As their journey was coming to end now that they were in the mountains. the most optimal place for a portal to be built was usually the highest natural on the world. laying down a portal required an absurd amount of high level rune masters. rune masters was a special occupation throughout the galaxies. Where ever a rune master went they enjoyed many pleasures but the journey to becoming a rune master was a mountain even to those who claimed to be geniuses had to be willing to risk slacking in their progress. there are 4 other professions mastery that hold the same or even a bit more power than rune masters. Alchemists were one of the equals to rune masters but it was much easier to get started. while starting as a Rune Master is difficult once you've gotten some experience it's a lot easier to improve, with Alchemists it is the other way around. An alchemists may achieve many feats in the beginning but the requirements increased as the level of the alchemists increase. the one occupation mastery that is looked down on are blacksmiths. even though any dwarf society would hold this higher than the other occupations most other societies were okay with not having high level blacksmiths as long as they could hire one. the two professions that were head and shoulders above the rest were teachers and medics/healers. healers should be the easiest to understand why they are so important. healers are need every where you look, the galaxy is currently in peace but there are still many people that get injured or sick. healers have two categories, the first one was the simple identification of a healer and where they are from. In a time where many different races interacted with each other everyone had different biology so there are healers who specialize on healing a certain races. The other half of healers were called Power Healers, they are powerful healers who use their aura to boost the healing factor of somebody or bring someone back from the doors of death. the special case of the healers is that their top 10 can bring someone back even if it costs a great amount of power. the last was the most common one which was teachers. teachers can be from regular people to powerful masters, of course the respect came with their level. master teachers are usually people who train in aura mastery but also skilled with another profession. some teachers master many different skills while others specialized in one category. this was just a brief explanation of these professions but to truly understand them one would have to spend time to learn and explore.
Gabriel and Nor finally made it to the peak to the mountain called the "the Head of giants" this was where the ancient race of giants remains where discovered. this ancient civilization wasn't well developed so it's theorized that they had a Great War in which they destroyed themselves. this whole mountain range contained nothing but mountains due to something stoping from trees, flowers, and grass from growing. Many flying vehicles and creatures could be seen once they were closer to the portal. Everyone else was there for the same reason more or less.
Once Gabriel and Nor made it to the front of the portal they went to one of the workers in charge of putting in the coordinates. " alright Gabe this where I'll be leaving you" Nor said reluctantly. he knew Greyhound was one of the notorious human planets. the Academy might have recently made it more civil, the academy couldn't control everyone so there are still a great amounts of crime and nobles are more unruly in this academy then most. Greyhound academy might be great but it also shows considerable favor to nobles. " don't worry about it too much Brother. you'll hear my name sooner or later" Gabriel replied to Nor.
"don't get your neck cut off sticking it in places they don't belong"Nor said. even though Nor said it lightly he still meant it for Gabriel to take it seriously. " hey sir will it be for two people" the clerk asked them. " no it will only be for" Nor said without delaying the clerk anymore.
Gabriel was standing next to nor conflicted on what he planned to do. He wanted to become the second duel sword master in his family but now he was cut off and he had even less resources he could use unless he became ultra rich fast. he was still young so he was thinking of going to three of the five professions, he wanted to visit the blacksmithing, alchemy, and rune master association buildings and start there before he runs out of money. it wasn't likely that he will get to work with any of them in his mind but it was better to try then not try.
"sir step this way please" the clerk asked Gabriel to step in a circle of runes. when Gabriel laid eyes on these runes he was surprised that he could follow the energy motion of the simpler runes. the energy was dancing in front of Gabriel eyes. Gabriel shook his head side to side making Nor and the clerk give him a strange look. " nothing will happen to young sir, the portal method has been stable for centuries." the clerk reassured Gabriel after a quick thought.
Gabriel nodded gently and stepped into the circle. " if this is your first time you will feel a slight weightlessness when the portal activities don't be afraid." the clerk added once he seen Gabriel's earlier reaction. now all they were waiting on was for Nor or Gabriel to let him know to activate it. " take good care of yourself and let me see how strong you can grow. you can always call for Shirin, mom, or me if you ever need help. you got money for transportation and housing so pick somewhere since. " Nor gave is last words to Gabriel and told the clerk to activate the portal.
once the portal was activated it created a column that was slightly taller and wider than Gabriel. Gabriel first felt the weightlessness on his feet then it spread to the rest of his body, once it got to his head everything went black and he couldn't feel the ground for a moment but the sensation was mere split second and his surroundings was different now. the when coming out of the portal Gabriel was met by rows of tents and full lines of people. at first glance they looked all human to Gabriel but as he paid more attention he started noticing skin colors like blue and green and some had horns, while others had multiple appendages. Gabriel was remembered that his brother said this was mainly human occupied planet but there was only a handful of people that looked like people from earth. Gabriel started jogging his memory to look for some clues and he finally remembered that the human race in this universe have been living in different spaces and over the course of millions of years they developed different traits due to Aura adapting and getting genetically passed down.
Gabriel woke up from his thoughts and walked to one of the free stales. Nor had informed him that there was a stale he could get his new identity. since Gabriel was young it wasn't to weird that he didn't have an identity outside of his family and he couldn't use tat anymore so he was just one of those people who are raised in rural place that even in these times were popular due to people wanting to stay to themselves at times. Gabriel had decide to change his name to Julius but didn't put a surname.
once he paid the cheap price of 2 bronze gem coins he received identity bracelet. these bracelets were the most common around and only had a few basic function other than proof of ID. they kept track of time and could be used for navigation. the more expensive bracelets have way more functions and even had Ai chips. Julius wasn't planning on wasting his money one something he didn't plan on using too much and Ai just sounded like something would be able to monitor him.
once he finished up his business at the stale he walked to the bus area. The bus wasn't the only option but it was the cheapest so Julius went with it. the bus was already full when Gabriel got on and the air seemed tense. The people on the bus were all young and looked to be around his age. As Julius walked though the bus to find a seat he found an open one next to a boy who green skin and 3 lines that connected from his jaw to under his eyes. He looked friendly enough so Gabriel decided to sit next to him. The boy had no objections to Julius sitting next to him so he moved more closer to the window.
Julius Gave the boy a smile and sat down. all his lounge was in his rings so he didn't have to many bags with him like most of the people on the bus." I don't need much space you can move your bags and have more space to relax" Julius said as he stretched around the amount of space this boy gave him while huddled with his lounge. the boy didn't budge to what Julius had said and even looked more scared. " Hi, my name is Julius. what is your name?" Julius asked to lessen the pressure on the boy. in a weak voice the boy replied" Kiri, sir" hearing the Sir Julius gave a jerked smile and said" haha, don't call me sir kiri. we are about the same age so I wouldn't take offense to you calling my just by my name." Kiri gave him a deep look and stared at him for what felt like ten minutes before he said" You are dressed like a noble and you don't have any lounge on you so..." before he could finish Julius remembered how nobles where at greyhound" No no no I'm just got lucky and got a storage ring and these are my best clothes that I've saved up for my whole summer and winter breaks." Julius delivered a hard to believe lie but Kiri didn't want to risk offending this noble in hiding so he accepted the offer for the space from Julius and relaxed. once Julius had gotten what he wanted he relaxed to. the trip wouldn't be as fast as riding a dragon so they would be taking twelve hours.
Julius decided he would enter his small world to experiment what else was possible. one thing Julius wanted to figure out was if he could manipulate the structures or the time differences between worlds.he closed his eyes and emptied his mind like he was getting ready to go to sleep. once he opened his eyes he was back in the small world. his first thought was to will and move the tree but it didn't move or shake. once he seen he couldn't effect the tree he tried pulling on the grass but that held steady too. it seemed like everything was permanently fixed in place or Julius could not effect them. he then decide to walked around and explore how big the world was. after walking for mile he felt a barrier stopping him, he then repeated this for the other three directions and came with the same result. he had about a mile all around. he then decided to open his eyes and turned to look at Kiri ready to ask him question. the sudden change in Julius from closed eyes to opened and locked on him gave Kiri a slight scare.
'has he lost his mind?' Kiri thought as he waited for Julius to say something. " how long were my eyes closed for?" Julius asked sheepishly. the question had struck Kiri as weird cause Julius had his eyes shut for about 5 minutes. Kiri was thinking this was some kind of test from Julius and told him" it was about 5 minutes sir" Kiri added sir without much thought. the time difference was 1 minute to 1 hour. " don't call me sir" Julius said and closed his eyes again. this time Julius went in to keep the time running equal hopefully. once Julius was back inside he went to try more experiments and learned he could summon things from his rings if he channeled his aura. after testing out what he could bring into this world he he figured out the size didn't really matter but only food and potions had effect. this seemed like a cheat if he could master coming in and out but it seemed like meditating was the only way in here. after an hour of testing things Julius opened his eyes and seen Kiri was watching the window outside. he lightly tapped Kiri's shoulder which Kiri jumped at and looked at Julius. he hadn't dealt with Julius for a hour and he was getting comfortable but now Julius was back. Julius put on the same sheepish smile and asked" how long was it this time". Kiri thought Julius was training his mediation endurance for some odd reason but he said" you did well Sir, you lasted a whole hour". he tried to sound cheery in hopes of Julius leaving him alone but he left in the sir unexpectedly. once again hearing sir Julius head felt like he got smacked in the head but he was rather happy to hear that it was equal time as he spent in his inner world. to find how great the time difference could be will take a lot more experimenting.
" stop calling me SIR!! the name is Julius let's be friends? how about it? " he stretched his hand out in front of Kiri. Kiri was surprised by Julius rising his voice and offering to be friends. he took a few seconds to see if Julius was gonna change his mind but Julius kept his hand stretched and steady for the shake. once Kiri realized Julius was serious he shook Julius hand and accepted the friendship offer. Kiri was reluctant but he was hoping that at least Julius wouldn't be as bad as his previous friends(bullies). he was used to people acting friendly and changing later so he was ready to cut off Julius as soon as he showed his true self like everyone else. on the other hand Julius was ecstatic, not only had he taken action to introduce himself he even made a friend. this was something old Julius wouldn't have done since he was a loner. this was an unknown effect of the two sounds merging. Gabriel wasn't popular but he was friendly and kind.
the bus finally came to a stop after they were 2 hours into their journey. this was so people could get some air and walk around for a while stretching their legs out. even though Julius was a bit weird Kiri decide to stick close to him since he was at least a little familiar. groups were already forming among the people and they were all having talking about the greyhound academy entries exam. Julius hadn't received much information other than the basic requirements which was to be a tier 3 rookies. their wasn't a written exam just a physical which they will duel an instructor to asses their skill level. the only new piece of information he received was that this would also be their what class they will be in. there was 100 classes. the 100th class was the weakest and for those who barely passed and 1st class was the students who did the best. in most academies this ranking wouldn't messed with but at Greyhound Nobles automatically got to be in the top 10 classes and never had a commoner ever had it into the top 10 classes. the highest they ever allowed was 11th classes and that was due to the girl who achieved it having monsters aptitude and crazy work ethic but the school still managed to block her way til she left and went to a different academy. Greyhound staff didn't even care other than the ones who trained her and knew of her effort, those teachers had left with her or shortly after her.
Julius didn't like the situation or anything he was hearing but hearing the story of the girl doing all that with her own effort gave him great vigor and motivation. even if he couldn't get into the top 10 classes if he was impressive enough another academy might take him or he would just focus on a profession.
Kiri on the other hand was worried he might not even make it into the academy. he barely qualified being a recent break through to tier 3 rookie. he felt confident in using Flamberg he got from his dad but he's only trained with it for a couple years he couldn't say he achieved any amount of mastery with the Flamberge. Kiri hadn't had the opportunity to train young because his family couldn't afford a teacher to teach him to sense aura and absorb it. this was a huge set back because even if one could do that themselves it was easier and better with well defined path. there are a lot of techniques to the energy of the world but rarely do those with self developed techniques ever reach great power. Kiri started training at the age of 13 with a basic low level technique and the Flamberge. Kiri reached his current rank with great effort but it barely met the requirements.
" What class do you think we will end in?" Julius asked Kiri. he hadn't;t wanted to be separated from his new friend." I don't think I'll even manage to make it into the academy" Kiri replied helplessly. this caught Julius by surprise" we still have 15 days before the exams and start of school, we can train together. we should be able to improve somewhat by that time Kiri don't be discouraged." Julius said in protest. Kiri didn't reply immediately but thought for a bit about ' what's his rank, what weapons does he use, and why does he have so much confidence in passing' Julius having confidence was weird but kiri was still curious but him and Julius weren't close enough to discus those types of things in his opinion. " what rank are you at right now and flamberge are good swords from what I can remember so you should do well in my opinion." Julius said without think. Julius question scared kiri cause he felt weak and embarrassed to answer the question. after a moment of silence Julius said" I'm tier 1 bronze and I use a duel swords" he had his hands up to his shoulders like he wasn't hiding nothing. Kiri was impressed with Julius rank but surprised when he heard duel swords. duel wielding was known for being difficult for humans to reach a high level in. Kiri was remembering the few reasons why they weren't any high ranked duel wielders. the two major problems was the splitting of thoughts and aura between the two swords. channeling aura through one weapon was simple and straight forward so many fighting techniques that can boost your skill and power but the only know technique was a human ancestor of the venture family but he was special case. The other highest known duel wielder was a peak tier 5 and couldn't break through the celestial barrier. He later went on to die of old age.
" duel wielding is basically a freeform for everyone who tries it. you seemed skilled in aura absorption techniques so you should be able to advance much faster with another form.' Kiri gave Julius his honest opinion. Julius wasn't surprised or offended with what Kiri had said. " it's a decision I've already decided to stick to no matter where it leads me and I'm just lucky enough to have a good energy absorbation technique" Julius added on. Kiri nodded his head and respected Julius for going on to this difficult road. kiri added" I believe you can do many great things" as a way to give Julius confidence. " I'm only at tier 3 rookie" since Julius decide to tell him so would he too and the flamberge was next to him so he didn't need to say what he practiced. Julius didn't immediate reply to KIri which made Kiri worry but before he could say anything else Julius snapped his figures and said" I'll teach you the one I use" he said this without thinking to much. the technique Julius uses was one from his family so it was very powerful among absorption techniques but he didn't care if his family had a problem with it Julius would risk his life for Kiri since he is the one who presented this to him. " I can't, it's got be a special technique I can't copy that from you and what if I betray you" Kiri said shaking a little and his voice breaking. Julius gave him a smug smile and shrugged his shoulder" I couldn't care less about its speciality and about the betrayal it's just a technique I already know I couldn't care if more people learned." Julius was serious in his words. he had other absorption techniques from his sister and brother if he wanted something to himself those were ones no one but Shirin and Nor knew about.
Julius let kiri know there was no rush since they still had 8 hours left on their journey. once everyone as back on the buses their journey continued. Julius decided to absorb energy and train in the small world at the rate of a week per hour and rested for 10 minutes in the real world through out the journey. Kiri was impressed with Julius being able to stay still and not bother him too much, of course from time to time they would have a conversation between Julius' break.