13 Dirigible
Soon enough, George entered dirigible n°455. It was a magical construct powered by magic crystals. Using a mix of metal and wind elemental particles, it could fly in the sky, avoiding the dangers lurking in the sea. Although the sky was dangerous as well, magical beasts were not desperate enough to attack magi.
Having been allocated the 20th room, George had isolated himself and continued to train his body and mind, using his meditation technique and knight breathing technique. Although the increments in power were small, they still mattered on the long term.
A conflict arose on the 8th day of travel.
"Jayden, you might be a fifth grade acolyte, but it doesn't allow you to do as you please!", Kaliweir spoke.
Jayden was a well-known figure in the dirigible. Just like George, he was a lone wolf, isolating himself most of the time. However, Jayden wanted to prove himself, to prove his superiority in the dirigible. After all, even if he was a fifth grade acolyte, he wasn't the only one due to George's presence.
Thus, he decided to go around and provoque Kaliweir, a knight.
Not only did the crowd not stop them, but they all appeared to be waiting to see a good show. It must be said that most apprentices were unlike Jayden and George, and they had yet to possess a set of elementary meditation technique. Hence, they spent their days in boredom, mostly talking with each other and guessing who would be the most successful acolyte in the dirigible.
On this tiresome journey, Kaliweir and Jayden felt that the other party was unpleasant to their eyes, especially when Jayden insulted his family.
They had restrained themselves in the earlier conflicts due to fear, as the Magi were around. However, things changed when Jayden accepted to become Magus Dorotte's disciple. He now had a backing.
"It's you who forced me to do this!" Kaliweir roared, and the muscles in his body tensed. It seemed like he had added a layer of muscle on his body. As a noble, he had naturally trained with the techniques of a Knight. Also, he seemed to have already ignited his internal life energy, thus becoming a proper Knight, just like George.
[A.I Chip! Scan target!]
[Name - Kaliweir Gold | Status - Healthy
Attributes : Strength - 2.5| Dexterity - 2.7| Vitality - 3.0 | Internal Energy - 2.5]
[Examination of the secret technique: After circulating, strength increases, Agility increases!]
"Today, I will let you know that you must lower your head in obedience before a prideful knight!" Kaliweir shouted, and moved his legs. An afterimage remained, as he dashed towards Jayden.
[Spiritual Force detected]
"Radiation source? Could it be that a Magus has taken action?", George wondered, "Oh right...I remember that Jayden earned a magical artefact after accepting Magus Dorotte as his master"
"Haha! I will let you know today, who exactly is the number one amongst the freshmen!" Jayden laughed loudly and took out a green badge from within his chest pocket.
"Pilis-Duwasha! Creature of the green! Hear my calls of summoning, and come out to the mortal world!" Jayden chanted in a strange voice.
What he used was a very rare language, but surprisingly, George had actually understood every word of it. His biochip allowed him to translate most languages, and even if it was foreign, his database was filled with all kind of gibberish. Cross validation and enormous datasets allowed him to be proficient at understanding them all.
With the incantation, a layer of light emerged from the green badge and a few brownish vines appeared from the ground and elongated, like a confused snake that was dancing wildly.
* Chi Chi *
The vines danced as they protected Jayden from the front, and as one vine was sent forward, it tripped Kaliweir down to the ground. The layers of vines continued to coil around him, and Kaliweir was soon wrapped in it completely, with only his face exposed.
"A magical artifact!", the surrounding apprentices cried in surprise.
"To be able to use a magical artifact, one must at least be a level 1 acolyte! He…...He has already been promoted to a level 1 acolyte?", people thought in amazment
The crowd clamoured, and they looked at Jayden with gazes of respect. This only caused Kaliweir's face to redden even further.
"How is this? As long as you swear to obey me, I will release you!" Jayden walked to where Kaliweir was.
Kaliweir, unwilling to see his body crushed, nodded: "I agree..."
'I guess that is one more deviation from canon...Kaliweir never surrendered originally...I guess my presence changed a lot of things...', George thought
Scanning the people present on the deck, he quickly identified Leylin.
[Name - Leylin Farlier | Status - Healthy
Attributes : Strength - 1.5 | Dexterity - 1.6 | Vitality - 1.2]
'Leylin didn't even reach the preparatory knight realm...It seems like he is way weaker than the original main character...', George thought.
However, their eyes met, and Leylin's mouth turned into an 'O' shape.
'Seems like he scanned my attributes, and was surprised by my physical stats...However, with so many deviations, I don't think he suspects me of anything', George thought.
"Have you seen this? I am the number one apprentice of this batch! If anyone has anything to say about that, come and challenge me!", Jayden shouted
George smiled and shook his head as Jayden stared at him. He might have a more valuable defensive artefact in hands, but a duel of honour wasn't worth revealing it for. In fact, even with a defensive artefact, since he didn't know offensive spells, he wasn't sure he would be able to overpower Jayden, who seemed to have grown proficient at using his artefact.
Thus, George backed down, to which Jayden's followers cheered.
George didn't care about it. Children's competition mattered little in his eyes.
Returning to his room, George unsheathed his sword and swung it 1000 times. He knew he was growing increasingly closer to the [Sword Master] realm. It was only a matter of months at this point.
