Caroline sneaked into Blaze's room to sleep with him and have a baby for a 'powerful noble'. She was confident in her charms.
She wore only a loose robe for easy access and walked to his room. When she arrived at the door, she opened it and tiptoed inside. She closed the door noiselessly and turned around, but a pincer-like hand choked her and slammed her to the ground, causing her to groan in pain. The assault was unexpected. When she opened her eyes, the outline of a boyish face greeted her vision. Though the night obscured her view, the moonlight from the open window aided her sight. His cloak covered only his body, revealing his face.
The moment she touched the door, the sensitive Blaze was already up. After being chased by the country for seven years, he developed subconscious noise sensitivity.
"Why are you in my room?" Blaze asked in an icy voice and tightened his grasp.
She tapped his hand rapidly and breathlessly, which made Blaze release his grip.
"I thought you needed extra services," Caroline responded with a red face, ashamed of trying to hit on a boy almost twice as young as her.
"That's not enough reason I shouldn't kill you," Blaze replied coldly.
His icy voice sent a shiver down her spine.
"You're scaring the little girl." White Demon rebuked him, but he ignored her.
"I will let you leave on one condition," Blaze said calmly, retracting his coldness.
"I wanted to give it to you, anyway. You can go ahead," Caroline responded with a sigh while lifting her robe.
"I don't want to have sex with you. I require answers and information," Blaze replied.
His direct words caused her face to burn in shame, while his blatant refusal made her doubt her charms. She also mused, 'Is he into men?'
"If I have the answers and information, I will give it to the young noble," she said lightly after she noticed he didn't want to kill her.
"What happened to a girl that fought a general a day ago, in a neighboring village?" Blaze looked at her with narrow eyes. He doesn't know if his previous village is close by.
"The village twin swordswoman?" Caroline asked in shock. "I heard she was surrounded and killed."
Blaze felt his heart tighten, and his eyes twitch as he swore inwardly, trying his best to suppress his desire for bloody revenge.
"How do I enter the Dragon Empire's principal city without a pass or identification?" Blaze asked her.
"The Traveler's Caravan has a secret passage," she said, causing Blaze to nod.
"What mage academy is in the Dragon Empire?" Blaze continued his interrogation.
"The Dragon Light Academy," she replied, making Blaze nod in approval.
"You can leave." Blaze moved to the side, and she bolted out of his room. The pressure of being under the threat of death was too much for her.
"So, ghosts don't sleep," Blaze muttered before climbing into his bed.
"I don't need to sleep." White Demon, who was sitting at the table, turned and asked Blaze, "How do you know she would come to your room?"
"I don't know. I planned to go to her room by midnight, but she came herself, easing my trouble," Blaze mumbled before sleeping off.
The next morning, he went to the bathroom to shower. The inn of the Traveler's Caravan had an internal bathroom system.
When he got back to the room, he saw a new set of trousers, boots, a belt, a wool shirt, and a fur cloak. He thought little and went into it. However, he still wore his previous cloak on his garment.
"Sir, I set your carriage," Caroline said at his door. Blaze opened the door and followed her to the carriage. She was looking at him strangely.
When he saw the carriage, it made him doubt his information. The bull was the same size as the horse, with just a few bulging muscles around its limbs and two horns on its head. He wondered how fast it could run.
Without stressing his brain with unnecessary thoughts, he climbed into the carriage. The carriage could fit four people comfortably. He looked around the carriage and found two bags. When he opened the first, he saw clothes folded neatly, including an extra fur cloak. He opened the second bag and saw dry jerky, wine, and an engraved silver goblet.
The carriage left when it became bright. Other carriages joined along the way. His coachman did not bother or question him; only calling him during food time. He never cared about the other merchants interacting at night. He always sat in his carriage, sometimes chatting with White Demon. White Demon told him about mana and magic. The merchants said he had the bloodline of a chipmunk. Before they reached the border, the caravan group already had about fifty carriages running at full speed. Nobody stopped them while moving.
When they got to the border, even the soldiers gave way, but they searched for other carriages.
It took them a month to arrive at the Dragon Empire. The oppressive feeling of the looming danger finally vanished. The caravan group went their separate ways when they arrived. Blaze's coachman used the hidden passage to get Blaze into the Imperial city of the Dragon Empire, before abandoning him.1
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After finding an inn, Blaze took a bath and then went downstairs to eat, using up his last gold coin to pay for his room. Fortunately, the coin was enough to cover his stay for two weeks and feeding.
As he was dining a hearty meal, his ears picked up the voices of the people discussing, eating, and drinking around.
"Imperial City is bustling with excitement because today is the annual test day for the civilians of the Dragon Empire, in the Dragon Light Academy."
Blaze, who had meat stuffed in his mouth, paused before rushing to the person. He asked impatiently, "Where is the Dragon Light Academy?"
"Who doesn't know that? On the North side of the city. Its tower is—" He couldn't finish his sentence because Blaze had run out of the inn. Blaze had no money for a carriage, so his legs became his transportation tool. It took him thirty minutes of running at maximum speed to reach the academy. He breathes in relief.
"That was close!" He exclaimed after he caught his breath.
"Yes," White Demon, who abruptly appeared by his side, said.
He lifted his gaze, admiring the grandeur of the hegemonic academy as he approached the small entrance that everyone on foot was using. The crowds of teenagers were walking through the gate orderly, and their youthful faces filled with a mix of excitement and nervousness. He could see that most of them were no older than eighteen.
When he got to the entrance, the soldier at the gate stopped him.
"Your registration pass," the soldier demanded.
"I lost mine," Blaze lied with a straight face that gave White Demon goosebumps.
"What's your name?" the soldier asked.
"Blaze Draven," Blaze replied smoothly, without even his eyes twitching.
The guard, clad in golden armor, stared at him for a while before letting him in. Even if Blaze lied, he's going to be kicked out, anyway.
"Wow! Your psychology is stronger than adamantine," White Demon mocked.
"Little White, he was just trying to test me. Most teenagers will show some abnormalities in their body movement when abruptly asked for their names if they lied previously. But he had no scroll in his hand or by any corner, so he couldn't trick me," Blaze talked to White Demon but made sure he wasn't seen, or he might be mistaken for a deranged person.
"Good thinking, but do you know there are different magic recorders? Those items use mana to function. You are not in your village," White Demon mocked him.
Her words rang a warning bell in his head. It was foolish to judge things in a normal sense. There's magic!
"Thanks, Little White," Blaze smiled slightly, finding White Demon adorable.
"Don't call me that," White Demon roared at him and continued. "Did you just smile?"
Blaze ignored her with a stern face and went on following the people. He noticed he was the only person in casual attire. Many eyes were on him, but his 'don't-come-close' face made individuals avoid him.
He entered a big auditorium after seeing the crowds. Imitating their action, he sat down in one chair at the back end. They sloped uniformly downwards of the auditorium, from rear to front, like the sitting arrangement of a stadium, with a podium completing the circular structure. They arranged the seats around the podium. However, the podium was at the circumference of the circle. Five minutes later, the giant door was locked.
"Good day. I'm the headmistress of the Dragon Light Academy. Your names will be called, and you will drip a drop of your blood onto this device," a young woman not up to thirty from Blaze's estimation spoke while pointing at a device. They made the device of black metal, one meter tall, and had a spherical globe on one edge. Weird drawings were in the middle of the mechanism.
"What the hell!" Blaze blurted silently.
"A mana tester. It uses blood to test your mana capacity," White Demon said to Blaze.
"I mean, my name is not on their list," Blaze whispered while lowering his head and covering his mouth.
A man with a stern face began calling names. Different people went out when their names were called. They dripped a drop of their blood, and the globe glowed with various colors.
If the globe shone with red, orange, or yellow, they were asked to leave the academy—failure!
While green and blue were accepted. Blaze already deduced that it followed the rainbow color system, but he hadn't seen indigo and violet. However, the people who passed the test were scanty. Out of the five thousand folks called, only 300 passed. But that was the least of his problems.
"Who are you?" the headmistress's voice jolted Blaze, who was lost in thought.
He looked around and found out that he was alone.