creation of poor Districts, fuelling the anger of those who live there, and makes people rich not caring for others, despising everything that seems dirty and useless to them ... like the poor, for example. This makes them less "human" than they actually are..."

"... Wow, this world... it's not what I expected..." said Erwin who, disappointed with what he was learning at the time, he remembered Ron's words; finally, he realized that the life aroud here wasn't all beer and skittles as he thought, and he began to worry slightly, since he didn't know what was waiting for him.

END OF CHAPTER 18 - Reality check