Chapter 72

There's something going on, so the word count is a bit short, I'll make up for it tomorrow!

Cook followed Montchi down a long corridor. It was clear that this was a dedicated teleportation area opened by the headquarters of the Mage Guild. The walls were built of thick obsidian, and the faintly glowing magic array circuits on them indicated that a powerful defensive magic array had been set up here. Every few dozen steps, two guards clad in full armor stood, and the weapons in their hands, which emitted a faint glow, further demonstrated the strong defensive capabilities of this place.

Unlike the hurried passersby, Cook was reminded of a subway station on Earth. Cook also noticed that there seemed to be more than one such teleportation area. Cook was even more acutely aware that his mental and magical power seemed to be suppressed by an invisible force here.

After nearly half an hour of walking, Cook finally saw a light. However, when Cook emerged, he did not see a building but a huge square, spanning several square kilometers. The most eye-catching feature was the teams of griffin riders flying over the square. In the Roland Empire, a team of griffin riders consisted of only five people, but here, there were at least ten.

Occasionally, large flying magical beasts would take off or land from the clouds, then land far away in a designated area. In the distance, Cook saw what looked like a sea of clouds, yes, a sea of clouds, indicating that this place was on a high mountain.

"Let's go! This is the headquarters of the Mage Guild. It's still a few hours' journey to the Unrivaled Academy." Montchi looked around and then led Cook and the others straight toward a row of huge lizard-like creatures, each about fifteen meters long and seven or eight meters tall.

"To the Unrivaled Academy!" As Cook and the others approached, they saw that these creatures had carriages on their backs. Cook was puzzled, wondering if these large creatures were for riding. Montchi's actions soon confirmed this.

"Thirty purple gold coins, please!" a middle-aged man said politely.

"Here you go!" Montchi took out thirty purple gold coins, which was equivalent to three thousand gold coins.

"Please, guests, take your seats. The journey is about to begin." The middle-aged man smiled and put the purple gold coins into his money bag, then gestured for them to enter.

"Wow!" Cook clicked his tongue. Three thousand gold coins, which in the Roland Empire might not even be the entire cash reserve of a viscount, was just the fare for a taxi here.

"Uuuuuu!" When Montchi and the others climbed onto the creature's back, nothing happened. But when Cook jumped on, the creature suddenly started to moan and lay down, and to everyone's surprise, it started to defecate and urinate.

"Beep beep beep! Stop! Stop!" After the taxi moaned and polluted the environment, a series of urgent beeps sounded, and several knights appeared in front of the taxi. Behind them, several griffin riders hovered in the air.

"Polluting the square, a fine of one hundred purple gold coins!" The lead mage walked up to the middle-aged man who had collected the money and said formally.

"Ah! Sir, I didn't mean to." The middle-aged man looked at the creature, puzzled. The earth walker, though a level two herbivorous magical beast, had been domesticated by his family for hundreds of years, through several generations, and had never shown such fear before. Moreover, one hundred purple gold coins was a huge sum, considering the high maintenance costs of the earth walker and its equipment, leaving little profit each day.

"These are the rules!" The mage pointed to a nearby wall with golden text, written in both magical script and the common language of the continent.

Montchi and the others quickly got off. Montchi looked at the small Lei in Cook's arms for a long time before turning to Cook, who shrugged helplessly. Montchi sighed and did not pay attention to the argument between the creature's owner and the patrolling mages.

"Let's go!" Montchi called out and walked in another direction.

"Don't go, guests, don't go! Here's your money, your money!" The middle-aged man, seeing Montchi and the others leave, quickly caught up and returned the money to Montchi before running back.

This time, Montchi led Cook and the others to a very strange large carriage. There were dozens of similar carriages around, each with eight wheels taller than a person, making it look like a large carriage on wheels, about ten meters long.

"To the Unrivaled Academy!" Montchi climbed into the carriage, followed by Cook. Inside, there was a circle of soft seats around the carriage, with a rectangular table in the middle.

"Two purple gold coins per person!" A dwarf, about half Cook's height, emerged from under the table, holding a wrench-like tool. The dwarf, though small, had a beard.

"Dwarf!" Loli exclaimed.

"Beautiful human lady, you're right, I am a dwarf!" The dwarf wiped his hands with a cloth and replied.

"Let's go, I'll take the whole carriage, thirty purple gold coins!" Montchi waved and placed thirty purple gold coins in the dwarf's hand.

"Thank you for your generosity. Perhaps I should offer you a drink, juice or water?" The dwarf quickly took the thirty purple gold coins and said excitedly.

"Thank you for your kindness, but we want to reach our destination as soon as possible!" Montchi declined the dwarf's offer.

"Oh! You've come to the right person. I've lived in this magic city for a hundred years, and no one knows it better than I do. My magic carriage is the fastest in the entire city. Gentlemen and ladies, please take your seats. The Wrench is about to start." The dwarf walked to the other end of the carriage as he spoke.

As the dwarf sat down and moved a few times, Cook felt the carriage shake, and soon, the scenery outside the transparent crystal windows began to move.

"Wow!" Loli and Mitchie exclaimed, their faces pressed against the windows.

Cook was also amazed, and Lei opened her purple eyes wide, her finger in her mouth, drooling. But Cook quickly adapted, estimating the speed to be about 150 kilometers per hour, with only slight shaking in the carriage.

"Are you visiting the Unrivaled Academy or doing something else?" Giro asked loudly, seeing Mitchie and the others.

"We are students at the Unrivaled Academy, here to register." Loli smiled and replied, then looked out the window again.

"Register! My goodness, you are students at the Unrivaled Academy?" Giro exclaimed.

"Cough, cough, Mr. Giro, please watch the road!" Cook, seeing Giro turn to look at them, coughed and said.

Giro then said apologetically, "Sorry, I was stunned by the news."

"Look, what's that?" The magic carriage was now at the edge of the square, and Loli pointed to a group of giants over five meters tall, all bare-chested, carrying huge axes on their shoulders, looking extremely fierce.

"Those are hill giants, each one very powerful." Montchi explained.

"Yes, the magic city has three hundred such hill giants, who are part of the city's patrol force. The griffin riders in the sky are also part of the patrol force. It can be said that the magic city has the best public security on the continent, with no exceptions. The knights over there are also part of the patrol force, and the entire city has a patrol force of 150,000 members." Giro said proudly.

"Good heavens, 150,000!" Cook was also stunned, realizing that a city with 150,000 police officers was an incredible concept.

"Ha ha! Look, this is the magic city, with the headquarters of the Mage Guild at the highest point!" As Giro spoke, the road began to slope downward. The road was very wide, about a hundred meters, divided into two lanes, with several overpasses for pedestrians.

Cook and the others looked down and were truly amazed. Below was a huge canyon with a river in the middle, and vast plains on both sides, covered with buildings. Cook estimated the area to be at least several hundred square kilometers.

"The mountain on the right is your destination, the Unrivaled Academy. The mountain on the left is the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild, Warrior Guild, and other guilds. On both sides of the mountains and behind the headquarters of the Mage Guild, there are 50,000 patrol members each. The magic city has a permanent population of over 70 million, and a floating population of over 100 million. The entire city is located on the plains in the canyon, becoming increasingly prosperous the closer you get to the center. The city has over 1,800 temples, and over 300 races have offices here, as well as over a hundred empires and thousands of duchies with contact points. It is also the largest magic item trading center on the continent, with dozens of large auction houses." Giro excitedly introduced as he drove.

Cook was also amazed, as the mountains on both sides of the canyon were almost vertical, yet they were covered with buildings. Cook found it hard to imagine how these buildings were constructed, and the population was staggering, with over 100 million people in just one city.

"Ha ha, at the end of the plains are six medium-sized cities that provide food for the entire magic city." Giro pointed to the end of the plains.

"Behind the headquarters of the Mage Guild is the endless magical beast forest, where over 4,000 different types of magical beasts have been discovered. Every year, millions of adventurers and mercenaries enter the forest from here to explore." Giro continued.

Not only was Cook amazed, but Mitchie and the others were also stunned. From the attire of the people, it was clear that most were professionals, and some were clearly very powerful. Cook even saw a ground dragon pass by, a level eight earth sub-dragon magical beast, as well as various other mounts, and a wide variety of pets.

"However, remember one thing: private duels are not allowed in the magic city. If discovered, you will face severe punishment. You also cannot fly at high altitudes, or the over a hundred magic crystal cannons set up here will not distinguish between friend and foe." By this time, the vehicle had descended to the foot of the mountain and was crossing the river in the middle of the magic city.

"Almost there, after the bridge is the entrance to the Unrivaled Academy." Giro pointed to the bridge ahead, which surprised Cook as it was made of stone with almost no gaps between the stones, and the bridge surface was made of wide wooden planks.

"Everyone, I'm sorry, we can only go this far. The entrance to the Unrivaled Academy is just ahead." Not far from the bridge, Giro stopped at a large square and pointed to a tall building across the square.

"Thank you!" Cook thanked and followed Loli and the others off the carriage.

"Is there anything we can help with?" Two patrolling soldiers approached and asked.

"We are students at the Unrivaled Academy, here to register." Loli answered quickly.

"Students?" The two guards looked at Loli and Mitchie, and then at Connie, but their eyes widened when they saw Lucy and Montchi. They were even more surprised when they saw Cook holding a small baby.

"Yes, this is our admission ticket. Where do we register?" Loli waved the admission ticket.

"Please, this way. We are also students at the academy, and we are currently doing a points task. Are you regular students or auditors?" One of them gestured and led the way, then asked enthusiastically.

"We are regular students, and he is an auditor!" Loli pointed to herself and Mitchie, then to Cook.

"An auditor!" Both guards thought Cook was a family member but were surprised to find he was also a student. They were extremely puzzled because the Unrivaled Academy had never had a student with a baby, even an auditor.

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