133 New Challenge

Basking in the front gate of Academy City, Greyson felt waves of nostalgia as he was reminded of the years that he spent here. Looking at the tall walls, he thought back to his teacher and felt even more impatient. Picking up his walking pace, he swiftly approached the guards. Unsurprisingly, these guards did not end up recognizing him. Lately, Greyson had been sporting short chestnut brown hair and green eyes. Those along with the two years of growth made him seem like a new person. In his excitement, Greyson did not think of his multiple changes and was speeding right passed the guards.

"Halt! State your name and identity." One of the guards felt shocked by Greyson's blatant disregard of the rules of the land. He was almost not able to respond in time because this kind of situation never happens. Everyone knows that you have to be approved by the guards first before being granted entry into the city. Running over, he quickly grasped onto Greyson's arm to pull him back. Only, his tug did almost nothing and Greyson did not even budge from his pace. Although this was his human form, after transforming his dragon bloodline, his entire body was rippling with hidden strength and density. Such that a small guard like this one would never be able to use his strength against him. 

Completely not realizing the shout was directed towards him, Greyson continued walking until he felt someone grab onto him. Puzzled, he turned around.

"Are you stopping me?"

Anger and embarrassment almost boiling over, the guard was fuming. 

"Yes! I am obviously talking to you! Don't you know that we have to approve your entry into the city?! How could you just ignorantly breeze passed us with no regard for the law?"

Finally taking a good look at the guard, Greyson finally remarked, "Ligrand, don't you recognize me?" Due to his extended time in the city, Greyson would always travel in and out of the city for small adventures and he got to know most of the daily gate guards. This Ligrand was one of the ones he knew by name. He felt a little sad that he was already forgotten in this little bit of time.

"Huh?" Squinting his eyes in concentration, Ligrand scanned Greyson from head to toe. Unrecognition spelled out in his expression, Ligrand clearly did not know who the young teen in front of him was. "Who are you?"

Speechless, Greyson touched his face wondering if he really changed that much. Recently, he did not find much of a chance to look at himself in a mirror and he was not the narcissistic type. So, he really did not know that his appearance did undergo some clear changes.

"I'm Greyson." 

"Greyson? Greyson..." Finally, Ligrand's eyes lit up in recognition. "You?! I mean now that you say it, I can see all the similarities. But, wow... Did you use a spell to change your appearance? Did you not have that elf hair?"

"Ah, well, it's a long story. But, yes, it's me. I'm a little upset, Ligrand. It only took me a second to recognize you."

"Hahaha, well, don't be too harsh on me. With this job, I see thousands of faces walk by me month after month. You've been gone a few years now, it's definitely harder to remember." Awkwardly scratching the back of his head, Ligrand did feel kind of bad now.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.

"It's okay, I didn't really take it to heart. But, Mister Guard, can I now go into the city?" With a slight teasing tone, Greyson asked permission.

"Oh, yes, yes, of course! Go right in!" Who was he kidding? Ligrand was still an intermediate level mage while the child in front of him was already at the advanced level years ago. Even if he wanted to stop him, did he have the ability? Plus, he did not forget the feeling earlier. When he tried to pull Greyson back, it felt like he had futilely tugged against a bag of bricks. Obviously, the young boy in front of him had undergone some improvements to his strength. 

...

After that brief interlude, Greyson soundlessly made his way up to Sweetbow's private residence in the Academy. Familiar with every path, he easily snuck in without detection. Wandering around, he glanced around the place looking for his teacher in hopes to surprise him. Eventually, his ears picked up the sound of repetitive thudding. Smiling, Greyson knew exactly where to go. Traveling to the back woods, he saw the archery targets that were covered with arrows all hitting or surrounding the bullseye accurately. Another set of arrows flew and slammed right into the trunks of the trees. Pinpointing their origin, Greyson hid in the shadows while slowly approaching. Spotting that well-known batch of platinum silver hair and bow and arrows, Greyson could feel his eyes slightly well with tears. In the end, he really did end up missing this eccentric and egotistical elf. However, his sentimental emotions only lasted a moment before fading into a mischievous smirk. Pulling out his own bow and arrows, he activated his dark element and nocked his arrows. The sharp point was aimed towards cutting his teacher's prided locks of hair that he enjoyed flipping in a self-obsessed manner.

Silently, he released the arrows letting them fly out. But just when he thought he caught his teacher unaware, Sweetbow quickly turned around and shot down Greyson's arrows with his own.

"Hmph, brat! You are still centuries too early to sneak up on me! You think that since you broke through to the magister level that this teacher wouldn't be able to notice you? Bahahaha, obviously you do not realize my sheer awesomeness." Puffing his chest out in pride, Sweetbow barked out in laughter. In the midst of his laughter, however, he was distracted and did not notice the small cat also sneaking up behind him. His eyes rounded into crescent shapes; Lucius was already rolling on the ground internally thinking of what he was about to do. Two lightning fast wind blades shot out at the flick of his tail and shaved off half of Sweetbow's hair cleanly. Sweetbow's expression froze in horror as he felt the slight breeze as his hair fell to the ground. Unable to hold it in, Greyson laughed so hard he began to snort a little. Lucius also quickly escaped behind Greyson and mocked Sweetbow with his eyes.

"This stupid cat! Today is the day I finally skin you alive and eat you! Come here, I promise I'll kill you!" Stomping on the ground furiously, Sweetbow chased after Lucius. Watching the scene completely accustomed to it, Greyson felt like he was transported back before he left.

"Alright, alright, teacher. You will probably grow it back in a day as long as you put effort into it. What was so important that you used the emergency signal? Obviously, there is not really some life-or-death situation going on right now seeing as you are leisurely practicing your archery here."

His words definitely caught Sweetbow's attention, as he immediately gave up on chasing Lucius and grabbed onto Greyson's hands.

"Dear disciple, have you broken through to the magister level?"

"Didn't you just say earlier that I had broken through?"

"Well, that was just my confidence in you speaking. But I want to hear it directly from you!"

"Yes, I have!" Smiling happily, Greyson was excited to announce his accomplishments.

"Haha, good boy! I knew I did not see incorrectly. My student could only be someone so amazing! You are only fifteen, right? So, you broke the record? So awesome!" Ecstatic from the news, Sweetbow jumped around.

"So, what? Did you ask me to come back just to ask this?"

"Of course not, of course not. There is a very special reason. You remember what I taught you about the Human Empire, right? About all the Outer Region, Inner Region and the Center Region countries. This is about the 18 Outer Region Countries. Every ten years, there is a ranking competition. Snow Country is always at the bottom. The top outer region countries can have better connections to the inner countries that have better resources and stronger teachers. It helps the outer region younger generation grow stronger. Although, we don't surpass the inner countries in strength, it would still help to gain material things. The participants are all magister level magicians under the age of 40. Right now, the Moon Empire is calling for an inner competition to decide who will be the 10 representatives from our Snow Country. I want you to participate. Even if you fail, I won't blame you. By 40, a lot of participants are already close to the great magister level. It's just a good chance to challenge your limits and meet new people and other great talents of the Human Empire. You should try to broaden your horizons!"

Greyson's eyes brightened the more he heard of this competition. This kind of challenge sounded very exciting to him.

"Will I be the only one going from the Idris Kingdom?"

"Hahaha, no, you will see a lot of familiar faces later when it is time to leave. I'll keep it a secret for now~. Come, come, let's go back. There is a lot of catching up we need to do. Plus, I need to check on your progress and make sure you haven't been slacking and getting overconfident."