CHAPTER 149: THIS IS A SCHOOL?!

This Is A School!?

Instead of entering, they went to a place near the entrance of the city. Osho thought it looked a bit like a land terminal, as the structure was quite big and housed more than a few large vehicles from what he could see.

People were also moving throughout the place, and it was very crowded, which should have been a bit expected, however, the group saw something that piqued their interest.

Other than the different vehicles and vessels, there was a large section dedicated to what looked like large metal platforms. Ellie was about to ask what that was about when runes suddenly lit up across the surface of the various platforms, and everyone watched with surprise as at least fifty people suddenly appeared on each platform with a flash of light.

"Teleporters?" Irene exclaimed in surprise, and the others mirrored her expression.

"That’s right," Mateo confirmed, which wasn’t since he was the one who used space magic.

"Where from though? Are there other places like this close by?" Kurt inquired curiously.

"Well, there are places like this. Just not close by." Veronica explained.

"Oh." The group nodded. Teleportation between Citadels, higher class ones anyway, wasn’t that strange, just a bit tedious since people need to go through numerous teleportation stations–

"And no, they aren’t rapidly teleporting between locations. It’s large jumps between them most of the time." Mayeo clarified, and everyone seemed even more surprised at that. Not by the fact that there were other places like Stellaris City, which was obvious enough. But the fact that there was teleportation between them when the distance was large was surprising.

The concept of teleporters wasn’t new and was in fact something that had been put in place a while ago. They were simply too convenient.

However, teleporting exceedingly large distances had far too many nuances and complications to be deemed viable. At least in the outside world.

This is because for teleportation to take place, at least with teleporters, there needs to be a stable connection between point A and point B. This connection was–naturally–established with space Mana.

However, due to how strange space mana worked in general, it tended to be unstable the farther the two points were from each other. Moreover, numerous other external factors could affect it.

For instance, a strong beast that had a palpable effect on the world around it could make space unstable by default, and if its territory happened to be in the way of the connection, the most likely scenario was that the people or items being teleported would be forcefully ejected mid-teleportation and appear within the territory of that beast.

It’s also because of this that Mateo didn’t just directly teleport to the chasm where the hidden realm was located–minus the immense Mana cost.

If one noticed, whenever Mateo appeared half the time, it was near one powerful beast or the other before he quickly teleported away again. It’s for this reason.

So they were understandably surprised.

"How does that work?" Ellie asked curiously, and the two Masters quickly understood what she was asking.

"The space in the hidden realm is naturally extremely stable and can facilitate long-range teleportation easily. Moreover, it doesn’t operate the same way as space outside. Connections don’t need to be strictly linear for teleportation to occur, so we can somewhat make the connections bend around obstacles." Mateo explained.

"Hm. Then why not just teleport us to the college directly? Or at least close to it?" Sam offered.

"Rules." Mateo said flatly, and everyone knew he wasn’t willing to elaborate.

They went silent after that, and the dinosaur soon reached the land terminal.

They naturally attracted a few looks, but no one did anything as they moved to a less congested part of the structure that seemed private.

They entered what Osho could only describe as a hangar, but there were no planes, just teleportation formations.

There were around a dozen, which didn’t sound like a lot, but each one was over 20 meters in diameter, making them pretty big.

They were neatly arranged with simple but easy paths between them.

Without saying anything, Indo walked onto one of the teleporters, and as soon as he did, the construct activated, and several runes activated, and in the next moment, the group was teleported.

When they came to, they found themselves in another large building with similarly numerous teleporters. The difference, however, was the people and beasts moving about.

They were quite a lot, most of them seemed to he staff, though. However, the group was surprised by just how active the beasts were in the context of being allowed to roam freely.

One needs to remember that in the Blossom Citadel, there were many strict rules about beasts being allowed to roam freely, like how Gale couldn’t fly above a certain threshold while inside.

That rule didn’t seem to apply here, though, as no one batted an eye at the large dinosaur that just appeared in the hall.

"There are no regulations towards beast moving here?" Osho couldn’t help but ask.

"There are some, but they are pretty loose." Veronica said as Indo walked off the platform and weaved through the crowd of people with surprising deftness, not a single person under the threat of being stepped on.

They soon reached the entrance which was more than large enough for the dino to pass through, and when they emerged, the group had their first look at the Stellaris Beast Tamer College.

"... Wha- That makes no fucking sense!" Kurt exclaimed, a verbal confirmation of how the other felt.

Calling the place big was an understatement. A SEVERE understatement.

It was basically its own city!

The ’campus’ sprawled farther than their eyes could follow, with layers that made one think of some impossibly intricate clockwork city. Towering spires of varying materials, but primarily a dark stone and an odd metal alloy that felt eerily similar to the starry sky above, rose in intervals that seemed almost random, their surfaces lined with complex runes that pulsated like heartbeats.

There were walkways suspended in the air, crosscrossing the space between the buildings. Some were solid and metallic, while others looked to be purely mana constructs.

Massive Plazas sat at the intersections, with massive vessels and flying beasts landing and taking off without disturbing the flow of traffic. Gardens of exotic flora–some natural and some unmistakably alien–grew along the walls and terraces, while streams of what looked like mana-rich water flowed through the streets via invisible channels.

Every few blocks, training arenas sat open to the sky. Hexagonal fields where distant flashes of light could be seen suggested that students were testing their beasts.

And yet, despite its scale, there was an undeniable order. Everything was arranged with a purpose. Housing districts sitting outward from what looked like an imposing administrative tower, laboratories and research facilities that had large domes sat near the base of a nearby mountain, and vast open grounds set aside for specializing habitats where huge beasts that even from this distance, the group could still feel the imposing auras of, roamed freely under semi-translucent barriers. The whole place was like a beehive of activity, yet the precision each thing carried could not be faked. It was less like a school and more like a machine, and staring at it, the group was understandably stunned.

However, they were broken out of their thoughts when Veronica giggled.

"It’s always fun to see the stunned expression of my adorable juniors. So how is it? Pretty good right?" She asked, and they turned to her. The girls’ expressions turned guarded, but Oshi and Kurt just nodded.

"This place is incredible. It’s like we’re in a different world." Kurt said with wide eyes and Osho nodded wholeheartedly.

"Technically, we are." Mateo pointed out. "By the way, notice anything different with your beasts?" The question made them all pause and regard their beasts.

’What’s he...?!’ Osho turned his attention to Gake and his brows shot up.

He hadn’t noticed it before, but upon closer inspection...

They all seemed to be getting saturated by... something in the air.

It wasn’t quite mana, but it was intricately linked with it. But whatever it was...

’This place is nice. I can feel like my foundation is getting more stable.’ Gale said through their bond, sounding like he just got dipped into a hot shower.

"... What’s going on?" Osho asked while rubbing his back through his shirt, and Mateo shrugged.

"Long story short, there is a formation underneath the entire campus that makes it so that all base concepts within the place are stabilized, so most concepts beasts make use of become more easily comprehended," He explained, and everyone stared at him blankly.

"Thought so." He sighed, finding their confusion unsurprising.

"Anyway, let’s keep going." He shrugged and ghe group proceeded.

Meanwhile, some ways away on a roof, a figure was standing, and yet no one seemed to see them.

No matter how beasts flow overhead or people looked around, the figure seemed to simply escape their senses.

They smiled as they observed the group. Or specifically Osho.

"4th Star... It’s been a while." They said to themselves while rubbing a star-shaped tattoo on their cheek.

Then their smile widened at Osho’s gaze slowly shifted to look directly at them.