Ding ding ding…
The bells rang, signifying the end of school.
Gurney looked outside the window.
It was currently evening. The sky was hazy and gray, and the air was filled with the sharp stench of burnt "magic-source coal". This smell would only get less pungent after a huge rain.
"Another ordinary and peaceful day has passed." Gurney stretched his body as he sighed.
The other students were all getting up and leaving with joyful chatter.
People who could enroll in Sugar Supernatural Academy were mostly those with affluent backgrounds.
And those who could join the "magic faculty" were even richer because mages had to be able to spend a huge sum of money in all aspects. Potion, alchemy, magic circle, incantation, machinery, rune, elemental… all sorts of subjects needed the foundation of great wealth and capital.
Subconsciously, Gurney touched the inner pocket of his black shirt.
He felt a metallic sensation.
His seemingly ordinary black shirt was actually worn over a powerful "black-iron soft armor" with high defense.
This black-iron soft armor was a piece of rare supernatural equipment that was "black-iron grade", and it was quite valuable.
Black-iron metal was an elementary "supernatural metal" in the supernatural-metals list.
Unlike with an ordinary metal such as iron, the supernatural metal black iron had an almost perfect trait.
Black iron was 0.62 times the density of pure iron, and its tensile strength was five to six times that of steel. It also had good ductility and toughness. These were the reasons why it could become a supernatural metal.
Through metallurgy, mixing in a small amount of supernatural black iron could turn steel into a "black-iron alloy" that had extraordinary strength and toughness.
And this was the reason why large steel structures could be built continuously in this steampunk age.
As for the black-iron soft armor that Gurney wore, it was the armor that an alchemist had created using the supernatural black-iron metal, and it possessed supernatural attributes as well.
Ordinary weapons could not even scratch the surface of this black-iron soft armor.
Normal mages often wore the supernatural mage cloaks. They would never think of wearing heavy metallic armor that would only weigh them down.
As for Gurney, he felt that wearing a mage cloak openly like that was simply broadcasting to your enemies that you were fragile.
As the super cautious advocate of the path of mage tankiness, Gurney not only had the concept of tankiness, but he even set himself as a role model.
Tankiness!
It was not just for show; he backed it with real action.
Gurney was wearing a black-iron soft armor with shocking defenses under his normal black shirt.
This soft armor had provided Gurney a great deal of help in his past battles although those were quite rare, to be honest.
After writing his notes and arranging his books, Gurney turned to leave the classroom, but suddenly, an agile figure blocked the path between Gurney's seat and the entrance door.
It was a young girl with blond hair and blue eyes wearing a blue mage cloak; she had a curvy body and an outstanding appearance.
On her cloak, there were supernatural runes all over, shining in faint blue light that could be observed at times, making her body shape even more outstanding.
This was not standard clothing; it was a genuine cloak with supernatural attributes. As a supernatural armor, it had great defensive power.
Of course, compared to the black-iron soft armor, this cloak's defense was lower.
As he gazed at the other party's pale skin and outstanding facial features, Gurney remained completely unmoved.
This young girl named Yulair Kogen was a true "whale".
Gurney had once guessed that her family owned a mine. Not long after, through some secret channels, Gurney learned that the family of this student really owned a mine, more than one, in fact. She even had aristocratic status.
In Sugar Ruins City, there were many rich people, but those who had aristocratic statuses were few.
"What is it?" Gurney looked around and asked in a low tone.
Most of the students in the classroom had left already; nobody should have noticed that he was still here.
"We have a gathering tonight. At the same old place," Yulair Kogen spoke in a clear voice. She was not loud, but her tone contained the elegance and confidence of an aristocrat.
"Got it!" Gurney nodded.
After casting a glance at Gurney again, Yulair Kogen left the room.
Compared to others, Yulair Kogen knew clearly that this guy, Gurney Lawrence, acted differently from all the other students she had ever met; he was a true "tanky mage".
She had seen firsthand his aspiration to become tanky.
Have you ever seen an Apprentice Spellcaster stand up and cast spells nonchalantly after being sent flying over ten meters by the hammer of a mutated elite goblin?
Yulair Kogen had seen it with her own eyes; this Gurney Lawrence did just that.
Gurney, who walked out of the classroom, thought about it for a while before rubbing his temple.
"I wonder what those guys found this time. A certain inheritance tomb? Some mysterious cavern? Or maybe even a corrupted underground ruin?
"I should follow them and take a look. My Passive Farming System's [Special Encounter] function may have some findings.
"After all, in my previous small explorations, I used the [Special Encounter] function of my system to get a lot of good stuff."
Yulair Kogen had told Gurney of the gathering.
It was a small exploration team that some rich aristocrat students in Sugar Supernatural Academy had created together. They shared a love of mysticism and strength. They were also adventurous and would gather when there was an event; they would even find time to go on explorations together.
After all, Sugar Ruins City was at the boundary of the supernatural wilderness and mountains, and there were many areas to explore.
Theoretically speaking, Gurney who was not from an affluent family should not have been able to join this group.
The reason why Gurney was able to join them was that three months ago, during an exploration, Gurney had saved these five people who were trapped by "curse zombies" at a certain ruin in the wilderness plain.
These young people saw that Gurney had extraordinary strength, so they naturally invited him to join the group afterwards.
And in their explorations after that, Gurney even displayed his own methods and strengths that were above the norm. This made the rich and noble students invite him for each exploration that they decided to go on.
Nobody would reject such a powerful teammate and bodyguard.
...
Sugar Ruins City was considered a relatively large city compared to the other "Ruins" Cities on the boundary of the wilderness. Its main duty was to defend the border of the Jade Orchid Empire while also expanding into new territory on the supernatural plain.
With the arrival of the supernatural steam era, the federations and empires of humanity started to step into territories that were unexplored in the past, such as supernatural plains, mountains, plateaus, and other locations that humans did not dare to step into previously.
In this process of expansion, most of the human gathering grounds were the wilderness tribes or ruins that were created by the pioneers of the ancient times or other intelligent tribes that had existed.
This was also where the "Ruins City" titles came from.
Not every Ruins City could develop successfully.
Compared to many of the other Ruins Cities, Sugar Ruins City was undoubtedly one of the most dazzling ones at the northern border of the Jade Orchid Empire.
The reason was that at the north of Sugar Ruins City, near the edge of the Alto Mountain Range, there was a huge black-iron ore mine.
After the supernatural steam railway was built, Sugar Ruins City's northern mountain range was also excavated area by area.
During this process, they found that this area once hosted at least four tribes from an ancient civilization of some size.
There were even traces of the mysterious Gnome Ruins Civilization.
Furthermore, there were often rumors spreading around that a certain adventurer group had excavated an ancient civilization ruins and found a powerful "supernatural token".
Or that a certain lucky person had found an ancient treasure.
Or that a certain adventurer was forced to jump down a cliff by his enemies and found a mysterious supernatural inheritance as a result.
All sorts of news had spread throughout the various corners of the Jade Orchid Empire.
A large number of wealth seekers, adventurers, mercenary companies, individual mercenaries, investors, and others who held dreams of success rushed to this peripheral city that was rising up in the age of the supernatural steampunk civilization.
And this was also why Sugar Ruins City, a city at the northern border of the Jade Orchid Empire, became the most dazzling city full of dreams and promised riches.
...
North of Sugar Ruins City, in the Black Map District, a large number of mercenaries and adventurers gathered.
All sorts of things were sold here — materials, high grade ores, potions, equipment, and other things.
Of course, at times, there were mysterious high-end events and auctions as well; some supernatural materials, equipment, combat techniques, spells, or even the extremely rare supernatural token would appear then.
After all, a supernatural token was the key to stepping onto the path of a Transcendent. It was known as the half-angel, half-devil key that struck fear and greed in people.