Before returning to the academy to collect the delegation, Markus redirected his spatial vector toward the outskirts of the Valerian capital.
With a soundless step through folded space, he materialized atop the high stone archway of the Blackwell Ancestral Estate. Below him, the vast grounds—spread across hundreds of acres of manicured gardens, private training yards, and runic defensive spires—exuded a quiet, solemn strength.
With Sloane Blackwell and the senior elders currently stationed across the border in the Aurelian Empire to helm the new academy, the estate was under the stewardship of the family's trusted retainers and secondary guards.
Markus walked through the central courtyard, his presence immediately causing the elite house guards to snap into crisp, reverent salutes. He didn't interrupt their rounds, proceeding straight to the underground leyline room beneath the main keep.
Expanding his sensory domain, Markus conducted a thorough diagnostic of the estate's defensive matrices:
[ESTATE DIAGNOSTIC: BLACKWELL ESTATE]
>> Runic Array Integrity: 98.4% (Optimal)
>> Perimeter Wards: Tier 6 Spatial Lock Active
>> Spatial Anchor Signal: Unbroken Resonance with Floor Zero
>> Status: Secure. No covert surveillance or breach attempts detected.
Satisfied that the family's home base was completely fortified against any opportunistic noble rivals while the main leadership was away, Markus reinforced the primary ward anchors with a fresh injection of spatial mana. He left behind a sealed ring of high-tier recovery pills for the estate commander, ensuring their internal security remained absolute.
Returning to the Valerian Imperial Academy, Markus arrived at the grand plaza where the selected delegation was assembled under the morning sun.
Headmistress Elena stood at the head of the staircase alongside Professor Candle. Behind them stood the exchange cohort: three senior guest professors specializing in arrays, elemental theory, and martial tactics, accompanied by fifteen handpicked student elites.
The students—all young noble prodigies at Tiers 3 and 4—looked immaculate in their high-collared, gold-trimmed Valerian uniforms. Yet, despite their privileged backgrounds, they stood in rigid, nervous silence. The legend of Markus, the "Monster of the Freshmen," hung heavy over them, and the prospect of traveling to a mysterious branch academy in the Aurelian Empire filled them with equal parts excitement and anxiety.
"They are all accounted for, Markus," Headmistress Elena said, handing him a sealed jade token containing their official diplomatic transcripts. "Keep them safe. And make sure our professors don't get too accustomed to your primordial mana density—we still need them back next semester."
"They will be returned in one piece," Markus replied with a faint smile.
Markus stepped into the open center of the plaza. He didn't take out a spatial carriage, nor did he instruct the group to form a standard teleportation circle.
Instead, he extended both hands outward, his silver-blue eyes flashing with divine luminescence as he tapped directly into his combined Space and Time Law authority.
THUMMMMMM.
The ambient air in the plaza vibrated violently. The space before the group didn't just tear open; it folded cleanly, forming a massive, ten-meter-tall archway made of crystalline, silver-gold light. Looking into the archway, the delegation didn't see swirling, dizzying portal chaos—they saw a perfectly stable, illuminated Space Tunnel.
Through the translucent walls of the tunnel, the distant geography of the continent blurred past at hyper-velocity, while the pathway inside remained entirely flat, motionless, and free from atmospheric pressure.
The guest professors gasped, their eyes wide as they examined the sheer mathematical perfection of the conduit. To construct a long-distance spatial tunnel that felt like stepping through a standard doorway required a domain over Space Law that defied traditional textbook theory.
"Step through," Markus instructed calmly, gesturing toward the shimmering archway. "The conduit is locked directly to our central quad."
Professor Candle let out a booming laugh, shaking his head in admiration. "You really know how to make an entrance, kid. Move out, students! Don't keep the host waiting!"
The fifteen elite students stepped into the silver archway with cautious, hesitant strides. Within three steps, the air around them shifted dramatically.
Fifteen seconds later, as they crossed the threshold out of the tunnel, the crisp mountain air of the Valerian capital was instantly replaced by a thick, heavy, vitality-rich atmosphere that made their meridians thrum with excitement.
They stepped out onto the grand marble courtyard of the Aurelian Branch Academy.
Above them rose the majestic, obsidian-and-silver spires of the central quad. Surrounding the plaza, hundreds of Aurelian cadets in dark-grey tactical robes paused their drills, their disciplined, intense gazes locking onto the incoming Valerian delegation.
Rosanne, Isolde, and Sloane Blackwell stood waiting at the base of the main steps, flanked by Nagini, who was loosely coiled around a high stone pillar, her crimson eyes quietly inspecting the newcomers.
"Welcome to the Eternity Guild," Rosanne spoke, stepping forward with a calm, commanding posture that immediately humbled the visiting noble heirs. "Your quarters and lecture halls have been prepared."
The Valerian exchange students looked around in absolute wonder, taking in the primordial energy floating through the air, the pristine facilities, and the terrifyingly focused discipline of the local cadets. In a single second, any lingering arrogance they held as imperial elites vanished into thin air.
Markus stepped out of the collapsing space tunnel behind them, his cloak settling smoothly over his shoulders as he looked over his combined forces. The bridge between empires was officially open.