Chapter 5 - Inside The Myth Academy

Coming in close, Joren looked up to see that the walls were actually quite tall.

Before the gate, armored guards were posted.

"ID, please." one of the guards requested which Scarlett responded by showing one.

Checking the card, the guard nodded and pushed a button.

"Agent Code: 1023, Agent Entering. Gates Open."

Joren didn't expect the castle walls to be so futuristic. At once, the heavy metal gate rose.

Upon entering while behind Scarlett, Joren looked around and was instantly shocked at what he saw.

Behind the wall, there was a wheel where men turned. As they changed positioned and pushed in the opposite direction, the metal gate lowered.

'I thought it was futuristic!?' he felt betrayed.

When he turned back, he saw Scarlett looking at him with a smile. Dazed by her beauty and the attention, he blushed.

"W-what is it?"

With still a smile on her face, Scarlett furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean what is it? Behold, the Myth Acadamy!"

She stretched her hand to show the academy which is clearly an ancient castle.

But that was not what Joren focused on right now. It was the strange people around the structure. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Because these people were, first of all, had the tinge of blue and transparent. Furthermore, they always have something missing or deformed about them. But the common thing about them was their wavy tail instead of legs. They were getting from one place to another by floating instead of walking.

"Ghosts!????" Joren freaked out once he made the connection.

Scarlett only nodded while waiting for him to see everything.

Joren's eyes moved around and saw more creatures. These "ghosts" are the majority but there were still a lot of different entities around.

There were even small humanoid creatures with pointy ears, sharp teeth, and rough faces.

"Goblins!?"

"Gnomes?!"

"What are those!?" Joren pointed at a strange creature, hopping around.

It had the head and body of a hare, antlers, wings, and fangs like a wolf.

"That's a Wolpertinger." Scarlett casually introduced, "Don't worry. Whatever you saw, they are harmless as long as you don't search for trouble."

Due to Joren's shouting, the creatures that are only regarded as fiction by the world saw him.

"What is that!?"

"Human!?"

"It had a scary face!"

"Booo!"

Both Joren and the creatures had the same expression. Their faces paled and jaws dropped.

Joren didn't even think about why they were scared of him. He was getting dizzy by what he was seeing.

"W-what..! What is happening! What are they!?" he wanted to stay away from them but Scarlett kept walking that he had to follow.

The distance between the two got closer as Joren felt safer by Scarlett's side.

"Why are you asking that? Don't you already know? You just said what they are. Those are ghosts, goblins, and gnomes as you just said, however, there are a thousand kinds of them that I can't introduce you to them all."

"Huh...? They are real? Wait," Joren's eyes widened, "by Myth Academy, you mean that it is an academy for mythological creatures!?"

"Very sharp, yes. This is just ground level. These outsides are too many in number that they have to wait before they can enter the building. For example, ghosts are the most numerous and there's neverending so they can only wait for their turn."

"G-ghost... does that mean that every human who dies goes here...?" Joren asked in a low tone.

"No, of course not. This is not the afterlife. Ghosts are just partial consciousness of the person's desire to live. They haven't accepted death yet, thus creating strong emotions before death which mysterious energy feeds off of. They are not really the people who died, they are just replicas that is why they can only say Booo~"

"What?"

"Yeah, and don't expect me to answer your every question. I don't know each creature here. There are countless of them with deep stories behind them. And wow, they're really scared of you."

The strange creatures were making a path for the two of them. Even the ghosts had was getting scared of Joren.

"I didn't expect that I would get annoyed by them this early after being so surprised..." a nerve popped out of Joren's forehead, seeing that these creatures are overreacting like other people when they saw him.

"Don't get too surprised. We are only on the outer ground level. Since you're an Abnormal, you're more prioritized so you have an easy pass."

Hearing this the ghosts sounded.

"Booo~"

"I feel like they are booing us when they heard I got a free pass... I feel like they're envious..." Joren murmured.

"They are and it's not a coincidence." Scarlett sighed as if she didn't want to explain any longer.

After more walking on the grass plain, Joren saw more and more types of creatures. He even saw an ant with the head of a lion.

"It's okay not to be careful on your steps. I know it's hard but they're weak and they would die in a day or so anyway. They're called umm... myrmecoleon? If I remember it right." Scarlett explained.

The distance between the gate and the structure within was not that far. However, Joren felt it was a long walk that made him exhausted.

Once they were there, there was a long line of these mythical creatures.

"Boo~"

The ghosts complained when they skipped the line and went straight to the giant doors.

"Joren, I'll say it again and how many times I need to. Don't be so surprised. The Myth Academy is full of strange and fantastic creatures. There are several levels, each containing differences in powers. The higher the level, the superior they are. Now, we are entering the inner ground level. You will see more..."

With that said, Scarlett showed her ID card once again and an eye opened on the door.

Once it saw Scarlett and her ID, the eyes closed and opened. When she looked back, she was in disbelief.

"You... okay?"

Joren suddenly looked calm and composed.

"Yes, sorry for forgetting your words. I will not be so surprised anymore."

"Ah, no, I'm not saying you can't react like a normal per-"

Before Scarlett could clear out the misunderstanding, there was a shout.

"It's Miss Scarlett Fross!"

"Everyone, don't panic!"

"No shouting and running! Please line up!"

Joren looked and his eyes widened. Even though he already expected it, he was still shocked. But he didn't show his emotions much.

The castle was big, however, its interior was much bigger! It's like a whole city is within the castle which shouldn't be physically possible!

More ghosts and other creatures Joren saw from the outside were there. However, he also found some new ones. Some were scary, some were eerie, some were just plain weird, and some shouldn't even exist.

When he noticed that it was too bright, he looked up and saw a bright ball of light, the sun.

'The... sun in the ceiling? No, that's not the ceiling, that's the sky.' Joren sharply breathed in.

Looking around, he saw dense forests, mountains, and stone buildings. No, it is not a city. The stone buildings were like modern houses. It was not that industrialized and busy but it was wide and vast.

Like a town that is built far from the cities and other provinces, having its own electricity, businesses, convenience, services, and more.

But the point is, the place was nothing like Joren had seen before. If he had to describe it, he can only call it-

'Modernized fantasy world...?'

Before them were these weird creatures lining up as if ready to greet them.