Chapter 216 - Messaging the Academy

“That’s right,” Adion said with a smile, “You recognize me?”

“How…What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the Saba Desert?” The Diamond mage asked in confusion, but also obvious joy. 

“It’s a long story,” Adion said with a wry smile. He jumped off White’s back, as it seemed impolite to speak down to the Diamond mage. 

“Is it really you?” The Diamond mage asked once again.

“It really is,” Adion said with a helpless smile. They must have looked for me like crazy these past months. It makes me feel a little guilty. “Are you from the Academy?”

“I am,” The Diamond mage said as a smile started creeping onto his face, “I’m Marcus Seffren, a scholar during normal times. I don’t really have much contact with students normally.”

“Nice to meet you, Marcus,” Adion said. He noticed how the people behind him gathered around a piece of paper, alternating between looking at Adion and the paper. 

Seems they have a missing poster even in this area.

Marcus approached Adion and put a hand on his shoulder, “This is great news! How are you? Are you hurt? How did you get away from Heavenly Light? How did you end up here?”

“I’m fine,” Adion answered, “I managed to escape about a month and a half ago. Since then…” Adion hesitated on how much to share. Even if this man was from the Academy, Adion didn’t know him. “Well, a lot has happened. I’ll explain it all later. But some things are of great importance, so I’ll have to report it to the Headmaster first.”

“I see,” Marcus nodded, “Well, that’s fine. We should hurry and report this to the Academy. Soft Soul Terans is stationed in outpost Helsa at the moment. Even if he isn’t part of the Academy, he should have access to a touban.”

“That’s great,” Adion said with a smile. He didn’t want his family to worry about him anymore.

“Alright, everyone,” Marcus turned around and called out, “Everyone get on with their business. I’m bringing Adion back to the outpost.”

Everyone nodded, and the four Gold mages who had first intercepted Adion and White slowly made their way past them. 

“By the way,” Marcus said slowly, glancing at White, “What’s the deal with this beast?”

“This is White,” Adion introduced, “I met him years ago before I entered the Academy, and we became friends. We recently met again unexpectedly, and I promised to show him Cyalis.”

“I see. Well, that’s fine. A pleasure to meet, White,” Marcus greeted politely, clasping his fist.

White let out a happy bark and trodded up to Adion.

“I’ll ride on White,” Adion said, jumping up on the beast.

“Alright, follow us,” Marcus said, and he and the other mages started running back to outpost Helsa. 

Marcus seems like the friendly type. 

This Soft Soul Terans should be an ally…But I can’t rule out the possibility that he’s a spy. I need to keep my guard up.

Hopefully, the touban can connect to the Headmaster, and I can inform him of everything directly.

White followed the mages at a leisurely pace, and it didn’t take very long before they arrived at outpost Helsa. It was a much grander and sturdier outpost than the one they had just been at. Tall stone walls spread out for about half a mile. 

It seems like this is an important outpost with a lot of effort put into it. 

As they approached the gates, Marcus slowed down and turned to Adion. 

“I’m afraid I don’t have the authority to let White inside,” Marcus said with an apologetic smile, “And to be honest, even if I did, I don’t think I would. With a beast invasion arriving any day now, allowing a Diamond beast to enter an outpost in the Outskirts would cause too much of a commotion.”

“That’s fine,” Adion said, finding the explanation reasonable, “White can wait outside, but there won’t be people attacking him, right?”

“It would be good if he could stay within vision of the gates, that way we can explain it to anyone who is leaving,” Marcus said.

“Okay,” Adion said. He then jumped off White’s back and told him to do as Marcus had suggested.

“If something goes wrong and people attack you, don’t be afraid to fight back,” Adion quietly instructed. He didn’t want White to suffer a loss in case there were people around stupid enough to attack him.

“How long will you be gone?” White asked.

“I’m not sure. But no matter what, I’ll come out to see you before morning,” Adion said.

“Okay, good,” White said, jumping away to rest below the trees about a mile away. 

Marcus led Adion into the outpost, and Adion turned to ask, “What has been going on since I left? Did my disappearance cause any trouble?”

Marcus’s lip twitched slightly as he answered, “Not too much trouble. With the war against Heavenly Light, things have been tumultuous, of course. The Academy has been shifting much of its focus from studying to fighting. But that’s not entirely bad. You can’t expect to progress just by staying behind the safe walls of the Academy. I had been at the peak of Gold for 15 years before this war started, and I’m not the only one who has profited. All in all, I’d say we have strengthened a lot in these past months.”

“The Academy got so involved in the war?” Adion asked, slightly somber. He could tell Marcus was trying to make the situation sound better than it actually was.

“Quite involved,” Marcus admitted, “But that’s not your fault. We didn’t only fight in this war because of your kidnapping. Cyalis has always tried to keep Shiora away from war. But Heavenly Light suddenly attacked an entire kingdom. How could we stand by and watch such a thing happen? Not to mention that they had infiltrated Cyalis with spies, facilitating your kidnapping. 

“Since we’re at war, people have naturally died. But if we don’t fight, we will remain weak, and we can only watch as Heavenly Light eventually begins targeting Cyalis.”

“Haaah,” Adion sighed. I suppose this isn’t entirely my fault. But seeing how even these people carried around a poster with my face, it’s a little embarrassing to see the effort that must have been put into saving me. 

I’ll have to make some contribution once I get back.

Maybe I can figure something out about Authority with the Headmaster and share the discoveries with the Academy. Offering a path to the Immortal stage should be more than enough to repay what has been given. 

Marcus updated Adion on the major changes on Shiora for the past few months. He also asked a few questions about Adion’s experiences, which Adion tried to answer as honestly as he could. But he didn’t want to reveal too much. His presence in the Rellen Kingdom was because of a teleportation formation, something that couldn’t be shared casually.

They soon arrived at a large building at the center of the outpost, belonging to the Academy. Marcus guided Adion inside.

“I will go inform Soft Soul Terans about your matter,” Marcus said as he opened the door to a small reception room, “Take a seat and have something to eat in the meantime.”

“Alright, thank you,” Adion said, taking a seat on a couch in the middle of the room. 

Not long after Marcus left, some hot food was delivered, which Adion ate with relish. He hadn’t had a proper meal in a long time and thought it tasted absolutely heavenly.

After he finished eating, Adion felt himself melting into the soft couch and closed his eyes.

This is the life. I’ve had it with adventures. I’m just going to stay at the Academy from now on, enjoying a soft bed and warm food. 

But soon, Adion recalled his promise to Shindo, and the importance of the place they discovered. 

Oh, well. If I bring Sell along, it won’t be so bad. 

Adion felt himself drifting off to sleep, but before he completely disappeared into the land of dreams, he felt the aura of a Soul mage approach.

Adion’s eyes shot wide open, and he jumped to his feet. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Marcus entered, followed by an old man with a hunched back.

“Soft Soul Terans,” Adion greeted the old man, “Thank you for taking the time to meet.”

“No trouble at all,” The old man smiled kindly, “Sit down, both of you.”

Marcus and Soft Soul Terans sat down on the couch opposite Adion, and Adion sat back down again as well. 

Soft Soul Terans looked at Adion with a smile and said, “So you’re the disciple of the Headmaster who has caused so much news lately.”

“Yeah,” Adion answered with an awkward smile.

“Just shy of 18 and already middle Silver. Quite the talent. I can see why the Headmaster treasures you so,” Soft Soul Terans said, “Anyway, I brought the touban. But I can only reach my friends in Deller from here. Hopefully, they’ll be able to get word back to the Academy. Is there something in particular you want me to say?”

Adion watched the strange metallic device the size of a brick in Soft Soul Terans hand and answered, “Just that I’m here now and on my way back, so they don’t worry. There is no need to continue their search in the Saba Desert. But please make sure that you only contact people you trust. It would be bad if Heavenly Light got word of my presence here.”

“Alright, don’t worry,” Soft Soul Ternas said, waving Adion off.

Is this old man really reliable?

Half a minute later, Soft Sol Terans spoke, “Ygor, sorry to disturb you. I have Adion Remori here, the disciple of Sage Vermon. Do you have a way to get my message to the Academy?”

A moment of silence followed before a voice responded, “Adion Remori? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, just tell me if you can get it done. Every second is costing me,” Soft Soul Ternas said irritably.

“Alright, alright. You’ll have to tell me about it later. I’ll forward your message,” The voice of the man called Ygor responded.

“It will probably be a few minutes before we hear back,” Soft Soul Ternas said, looking up to Adion.

“I understand,” Adion said, slightly nervous. He didn’t know if it was because of his memory loss or just a result of his experiences over the past few months, but it felt slightly unreal to soon come into contact with his loved ones. Adion’s heart couldn’t help but start racing.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Ygor’s voice sounded from the touban again, “I have gotten word back. The Headmaster of Cyalis Academy wants you to ask Adion what the strongest power in the world is?”

Ygor’s voice sounded a little unsure, as he didn’t quite understand the message. 

But Adion was different. He saw Soft Soul Ternas and Marcus slowly drift away from him, and it felt like he was falling into himself.

Then he recalled a memory. The Headmaster was looking out over the Melorian Bay through the window in his office at the top of the Tower of Cyalis. Adion was seated on the floor, looking up to him.

“A concept…isn’t that easy to explain. You have to trip carefully around the subject. Do so for a long time, and you will slowly inch your way closer to the answer,” The Headmaster said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adion asked, confused. Wasn’t the Headmaster supposed to be an expert on concepts?

“It means some things cannot be explained, you have to experience it,” The Heamdaster said.

“Whatever,” Adion muttered, once again experimenting with his space, trying to force his concepts to grow stronger and clearer.

“Do you know what the strongest power in the world is?” The Headmaster asked.

“What?” Adion asked.

“I’m not sure,” The Headmaster muttered, still staring out over the ocean.

“Do you enjoy messing with me?” Adion questioned grumpily.

“Hehe,” The Headmaster chuckled, “I do. But forget about that for now. It’s a question worth thinking about. Is the strongest power concepts? Gifts? Words of Truth? Oaths? Runes? Aura? Authority? If all these things are pushed to the peak, what comes out on top? Do they perhaps all converge at the end? Indistinguishable from each other? Do they all have the same underlying core principle? Some kind of power that is right under our noses but impossible to grasp?”

“What’s the point of thinking about all that?” Adion asked, somewhat in a bad mood, trying to focus on improving his spatial abilities, “It doesn’t matter, does it? Power is power. No need to think about what the best way is, as long as you grow stronger…” Adion paused for a moment, “So I guess the strongest power is growth, isn’t it?”

The Headmaster turned to look at Adion smiled lightly, “Wrong! It’s concepts, haha!”

Adion snapped back from the memory. Soft Soul Terans and Marcus were looking at him for an answer.

Adion smiled wryly and answered, “Growth.”