They all ventured into the tunnel, a hidden passage that appeared remarkably well-preserved.
"Where does this tunnel lead? It's unfathomable that the Academy, with its stringent security asures to safeguard the Maguses and Familiars, could be oblivious to such a passage," Alvin pondered, his curiosity piqued.
"Oh, but they do know about it," Pamil answered straight away. "This isn't the only one either. Pretty much all factions have these secret exits that allow you to co out in different locations in the city."
"They do?" Alvin's voice was tinged with disbelief, his surprise palpable.
"It makes sense if you think about it," Linfel continued from there. "The academy is a gathering of all future prospects of the country, after all. If, let's say, a rival country decided to get rid of it. An attack, for example, just like what is happening now. You wouldn't want your best Maguses and Familiars, which are usually mbers of the several Factions, to have no where else to run.
These tunnels make the perfect escape."
Pamil agreed with Linfel. "He is right. The academy has a lot of security in place to keep things in order. But sotis, these sa security asures might get in the way of an evacuation. That is another reason for these tunnels. There is no risk of them being used to invade the Academy either.
You can only use the tunnels to leave. You won't be able to go back through them even if you want to."
*Clac, Drum, Dram...*
"What's this sound?" Felia and the others heard.
Natalie smiled in response. "Don't worry. These tunnels are special. They are like a spiderweb, all connected. The routes of the various tunnels change on their own. Once again, security to make sure you can't use them to access the academy, only leave."
"Sh! Quiet!" Willian suddenly spoke. He seed to have noticed sothing.
"To our left, five Magic Energy concentrations moving," Linfel ntioned right after. "Judging by their forms, it's three Maguses and two Familiars."
Everyone looked at Linfel. "We knew your Magic Energy Sense was ridiculously high, but it seems like we underestimated it..."
"That doesn't matter now," Linfel spoke. "Who are they? People from the Academy?"
Pamil thought for a mont and rembered. "No, they are the maintenance. Soone has to keep all these everchanging tunnels working, right?"
"Linfel, help us avoid them on our way out," William asked.
Linfel nodded and guided everyone. The guys Linfel felt didn't seem to be in a hurry, which confird that they were probably just a maintenance team. Finally, they fell too far behind and left Linfel's Sense Range.
Around an hour later, they finally saw the end of the tunnel. William took the lead and opened a door. They found themselves on the northwest side of Sastasha City, right by a cliff's side. Looking back, the door closed, and it was pretty clear it wouldn't open from the outside like it did from the inside.
They weren't the only ones there, though.
"We have been waiting, you know?" A woman approached William with a smile, seeming to know him.
William's expression didn't change. He simply took out his MCOM and used it for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the woman. "You can check it, Kalana."
Kalana's smile brightened even more as she checked her MCOM. "Just as agreed. Co, we have prepared the transportation. Just rember, once we drop you off near the west border, you are on your own."
"That's fine." William didn't mind and called his group to follow him.
As William ntioned before, his family didn't care what he did, so he was basically the only one in their Faction who could go in and out of the academy any ti he wanted. He had to go and find a way to bring his group to the front lines. Fortunately, he was still soone from an influential family in the city, so he knew a few contacts he could use.
The use of his MCOM just now was just him paying for the transportation.
The woman began to run, and Linfel's group followed close behind. Another two hours passed in a flash, but they eventually arrived at an open field where a fairly rundown airship waited for them. "Co on, get inside."
On the bridge, Kalana's two companions were already imputing the commands. It didn't take long for the airship to take flight and fly in the west border's direction.
Kalana looked at one of her people. "How's the blockade?"
The guy checked so information on his screen. "It is still fine. We are running the country's flag, and we are registered as a cargo unit, which isn't a lie. We are indeed bringing so cargo to deliver there. We can easily pass the checkpoints until we land at Fort Kansas."
Kalana nodded and passed her orders. "Land sowhere else before we enter Fort Cansas' detection range. Our friends will be on their own from there."
"Understood!"
The airship wasn't anywhere as fast as the ones used by the academy to transport the students to the field exams. Because of that, it still took them almost six hours to reach their destination once they passed all the checkpoints. Finally, the airship landed on another open patch in a remote region of the west side of the country, allowing Linfel and the others to co out.
But before that, Kalanda passed them a few cards. "I'm always open for business. If you need transportation again, call this number."
"You just want to rip us off, that is," William complained. The price he had to pay wasn't sothing he could co up with easily.
"Like I said, business. Hahaha!" Kalana then returned to her airship, and they took off, disappearing in the distance a few monts later.
"So, this is it, guys," Pamil spoke to everyone. "At the mont, we are in the Trolia Region. The front lines we can reach from here are the ones in the Yugislaw, Fonguis, and Qateva. At least that is the information I have."
"I have one doubt," Linfel spoke. "If we suddenly turn up on the front lines, won't we be captured by our own country? We weren't supposed to be there, after all."
Alvin and Felia also had been wondering that.
"Don't worry, we don't need to hide," Natalie took the chance to give Linfel, Felia, and Alvin a new MCOM each. "A good thing about having connections is that everything can be arranged. In this case, my Uncle is already waiting for us."
"Your... Uncle?"
Natalia nodded. "He is a Level Five Magus, commanding his own battalion. He doesn't approve of our Families' idea of not allowing the descendants to take part in the battle. For him, the battlefield is the best place to build one's character. So, I got in contact with him in secret. He has already prepared so fake IDs just to join his forces, so make sure you don't lose these MCOMs."
"Oh!" Linfel took a look at the information. "This is pretty good. Are you sure your Uncle won't denounce us, though?"
"Hahaha!" Natalie laughed in response. "You clearly don't know the figure as I do. Trust on that."
Natalie then checked her MCOM again. "Pamil, his battalion is in the Yugislaw Region. There are quite a few known faces from the academy there, too, it seems."
"Can you see the students in there?" Alvin was surprised and quickly asked.
"Only the students, and that's because I still have access to the Academy's Portal in my MCOM," Natalie explained.
Alvin didn't waste ti. "Please, can you check where I can find Connor?"
"Connor?" Natalie pondered a bit. "Oh! That friend of yours that visited our Faction with you the first ti, right? What's his student ID?"
Alvin quickly provided it to Natalie so that she could check. After a minute, she found Connor. "Sorry, he is sowhere in the Wateva Region. That's all I can tell. Which battalion or specific location, however, I don't know."
Alvin took a deep breath and nodded. "Then I guess we will part ways here. I ca to fight with my brother, so I can't just go to your Uncle's group."
"The MCOMs I gave you won't be of any use other than my Uncle's battalion, you know?" Natalie quickly warned him.
Linfel smiled, not concerned at all. "Don't worry. Don't forget that our initial plan didn't include you guys. We have our own way of not being identified when we get there."
Pamil, William, and Natalie looked at each other and nodded before looking back at Linfel's group. "Then we wish you luck. Make sure you survive." It was not their place to tell what Linfel and his group could or could not do.
Alvin smiled and opened the MCOM. It at least had the map of the regions around, prepared by Natalie's Uncle, so it would be useful. "I wish you guys luck too."
Yet, just as Linfel was about to leave with Alvin and Felia...
"I'm going with him."
Milia joined his side, much to everyone's surprise.
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