Chapter 202: Enemies Crossing Paths (1/2)

Arthur walked on the bricked road that cut across the farmlands and he couldn't keep his eyes away from the city of Jerano. He was descending a hill so he could see most of the city, despite the high walls that surrounded it.

It was a combination of ancientness and modernity that he had never seen before. Some buildings looked old while others looked like a giant block of metal.

The sky was lined with a shimmering light that surrounded the whole city, a barrier against intruders. In the middle of the city was the College of Jerano, the one that was strictly for awakeners.

”Alexie!” A voice called out from behind him that sounded like it barely escaped from between the sky and earth collide. Arthur looked back and saw that Oliver, huffing, was running his way.

”Congratulations on passing,” Arthur said with a smile as Oliver stopped near him, his hands on his knees.

”Damn you, monster. You didn't even break a sweat after that?” Oliver asked with his heavy breathing at intervals. ”What's your ranking?”

”Uh,” Arthur paused and showed Oliver his bicep. Oliver's eyes turned around as he gaped.

”You… are blessed by the heavens! Let me kowtow to you, brother!”

Arthur had to physically drag Oliver with him before he made an embarrassing scene of them. He learned that even though Oliver finished after him by a few minutes, he was ranked 432. In Arthur's opinion, even that was astonishing. After all, Oliver looked more like a merchant than an awakener.

Most of the people applying to the college were commoners who had fewer resources than their noble peers. This unjust system made the powerful nobles get more powerful at the expense of the commoners.

Sadly, the ruling class passed this off as their duty to get stronger to protect the nation against monsters. There a few genius commoners who were sponsored by guilds or awakeners and managed to break through those social chains.

Half of the flying island was connected to the continent of Anera and the other half was connected to Akrena. Arthur could see many students cutting across the farmlands toward the gates of the city.

With his hand in his pocket, Arthur used the detection rune to check on Ellen. With worry, he saw that she has yet to reach the island.

”Something wrong?” Oliver saw him frowning and asked. Arthur shook his head. ”Anyway, I never thought you'd have it in you. You were running on those chains like a mistress running from a wife.”

'Same goes to you, only if the mistress was a balloon.' Arthur wished to say but he knew better than to hurt the pride of a noble. His face broke into a smile when he saw a petite figure land on the island.

He didn't know what her number was, but he knew she passed judging from her expression. Arthur sighed in relief as he stopped using his rune and made his way to the city's gates with Oliver.

The paths that came from the farmlands began merging. Before long, all of the paths on the side of Anera merged into one giant path that ended with the giant gate of the city.

The students gathered, each eyeing each other warily. The crowd parted when they saw Arthur's number, who was in the top hundred. Even though it wasn't guaranteed that the top two hundred people were the ones that would be admitted in the end, their chances were higher.

They looked at him as if he was an exotic animal, which he might be. Most of the students in the top hundred were nobles, the cream of the crop of their families, the proud sons and daughters of heaven, and there was also Arthur.

A bastard nobility that had no place in either faction. He was neither a commoner nor a noble. Yet, did Arthur himself care?

'As if,' Arthur smiled as he walked together with Oliver. He would have assumed a timider personality if he was a commoner, but nobles had that air around them.

The entitlement.

The crowd kept growing as the students gathered in front of the gate. There were almost 2000 of them before no more students started appearing.

The collective noise of the crow spread like bees' buzzing, only stopped when a man appeared suddenly on top of the walls. Radiating a heroic presence, the man stood with his hand behind his back.

He had neatly combed hair with a thin mustache. His mouth made a straight line as he surveyed the surrounding with an examining eye. With blue eyes and smooth skin, this man was handsome.