Amparos and a rude old woman

The world in front of Kayla distorted the moment she stepped through the portal.

A dark world full of gray cracks and colored lights entered her vision, stunning her.

"This is... urgh" Kayla tried to speak, but strong dizziness stopped her. Soon, what he had eaten today rose into his throat...

However, before she could expel her breakfast, a flash of light blinded Kayla for an instant, and the world around her changed completely, again.

She was now in a room with metal walls without any decoration or furniture.

"Hey Kayla, why didn't you come earlier?! I thought for a moment you weren't going to come!" Ethel walked over to Kayla and grabbed her shoulder, worried. But he soon regretted his decision.

Just as she touched her shoulder, Kayla couldn't hold it in anymore and vomited the entire contents of her stomach onto Ethel...

"Ewww what are you doing?!" Ethel cried as she walked away from Kayla, but it was too late. Her favorite sweatshirt, with white owl prints, was filled with a green smelly liquid...

"S-sorry... urgh" Kayla tried to apologize, but she gagged again.

"Hey girl, here! Quick!" Fortunately, a cat anima guard who had heard the commotion entered the room and handed him a paper bag.

Kayla quickly grabbed the bag and vomited until her stomach was empty...

Ethel stood frozen to the side, staring dead-eyed at her sweatshirt.

"Sigh... that's why I insisted I had to stay, many people often vomit after teleporting for the first time." The guard looked at Ethel disapprovingly.

Ethel could only hang her head in shame. It was she who asked the guard to leave as she did not feel comfortable being with a stranger.

However, now I end up paying the price for despising the guard's help...

"I apologize for not taking your words into account…" Ethel murmured with a tear in her eye. "...Although could you tell us where there is a bathroom?"

The guard sighed and led them to a women's bathroom, where Ethel changed her clothes and Kayla washed her face with cold water.

"I'm sorry…" Kayla apologized to Ethel as the latter took off her sweatshirt and put on a black t-shirt.

"Don't worry, it was my fault since I had asked the guard to leave... Besides it's quite hot here, I was going to change anyway" Ethel sighed as she used a basic cleansing spell to remove the vomit from her sweatshirt.

"Although come on, how can you get dizzy because of that? "I told the guard to leave because I thought you weren't going to get dizzy!" Ethel looked at Kayla with amusement and some resentment.

Kayla was much more delicate than she expected!

"What do you mean by that?! That was one of the worst experiences of my life!" Kayla looked at Ethel in disbelief. She had felt like her body would tear if she touched any of those gray cracks!

"Pfft, how delicate." Ethel couldn't understand Kayla's suffering. When one teleported, one would only experience a flash of light and magically appear at one's destination!

The reason why people usually get dizzy is because of the sudden change in environment and atmosphere. So only people with poor health got dizzy when they teleported.

"Shut up and let's go" Kayla ignored Ethel's comments and left the bathroom, ready to explore the capital of the Sloffizia empire.

"Wait for me~" Ethel followed Kayla with a smile.

Both had arrived at a building like the one they had entered in Alteon, only this one was built mostly of metal and a white material, which gave the place a clean atmosphere.

They traveled through the hallways for several minutes until they reached the exit, a hallway that, unlike the innermost part of the building, was made of wood. A human lady was sitting at a desk next to the door and asked for her identification.

Ethel gave her an identification similar to those on earth and the lady, who had a monocle in her right eye, only gave her a glance before nodding and letting her pass.

"Here" Kayla also gave the lady an identification similar to Ethel's. Although Kayla didn't have any birth records or anything similar in this world, her grandfather Aaron had pulled some strings and "forged" her ID.

"You can come in, welcome to the refuge capital of all races, Amberos"

They both nodded and opened the large wooden door that separated them from the capital Amberos.

Little by little the Light entered the lobby and the view of the city was shown to both of them, leaving them surprised by what they saw.

"Wow... this place is very different from what I imagined!" Ethel looked at what little she could see of the city, excited.

"Too much," Kayla nodded. She never imagined that the capital of Sloffizia, the beast empire, would be so... modern.

Yes, instead of a place full of medieval-style buildings like Alteon, the city of Amparos was actually a city full of greenery and surprisingly skyscrapers.

"I expected Amparos to be full of old buildings or something, but I guess this is something much better…" Kayla muttered as she looked at the tall buildings made of a concrete-like material, only this one was a cleaner gray.

"Yes… I was expecting to stay in a rather old-fashioned place, but this is even better than my hometown…" Ethel felt embarrassed for thinking that.

Amparos was a city surprisingly similar to an Earth city, only it was a little more advanced in some aspects.

For example, what caught Kayla's attention the most was the great harmony between nature and the structures of the place. The people of this world had somehow managed to perfectly combine the advancement of society with the care of the environment.

"Although I suppose that was to be expected of Amparos, the refuge of all races…" Although Kayla had expected it a bit, she still found it surprising.

"Yes…" Ethel nodded as they both began to explore the city.

They both had several goals while exploring the city, which varied between seeing the untamed jungle academy and getting a place to stay this week, while they waited for the entrance exam to begin.

So they wasted no time in front of the building where the portals were located and advanced through the city.

"How lucky Grandpa Aaron gave us a map before we left…" Kayla commented as she watched Ethel use a small device that projected the map of the city into the air.

"Yeah, we would have been in trouble without this...wait." Ethel nodded, but suddenly she realized something. "What, Grandpa Aaron?!"

"Ah…" Kayla looked at Ethel for a few seconds before walking past her, casually ignoring her…

"Hey, you're not getting away from this one!" Ethel quickly followed her, waiting for her to spill the beans.

They both explored the city while joking and chatting, commenting on any interesting things they saw, which were quite a few.

One of the things that caught their attention the most was the large number of races that were there.

They saw everything from cute anima rabbits to giant centaurs, which could reach three meters in height.

"I guess Amparos isn't called a refuge for all races for nothing…" Ethel commented, somewhat surprised. She had never expected to see so many different races coexist in such a way...

Kayla nodded in agreement. But she knew that the reason they called it that was not because of the large number of different races that inhabited the city, no, it was called that because there was something that made the large number of races decide to live here.

While walking around the city, Kayla noticed that every building or place in the city was built with the comfort of each race in mind.

She saw that every building made for the public had at least a door four meters high, thinking about large breeds. And not only that but also absolutely all the places had a mini door at the bottom of the doors, thinking about the smaller breeds.

Hell, I'd even seen a park with all kinds of seats, from miniature seats to giant ones or even racing cushions like the centaur, the bottom of which were horse legs.

The more she looked, the more Kayla marveled. This... is not far from an autopia.

"Hey, I think it's not such a bad idea to live here…" Ethel suddenly murmured.

"Yes, it's certainly a nice place…" Kayla nodded. And that only made her more eager to be admitted to the academy because if she managed to get in, the academy would provide her with a room in their dormitories!

They both exchanged glances and noticed that they had the same thoughts, so without saying a word they increased their pace, excited to see the academy.

They both wanted to see the place where they wanted to study!

So after an hour's walk, they finally reached their destination.

They observed without words the two large statues that protected the entrance to the place, which was a large wooden gate that reached ten meters in height.

The statue on the left was a woman dressed in full body armor, and although she looked human on the surface, a pair of horns on his forehead said the opposite

While the statue on the right was a centaur wielding a spear the size of his body.

"Wow…" Kayla was left speechless as she looked at the majestic statues towering above the entrance to the academy.

This is undoubtedly worthy of the best academy on the continent...

"First time seeing it?"

A haggard voice sounded behind them.

"Gah!" Ethel gave a strange scream as she jumped a little.

As for Kayla, she just turned around calmly. Her grandpa Aaron also liked to make those kinds of jokes. Maybe it's a custom among the elderly...

"Yes, in fact, we are new in town." Kayla smiled at the hunched old human woman who had appeared behind them, who to her dissatisfaction, was only a little shorter than her...

"Haha… I guess they came for the enrollment, right?" The old woman smiled and looked at the academy with nostalgia.

The tall doors protected a multi-story building that, unlike the rest of the city, looked dated and old. It was obvious that the passage of time had taken its toll on her, although she only gave an ancient and mystical atmosphere to the place...

"Yes, we hope to be able to enroll in the academy." Ethel had finally calmed down from the shock and responded.

"Oh? Despite knowing that this place is known as the best academy on the continent? Do you have confidence in being able to enter?" The old woman looked at them both.

"Of course! I'm sure I can join!" Ethel smiled confidently. Although she knew that she was a little behind in how many levels compared to geniuses her age, she was confident that her ice magic was unrivaled.

"Wow, so much energy, without a doubt you are a promising young woman…" The old woman laughed a little, Ethel's confidence was pleasant. But after laughing a little, her attention turned to Kayla. "And your little one, are you confident?"

Kayla smiled bitterly, although she would like to say that yes, she had remembered thanks to her fight against Ethel that she had been in this world for at most two months. It was simply idiotic for her to think about winning against people of Ethel's caliber.

The time he had to get stronger was very little compared to people who lived their entire lives in this world...

Even though I made those promises to Grandpa Aaron... Kayla bit her lip. She was beginning to regret boasting so much.

"Oh...I see you don't have much confidence." The old woman shook her head disapprovingly and tapped Kayla's forehead with her fingers.

"Oh!" Kayla clutched her forehead in pain. She had felt the blow twice thanks to her foresight. Kayla wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come out...

"What a pessimistic brat, by the Goddess!" The old woman began to hurl several insults at Kayla, of which she only understood a few. She only knew they were insults because they had somehow hurt her a little...

"Hmp, if you continue with that attitude, you will definitely fail the entrance exam! Although I doubt you could pass even with your friend's confidence!" The old woman went on and on with her insults and hurtful words.

But Kayla just hung her head, unable to refute the old woman.

It was Ethel who was slowly losing her patience and was about to forcibly silence the old woman, but her next words made her stop.

"Time?! What kind of person doesn't get angry when they are belittled in such a way?! You should at least get angry when they insult your abilities!"

Kayla's eyes widened at that. Yes... I hate when they belittle my strength like that! Before at least I had confidence that my strength would never fail me!

Kayla looked at her hands, wondering when she had started to change. I soon came to the answer. It all started when he lost so miserably against Ethel...

Although that had just happened and she hadn't thought much about the outcome at the time due to her sadness over her impending parting with Grandpa Aaron, the seed of doubt had been planted in her heart when she lost.

But the main problem didn't come from losing to Ethel, she wasn't the kind of person who would get depressed after falling once.

What affected Kayla's mind the most without her knowing it was that little by little she had formed the idea that all boys her age were just as strong as Ethel.

Although it was a stupid thought, the only person his age he knew was Ethel… He didn't have many people to compare himself to.

How did I even consider that all boys my age would be the same as Ethel?

And even if that were the case, what did it matter?! He just had to get stronger and overcome them!

Kayla raised her head again with her confidence restored

The old woman saw the light in her eyes and nodded. "Hmp, I guess now at least she has the look of a student of the untamed jungle."

Kayla smiled a little and leaned toward the older woman. "Thank you very much, old lady, you have done me a huge favor!"

Kayla knew very well that if the old woman didn't help her today, that seed of doubt would grow little by little, to the point where she would drown in self-hatred, destroying herself little by little...

"What are you thanking me for?! I was just insulting you!" The old woman turned and walked towards a stall next to the academy. "Although if you're feeling grateful for whatever stupid reason, come buy me something!"

Kayla and Ethel looked at each other before laughing.

"Clear!"