"Welcome to the city of Brussels!" A group of people welcomed them at the airport with a red carpet. "I am Lux Apalfa from the organizers. I’d like to welcome everyone from Esfrata to our country. You are now in Dermania."
Supervisor Jacob shook the man’s hand. "I am Jacob Heyes. I am the head instructor of our team."
"It’s an honor to be able to meet a student of Hero Yohemia Simeon. Your teacher was a great hero, whose deeds were even known throughout Dermania." Lux nodded with a smile.
Supervisor Jacob nodded with a serious expression. "I think it’s best for us to go to the hotel first?"
"Of course. This way." Lux extended his hand. "There is a small city not far from Brussels. The road has been secured, and the area has been cleared, so we can go there by bus.
"It’s called Telemear. It’s usually used for vacations, but this time, it will be used for the training program."
"There will be four buses to take everyone on board, so please handle it as you see fit. We will depart as soon as you’re ready."
Supervisor Jacob nodded. As soon as they exited the airport, he turned around and clapped to get their attention. "Okay, listen up. Please proceed to your own bus in an orderly manner. We will leave in fifteen."
With the instructions, they started packing their luggage and boarded the bus.
Even though the road looked safe, they were traveling in a convoy, knowing full well that there were many Rank 5 and Rank 6 humans on the buses. After all, it would be a disgrace if they ended up needing their guests to protect them.
So, there were a lot of military vehicles guarding them.
Fortunately, nothing happened on the road, and they reached Telemear safely. The city was quite small.
It could probably accommodate about ten thousand people. However, there was a massive hotel there. The city even had a lot of other facilities, such as a stadium and training fields, as this city wasn’t just used for vacations but also for big competitions in Dermania.
It was no wonder that Dermania chose this place. They could host everything without the need to build anything else.
Supervisor Jacob stopped once again before they entered the hotel. "Okay, listen up. There are over nine hours before the banquet. We arrived earlier, but that’s fine. You may have some free time before the banquet, and you’re free to go wherever you want. Just make sure to return for the banquet.
"You may go around and buy a few things, but for now, this hotel is reserved for all the people participating in the training program.
"If you have any further questions, you can ask them directly in the group chat, or you can come to me or other instructors directly. Don’t fight with the locals and cause any disturbance.
"Now, we’re going to distribute your keycards, so when your group is called, please come to the front and head to your room directly. Understood?"
They nodded, so Supervisor Jacob started calling everyone.
As the captain, Auric received the keycards and distributed them to everyone before heading upstairs. The room had been arranged to accommodate four people with additional beds. Even though it looked a bit smaller because of the number of beds, it wasn’t exactly a problem for all of them.
Vera smiled. "I guess this is fine. The rest of our stuff is in Ellia’s storage, right?"
Ellia nodded. "Just leave behind the things you want to leave behind. Anything else can stay with me. Also, Katarina, what are you doing?"
"This is another country. Considering our group, I just can’t help but be cautious." Katarina thoroughly searched the entire room clean. "Okay. No cameras or bugs. It’s clean."
"..." Vera crossed her arms. "You’re just too cautious."
"Better safe than sorry." Auric shrugged.
"You’re being too paranoid." Vera sighed.
"Can’t be helped." Katarina chuckled. "After so many assassination attempts, finding spies, and dealing with all kinds of surveillance."
"You guys are just looking out for each other." Vera shook her head helplessly. "Well, anyway, I’m planning to go around. Anyone want to come?"
"I’m planning to do the same. More importantly, it’s best to do this today." Auric nodded.
"Do what?"
"Creating safe zones." Auric winked playfully. "Don’t you know about the challenges? We will definitely need it when it comes to our country’s challenge."
"That’s fair." Vera nodded in understanding.
Katarina showed her tablet. "Anyway, I have a list of places that can be turned into safe zones. There are also motels and smaller hotels in the area, so we should book a room there as well."
Ellia handed over her credit card. "Use my money. The password is 092320."
"I have enough money, you know?" Auric pointed at himself.
"Katarina searched for the safe zones, and you created the safe zones, so at least I have to contribute the money."
"Pretty convincing to me." Katarina took Ellia’s credit card.
"Wait. You guys are contributing like that, but what am I supposed to do? How can I help contribute?" Vera asked. She had no money since she hadn’t received anything from her family.
"You... can probably be the bodyguard." Auric chuckled. "Let’s go. You’re not coming, Ellia?"
"I will take care of our luggage first. Maybe I will catch up with you if I don’t have anything else to do."
"Okay. See you later."
"Just to remind you, you’d better go back two hours before the banquet. I have to do your makeup."
"You got it." Auric waved his hand and left the room right after.
"So, where are we going first?" Vera asked as they walked down the corridor.
"It should be the hotel one block away."
"Sure. Let’s go!" Vera pumped her fists while taking out her phone, ready to take some photos.
When they reached the ground floor, they noticed that another group had just arrived.
"Hmm?" Auric stopped for a moment, looking at everyone’s energy. There were a lot of strong students among them, but two people’s energies piqued his interest the most.
One person had a powerful lightning element, different from anything he had seen so far. The lightning looked robust and fierce as though it were a blazing fire.
The other person had a powerful light element, similar to his mother’s element, but the rating of this element was actually much fiercer. It had a rating of 4.0, but it looked gentle and flexible.
Of course, there were a few other people who could defeat him among them, but these two people allowed him to realize which country they came from. "Lech-Aistia."
"Those guys?" Vera raised her eyebrows.
"Yep. I definitely see Selena Bellegarde among them. The one leading their group should be that guy, Alexander, who usually calls himself Alexander the Great," confirmed Katarina. "Quite interesting."
"Well, let’s just ignore them for now." Auric waved his hand, gesturing for them to continue walking before they blocked the entrance completely.
"Sure." Vera took the lead.
As expected, the moment they came out of the hotel, some students couldn’t help but whisper among themselves.
"Hey, hey... Look."
"Isn’t that..."
"Auric Elfe?! I’ve seen his file, but he looks much better in person than in the picture. He’s so handsome."
"Why aren’t our guys like him?"
They discussed it a bit too loudly, so other people couldn’t help but notice. Some teachers even turned around.
Auric noticed their movements as well, so he looked at them for a second before nodding with a smile to politely greet them.
"Kyaaa!"
"He’s smiling at me!"
"No, he’s smiling at me! Don’t dream about it!"
"..." The instructors were speechless, looking at their students. "You guys..."
They hadn’t even started fighting, but it felt like they had lost because so many students were admiring Auric.
"Hahahaha! A worthy opponent! He might be more handsome than me, but what a man needs is muscle!" The leader of the students, Alexander, raised both hands, showing his muscles.
"You do know that he’s a Rank 2 student, right? There’s no way he would fight you." Selena shook her head helplessly. "Still, this guy is more handsome than I thought. Maybe I should bring him to our country. Kidnap him?"
"Why is the first thing in your brain to kidnap him?" Another student rolled her eyes. "As expected of a mafia daughter."
"By the way, instructors!" Selena ignored her friend’s reaction and raised her hand. "Shouldn’t we put someone on his tail? It’s good that we have seen him now, so it’s better to begin following him now and observe this so-called ace from Esfrata."
"Don’t worry. We have an instructor for it." The head instructor nodded and asked another instructor to follow them.
If Auric were an ordinary person, he wouldn’t be able to notice the instructor.
Unfortunately for the instructor, Auric had Lindwurm. "Auric, it looks like we’re being followed."
’Got it.’ Auric understood what he needed to do. There were ways to get away from their tail, but Auric chose the most direct one, showing a little bit of his ability.
He suddenly halted his steps, confusing Katarina and Vera.
It was even more confusing when Auric turned around and looked up, extending his hand forming a heart shape with his fingers.
"!!!" The instructor’s heart skipped a beat. A student like him shouldn’t be able to find his location, but for some reason, Auric could tell that he was being followed and knew exactly where he was.
The instructor quickly retreated, trying to get away.
The head instructor was startled. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry, I failed. He actually found me right away... He might be able to see me or pinpoint my location."
"What?" The head instructor was dumbfounded. "A Rank 2 student can do that? You sure it’s not the girls with him?"
"No. It’s definitely Auric Elfe. I’ve heard that every attempt to follow him has failed, so they might have failed because of this. He knows whether he’s being observed or not. That leaves the question: what is his actual element? It might be related to that."
"..." The head instructor was speechless. He never thought that Auric Elfe was this capable. "Okay. At least we now know that he can’t be followed. It might also be his sensitivity. From what I’ve heard, he could find ruins underground, so it might be because of that."
"Sorry." The instructor nodded.
When she heard it, Selena couldn’t help but lick her lips. "He is better than I thought. So, kidnapping him secretly won’t be possible. In that case, we just have to send enough personnel to kidnap him so that he can’t escape?"
"Like I said, what’s with your obsession with kidnapping?"
And once again, Selena simply ignored her.
Meanwhile, Vera and Katarina couldn’t help but be curious. "Okay, what was that about?"
"Nothing. Just a mosquito that was following us. It’s already gone now, thanks to the power of love." Auric showed the heart symbol.
"Power of love, my ass. As if you have a woman." Vera rolled her eyes.
"I guess we really need to be careful." Katarina sighed.
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