Dennis smiled awkwardly as he bowed to Venerable H. -" Greetings Sir, I hope that the presence of my students doesn't bother you." Dennis was the one who had the idea to take his students to watch the qualificatory tournament, but, what he didn't expect was that Hugh would drag them to greet Venerable H.
-" Such a small thing won't be an issue, but, how are we all going to the tournament place?" Henry didn't like the attention, but, this wasn't anything that would make him flip out.
-" We have a teleportation circle prepared inside the Royal Academy." Hugh put his hands over Venerable H's shoulder and dragged him. " The Magyar Desert is quite far away, so the Magic Academies that will participate in the tournament will meet in the Royal Academy."
-" Oh! Why didn't you warn me? If I knew this I wouldn't make you come all the way here." Henry was relieved that he didn't have to worry about traveling anymore.
-" What are you talking about? The Royal Academy is the host of this tournament and we wouldn't make such a distinguished guest as yourself walk there by yourself." Hugh wanted to make sure that Venerable H had a good relationship with the Royal Academy,
Henry was a bit disappointed as the carriage that he had prepared hadn't any use, it had cost him quite a bit to buy it, but, he didn't regret it. There were many times that he needed to go out and he wished to have a carriage.
Walking around the city with his mask attracted many curious gazes, especially with the mask effects of causing anger to the people that saw it.
Henry reunited his entourage and followed Hugh to the Royal Academy, he didn't bring just Thomas, but, his entire family with him, and even Hillia, Peter's youngest daughter had come to watch the tournament.
The walk to the Royal Academy didn't take long, and Henry instantly few in awe with the majestic building, he had only ever seen the outside of the Royal Academy and he was even more impressed by the interior.
-" Quite the splendid building! How many students stay here?" Henry saw luxurious and exquisite decorations in every part of the building.
-" In this place? Not many... This is just the administration center of the academy, but, there are still some other important buildings here." Hugh had a prideful expression as he showed Venerable H the Royal Academy, " Our Library, the Medical Center, and a few other faculty are located here, but, the students and teachers reside in another place."
-" Another place? Isn't it troublesome to move around so much?" Henry was even more impressed as he learned that this was just a small part of the Royal Academy.
-" We have a network of teleportation circles set up, they connect the various campus of the Royal Academy together." Hugh finally reached the last part of the building he wanted Venerable H to see. " This is the teleportation room, this room can get you to any part of the kingdom, currently we have more than twelve teleportation circles working."
-" So many portals!" With just a glimpse, Henry knew that the circles were something truly unique. " It must be quite expensive to make them."
-" If I'm being honest, We couldn't ever produce something like this, just maintaining the circles functioning is hard enough." Hugh's gaze faltered as he talked about the teleportation circles, he tried his best as the Dean of the Royal Academy, but, he still knew that he couldn't even hold a candle to the dean of age past. " The creator of the circles was Vannaril Thevaris, the founder of the Royal Academy."
Henry was even more amazed by the teleportation circles, the quality of them had to be superb to last so long. " Sigh... The cultivators from ages past were true genius." It wasn't any secret that the strength of cultivators had fallen as time passed, today it was hard for someone to break through the first realm of Body Cultivation or Magic training, yet, a few thousand years ago you wouldn't even be considered a true cultivator if you weren't at the Journeyman Mage Realm or at the Body Transformation Realm.
Hugh had the same thoughts as Henry, the decay of natural mana was something that many people studied, but, no one could find an answer. Hugh was still deep in his thoughts as he saw a group enter the teleportation room. " It looks like the nobles are finally here." Hugh let out a deep breath, he was anxious to watch the qualificatory tournament.
Henry froze as he saw Alden and his family, he was surprised that even people like them had come to the tournament. " So many of them came." Henry had watched the qualificatory tournament in his first year of the Maverick Academy, and not many nobles showed interest in it.
-" Troubled times are ahead... Many of the noble's families are looking to gather as many talents as possible." Hugh nodded to Venerable H and went to greet the guest. " Welcome to the Royal Academy, I hope that you all have a good time."
All the nobles bowed to Hugh and greeted him back, They all were curious about the masked man that accompanied Hugh, but, no one had the courage to inquire about the man's identity.
-" Did the students arrive yet? I hope that this trip won't be wasted." A man spoke as he walked around the teleportation room.
-" The quality of the third rates magic schools students was always bad, and this time won't be different..." An old woman in blue robes answered the man. " But a cultivator is still a cultivator, any army would be happy with having a few more of them."
-" If you came here looking for a polished gem, you should go back." A lady walked from the back of the room with a smile on her face, her hair so red that it looked to be made of flames. " There are many talented young people that never had the sufficient backing to flourish, and this should be our aim today." Everyone was silent as they watched the young woman walk directly to Mister Hugh.
-" Oh? I didn't expect the Amberhearts to send you here." Hugh smiled as he gazed at the young woman.
-" Lilia Amberheart pays respect to her Master." The young woman kneeled and paid her respect to Hugh.
-" Rise, dear disciple." Hugh patted Lilia's head and returned his attention to the crowd of nobles. " She is right, if you all came looking to find an elite cultivator today, it's better if you return, but, if what you want is to help nurture and grow the younger generation is this the right place!" The nobles who badmouthed the quality of the students all had awkward faces, they never expected their thoughtless comments to make Hugh so mad.
-" Well said..." Abel clapped as he heard Hugh's words, the Whitelocks always had the tradition of contracting cultivators from the various academy for their guild, so he knew firsthand that many of them were very talented and only lacked the necessary resources. " For the Thule Kingdom resurgence, it's necessary that we all take part in the education of the younger generation."
-" Hahahaha! Big words, Abel!" A man of similar age to Abel had a sarcastic smirk as he laughed. " Isn't buying the graduates of the magic academies enough? Now, do you want to buy their students too?"
-" Marcius... Do you really need to buy a fight in this place?" Abel sighed, he couldn't believe that the man wanted to cause trouble inside the Royal Academy.
-" Who where is looking for a fight?" Marcius grinned as he saw Abel's serious face, all he wanted to do here was to annoy and disturb Abel's plans.
-" Enough! This isn't a place for your petty squabbles." Hugh was irritated by the nobles' attitudes. " Venerable H, i have to excuse myself, i never thought that they would act so rowdy." Hugh was embarrassed, he wanted to impress Venerable H, but, the nobles' actions didn't help.
Every noble in the room froze as they watched Mister Hugh bowing to the man, they were in disbelief that the ever proud and aloof Hugh Lyons was showing respect and bowing down to someone.
-" Forgive me for my rude behavior." Able instantly bowed down and apologized for his behavior, he knew that nothing good would come by getting on the wrong side of someone with such standing.
-" Be at ease, this is just small banter, there is no need for apologies. " Henry had a grin on his face, he never thought that Alden's father would be bowing to him.
-" Thank you for letting our transgressions slide." Marcius's smiled as he gave a bow to the mysterious man, he wanted to keep pressuring Abel, but, he decided to wait until the man had gone away.
Henry switched his attention from Alden's family to Marcius, he thought that the man's name was familiar, and after a bit of thought, he remembered where he had heard the name.
Henry still filled bitter about the day that the store manager threw him away, and he felt the urge to use his identity as Venerable H to have his vengeance, however, he knew that this would feel out of the character that he had passed until now.
-" I would like to ask for an excuse for their unruly behavior again, it looks like some of them don't hold high views of the Royal Academy authority." Even with Venerable H showing no care for their behavior, Hugh still felt furious, after all, they weren't just showing disrespect to Venerable H's presence, but to his authority as the Dean too.