“Argh, that was so damn annoying!” Slamming her fist into the stone wall of the central building of the outer academy, Irea released her pent-up emotions.

“Still, you did a great job.” Praising the girl while placing his hand on her head, Layn rubbed her hair for a moment before retracting his hand. As much as they liked each other, given the importance of the place they entered right away after the scene they made in the plaza a public show of affection would be in a bad taste.

“Thanks.” Clearly satisfied with the man’s praise, Irea’s face brightened up a bit. Happy to the point where she started to gently hum some kind of tune, she followed after that archmage without any further protests or questions.

Reaching the corridor where most of the elder’s quarters were located, Layn confidently stepped forward, not paying any mind to the surprised looks of the random students that happened to see him committing such sacrilege.

‘I guess this part is the same, be it the ancient world or the modern one.’ Noticing the shocked, expectant, and terrified looks on the faces of those strangers, Layn was pleasantly reminded of his time in the mage academy. Back then, there were no elders or inner nor outer academies. Yet, the attitude towards the rector and high brass of the academy was roughly the same as it was towards the elders at this time.

“Quite daring of you to step into this corridor…” Before Layn could even knock off any of the doors, an old lady stepped out of the room. It was the same female elder that was initially heavily against Layn’s admission to the academy, only to prove that she wasn’t as conceited as she initially appeared to be later during the hearing.

“Well, weren’t you guys the ones to say that I should seek a hearing with one of the elders whenever I would decide to ascend to the inner academy?” Putting a wide and relaxed smile on his lips, Layn cracked his neck by leaning his head heavily to both sides before raising his left eyebrow and lowering the right one. “Should I take it that I’m not welcomed here?”

To say that the face of that elderly woman turned white would be a gross understatement. Yet she quickly proved that she bore the title of an elder not only due to her edge, overcoming her initial shock and replacing it with an amiable smile. “Surely, you jest. I stand by the decision of the council. Come to my room, I will deal with all the paperwork there.”

Turning around on her heel, the female promptly returned to her quarters while leaving the doors open in an act of an invitation. Following the female, Layn grabbed the hand of the reluctant Irea behind him, pulling her along.

“I invited you in, but I don’t recall extending the same invitation to that girl… Aren’t you a semi-teacher in the outer academy? What do you think you are doing here?” As soon as the female elder noticed Irea in her room, her face turned just as awful as it was when Layn first stepped into the room for his examination.

With just this, Irea’s expression sunk all the way to the point where Layn couldn’t tell whether she was desperate or already depressed. But rather than trying to cheer his girl up, he simply reached out to his pocket only to pull out one of the stones he was patiently preparing just this morning.

“This stone here allows you to open up a defensive formation. Once you smash it apart, no one will be able to make as much as a single step for a single minute in a radius of twenty meters around you. Obviously…” Sending the elderly woman a wink, Layn added, “this doesn’t apply to the one crushing this stone. Now tell me because I apparently forgot, what are the requirements to join the inner academy?”

Placing the stone on a random table that just happened to be near the entrance, Layn smiled while keeping just a single finger of his on the stone, keeping it from falling to the side and rolling away.

“The inner academy? While you are an exception, usually one would have to be a two-star beginner at the very least and have some kind of exceptional contribution to the academy…” Leaving the explanation open, the elderly woman clearly could understand what Layn was trying to suggest.

“Two stars? That means people who broke through the awakening rank?” While Layn already had a small picture of how the entirety of cultivation looked like, or at least its early stages, he had yet to discuss what laid beyond the realm of awakening. ‘Judging from its name, that guess should be correct…’ Keeping his eyes glued to the face of the elder, Layn’s finger continued to play with the formation stone.

“That’s correct. Of course, if there were to be some special circumstances…” Not willing to openly state her wishes, the old lady gladly accepted Layn’s roundabout way of talking about the topic.

“This girlfriend of mine just so happened to reach the pinnacle of the awakening stage. What’s more, she was behind the recent appearance of the shrine of patience on the grounds of the outer academy. With that said…” Taking the smile down from his lips, Layn retracted his finger before flinging it forward, pushing the stone to roll over towards the elder, “I assume Irea just came here to confirm that she indeed has caught your eye and was promoted to the inner academy.”

Seeing how the elderly woman instantly snatched the stone the moment it entered the range of her hands, Layn’s smile returned to his lips. “With that said, I believe the two of us should already consider ourselves as the disciples of the inner sect, am I right?”

For a moment, the lips of the female elder twitched in displeasure at the arrogant attitude of the archmage. But as if a wave of pleasure was spreading from the stone she held, improving her mood, she quickly ended up nodding her head and smiling as well.

“It will be my pleasure to guide the two of you to the advancement gate.”