Chapter 98 - Welcome To Belgard (1)

"Sheela don't tell me you're actually going to follow them," whimpered Trent as he watched his teammates march towards the portal.

"No I'm not, Trent."

"Phew, thank you. I knew I could count on you."

"I'm not, but we are," said Sheela as he picked up Trent like he weighed nothing, and carried him like he was a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"Let me go, Sheela!"

"Yeah, I'll let you go once we pass through the portal," laughed Sheela as Trent struggled to escape his grasp.

The manticore watched the group approach it, interested in what these new challengers had in store for it.

Once the group was just several meters away from the manticore, it stood up, towering over them at a height of 4 meters. 

The manticore began walking towards the group, exuding a nerve-wracking pressure as it did. It took all the willpower that the group had just to remain standing.

They had already walked deep into the clearing, so there was no turning back.

As the manticore neared, so did the pressure it exuded. The pressure became so intense that Calder, Abby, Marya, and Trent passed out.

"What the hell is up with this pressure?" wondered Arya as he used what little strength he had to just stay conscious.

"So this is the power of a guardian beast?" thought Averos as she was pushed down to her knees due to the pressure, sweat dripped down her face as she reached for something in her robes.

"No Averos. Remember d-don't a-attack it." stuttered Yuuki. Even talking became difficult when confronted by such a beast.

When the manticore reached the group, both Yuuki and Averos were already forced to their knees. Only Sheela and Arya remained standing, but just barely. Sheela had placed Trent on the ground as it became too difficult to carry him while standing.

While the manticore was looking down on the group, other mages ran through the sides, avoiding the beast and running straight for the portal.

The manticore turned to look at the fleeing people but didn't seem to have the slightest bit of interest in them.

"So Yuuki was right. It really isn't here to stop people from going through the portal, so then why is it here?" wondered Arya as he looked up at the beast.

"You are the only group to have passed this test. In order to be a mage, both wit and courage are needed. Congratulations and welcome to Belgard," said the manticore in a loud voice as it rescinded its pressure.

Both Yuuki and Averos struggled to stand up, breathing heavily as they did. Sheela had sweat dripping down his face but had the same easy-going expression he always did, scratching his head awkwardly as he heard the manticore speak.

Arya on the other hand still looked at the manticore with suspicion in his eyes. Clearly, he didn't believe that the test was over.

"Are these your comrades?" asked the manticore as it sniffed the group members who had fallen unconscious.

"Y-yes," replied Yuuki. Although the manticore rescinded its pressure, it was still difficult to talk properly when faced with such a powerful being.

The manticore grabbed the fallen teammates in its mouth and flung them on its back.

"Well then, let's proceed," said the manticore as it walked ahead of the group towards the portal.

"Huh?" the group members seemed confused but followed behind the beast anyway.

As they reached the portal the manticore gestured for the group to grab their teammates of its back.

"I hope to see you all when the school year commences," said the manticore before turning around to continue guarding the portal.

The group quickly passed through the portal, scared that they might wake up from this dream before they made it to Belgard.

Arya went through the portal last, carrying the unconscious Marya on his back. Before he went through the portal, he stared at the manticore's back one last time. "One day I'll be strong enough to defeat one of those" resolved Arya as he passed through the portal.

"What an interesting group we have this year. I sensed a lot of powerful kids in this batch, though I wonder if that was really dragon blood I smelt coming from that kid. There was something off with it, regardless, two dragon-borns in the same year should prove to make this year's class rather eventful," thought the manticore as it continued to watch over the portal.

Meanwhile, the group was at a loss for words once they had passed the portal. It wasn't just them, everyone who had passed through the portal had a look of awe in their eyes.

Although they had been told that Belgard was one of the biggest magical institutions on this continent, they hadn't expected it to be at such a scale.

The area the students were currently in was a boulevard of some sort, with tall magnificent trees lined up along its entire length.

The trees exuded a brilliant magical light, that gave them a firey look, similar to a burning sakura tree.

The street paths were made of a pale white substance, that seemed to pulsate with an unknown power.

Whatsmore, the buildings within Belgard were on another scale. Apart from the towering spirals that were higher than even the 50meter tall wall, the other buildings were nothing to scoff at as well.

It wasn't just their size but their magnificence as well. All the buildings seemed to have an other-worldly architecture, with geometrics that seemed hard to follow even as you were looking at them.

The buildings themselves seemed to exude a power of their own, giving off a magical feel even as the group stared at them.

Everything seemed new as if it had just been built yesterday, not a speck of trash lay on the streets, and what was even more fascinating than the surroundings was the number of robed people walking about.

Belgard was more crowded than any town Arya had ever visited, and each and every one of Belgard's inhabitants were mages.

"I've never seen so many mages in one place before," whispered Calder as he gained consciousness.

The group's attention was quickly drawn to the front, as a grey-bearded, old gentleman wearing white robes with red, blue, green, and silver patterns cleared his throat.

"Welcome to Belgard Academy. Congratulations on making it past your tribulations. I am headmaster Frode, and I will be leading your orientation,"

"I finally made it," thought Arya, with a resolved look on his face.