43. Xunte Sintra

The next time Waldina opened her eyes she was inside a room in an inn. The room itself was unfamiliar to her yet she could clearly recognize it as an inn room, thanks to her experience from these past weeks. The moonlight shone through the window, partly illuminating the room. She looked around attempting to grasp the situation she was in. Then she noticed the small blue fairy next to her feet, laying on the bed. At the other side of the bed there was Claudia disguised as Diaz. She was partly sitting on a chair, next to the bed, yet her upper body was leaning against the bed as she slept.

Waldina had no idea how she ended up here nor how long she’d been sleeping. Yet the result was satisfactory. Before relaxing she checked the map from her bracelet to see their location. They were currently residing in an inn, located somewhere inside the city of Xunte Sintra.

A sigh of relief.

Somehow she’d managed to get Claudia here in time and she was unexplainably happy with the achievement. Perhaps Jaspis would have deserved their reward yet Waldina didn’t exactly have time to worry over others. As long as she wasn’t overpowered she’d have to be selfish.

At least she shouldn’t take a part in such crazy missions such as taking ladies like Claudia all the way to the other side of the country. Waldina enjoyed Claudia’s company and the journey hadn’t been all bad yet it had been way over her current skill level, both in terms of her actual skill level and world knowledge. In the future she’d need a lot more levels and experience before tackling such crazy missions.

“Waldina! You’re awake,” Kiandra yelped as she woke up to Waldina’s slight movement in the bed. The ninja turned to look at the fairy shining in blue colors.

“Good morning. Or night,” Waldina kept her voice quiet so as to not wake up the sleeping Claudia. Kiandra flew to Waldina excitedly. In the corner of her eye glimmered a sole tiny tear.

“You’re alright. I was so worried when you lost your consciousness,” Kiandra wiped the tear away from her eye smiling blissfully.

“Yup. I didn’t mean to worry you. My energy just left my body suddenly,” Waldina spread her hands expressing her confusion over the situation. Her expression was gentle as she smiled at the fairy.

“Well, usually one doesn’t plan losing consciousness,” Kiandra grinned, cheering up. The past few weeks had really had a toll on her as well, and she wasn’t in the best shape. Mentally or physically.

“Yeah. Oh and thanks for carrying me. Again,” Waldina’s words were accompanied with an awkward laughter and apologetic expression. Yet Kiandra just tilted her head in confusion.

“I didn’t carry you,” Kiandra began. “I didn’t even manage to borrow the artifact from Claudia before a blond-haired adventurer ran past me and carried you here.”

“What?” Waldina yelped, her eyes widening.

“He didn’t even give the members of Jaspis the chance to carry you, insisting he does it. He carried you all the way to us and then to this inn,” Kiandra finished her explanation. Her voice heightened a bit with each word.

“Who on earth?” Waldina didn’t know what else to say. She knew no one from Xunte Sintra. Damnit, she barely knew anyone from this world. Why would someone insist on carrying her?

Then the words from Kris came to her mind: “There’s a certain man in Xunte Sintra looking for a ninja woman whose description matches yours. The woman’s name is either Cyril or Waldina, the man wasn’t exactly sure which name the woman would go by.” Her savior had to be the man Kris mentioned. Waldina cursed the fact she hadn’t been able to stay awake long enough to see the man’s face. If it was one of her past game mates, she’d been able to recognize him instantly. His actions and inquiring about her hinted at him being her buddy. If she’d only seen a glance of him.

“What was his name?” Waldina inquired moving on from her annoyance to actually searching for tips on how to find the man.

“He didn’t tell,” Kiandra dropped her gaze to her hands. “Actually, he didn’t tell us and we forgot to ask.” Kiandra replayed the events of yesterday in her mind again and she had to admit she never thought to ask his name. She cursed this mishap knowing the ninja would surely like to thank her savior.

“Hmm,” Waldina pouted her lips as she kept on thinking. “And what did he look like?”

“He had light hair, muscles and,” Kiandra searched her memories for more tips, “and he was handsome.”

Waldina sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. What a great list of characteristics. She wouldn’t be able to figure out who he was from just those.

“He was handsome, I can vouch for that statement,” Claudia joined the conversation so suddenly she instantly got the others full attention on her.

“Morning to you too,” Waldina chuckled after composing herself.

“You sure you don’t have any other characteristics in mind?” The ninja tried one more time but the two just shook their heads.

“Can’t blame us, the situation seemed dire,” Kiandra complained, placing her hands to her hips, with stern expression.

“Understood. So how’s things otherwise?” Waldina changed the topic, giving up.

“We haven’t done anything else as of yet. We decided to wait until you wake up,” Claudia admitted blushing.

“Hmm,” Waldina looked at the time and date from her bracelet. They had plenty of time now that they’d already arrived in Xunte Sintra. “Good. Let’s go to check in with your school tomorrow. Surely you know its name and other information?”

Claudia nodded enthusiastically and went through the pockets of her Diaz form. She grabbed a white letter. “Mom had sent me a letter beforehand which I received once I reached Xunte Sintra. It includes all the necessary information,” she explained and Waldina couldn’t help but smile. She’d succeeded in her mission. She’d managed to buy Claudia more freedom, at least for the duration of her studies. Freedom to be whoever she wanted to be. And it was enough for now. She had perhaps wasted a couple of weeks of her time in which she hadn’t managed to level up that much but she felt she had been the help Claudia needed and deserved. She had been a help in changing Claudia’s future years. And she no longer regretted her choices.

On top of that Waldina had become life-long friends with Claudia.

“In that case, go to sleep, you two,” Waldina tapped both sides of the bed, inviting her friends to join her at the bed. Kiandra didn’t need to be asked twice before she had already settled on to the pillow next to the ninja. Claudia hesitated a moment longer before changing into her lady-self. Then she climbed to the bed to Waldina’s other side and wrapped a blanket around herself.

“You seriously have no other characteristics in mind about my savior other than he was handsome? Blonde and muscular?” Waldina inquired yet again, feeling hopeless. It just couldn’t be that the two didn’t know anything else about him. She needed more information. She wanted to know everything about him.

But Claudia and Kiandra shook their heads while getting ready for the new day. Claudia was once again disguised as Diaz and was currently fitting on the clothes they’d bought back at Jimdar. She put on a pair of black pants and a nice light shirt. She finished the costume with a dark blue jacket. Right now she was beginning to look more and more like a student in Xunte Sintra. She had also become more manly in these past weeks making her really look and seem like a young boy excited about the chance of learning in the big new world. Waldina was amazed and proud of her for having such resilience.

“I’m sure I’ll recognize him if I see him,” Kiandra assured after a moment’s silence.

“Exactly. If,” Waldina sighed, changing her clothes as well. Claudia and Kiandra had been talking in her ear of how she should use ‘normal people’s clothes’ in the towns. Thus she grabbed the lilac dress she’d bought at Jimdar and changed into it. The top of the one-piece dress was low-cut, resting just above the breasts. From there, the garment continued with a slight ruffle over the bust before cinching into a smooth, tight belt at the hips. From the hips, the hem widened into a beautifully loose and flowing piece that swirled gracefully when you spun. Waldina blushed a bit seeing such a beautiful thing on her. She wasn’t used to using clothes like these yet a small happiness flickered inside her.

“Let me do your hair,” Claudia suggested after seeing the ninja dressing up cutely. Claudia had feared she’d be jealous seeing Waldina dress up all cutely while she’d have to use men’s clothing. Yet now it felt so natural and enjoyable seeing Waldina dressed like that while knowing they’d be in the same company today. All of a sudden it would be Waldina who was a small fragile lady whereas Claudia would be her protector. At least in appearances.

“I think I’m able to choose a nice style from my bracelet as well,” Waldina began but received a tight shake of a head as a reply. Claudia grabbed a chair and moved it to the center of the room. Then she signaled Waldina to sit down on it and the ninja had no other chance but to sigh and do as she was told.

“Done,” Claudia stated as she was finished with braiding the purple-hair. She had braided some parts of Waldina’s hair to long braids and tied them together behind her head, leaving the rest to hang freely. This way the braids worked as some sort of hairband, putting the focus on the ninja’s cute face while leaving the rest of the hairs flowing freely.

“Thanks,” Waldina smiled shortly after checking her appearance from Kiandra’s water mirror.

“Let’s get on going,” Waldina nodded after they’d gathered all of their stuff from the room and were fully ready for a trip to the city.

The trio enjoyed a quick breakfast close to the inn they’d stayed the night at. Jimdar had been a lively town yet it didn’t compare to Xunte Sintra at all. Xunte Sintra was a city so full of life it was hard to describe. Each section of the city was a different entirety which had its own services and purposes. The city was like a joint project for different countries and not a mere city. Although calling it a city might have been selling it short: it was a megalopolis.

Each section represented a different country. Thanks to each of these sections having basic services it was quick to find what one needed. Thus there was no need to travel through the large city to reach certain services. According to the map they were currently at the edge of the city, the section closest to the city gates. In the game Adventurous Online this area hadn’t been exactly popular. Yet right now, she wondered if that had been at all true. The section’s streets were so full of people it couldn’t exactly be unpopular. The people were relaxed and happy, though with a hint of poverty. Yet that was the difference with Xunte Sintra and other places: here it didn’t have to mean miserable life. Xunte Sintra offered nearly unlimited possibilities and thus, happiness. The whole city was filled with safety, happiness. Xunte Sintra was truly the safe spot both here and in the game AO.

Traveling through the city all the way from the edge of it was another sort of hurdle. Waldina was extremely grateful for the bracelet which offered her a map of their surroundings. The city was just too big to find anything without proper guidance. From the map she was able to locate Claudia’s future school, the academy for knights and mages or more commonly ‘The world’s academy’. The name was mainly due to the fact that many nobles, princes, princesses and nobles often attended this academy and otherwise came to Xunte Sintra. Though the academy had lots of gifted commoners and merchant’s children as students as well. Thanks to the extraordinary protection of Xunte Sintra, the nobles had faith in the fact that their children could learn and grow up in a safe environment. Simultaneously they had the chance to make contacts with other important youngsters and nobles. In other words the world’s academy offered everything a noble’s child would need for their education. On top of all that, the noble kids had a real chance to really get to know how actual commoners lived their lives and what problems they faced.

The world’s academy was located next to the central square of Xunte Sintra. The academy’s campus was so large it took up the space for one section alone. The academy offered its students the dormitories where to stay, entertainment, comfortable places for socialization as well as gardens and ponds for relaxation. It explained the campus’ size yet Waldina was still surprised by it as she looked for it from her map. She couldn’t wait to see what it actually looked like.

As one might guess, the central square was quite some way from their current location. Luckily they were blessed with pleasant sunny weather and walking through the city, allowing them to get to know it, was a welcome chance.

On their way to the academy they passed by multiple sections of the city getting a better picture of how the city actually worked. The landscape changed ever so slightly between each section. It was as if the city held pieces of each larger culture and showcased those in its many sections. It was a short crash course to each of the most important - or at least largest - cultures around the world, though slightly modified versions. For example the section of Claudia’s home country Lucitania seemed like it was imitating quite closely the main cultural points of Lucitania yet was still quite far from the actual country’s culture. The difference reminded Waldina of her home world’s exotic restaurants: most people figured the food was authentic food from somewhere around the world but the reality was often different. Most restaurants and shops somewhat modified the culture they represented to a form that would be more familiar to the locals. Obviously there were always some exceptions to this rule as well.

This detail got Waldina once again thinking about the fact how this world was so similar to that of the game Adventurous Online yet it had so many differences as well. The basic elements were exactly the same but the actual details and substance differed a lot from the game she was familiar with. For example the NPCs were all too familiar yet there were many she’d never seen before. And adventurer NPCs who never existed in the game. Now that even the cities were slightly different with their diversity Waldina couldn’t quite view this world the same as in the game. This world was a whole new entirety, a reality she knew basically nothing about.

“I think I can see the academy,” Claudia’s voice filled with anticipation dragged Waldina back from her thoughts. They had just reached the square in the middle of Xunte Sintra. In front of them stood a grandiloquent fountain and somewhere behind it stood the gates for World’s academy. The purple haired ninja smiled at the view and sped up her steps. Claudia followed right behind her, a wide smile adorning her Diaz’s face.

Right next to the gate there was a standing man in a purple cape. Waldina frowned at the view and reached for the sword at her hips - only to realize she didn’t have her weapons with her right now. Her beautiful lilac dress wouldn’t look nearly as good accompanied with a sword. Besides, there was no need to use a sword in a place like Xunte Sintra, right?

“Kris, what are you doing here?” Waldina began with a warning tone when they reached the gates of the academy. Next to her Claudia was overcome with panic and Waldina sent Kiandra to calm her down. The fairy went without resisting.

“I came to congratulate you on your victory. Congratulations to Diaz for getting into the academy.” There was a hint of frustration on his smile but the words themselves seemed sincere. “And congrats to Waldina and Kiandra on achieving this. There aren’t many adventurers of your level that can stand a chance against a B-ranked team, let alone win.”

“Hmm. Thanks,” Waldina nodded curtly. Kris’ purpose was most likely to mend their relationship and get a fresh start. Yet Waldina wasn’t interested in the offer. Perhaps someday, but for now she wasn’t ready for it.

“Won’t you give another thought to joining Jaspis?” Kris pressed on the issue once more. He leaned a bit towards the ninja, but she didn’t give any visible reactions.

“As I told you already, I have missions I need to accomplish alone with Kiandra,” Waldina replied, emphasizing each word and squinting her eyes at the man’s actions.

“Hmm,” Kris squinted his eyes as a reply. “Fine. Let’s greet each other when we meet again and so on?” In his blinked a sliver of hope and Waldina couldn’t help but agree: “Let’s do that.” Perhaps friendship with the leader of Jaspis wouldn’t be all bad and could come in hand in the future.

After Kris left the scene, Waldina, Claudia and Kiandra finally got to walk through the gates to World’s academy. Inside the gates there was a small booth on the right. On top of it was a sign with the word ‘info’ written on it. The trio walked to it and met the gaze of a happy officer.

“Hello, how can I help you?” the dark-haired officer greeted them with a voice a bit more happier than her expression.

“Hi, I’m Diaz…” Claudia began but forgot the full name her mother had given her disguise.

“Diaz Almer,” Kiandra whispered to her ear and she repeated the words without hesitation. The officer nodded and read through the papers in front of her.

“Almer… Almer. Ah, found it,” the officer lifted her gaze back to them smiling widely. “You’re starting at our academy as a student this coming academic year, right? You’re earlier than we were told.”

“Yes,” Claudia nodded lightly keeping her expression contained.

Then the officer gave her a bunch of papers to fill her information to. Meanwhile the officer invited the representor of students there to show off the campus for her after filling the papers. They had nearly a week left to really get to know Xunte Sintra and her campus before her studies began. Waldina was content with this schedule.

The student representor was a young blond haired man. His brown eyes were evaluating Claudia-as-Diaz, but otherwise his demeanor was friendly. Claudia asked to have Waldina with her on the campus tour and the ninja had nothing against the idea. Though she stayed on the backlines with Kiandra in order to let Claudia walk alongside her guide. Kiandra sat on Waldina’s shoulder for the duration of the tour, at times commenting on the sights they saw.

The campus was amazing. It embodied a combination of modern and medieval interior design and was beautiful in every way. The buildings were imposing and ornate. Each window frame was decorated with detailed carvings, and the covered areas were bordered by artistic columns. The campus area had lots of parlours and other places meant for casual relaxation. Even the training areas were well designed and entertaining. Waldina could already imagine Claudia spending her days in the area. The thought brought a smile to her lips.

Now she could really feel like their journey together had come to an end. Claudia’s happy smile, settling into the academy and their journey to Xunte Sintra had all been worth the trouble. And now she was in need of rest.

“Perhaps a vacation for a couple of days would do good for us,” Waldina voiced as they said goodbyes to Claudia at the academy’s gates. Claudia’s knights hadn’t yet contacted her and they had agreed on meeting in Xunte Sintra. Thus she had no reason to hurry away from there.

“That would be lovely!” Kiandra rejoiced and did a couple of flips in the air. The two smiled and headed towards one of the most praised hotels of the city.