Chapter 59: Gene De Rossi

The warp gate teleportation felt different from the dungeon teleportation. It seemed more forceful, even though they weren't traversing to a different dimension. Warden guessed that teleportation within the same realm was more challenging. Despite his high attributes, Warden experienced a moment of lightheadedness as the teleportation completed.

His eyes widened as he discovered tall, majestic buildings all around him. Warden had expected to be intercepted in a similar warp chamber, but it seemed teleportation worked differently than he thought.

"You!" a loud voice boomed from behind him.

Warden turned to find Aurel, staring at him in disbelief. "Me?" he responded with a baffled look.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sounding suspicious. "No, don't tell me you got a recommendation letter?"

Warden brought out the letter from his inner pocket and showed it to her. Her expression changed to a scowl.

"How did you get it?" she asked. "Just yesterday, you were asking me all about it like a buffoon."

"I have my ways," Warden laughed.

Aurel snorted. "Noble ass," she muttered under her breath, probably thinking he got his recommendation letter through his connections.

This girl really didn't seem to have a filter on her mouth, and she was so presumptuous. But then again, she had to work two years to get her break, while Warden did get his letter through a connection. So, he didn't berate her, only smiled, which seemed to make her even more infuriated.

"You have a problem with nobles?" a new voice interjected.

Warden turned to find a few eyes on them, mostly the people who came with the teleportation. He hadn't considered there would be other people with them who were coming to take the test as well, which was an oversight. The warp gate was the only way for people from Navin to come to the academy. Of course, there would be rankers arriving at the same time as them.

The guy who asked the question really had the face of a noble. His blond hair was slicked to his scalp, giving him a handsome scholar-boy look. With an expensive-looking mage's robe draped on his body, along with various rings and enchanted items on his person, it was easy to consider him a noble.

"What do you want?" Aurel asked.

"Nothing," the scholarly youth said. "You seem like someone who looks down on nobles?"

"Oh, no, no," Aurel said. "I think it's the other way around. I just hate how they get away with things with the power of their daddies."

"What's wrong with that?" the guy said in a dismissive tone. "Without your parents, you wouldn't even be here. The last thing you'd want to do is be ungrateful for the things they've done for you."

"I can tell," Gene said, pointing at the sword Warden wore at his hip, its length reduced by a third.

Perhaps these guys had some common sense, albeit at a toddler's level.

"Isn't your sword a bit short?" Gene asked, his eyes filled with curiosity.

"It's like that when unawakened," Warden explained. "The size grows when it's charged with energy."

"Really? How long can you make it? Can you make it thicker as well?"

"Not as much as I'd like, but it serves its purpose well."

"Wow! Can I see it?"

"Now, in public?" Warden asked, hesitant. "Wouldn't I get into trouble for that?"

"Unless you hurt someone with it."

"What are you two talking about?" a familiar feminine voice interjected as a new figure approached them.

"Oh, June," Warden greeted her.

The expression on her face was priceless. He was pretty sure she had overheard most of their conversation and was questioning her decision to recommend him to the academy.

"An elf!" Gene exclaimed, his enthusiasm taking a new level. "Wow, I have only seen pictures of them before, but even up close, she's so beautiful. Ethereal!"

"Keep it in your pants, Gene," Warden said. "The garden already has a goat."

Gene's expression was that asking to look again. Everything went over his head, however, June was far from being dull to not understand his comment.

"Stop making fun of him and prepare for your test," she said. Her expression betrayed nothing about what she thought of his comment. June was more strict inside the academy.

"I'm not making fun of him," Warden said. "I'm making fun with him. There's a huge difference."