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    [Bonus Chapter: 2/6]


    The three neared the city closest to them. Ss had no idea its name, but he didn''t care. That was something he would learn about once he was in the academy. For now, the only thing he cared about was the forcefield.


    "You see those runes?" Ss asked while pointing at the shining runes outside the academy.


    "Yeah..." Alex narrowed his eyes. He couldn''t understand what Ss was trying to teach him.


    The runes outside the city were well known for being traps. Idiots would think that they could break the barrier around the city by destroying the runes, but instead, they would just receive a deadly attack that would mortally wound them.


    The real runes were on the inside, and even then, they were ced at random locations throughout the entire city, so it was nearly impossible to break the entire thing down if you didn''t have 50 people working simultaneously to break all the runes simultaneously.


    Well, 50 was just a guess. No one but the mayor or leader of the city would know how many runes there are around. Even the architects have no idea.


    Other cities used spires that let out energy that powered the barrier. Breaking down a spire was as hard as breaking into the city by force, and even then, you could need to break almost all of them before the barrier faltered.


    Every spire had enough energy to power the entire barrier, but the power would only falter when almost all of them were gone.


    However, that wasn''t the point Ss was trying to make.


    "In the walls around the city, there are runes etched into it. You can only really see it when the city walls are broken, but they have runes etched into them, powered by the same crystals that are used to power the normal barrier." Ss exined.


    "What do they do then?" Alex asked while looking at the enormous city before them.


    If he were, to be honest, this would have been thergest city he had ever seen; however, that wouldn''t be surprising.


    Looking at him, Ss'' smile widened before he grabbed a pebble.


    His hand quickly disappeared and reappeared, and at the same time, the sound of a gunshot going off rippled through the air, causing Alex to close his ears.


    However, when he looked at the direction the pebble had gone in, he saw something rippling through the air.


    "What the hell is that." Alex looked on with utter shock.


    "A barrier that wraps itself around the entire academy and its five cities." Ss exined.


    "What... I''ve never heard of this before." Nymira spoke from the side with a shocked expression. She had gone out a lot more than both Ss and Alexbined. Usually, she went out to apany Jessica or Eclipse, but sometimes she would go out on her own to explore the kingdom.


    It was something she did until recently. While she wasn''t instantly recognizable, her hair did give her away, and unlike Ss, she didn''t want to take a potion that changed the color of her hair. Ss never understood why she didn''t want to do that; if she didn''t want to, who was he to force her?


    "The barrier only blocks people at the sapphire core or higher. At the same time it, it measures the toki around you and sees if you can enter." Ss exined.


    "Then why did it stop the pebble?" Alex asked from the side while looking at the barrier with awe.


    By now, Ss could see a few guardsing out of the city, every single one of them being at the Orichalcum rank.


    ''Around sapphire core, huh...'' Ss thought silently before pointing at the barrier and looking at Alex.


    "Because I hit it with enough force that it thought that it was being attacked by a sapphire core level attack." Ss exined before folding his arms.


    "Ah! I see that you''ve finallye!" A raspy voice spoke excitedly while walking from between the guards with open arms.


    Looking at the man, Ss could not help but narrow his eyes.


    "You know of me?"


    "I know of all of you!" The man let out a bellyugh.


    He looked older than Ss, Nymira, and Alexbined... Or, at least he would have if Ss was actually still a teenager. Ss would be around 62 years old or older if he were to consider his previous lives.


    ''Damn... I''m getting old.'' Ss sighed while rubbing the bridge of his nose.


    "You must be Nymira, and that one is Alex, I assume." The man pointed at them with a grin on his face.


    He was a little chubby, showing a clear beer belly that bulged out of his suit. However, if one were to look closely, one would quickly notice that he had the physique of a retired wrestler.


    He wore a well-tailored suit that one would usually wear at a party. His suit had two tails that reached the ground in length, yet the runes on the clothes caught Ss'' attention.


    ''Amazing craftmanship...'' Ss thought while narrowing his eyes.


    "And you must be the general Judgement. I didn''t actually get your name." The man scratched his beard with a thoughtful look.


    ''One arm bigger than the other... Definitely a cksmith. 50-years-old? Probably owns an animal or two. Furry in nature if the fur on his shoulder is to be believed. Storage ring. Pristine sapphire core. Most likely a grandfather. He had a wedding ring, be he looks quite disgruntled... Probably married for a long time and drunk. Though, he does handle himself well even under the influence. Must be his mana core taking effect to reduce the symptoms of intoxication.'' Ss quickly analyzed as his eyes darted around the man''s body.


    ''Though, he must be quite rich to have such a good suit. Though, to have one this powerful would mean that he''s either really careful around people or that he had people out there that might want to kill him.'' Ss thought


    "Good. It wouldn''t get good for us if you knew my name now, would it." Ss chuckled


    ------------------


    [Glossary updated]


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