A giant furry hand was coming towards their hovercraft. Villi dived down, narrowly escaping the furry hand.
The students cried out in panic.
The car flipped, making Oliver's head collide with the wall.
"What the fuck was it?" Oliver cursed under his breath.
"Guys, don't panic! The rangers are on their way! "Alita shouted as she helped the elf steer away from the chasing giant Astro ape.
According to Niel's memories, the Astro ape was not of this world.
They lived in a parallel dimension called Inkara and could only come into this world when someone messed up with the wormholes.
The flying cars give up on their routes as they activate electric thrusters. Oliver watched through the window as a giant silver-colored ape with golden eyes emerged, tearing off space like paper. It was both an incredible and frightening sight. The beast howled in furry as its steel-rope-like tail crashed into a fleeing hovercraft. All the children cried out in fear.
The hovercraft flew in the distance like a giant toy, flipping as it adjusted itself. Thanks to the self-restoring recurium metal, the flying car didn't explode, or it would be a tragedy.
Seeing his attack didn't fruit any result, the ape grew more infuriated. He vanished from sight. The students' faces turned white ashen as they looked around through the windows.
The hovercrafts were fleeing in all directions.
Suddenly, the hand appeared again out of the dark sky. It grabbed one of the flying cars.
However, before the Astro ape could crush or throw it away, a blazing fireball hit the beast. And a human figure clad in a black suit materialized in the sky. In his hand was a plasma gun.
"Rangers are here! We have been saved! " The scared students cheered.
Just then, their wirstos buzzed up as the 3-D holograms popped out.
"We had an accident in the Living forest. An Astro ape is on the run. So students are advised to obey their porters! A rescue team has already left! " said a woman with round spectacles and vanished.
"What did she mean by 'an accident? " a pale-looking boy whimpered. He seemed on the barge of crying.
"That we have been killed because of a silly experiment of a crazy zoologist! " sneered another boy with golden hair. His name was Argon Atwood Flinch, the winner of the last budding astrophysicist contest. His father, Oswald flinch, was a minister, and his mother was an astrophysicist.
Niel had a row with him last year. So they were now on bad terms.
"Don't spout nonsense!, Argon," Ruby admonished him in her classical professor tone.
"What nonsense! They always jeopardize our life. I'm going to report it to my father. " Argon refused to back down, and a row started between them.
Olive ignored the annoying kids. Instead, he focused his attention on the going battle. Five other rangers had joined the fray, but the ape was still getting better off them. It was not surprising. Astro apes had the ability to hide in space.
Villi didn't wait for the battle to conclude. Once he saw his route was clear, he flew off with the other flying cars in his wake.
Buffon seemed disappointed for not getting a chance to witness the real-life duel. He wanted to be a ranger too, but his poor attitude didn't allow it.
To be a ranger, the mandatory criteria were that one must have affinities with fire, water, lightning, and wind elements. Not to mention the other talents like heaven-grade physique, powerful soul and mental forces, etc.
Gradually the excitement subsided. The students resumed their chattering.
There were still a few minutes before they got to the academy, so Oliver summoned the system back. The bright screen appeared again.
_______________________________________________________
1. ☠ Thieve's guild
2. 🌎Maps
3.🕵️ Mysteries
.4. 📓 Chronicles of Ealorus
7. ❌Exit
_______________________________________________________
Oliver browsed through the options one by one.
As soon as he taped the maps icon,
A 3-D map of Ealorus littered with pushpins appeared on the screen. Surprisingly it looked just like the earth maps but with different topography. Spaced nodes were floating above pushpins. Oliver concentrated on a pushpin, and he felt tingling in his every pore.
"The host is incapable of teleportation!"
A red notification flashed on the screen, and the strange sensation disappeared. Oliver sighed.
This was a really bottom-level PC. He wondered what other gearheads had got. Would he ever meet them? Looking at the vastness of this world, it was unlikely to happen.
Ealorus had five major continents named - Petrea, Moesia, Eldamar, Ragor, and Akita.
Vodia academy was situated in Moesia's Living Forest.
Oliver checked the Mysteries icon.
"Please, hold on a second! We are loading Riddles of the host's level!" A female voice said as a list of queries appeared on the screen with their rewards.
_____________________________
Riddle.1 What is the actual name of Professor Shadow? (Reward: Surprise award)
Riddle. 2. What resides in the ghost attic on the fifth floor? (Reward: The agent can keep what He finds.)
Riddle.3. Who is already dead but still pretending to be alive? (Reward: An invisible Blade once used by a master cutpurse, Aloopi. )
Riddle. 4. Who could live on sunlight? (Reward: An invitation from Inkara.)
Riddle.5. Who is the secret lover of Professor Amelia? (Reward: A kiss from a dream girl.)
( Agent must solve them within a month)
Penalty: Walk of Shame!
_______________________________________________
Sweat drops appeared on Oliver's forehead as he finished reading all the riddles. None of them was an easy quest.
The so-called professor shadow was the principal of the academy, the most mysterious figure of the academy. No one knew his actual name-at least, not any 2nd year. They said he was a great soulist, who met an accident on his adventure in an astral plane and thus lost his body and the destiny lines which decided one's name.
No namer could guess his name till this date. But by looking at this query, it didn't seem true.
Oliver didn't know how he would find out this mysterious principal's name, who was a living ghost.
As for the second riddle, its answer was also out of his reach. First, no 2nd year was allowed on the fifth floor; second, it was called the ghost attic for a good reason. Rumors were that the attic had once housed an architect- a crazy, to speak precisely. This architect professor had an insane idea of giving sentience to a structure. He did many risky experiments, and when he didn't get any success. He decided to fuse his soul in the building. Of course, he must have gotten help from a soulist or some old memories of such evil science from the Old Archive. They said the architect was founded dead in the attic with no illness or injury. What had caused his death was still a mystery.
The attic shut its gate on its own as soon as they took out the dead body. Since then, students have heard whispers, laughs, snoring, and growls coming out through its boarded gate and windows.
The rest of the three questions were surprised to Oliver. Niel's memories had no information about such people. Professor Amelia was the prettiest woman in the academy, had never been seen with anyone.
Oliver shook his head. He would try to find clues after reaching the academy.
So he closed the log after checking the last tab. It had stories and myths of Ealorus.
What caught Oliver's eyes was the saga of The Angel of Death.
Almost a century ago, an evil scientist called Josef Mengele and his minions had tried to enslave the Ealorus. A bloody carnage had followed his ambitious campaign. The great war had changed the geography of Ealorus.
Then there were other tales of several ground-shattering events and wars. Oliver decided to read them in his leisure. He hurriedly logged off. They had finally reached the academy.
Oliver watched the sky soaring, building shimmering with light. The academy was spread over at least a 500-acre area. Several beautiful structures were floating in the air. What fascinated the thief most was the spheroidal stadium of space football. Niel neve had been there, for it cost an arm and leg to buy its ticket.
Around this gleaming stadium was a floating colossal circle ring; it was another place where Niel had never stepped in. It was the arena for mind sports. Its tickets were costlier than that of the football match.
Oliver decided to visit them no matter what. But first, he would change his life path.
A dozen rangers came running as the hover crafts landed in the airfield. Oliver saw Tin-Tin was among them. Rangers made students go in queues to their assigned gates.
At the first gate, Miss Marguerite welcomed the first-year students this year. She was a beautiful woman with long hair.
Oliver and Buffon took the second gate and entered the assembly hall, where the professors were already waiting for them.