"Give everything to me, we'll have time in the town to go through everything," Jim said loudly to everyone and then he started to receive what they had and stored them inside his ring.
"This armor looks nice, take it Deno."
"This sword… I'll take it."
"These boots look nice, take them Ashley."
"This whip… sigh, Jenny it's yours."
He started to distribute anything that could be used by any member of his team, while things like arm and leg guards were stored alongside other strange things like hats and cloaks.
And of course any rings were stored as well without question.
In less than five minutes, they cleared everything and were now running towards the town with fast steps. Jim was the last one to move as he took the mission of guarding the rear on his shoulders.
They took fifteen minutes to finally reach the outer perimeters of the town. There they found a small garrison standing doing nothing just a hundred meters in front of the gate.
"Pay the entry fee first," one of the guards shouted in a loud tone and a strange look over his face when he noticed Deno. "One academy coin is needed to enter per group."
"We are only thirteen," Rick took the charge of speaking with this greedy guard, "why should we pay the same price like other larger teams?"
"It's the rules," the guard sneered, "pay or go back."
"But I never heard of any rule such as this one before," Roo moved to stand before the guard while speaking in a strong tone.
"Well," the guard smirked, "you can consider me the law here. If I said you pay one academy coin, then you'll have to pay it."
Before things got any further, Jim moved suddenly to the front while saying, "I'm the leader of this team, and this is your coin."
"Such a rich kid," the guard sneered, "one coin won't be noticed by your vast wealth… human."
Jim ignored the hidden insults as he turned to his team and said, "let's go."
Despite him saying that, he was the last one to follow his men into the town. Before entering there, he gave the guard one last look, engraving the face of his in his mind for later.
"See you around," he said before entering the town under the watchful gazes of the guard and his friends.
"Hi, are you new disciples in the academy?"
Just as Jim joined the rest of his team and before they could even speak about what just happened outside, a voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling them.
"Show yourself," Jim shouted as he turned around and saw no one.
"Calm down, you are very secured inside the town," suddenly a strange portal appeared in front of Jim and others. The portal was like a violet whirlpool with darkness in the center.
"Show yourself," Jim wasn't satisfied or secured by these strange words. He was vigilant the moment he heard that voice, and didn't rest when he saw that strange whirlpool.
"Calm down," Rick suddenly said, "it's the usher of the town, a guide to all visitors."
"So why doesn't he show himself up?" Jenny was also acting hostile against the usher.
"He can't," Roo helplessly smiled, "he has no physical body and can only show himself up using this whirlpool."
"True… indeed true," the usher said before adding, "my name is Rili, and I'm glad to be in your service."
Jim exchanged glances with others and then sighed. 'He is a friend, don't mind him,' the old man's voice suddenly came to Jim's mind.
'Finally,' Jim inwardly sighed, 'I thought you were sleeping or dead.'
'Hahaha, I'm already dead,' the old man jokes, 'but you were still under constant watch. But here is safe, I can talk to you freely.'
'Explaining what happened at the ceremony?'
'Are you dissatisfied with that?'
'Indeed not.'
'Then why ask me about the reason?'
'I wanna understand.'
'Later,' the old man mysteriously said, 'the lesser you know the better.'
'How come?'
'You're weak. Get stronger and you'll know more.'
"How much will you take for a tour?" Randy suddenly asked, attracting Jim's attention.
"Five orbs per hour," Rili said.
"Isn't it a bit pricey?" Rick didn't like the price, "I know the usual price around here is one orb per hour."
"Didn't you find it strange no one but me appeared in front of you?" Rili didn't directly answer Rick's doubts.
"Your meaning?" Jim stepped forward as he took the lead again.