Elion followed quietly behind the guard who was escorting him.
There was a winding pathway that led all the way through the forest and back to the city, so they didn't have to struggle with the underbrush.
The geographical location of Grimholt city was quite unconventional. It was a gigantic floating Island.
Yes, they were up in the air right now. Grimholt was known as the Academy city, built primarily as a hub to support the Magical Academy.
The island was located in a neutral location above the southern ocean, since all races gathered here for trade and so on.
Elion noticed how his escort's eyes occasionally looked back at him curiously, but he paid it no mind, even though it bothered him a bit.
It was not long before the man finally decided to speak whatever was on his mind.
"You can call me Draven by the way. You must get all the girls back at the academy with those looks, young man."
Elion's eyes widened in surprise; that was when he realised that his assumption must have been true.
His racial change had increased the size of his dick and made him gain a few inches in height.
What had happened to his face?
His looks had been decent before, but not enough for someone to keep glancing at him like that.
"Uhm, not really." He answered, but chose not to say any more than that.
Perhaps sensing that Elion did not want to dwell on the topic, Draven decided to ask him something else.
"So, how did you get separated from the rest of your group?"
Elion took a moment to answer, recalling how William had shoved him over the edge with an 'oops' kind of look on his face.
'That son of a bitch! I swear, I'm going to kill him one day!'
A glint of rage flashed in his eyes when he thought about how he had nearly died for no reason at all!
But despite his rage, he knew there was nothing he could do about William, for now.
Never mind him being weaker than William; even if he did somehow manage to kill him, William was the son of a Duke.
His whole family would come after him and have him skinned alive if he so much as touched a hair on his head.
If William's brother wouldn't kill him, his father would; if not his father, then his mother; if not his mother, then his grandparents, and even then, he knew William must have an extended family.
It was like putting himself in an endless cycle of danger; it wasn't worth it.
For now, he had to bide his time, build a respectable harem with his system, and get stronger using whatever abilities he obtained from those women.
But he promised himself one thing: one day, he would make William regret ever attempting to end his life.
Just when Draven thought that Elion would not answer, he spoke calmly.
"I fell over the edge of a bridge onto the lower floors, so the teacher must have assumed I died."
Draven's eyes widened in surprise. Falling into the lower floors was nothing unusual, but...
"How did you manage to survive if you fell down to the lower floors? Even I am not confident in making it out alive if I fall down there."
Elion considered his response for a moment, coming up with the perfect answer.
"I mostly hid, and then I was lucky enough to find a teleportation circle, and when I activated it, I found myself outside the dungeon entrance."
Draven's eyes narrowed, but he ended up nodding.
"Makes sense." It was rare to find teleportation circles in a dungeon, but not so rare that it was impossible.
All dungeons had checkpoint areas, and some of these areas had teleportation circles that led out of the dungeon, to save adventurers lots of valuable time instead of trekking back all the way up.
He was more surprised that none of the beasts on the lower floors found him while he was hiding; with those sharp senses of theirs, someone as weak as Elion would be hard-pressed trying to hide from them
They made it back to the edge of the city in no time without incident.
The city itself was large and sprawling, but not much was visible from outside the outer wall.
The winding pathway they walked on led to the eastern gates, where plenty of guards were stationed at the gates and on outposts on top of the wall.
"Draven!" One of the guards at the gate called out to him before they arrived.
A beastkin of the cat tribe.
His ears and tail peeped out from his armour, though Elion paid the man no mind past that.
Other races were a common sight here, unlike the town he had come from before being accepted to the academy.
Staring for too long would be considered disrespectful.
Elion had learned this lesson the hard way after staring at an elf girl's ears for too long one time in the academy.
The guy who was with her had beaten him bloody, and he had to walk around with bruises for days.
"What are you doing here so late, Draven?" The catkin approached them at the gates.
"Found this one near the dungeon gates. Says he is a student from the magical academy."
The catkin eyed Elion with mild interest.
"I did overhear a few of the students say one of them fell to the lower floors in the dungeon. Must be your friend there."
Draven nodded.
"I should get back to my post now. You guys can handle the rest."
Draven turned around, nodding to Elion before he started walking back the way they had come.
The catkin nodded for Elion to follow.
"Come on, I'll take you to the academy. You can rest easy now, kid."
Elion sighed inwardly.
'Another one calling me kid.'
He didn't bother correcting him and simply trailed behind as they passed through the eastern gates.
Grimholt City at night was breathtaking.
Lanterns powered by mana crystals floated above cobblestone streets, illuminating the bustling roads with a soft blue glow.
Even at night, the streets were bustling with activity. Soon enough, they reached the inner wall that separated the academy from the city.
The wall shimmered faintly with layers of protective runes. A pair of knights in better-looking armour than the ones at the outer wall stood at the gate.
The catkin presented his badge, gesturing to Elion.
"He was found near the dungeon perimeter. Says he's a student who got separated during a training session."
One of the guards nodded curtly.
"We were informed of a missing student after a head count, but a search team was never dispatched. They said you were dead, kid."
'Of course they did.
His teeth clenched. Wouldn't it have been quite convenient if he had died back there?
It was almost depressing that not only had they not bothered to send in a search team, but they hadn't even attempted to recover his body!?
"Almost died." Elion forced a weary smile as he corrected.
The guards eyed him suspiciously, taking note of his disheveled uniform, how it tightened uncomfortable on his body, and, better yet, his complete lack of injuries.
For better or worse, it was quite odd to see a student in a tattered uniform and still have no visible wounds.
But they didn't think much of it. Considering the status of some of the students who went here, they assumed he must have used some kind of expensive treasure or potion to heal himself back to health.
After a round of identification checks and mana verification, his uniform's embedded sigil helped confirm his academy status, and they finally allowed him inside.