Vibrant streets encompassed the terrain. Active hubs of vendors and customers littered the colorful view. Shouts of foreign words jumped from person to person, a common exuberance occupying the various tones produced.

A tall woman strolled through a bustling street, accompanied by a short messy-haired young man. The woman lipped words with a genuine smile across her face, pointing to various places. The man followed, trying his best to keep up while examining her places of interest.

His head darted from side to side, tracing the motion of the woman’s hand. All the while attempting to avoid walking into the joyous folk of the street.

These two tourist-like strollers were none other than Leon and Kassandra.

They were an odd sight, specifically Leon in his modern work clothes covered minorly by his cloak. It wasn’t exactly a confidence booster. He felt like he was standing in the middle of a grocery store full of old people while dressed in a maid outfit. Perhaps it was a bit of an exaggeration, but the general sentiment was there.

To add to their peculiarity, they were both speaking in English. Kassandra was pointing things out and giving him the rundown of stores and places in his language. It dragged many stares towards them, and Leon was practically begging to leave.

He’d considered asking her to just go straight there but it seemed rude. Especially since he was now her apprentice and she, his master. The dynamic wasn’t quite what he expected. From the one day of getting to know each other, Leon saw her as more of a friend and so far, he hadn’t done any apprenticing.

The age gap was minimal as well, making the whole thing harder for him to fully acknowledge and go along with. Leon, like many others probably, dreamed of being taught by a brave senior knight or grey-bearded all-mighty wizard where he’d learn to harness the elements or slay dragons.

“Over there is the bakery, I tend to go there often,” Kassandra said, pointing to another building before quickly repeating the process with a tavern she’d seen on her left.

The sector of the city they were walking in was the more inner region of the city. Many people worked in small businesses, trades, or professions and lived here according to Kassandra. It was essentially a middle class of sorts. The common grounds as one would deem it.

It was definitely more pleasant than Leon thought it’d be. Since this was a monarchy, he defaulted to the view of medieval Europe and similar places in his own history. No signs of a bubonic plague, the streets were clean, and people were happy.

Sights of magical usage were everywhere. They had passed a sauna earlier on that used magic to heat the room and create steam. ‘I suppose magic would come in handy for common everyday things.’

Leon broke his listening experience and asked Kassandra about the area.

“Not everywhere in the kingdom is this nice. This area thrives due to its proximity to the academies and institutes. Many children of royalty or high family prestige through contributions to the kingdom attend here. Thus, it makes sense that businesses are usually well off here and the area is festive and sanitary.”

Kassandra’s input to his question explained a lot. It was the equivalent of how some rich schools got coffee and sandwich shops INSIDE the school’s premises. That concept still boggled his mind, more so now in a different world.

“Unfortunately, we’re not perfect. We have impoverished areas like any other. The outer sectors, beyond the inner wall, vary from place to place.”

From what Leon gathered from Kassandra’s explanations were more in line with what he originally expected. The outer sectors contrasted where they were drastically. Unlike the smooth cobblestone streets he walked upon, there was dirt and gravel outside. Most buildings were made of wood outside as stone was a limited commodity. Stone buildings were few in their street, but they had mixtures of wood and stone in architecture.

Most stores were only stands out there and it was not nearly as lively. This wasn’t to say that it was unbearable. Most people living out there were fine, adventuring was prevalent amongst them. ‘I assume that’s where most of those that decided to leave the first night went.’ Leon thought, wondering if they had any luck in this foreign land.

Most residents worked inside the walls where Leon and Kassandra were or on the farms in territories further out. Those directly outside the walls were mostly adventurers, drunkards, and those who worked useful services like taverns and food stands.

There were more… concerning areas as well. Some areas were prone to thievery and poverty ran rampant. Kassandra refused to elaborate much on those areas.

Eventually, their sightseeing came to a close. A stone brick structure of ginormous caliber entered their view. It looked more like a mansion than an academy.

Metal gates surrounded its grounds, and an open green field lay beyond stopping just before the building’s walls. An arched opening was displayed on the way with a stone path going toward it.

Leon and Kassandra stopped at the gated entrance momentarily as Kassandra spoke to the assumed gatekeepers. Without much hassle, they entered the academy grounds.

Upon closer inspection, the grass was… strangely more alive. Leon didn’t know if he was just imagining things or not. Grass was grass but it felt and looked different. ‘Still green.’ He reaffirmed to himself, failing to uncover the source of the peculiarity.

Glancing to his sides as they walked, Kassandra caught wind of his curiosity. “The plants here are actively exposed to an abundance of mana. Simply put, they’re more accustomed to it and have adapted.”

Leon could tell that she was holding back on her explanations. The excitement nearly leaked out of her ears. Regardless, he was somewhat satisfied with just that answer. Leon hoped to avoid more elaborate explanations. ‘She spent ten minutes talking about that bookstore… ten minutes!’

He enjoyed their conversations but there was a limit, especially when you’re in another world and are absorbing most of this information for the first time.

Reaching the arched walkway in the stone building, they walked through. Upon exiting, he came to realize that it wasn’t the main building but an outer building that encompassed the main plaza.

From a bird’s eye view, pathways were going directly horizontal and vertical across the plaza, with a fountain in the center where all of the stone paths meet. The four squares of landscape that the walkways made were filled with grass, flowerbeds, bushes, and some benches.

Few people were about, those who were hurried along. Kassandra explained that this building was where most classes took place, with this center place being a communal space. Leon’s classes on history and geography would take place here. His classes on magic and mana would have also been here but he got the get-out-of-class-and-become-an-apprentice-free-card.

Hastily exiting out of another arched stone awning opposite the first, they found themselves looking at more land and distant buildings that resembled miniature castles with towers.

Walking out, the stone path slowly turned into that of gravel. Sounds of metals clashing entered Leon’s ears. Up ahead was a fenced area, similar to the training yard he’d previously been in. Lightly armored individuals sparred within. Small buildings presided nearby, filled with weaponry and armor it seemed. Kassandra didn’t need to explain what was taught here for Leon to catch on.

A few of the onlookers peered their way, likely waiting to practice based on their various weapons in hand. They passed by a few of these practice arenas until they happened upon a familiar face.

In one of the practice fields, a towering, armored man stood looking over some youngsters sparring. This man was Sir Garett. Kassandra gave him a friendly wave, receiving a nod in return.

Their trudge continued until they finally met the tiny castle-like buildings.

“And these are the dormitories.”

Walking into one of the many dormitories, Leon was in awe of the building. It had a similar architectural design as everything else but what made this different was that this is where he would stay.

Inside, carpets of a blue tinge laid. Upon the walls, banners of similar color hung. There were quite a few people there. All with a common similarity. They all appeared… oddly dressed. Leon was happy to see his bizarrely dressed ‘brave warrior’ companions, even if he didn’t know any of them.

“This is where you’ll be staying. Everyone here is from your world so you shouldn’t have too much of a problem assimilating.” Kassandra gestured at various objects and explained what they were. There was a common room with a fire and some sofas. Climbing up a spiral staircase, Kassandra led the way.

Leon tried his best not to look at her rump. He stared daggers into the poor stone staircase. She wore long robes so there wasn’t much to see but he still felt guilty about the thought. Without realizing it, Leon once more activated his [Identify] skill.

Limestone: A stone

“…”

He laughed to himself. It was a nice distraction, remembering the absolutely omnipotent observation ability of the skill. Their steps proceeded upwards.

Leon’s struggles came to an end as they reached the next floor. Another smaller common room stood at the other end of where they stood. Many doors occupied the walls of the hallway.

“And this is where some of the personal bedrooms are. You’ll be staying-” Kassandra stated, being cut off by another voice.

“Leon?”