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"Then it's settled. I'll set out ahead of time and head to the Capital first." In the end, Luke nodded and accepted Elise's invitation. "See you then."
After chatting for a few minutes or so, Luke ended the call with Elise.
In the very next second, though, he received another communication request.
"Lyra Sinclair?" Seeing who the request was from this time, Luke arched an eyebrow. Come to think of it, this was the first time the two of them had been in contact since they'd exchanged methods.
Did these two best friends plan this out together? Reaching out one right after the other. As the thought flickered through his mind, Luke accepted Lyra Sinclair's communication request.
Unlike Elise's sea-of-books backdrop, Lyra appeared to be somewhere in the midst of a jungle, lush green in every direction, the occasional small animal wandering into frame, the whole scene radiating peace and gentleness. Paired with the light-green short skirt she wore today, the present Lyra was practically the embodiment of a forest elf, every frame of her worthy of a postcard.
"Luke, am I interrupting?" Reaching up to stroke the little bird on her shoulder, Lyra looked toward him, a faint smile in her eyes.
"Not at all. I just happened to finish a call with Elise." Luke waved a hand to show it was no trouble. Even through the screen, Lyra's voice remained as ethereal as ever. Hers was one of the most distinctive voices among everyone Luke knew.
"Elise? So she invited you to travel to Celestial Academy together." Light shifted through Lyra's beautiful eyes, and she quickly guessed the substance of their conversation, then offered a suggestion of her own. "Luke, shall we set out for the Capital together, then?"
"Is this you asking me out?" Luke rubbed his nose. He hadn't expected Lyra to say something like that, but these two genuinely deserved to be called best friends. The things they did barely differed at all.
"Mm-hm. Unless you'd find it inconvenient?" Lyra teased, a playfulness about her unlike her usual ethereal air.
Am I being toyed with here? Catching the teasing note in Lyra's tone, Luke shook his head, but he still said, "Setting out from Ashenvale for the Capital passes through Mooncrest City, so let's go together then."
He'd only been to the Capital once, and hadn't stayed long that time either. Having a familiar face along would make things a good deal more convenient.
"I'll send you my home address later, then. See you when the time comes." Receiving Luke's answer, the corners of Lyra's mouth curved into a perfect arc. She was evidently in quite a good mood.
"You didn't reach out to me purely for this, did you?" Seeing her wear the expression of someone who'd concluded her business, Luke raised a brow.
"Is that not allowed?" Lyra countered with a hint of mischief, a playfulness distinct from her usual ethereal calm. "Though, you've got me there."
"Sure, whatever pleases you." Luke shrugged, unbothered. It was no loss to him either way. An extra person to chat with on the road wasn't a bad thing, and it would stave off the loneliness.
"Then it's settled. See you." Lyra waved and ended the call, then drifted into a daze. Beside her, a silver-moon fox edged closer, nuzzling its head against her cheek, clearly baffled as to what its master was thinking about.
"Let's go. We can't afford to fall too far behind." Feeling the fuzzy sensation against her face, Lyra came back to herself, swung up onto the silver-moon fox, and darted off into the distance, startling up flurries of birds along the way. She had no desire to be left too far behind by Luke and Elise.
"That should be the last of anyone looking for me." Having ended the call with Lyra, the thought had barely crossed Luke's mind when his terminal received yet another communication request. And the sender this time was Selene Dawnford, Lady Dawnford. His senior sister.
Luke's expression turned peculiar despite himself. "Is today some kind of auspicious day? Why are they all piling in at once?"
The thought aside, Luke didn't dawdle, pressing the communication key, and Selene's delicate face, carrying that distinctive blend of maturity and youthful innocence, appeared on the screen.
Compared to Elise's sea of books and Lyra's jungle backdrop, Selene's setting gave up nothing either. Hers was a lake of rippling blue waters. Perhaps owing to the angle, the distance formed a wondrous sight where water and sky merged into a single color.
"For all that the Magic Card Civilization's environment hasn't suffered much industrial pollution, every one of these people really does have a knack for picking scenery," Luke murmured under his breath at the sight.
"Luke?" On the screen, Selene saw that Luke seemed to be saying something, but his voice was too faint, so she couldn't make it out.
"Senior Sister, what did you need from me?" Luke shook his head, offering no explanation, and simply asked in return.
"I only wanted to ask roughly when you'll be coming to report to Celestial Academy." Selene, unbothered, once again said something that left Luke at a loss for words.
"About a month from now. I've arranged to set out together with a few friends." Luke's mouth twitched. This was the third one already. If Selene weren't entirely unconnected to Elise and Lyra, he'd genuinely have started to suspect the three of them had conspired to take turns teasing him.
"Is that so?" Receiving Luke's answer, Selene nodded and offered a reminder. "In that case, prepare well over this period. Aim to put up a good result on the Trial Road when the time comes."
"The Trial Road?" Luke, who'd been quietly grumbling internally a moment ago, paused at that. This enrollment business, it seemed, wasn't quite as simple as he'd imagined.
"Celestial Academy is one of the Ancient Kingdom's Four Great Academies, yes, but it isn't built within the Ancient Kingdom itself. It's built inside a reconstructed dimensional plane," Selene explained. "And spanning the distance between the Magic Card Civilization's main plane and Celestial Academy is a Trial Road, a test established by Celestial Academy's first-generation Head."
"Every new student entering the academy for the first time must pass the Trial Road's test. It's the first trial of your admission into Celestial Academy."
"So although we've already been accepted by Celestial Academy, to actually complete our enrollment, we first have to pass the Trial Road's test?" Hearing Selene's explanation, a thoughtful look crossed Luke's face. As expected, not one of the four-great-tier academies was a simple matter.
"That's right." Selene nodded. "And there's one more point. Celestial Academy's teaching method differs from other academies. It's a four-year program as well, but it doesn't advance in the lockstep freshman-to-senior fashion. Instead, it adopts a credit-ranking system."
"Accumulate enough credits and you raise your ranking. The benefits a higher ranking brings are numerous, the most direct of them being a greater and superior allocation of resources. For that reason, the competition within Celestial Academy is far, far fiercer than the lot of you imagine."