Chapter 209 Exploring The City

Chapter 209 Exploring The City ?

Minutes later, Lyrian entered the almost futuristic streets of the Anaviotis campus city with Alten and Leon. From the other layer of the school, all they had to do was make their way across the large opening up front and then get their way past the gates guarding the establishment.

There were guards stationed there, people whom Lyrian noticed were real people, working real jobs... They made it to the city streets right outside of the walls, where the paths were smooth and made up of clean pavement.

In the magical city, large hovering boards made of metal zoomed through the sky, carrying loads of equipment and merchandise. The streets bustled with a vast crowd of people.

Skyscrapers and other buildings, along with street shops and other markets, lined up along the side of the road, where people who Lyrian noticed weren't just students but adults as well.

Some may have been teachers, but others were blacksmiths, garbage cleaners, maybe some were store owners, and so forth. Seeing them, along with the guards from before, Lyrian now realized why so many places of residency were opened up on the campus of Anaviotis.

This was what made it almost city-like since it literally had a functioning society within it, that needed to be there in order for the academy to flourish. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Using his wrist bracelet, he followed the map which led to the nearest and only BF (Battle Forge) shop on the campus. While he did that, he also checked the amount of Riftstones that he had. Riftstones were the currency of the academy.

The bracelet read that he had a total of 3,500 Riftstones. This came as a bit of a shock to Lyrian, who hadn't memorized his amount of Riftstones in a while. He knew that he got 1000 from getting first place in the Magic Affinity Potential test, but other than that, he assumed that the 2500 extra Riftstones were from other stuff that he accomplished in the entrance exam.

Passing with the Golden Tiered Core almost must have been a big reason for the extra Riftstones.

'Thinking of the core... I still have it in my storage ring. I wonder what I should do with it. Sell it? That might be a waste though...'

Lyrian pondered in his head. Soon, they arrived at a four-way intersection in the street, where a fair-sized water fountain graced the middle. As they approached this fountain, they realized that a small circle of people was slowly forming around it.

Lyrian looked at his bracelet, then back up at the now sizable crowd of people forming a blockade in front of them.

"The Battle Forge shop is straight ahead."

He said as Alten tsked in slight frustration.

"What is all this commotion even about?"

He questioned, as the three pushed their way into the growing circle of people and arrived at the inner edge of it. They stopped for a moment to observe what was going on near the fountain, where no one was near now.

"Riftstones! Hand them over!"

A young-looking boy dressed in a thin, orange robe barked out with an arrogant look on his face as he looked to be harassing a grown man. The man looked to be in his forties and had a grim expression as he was held by the collar over the edge of the water fountain.

Small droplets of water splashed on him from time to time since he was held so close to the fountain.

"A robbery? In plain daylight?"

Lyrian said, slightly bewildered by the situation. Leon seemed to have a bit more insight.

"No... seems like it at first, but that kid in the orange robe is a student. He looks like a first-year, just like us. He even has a small group of orange-robed goons next to him... that probably means what I think it means."

He seemed to be slightly annoyed as he said that last sentence.

Lyrian had no idea what he was talking about, but Alten understood quite quickly.

"Yea... It's unfortunate that there seem to be no rules against this."

Alten sighed, looking over at the guards who stayed on the sidelines and watched as the middle-aged man got harassed.

"What are you talking about? In fact... why aren't the guards doing anything?"

Lyrian said, even more confused now. Alten quickly replied this time.

"You still don't know? Those kids... are pretending to be Buddhist monks. They are asking for money."

Lyrian said as Alten let out a slight chuckle.

"Wow... to be honest, I didn't know what I was expecting, since it is you, after all, Lyrian."

He mused.

"Buddhist monks are religious disciples. Sometimes they beg for money to stay satiated. Here, however, they are pretending to 'ask' for money as 'monks' in order to loot random civilians."

Alten continued, speaking about the entire concept of Buddhism a bit more to Lyrian so he could understand.

While he did this, the kid in the orange robe who was holding the man over the fountain neared the poor guy even closer, as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"Come on! Aren't you going to let us eat!? How could you be so disrespectful!?"

The kid blurted, a sly smile on his face as his other two robed friends stood by. Whispers spread through the crowd, but no one could do anything at that moment.

Lyrian heard Alten's full explanation of Buddhism but still wasn't satisfied with what was going on.

"Even if they are pretending to be monks, it's clear to see that they actually aren't, so why aren't the guards doing anything still?"

He asked. Leon had an answer to this that Lyrian hadn't really thought of.

"Status, it seems. Everyone living here knows that they are far less in status than the students. The students of this academy come from prosperous families, while they are just trying to make a living. Those idiots aren't pretending to be Buddhist monks to actually convince others and get Riftstones, but as an excuse to use against any low-status guard or other person who dares try and step up to them."