Earthling in Uncharted Dimensions

Chapter 147: Alaqvier Academy of Magic

Cultivator's Guild.

The architectural megalodon occupied so much space that the building alone was big enough to rival the combined size of two among the four giants of Piscerent City. A good amount of space around the building was used as pavement, which also acted as a major meeting point for two or more people. Scarlet colored Scaprikot Trees decorated the pavements with a distance of 90 metres between them.

Lee stood across the street, leaning over the front wall of the leather shop, and was scanning the entirety of the complex through the Map. He was licking a sweet flavoured ice ball, as his eyes scanned the front portion of the building. As he was scanning, the Foresight picked up the cultivation signature of those stationed at the roof of the complex. For his astonishment, the Map could not pick up their presence because of the Presence Concealer pendant. He nodded internally as he gulped down the last bit of melting sweet ice.

Lee came out of the shade of the leather shop and walked towards the Guild's door. Quite a lot of people were walking in and out of the Guild and Lee struggled to blend in. But his unique physique which mismatched his age found him troubles. An arrow's muffled whistling came at him from a common human's blindspot, from his left. The noise rising from the passersby could have easily distracted someone else!

*swish*

The perfection with which the arrow was crafted was evident from the barely audible whistling. The flawless construction, the precise arrangement of the fletching and the silencing arrowtip were not something belonging to a common arrow. Making only a faint noise, it raced at Lee. But what happened next, made the archer pale.

Lee raised his right hand swiftly and brought it close to the left shoulder. The palm curled and formed a quiver where the arrow precisely came in flying. The palm clenched and an intense grip fell on the arrow. Without any delay, the arrow fell, crumbled in half, as Lee gave a glance at the archer's position. His eyes conveyed two words - 'Fuck' and 'off'!

Only one or two passersby had sensed this incident. The skilled cultivators positioned on the roof of the complex saw these scenes unrolling, and were flabbergasted. Their eyes were fixed on Lee, as he continued walking like a man patting dust off his coat. For someone as resolved as Lee, these matters were of lesser importance than his queries.

One of the guards vanished from the site and dashed to the president's office. After hearing the description, Xavi Godson had a compound emotion, and the guard was dispersed. The recognition of Lee as a talented person, while his identity as a Mana user, was performing a tug-of-war in his mind. Xavi could also deduce the reason why he has come here. As he was in deep thought, a couple of knockings came from the door.

"Come in."

Lee entered the room and the door was closed behind him. The president greeted him with a warm smile. Lee gave an appropriate pleasant reaction, while sweeping his eyes across the room. Foresight proved its usefulness and spotted out the hidden weapons and poison darts behind the visual warmth of the wallpaper.

"I hope you know the reason why I have come."

Lee walked to the table and Xavi gestured to take a seat. His expression seeking an answer, stared at the president's face.

"The mission request, isn't it? Unfortunately, I cannot share the information about the mission host. All I can say is that you, an adventurer, is not warmly welcomed by the cultivators."

Xavi leaned back in his chair and gave a helpless countenance. His arms, which were on the trigger of the hidden trap mechanism relaxed and were retracted, as Lee wore a dejected face. If the adventurer was to act recklessly, Xavi would activate the trap and capture Lee, and accusing him of murder attempt.

Lee sat there for a few more minutes with his head staring low. The act of being hopeless was gradually becoming successful, as Xavi was still cautious. unbeknownst to the president, Lee was tapping into the memories of the cultivator and copying the necessary information. When Information Transfer was deactivated, Xavi felt a miniscule pain on his forehead, which he did not care about.

"Thank you for the information."

Lee stood up with a blank face and turned around to exit. With almost 2600 Essence spent, he stepped out of the room and swiftly walked to the guild entrance. His direction changed towards the Alaqvier Academy as a few assassins followed him like a shadow.

'Five assassins.'

Lee slipped into the next alleyway and the assassins followed him. Minutes later, Lee alone came out of the alleyway. The following assassins were nowhere visible!

---

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3 P.M.

116387 Essence harvested.

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When the notification was dismissed, Lee stood in front of the gate of the Alaqvier academy. Without any delay, he opened the pedestrian's gate and entered the premises. He had already sketched out the entirety of the academy. The training grounds, tutoring building, dormitory and other facilities were well designed and easily distinguished.

"Aren't you the champion of the Tri-annual Tournament?"

He stepped towards the academy building and came close, when a figure appeared through the door. The person was walking towards the library, when she caught the sight of Lee. Two thin books in her hand had the seal of the academy, which proved that it belongs to the library.

"Yes, I am Lee. Have we met before?"

Lee was refreshing his memory to pick up any familiarity with the face, but he couldn't find any instance where he had met her. Thus, he extended the question.

"I am Janvi Stuart. A senior student of the Spell department. We have not met before, but my colleagues have described you."

Janvi was a girl with milk chocolate complexion. Her twin braided long hair was perfectly black and carried a faint smell of coconut oil. She was only an inch taller than Mia. The long wizard robe she wore had the academy insignia at the back of it. The discipline with which she was nurtured, was evident in her manner of speaking and behaviour. After introducing, she gave a light bow.

"Nice to meet you, Janvi. Can you tell me where Drake Godson's office is located?"

Janvi nodded and began to look around. Her right arm's index finger followed her nose, and was still pointing at different directions.

"Mr. Godson should be at the training grounds in the afternoon. Follow me."

Lee had the entire blueprint of the academy in his head. So he obediently followed her lead. Peeking at the Map, he found her conclusion to be true, as a relatively large green dot was at the training premises with quite a lot green dots. Lee deduced the absence of hostility from the colours of the dots.

The training ground was divided into two - an exterior ground and an indoor arena. It was positioned behind the academy's main block, where the classrooms are set up permanently. Janvi led Lee through the building's main aisle and many recognised him. Lee picked up hushed conversation signatures mentioning his name once or twice.

The theoretical classes were from 9 in the morning to 2 in the noon. After that, the students are allowed to return to their dormitories, or can train at the training grounds, or can do anything related to their studies. The library, which houses more than 36 million books, was the largest asset of the academy. The library was situated above the classrooms in the main building. Thus the extensive architectural megalith stood as a beacon of comprehensive education.

The aisle that laid straight on its back led both to the training grounds. From a distance, Lee sensed Mana fluctuations in the atmosphere. As he walked closer, the reason became clear.

On the open ground, Drake stood at the center of the 28 students who surrounded him with curiosity. He was demonstrating on how to perform a 4th grade spell without a hitch. Normally, a 4th grade spell uses so much Mana that a small portion from it is dispersed into the atmosphere due to lack of in-depth cognitive control. This was the reason why the Mana rippled through the air. Due to the existence of the system, Lee never had to face this loss.

"The Flame Wreath needs your utmost concentration. The chant is too long, but with expertise and repeated attempts, you will find a groove through which the spell can be shortened to your liking. Make sure to take shortening by small steps, or you will have a wreath over your deadbody."

Lee was able to detect the Mana ripples because of the unconditional application of the Foresight. Thus, Janvi and none of the 28 students could sense the fluctuations. Even with eyes closed, Lee can sense the way the Mana is applied, and how it flows. He passively started to work on the reverse engineering of Mana spells.

The orange spiky wheel frantically rotating inside the palms of Drake was about to become unstable, and he felt it. Quickly, he retreated from the center of formation and took a few steps towards the target dummy placed at a distance. Like a seasoned battlewizard, Drake shot the disastrously hot spell construct towards the dummy.

*BOOM*

The spinning spiky firewheel obliterated the dummy, while spewing out a faint shockwave. The flames it created was not something seen everyday. It shot up and was as tall as a four storeyed building. The place around where the disintegrated dummy stood was burnt to crisp, and the ground too suffered damages. When the students were in awe, Drake was concealing his irregular breath forcefully. The toll he took to execute a 4th grade spell made him let out mouthful of air repeatedly. As he silently did so, a voice that he was expecting to hear soon came from his behind.

"Are you busy, or should I come back later?"