*The giant birds*

Kevin walked for the last time to the main square, and when he approached the makeshift camp of the Sun Sect, he could see that there were a lot of people there. About three hundred people were gathered in front of the camp that the Sun Sect had set up, and they were all around the same age. No doubt they were all the new recruits.

Kevin, with his hood falling in front of his eyes, slipped through the crowd. When he got in front of the entrance, he finally saw Axel, who had stayed inside the camp away from all this mess. When he tried to join him, he was stopped by two young men who didn't have time to reprimand him because Axel's voice rang out just behind them: "He is with me; let him pass."

The two young men froze immediately, and Kevin took this opportunity to join Axel, who pulled back his hood and said, "I already told you to stop doing this."

Kevin then replied with a smile and a playful tone, "I never said I would stop." He sighed and scratched the back of his head, saying, "But I promise that when I'm with you, I won't do it anymore. Is that okay with you?"

Axel put an arm around his shoulders and led him to the other side of the camp. "Okay, that's fine with me," he said.

Kevin put his arm around Axel's waist and let Axel guide him. Then Axel handed him a kind of pass, like those used in his world to open hotel rooms.

Kevin took it, and Axel said, "Don't lose it; that's what will allow you to enter our pavilion."

Kevin looked at him, and a bright smile appeared on his face. "So we can be together tonight? No need to wait?"

Axel chuckled and said, "Um, we were lucky; there were still some available. I have another surprise for you, but it will have to wait until it's just the two of us."

Kevin nodded and asked, "Are we going to use giant birds to get into the Sun Sect?"

Axel smiled at him and replied, "Indeed, giant birds are the fastest way to travel for long distances. Even though my wolf is much faster than them, I thought you would appreciate trying it."

Kevin looked delighted, happy that he had guessed correctly. He added, "We're going back with the first group. The Sun Sect has rented 20 giant birds that can each hold up to 20 people, so we're going back first since our job is done, and the new recruits will follow later, once everyone has been checked and settled onto the giant birds."

As Axel had taken off his hood when those in front of the entrance could still see him, and since Axel seemed to be very popular, he could forget his intention of keeping a low profile. But he remembered again that he had vowed not to hide anymore and to live this life to the fullest.

Regarding the giant birds, Kevin had seen them in Kevin's memory, but he had never had the money to try them, so he was very impatient to feel the wind on his face and enjoy the wonderful view he was going to have.

Axel continued to guide him, and soon enough, Kevin saw the 20 giant birds waiting patiently for their signal to fly away. Alan, who was already seated on the back of one of the giant birds, waved to them. Axel immediately grabbed Kevin's waist, and a second later, they were standing in front of Alan.

Alan laughed when he saw Kevin's stunned face but then told him to sit down and patted him on the shoulder.

On top of the giant bird was a structure that resembled the interior of a small plane from his home world. There were 6 rows of 3 seats and a row of two seats in the front.

Once Kevin sat down next to Alan, Axel went to sort out some formalities, and Alan told him, "You're such a lucky guy, you know. You're going to escape the welcome ceremony, which is very boring. And since you'll be living with Axel in a pavilion, you can choose to use the sect's canteen, which is free and serves 3 meals a day, or you can buy food and eat at home."

As Kevin looked at him in astonishment, Alan added, "I'm only saying this because you don't seem like the type to enjoy mixing with other people, and Axel is quite similar to you. So don't be shy if you want to avoid the canteen. Axel will be more than happy to skip it. It was kind of torture for him... You know already that he is the super genius of the fighters, right? Everyone whispers when he arrives; some even had the courage to try to give him love letters or presents, but he has always refused all of them."

Kevin clenched his fists. He had just imagined this scene in his mind, and the jealousy he felt surprised him so much that he said to Alan, "Then don't worry—I will never let him go to the canteen again, or I might accidentally kill someone, and that would be quite troublesome."

Alan laughed again, but when he saw that Kevin looked dead serious, he abruptly stopped laughing and asked, "Are you serious, or are you joking with me?"

Kevin replied simply, "I'm serious." He quickly added with a smile to prevent Alan from thinking too much about his comment, "Don't worry too much, Alan. I won't do anything stupid... I can't wait to start my classes. It's so exciting!"

Alan finally chuckled and said, "I have no doubts about that! Tell me, have you started to meditate?"

Kevin replied enthusiastically, "Yes, I started! And thanks to your help and advice, I can see more and more particles every time I do it."

Alan seemed surprised but asked curiously, "Can you already absorb the particles of your three elements?"

Kevin nodded in satisfaction, saying, "At first, the wind element particles rarely appeared, but now it's getting better, and I can see more of them."

Alan, still surprised, asked again, "Kevin, how many hours exactly have you meditated?"

Kevin promptly replied, "I did 4 hours yesterday, and I just finished my 5th hour today."

Alan was shocked—meditation required a great deal of concentration, and at first, it was very exhausting to practice. Even he couldn't manage to meditate more than an hour or two a day at first before collapsing due to mental fatigue.

Alan then said to him, "And aren't you tired? Meditation requires great concentration, as you can see, and the resulting mental fatigue can be very dangerous, especially at the beginning."