Yanan Calendar, November 20th, night.
Merredith City.
Colin and his group gradually became visible on the outskirts of the city.
If Wensy and Hosone were here, they would definitely find it unbelievable.
Because in just over half a day, Colin and his group had already reached the distant Merredith City.
In fact, Colin was somewhat surprised himself.
After breaking through to become a First Rank Knight, he had redirected his focus back to meditation and witchcraft practice.
In the last few days, he had successfully broken the limit of the Soaring and Flying Technique, a witchcraft technique that was approaching its limit.
And a Limit Breaking of the Soaring and Flying Technique had also directly advanced to become the third First Rank Upper witchcraft technique he mastered!
Usually, if he was traveling long distance, he would use Flying Witchcraft only if there was no choice like airships or transmission arrays.
After all, the Soaring and Flying Technique, before its Limit Breaking, was still slower than a powerful Wizard Airship.
Even though he had mastered the Light Flame Soaring Skill, which was slightly faster, its speed was only slightly faster than the Wizard Airship.
Taking into account the time to recover Magic Power and the burden of bringing Renee and others along, the efficiency of traveling was obviously less than that of airships.
However, now that the Soaring and Flying Technique had broken its limit, the situation had changed.
A Limit Breaking of the Soaring and Flying Technique allowed him to fly at about 1.5 times the speed of an ordinary Wizard Airship.
Under such circumstances, for a relatively short journey like from Nanao to Merredith City, which only required half a day, using Flying Witchcraft had become the superior choice.
Of course, speed was just one of the enhancements after the Limit Breaking of the Soaring and Flying Technique.
If the Light Flame Soaring Skill primarily focused on speed and also had an effect that allowed a short burst of speed,
then the Soaring and Flying Technique, fused from both Flying and Diving Skill and Soaring Technique after their Limit Breaking, was characterized by its amphibious nature and flexible flying.
And these two aspects had greatly improved in this Limit Breaking.
Especially the latter, improved flying flexibility's importance to Wizards goes without saying.
Collecting his thoughts, Colin headed towards the gate of Merredith City with Renee and others.
However, soon he saw the large billboard hanging in front of the city gate—
"Curfew hours: 9 PM—6 AM the following day."
"Halt."
Colin stopped in his tracks, not expecting Merredith City to have a curfew.
With a snap, he pulled out his pocket watch to check, and it was just a few minutes past 9 PM.
'A bit unlucky… just missed it by a little.' Colin sighed as he looked at the closed city gate.
"When did Merredith City impose a curfew?"
A voice suddenly sounded not far away.
Colin listened without any expression.
"It hasn't been implemented for long, and it's only a curfew on entering and exiting. If you could have come earlier and entered the city, it would be no different from usual."
"No curfew within the city?"
"Of course not, Merredith City is such a bustling large city, if you couldn't go out at night, it would delay so many affairs!
In my view, this curfew is just for show."
"How could there suddenly be a curfew…"
"War, you see. Let's go. Except for those from the major Schools, don't think about getting in now.
You should find an inn to stay overnight, just don't pick one close to the city gate, those innkeepers are greedier than each other, raising prices because of the curfew!"
'Major Schools?'
A thought flashed through Colin's mind, and after the people nearby had left, he took out his own School Badge and continued forward with Renee and others.
"Halt!" The guarding Wizard first stopped him, then took out a schematic and carefully compared the badge.
Only then did he cautiously step forward, took out a balance-style Witch Tool, and continued:
"This distinguished member of the Tin Saint School, please place your badge down and input your Magic Power."
'It really does work.'
Colin's heart relaxed as he did as instructed.
In Neustadt City, there were at least thousands of Wizard Schools, and as the Tin Saint School was a direct subsidiary of one of the Nine Major Schools, it ranked at least in the top thirty-six.
It seemed to meet the criteria of the 'major Schools' mentioned by the passerby.
After checking the badge, the gate-guarding Wizard conducted several more checks on him, such as the Deep Red Marking Technique.
All in all, the process was cumbersome, but everything went smoothly.
Ten minutes later, he walked into Merredith City through a small gate under the city gate.
Without any delay, Colin headed straight for the Transmission Array.
Although Merredith City was still somewhat unfamiliar to him,
having been there several times already, as he approached the location of the Transmission Array, the sights became increasingly familiar.
'Soon I'll be back in Neustadt…' Colin's emotions became somewhat complex.
Lillian had disappeared, and Mentor Atbolde was critically injured in his old age, while Marjorie's situation was worrisome... The Hidosh Family was watching eagerly from the shadows.
He had once chosen to temporarily avoid this whirlwind and went to the Leibo River in Nanao.
It was the best choice under the circumstances for his interests.
But during this time, he had been pondering whether his decision to leave Neustadt had been somewhat rash.
Especially under the circumstances of his mentor's condition, he had rashly said that he needed to leave for a while to visit friends.
Looking back now, it might have seemed to others more like desertion in the face of battle.
However, Atbolde had not shown any signs of concern at the time and, as always, as a generous elder, he had agreed to his request without hesitation and wished him a smooth journey.
So, he hadn't thought about it then.
But now, it seemed...
He shook his head, dismissing these pointless thoughts.
Whatever the case, he just needed to wait less than half a day, and he would be back at the Tin Saint School.
Any slight misunderstandings would be quickly resolved.
But after so many days, he wondered how Atbolde's health was now...
Thinking this, Colin subconsciously summoned the Golden Paper.
A new item was added to the witchcraft section—[Natural Healing Skill (25/100)]
After breaking through as a First Rank Knight, he had shifted his focus back to meditation and practicing witchcraft on a regular basis.
The Healing Magic that Atbolde had given him before he left was the foremost skill to practice, and he had already successfully mastered the basics.
In his heart, there lingered a thought that maybe, someday, he could resolve Atbolde's issues with the advanced Healing Magic he gained through breaking limits with the Golden Paper.
That day might take a long time, or it might be too late.
But he moved the Healing Magic to a more prominent position again.
Having the Strong Life Talent, he himself rarely needed Healing Magic.
But for those around him, perhaps Renee, perhaps Nasi, it was uncertain when they might need it.
With these boundless thoughts, he soon arrived at the Transmission Array.
Colin stepped forward.
But at that moment,
Outside the gates of Merredith City, the guarding wizard muttered,
"Another wizard from the Tin Saint School..."
"She's really cute," his companion suddenly said, looking back subconsciously.
However, the petite blonde witch had already passed through the gate, and the thick city doors blocked his view, making it impossible to see her.
"Buck, my old friend, you're something else; if I'm not mistaken, your daughter must be older than that witch..."
"Ah, it's just looks... Hey, what's that witch's name again?"
Buck chuckled, as gate guarding was dull, especially at night, and they needed such diversions.
"That's true, from the badge, that witch is at least a First Rank Wizard.
But the balance doesn't show names, have you forgotten that, Buck old pal?"
The young wizard joked:
"If you want to know the name of a pretty girl, you've got to ask her yourself, you're not too old to remember that, are you?"
"You—!" Buck's mustache bristled with indignation.
In the Transmission Array hall.
Click, click, click—
The gray-black wall gates opened, and Colin took a deep breath and stepped onto the Transmission Array.
Each transmission required a complete set of people before it could initiate, and nighttime travelers were sparse, making him wait quite a while.
However, the moment his foot touched the Transmission Array, it essentially meant that he was already halfway to Neustadt City.
His face showed a look of anticipation.
The next moment, as the voice announcement concluded, the Transmission Array flared with light,
And Colin and the others instantly disappeared from their original position.
At the same time, the Transmission Array waiting hall welcomed new travelers.
"May I ask where you are headed?" The ticket-selling apprentice asked respectfully.
"Neustadt City."
"Alright, could I have your identification badge, please?"
"Yes."
The ticket-selling apprentice took the feather-shaped badge, identified it, and continued:
"So, you are an esteemed member of the Tin Saint School, may I ask your name for registration?"
The blonde witch paused for a moment, then calmly answered:
"Lillian."