“But regardless of the rules and methods of the Silverwater Academy, having more silverfoam is appealing to a ruler. There will be another lecture that explains this further.”
There were probably rulers out there who just wanted to increase their territory. Taking another whole miniature world wouldn’t change the depth of Militia’s World, but it would allow Militia’s order to affect other worlds.
On the other hand, taking the firedew of another world for our own would deepen Militia’s World and bring it closer to the depths. But destroying the chief god of a world meant destroying everything with it—although most would surrender before that ever happened. The main purpose of the battle was, after all, to obtain firedew.
“Take this.” Ottolulu drew a magic circle. Light surrounded our uniforms before fading to reveal the insignia of ripples and foam on our chests. “This is Pablohetra’s school insignia. However, this mark you see now only indicates provisional enrollment. Full students of Pablohetra have their own school insignia too.”
“I see. So you can’t participate in the Silverwater Ranking Skirmish without this,” I said.
“Yes. If you take as many insignia from the enemy army as there are students in your school, you will be formally permitted to join the academic alliance.”
That made sense.
“Provisional insignia can be exchanged for real insignia, allowing schools to increase their number of students and gain an advantage in the Silverwater Ranking Skirmish. The enemy army will be after your insignia. Protect it with your lives.”
If our priority was in joining the alliance it would be best to use the firedew as bait and go after the insignias.
“Student registration is yet to be completed. You may still adjust your numbers. If you do, please return any additional provisional insignia.”
Using a small number of elite fighters meant there would be fewer insignias we would need to take in a skirmish. But everyone had come this far already—having a majority of them simply spectate would hold little educational value.
“We’ll proceed like this,” I replied.
“Understood.”
Mom and dad had also been given insignia, but oh well. We could just grab an extra two for them.
“Regarding what we were discussing earlier,” Ottolulu said as we walked, “firedew cannot be returned to ephemeral worlds due to their lack of silverlight. Ephemeral worlds cannot be viewed from the outside in, and are so unstable that forcing entry could eliminate their chance of evolution entirely.”
“Just entering is enough to destroy them?” I asked.
“In some cases, yes. Above all, the returned firedew would just leave the ephemeral world again. It would be like adding water to a leaking bucket—not only is it inefficient, but firedew could even be lost in the process.”
It was a reasonable argument.
“Just seal the hole in the bucket then,” I said.
“That would be a good idea, if it were possible.”
We left the palace and arrived at a garden. As one would expect of a palace garden, it was well maintained. Here and there were students with the Pablohetra insignia on their uniforms. As far as I could see, everyone was relaxed, whether they were studying for classes, tending to their weapons, or constructing magic circles.
“Do you know anything about Atzenon’s Lions of Ruin?” I asked.
“That would be the Ruinous Abyss World Evezeino’s Institute of Mythical Beasts. The top mythical beasts are called ‘Atzenon’s Lions of Ruin.’ The Holy Sword World Hyphoria and the Ruinous Abyss World Evezeino have been enemies for a long time. Neither of them were on particularly good terms with Pablohetra either, but they have both just joined the alliance.”
“How recently?”
“One week ago. Evezeino was a deep-level world to begin with, and in very little time rose through the ranks in a series of skirmishes to claim the lowest seat of the Holy Six Academies.”
I looked around the garden while following behind Ottolulu. “And they are?”
“The six highest-ranked academies of Pablohetra, also known as the Holy Six. The highest ranked at number one is presently the Magic Bullet World Elenesia, which is why Pablohetra is currently located in the Seventh Elenesia World. Holding the second highest rank is the Holy Sword World Hyphoria. There is a large gap from rank two to rank three that no world has been able to close, but while Evezeino’s rank is still low for now, they have the potential to climb higher.”
So the visitors to Militia’s World came from rather famous schools.
“Hyphoria must not like that,” I commented.
“As long as all conflicts are settled through the Silverwater Ranking Skirmish in accordance with the treaty, Pablohetra is welcome to all.”
The academic alliance was no more than a conglomerate of individual miniature worlds linked together for mutual benefit. It was hard to imagine that a world such as Evezeino would ever willingly surrender themselves to their enemies. Of course, the same applied to us.
“Are there any opportunities to speak to the Holy Six?”
“It would be considered impolite for residents of the shallows to call out to them. It’s customary to wait to be addressed first. The other option is to climb the ranks such that your world is ranked within the top ten—you will naturally get a chance then.”
“In that case—”
In the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a stack of cube-shaped stones.
Next to them was a man holding a sword in one hand, using the other to make rocks hover in the air as he sliced them into cubes. The sword he was using was oddly shaped, with a jagged blade reminiscent of a saw. Each rock he sliced into a stone cube was exactly equal not only in size, but in magic power. He was probably adjusting the magic in each stone as he carved it, but that was no easy task. Yet as he carved stone after stone with fluid swipes of his blade, he made it look as simple as breathing.
Was he making construction materials? It was likely they were some kind of component needed for his work, but the man swung his saw blade with the pure joy of a child at play.
His uniform was a loose, knee-length jacket with wide sleeves in a bold shade of ultramarine. The insignia on his shoulder was a castle—he was from the Silvercastle World Balandias, just like the Immovable King Kaltinas. His glittering blond hair was gathered up in an artistic pompadour.
“Never seen a castle sword before?” the man asked without turning, having clearly noticed my gaze. He paused mid-swing to turn around. “This is a type of demon sword that combines a saw with a sword, used for combat and construction simultaneously in the Silvercastle World Balandias—”
He took a look at my face, then my magic power, and fell speechless.
A long, long silence passed.
“Your Majesty...” he eventually breathed.
There was no mistaking it. The man was Farris Noin, the creation magic master who, two thousand years ago, had perished in the sky of destruction.