Chapter 351: Surprize
Gale and Jenni walked into the front lines after setting down the registration in the administration office.
"Huh, the camp around here seems to have improved a bunch in the time we were away," Jenni muttered.
A couple of weeks for them were several months inside the front lines. Gale had heard there was an attack or two at the main camp, which probably warranted the rebuilding of many structures and taking everything more seriously. Apparently, not many lives were lost since many superior rankers were available in the camp during the time of the attack.
"What do you intend to do right now?" he asked.
"I'm gonna go see my father," Jenni said, absent-mindedly moving forward. "I'll show him my designs and the offer I got from Dragonforge. Oh, I also have to make a list of my demands."
"Maybe I should look for a disciple who's less demanding," Gale muttered.
"You won't," Jenni grinned at him. "Because you won't find anyone more brilliant and charming than me."
Gale snorted. "I did have a disciple who was far less demanding than you, and more charming."
Jenni raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
Gale turned to find a white fuzzball leaping into his arms, squeaking in delight.
"Cupcake?" He raised an eyebrow as his senses picked up on the owner of the little bunny running towards them.
Kiara stopped a few metres away, her expression breaking into surprise at finding him there. "Umm~"
"Oh shoot! I was going to abduct her into my lair," he joked, embracing Cupcake protectively. "But I guess we'll have to wait until your human isn't around."
He brought out a low-grade core from his soul domain and fed it to the bunny. Her aura was more prominent now, already advancing higher than her owner's, who was still a Copper ranker. Moreover, they hadn't bonded yet. Kiara was still waiting for her Iron advancement.
"What a cute little bunny," Jenni commented, running her palm over the white fur.
"What are you doing here?" he asked Kiara finally.
"Um, we're here with the academy staff," Kiara said, "to take part in some trials."
It looked like the higher-ups were going all in on giving people chances to enter the trials after fixing the problem with the power source. Well, considering how many elite Iron rankers had died on the mission, it would be unthinkable if they didn't try to compensate for the loss with new rankers.
"I see your bodyguard is still with you?" Gale muttered, noticing a figure standing among the crowd, observant of their direction. "Wait, did June come too?"
"Obviously," Kiara said. "Professor June is in charge of our batch; of course, she had to come."
Gale spread his void sense to find her. Unfortunately, his reach wasn't far enough to cover the whole area, not to mention some higher ranker might pick up on it and bother him.
"She's at the trial site," Kiara said. "With other professors and Elder Vess."
Gale wondered why she hadn't told him she was coming here. Perhaps she found out too late or wanted to surprise him. Wait, she probably didn't know he was back in the camp, did she? Either way, Gale turned in the direction of the trial grounds, preparing a few antigravity scripts to fly there.
"If you're going there, let me join you," Jenni said, latching onto his arm firmly. She didn't care about who was watching, as long as she got what she wanted.
"Weren't you going to your father?" Gale raised an eyebrow.
"He's probably busy with other matters, and I can see him whenever I like," Jenni said.
"That did not answer the question," Gale said.
"Fine," Jenni glared at him. "I want to ask her to teach me spellcasting. Happy?"
Gale narrowed his eyes.
"You want to learn spellcasting from Professor June?" Kiara asked, her brows furrowed.
Jenni nodded, clearly dismissing the teenage girl with her higher rank and experience.
"Well, you two should talk between yourselves first," Gale told her. "Kiara is actually her mentee."
Saying that, he handed the bunny to her human before flying away, leaving Jenni complaining on the ground. Gale picked up his pace and flew straight to the trial grounds. The distance to the trial ground was considerable, as it had once been in the second zone of the front lines. However, the lines between the zones had been erased in the time he wasn't there, making it a more straightforward path.
If he used
Wings of Radiance
, Gale would have been there in mere minutes, but he decided to keep the ability under wraps. Who knew who might take interest in them and come bothering him about it? Instead, he increased the script to a Tier-V rune, boosting his speed to a tremendous degree. A quarter of an hour later, he was halfway there and slowed down, finding a sign of June.
She was already halfway back, returning to the main camp, flying on top of Sylvie. Gale didn't give her time to react. He shot in their direction to embrace her, almost toppling Sylvie in the process.
The white crane balanced herself while Gale brought June up into the sky. Sylvie was ready for a fight, but she calmed down, probably noticing him or by June's telepathic reassurance.
"When did you get back?"
"Only a few hours ago," he said. "I noticed Kiara and Cupcake and found out you were here."
"Looks like I'll have to give up on the surprise I was preparing for you," she sighed, and Gale kissed her on the lips.
"Well, you can still do it," he said, dropping to fly side by side with Sylvie. "I love surprises."
"You had me at a disadvantage," she pouted.
"Where are you staying?" he asked. "Can you shift to my quarters?
"It is probably not professional to do it," she muttered. "And besides, I will be staying for a week at best."
"Still, it will be a week together."
"If I stay with you, I won't get half of the things done," June pouted. "And the same goes for you."
Well, she was not wrong.