Leo took her time strolling about the flying city.
Aside from the magnificent castle in the distance, this city was, in a way, similar to the one below.
However, the people seemed to remain in their homes.
Very rarely, Leo would see a man or woman sitting outside or walking about.
Aside from that, people were scarce. The floor of the city was either tiled or marbled, which was astonishing. To think that such effort would be put forth into a public space.
Then again, not a lot of people used this space, it seemed.
Leo finally saw an armored man standing by himself.
"Kid, what are you doing here?" Due to her stature and somewhat elegant appearance, the man thought Leo was a noble's child.
"Going to school."
The guard frowned.
"Walking?"
Leo paused and blinked a few times.
"Yes?"
The guard chuckled. He was holding a heavy spear, but he leaned it up against a wall and walked over to her.
With a simple action, a magic circle was drawn on the floor at Leo's feet.
"Step in. It will take you to school." He was still laughing when Leo stepped on it, then she vanished.
"Walking, heh! Kids, I tell you."
Leo only saw a flash of light before she opened her eyes and realized she had teleported.
Luckily, she had seen the magic circle properly, and understood its principles.
She regretted not examining the guard though.
Leo looked around and saw what could only be described as a palace.
Around her, a number of other children were appearing out of thin air.
It seemed that teleportation was used in place of walking or other means of transportation.
That explained why she hardly saw anyone.
The children were all walking into the azure palace at a steady pace. The gate at the front was massive, and also a bright blue.
On it was a sign reading, "Northern Cloud Academy for the Nobility."
Leo smirked.
"Perk acquired, Stealth, at level one."
"Perk acquired, Sight, at level one."
"Perk acquired, Magic, at level zero. Unique skill, Repeat Magic, available."
"Unique Skill acquired. Until Magic is at level one, using Repeat Magic will require points."
As Leo walked into the school, she was also taking the time to acquire all the things she had seen appear recently.
She wanted to use this new environment to better herself, but of course that was not the only reason.
This school was something Leo had to obtain in the future. However, if she could, she would obtain it earlier than planned.
As she ascended the stairs leading into the school, she caught the eye of a number of students.
"She must be new."
"I didn't hear about any transfer."
Despite her bearing, Leo was beginning to feel a bit nervous. This was a new environment after all.
However, this was not Leo, but something else deep within. A part of her that differed from the rest.
Seeing the looks and gazes from the other children, Leo simply kept a smirk on her face and proudly walked in.
Whatever she would encounter while at school, she would face it with the same temperament she always had.
The Northern Cloud Academy was the perfect place for the children of nobles to gather.
The campus itself consisted of the marvellous azure palace, the massive grounds suitable for legions of cattle then the school itself.
The amazing fact was that a campus of such size would have already taken up all the space of the floating kingdom, however that was obviously not the case.
"It's a magical seal. All of this doesn't even exist in this kingdom. It's a separate space entirely."
Leo could peer into the secrets of the magic, thus she was able to understand how it worked.
As she walked into the palace, she saw a number of other students lined up before various desks.
She got in line and watched the others at the front.
A woman was stationed at each table, asking their names and then writing something.
Using her Mind Reading, Leo realized that this was a process carried out everyday.
The students would state their names so that they could record what time they arrived, then send them off to get what they needed for the day.
Supplies were provided. Depending on what was scheduled for the day, the students would go to certain sections of the palace hall. There were various shelves, boxes, barrels and chests filled with items.
When it was Leo's turn, most of the other students listened or watched with rapt attention.
"Name please."
"Leo Eslon."
Just like that, a silent uproar.
"Eslon? That's not a noble family."
"Who is this bumpkin? Did she come from below?"
"Where else? So she's a commoner, huh? Never seen one of those things."
Venomous remarks and hurtful whispers filled Leo's ears. Whether they came straight from the students' mouths or minds, Leo heard it all.
She sighed.
"Might as well start now."
She turned a steely-eyed gaze on them, her bright red eyes becoming unprecedentedly cold.
She let loose her mind control and watched as everyone present fell silent.
"Enough of that."
Adhering to her command, the students continued as usual.
The attendants also went back to work as normal.
Leo watched what the students were gathering for the day. A roll of paper, an inkwell and a quill.
It seemed they would be doing some writing.
She didn't bother gathering anything, she just walked through the open back door. A blinding barrier of light was in between the door and what was outside. This was the portal.
The magic seal atop the door frame glittered, then she exited into another space.
This was the rest of the campus
The massive field was actually not barren, though. There were various primitive sheds and huts, which shocked Leo.
There was no real extravagance here.
She walked along the pathway. She could hardly see the castle in the distance, which gave her an idea.
She activated Sight, which instantly allowed her to see the castle a lot more clearly. She noticed some silhouettes lining the wall atop the drawbridge.
As she continued looking at things, her Sight slowly got better and better.
"This is too easy. I just have to keep looking at things and I can advance my sight."
So she did just that.
She looked up at distant birds in the sky, a blade of grass dozens of miles away and even a lizard scurrying up a tree.
As she continued doing this, she was notified of a change.
"Inferior Sight acquired. The ability of sight beyond normal limitations. Normally, training sight beyond this point is impossible without points. If you wish to do so without point expenditure, you must learn how to see that which human beings cannot see."
"For example, you must learn how to see the world in black and white, or how to see three hundred and sixty degrees, or perhaps how to see in slow motion."
Leo immediately took a large gulp of saliva and shook her head.
"I'd rather spend points."
"Understood. Due to a lack of magical experience, superior sight would overwhelm normal people, however if you were to acquire the Master of Secrets passive skill, your mind would overcome that hurdle."
Hearing that, Leo smiled and praised her luck.
"I recently maxed out Greater Understanding, didn't I? Purchase Master of Secrets!"
"Master of Secrets purchased, at level one, for two billion points. Mastery of this skill requires it to be brought to level ten."
Leo nodded.
"Now then, give me Superior Sight."
"Alert! This is an obligatory message! Alert! This is an obligatory message!"
Leo was caught off guard and almost cried out.
"Superior Sight has a chance of exposing you to things beyond this dimensional plane. There will be no limit to what you can see. Do you wish to proceed?"
Leo took a deep breath as she walked, thought it over, then nodded.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
She almost tripped on nothing and fell.
"What the hell? I already said yes, don't try to make me change my mind!"
"As you wish."
As those words were spoken in her head, Leo felt as if her eyes suddenly began to swell. The blood vessels in them were being flooded with strange energy which in turn brought a great pressure on her eyes.
Her pupils flashed white, making her appear to be blind or have cataracts of some sort.
She fell to the floor, now suffering a headache so dreadful she couldn't even cry out in pain.
Her ten year-old body was experiencing a new summit of pain. Even her powerful mind was unable to overcome this wave of absolutely unbearable suffering.
She began to roll around on the ground, unknowingly straying further and further from the path. She rolled along the damp grass, becoming covered in mud, leaves and little twigs. Her hair also lost its previous tidiness, making her look like a crazy person as she silently rolled.
She suddenly stopped, clutching her head and finally screaming in pain.
A wave of heat washed over her face. To her dismay, this heat intensified until her eyes themselves ignited.
A burning flame devoured her eyes until nothing was left but ashes, leaving her screaming and howling.
Finally, she fell to the ground once more. The impact actually seemed to knock something loose, because as soon as she did that the earth opened up and she fell into a deep chasm.
As that happened, behind her eyelids, two pearls were silently forming. These pearls took the shape of glistening eyes that glowed on their own.
Besides that, they were no different from Leo's old eyes.
Barely conscious, she hit the ground and cried out. Luckily, the fall didn't knock her out, but provided her with the shock she needed to wake up.
She opened her eyes, astonished to find out that she had eyes since she could see.
She looked up, seeing the hole she fell from.
Slowly regaining her calm, she looked around at where she had fallen into.
It was a narrow space, like a tunnel. At one end was a stone wall, at the other end the tunnel stretched further into the earth.
She stood up, dusted herself off, then started walking.
She noticed that even in the absence of light, she could still see as if it was brightly illuminated.
She suddenly decided to try out her new sight.
As she activated it, she immediately felt a tremor.
A sudden feeling overcame her, as if she was weightless.
Then, there was a spark.
Just like that, out of no where, something sparked in front of her.
Then, she saw a thick gas cloud appear. Whenever she took a breath, she would suck in this gas, then exhale a subtly different kind.
For some reason she knew that this was none other than the air she breathed.
She looked at the rock around her in the tunnel. She saw tiny fibres like tissue all throughout the stone, each of them denoting different things.
Leo also understood exactly what she was seeing.
There was another spark, brighter and more intense.
It appeared to have come from the exact same place.
She waited again, and there was another spark from the same place.
She reached out, waiting for it before she stretched her hand out and grabbed at it.
As she did that, she heard a sound like shattering glass.
Her hand had somehow slipped into another space. She could feel that it did.
When she let go, a veil of space fell before her very eyes. This was something she would not have been able to see.
She stepped forward, entering into that very space she had thrust her hand into.