“Here, grab those robes.” Instead of just leaving them be, the old lady moved to the back of her room before opening a small box hidden in the corner. Not even attempting to pretend that she wasn’t prepared for the current situation, she pulled two sets of long, red outfits.

“Outer academy disciples are wearing whites, inner academy wears…” Before the lady could finish, Layn nodded his head before snatching the clothes from her hands. Passing one set to Irea, he rolled his eyes while nodding his head. “Inner academy wears reds while the core disciples parade in blues.” Finishing the explanation on his own instead, Layn quickly pulled the cloth on top of his back.

“You look quite handsome in them…” Rather than panicking over the problem of changing out in the open, Irea waved her set before swinging it to the side and allowing the cloth to wrap itself around her shoulders before falling on her back. With a strangely deep smile, she admitted while keeping her eyes peacefully closed.

‘This girl…’ Prompted by the wide swing of the cloth, Layn reacted out of reflex. Using a tiny bit of his aura, he held several expensive-looking pieces of furniture in place, denying them the right to fall. ‘If those people were any smarter, they could easily detect it!’ Gnashing his jaws while keeping a calm smile on his face, Layn wailed to the heavens.

“So do you. But now,” As dangerous as her act of dressing-up was, there was no denying how well the colors of her new robe accented the elegant beauty of the girl’s face. Vivid and focused back on the desert, the tomboyish feel that Irea had around herself now turned into a thoughtful grace.

‘What a single piece of cloth can do…’ Pandering over this sudden enlightenment for a short moment, Layn shook his head before finishing. “Now, we should go to the inner academy. I just can’t wait to see the great use those fellow disciples of ours put our shrine too!” Proudly exclaiming, Layn felt the corners of his lips twitching.

As grand as his statement was, he just couldn’t hold his amusement back.

“Yeah, yeah.” Waving her hand at the incessant duo, the old lady hid the grimace of annoyance from her face. As the wrinkles around her eyes somewhat flattened, the female elder waltzed out of the room. Shaking his momentary joy off, Layn grabbed Irea’s wrist before pulling her along.

“Mind explaining just what kind of mischief you are up to?” Somewhere halfway towards the center point of the outer academy, the elder couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“Mischief? It’s nothing of that sort.” Putting up a troubled look on his face while still devoting most of his attention to the younger girl cutely trodding beside him, Layn stirred his mind up to figure out a proper response.

“It’s more like… The very reason why I wanted to start in the outer academy is now void. This lovely girl here,” moving his hand up, Layn let to of Irea’s hand only to pat her gently on her head. “she helped me to find out what I was looking for.” Rubbing Irea’s scalp to the rhythm of her silent, satisfied moans, Layn dressed up his enlightened face type three.

‘Just how can she be so cute?’ Keeping only the strayest of her thoughts to maintain the conversation, Layn was fully encharmed by the simple motions of Irea body. The fluttering of her short hair, the glister on her slightly sweaty, porcelain skin… Every element from the swaying of her hips through the wiggling of her chest all the way to the gentle and warm smile on her lips was trapping the archmage in a box far more formidable than even the worst of prisons.

“So that’s the case…” Seeing his expectations come to reality, Layn didn’t even bother to hide his smile. ‘Right now, it fits in my act rather well.’ Moving his hand down Irea’s head, he snuck back into the girl’s palm. Reacting to his invitation, the girl turned her face towards him a bit before sentencing him with yet another charming smile of hers.

In a sudden motion, her fingers curled up, overcoming the bounciness of Layn’s hand’s muscles. Turning even the simple act of handholding into something pretty intimate, Irea fully ascertained dominance over the archmage.

“Gotchya!” Whispering in an excited yet low voice, Irea almost jumped while doing so.

“Hey, are you listening to me, you brats?” Snapping the two from the inner world they silently immersed themselves in, the old lady managed to regain their attention. “This is it, I may be an elder, but I’m not allowed to make even a step further.” Pointing her hand, all in wrinkles, at a nearby gate, she used her other hand to pull out two rolled pieces of paper sealed with five wax seals.

“Those here are the certificates. You will need them once you get in.” For a moment, the face of the old elder soured turned serious. As if her entire naggish and annoying attitude was just an act, an honest worry filled her eyes as she looked at Archmage and the semi-teacher beside him.

“Past that gate, it’s the law of jungle. If you ever want to grow there, be it by participating in lessons or by acquiring cultivation resources…” Shaking her head, the old lady lowered her eyes as if reminiscing something. “In the inner sect, only your merits matter. That’s why the crux of my advice.” 

Raising her eyes, the old lady looked deeply into Layn’s pupils. “Whatever feud brought you to this place, obtaining merits is enough to settle it.” Speaking this single line with a strange, deep voice, the appearance of the elder momentarily changed.

Rather than a weak and ugly female who lost every last hint of her former beauty yet failed to accept it, rather than a desperate woman at the end of her line, a powerhouse stood before them.

Irea froze. From how her pupils dilated, she clearly was facing something like that for the very first time.

‘It’s hard to believe…’ Squinting his eyes, Layn accepted the stare of the old lady. For a moment, the power behind her words seemed to turn her into a ferocious and experienced beast, a huge mass of violence that saw hell and managed to return from it.

And then her smile once again took the tone of the pestering elder, removing every last trace of the might she revealed just a moment ago.

‘A killing intent… To think I could see it so soon.’ Standing still, Layn looked at the scrolls he held in his hand, before moving his eyes back at the gate nearby. His other hand tightened around Irea’s palm. ‘If the elders of the outer sect can already exhibit this power…’ Staring in the direction the old lady left, Layn’s eyes squinted even further.

“Hey, stop glaring at the flowers like that. They will wither.” Pushing her forefinger against Layn’s cheek, Irea puffed her own cheeks out. Her slightly lowered eyebrows only spelled trouble.

“Right, right. Let’s not bother our thoughts with this event all that much.” Scoffing at what just transpired, Layn fixed his grip on Irea’s warm hand before marching towards the gate.

Even though it wasn’t the first nor the second time he had to play all sorts of scenes to get something done, Layn was getting annoyed by it only all the more. ‘So much time wasted on some stupid rituals…’ Rolling his eyes, he passed the sealed scrolls to the silent guardian that appeared right before the huge wooden doors of the gate as soon as the two of them took the first step.

‘Five seals, huh… So they already knew I would bring her with me…’ Throwing one last look at the scrolls, Layn then moved his eyes at the girl beside him, yet the sound of something snapping returned him back to reality.

“Wait, what?” After leisurely snapping the seals in half, the guard took a look at the content of the papers. And in a flash, his face changed from a bored to a shocked one. Raising his eyes at the guests in waiting, he took a good, long look at the two of them.

“In the middle of the year…” Whispering under his nose, the man shook his head before snapping back to reality and moving aside. “You may enter. ” Pointing his hand at the gate, he encouraged the duo to step forward.

“And good luck.” As Layn passed by the guardian, he suddenly noticed something. As if the world stopped in its tracks for a brief moment, the archmage noticed the hostile and satisfied smile of the guard. As if he was a hunter watching his prey voluntarily step into a trap. Yet this moment also passed by super quickly, not giving either of the men a chance to act on it.

“Thank you for your good word.” Smiling to the guard, Layn stepped forward. Only stopping when he stood right in the gate, Layn turned his head to the girl before smiling and bringing his hand up. Caressing Irea’s cheek for a short moment, Layn’s face visibly relaxed. And as if he suddenly lowered his guard, right in the middle of the home ground of the society he was baring his fangs again, Layn spoke.

“This time, the acting will be even harder. Just trust me and go with the flow.” Speaking out in the open, Layn was perfectly aware of what he was doing. With the gate’s guard obviously directing his ear towards them, it was given his words would quickly spread through the entire inner academy.

‘Well, the bar is set, now it’s just to wait for the fishes to come..’ Smiling to his own thoughts, Layn tightened his grasp over Irea’s hand before stepping into the Inner academy.