"Man, that green guy definitely lied to us,"
Hanjun muttered, crossing his arms and pouting like a dumb kid.
"I can't see anything from down here."
Suddenly, his face lit up.
"Wait, I found an idea! Jayhon, get over here. Throw me high up so I can check where the academy is."
Jayhon blinked.
"Wait, really? Here?"
"Yeah, come on, just throw me!"
Jayhon took a deep breath, grabbed Hanjun by the waist, and used a sudden burst of his physical strength to launch Hanjun straight up into the air.
Hanjun shot up like a rocket.
As his upward momentum started to slow down, he ignited his orange fire-Zheki from the soles of his feet, using the thermal pressure to float and hover high above the rooftops.
He squinted, looking across the massive horizon, but all he could see were endless rows of rich-looking estates, grand stone arches, and market squares.
He couldn't spot a single sign for an academy.
His fire flickered out, and he dropped heavily back down to the ground, landing right next to the bench with a loud thud.
Hanjun sat down, crossing his arms in an incredibly annoyed huff.
Jayhon sat right next to him, his shoulders slumping as he looked thoroughly sad.
"Nothing,"
Hanjun grumbled. Then, he paused, rubbing his chin.
"Wait... how does an academy even look like anyway?"
"Yeah, how does it even look like?"
a voice suddenly echoed from right behind them.
"Same question. Honestly, I don't know how it looks like either."
Hanjun and Jayhon both whipped their heads around.
Standing right behind their bench were a male and a female.
The male had a striking mix of dark and deep purple hair, and a single, sharp black horn protruded from the left side of his head.
He was dressed in a long, high-collared Yellow coat over a fitted vest, looking quite sleek, but a faint, swirling aura of dark purple energy constantly drifted off his shoulders. The female right next to him had a vibrant mix of red and purple hair, and her sharp horn sat on the right side of her head.
She wore very similar, stylish clothes, and both of them carried a faint, ominous dark aura and incredibly tired, exhausted-looking faces.
Strangely, both siblings had spiky, horn-like bony protrusions jutting out from their elbows.
"Huh?"
Hanjun muttered, staring at them blankly.
Jayhon didn't respond, his face locked in a thoroughly puzzled and questioning expression as he looked at their weird dark energy.
Hanjun, completely unbothered by the scary aura, just leaned back.
"You two are lost too?"
The male let out a smooth laugh, waving his hand.
"Nah, I was just kidding. We're actually from the academy. The term started a day ago, and we're currently on our way there right now.
This is my little sister."
He patted his chest proudly.
"My name is Shin Reki, but you can just call me Reki, because I like it more. And this is Shiki."
The sister, Shiki, didn't seem to care at all. She was just gazing away into space, her face completely bored as she muttered,
"When are we going? This is taking too long."
Reki completely ignored her, smiling warmly at Hanjun and Jayhon.
He looked them up and down.
"You know, you two seem like really poor people judging from your clothes. To be honest, I actually like poor people. They're not arrogant like most of the people in this kingdom who are incredibly rich and annoying."
As Reki turned to start walking, Jayhon and the siblings took a step forward, but Hanjun stayed completely glued to the spot. He narrowed his eyes, staring at Reki's sleek coat.
"Hey,"
Hanjun said bluntly, pointing a finger.
"Why are both of your clothes stolen clothes?"
Back when they were younger, Hanjun and Bexin used to steal food and clothes constantly just to survive, which made Hanjun incredibly smart and perceptive when it came to spotting stolen goods, mismatched fits, or cut tags.
Both siblings froze and turned back around. Shiki's bored eyes widened slightly, a look of shocked impression crossing her face.
Reki blinked in disbelief.