Fly!

There were not many people walking this road, with only one person appearing every few dozen meters or so.

After walking for more than an hour, the scene ahead finally changed.

It seemed they had reached the vicinity of Isata's foundation.

From afar, Isata looked incomparably vast and majestic, filled with grand, wondrous towers and spires.

But upon drawing closer, it became even more awe-inspiring.

Isata's foundation was like a mountain. No one knew how such a mountain of black stone had come to lie beneath the swampy terrain.

From a distance, Isata did not seem especially tall, but only when one approached did one realize that its underground stone foundation alone was as high as a mountain.

The black stone gave off a dim metallic sheen. The walls were covered in slick moss and vines of varying colors that spread like blood vessels.

These vines did not seem to be ordinary plants either. At times, they faintly rose and fell, like a pulse—or like slithering snakes.

Straight ahead, an enormous arched gate was set deep into the stone, its doors tightly shut.

This was the main gate, but to either side were smaller paths and smaller gates.

Someone guided Charles along his route. Glancing to the side, he saw that some of the other paths even had people lining up.

He began to climb upward. Mist shrouded the surroundings, and the stone steps were slippery enough that he had to watch out for a fall.

"Ah!"

Up ahead, some unlucky apprentice seemed to have misplaced a step and slid down at least twenty stairs, landing hard enough to leave his face bruised and swollen.

Seeing this, Charles became even more careful.

At last, after climbing for quite some time, they reached a platform.

Here, he had apparently finally arrived at his destination.

Before Charles could breathe a sigh of relief, the sight before him made his legs go weak.

"Ah!!"

Long, miserable screams echoed around Charles's ears.

Charles had thought he had reached his destination, but this place appeared to be merely a transfer station.

Ahead, sprawled on the ground or standing upright, was a large group of monsters in all sorts of shapes.

Some resembled enormous bats, with blood-red eyes and mouths that occasionally split open to reveal rows of fine, sharp teeth.

Others looked like giant birds—owls, nightjars, and the like—but their bodies all seemed far too large.

Every one of them stood more than a person's height.

"Come here."

A black-robed wizard ahead beckoned.

Even with his legs trembling, Charles had no choice but to shuffle forward.

"Don't dawdle!"

The wizard snorted coldly and waved his hand impatiently. Charles's body immediately lunged forward beyond his control.

By the time he stopped, he was nearly pressed against a giant bat. Before him was the bat's black fur, and he could even smell its rank stench.

Before Charles could react, the bat spread its leathery wings and thrust out its claws, gripping him directly by the shoulders.

Whoosh!

The giant bat flapped its leathery wings and shot into the sky with Charles in tow.

"Ah!!!"

Unable to endure the sensation of that high-speed rush, Charles screamed.

The giant bat flew quickly, but its flight path was extremely unstable, rising and dropping at times, swaying from side to side at others.

Charles was held facing upward, but as the bat flew ever higher, he was able to see some of the scenery below.

Towers rose all around him, some straight, others twisted and spiraling upward.

Behind Isata, Charles could also see small districts spread out in a fan-shaped pattern.

The bat seemed to be circling Isata in a spiraling ascent.

Carrying a person, it was not flying especially fast. After several minutes, its speed began to slow, and it eventually started descending.

Thud!

When he was still several dozen centimeters above the ground, Charles was simply thrown down.

"Haha!"

"Another one fell!"

"Hehehe!"

All kinds of strange laughter seemed to ring out around him.

Charles got to his feet and realized that this appeared to be a small plaza.

Towers stood all around. From afar, down below, those towers had looked quite small.

But only upon approaching did he discover that the seemingly tiny towers were at least dozens or even hundreds of meters in diameter or width, with heights of one or two hundred meters.

They were truly enormous!

There were quite a few people in the plaza as well.

Some apprentices in gray wizard robes stood in small groups at a distance, watching the spectacle.

The laughter had come from them.

While Charles had been dropped, several more newcomers were brought here.

Compared to them, Charles's luck was not very good, because the giant birds slowly set people down.

Only the bats were bad at landing, so they simply threw people down.

Ahead was a row of tables, where someone was waving at newcomers like Charles.

Seeing this, Charles obediently stepped forward.

"Little apprentice, I'm a senior sister assigned by the academy to guide you newcomers."

At the table before him, a woman in a gray robe spoke to Charles with a smile as lovely as a flower.

Charles hurriedly bowed. "Thank you, Senior Sister."

The female apprentice giggled, her eyes continually appraising Charles's face and body.

"What a handsome little brother!"

Still giggling, she pushed the things before her toward Charles.

"These are the essential supplies for entering Isata: two sets of gray robes, a room key, a meditation method, and this handbook for newcomers."

After accepting them, Charles thanked her. "Thank you, Senior Sister!"

The female apprentice continued, "Now that you've come to Isata, we're all one family. Your senior sister lives in the tower behind us. I'll be here in the plaza for the next few days, so if you have any questions, remember to come find me!"

Charles thanked her sincerely. "All right, Senior Sister."

Then the female apprentice asked, "Junior Brother, do you still have any Magic Stones on you? New students need to prepare quite a lot of things. Your senior sister has plenty of good stuff here~"

Charles shook his head bitterly. "Senior Sister, I already spent all my Magic Stones on the ship buying Mental Power Potions..."

As soon as Charles said that, the smile on the female apprentice's face faded considerably.

She waved her hand, and one of the servants standing in a row behind her stepped forward.

"All right, Junior Brother. Follow this servant to choose your residence. Everything else is written in the newcomer handbook."

"Yes, Senior Sister."

Charles followed the servant away.

Of course Charles had Magic Stones on him, but he could not possibly spend them now, nor could he reveal them.

He knew nothing about Isata yet and did not understand the prices either. Spending money now would be little different from volunteering to be taken for a fool.

After only a few steps, the senior sister's coquettish laughter came from behind him again.

Charles listened without changing his expression. He had known it would be like this.