The next day.
At the break of dawn, a small corner of the morning light revealed itself, and the gray-white sea of clouds below was instantly gilded with a layer of gold leaf.
In a common resting area on the second floor corridor, Colin had just finished breakfast in the dining hall and paused by the round window.
A sliver of golden light shone through the glass, illuminating his sharply defined face and brightening his deep blue eyes.
Below, the endless sea of clouds stretched out with distinct layers and boundless expanses, resembling an infinite ice field, yet also like a vast, mighty ocean.
After leaving Blackstone Island, it had been a long time since he had seen such a beautiful sight.
Something crossed his mind, and Colin moved closer to the window, then looked up.
The azure sky entered his sight; endless, clear, and profound… Beyond the earth's atmosphere, could it also look like it had in his past life?
Colin gazed at this scene, his heart filled with immense curiosity.
The blue of the sky reflected in his pupils, making his already deep blue eyes appear even deeper, like a serene, deep pool of water.
"Lord Colin seems to be in good spirits," came Sovoc's voice from behind.
"Just looking at the scenery," Colin turned and responded succinctly.
Perhaps it was because they had been close in the queue to get keys, Sovoc, Mayer, and Milo had rooms allocated near each other.
In fact, Colin had seen Sovoc in the dining hall at breakfast, but the distance was too far to greet him.
Unexpectedly, they met on the way back now.
"At first, viewing these landscapes is quite interesting, but over time, it just feels monotonous," Sovoc turned his head and looked out the window, murmuring as if talking to himself.
Then, he suddenly smiled, turned back, and said, "I really wish the time would pass faster so we could get to Gubier Island sooner!"
"It won't be long, just nine more days," Colin chimed in.
Gubier Island was the airship's destination, a large island situated about a hundred sea miles behind the front lines of the war.
They would first arrive at Gubier Island and then head to their respective assignments on the front lines based on their missions.
Sovoc smiled, said no more, and walked towards another round window to look out.
Colin, however, lost his mood to continue admiring the view and walked back to his room.
But as soon as he had closed the door and sat on the bed,
"Knock, knock, knock—"
A sudden knocking sound arose.
'Could it be Sovoc?' Colin furrowed his brows slightly and got up to open the door.
"Is this Lord Colin Leonard?"
A tall man dressed as a servant respectfully asked, the information Colin sensed indicated that the man in front of him should be a Great Knight.
"Yes," Colin nodded.
Without doubting further, the Knight took out a Tin Saint School badge adorned with two golden feathers and continued:
"Lord Colin, Master Eugene has summoned all members of the Tin Saint School on this airship to gather at the central dining hall on the third floor at noon today."
"I understand," Colin carefully examined the School badge in the Great Knight's hand, then responded in a deep voice.
As for why there would be Great Knight servants on the airship, he didn't wonder too much.
After all, if he wanted to, he could have brought Renee along...
But the place he was heading to this time was not very peaceful, and if danger arose, he might not even be able to take care of himself.
Moreover, unlike most of the other accompanying wizards, if nothing went wrong, he would return with the apprentices after the Alus Association ended.
The duration of the Alus Association was not long; based on previous events, it usually lasted at most one month.
"However... one never knows," Colin suddenly thought again, "This time the Alus Association, both the venue and the tasks are different from the previous ones... Perhaps the duration will be different as well."
"Master Colin, the gathering will provide a subsidy for the journey to the Southern Sea Domain School, please be sure to come on time."
The tall knight added another sentence after receiving his response and hurriedly left for the next place.
"Are they distributing Magic Stones?" Colin watched the tall knight's retreating figure, a sudden realization dawning on him, tinged with excitement.
Since yesterday, he had been wondering when and how the School's Magic Stone subsidy would be distributed.
Today, he had intended to try to find Lillian's room after a while to ask her for related information... but the apprentice had arrived beforehand.
"A midday gathering, then..."
Colin closed the door to his room, lost in thought.
"I wonder who this Eugene is? But from the apprentice's tone of voice, could he be the lead wizard for this School's journey to the Southern Sea Domain?"
Although he had been with the School for a long time, he had spent almost all of his time in secluded cultivation, and once he finally broke through to become an Official Wizard, he was immediately sent to the Southern Sea Domain.
Moreover, as the faction of his mentor was indifferent to worldly affairs, he really didn't know much about the other factions within the Tin Saint School.
Time flew by quickly.
Colin tidied himself up a bit in his room and was startled to find that it was nearly noon.
He pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it—it was just 11:00... about time.
Snap.
He closed the pocket watch and at the same time, with a thought, he closed the Golden Paper, got out of bed, and headed to the dining hall where the gathering was to take place.
Traveling by airship actually had a significant impact on his witchcraft practice.
Although practice with Golden Paper always led to improvement, the standard required practicing with full effort, which meant that attack witchcraft like the Fireball Technique was impossible to practice in an airship environment.
Fortunately, he had just recently achieved Limit Breaking with the Fireball Technique, so there was no rush to practice it.
As for other witchcraft, such as the Mississippi Elimination Technique...
Its function was to eliminate or obscure the marks left by the use of witchcraft, including the traces from Fireball explosions and the remnants of vines left by the Thorny Vine Skill... the noise created was relatively minor, so he could continue his practice.
It's worth mentioning that, with the aid of Superbrain, although he hadn't practiced many times yet, Zeroth Rank Soaring Technique and the like were already near their limits and about to reach Limit Breaking.
But just yesterday morning, before gathering at the Yista School's outpost, he went to return the Magic Stones he borrowed from Lillian.
Unknowingly, the number of Magic Stones he borrowed from Lillian had reached five thousand, and so, even with the unexpected Magic Stones from Mulan, he now had very few left.
About six hundred...
Thinking this, he did not stop his steps; after crossing several long white corridors and ascending a few staircases, he finally arrived at the dining hall where the gathering was to take place.
The first thing that caught his eye was the knight standing next to the dining hall, who, judging by his appearance, was the Great Knight who had come with the morning notice... except, not one, but two knights.
Two knights who looked almost as if they were carved from the same mold.
They must be twins... Colin mused silently, walking towards them.