Chapter 471: Arriving At Ember City - 1

"Hey, look! Sir Aaron and Sir Ronan are establishing communication channels with that mysterious man."

"Damn, he must have paid them heavily to use them as backup. Since he can afford Elf slaves, he must be quite rich, right?"

"Yeah... should we try our luck and form a connection with Sir Aaron and Sir Ronan?"

"Oh no! They already filled their slots with members from their own territories. Tsk. We were late."

"What about that rich man? Should we try forming a connection with him?"

"Tsk, being rich doesn’t help you survive a beast attack. No need for that."

The others nodded and peeled their attention away from Leo, who was patiently sitting and waiting for the next instructions.

"Next, everybody go and wear a top that has your academy logo on it. This time, you are going outside the academy grounds, so just having the badge is not enough. Those who somehow managed to tear the clothes you received as a minimum reward in the fresher’s competition, get yourselves a new set."

Surprisingly, many people had managed to tear their clothes and were now buying new sets at low prices set by the academy. But even then, people were being stingy and only bought a shirt or top.

The logo was a simple black dragon head.

*pic*

Since Leo’s current outfit didn’t have the logo, he was required to wear a new one. He could choose to wear the one Gunther provided, or simply...

"Let’s go with a waist-length cape."

But there were no capes available, so Leo bought an oversized shirt and tore the logo section off, leaving behind a rectangular, cape-like piece of fabric. He handed it to Lyswenna, who, within moments, stitched and refined it into a proper cape that Leo wore on his back.

It started at his shoulders and ran down to his waist, cutting diagonally from one bottom corner to halfway across the opposite side.

Seeing Leo, who looked exceptionally good in that style, many tried to imitate him. But they simply couldn’t tear the tough fabric cleanly, making theirs look rough and uneven. Some who did manage to tear it properly couldn’t sew it like Lyswenna, making it look more like a tattered drape than a cape.

Even the assistant professor was impressed by how masterfully Leo had done it.

With all that finished, the assistant professor began giving his final instructions.

"Once you step inside the realm, you are free to go anywhere you want. Those who are in groups are expected to follow their leader’s commands as they explore the realm. Individuals can act alone and do whatever they want."

"You are allowed to sabotage other academy students for your own benefit. As a matter of fact, you can even do it to people from your own academy too, or, if you are bold enough, commit traitorous acts within your own group itself. But don’t blame me afterwards when your next 20 years in the academy become hell."

"Next, when facing students from other academies, I don’t care if the person beside you is your mortal enemy; you are supposed to set aside your differences and fight the foreign party wholeheartedly. If you fought with everything you had and still lost, then it’s over, you are safe. But if you lose because you tried to attack your own people, then be prepared for the consequences."

"As for the event itself, you will be teleported at sharp 00:00 on 5 March... which means in the next 3 hours, you’ll find yourselves in Ember City. We have prepared accommodations for the night, but if the facilities feel lacking, you are free to explore the city for whatever suits your tastes. The whole day will be given to you to explore the city, have fun, look for good places, and do whatever you want within the rules."

"Remember, if you are found guilty of a crime, we will hand you over to the city authorities with open arms. But conversely, if you are innocent and framed for the act, we will also defend you, even if it means going to extremes," the assistant professor continued.

"On the 6th, the realm gates will be opened by the city lord for you to enter. After that, you’ll have 3 days, that is, until the end of 8 March, to explore the realm. Once again, the 9th will be a rest period for you to revisit the places you found interesting, and after the reward distribution--if anyone is eligible--we will return to the academy. And you already know that compulsory missions are starting from the 15th, so keep that in mind."

Once again, a student raised his hand to ask a question.

"Sir, from my estimate, I think 3 days are barely enough time to explore 160,000 square kilometres of area if we are supposed to find the hideout of a Wyvern."

The professor looked at him calmly.

"Yeah, it’s not enough for you alone. But for more than 4,000 people across the different academies and surrounding cities, it’s more than enough. No, it would be a breeze to sweep through the realm within a few hours... IF, and only if, there was no danger inside. But since people are bound to be thrown out of the realm after receiving a mortal attack, 3 days is adequate time. And yes, your spawn point inside the realm is random, so hold hands with your group members before stepping inside if you want all of you to appear at the same location."

"Any more questions?" the assistant professor asked.

After answering some common questions and confirming there was no further confusion, he allowed the students 2 hours of preparation time before they would be teleported directly to Ember City.

"Wow, 3 professors acting as guardians? Not even the city lord himself can touch us."

"Only 3 professors? We are almost 300 people, including the servants and slaves with talismans. Can they even save us all?"

There were varied opinions, but what they didn’t know was that the 3 professors were each assigned exclusively to the top 10 students. Which meant one was assigned to Leo, one to Aaron, and another to Ronan.

For all the top 50 students, there was 1 professor. And for the remaining students within the top 500 and the servants and slaves, 2 professors, along with several specialised assistant professors, would serve as guardians.