Chapter 166: The Dark Continent
After moving out from the Council office, the squad reached the roof of the Main Building.
"We are supposed to go to the Great Wall," Vlad said, his brows raised in curiosity. "Why are we here?"
"Do you know where or what the Great Wall is?" Seraphina replied with a question of her own, to which Vlad shook his head.
"The Great Wall is built at the border of the academy campus to protect the Argentum Continent," Seraphina explained, her tone serious. "If we were to cover such a vast distance by foot, it would take us over five days."
She pointed at Raphael with her eyes. He was standing at the front, his eyes closed and his silhouette covered in a faint blue mana. His arms moved before him in circular motions, forming a magical circle with complex patterns on it.
"So Raphael will take us there using his Teleportation Magic," Seraphina revealed.
The color from Vlad’s face vanished the moment he heard the cursed word.
"Guys, you go ahead," he said, taking a nervous step back. "I will meet you at the destination in half an hour."
"Huh? But we should all go together," Alisha suggested, reaching beside Vlad. "Besides, how will you reach there within half an hour without teleportation magic?"
"Don’t worry about me," he insisted, waving his hand defensively. "I will manage."
"This is the location where Professor Aldric has told us to meet," Seraphina showed the destination on the map of her phone. "Are you sure you can reach there before six fifteen?"
It was around a hundred and fifty kilometres from the Main Building, not to mention that the latter seventy kilometres contained hills. Even Vlad knew that he wouldn’t be able to reach such a distance within forty minutes.
What was Professor Aldric thinking, asking them to meet at such a faraway location in such a short time? Perhaps it was a test by him. If the team couldn’t even succeed at such a simple task, they would not be qualified for the S-Ranked quest.
"I will go with you," he replied, tightening his fists at his sides.
"Perfect," Alisha exclaimed, clapping her hands.
Seraphina noticed the frown on his face. "Did you have something important to do?" she asked, her tone low. "Just so you know, we can wait for five minutes if you want to go to the washroom."
"No, it’s not that," Vlad sighed, shaking his head.
Meanwhile, Raphael had already finished casting the spell. The floor beneath him was covered in a magical circle, large enough for all five of them to stand within.
While they entered the circle, Vlad asked Seraphina, his tone curious, "Oh right, you said that the Great Wall is to protect the Argentum Continent. From whom, actually, is it protecting?"
"You will find out once we reach there."
The moment Seraphina said those words, a pillar of dense mana ascended from the magical circle, hurling the squad into the air.
Vlad’s body tumbled through the same strange dimensions, with countless streaks of light moving past him. In the next moment, his body landed on something solid again, the pillar of blue light vanishing around him.
"We are here," Seraphina announced, landing gracefully on her feet beside him. "Look, this is the—"
Before she could finish her revelation, Vlad instantly moved to all fours and crawled to the edge.
"Blerghh...blerghh..." The sound of him throwing up echoed, his eyes turning moist from the revolting feeling in his stomach. He couldn’t distinguish whether it was the lunch that was being thrown out or his very dignity.
"O-oh, so this was why you wanted to avoid being teleported," Seraphina sighed, facepalming.
"Strange... mostly those who have weak mana circuits feel nauseous from teleportation," Raphael added, looking at Vlad with a confused stare. Although he didn’t know what the actual rank of Vlad’s talent was, it should definitely not be low enough for him to suffer nausea from teleportation.
Alisha and Hugo also began looking at Vlad with confused expressions.
"There is nothing strange about it," Seraphina said, gathering the trio’s attention. "He suffers from motion sickness."
"Oh yes, that is also a common reason," Raphael nodded. Alisha and Hugo’s expressions also returned to normal.
Seraphina moved towards Vlad, who was almost done with his business. She lowered herself beside him, drew a water bottle from her storage ring, and handed it to him after opening its cap.
"Here, drink some water."
"Th-thank you," Vlad replied. He rinsed his mouth and washed his face before returning to his feet.
"I’m sorry for such a display," he murmured, feeling annoyed at his own body.
"Don’t worry much about it," Seraphina replied in an assuring tone, gently patting his back.
Meanwhile, Hugo and Alisha were silently looking at the duo while exchanging playful glances between them.
"Do you see what I am seeing?" Hugo asked, his lips coiling into a playful smirk.
"Yes, I definitely do," Alisha added, her hand rising to her face. "Even in such a vulnerable condition, Vlad looks so hot. It’s giving me the feeling to protect him at all costs."
"Tch, turn off the goggles of delusion that you are wearing and look clearly again," Hugo retorted, giving her a judging glare. "Isn’t the Tyrant Queen, Lady Seraphina, who doesn’t look at a male twice, giving way too much attention to Vlad?"
Now Alisha was the one who gave a judging glare to Hugo. "That’s what I hate most about men like you. A woman would become a little nice to you, and you start creating all kinds of rumours about them. Vlad is being sponsored by House Cendral. The two must know each other for a long time. If you keep spreading such rumours, you will not know who will roll your head, Lady Seraphina or Lord Cendral."
"M-maybe I w-was just overthinking it," Hugo shook his head, remembering exactly about whom he was gossiping.
As for Vlad, now that the nausea was gone, he looked at his surroundings. They were standing atop a towering wall. It was as wide as the dormitory in which Vlad lived.
At its one side, where he had just vomited, hundreds of hills were visible like oceanic waves, each of them containing different weather from the others. These were the same hills he had visited for his first A-Ranked quest. However, looking at them from such a height made him realise how many hills were actually there and how tall the wall where he stood actually was.
Vlad’s eyes narrowed at the hills closer to the wall. Each of them had grand palaces built on them.
"This is where our professors live," Seraphina answered the question Vlad was about to ask.
"Isn’t it too extravagant?" Vlad gasped, his eyes widened in bewilderment. Each of the palaces was grander than any building he had seen before.
"Hmm, their accommodation is comparable to those of Viscounts," Seraphina nodded as she glanced at the buildings with her pink eyes. "Nevertheless, they deserve nothing less for all that they do."
Vlad was confused as to which words of Seraphina shocked him more. The fact that these grand palaces were only comparable to those of Viscounts, not even Counts, or that teaching could allow one to live as a noble.
"Does teaching earn that much?" Vlad asked, his lips parted.
"Naturally not," Seraphina chuckled. "Teaching the students isn’t the only thing professors do here."
She tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Look at the other side."
He, together with the other four, reached the other side of the wall. The sight beyond left him completely frozen, his jaw almost dropping to the floor in shock.
As far as Vlad could see, a white sheet of snow covered the land. There was a thick forest in the distance, the leaves of the tall trees also covered in snow. The forest faded all the way into the horizon.
"You asked before we teleported what the Great Wall actually protects the Argentum Continent from," Seraphina began, lifting Vlad’s chin to close his mouth.
"The truth is..." She looked toward the vast expanse beyond the wall. "The Argentum Continent makes up less than five percent of the actual world. It is merely a small, habitable land where humanity has managed to survive."
Vlad’s eyes widened, his lips parting again.
"Beyond this wall lies the real world. A land swarmed by goblins, orcs, trolls, and countless other monsters. And the farther you venture, the more dangerous it becomes."
She took a brief pause to let the weight of her revelation dawn.
"This land is called the Dark Continent."
Vlad’s gaze remained fixed at the endless wilderness beyond the wall.
"The academy was built at the border of the two continents, and the professors living here protect humanity from the monsters beyond."
Seraphina smiled faintly before declaring, "And this is the place we need to go in our S-Ranked Quest."
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End of Volume 1: Vlad’s Enrollment at the Arcane Academy and His Bonds with His Three Beautiful Companions, Chloe, Seraphina, and Lirien.