School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 126 --Understanding the Major Academies and Kingdom Relations
Owen stepped out of the carriage, his gaze landing on Laitemor.
Laitemor’s face bore a fierce expression, as if he had just retreated from a battlefield, exuding an aura of iron-blooded resolve.
"Roy, your mouth hasn’t changed, but we’ll see," Laitemor retorted, then left with his students.
They numbered exactly ten, all dressed in uniform school attire.
Their uniforms were both elegant and practical.
The male students’ uniforms consisted of deep blue robes and black trousers, while the two female students wore well-tailored deep blue robes.
The hems and cuffs were often adorned with intricate patterns of stars embroidered in silver thread, symbolizing the brilliance and wisdom of starlight.
The robes were made of high-quality magical fabric, which not only provided a slight magic resistance effect but also adapted to various weather conditions, ensuring the wearer’s comfort.
A delicate silver badge adorned the collar, engraved with a radiant five-pointed star surrounded by symbols representing magical elements like flames, water, wind swirls, and earth.
Brawny whispered beside Owen, "That’s Stellar Magic Academy, the second-place winner in the last two academy competitions. They’re quite arrogant."
"Arrogant for being second?" Owen asked, somewhat surprised.
"Hah, you don’t know. Stellar Magic Academy seems to have allied with the Celestial Race, riding high on momentum," Brawny commented, appearing somewhat envious.
The Celestial Race?
Owen narrowed his eyes, rapidly searching his mind for relevant information.
The Celestial Race, another advanced race, was known as the most suited for magic use on Novalia Continent, born with a magic spirit and possessing enigmatic and formidable strength.
It was unexpected that they had joined forces with Stellar Magic Academy.
Soon, students from one of the four major academies also arrived.
They quickly swept past Owen and his group, engaging in minimal conversation.
Brawny pointed with his lips and spoke in a low voice, "The last champions, Skyward Magus Academy. You can tell just by the emblem on their uniforms."
Owen’s gaze followed.
The Skyward Magus Academy uniforms maintained a consistent style but varied slightly in cut to accommodate different body shapes.
The primary garment was a deep purple robe, with purple symbolizing nobility and mystery and serving as the academy’s representative color.
The robes, crafted from lightweight magical fabric, were edged at the collar, cuffs, and hem with intricate silver thread embroidery, featuring a series of complex astronomical symbols and constellation patterns.
All students wore a simple silver belt, its buckle designed in shapes of the sun, moon, and stars, showcasing the academy’s focus on celestial magic.
On the left chest of the robe, there was a beautifully crafted badge, displaying the Skyward Magus Academy’s emblem: an open book with a star ring encircling it, symbolizing the close connection between knowledge and the cosmos.
Indeed, as Brawny had mentioned, the emblem of the Skyward Magus Academy was exquisitely memorable.
Their demeanor was uniform, faces solemn, not resembling students but more like a disciplined squad of ten on a march.
"In recent decades, Skyward Magus Academy has been in the limelight. They seem to have developed a spell at their institution to refine the body with magic, making their students’ bodies as strong as celestial bodies. It’s insane. Our Grand Magus Academy has been at a disadvantage in this aspect," Brawny explained in detail beside Owen.
Owen raised his eyebrows, curious, "Haven’t they made contacts with advanced races?"
"Of course, they have," Brawny responded with a grave face.
"Among the four major academies, except for ours, the other three have close ties with various races. The intricacies of their relationships are beyond our comprehension."
"That makes sense," Owen murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully, his gaze flickering.
Indeed, a storm seemed brewing, with various races aligning with the most prominent group on Novalia Continent – the human race.
All races were once prominent, but since the dragons secluded themselves thirty thousand years ago, their status diminished, and the human race rose to power, even leading all races at one point.
However, the angel race, in alliance with other advanced races, resisted the human race.
Coupled with frequent internal conflicts among humans, this allowed the angel race to seize many powers from them.
Despite this, the human race still held a significant and profound heritage within all races.
After Skyward Magus Academy departed, it wasn’t long before another academy arrived.
The male and female students’ uniforms were consistent in style, predominantly grey with light blue or silver-white decorations.
The uniform typically comprised a fitted robe and straight trousers, with exquisitely designed edges on the robe’s collar and cuffs, embroidered with staff-like branches and sparkling crystal balls.
On the front of the robe was a simple yet elegant badge, featuring the academy’s emblem: a phoenix ready to soar, surrounded by a halo.
The students all wore a slender belt matching the uniform’s color, with a unique buckle design – either a miniature magic circle or a tiny book shape.
In the frigid temperatures of Frigid Summit Harbor, reaching below fifty degrees Celsius, they all donned cloaks uniform in style, with deep colors trimmed with silver or blue threads.
Brawny again pointed to their chest badges and explained, "See that emblem? It symbolizes rebirth and the perpetual transmission of knowledge. That’s Ethereal Wisdom Academy. Their academy is quite unique, focusing more on research magi, outnumbering battle magi by four to five times. They were last in the previous competition’s rankings."
Owen’s mouth twitched sarcastically, "So, we were third?"
"Brawny," with his closely cropped hair, awkwardly scratched his head, "It’s a bit embarrassing to admit."
Watching them pass by, Owen’s brow furrowed in realization, "Wait, aren’t there five human kingdoms? Why are there only four academies?"
"?"
Brawny looked puzzled, "Haven’t you been living in Laine Kingdom for over a year? Don’t you know these things? The five human kingdoms are Laine, Enchantia, Sunrise, Stellar Federation, and Wisdom Federation."
"Stellar Federation and Wisdom Federation correspond to their respective academies. As for Sunrise, it’s represented by Skyward Magus Academy. Lastly, Enchantia Kingdom prefers warriors over magi. Their internal magi strength is weak. Although they have magic academies, they’re incomparable to the other four nations, so they didn’t send anyone. Why come just to lose face?"
Owen nodded slightly, "I see. So, does that mean Enchantia is the weakest?"
"Not at all," Brawny confidently shook his head, "Enchantia is actually the second strongest among the five kingdoms, just slightly weaker than our own."
"But their magi aren’t strong," Owen remarked, somewhat surprised.
"The Enchantia Kingdom’s leadership is quite astute. Although their national magical foundation is weak, they have neighbors, don’t they? They send their talents to the Grand Magus Academy for further studies. Each year through this arrangement, Laine profits several hundred billion gutecoins from Enchantia," Brawny explained, his eyes filled with envy.
In this world, just three thousand gutecoins could comfortably support a family for a month.
Hundreds of billions was a staggering amount.
"They really know how to do business," Owen thought, restraining any urge to comment further.
Roy then clapped his hands, announcing loudly, "Alright, we’ve just received a message to head to the preparation room. The academy competition is about to start."
Owen glanced at the sky, which was devoid of any light, shrouded in darkness and clouds that even obscured the stars.
"We’re starting the academy competition late at night?" he asked.
Roy gave a mysterious smile and gestured for everyone to follow, "You’ll find out soon enough."
They followed Roy into what appeared to be a stadium, but instead of a sports field, there were numerous small compartments.
Roy found their assigned spot and ushered Owen and the others into one of the compartments, "Once inside, a teacher will explain the rules of the competition and important points to note. Make sure you listen carefully."
Owen entered the small compartment, his confusion growing.
The sight that greeted him was startling.
There was a bed, in front of which stood a crystal ball connected to a complex magic array, resembling a chaotic tangle of wires.
It seemed almost like a surgery room from another world.
A female teacher, holding papers and a pen, stood by the bed.
"Hello, Owen. I’m your caretaker teacher for your entry into the Heaven Summit secret realm. Please lie down on the bed," she instructed.
Owen instinctively started to undress, causing the teacher to cover her mouth and chuckle softly, "No need to undress; this isn’t an operating room."
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Owen adjusted his clothes and lay down on the bed.
The teacher’s voice was gentle as she explained, "In a moment, I’ll extract a strand of your spirit power and channel it into the crystal ball in front of you. Then, you’ll enter the Heaven Summit secret realm. Everything you feel there, including pain, torment, and even death, will be real."
"This...this is the academy competition?" Owen couldn’t help but feel the absurdity of it all.
The teacher’s fingers danced in the air, weaving arcanergy into the crystal ball like streams of light.
"Exactly, your objective is—"
"—to survive in the Heaven Summit secret realm!"
In the next moment, Owen felt a slight tearing sensation in his soul, mild like a mosquito bite.
Just as he was about to scratch his head, his consciousness seemed to be sucked into another space.
...
