A good time is always very short.
Three days flew by in the blink of an eye, and today was already the day to head to the Central Continent for the competition.
SigrdrÃfa stood at the entrance of the Dormitory Building and waited for a while before Xuan Xi slowly shuffled out from inside.
Her gaze fixed straight on Xuan Xi, and only when she saw her wearing the Dark Cyan Long Robe she had bought did SigrdrÃfa give a slight nod, expressing her approval.
‘No need to teach Xuan Xi a lesson anymore.’
The two walked side by side to the training ground, only to find that Elsa and the others were already waiting for them there.
She was bending over, seemingly picking something up, and when she looked up and saw Xuan Xi, she immediately noticed her new clothes that had not been worn for a long time, and praised her without stinginess.
“This outfit looks really good!”
Reggie stood beside her.
Hearing this, he turned his head.
He did not speak, and only gave Xuan Xi a thumbs-up, while Veralis stood a little farther away, not looking this way, and it was unclear what she was doing.
In the center of the training ground, besides their own people, stood a short figure.
Pink hair naturally hung down to her shoulders.
She wore a dark gray Academy Uniform, and though the uniform was originally one-size-fits-all, on her it looked especially loose.
The cuffs had been rolled twice just to barely reveal her hands.
When she turned around, Xuan Xi had a chance to see her face.
This person had a very youthful face and deep red eyes.
Her gaze swept over the Team of Five, and when she spoke, her voice was very crisp and carried a childishness that matched her appearance.
“Everyone’s here? Mm, quality barely passes, at least a bit better than the previous batch.”
Elsa looked at that short figure, then at the academy emblem pinned to her chest, and felt slightly surprised.
“Is this little runt really a Teacher at the school?”
Just as Elsa was about to voice her doubt, a heavy pressure spread out from the center of the training ground and pressed down on her, hurting so much that she could not voice her question, and then the pressure vanished all at once.
She clenched her teeth hard, biting her own tongue until it hurt badly.
Seeing this, the short figure clapped her hands in satisfaction, “My name is Xing Ye, and I am the vice principal of this Academy. This time I will be leading you to the competition. The route has already been arranged, so just follow me.”
She turned around and gestured toward the Academy gate beside the training ground.
“Let’s go.”
The Team of Five followed her out of the Academy and walked down the stone-paved path in the mountains.
They moved quickly, and before long they arrived at the Teleportation Array at the foot of the mountain.
The Academy had already notified the Teleportation Array staff in advance, so the group could use it as soon as they arrived.
The runes on the teleportation stone pillars lit up, blue light wrapped around everyone, the ground disappeared, and instead there was a stretch of grayish-brown hard sandy soil.
The group had already arrived at the Teleportation Station closest to the border.
(Patch: Because the resources and races of each continent are different, Teleportation Arrays only interconnect within a continent. To move between continents, one must use other means of transportation.)
The Teleportation Station here was not large, just several stone pillars engraved with runes forming a circular patch of ground, and the runes on the stone pillars were much older than those at the Academy.
Xuan Xi also noticed that not far from the Teleportation Station was a structure resembling a dock, where an old dark gray Flying Boat was moored, with several repaired marks on its hull.
Xing Ye followed her line of sight.
“Oh, that’s the Academy’s Flying Boat, and also the transportation we’ll be taking this time.”
When the Team of Five approached the Flying Boat and were about to board, a staff member in an Academy Uniform poked his head out from the shed beside them and stopped them.
He held a stack of documents in his hand.
He looked at the Team of Five, and was just about to ask why they had come when he noticed the little runt of a vice principal walking at the very front.
“Oh! Vice Principal Xing Ye, are you leading students to use the Flying Boat? Then that really is unfortunate. The Academy’s Flying Boat was just requisitioned by the principal this morning, saying there was an urgent matter, and we’re about to set off.”
Hearing this, Xing Ye stopped in front of the Flying Boat and looked at the staff member.
“Then did she say when it would be returned?”
Her voice revealed no emotion, and it was impossible to tell whether she felt good or bad about it.
The staff member flipped through the record board and replied, “The principal didn’t say a specific time, only that it would be used for a while.”
He paused, “There are still a few Land Beasts left. Do you think you could make do with those?”
Xing Ye was silent for a moment, then shook her head, “Unrealistic. Taking Land Beasts from here to the Central Continent would take at least half a month, and along the way we’d have to pass through quite a few Magic Beast gathering grounds. We’d miss the preliminary round.”
“Then how about I go ask the docks at other Teleportation Stations for you? Maybe there are extra Flying Boats.” The staff member asked.
“No need. I’ll find a way to solve it myself.”
Vice Principal Xing Ye declined the staff member’s kindness, then led Xuan Xi and the others away from the dock.
As they came out, Xing Ye also said some words Xuan Xi could not understand, which seemed to be hometown curse words from the vice principal.
“Vice Principal, then how are we supposed to get to the Central Continent?” Elsa asked anxiously.
Xing Ye glanced at her and patted her own nonexistent chest, “Leave it to me! Although that old fox of a principal is deliberately making trouble for me, she would never expect that I, your auntie, would carry a Flying Boat on my person.”
After saying that, Xing Ye reached into the inner pocket of her uniform and took something out.
It was a palm-sized Flying Boat model.
The hull was entirely silver-white, its surface polished very smooth, and the body long and narrow, so at a glance it clearly had very low resistance.
There was a row of tiny portholes on each side, and the family emblem of the Star Field Family was carved at the stern.
Xing Ye turned it over in her palm.
After confirming there was no problem, she looked at the Team of Five standing beside her.
“Ride my vehicle. This is a private Flying Boat I had custom-made with great care. That principal probably doesn’t even know I have it.”
She tossed it into the air, and the silver-white boat model began to expand at a height of 9 feet from the ground.
The side rails, deck, and masts unfolded in sequence, and the keel let out a deep humming sound.
By the time it landed, the hull had already stretched to a length sufficient to hold seven or eight people.
The silver-white hull looked incomparably dazzling in the morning light.
The hull’s lines were smooth and streamlined, forming a sharp contrast with the dark gray Academy Flying Boat in the dock.
Xing Ye had already stepped onto the gangway and gone up, standing at the edge of the deck and looking down at them.
“What are you looking at? Hurry up and come aboard.”
Elsa was the first to climb up, her steps light.
After reaching the deck, she looked down from the edge of the side rails, and Reggie followed behind her.
As Xuan Xi stepped onto the gangway and walked up, she studied this beautiful Flying Boat and could not help but think: ‘This Flying Boat couldn’t have been embezzled by the vice principal from activity funds, could it?’
Xing Ye stood at the bow adjusting the direction, but her voice still reached Xuan Xi’s ears.
“Don’t overthink it. The source of this Flying Boat is completely legal and compliant. Just don’t tell that old fox.”
After saying that, the Flying Boat slowly rose.
The Teleportation Station gradually shrank into a small dot, and the Academy’s old Flying Boat was left far behind.
Wind blew in from the bow.
Xing Ye stood at the bow holding the steering rudder to control the Flying Boat.
She turned her head and looked at everyone.
“The Flying Boat is much faster than Land Beasts. If the whole journey from here to the Central Continent has tailwind, it only takes three days, but if there’s headwind or other special circumstances, then it’ll take seven days or even longer. But no matter how slow it is, it’s still much faster than those so-called Land Beasts.”
After the Flying Boat rose to a certain height, Xing Ye fixed the steering rudder in place and fiddled with the control console for a while.
“Autopilot is set. Come on, I’ll take you to find rooms.”
After saying that, she walked toward the cabin, and when she pushed open the door, she turned sideways to signal the Team of Five to follow.
The corridor in the cabin was not wide, with a row of doors on each side, silver-white just like the exterior of the boat.
Xing Ye walked at the very front and introduced the purpose of each room to everyone in turn.
“The first one is the storage room. It contains living supplies for personnel. We don’t need to bother with it.”
Passing the second door, “This one is the backup pilot room. It’s usually locked, and only used if the outer steering rudder breaks, so no need to bother with it either.”
She stopped at the end of the corridor and turned around.
“There are three guest rooms in total for sleeping. How do you plan to arrange them?”