Chapter 468: Headed To The Ember City - 2

Leo walked up to the familiar faces who were discussing things among themselves.

"Aaron, Ronan, good to see you again," Leo called out, causing both of them to turn toward him simultaneously.

Their first reaction was—who is this guy, and why is he being so casual with us?

But before Ronan could open his mouth, Aaron recognised him. His eyes widened slightly, and he immediately clamped a hand over Ronan’s mouth before he could start cursing at Leo.

"Leo! How have you been?" Aaron asked with a calm smile.

Now that Leo’s identity had been revealed, Ronan also noticed the familiarity in his face.

"Leo? What happened to your face?! Why do you look so much better and taller?" Ronan exclaimed in surprise.

His loud voice naturally drew the attention of the nearby students, their gazes shifting toward Leo and the elves beside him.

"He has elves as maids! So lucky..." one muttered enviously. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Is he going to use them as meat shields? Damn, such a waste."

"True. I am ready to trade places for them with you."

Hearing the chatter, Aaron and Ronan also observed the elves more carefully.

"Wait... are they the ones who shot arrows from within the mound when we attacked your territory?" Aaron asked, but then quickly realised it was an intrusive question and not something to discuss openly.

So all of them headed toward a private room to talk until the time for the briefing arrived.

"I would have said she was the one who shot the fire arrows back when we attacked your territory... but that’s impossible. I can’t sense even an inkling of strength from her," Ronan said while observing Naelith, more specifically, her hair, which carried a brighter shade of red than his own.

"But I am 100% sure she has some latent fire-based ability because of her hair colour. You should get her tested. Who knows, you might find yourself a powerhouse slave in the future. If not for the fact that you managed to obtain her, I would have bought her outright if I had known."

The reason Ronan and Aaron weren’t able to sense Naelith and Lyswenna’s strength was that they were two minor realms higher than the boys were.

"Her name is Naelith." Leo then gestured toward Lyswenna.

"She is Lyswenna, and both of them will be accompanying me during the secret realm exploration."

After that, Aaron and Ronan introduced their two servants each. They weren’t slaves, but servants assigned by their families who had joined the academy as students. All four of them were males with varied elemental affinities, though they only carried the presence of Mid 1-star to Peak 1-star beings.

As a matter of fact, they weren’t even among the top 2000 students. It was simply their status as servants that allowed them to join the exploration team alongside Aaron and Ronan.

"Ahh, man..." Aaron muttered as he lazily stretched his back.

"I would have preferred beautiful girls as my servants too, but I simply can’t allow a normal girl to stay with me in the academy. They would get hurt every other day... well, at least until I become decently strong or very strong like you," he said, referring to Leo.

"And even if a female servant has even the slightest possibility of becoming stronger, my elder siblings snatch them away before I can even get a proper look."

Ronan nodded in agreement at Aaron’s words. It seemed both of them were in the same situation.

Seizing the brief silence, Ronan tried to take his chance.

"Say, are you willing to sell me this elf named Naelith? I promise to pay handsomely. And now that we are going outside the academy, I can even ask my family to help pay you however you want. I can feel that if she is with me—"

Leo raised a hand, stopping him midway.

"Let’s not discuss anything related to this matter anymore."

Ronan immediately stopped speaking. He couldn’t afford to offend Leo in any way.

He understood that people tended to become extremely possessive of the things they managed to obtain, especially when those things were living beings like elves, who were so beautiful. Even if they were weak.

But as for Leo, he simply didn’t want any further discussion on the topic while the subject of that discussion was present in person. Ronan and Aaron might casually brush it aside, saying elves were slaves and should be treated as such, but at least in Leo’s eyes, they were his subjects meant to be cared for.

Aaron noticed the subtle change in Leo’s mood and quickly changed the topic.

"By the way, why do you want to join the secret realm exploration? We have our earth element-based beasts... hmm, now that I think about it, even you used some earth abilities back during the competition. Do you plan to tame a new beast, or are you trying your luck at spotting the Wyvern and obtaining the baby beast directly from the city lord? Or simply to try a connection with Count Ashton Ember?"

"Me? I am just here to get my hands on as many natural treasures as I can during my free time."

"Free time? What about your training with your professor? Didn’t you have to pause it like us?"

Leo shook his head.

"No, I completed it."

"What?!" Ronan exclaimed.

"Really?" he asked again after calming down slightly.

Leo simply nodded. Both the boys gulped down. Leo was much more monstrous than they imagined. And now that Leo’s height was taller than theirs, they felt much beneath him.

"What about you both? Are you here for a new beast or natural treasures as well?"

"Both. We will also try to get our hands on as many—"

"All students registered for the Ember Family’s secret realm exploration event, gather in Compartment 7."

Suddenly, an announcement echoed throughout the hall, causing all the registered students to converge toward the designated area.

There were almost 250 students, along with another 100 or so servants and slaves. Among them were even the 11th-ranked student, Cecil, and the 12th-ranked Yano.

Attendance was swiftly marked, and all the servants and slaves were registered separately.

After that, each student received a talisman.

An assistant professor at the Mid 4-star rank then stepped forward and spoke.

"This is a single-use life-saving talisman that will activate automatically once you are struck by a deadly attack. Since the life-saving bracelets will be useless outside the academy, this serves as the alternative."

"When the talisman activates, a professor will be teleported to your location to defend you from the threat. Afterwards, you will be sent outside the Secret Realm and will not be allowed to re-enter."

"Additionally, students may choose to purchase extra talismans for their servants and slaves. If you don’t, then they will not be saved upon receiving a deadly attack."

"Each extra talisman costs 30,000 AC."

A brief silence followed before a student raised his hand.

"Sir, what will happen if I buy this talisman for my servant and it doesn’t get used? Will I be refunded?"