I, Ren am currently on my way to the Capital, Empyros, where the first trial of the Emperorship is going to be held.

I'm really excited about it, since Mu told me, that otherworlders are somewhat common in this world, so I'm curious about the technology level and the architecture.

Well, It's pretty far to Empyros, so we're going to fly by using wyverns.

We, that includes Mu, Yukiara, Jill, Modro (Lizard-Butler), and Me, got onto a huge snow-white wyvern, with 6 seats strapped onto its back.

["To be honest, I'm scared..."]

[Yukiara: "That there exists a dragon, that's afraid of heights..."]

(...)

As we soared through the sky, I was able to properly see the infrastructure of the lands below us.

It wasn't as medieval as I initially expected, but also not as advanced as earth. It seems like a lot of things we had on earth were recreated by using magic., such as lighting, flowing water, and communication. It was like steampunk, except with magic instead of steam. I think I'll call it magipunk, or does arcapunk sound better? Hmm, let's stick to magipunk.

Oh, btw the houses mostly resembled those of the late renaissance. It was a sight to behold.

On the streets were all kinds of demi-humans and humans, going along their day. We flew across the wide, empty fields of Ashor, with its green wild grass and lack of trees, over the mountain range of Dunj, where the peaks were frozen and Yukiara's manor was located, and along the great river of Hime, along which great cities prospered, and finally, we saw Empyros. A city so huge, I did not dare to compare it to the tiny town I lived in when I was on earth, yet it still didn't reach the size of LA, New York, or Tokyo. If I had to compare its size, I'd say Berin sounds about right.

The city was layered into 5 rings, which were stacked atop each other. Apparently, the higher up the layer, the higher the living expenses.

Oh, and if you think, It's located on a mountain, you're wrong, the lower levels extend into the underground of the upper ones, creating a unique atmosphere, lit by the pale magic lights.

The university was located on the second level (counted from top to bottom).

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3 hours later...

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It was the day the trials began and I, Sara Van Heron, arrived with the heroes in the capital, "Empyros"...

We made our way to the auditorium, where the starting ceremony of the trials and the entrance ceremony of the Capital University would be held.

This year's freshmen only consisted of Emperor-Candidates, so there were only outstanding individuals, yet 6 of them caught my eyes:

1. An ashen-haired youth wearing a dire wolf pelt as a cloak. His aura was full of composure but in an auspicious way, like a bucket of water about to overflow...

2. A doll-like girl, with skin as white as snow. Her pale-pink hair and ruby eyes only accentuated the doll-ish-ness. If I had to guess, probably a vampire or at least a half-vamp.

3. A boy dressed completely in gold, such as his hair. The moon emblem on his chest indicated his belonging to the Yon-empire... He had an arrogant aura...

4. The dark elven girl practically murdering the golden boy with her glares. She had the aura of a warrior. well-toned muscles, but not bulky, and her feet always in a swords stance.

5. A tall, elegant high elven youth with long, kempt-back hair. He had an easygoing expression as if he wasn't concerned about the trials at all.

6. A bulky, excited half-orc with spiky, flaming red hair. The half-orc was eyeing every other candidate and fiercely nodding at them.

Then a bearded old man stepped atop a podium. He wore a tall pointy hat and lapis lazuli robes.

[Bearded old man: "I, Astragius Altar, hereby welcome all of you Emperor-Candidates into this glorious Capital City. As you all know, This Continent had an extensive history of wars, until the first emperor, His Majesty Solaire, put an end to the wars by creating this supranational organ, we today fancy as Emperor. Solaire was a man with ambition, yet he knew that if he were to die, the wars would resume, so he founded this capital city, Empyros. A city not bound by nationality, where a new emperor should be selected should the old one vanish.

AND TODAY WE HAVE SUCH AN OCCASION! ONE OF YOU SHALL BE CROWNED EMPEROR!!!"]

The whole auditorium clapped in excitement.

[Astragius Altar: "Now then, I will now introduce the judges of this epochs trials:

First, we have the great Ice Dragon Yukiara!"]

A silver-haired woman with icy pressure stepped forward

[Yukiara: "It's nice to meet you all."]

She seems powerful...

[Astragius Altar: "The next judge is the former hero:

Fin Van Heron."]

Oi, grandpa didn't tell me about this... Why is he here?

I stared at him, and he only winked back at me... He's always such a nuisance...

[Granpa: "Herrm Hem... I am very glad to be here today! Especially when my cute granddaughter is attending!"]

(You're sooo cringyyyyyyyy!!! You're embarrassing meeeeee!!!!)

[Astragius Altar: "The final judge will be:

The king of the casino, Nixus Weiß. The richest man on the continent!"]

A sinister-looking, frost elf with pale skin, cyan hair, and red piercing eyes stepped forward. The most peculiar thing that separates frost elves and dark elves from other elves is that they are omnivores. Normal elves are exclusively vegan. As result, frost and dark elves have somewhat of fangs, frost elves even more so, and this fact was not contributing to his trustworthiness, because he had a wide toothy grin, like that of a shark about to rip its prey to shreds. Aside from that, you could clearly see from his clothes that he was rich.