15

"Have you packed everything?" Ruo Chen asked while he stuffed more clothes into the tiny pouch. This was the space pouch that could hold anything the user desired as long as it fit the space within it. Of course the more expensive the pouch, the bigger the space inside and the more things it can hold.

Ye Ran nodded as he shoved his own space pouch into his pocket. The both of them were preparing to set off to the Ink River school trial which was quite a distance away. 

The trip by horse would take a few days and whilst people in this world could use their own weapons to travel in the air, the both of them had yet to claim one as most people did when they were in school. Plus, it was only if the school had a wide array of weapons, if not, you were not guaranteed a weapon and might have to use a normal weapon.

The thing about personal weapons is that they all have a special quality unique to them which makes them special and thus have the ability to form a bond with its user to make it a personal weapon. As its name suggests, only the user can use it, if others were to try to use it, they would experience a strong backlash.

Ruo Chen's parents were not able to make it back in time to send them off so they wrote a letter to express their well wishes and support. Ruo Chen felt that it was better this way as he wasn't sure how he would feel if they were really here to say goodbye.

After all, they were not his real parents.

But he still brought the letter with him, putting it in the pocket in front of his chest.

Both of them then made their way out of the house where two majestic horses awaited them. One had beautiful pure white coat while the other had a shiny black coat.

They both had a strong and muscular build and were well groomed.

Ruo Chen quickly straddled his white horse in one swift motion before checking the map for their journey. He has always had a habit of triple checking things to make sure everything was right. 

Ye Ran did not immediately straddle his horse and instead chose to take a look at his surroundings. He clenched his fists in silence before straddling the horse a moment after. His mind was clouded with emotions and thoughts that he labelled as contempt and hatred.

Yet this did not show on his face as it remained as indifferent as ever.

"Alright, lets set off." Ruo Chen announced before spurring his horse forward. Ye Ran followed suit and the both of them then set off for the Ink River school.

***

The journey to the school was uneventful and was very smooth. The route contained many forests they had to go through but to Ruo Chen's surprise, they did not get ambushed by any wild animals.

He had prepared for the worst by doing extensive research on the various animals they might encounter but it proved to be useless as not a single animal came close to them.

Or at least he pretended to be surprised.

Ruo Chen knew of the intense aura that Ye Ran had, even if he didn't mean to. Especially since in the three months that had gone by, Ye Ran's core had advanced to the next level again, now his core was at the level of a skilled adult.

Which is honestly just a terrifying amount of power for a 14 year old kid to have even more so when said kid still has baby fat on his face.

This aura would have scared most predators away and the ones at the top of the food chain sensed that they would be a difficult and unsatisfying meal due to them being quite small kids and left them alone.

And with that, the journey which was supposed to take a few days only lasted for two days before the duo or trio if you counted Xiao Pang which was currently a hamster in Ruo Chen's space pouch saw the famous Ink River.

Both Ruo Chen and Ye Ran could immediately feel the increase in density of the energy around them and it made the surroundings feel oppressive. Thankfully, they resonated with dark energy and the Ink River quickly recognised them as kids coming for the trial and the heavy atmosphere immediately turned light.

The dense dark energy which was suppressing them, now instead gave them the feeling of having a boost in power or the feeling of having someone supporting you from the back.

After this quick adjustment, they followed the river and eventually saw the school.

It looked magnificent to say the least, the river narrower as it led to the main entrance of the school where a stone pathway guides them to the main building. You could actually use a boat to get into the school but it seemed to only be reserved for the actual students as on the way here, Ruo Chen saw students dressed in sleek black robes sitting on little wooden boats going into the school through the river.

While others here for the trial used horses or went by foot.

The school was nestled in a tranquil environment with lush greenery surrounding the campus. The buildings were constructed with large windows to allow the natural light to seep in with wooden accents to add warmth. Seeing this light atmosphere might make some kids confused as this was supposed to be a school specialized in dark energy, so why did it seem so bright?

But to those who did their research, they knew it was a way to regulate their students energy levels as too much dark energy could actually cause some complications in their bodies, so the huge windows that allowed the sun to flow through was a way to regulate their energies.

The many training rooms and classrooms were where the real deal was, the private rooms are dense with dark energy supplied by the ink river and are also pitch black to enhance one's training.

"So what do you think?" Ruo Chen asked as he led the horses to the staff to let them take care of it.

"The campus doesn't matter. I'm more concerned about the teachers." Ye Ran did not care about the buildings nor the facilities but only the teachers. His previous mentor was the Feng Hao Yu that was able to nurture his students to their maximum potential and he was curious to see if there was anyone better his former teacher.

Ruo Chen only smiled at the response before turning his gaze to the place where it was packed with kids of all sizes. It seemed to be the place to sign up for the trial so they both quickly made their way over.

Everyone here came from different backgrounds and Ruo Chen was able to spot some foreigners from other lands based on their different appearance from the locals of the land. While he was busy admiring the different faces, Ye Ran was more focused on sticking together and gauging the skills of the people around him, this would help him determine how much effort to put into the trials.

"Line up in an orderly manner as we take down your names!" A man in pristine white robes ordered as he glared at the youths who were pushing about trying to go first in line.

He had let out his aura in the process which was enough to get the kids to stop what they were doing and obediently line up without fuss.

"Once we have taken down your names, we will give you a number and when that number is called, you will proceed to the building to your right." His voice was steady as he read out the instructions before joining the other white robed teachers in taking down names.

In this school, teacher wore white robes while students wore black. This made it easy for students to recognize them and made it so that if there was ever danger, trouble would not go for the students but for the teachers first.

Unfortunately, the school's uniform was robes which meant long sleeves and Ruo Chen could not help but groan at the thought of it. Just why did I have to make to so that uniform was mandatory for schools?