Chapter 135: Taking an Airship
The use of magic in the Malgheria Kingdom surpassed anything Sein had encountered in other human nations.
Magic carriages, flying messengers, airships, and various other marvels set this place apart from the Lysian Alliance.
Even in the capital of the Malgheria Kingdom and several human cities near Jewel Bay, the main thoroughfares were illuminated at night by magic crystal street lamps infused with elemental energy.
To an outsider like Sein, the scene before him was a delightful surprise and a novelty.
However, for the local inhabitants, it seemed to be part of their everyday life.
The body of water opposite Jewel Bay was called the “Viridescent Sea”, a local term for the vast and mysterious ocean.
However, Sein’s magic map referred to it as the “Viridescent Lake” designating it as an inland lake.
The difference in nomenclature reflected the distinct perspectives of full-fledged mages of Rank One and above compared to ordinary humans.
For those with powerful abilities and extended lifespans, it was a lake.
Yet, for ordinary humans with limited lifespans and a lack of understanding of supernatural phenomena, it remained an enigmatic sea that they could not fathom thoroughly exploring even within their lifetime.
“I wonder if the flying messengers of Malgheria Kingdom can deliver letters to the Lysian Alliance. If they can, I’ll be able to exchange letters with Father. I’m curious about the current state of the border war between the Lysian Alliance and the Ohrque Empire,” Sein pondered aloud.
Flying messengers were a unique feature of the Malgheria Kingdom. They were a group of bird-like magic creatures thoroughly tamed for communication purposes.
Although their size tended to be small, their flying speed was exceptionally fast, and they had remarkable endurance compared to similar magic birds.
In the Malgheria Kingdom, flying messengers were a privilege reserved for the nobility.
While it was not explicitly forbidden for commoners to use them, the exorbitant cost of several or even a dozen gold coins made it an unattainable luxury for those who only had copper or silver coins to get by every day.
That was only the cost of domestic messaging. The cost would be significantly higher if one intended to send a message abroad.
Furthermore, the value of Malgheria Kingdom’s gold coins exceeded that of several neighboring human nations, sometimes by several times or even a dozen times.
The gold coins from the Lysian Alliance that Sein carried were a currency frequently exchanged for Malgheria Kingdom’s gold coins compared to other human nations.
Upon arriving in Malgheria Kingdom, Sein converted most of the remaining gold coins in his possession into Malgherian gold coins, commonly known as “malcoins”.
Malgheria Kingdom was one of the human nations adjacent to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring. According to the magic map, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring was in the midst of the Viridescent Sea opposite Jewel Bay.
For Sein to reach the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, he needed to either master the ability to fly across half of the Viridescent Sea or find a water magic beast to guide him there.
Alternatively... he could take an airship!
Ordinary boats, of course, were incapable of reaching the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, and even the most experienced fishermen in Jewel Bay were unaware of its precise location.
Those seasoned fishermen would caution against venturing into certain perilous areas in the depths of the Viridescent Sea, where one might encounter strange magic beasts and rare sirens.
The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring was a sensitive term known only to a small group of people and the noble class in both Jewel Bay and the Malgheria Kingdom.
To directly reach the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, the most reliable option would be the third method—taking an airship.
Watching the airship gradually fading away into the expanse between the sea and the sky, Sein’s eyes gleamed with an inexplicable brilliance.
***
With Sein’s status as a senior initiate, securing an airship ride in Jewel Bay was a relatively straightforward task.
The only aspect that slightly surprised Sein was that the airships to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring refused to accept gold coins from the human nations for payment.
The most affordable option for a one-way ride required an intermediate energy crystal or a magic beast crystal core.
Of course, they would also accept payment in the form of magicoins.
One magicoin could cover the cost of ten round trips.
The magic initiate handling ticket sales was a sharp fellow.
Although Sein was blending in well with the crowd, he was able to discern Sein’s distinctiveness.
Even without flaunting his wealth, Sein’s senior initiate status suggested he possessed ample funds for the rides.
The ticketing initiate, an intermediate initiate with short blond hair and freckles, appeared younger than twenty years old.
Despite his ordinary appearance and humble job, Sein learned that this initiate was one of the initiates from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Academy after a brief conversation.
As soon as Sein purchased the ticket using an intermediate geo-attribute energy crystal, the freckled initiate gave Sein a pat on his shoulder and regrettably said, “You should have paid for it with a magicoin. It would have been a more cost-effective choice.”
“Then again, paying with an energy crystal has its perks. The academy isn’t accepting students right now, so this may be a fruitless trip for you. Don’t worry though, you can still find plenty of intriguing things to explore on the outskirts of the Divine Tower. Initiates and knights from various places make the trip every year for some shopping,” he continued with a mischievous glint in his eye as he spoke with Sein.
He wore a small emerald green badge about the size of a thumb on his chest, signifying his affiliation to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.
Despite being only an intermediate initiate, he displayed the audacity to tease a senior initiate like Sein.
Sein could only chalk it up to the different atmosphere at the Divine Tower Academies on the surface, which were markedly different from the environment at the Black Magic Academy where Sein had studied before.
The freckled male initiate had no ill intentions, he was simply more outgoing.
Sein skillfully dodged the pat on his shoulder and seized the opportunity to glean more information about the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring before the airship set sail.
Tom, the nineteen-year-old initiate, had spent eight years at Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.
He revealed that the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring only accepted initiates once every ten years, like most other Divine Towers in the Magus World.
As per the norm, Sein would have to wait at least two more years for the next enrollment period at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.
While the age criteria for initiates at Divine Tower of Verdant Spring were not overly strict, generally, those accepted into the academy had no criminal records, met the minimum focus level requirement, and fell between the ages of seven and fifteen.
Instances of individuals like Sein joining the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring as senior initiates were uncommon.
Given Sein’s current age and qualifications, there was a plausible chance that he could join Divine Tower of Verdant Spring in two years.
This was also the reason why the magic initiate named Tom willingly shared such detailed information with him.