There was not a single extra Professor invited for this contest. That's why only the Headmistress and the mentor were accompanying the students to the venue.

It takes about six hours to reach there and since they have left early in the morning, they will reach the tower by afternoon.

The carriage was being pulled by four horses and one driver was leading the carriage toward the destination.

The Runebound academy was situated near the northern region of the nation—beyond the border were wastelands, which appears in stark contrast to the greenery in this part of the nation.

The Mage Tower is located in the east of the academy—that's why it takes so much time to travel between the capital and the Tower since the Capital is in the south of the Academy.

While the academy and the tower are on the border, the Capital is nearly at the heart of the nation, but since there is only one route to travel between the three landmarks, people generally use Teleportation—if it is an emergency.

'Teleportation...huh...' Adrian sighed as he glanced at Allen.

The Light attribute is a broken affinity.

There are some skills like—Radiance: an ability to absorb sunlight and enhance one's body, Teleportation, Healing, and many more.

That explains why light users are so desired by world leaders. Even if they can't go to the battlefield, they could be used as potion makers or healers in the back lines.

"Is something the matter, Professor?" Elana asked, seeing her favorite man looking a bit tired.

Adrian faintly smiled and shook his head, "Everything is fine."

Elana was about to offer him some tea to help him improve his mood when suddenly someone interrupted, "Sir...what will happen if someone writes the wrong runes for a subject?" The chief of the Disciplinary Council and Elana's classmate, Aeris asked.

Adrian hummed before answering, "If the runes inscribed are of their opposing element, like if a person has fire affinity and a runesmith writes runes for water...a very severe damage would be dealt to the weapon and the user."

The same goes for Water and earth.

But the most destructive combination is Light and Darkness. There is a chance for the user to even meet their maker.

The explanation made Aeris's eyes turn around, "Runesmithing is a serious job...you can injure the person with a slight miscalculation."

Adrian nodded, "That's why, rather than focusing on Runesmithing, focus on runes."

Aeris gave a salute to the teacher and opened her books.

Elana finally decided to ask for the tea, but again, "Sir, who was the legendary Runesmith who created the Sword of Infinity?"

Aeris asked again, and this time her question was related to history.

Sword of Infinity was the same weapon that was used to eradicate the Darkness.

That sword was held by the man whose descendent was sharing the carriage with others today.

Adrian thought for a moment before revealing, "He...was a very secretive man. I haven't read about him much other than the fact that he mostly remained locked up in his workshop. He initially used to see his weapon, but after realizing what his runes could cause, he isolated himself from the world."

Aeris seemed impressed, "Must have caused devastation to isolate himself."

Adrian slowly nodded. His knowledge about the legendary runesmith was quite limited since the books didn't record anything about him other than the final weapon he made for the hero.

In that era, runesmiths weren't respected by the general masses because they could use magic just fine at that time. That's why armaments appeared just extra expenses to them.

However, now, without armament, a warrior feels helpless.

"Sir Adrian, have some tea!" Elana's hurried voice gathered everyone's attention.

They turned toward the silver head and found her extending the cup in his direction with her eyes closed.

Adrian took the cup slowly, unsure why it seemed like she was forcing herself, and said, "Thank...you."

Elana heaved a sigh and nodded.

Adrian drank the tea silently and enjoyed the outside scenery.

.....

By mid-noon, they reached the island where the Tower was situated.

As the name suggests it was actually a tall tower standing at a height which seemed to be reaching the clouds.

As their carriage crossed the bridge that connected the mainland with the Tower, Adrian looked down and found there was shallow water under the bridge.

"There are countless creatures waiting in there to devour whatever drops from above," Ariana whispered to him as she also looked down.

"Not only that, if intruders are detected, there are runes engraved on the bridge that will destroy the pillars supporting it, and we will all fall." She further added, much to Adrian's exasperation as he asked,

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Ariana chuckled, "Was trying to warn you. Don't wander around like you used to do in the past."

She sat back in her seat with her arms crossed.

Maybe she spoke those last few words a little aloud since the students also heard it.

Allen glanced between the two and asked, "Headmistress, was Sir Adrian a mischievous child?"

Elana's ears perked at that as she turned towards the older one and listened intently.

Not only her but others too, except for Sylvie and Michael—who were still reading their notes—got curious.

Ariana's lips curved as she said, "I won't call him mischievous. He was a very curious child who can even resort to bullying if it's about the subject of his interest."

"Bullying?" Elana's brows elevated.

"Yeah. He even snatched my allowance to buy some books after spending his own money."

"And you allowed him to do that?" Allen was surprised.

Ariana grinned, "I was a little girl back then whom he could torment." Side-glancing at her cousin, she smirked, "Now things might be different between us."

Allen chuckled and Aeris just smiled. Elana also couldn't stop her lips from curving in a smile seeing their playful banter.

Adrian rolled his eyes, "You really had to tell them? Now if they end up bullying someone else, I won't even be able to reprimand them."

Ariana laughed at that reaction.

Not so long after, the carriage came to a halt before the Tower base, and everyone started to step out of the carriage.

Adrian was the last person to climb down as he looked at the intimidating building in front and thought, 'If things go well, we will leave this place with the trophy in hand.'

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A/N:- Thanks for reading.