Dirigible

* Clang Clang *

An alarm sounded, produced by the ringing of a copper plate, waking Leylin up from his deep slumber.

He opened his eyes. A hint of sunlight shone through the window, landing on Leylin’s shoes.

“It’s already morning?” Leylin got up, hastily washed up, and went outside.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning! Leylin!” Beirut had two dark circles around his eyes and kept yawning.

“The conditions here are the worst! There are actually fleas and fungi on my blanket, my god! I cannot remain here for a moment longer!” Voices of complaint sounded from time to time.

These acolytes were all of the noble birth and their daily accommodations had not been lacking, so naturally they were suffering now.

Today, everyone was lacking sleep and had dark circles around their eyes.

Although Leylin could not sleep at the start, he had managed to fall asleep later in the night. Right now his vigor was greater than the others, and he still had an inclination to walk around.

The whole campground seemed to be bustling with activity. There were many who were taking down the tents, and the floors were littered with rubbish.

As Leylin silently walked around, many thoughts crossed his mind. “Every year at this time, there will be batches of acolytes risking their lives to come here and walk on the path of a Magus. And right now, this is just my starting point!”

“Gather around! Gather around! Everyone gather according to your academy, and the respective professors will take charge! Do not wander off!” A white-bearded geezer shouted in the centre of the campgrounds.

His voice, however, was extremely piercing to the ears, as he used some kind of magic to make it resound throughout the camp.

“This has a much higher pitch than a trumpet from the previous world!” Leylin rubbed his ears, which felt like they had been trampled on, and hurriedly went towards the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy gathering area.

“Hey! Leylin, you’re back? Kaliweir was looking for you earlier.” Beirut greeted him.

During his short time here, Leylin had only managed to match the various faces with their names, but he had the best relationship with Beirut.

“My apologies! I strayed a little far and had forgotten to keep track of time! Did Kaliweir need something?”

Leylin revealed an apologetic expression.

“It’s nothing! Dorotte asked him to make a head count, so you’ll just have to tell him later. Right now he is being smug about it!” Beirut shook his head.

“Alright! How are we going to leave, by ship?” Leylin looked over at the distant blue seas with boundless horizons, but there were no traces of any ships.

“Not only there are no ships, from a geographical point of view, we are not in a suitable location for a port.” Leylin was filled with suspicion.

“I guess so? However, it might take another half a year to get to another continent!” Beirut scratched his head.

“Transportation in the ancient times is a little too behind in technology, needing around 1 year just to travel to school. Time cannot be wasted just like that; it needs to be used efficiently!”

Leylin touched the 3 magic crystals that he had snatched from Ourin, which was in a leather pouch hung around his waist, seemingly deep in thoughts.

“Taking a boat? What naive thinking!” A frosty voice travelled over, bringing ridicule along with it.

“Jayden?” Leylin looked at the approaching black robed student.

“We are close to the Death Seas; any random fish in it is able to kill a Knight! Not to mention enormous beasts, and even ancient creatures, they all loathe the ships of humans and often bring storms and waves to them. So we would just be courting death if we were to take a ship!”

“A fish with the ability to kill a Knight?” Leylin widened his eyes. Right now he was still a preparatory Knight, and if what Jayden said was true, he would die if he were to fall into the sea?

Leylin delved into his subconsciousness and retrieved his body statistics.

[Leylin Farlier. Strength: 1.9, Agility: 1.9, Vitality: 1.9 Status: Healthy ]

In the Great Plains of Death, Leylin had analysed the wolves’ flesh and had also belatedly discovered that their eyeballs contained a special component that complemented the Knights’ breathing techniques, so he had collected many of those eyeballs.

And with the contribution from these direwolves, Leylin had now reached the limits of a preparatory Knight.

According to the analysis of the A.I. Chip, when the stats have all reached 2, they have twice the strength of an average adult and is also at the bottleneck of a Preparatory Knight. Only by igniting their internal life energy can they get over this bottleneck.

Clenching his fist tightly, a strong force was controlled within his palms.

“Right now, if I were to hold a cross blade, I have the confidence to fend off against a squad of common soldiers! But even a Knight whose strength is above mine cannot defeat a mere fish in the Death Seas?”

Leylin was a little skeptical of it, “It could be that Jayden has exaggerated things, but the Death Seas containing dangers that even apply to Magi is a fact!”

“A.I. Chip! Is is possible to scan the seas nearby?”

[Beep! The radiation surrounding the host body is excessive! Unable to scan due to an interference of an unknown force field!] The A.I. Chip replied.

“Radiation? Unknown force field?” Leylin looked at Dorotte, who wasn't too far away, and had some understanding.

“In this continent, the Magi population is scarce and there isn't much interference from radiation, so the A.I. Chip is able to scan up to a 20 li radius. But acolytes and Magi professors are present in this camp, which is why the interference is too strong, and hence, the A.I. Chip has limitations with its scanning abilities!”

“Right now, what is the furthest distance you can scan?” Leylin’s face darkened.

[Beep! Precise scanning range: Within 300 metres radius from the host’s body! Vague scanning range: Within 1000 metres!] The A.I. Chip intoned.

“Hu……” Leylin exhaled loudly, “Not too bad! This distance is enough to warn me of dangers! However, after reaching the other continent and the academy, this scanning range will most likely shorten once again!”

[To increase scanning range, please raise the level of the A.I. Chip!] A message was sent from the A.I. Chip.

“I can still level up the A.I. Chip?” Leylin was ecstatic.

“Raise level!”

[Beep! The energy required is lacking, please replenish!] The robotic voice sounded, and brought Leylin down from Heaven into Hell.

“Damn!” The A.I. Chip has already disappeared from my original body so how can I retrieve it to replenish energy? Then again, even if I managed to, where am I going to find the energy?”

Leylin held his head and recovered after a while.

“Forget it, since its level is able to rise, I can just find a way in the future. As for now, its current functions are enough for me!”

“What did Jayden say to you guys earlier?” A voice sounded and brought the absent-minded Leylin back to reality.

When Leylin recovered, he discovered that Jayden had left without him knowing, and Kaliweir was now beside him.

“Him? He just spoke about setting off! I reckon he was bored, after all, not speaking to anyone all day is rather stifling!” Beirut surmised.

“Yeah, that’s true!” Kaliweir nodded his head and then looked at Leylin. “We’re about to set off, don’t go anywhere now. If you were to board the wrong ship, it would be rather troublesome!”

“Ship?” Leylin looked at the surface of the sea and still didn’t see any signs of a ship.

“Haha!” Kaliweir laughed loudly, “Who said it had to come from the water.”

“Look!”

Following the direction that Kaliweir pointed to, Leylin and Beirut raised their heads and gaped.

On the horizon, 3 massive white ships were slowly floating towards them.

As the ship approached, a massive shadow covered the whole camp, and it seemed as though darkness had descended upon the earth.

“Oh! Look!” “My god!” “How beautiful!”

The other people in the camp had also discovered the abnormalities, and many raised their heads, exclaiming in awe and shock.

“How is it? This is one of the Magus’ mode of transport, a dirigible![1. Type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power] We will be riding these soon!” Kaliweir said rather smugly.

“All these were just told to him by Professor Dorotte, so what is there to be gloating about?” Jayden reappeared out of nowhere and said blandly.

“Dammit!” Kaliweir stamped his feet.

The 3 dirigibles constantly got closer and slowly lowered themselves onto the ground outside the camp, under the various cheers of the masses.

“En! They are rather similar to the blimps from my previous world, and each one has a very large aerostat gasbag on top of it, I wonder if they are filled with hydrogen gas?”

Leylin had some experience from his previous world, so he recovered from his astonishment faster than others, and pondered over the construction of the dirigibles.

The pure white dirigibles landed on the ground and let out thunderous growling noises.

The doors of the dirigibles then opened, and a few white-robed Magi walked out from them. There were also some movements within the camp, a few old geezers also walked out and exchanged words with them.

“Alright! Everyone bring all of your belongings and follow me. Don’t wander off on your own!”

Dorotte had a black cloak on, and the silhouette of his body was concealed within it. He began to gather the students.

The acolytes of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy all scrambled and ran back to their little wooden huts to fetch their belongings.

Leylin brought very few things with him. His belongings only consisted of a water sack, a leather bag, a cross blade hung from his waist, and a crossbow slung over his back.

The acolytes fervently left the campgrounds under the guidance of the professors of their respective academies, and they gathered into individual groups based on their academy.

“Alright! Listen to me! Pay attention to the names mentioned next! Ennea Ivory Ring Tower, Wetland Gardens Academy…… All of you will board the dirigible on the right, numbered ‘332’. Don't miss it! Professors, please take note of the number, and acolytes, follow your professors!”

“As for Mercifura Academy, Kerita Academy…...Your dirigible is in the center, numbered ‘955’.” The voice continued.

“...... Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, Sage Gotham's Hut…… Yours will be the one on the left, number ‘455’, don’t mix it up now!”

As Leylin finally heard Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, he could not help but to glance at the dirigible on the left.

As he approached it, he realised that the dirigible was simply too enormous. The aerostat gasbag at the top seemed like a gigantic rugby ball, casting its shadow on the ground.

“acolytes of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, follow me!” Green flames flickered in Dorotte’s eye sockets, and behind him were two figures, which seemed to be his servants or subordinates.

Leylin walked in the centre of the group and glanced around.

Under his keen observation, he noticed a few familiar faces from his travelling party. They also noticed him and smiled at him in response, also speaking to some fellows beside them. They all had excitement written across their faces.

At the far right, George waved vigorously when it was his turn to board the dirigible, and entered the dirigible.

“From today onwards, the acolytes will all go their separate ways!”

A hint of sadness surfaced in Leylin’s heart, but it was suppressed very quickly.