Chapter 322 The Academy (1/2)

Ortava was different. Besides the obvious tall walls that surrounded the city, it was also very beautiful. The buildings had ornaments, and specific design to them. They were painted mostly black and white, but had additional colours, like green or blue to bring a brighter contrast to the city. To the north west of the city, was a huge castle like building, with a few towers that extended into the skies. It was build from very slick stone, and all the roofs were laid with blue tiles. Looked magical from afar.

A huge marketplace, was located in the middle of the city. 'This must be the city square. I wonder what that huge building is' I thought. I didn't know for sure, but from what Finch said, it was probably the Academy for Formation Masters.

I thought about it a few times. Learning Formations could be useful to me, but I simply didn't have the time. I had loads of things to master already, I didn't need more distractions on my way. 'I doubt Fox would be there anyway, she is a warrior after all. Now that I think about it, do Formation Masters actually fight?' I thought. I didn't know, but maybe I would find out in the future. As the saying goes, ”Who knows what the future holds?”. I didn't know where Fox lived, therefore the only solution was to ask the people on the streets.

Some of them gave me weird looks, and didn't answer. Some would look at me, and laugh. 'What the hell is wrong with these people? They can't even answer a simple question' I thought. I soon realised why people laughed, or didn't answer. When I asked a middle aged woman about Fox, she snorted and asked ”What, another one of her admirers?”. 'Why the hell would she say that?' I thought, shook my head and replied ”No, she is a friend of mine. Can you tell me where I can find her?”.

The woman laughed, while responding ”Friend? Good one. Anyway. Yea, I will tell you where to find your sweetheart”. She then pointed at the huge building, and said ”This is where you will find her”. I nodded my head, and asked ”Is that the Academy?”. She looked at me, as if looking at an idiot, and replied ”You need to ask about that? What else could it be? A large pub? Yes, It's the Academy. You must be some country boy, if you don't even know that”. I didn't reply to that, and simply thanked her.

'Turns out, she really does live there. I never saw her doing Formations or anything of that sort. I wonder why?' I thought. I made my way to the Academy, but the entry was not so simple. A few youngsters stopped me at the gate, and asked ”Where is your pass?”. I was confused, and asked ”Pass?”. One guy nodded, and replied ”Yes, pass. Without it, you cannot enter”. I made up a lie on the spot, and said ”Oh! I forgot to take it, I will bring it back soon”. They shook their heads, while one of them asked ”How can you be careless like this?…”.

I bid them farewell, and began thinking. 'So I need a pass. Hmm… I need to catch one unfortunate guy, and just take it from him' I thought. I could scale the walls, and enter like this, but I also wasn't stupid. 'This is Academy for Formation Masters, I doubt I could just scale the walls, and nothing would stop me. Otherwise, a few youngsters at the gate, wouldn't be the only security' I thought. Getting a pass might've been a problem, but then I realised these people wore specific attire. 'Good, I just need to find a guy with such clothes, and the rest is simple' I thought, and observed the people on the streets.

I chose a specific spot, with a few side alleys, near the main street that was leading to the Academy. I soon found a fat boy walking towards the Academy. His attire was not the same, compared with the youngsters at the gate. It looked more simple… and a bit more dirty. From what I could see, food leftovers was the answer.

I grabbed the guy, and disappeared into one of the side alleys. With a few quick taps on his pressure points, he fainted. I searched his body. After a while I realised that, I didn't know how that pass looked like. As I rummaged through everything, I came up with an idea. 'These people are trying to become Formation Masters, then perhaps the pass, has a Formation' I thought. I tried activating a Formation on every item, that the fat guy had on him.

Finally, after a while of searching, I managed to find the pass. It was a feather, black and white in colour. 'It turns out there is a Formation on it, but I can't fully activate it for some reason. Anyway, I have the pass' I thought. I took the clothes as well, just in case. I didn't want to wear them, and they wouldn't fit me anyway. The guy would stay asleep for a few hours, if no one searched for him, he would stay there. 'This should be enough' I thought, and headed towards the Academy.

When the youngsters saw me again, they asked ”Finally got your pass?”. I nodded my head, and said ”Here it is”. One guy extended his hand, and waited. I passed him the feather, and waited. He activated the Formation, then looked at me after a while. He said ”Your pass says that you weight much more”.