Little Ranni listened and nodded slightly.
"So be it. I promise you, in the name of the 'Moon Princess' Ranni of the Carian royal family—we will open the Magic Academy, and we will also allow you to study magic freely within the academy, without being excluded."
Thops was overjoyed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lady Ranni! Thank you, Master Nidhogg!"
Nidhogg placed Miniature Ranni back on his shoulder, took the Academy Glintstone Key from Thops, nodded to him, and headed for the gates of the Magic Academy.
"Ranni, the key can only be used by its owner. Will you be alright?"
"No problem. Melina, I, and Torrent are essentially attached to your body and the Spirit Steed Whistle. We are one with you. We've managed to fool this heavy magical barrier."
"Oh, that's good."
Nidhogg pointed the Academy Glintstone Key at the barrier door. Upon contact, the grey barrier automatically vanished. Nidhogg was able to enter the academy.
Turning back, he saw Thops at the academy gates, bowing and nodding to him. Nidhogg bowed in return and officially began his journey through the Magic Academy.
Through the door was an elevator. Nidhogg took the elevator. Amidst the sound of hinges and gears, he arrived at an upward-sloping bridge.
Here, Nidhogg saw the tip of the iceberg of this Magic Academy. Its territory was quite large. It looked mysterious and beautiful under the light of the full moon.
To Nidhogg, it was a creepy version of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Nidhogg crossed the bridge. When he wanted to enter the Magic Academy complex at the end of the bridge, he saw two mages guarding the door.
Like Thops, they wore dark blue sorcerer's robes. But on their heads were strange hoods. They held wands.
The headgear of these mages symbolized the different factions within the Magic Academy. But they all had one goal—they were all connected to the stars, but used glintstone materials for magic. Therefore, it was called "glintstone sorcery."
Simply put, the "Rain of Stars" of the ancient observers was the starting point of glintstone sorcery. Then the two "Primeval Sorcerers" —Lusat and Azur—carried it forward.
Lusat's sorcery was the meteorite system. Azur's was the comet system. Besides them, there were several large and small factions. Their headgear was used to distinguish between factions.
Besides distinguishing factions, these hoods increased a certain level of intelligence.
However, Nidhogg didn't need to know which faction they were from at this time. These "outside brains" were all the same to him. They were all mages who looked alike.
Ah, except for Teacher Miriel.
FWOOSH—!
As soon as the two mages saw Nidhogg, they saw no hood, magic robe, or wand. They knew he was an uninvited guest. Without a word, they used their glintstone wands to shoot blue arrows at him!
Nidhogg was quite agile. He jumped left and right on the stairs a few times, easily dodging all the light arrows. In one go, he reached the two mages.
SCHLICK—!
Bloodhound's Fang swept out. Two heads flew into the air along with their hoods, falling onto the stairs like two large balls, rolling down.
At that moment, both bodies fell.
Still trying to kite me from range? Do you think I'm still the same as when I first left the novice village?
Little Ranni, sitting on Nidhogg's shoulder, held onto his collar with one hand, while her other three hands clung to his clothes to avoid being thrown off.
"Inside is the Church of the Cuckoo. Behind it is a graveyard. Take the path down by the waterwheel. You can reach the school dormitory. Then cross the atrium and step onto the bridge. That's where the Raya Lucaria Grand Library should be. That's where my mother is under house arrest."
Using her memory, she recalled the structure of the entire Magic Academy and gave Nidhogg this precise route.
"Alright."
As soon as Nidhogg pushed through the door, a mage from the Church of the Cuckoo fired three icy blue light arrows at him.
At the same time, several clanking puppet soldiers jumped down from the second floor and surrounded him.
The so-called "Church of the Cuckoo" was probably connected to the "Cuckoo Knights," who served the Magic Academy.
However, this group of Cuckoo Knights were, at best, mercenaries of the Magic Academy. A black glove the Magic Academy intended to use to replace the power of the Carian royal family. But they were not loyal.
And indeed, after the Shattering, this group of Cuckoo Knights attacked the Carian Royal Manor. So they turned their heads and tried to attack the Magic Academy to seize power.
This is one of the reasons the Magic Academy sealed its gates with enchantment.
As for the puppet soldiers, they were retinue created by the mages. They had deliberately designed the puppet soldiers' attack patterns to be unpredictable, even a little crazy, posing a certain threat.
However, before Nidhogg today, it was all the same.
CRASH—!
After killing the mages and puppet soldiers in the Church of the Cuckoo, he passed through the adjacent corridor and turned towards the graveyard near the Church of the Cuckoo.
Among the many tombstones, a group of rotten undead crawled on the ground. Their eyes glowed blue. When they saw Nidhogg, a living person, they lunged at him. Starving dogs also growled softly.
Nidhogg was still one sword per enemy, cutting down these rotten undead and starving dogs to the ground, then moving forward.
However, he didn't seem in a hurry to leave the graveyard. He looked around, searching for something.
"It should be here. I hope it's still there. The mages probably wouldn't be interested in this. Wearing such an ugly hood, the chance of it not being taken is still very high."
"What are you muttering about?" Little Ranni asked curiously.
"Ah, there it is! They haven't taken it!"
Nidhogg killed several rotten undead worshiping a tombstone, then picked up a set of light blue armor placed before the grave.
Little Ranni finally understood what he was looking for.
「Carian Knight Helm」
「Carian Knight Armor」
「Carian Knight Gauntlets」
「Carian Knight Greaves」
Of the fewer than 20 knights who once served the Carian royal family, one had died here. His armor was enshrined before his grave.
Nidhogg had specifically come to find them. He began to change, swapping his Vagabond Knight Set for the Carian Knight Set. This set looked quite heroic.
"Childish." Little Ranni shook her head helplessly, thinking to herself: How could my lord be such a person? Alas, no help for it. He was my own chosen lord. Regardless, I must be with him.
Nidhogg quickly changed into the Carian Knight Set. Of course, it made him, already handsome, look even more upright and heroic. He immediately said to Ranni:
"My Moon Princess, your loyal knight, Nidhogg, is here."
"Hmph, alright, alright. Come on. The waterwheel is over there." Little Ranni glanced at Nidhogg a few times, then pointed in a direction, as if she didn't care.
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