Mystical Journey

"People from the Maria Region dare to be this arrogant?"

An army of black Mechs flew across the sky. A few of them descended slowly, suspending in the air right above the teaching block, overlooking below.

The one that spoke was a Mech with two curved horns attached to its chest.

"Who are you?! Get down here!"

Leanna looked up, two rays of electrical light shot out from her eyes with a bang. The blue electrical lights with rolls of thunder shot towards the Mechs in the air.

At the same time, the men in the sky released a black fog-like Willpower Mist Force which was fiercely sweeping downwards.

As the blue electrical light came into contact with the black mist, an electrical light followed by a shutter sound broke through the blanket of darkness, hitting the surface of the black body. Its Pilot let out a painful howl as it took a few steps back.

"Stupid," a look of underestimation flashed through her eyes. "Do they think they can just rely on a Mech booster?"

"Right! The Blackboard Region is getting less and less advanced nowadays, using Mech boosters when they can't guarantee a winning fight. If this is the case, we might as well drive our bodies over for a battle. Three Marshals and One Star, they're just alright," a woman behind Leanna grunted loudly.

"You bitch!!" The black body could not suppress its anger and roared. He was very pissed. Not only was he being shot at while driving a body, but he was shot by a woman in front of a huge crowd!

"Calm down, Jack! She's targeting the people of Blue Narcissus. Just observe quietly." Just as Jack was about to attack back, a tremendous power from behind held him down instantly.

Leanna sneered.

"I will be here waiting for three days. If your so-called small Three Marshals and One Star don't show up by then, I'll know that I've witnessed Blackboard's so-called elites..."

She turned to lead the way towards the dormitory area with the other women quickly keeping up behind her. No one dared to step in their way and they soon disappeared into the crowd.

"Let's go!"

The black Mechs continued to soar in the sky, flying in the direction of the Inner Courtyard.

Inside the main teaching block, there was a huge French window in the middle of the room.

Several masters were observing the commotion beneath them.

"Not bad, Maria Region is producing more and more outstanding disciples. It seems that they are progressing pretty well." A bearded middle-aged man commented with a smile.

"Just right to give these lazy kids some motivation to work hard instead of constantly thinking that they're the top elites, maybe all they need is a trigger." Another plump middle-aged woman nodded. "So long they grasp well to a certain degree and do not go over the line."

"That young lady has probably reached Half-Moon Level already and she's only thirty years old. How young," another master muttered.

"She's the daughter of the Maria Region's King. Besides her illustrious background and abundant resources, she also has talent. For her to be able to reach this level is not surprising at all."

"Notify all the chiefs to hand up a list of outstanding students from each department. We shall pick suitable candidates to fight this young lady," the middle-aged woman instructed.

"Understood."

"The candidates must be strong. Those slightly weaker ones might be ruined if they are unable to endure through it all. Uh, this kid sure knows how to pick the right time. The elites are all out?"

The middle-aged woman was silent, as she remembered the Three Marshals and One Star were all out on quests.

"I shall go report to the Vice-Chancellor now." A master turned and walked out of the room. There was only one president in the Outer Courtyard who is also the Dean. In reality, the Chancellor did not have much matter to worry about whereas the other vice president was the one managing the academy issues.

Soon, offices from other teaching blocks had received the notice from the Vice-Chancellor to assign elite students from each department to accept Leanna's challenge.

Inside an office full of mahogany furniture, two men let out continuous sighs as they chatted. One was leaning against the mahogany desk, the other seated on a leather chair behind the desk, both of them wearing the same bitter expressions on their face.

"My department, Supporting Combat department, won't be able to make it. Their average level of Willpower is weaker than the Main Battle department by another level. It's up to you, Ansader." The one standing said helplessly.

"I have no way either," Ansader was the chief of the War Machinery department, also mainly responsible for the mobilization of the department. "Besides the Boot System, don't we still have the Field Battle department and the Specialty Department? No way we're bearing all these right?"

He too observed what just happened outside the window, a Half-Moon Level Five Resonance Degree. This level was considered elite in the Inner Courtyard already. How was he supposed to find someone suitable from his department?

"Didn't you recommend a few prodigies to the academy every year? Filter through the ones who got admitted and shortlist the few exceptional ones," the man standing by the side asked.

He dropped by on purpose to find potential students to represent the Supporting Combat department for the upcoming challenge so they won't lose too badly. He did not have any other plans as the kids over at the Supporting Combat department simply would not have stood a chance against the power of Willpower. 99 percent of the students could not even build an Exclusive Mech, let alone achieving Half-Moon Level resonance degree. If they can't even reach Level Five Willpower, needless to say, resonance degree is pretty much impossible to achieve.

Majority of the Pilot students generally waited until they graduate and earn money before building their own bodies, then producing resonance degree.

"I do recommend people but it's not easy to find someone at Half-Moon Level Five!" Ansader let out a wry smile with his hands spread open. "Those few who achieved Half-Moon Levels in the academy's Inner Courtyard are either out on quests or not in the academy, so tell me where do I go look for such people?"

"Well, the Chancellor had already let the word out that every department in the academy must nominate at least two students. The seniors won't do as Leanna is a neo-human student, and is one of the top five outstanding prodigies of the Maria Academy. If we dispatch the seniors, it wouldn't matter even if we win," the standing master said.

"That is to say so." Ansader was getting frustrated as he rubbed his temples. "Students of the Half-Moon Level can't be old either, how are we going to find someone suitable!"

Both of them were very well aware that within the whole of Blackboard, the ones who reached Half-Moon Level were just a handful of people. Ranking behind the Three Marshals and One Star were Britney, Fila, and the others. Of course, they had already graduated. However, the ones who were currently active on duty were Medero, Karfi and Narisiss. The three of them were actually old already but they had special reasons as to why they still stayed in the standings.

"I'm getting a headache from this… did the three parties of the academy respond?" He looked up and asked.

"Among the three parties, the Black Star Party is keeping quiet; the Black Rain party led by Medero and the others would probably send their backup Black Rain team to take action, it's just a matter of sending who." The man heaved a sigh before replying.

In fact, both of them knew that within the whole of Blackboard, the ones who managed to reach Half-Moon Level Five were truly just a handful of people. After the Black Star, it was Medero, Karfi and Narisiss, then Britney, Fila and Leila. These people were the pillars of strength for Blackboard. The first four were known as the Three Marshals and One Star by the outside world, whereas the three at the back were star students who were highly sought after by countless other academies. They were truly the only ones above Half-Moon Level Five.

"Where did this Leanna come from? How is it that I've never heard about her before today…" Ansader sank into deep thought.

"Nevermind, someone notified Britney already…" the master standing at the side frowned while taking a look at his watch displaying the clear message.

"Who informed her? Isn't she holidaying in South Sea? How is she able to return so soon with such short notice?" Ansadar frowned and asked.

"It was intentional."

"It should be directed at her alone," Ansader nodded in agreement.

Both of them felt a sense of premeditated atmosphere in the air.

"This is troublesome… Blue Narcissus has never been known for its combat skills," Ansader commented softly.

Both of them stood up and went to the French window. Far away, multiple blue airships were moving in the direction of the entrance of the Inner Courtyard.

******************

Radiation Belt, Flying Batoid City

Floating across the calm quiet sky of the Flying Batoid City were gigantic flying batoids. These creatures with fan-like wings would constantly let out a long cattle roar.

The huge black trees stood high like forts on the mountain, with lights flickering from the people's homes.

Below the grey town was a green farmland with its crops swaying gently in the breeze. The crops were bizarre looking, and at the top of it was an extraordinarily, fat green maggot which seemed like it was squirming once in a while.

Garen's tattered body flew from a distance, suspending over the town and slowly descend once he reached the city's main gate.

"Lord!" Two teams came swarming towards Garen. Vendant who hosted Garen the previous time reappeared, "Lord, you are back! Where are the other masters?"

He took a step forward and gave Garen a respectful bow.

"Don't ask questions that you should not be asking. Get me a new armor for my Mech." Exhausted, Garen exited the body. After rushing back without stopping for any breaks and constantly on the watch throughout the way, he was tired.

"Nobody is allowed to open the cabin. If anything goes wrong, you will not be able to afford to bear the consequences! Don't say I didn't warn you!" The knowledge ores were likely to melt if he cabin is opened and exposed to the temperature outside.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Vendant acknowledged hurriedly. With a wave of his hand, he motioned the men behind him to search for a tractor to drag the body into another garage.

Truth be told, Garen was not worried about sombody opening the body's cabin and ruining the knowledge ores. After all, nobody dared to disobey his command as this area was close by to the Blackboard Region and there were plenty of Blackboard Pilots patrolling around.

Moreover, the difference in strength between both sides is very large. People from the White Light would not dare to enter this area so if the people here promised not to open the cabin, they would definitely not do so.

Led by Vendant, Garen entered the city once again. This time around, he opted for a quiet, comfortable place to just sleep instead of his usual choice of entertainment.

When he woke up, Little Bitch was already resting beside him naked.

"Hu…"

He groggily chose a place groggily last night to sleep. Sitting up, he surveyed his surroundings. The bedroom was clean and neat with a low radiation count. Every corner of the room was spotless and it was obvious the room was well kept.

Bright rays of sunlight shone in and the crisp sound of birds chirping could be heard. This was considered rare in the region since it had been a long time the region had birds.

"You are awake?" Little Bitch also woke up around the same time, hazily straightening her frame.

"Go back to sleep," said Garen. He got down from the bed and walked out of the bedroom. He was still dressed in his radiation suit so he did not need a jacket.

The small yard outside had a lot of green plants that looked very good.

"Oh, you're awake. Did you have a good night's sleep?" Anda was seated in the middle of the yard by a small stone table. He had a tablet in his hands, which was playing a TV series showing a man and a woman hugging each other and crying. It was obviously one of those old-school TV plots where one of them was diagnosed with cancer.

Garen walked over to sit beside him. Picking up the drink on the table, he poured it into the filter pipe of the radiation suit.

"When did you come back?"

"Yesterday. Actually, you arrived just two hours earlier than me." Anda smiled, "I say, you are so insensitive. You said you will ditch me and you did just that. If it wasn't for my little tricks, I would have been crippled already just because of the psycho. Then we met the lunatics, you said run and you really did ran."

"Isn't singling one by one out not good? Look at us, our limbs are still intact," Garen laughed.

"So how was it?" Anda inched nearer and asked mysteriously.

"How what? Don't come any closer." Garen swiftly distanced himself away from Anda. After experiencing such a life-death experience, they could get along much better now.

"Stop pretending, you definitely took more stash than me!" Anda cried out loud. The calm and mature composure seen in this guy from the beginning was gone, and all that was left was his thick-skinned attitude.

"What are you planning to do?" Garen pondered for a moment and asked.