Chapter 255 Robed Individuals "All of that just for this, huh?" Lyrian flipped the little piece of metal over a few times while looking at it. "I'll make sure it's worth it."
He soon arrived back at the main gate, with nothing else to stop him in his way. This time, he showed the plate to the guard before either of them even uttered a word.
The guard squinted his eyes to examine the small token before nodding. Lyrian walked past him and through the gates, feeling accomplished. Stepping out into the city felt like a well-deserved breath of fresh air.
"Alright... the forest should be straight ahead if I'm not mistaken, but I might as well make sure I'm not wrong," he said, checking his wrist bracelet.
He pulled up a holographic map of the campus city area, allowing him to click anywhere he wanted to travel. He zoomed out from his current location and clicked the closest forest area he saw. As he did, a line appeared on the map from his position to the destination, acting as a guide.
"Huh... how convenient," he thought, taking a breath of relief and beginning to walk. Before, he had simply followed the map with rudimentary map reading skills, but this discovery was valuable and one he would keep in mind.
Soon the map led him to the same fountain he had passed when he first explored the city to buy his BF module. This time, there wasn't a big commotion. Instead, the city flowed swiftly and calmly. People were busy with their own activities—working, shopping, bartering, and the like. After a few more minutes, Lyrian noticed that his surroundings began to change rapidly.
From large skyscraping towers and intricately made wide buildings, the landscape changed to smaller structures and many more housing areas. The paths became narrower but still retained their high-quality maintenance. Now, stone houses filled Lyrian's view, scattered everywhere he looked. He walked through several different dark alleyways and shortcuts according to the guide.
As he made his way into another alleyway, as directed by the guidelines on his map, he noticed a trio of brown-robed individuals leaning against one of the building walls. They conversed quietly with their faces hidden, but their height was quite short.
"Students?" Lyrian questioned as he noticed their stature. He wasn't sure, but it mattered little to him.
However, as he made his way out of the alleyway, he took note of the three bandit-looking individuals pushing themselves off of the wall and began trailing him. They quickly blended into the crowd.
He glanced behind his shoulder for a split second and then stared forward again. "This reminds me... I beat those fools up in an alley before I took the entrance exam. In Illstria... Cedric was a part of them. I wonder what he's doing now..." Lyrian mused as he gazed at the map.
Right now, he was looking for when he would have to enter an alleyway once again. Why? Well, it was simple. As soon as he noticed them following him, he had already decided to teach them a lesson.
Ironically, the three people following him also had the same thoughts in their heads. One of them turned to the others, "As soon as he enters an alley where he's hidden, pounce on him. Make sure no one sees us... he's a student. That means there are real repercussions to messing with him." He whispered quietly.
Lyrian heard every word. "Che..." He laughed slightly.
"Hey... I think I recognize him," one of the individuals said, "He seems familiar." He seemed to have a hint of concern in his tone. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
The other guy recognized this and quickly retorted, "Shut up, you idiot. You barely have even gone to your classes, how are you going to recognize anything? Just go along with the plan and stop complaining."
"I wasn't complaining!" the boy raised his voice slightly.
"Hey!" The other boy said in a whispered yell, "Keep it down!"
As they continued to have their little conversation, Lyrian adopted a smile on his face. 'There it is...' He said, turning to the left suddenly. He entered a dark, hidden alleyway. It was a longer one, and in between two tall buildings.
The trio turned with him, as smiles appeared on their faces as well. 'Bad luck, boy... you just had to walk into a great alleyway. Well, great for us, that is.' He grinned from one side of his face to the other.
Suddenly, the boy they were following halted, causing them to freeze on the spot as well. Confused, the one who seemed to speak the most stepped up slightly, his smile removed from his face.
'He stopped?' He questioned, trying to figure out why.
Then, the boy they were trailing abruptly turned around and faced them. He had a smirk on his face.
The boy who was concerned that he recognized Lyrian's face from before was a bit freaked to see this. "Hey... I really think I recognize him..." He said to the boy next to him, who quickly barked at him to shut up.
The boy in front began walking toward Lyrian. "Stop right there... boy. Today's your lucky day." He said.
"I wasn't moving anyways," Lyrian replied, staring at the hooded boy. "My lucky day, huh? And why's that?" He couldn't help but keep his smile on his face. It wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
"You think you're smart, huh?" The main robed individual who was now 5 feet away from Lyrian retorted, "Buddy... I don't think you know who you're trying to act like a smart ass to." He walked right up to Lyrian, while still hiding his face.
"Why don't you show me then. Lift your hood." Lyrian boldly stated as the two that stayed behind became slightly surprised at his remark.
"Yo... who is this kid..." The kid who told the concerned one to shut up before was now beginning to question Lyrian's identity himself.
"Lift my hood, huh? Fine." The boy in front of Lyrian lifted his brown hood.
Lyrian's face quickly contorted to one of shock.