SOUL FORGE CHRONICLES
Chapter 3 — Aboard the Airship
"Little ones?"
Aldric stared at Sorcerer Mordecai, his heart swirling with turbulence.
Was this sorcerer also a student like them?
But before he could think further, an opening appeared at the bottom of the massive airship.
Mordecai led them inside. The moment they landed in the cabin, Aldric heard a deep woman's voice.
"Seven students! Taylor, you really got lucky."
Aldric looked more closely and found a large-bodied woman — nearly two meters tall, with shoulders as wide as a doorframe and eyes as sharp as an eagle. She gripped a massive sword nearly two meters long, its blade covered in intricate glowing runes.
Beside her, Aldric also saw a skeleton figure draped in black robes with eerie blue flames burning in its eye sockets. Seeing their group enter, the skeleton waved its hand, and the opening at the bottom of the cabin closed automatically.
"Seven students — you all owe me a meal when we arrive, no less than a hundred magic stones."
Sorcerer Mordecai — who had been so intimidating toward the nobles on the ground — was now chatting cheerfully with the other sorcerers inside the cabin, as though that side of him had never existed.
"Go to hell. Fifty magic stones, take it or leave it."
The skeleton sorcerer approached the new students with the Testing Orb and began recording each of their names and Aether Resonance scores one by one.
After finishing, the skeleton sorcerer — seemingly through magic — produced bag after bag from beneath its black robes. Each bag contained a quill pen, a bottle of ink, a roll of white paper, a room number plate, and three books.
No explanation. No pleasantries. The skeleton sorcerer's manner was completely different from the other two who were chatting casually. It seemed to have left behind human emotions — embracing peace and rationality in both body and mind.
Since the skeleton sorcerer didn't say a word, Mordecai had to explain to them himself.
"These are your admission materials, which record the introductory courses of the Grey Tower Academy of Magic and its regulations. The number plate is your room number. During the flight, do not leave your room unless absolutely necessary."
"Now, go find your rooms. You're allowed to have a little fun during the flight — but don't cause any deaths."
...
The airship's passenger cabin had only a single long corridor, with rooms neatly arranged on both sides, each accommodating four people.
Aldric counted mentally. If the airship had fifty rooms, it could carry at least two hundred passengers when full.
Fifty rooms. Two hundred people.
"This world truly is extraordinary. Even the airships are this large and magnificent."
Following the corridor to the very end, Aldric opened his door — Room 225.
"Hi! You must be my roommate. I'm Elara, from Aurveil Territory."
The moment the door opened, a girl immediately greeted him with a smile.
The girl had long blonde hair, bright light-blue eyes, and a few small freckles on her cheeks that only added to her youthful charm.
"Hmm? Is this the wrong room?"
Aldric was slightly confused and nearly turned back to ask the skeleton sorcerer.
"Don't bother asking, friend. Someone already asked, and Sorcerer Eisen said there's nothing wrong."
Aldric stopped. "Sorcerer Eisen? The one who looks like... a skeleton?"
Elara nodded. "Exactly. He said the room numbers are randomly assigned and not to ask him to change them. Many people have already tried, and he nearly threw them off the ship for annoying him."
Aldric rubbed his temple. A headache was beginning to form.
This was troublesome. Living with a woman always had its own complications.
But if the sorcerer said rooms couldn't be changed, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Alright," Aldric sighed. "Hello, Elara. I'm Aldric, from Thornwood Territory."
...
In truth, Elara had lied.
Rooms on the airship could actually be changed — but the method was rather brutal.
As long as someone could obtain another occupant's agreement to switch rooms without causing a death, the recruiting sorcerers wouldn't interfere.
In the few days since Elara had first boarded the airship, several violent conflicts had already occurred.
And those violent conflicts were often accompanied by something far more horrifying.
The sorcerers didn't stop it. They treated it as a minor squabble.
This only fueled the dark thoughts of certain people on the airship.
Fortunately, the airship spent most of its time flying at high speed — during which no one could leave their rooms. That was what allowed Elara to hide safely in her corner room all this time.
But Aldric's arrival changed everything.
If those brutal people found out there was a girl hiding in the corner of the ship, the next time the airship slowed down would be a very bad day for Elara.
That was why she had to stop Aldric from switching rooms.
Besides, Aldric was indeed handsome — but he also looked extremely weak.
Years of malnutrition had made his skin very pale, and his thin body, even when clothed, looked like it could be blown away by a strong gust of wind.
Elara was confident she could handle any possibility from a youth as frail as that.
...
Back to the present, Aldric stepped into the room and casually closed the door behind him.
The room was not large — only about eleven or twelve square meters. There was a small compartment in the corner that appeared to serve as a toilet.
The furnishings were simple: two bunk beds, a long table, two chairs, and a magic lamp hanging from the ceiling.
The small room now contained only two people — Aldric and Elara.
A young man and a girl at the age of growing up, confined in a small space.
Their eyes briefly met, then both immediately looked away in opposite directions.
This should have been an ambiguous scene...
Nonsense!
Aldric might look like a teenager, but inside he was a full-grown adult. He had more important things to do than entertain silly thoughts.
"I'll sleep on the top bunk. Let me know if you need to change clothes, and I'll step out."
Aldric said this casually, then turned, climbed to the top bunk, and took off his shoes.
Sitting on the top bunk, Aldric opened each of the three books from his bag one by one.
He couldn't understand a single word. As a farmer's son, being able to write his own name was already considered quite educated in Thornwood Territory.
But from the thickness, he could guess that one of the books was a dictionary.
Aldric touched the cover of the book, and the Soul Forge immediately responded —
[Material: Dictionary of the Sorcerer's Language]
[Extractable Information: The Sorcerer's Language]
[Extraction Cost: 10 Mental Energy]
[Extract Now?]
Aldric pocketed the dictionary and made his decision without hesitation.
"Extract."
Instantly, his head felt like it had been struck by an iron hammer, and everything went dark.
...
Aldric woke from his sleep.
The room was pitch black. Night had long since fallen.
"Hiss... I can't be this careless next time."
Aldric slowly rubbed his head.
He focused his mind inward. Above the Soul Forge, a cluster of small bouncing white lights had been waiting for a long time.
Aldric merged with them, and this time there was no illusion like when he absorbed the Storm Eagle Sword Technique. All he felt was as though he had memorized a great many things at once — as if an entire dictionary had been poured directly into his brain.
He tried reading the sorcery script on the open page of the book.
He could read it — but his pronunciation sounded like a complete beginner. His tongue was stiff, his intonation off.
"It seems there's a significant difference between 'skills' and 'information'." Aldric muttered quietly. "Absorbing information is like pouring knowledge directly into the brain — but applying it still requires practice. Skills, on the other hand, can be used immediately but are hard to put into words."
A sudden, intense hunger snapped him out of his thoughts.
He hadn't eaten for nearly two full days.
"Elara," Aldric called softly.
"Hmm? You're awake."
Elara's voice came from the bottom bunk in the darkness. She sounded like she hadn't slept at all.
"Elara, what time is it?"
"Four thirty-two in the morning."
Aldric estimated mentally. He had probably been unconscious for nearly fourteen hours.
"Did anyone bring food?"
"It's on the table. Come down and eat if you want."
Aldric sensed something off in Elara's voice. Even though they had just met, most people wouldn't be awake like this in the middle of the night.
"You haven't slept at all tonight?" Aldric asked quietly.
"No."
"Homesick?"
"A little."
It seemed like this girl had never traveled far from home before.
GRRRK!
Aldric wanted to say some comforting words, but the loud rumbling of his stomach forced him to eat first.
He climbed down from the bunk and found his dinner already waiting on the table.
Two palm-sized pieces of black bread, a slightly charred piece of beef, and a bowl of beet porridge.
Though far from the delicious food he remembered from his previous life, it was still far better than the moldy black bread he had eaten in the Thornwood Territory shack.
"Not bad."
After finishing, Aldric sat in the chair and let out a long sigh.
"Aldric, are you a knight?"
Elara lay in the lower bunk, looking toward him.
Aldric could sense something different in her voice. Elara seemed to be... crying?
"No. Why do you suddenly ask that?"
"Then we're in trouble."
Aldric frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Aldric," Elara's voice caught slightly, "do you know what our entrance exam is? The one written in the admission handbook?"
"What is it?"
"The entrance exam is... killing!"
— End of Chapter 3 —