Eichemalar, also called the Holy City.
Doraster was very peaceful before the War of the Dragons. Dragons, humans, elves, giants, barbarians, beastmen, they all had their own territories and own countries. Together, the founded the City in the Sky to trade between themselves – Holy Everlasting City.
The Everlasting City was also the place that saw the final, decisive battle in the War of the Dragons.
With the castle suspended in the air at the core of Holy Everlasting City as the final fortress, the ancient armies defeated the Evil Dragon’s troops. And, though the ancient kingdoms had all perished, men still founded the sprawling Eichemalar around Holy Everlasting City. Ultimately, they formed the mighty kingdom of Eiche.
Eichemalar was presently Eiche’s capital and belonged to the kingdom. But at the same time, in the heart of every arcane master on the continent, it was the place where freedom prevailed. It was the immutable Holy City.
What was peculiar was, magic sky crystals even lighter than air made the sprawling city float in midair.
Four auxiliary cities had been established around the floating city. It was the heart of Eiche’s culture, trade, arcane research, and politics.
Countless bridges suspended in the sky linked every part of the city. Ferry ships inlaid with sky crystals shuttled in the metropolis through the shortest paths.
A crystal ferry decorated all over with dragon patterns, radiating an extremely ancient atmosphere, gently landed on the "Vantran" square on the southern end of the main part of Eichemalar. It slowly slid on the black, glossy marble stones on the surface. Then, when it finally stopped, the members of team Holy Dawn and the members of team Agate Lake stepped out of the ferry’s door one after another, and set foot on this place that represented like no other the honor of an arcane warrior’s courage.
"Is that the Everlasting Tower?"
The moment Ayrin walked out of the ferry and genuinely set foot on Eichemalar, he was thoroughly shocked.
Even in a distant auxiliary city below, raising his head and looking at Eichemalar’s main city in the distance, it’d looked like mountain peaks floating strangely in the air. But once genuinely setting foot in the main part of the city, it was an entirely distinct feeling.
The entire main city was a huge castle.
Anywhere in the city, one could see that at the very heart of this castle stood a pure-white, round square, and a tall tower.
The tower radiated magnificent brilliance. Wide roads spiraled up around the main city one after another, while giant, pure white trees at least seventy to eighty meters tall grew beside these roads.
On these huge trees, countless white conical fruits at least as big as two or three men put together grew in abundance. They seemed extremely heavy, emitting a mighty, awe-inspiring aura impossible to describe.
It even gave off the feeling that these giant trees weren’t trees, but old, tall arcane masters standing guard here ever since the Era of the Dragons.
On the ground, the buildings and edifices had clearly gone through changes compared to the remote antiquity, yet they still looked as fine and sumptuous as ever, all of them covered in imprints and relief sculptures related to dragons.
"Spectacular, isn’t it?"
On the way, the girls from Agate Lake Academy and the members of team Holy Dawn had gotten to know each other quite well. Hence, when she saw Ayrin in a daze, looking with a reverent gaze at the tall tower in the center, Sophia smiled softly and said at his side, "I came here the previous two years to watch the tournament. The first time I saw the Everlasting Tower shining with everlasting light, I made the same face as you. That said, as an arcane master with the qualifications to come in this place and participate in the kingdom’s tournament, it’s a very great glory in itself."
"Despicable, despicable…" Stingham’d been drawing small circles and cursing Ayrin all along the way. Now he suddenly pricked his ears, ready to listen Ayrin say something ignorant, then he could make fun of him.
What made him very downcast though was that Ayrin merely said, "It seems a bit smaller than what I imagined. In some books, it seems even more spectacular and more imposing. But maybe because the significance is different, maybe because here is the place where all the remaining brave warriors gathered and formed the allied army then attacked the Evil Dragon’s troops. So I still can’t help my blood from boiling, can’t help but feel proud."
"Of course, maybe what’s illustrated in some books is the whole Everlasting City from back then. The main part of Eichemalar at present is only the most central part of the Everlasting City from back then, it’s not even one-tenth of it compared to back in the days," Sophia told Ayrin with a slight, alluring smile.
"Those must be the War Trees the elven kingdom planted back when they helped establish the Everlasting City? They say the power of a War Tree throwing its fruits is equivalent to an arcane master with four open gates using offensive skills with all his power. There are motifs related to dragons everywhere in Eichemalar now. They say that every kingdom back then, especially the earliest draconic arcane masters, all very much venerated the dragons’ power. They worshiped the mighty dragons like gods. They never thought the dragons they venerated would end up trying to destroy their kingdoms." Stingham inserted himself beside Sophia, Nikita, and the others.
All along the way, he kept finding some excuses to get close to Sophia and Nikita. Now he deliberately pointed at dragon engravings at a corner of the square. He said with a grand, singing voice, "These dragon patterns, they represent an entire era."
"That’s right!" A very melancholic girl from Agate Lake Academy nodded. "They really represent the entire era before the War of the Dragons. They brim with the aura of an age gone by."
"Haha!" Stingham felt immediately proud when he saw he successfully attracted the attention of Agate Lake girls. He pointed at the crystal ferry slowly flying away, wanting to continue these subjects of discussion. "You say, since these sky crystals are so useful, why don’t they extend their use to other areas? For example, to manufacture flying boots for arcane masters or something. It’d be very useful for arcane masters."
"Stingham, you’re really weak. That’s why you have to stop always goofing around and read many books. Even I know that during the era of the War of the Dragons, they’d already mined all of the sky crystals. Back then, the elven kingdoms contributed these. After that, especially after the end of the war, they registered every single one of these sky crystals. Arcane masters used special methods to protect them. Now, there are only these four crystal ferries left in the entire Eichemalar. Plus, these crystal ferries can’t do without one less sky crystal, they wouldn’t be able to lift off otherwise. It’s the same thing for the other sky crystals in Eichemalar, each of them has to stay in its original spot, none of them can be moved. Otherwise, grave things about stuff falling will happen. That’s why, there’s no sky crystal left for anything else." Ayrin made a moue of disdain and gestured contemptuously at Stingham.
"What!" Stingham’s vision went black all of a sudden. He almost spat out blood. Originally, he wanted to mock Ayrin for his lack of knowledge and experience, but now Ayrin was mocking him instead.
"Belo, are you alright?" At this moment, Ayrin suddenly noticed something a little unusual about Belo. His face kept going pale, and he was even sweating cold sweat.
"I’m fine." Belo pushed his glasses and pretended to be undisturbed. "I’m a little afraid of heights."
Usually, he was the Impulsive Freshman unafraid of everything in heaven or on earth. He could crash into the Beast Enclosure and cause a teacher to be wounded, could secretly dig a hole in the walls of the Beast Training Field. Now he was afraid of heights?
Moss and the others almost fell down face first.
"We would like to inquire, which two academies do you represent?"
Several persons holding small notebooks suddenly rushed in front of Ayrin and the others. When Ayrin, Sophia, and the others thought they were tournament staff here to welcome the teams, these people introduced themselves, smiling from ear to ear, "We’re from the Breith Merchant Guild. You must have heard about us, right?"
"Breith Merchant Guild, what do you guys do?" Ayrin and everyone else from Holy Dawn Academy were all baffled.
"They’re a trading company specializing in selling tournament souvenirs, specializing in picture magazines, in reporting the whole course of the tournament, including gossip about every team," Sophia explained in a soft voice to Ayrin and the others. "They’re very famous, many people like to buy their picture albums and gossip. They make their living from it. But the good thing is, they also make the tournament livelier, they make people more familiar with even more school teams. You can say they’re also useful in promoting the tournament."
"Is that so…" Ayrin and the others suddenly saw the light.
"It seems we’re doing alright, people know about us." These people all talked very courteously. After introducing themselves for a few sentences, they immediately asked, full of excitement, "We dare ask, which two school teams are you?"
"Holy Dawn Academy and Agate Lake Academy."
"So you’re from these two teams…" Right when they were ready to take notes, these people stared all of a sudden. Then they exchanged a look between themselves and started to hem and haw.
Always slow on the uptake, Ayrin asked, a little curious, "What’s the matter?"
"About that… About that… If you’re teams from St. Lauren, it seems your news isn’t especially popular. It probably won’t attract the attention of too many people," one person explained, a little awkward.
"What, are you looking down on us?!" Even Stingham came back to his senses and started shouting in anger. "Is it because you think we’re aren’t any good?"
"I’m really sorry… It’s only that your two academies have had too little fighting success. Most people probably won’t be interested," these people summoned their courage and explained, then wanted to retreat at once.
"Why wouldn’t they be interested?" Just at this moment, however, Ayrin said in a loud voice, without showing any anger at all, "We’re the team that’ll become the grand champion, why wouldn’t people be interested?"
"What?!"
These people shook from head to toe all of a sudden. Their eyes shone. "Is that your slogan?" one person immediately asked. "Your Holy Dawn Academy’s slogan is to become the grand champion?"
"Of course. Our goal is precisely to become the winners of the Cup of Starry Skies Braves," Ayrin said, firmly brandished his fist. At the same time, he silently thought, only this way will Chris’ father come to the finals’ field and watch Chris fight to become champion.
"Very good! Team Holy Dawn’s slogan is to become champions at all cost! Jot it down!" These few people clapped excitedly, then turned away and retreated.
Moss watched them leave at flying speed. He couldn’t resist saying, a little suspicious, "They looked a little strange, something seems a little fishy."
"Something wrong? What could it be, I didn’t see anything," Ayrin said, watching their backs.
"Ayrin, after we settle our living arrangements, do you want us to take you out and play?" Several Agate Lake girls hadn’t paid attention to the brief interlude either. Instead, they looked at Ayrin, full of excitement, and said, "Ayrin, there are many interesting places in Eichemalar. There are many shops selling cute little monster pets, there are also all kinds of witch stores selling weird things. There also many interesting curio and antique shops. Anyway, there are many shops you can’t imagine…"
"I want to have a good rest first, then train a bit more," Ayrin first said.
The girls from team Agate Lake who wanted to drag Ayrin with them and stroll around were suddenly disappointed.
"The tournament draw hasn’t happened yet, we don’t know who we’re going to face, so I don’t seem to be in the mood to stroll around. That said, after the drawing ceremony tomorrow, we can actually go out and play. Can you guys take me with you?"
His following words immediately made some members of team Agate Lake very happy.
"Right now, I only want to say four words," Stingham said earnestly, inserting himself. "Bring me with you!"
TN: When I say “Draconic” in this novel, I mean the dragon language. Sorry if that was confusing.
Also, as a sidenote, when I started tling this novel, it was more of an easy going 7/10 side project to be honest. But now I’m liking it more and more as I tl, it’s making me more hype. I remember now why I chose it as my tl XD. (Yes I read it before but I tend to skim greatly over the fine details when I read hundreds and thousands of chapters in bulk XD.)
