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The next day, after Caelan and Hadrian discussed some more details, Caelan paid half the deposit. Then he set off for Crimson Port with his parents.
The family of three had chatted late into the night. Eventually, Caelan convinced his parents to come with him during the day to visit the Church of Light or the Shadow Church.
"Little brother, I'm entrusting everything at home to you," Matthias shouted to Hadrian, who was measuring the land, while carrying his wife on his back.
Hadrian put down his measuring pen, walked over, and asked, "I wanted to ask yesterday—how old are you now?"
"Fifty-two years old. Starting to head toward sixty." Matthias sighed with emotion.
"Oh. Then I'm older than you. I'm seventy-one this year." Hadrian turned and walked toward the open space. "Next time, remember to call me Big Brother."
The couple was speechless. Caelan couldn't help but chuckle from the side. It was no wonder his father had mistaken Hadrian's age—the man looked like he was in his early forties.
On the way to town, Caelan wanted to carry his mother for a while to give his father a break, but was refused. As his father said, Caelan's body was too weak to carry her. Caelan was helpless—he couldn't cast the Levitation Spell yet, so he could only cast a Haste buff on his father.
Upon arriving at the town's post station, they rented a carriage. The family slowly made their way toward Foxhollow Prefecture's teleportation array.
Radiance Academy.
Cassius placed his right hand on his chest and bowed slightly to the young man in front of him. "A wonderful match."
The young man opposite let out a harsh "humph" from his nose. Didn't respond with a single word. Turned and left.
Cassius didn't mind in the slightest. After all, he was the victor.
This young man was Corbett of House Sparkspine, from the Lion Kingdom—his opponent in today's quarterfinals. After a battle that didn't feel particularly difficult, Cassius had emerged victorious.
Turning around, Cassius raised his hand and waved to the cheering classmates in the spectator stands, then sat down to wait for the quarterfinals to end before drawing his next opponent.
Corbett huffily walked back to his seat. But then he heard two thirteen- or fourteen-year-old kids in the audience behind him discussing:
"See, I told you Ken was strong, didn't I?" said the clever-looking one.
"Yeah, yeah. The lightning user didn't beat the fire user today," the other boy said. He looked more honest.
"I knew it when I was playing the game. Ken is much easier to use."
"Huh? Why do I feel like they're pretty similar? Only their super moves are different."
"But Ken just feels better to use."
"Alright, alright. Anyway, we're both mainly fire-attribute, so we'll definitely side with Ken."
"Look at that guy up front. All he did today in the air was constantly throw Hadoken. As soon as someone got close, he just froze up."
"Exactly, exactly. In the game, constantly throwing Hadoken like that would get you called a cheater."
"And his Hadoken's power isn't even that great. It barely had any effect on the opponent."
"Exactly, exactly..."
"It must be that his Hadoken posture is wrong. Ryu's Hadoken requires both palms to face each other and be brought together, then pushed forward—that's when it's powerful. This guy doesn't understand anything. Alas, pathetic."
Corbett couldn't bear it any longer. He stood up, turned around, and roared at the two teenagers behind him: "What I'm throwing is called 'Lightning Thorn Ball,' not some nonsense 'Hadoken'! Are you two obsessed with Street Fighter? And who said Ken was stronger? Do you even know how to play? Ryu is the protagonist—how could he be weak?"
The clever teenager said, "You're the one who doesn't know how to play. The Illusionist on the Forum said there's no absolute protagonist in this game. Or rather, all characters are protagonists."
The honest teenager said, "Exactly, exactly."
Corbett angrily said, "You brat, let's go have a match right now and see who the protagonist is!"
The clever teenager said, "Let's go. Whoever doesn't go is a coward."
The honest teenager's spirits lifted. "Let's go, let's go!"
Corbett said, "Wait a moment. I'm going back to get the console now."
The clever teenager's ring flashed with magical power, and two Elite Edition consoles appeared in his hands. "No need to get it. We'll use mine."
Seeing that the other party actually had spatial items, Corbett's expression froze. Just as he was about to say some pleasantries, a mentor on the side angrily shouted, "If you want to play games, go play outside! This is a competition venue!"
The three of them all cowered and scurried out of the Academy.
Caelan, of course, couldn't pay attention to the outcome of their gaming duel. At this moment, he was queuing at the teleportation array.
Illusionist: "Help—who is the best at Holy Light in Crimson Port?"
Flame Controller: "Father Jasper at the Bluefinch Chapel on Mapleleaf Main Street. Everyone says he's very powerful."
anyone who studies new magic is a fool: "What are you treating?"
White Flame Lion: "Shouldn't the Bishop of the Church be the most powerful? Why does everyone say a Priest is powerful?"
Illusionist: "@anyone who studies new magic is a fool: My mother has difficulty moving. I suspect it's a spinal issue."
anyone who studies new magic is a fool: "Then you should look for the Shadow Church. Their treatment for bones is stronger than the Church of Light. However, you can also try—that Father Jasper's Holy Light proficiency is indeed not low."
Flame Controller: "The Bishop is just an administrator. He doesn't necessarily use Holy Light well."
Illusionist: "Thank you, Vice Dean. I will give it a try."
White Flame Lion: "Maybe he became a Bishop because he's the best fighter."
Caelan closed the group chat. This group chat had been created by Cassius, and currently only had five people: Cassius, Cassandra, Victor, Nicole, and himself.
After thinking for a moment—to prevent them from changing their names randomly—Caelan added a note for everyone. Although it could be checked at any time, notes were more convenient. Another thing was that Caelan hadn't implemented the avatar function yet; currently there were only male and female options. He'd find an opportunity to update it tomorrow.
Just as he was thinking, someone in front shouted: "Crimson Port needs four more people! Crimson Port still needs four more!"
Caelan quickly raised his hand. "There are three here."
The person in front stepped aside to let Caelan and his two parents pass. Standing inside the teleportation array, a white light flashed. After a moment of dizziness, Caelan opened his eyes.
His father was swaying unsteadily, face pale—clearly a bit unaccustomed to his first time using a teleportation array. Caelan quickly grabbed his arm. His mother, however, had a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.
After a while, Matthias finally recovered.
Looking at the towering city walls ahead, Matthias sighed with emotion. "This is the third time I've come to this place. And every time, I feel that these city walls are truly magnificent."
Caelan thought to himself that it was because his father hadn't been to the Dragonspire Empire. The city walls of Earthforge City were much taller than those of Crimson Port.
Caelan's mother also gazed blankly at the tall city walls ahead, remaining silent for a long time. This was, after all, her first time visiting a major city. The most prosperous place she'd been to before was Foxhollow City.
Caelan rented a carriage nearby and took his parents to the old shop. Ella was explaining how to use the console to a customer. Seeing Caelan standing at the door, she wanted to come over first, but Caelan waved his hand, signaling her to continue with her work.
Ella nodded and continued to introduce the functions of the desktop icons to the customer.
"Oh, this storefront has been renovated," Caelan's father said as he walked into the shop. He immediately noticed it had changed significantly from when he'd last seen it.
Caelan nodded. This shop had been really too dilapidated before—otherwise it wouldn't have been bought for around a hundred gold crowns. Later, Cassius couldn't stand it anymore and helped find a senior student to renovate it. However, it was clear the student's skill was average; the renovation wasn't very even. But it was already much better than the previous wall that had been shedding debris.