NOVEL WEB Chapter 73: Academy
Tarkan, who was bored out of his mind reviewing his timer, had a satisfied expression. His stay on the spaceship wasn't all for nothing.
as he was about to scoop up some food, two people arrived at their table.
Victor and Victoria, their snobbish expressions nowhere to be found.
"Can we join you guys?" Victoria asked, glancing at Tarkan, who had his mask on, while clutching the corner of her dress nervously.
"Sure," Tarkan replied. He didn't see why not. If not for Slim taking action earlier, he would have just ignored them.
It was all the same to him.
Ricky, who was sitting at the table, felt uncomfortable. If not because of him, there wouldn't have been any squirrel in the first place.
Hearing Tarkan's confirmation, Victoria's expression brightened. They both pulled up seats near Tarkan and sat down. Tarkan started eating without worries.
Victor couldn't help stealing a few glances at Slim. Seeing no change in Slim's expression, who was just calmly eating his food, helped him relax a bit.
"We hope you can forgive us," Victoria said, glancing at Slim and then back to Tarkan.
"No hard feelings, The past is the past," Tarkan said casually, focusing on the food in front of him.
"Right, Slim?" Tarkan asked.
"Right," Slim replied, without the slightest change in expression.
"Thank you," they both said in unison, the tension in their bodies visibly easing.
Tarkan just nodded in acknowledgment.
The place was quiet for a few moments.
"Errm… are you also going to Kotha for the academy assessment?" Unable to bear the silence, Victoria finally spoke, looking at Tarkan.
Ohh, so that's the name of the world we're going to, Tarkan thought.
He didn't bother reading the fat book he was giving for the travel.
As long as it was a high tier world it was all fine to him.
"Academy?" Tarkan repeated the word with a questioning tone, his interest piqued. He genuinely had no idea about any academy.
Even with all the information he had read, there was no mention of any academy in it.
Victoria, seeing that he genuinely looked clueless, frowned.
"Why are you going to Kotha if not for the academy assessment?" she asked, now even more surprised.
She and Victor couldn't hide their shock. Even though their father was rich, 200 million gold coins was no small amount of money, not even for them.
They couldn't believe anyone who could fork out 600 million gold coins to transport to a high-tier world would be ignorant about the academy.
It wasn't even a hidden secret, especially in the upper society of Tharn.
And looking at Tarkan, who had someone as fearsome as Slim calling him "Master", they would be fools to think he didn't know.
Tarkan couldn't help lamenting in his heart. Seeing their expressions, he knew exactly what they were thinking.
"Tell me about this academy," Tarkan said, deciding to get straight to the point.
Victoria and Victor assumed he was testing them. They didn't dare believe someone like him could truly be unaware of it.
It wasn't a secret, after all, so they saw no harm in going along with him. They began telling him everything they knew about the academy. Tarkan nodded from time to time.
To summarize, the academy was founded by human powerhouses. The whole idea was to provide and nurture promising talent to aid in the war with monsters.
Tarkan grew more interested. He knew there would be many others with juicy and useful talents that he could comprehend.
Unlike in Tharn, where most talents were subpar and had no real value to him.
He didn't even bother copying Victoria's talent. It was too embarrassing. Instead of fighting, she would just open her mouth and scream.
Replaying that scene in his head always made him cringe.
"So, how many academies are there?" Tarkan asked after some thought.
"According to our knowledge, there are numerous academies," Victoria said after thinking. "But the ones most people focus on are the top three, namely:
Velmire Academy
Stellanore Institute
And Thornridge Academy."
"But they all have strict requirement marks," Victoria added, suddenly looking a bit sad.
"I'll try to get into one of them," she said suddenly, clenching her fist with a determined expression.
Tarkan's thoughts? Yeah, sure. Good luck with that.
If those top three academies were even half as good as what Victoria claimed, he doubted she'd go far in the assessment with that pathetic talent of hers.
A week and some few days passed by in a blink of an eye.
The spaceship soon landed on the aforementioned world.
Upon stepping down from the craft, Tarkan was met with a familiar scene, but unlike last time when it was monsters he saw, now it was different aircraft landing, most of them sleek in design. Dismounting from them were mostly young masters, some of them with their noses raised as if they were going to touch the sky.
Scanning the environment, Tarkan saw a large city. But unlike Tharn, which had only a few guards at the gate collecting entry fees, this place was different.
There were large weapons mounted all around the walls of the city, with well-geared guards patrolling along the top.
Tarkan didn't know if it was because of the academy assessment that security was this tight, but whatever was strong enough to bypass this wall… Tarkan didn't even dare to think about it.
Walking through the gate, Tarkan made a gate fee payment. Everything was done through a machine, with well-geared guards stationed at the gate to monitor the smooth flow of individuals and to prevent anyone from cheating the system.
Tarkan was only charged 100 gold coins a week for entry into the city.
Walking in, his eyes couldn't help but reveal a look of awe at the futuristic-looking city. Advertisements were showing on buildings, floating cars zoomed past, and a train track could be seen weaving through the sky. Tarkan couldn't help but feel that Tharn was nothing but mud compared to this city.
The name of the city was written in bold on a screen that made sure everyone entering would see it:
Welcome to Thira
The city buzzed with energy.
People moved about in tight uniforms, armed with wristbands and gadgets Tarkan couldn't even name. There were mechanized guards standing in certain corners, and drones zipped through the air, each scanning crowds silently. The buildings looked like metal towers kissed by the sky, and glowing roads reflected images from above.
Compared to Tharn, this felt like another world entirely.
Ricky couldn't hold back his excitement. "Wow… so this is Thira," he muttered, eyes wide.
Slim said nothing, but his eyes scanned the surroundings sharply.
Tarkan didn't respond. His eyes moved calmly from one direction to another, taking it all in.
It didn't take long before they were directed to the transport area, and from there, arrangements were made to lodge in a nearby residential unit for outsiders.
Each person was given an entry permit through the bracelet system. After scanning it, a floating marker guided them directly to the place they'd be staying. It was smooth, fast, and unlike anything Tarkan had seen before.
When they arrived at the lodging building, a floating screen in front read:
[Welcome, External Guests. Duration: 1 Week – Renewable]
The building had no doorman, no receptionist. Everything was handled by scanning their bracelets.
Doors opened automatically, and a voice gave instructions based on their profiles.
Inside, the rooms were large and clean. The bed was soft, unlike the hard metallic bunk Tarkan had slept on inside the ship. He dropped on it without a word, arms spread out. The ceiling was a smooth white panel that seemed to shift in color every few seconds.
Ricky was already exploring the room next door, shouting excitedly at everything he touched.
Slim took the corner of the room and leaned against the wall, quiet as always.
Tarkan stared at the ceiling for a while, then opened his panel.
--
Timer: 00:42:04 (Lvl 2)
> Reverse – Reverse time without restriction, as long as you have enough time.
Revert – Reverse time on a single target, unrestricted, as long as you have enough time.
Storage – Store non-living things in time, unrestricted, as long as you have enough time.
--
Time Manual (Lvl 1)
> Absorption – Extract energy while meditating according to the manual. (Timer can be used for faster absorption.)
---
Physique: Eternal Monarch Physique (Partial)
---
Prime Stats
Feral: 0
Awakened: 0
Crowned: 0
--
Talent – Eyes of Comprehension (SSS Rank): The Eyes of All Understanding
--
Croak Boost – Rush (C-Rank)
> Temporarily doubles the user's movement speed for 30 seconds per activation.
Charges: 2 (6-hour recharge per charge)
--
Tarkan stared at the panel.
With a pleased expression
...
..
.
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