Barrier

[Map].

With this single word of mine, a new window appeared in front of me, similar to the status screen. However, this time, instead of the usual tables, there were drawings of lands and oceans. The world map.

It's been a couple of days since the intrusion was first reported and to be honest, there hasn't been much progress since. It was the first time that the [World System] requested for my assistance. Usually, it was the other way around. Since I refused to shut down the system, it was now expecting for me to deal with the 'threat' by myself, raising my privileges. I can accept that. My job as an admin, I guess. But the timing is a little inconvenient.

So far, the only useful thing I discovered was this: an interactive geographic map of the world's territories, showing different data, like demography, reliefs or natural resources. However, at the moment, I did not care about all that. I was much more interested in the two icons that the map was showing.

The first one was a red marker, indicating my position somewhere in the center, in the Middle Continent. The second one was a cross, much farther in the north, indicating the location of my problem, the unknown object. It was situated right in the middle of the North Continent, beyond the ocean, and this raised two problems.

First, the North was the realm of the most infamous beings in the world, demons, and I certainly didn't want to go there.

Don't be mistaken. I have nothing against demons. Demons here are quite different from those of Earth. Here, they were just another species among the others. Well, to be exact, they weren't exactly a species but a grouping of several species. By definition, we called anything that was not a human, an elf or a demi-human a demon. It could be a vampire or a werewolf, just like it could be a dryad.

My problem was not the demons themselves but their ruler. That's right: the Demon Lord. I had completely forgotten about him up until now, but he does still exist.

In a way, being the Demon Lord was just a title. He certainly was far stronger than the others, but in the end, he was still a mortal. If I were to give an example, on one-on-one, I would say that he would last maybe one hour against Yoko, if she's in a good mood. However, if possible, I still wanted to avoid having anything to do with him. Being involved with one of the Great Leaders would bring nothing but troubles. Who knows? One misunderstanding and I might find myself in the middle of a war.

The second problem was the fact that the unknown object was situated in another continent.

The thing is that here in Erthia, most people didn't even know that there were other continents. I had the occasion to see what people called the World map a couple of times now, but it was actually just a map of the Middle Continent.

There are five continents in Erthia, all separated by oceans. However, besides the other Gods and a small elite, this is something that only I know. Each continent was a world on its own, self-sufficient, with little to no interactions with the others. Most people had no idea of what lied beyond the oceans, so I doubt a lot of them would be willing to navigate in unknown seas.

However, good news is that our little virus seems inactive. I was getting concerned about this potential threat, but it's been a few days already, and I haven't received a new report from the [World System]. Furthermore, after checking its position every day, it doesn't seem to be moving. I'm even starting to wonder if it is really a threat.

"Young miss, you're awake? We have arrived!" A loud voice suddenly called out, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, give me a second," I replied.

Overwhelmed by the recent events, I completely forgot that I was on my way to meet my brother. That's right. For now, let's put aside the intrusion problem, and focus on the present moment. After all, after fourteen years, my school life was finally about to start.

Picking up the single bag carefully placed between my feet, I alighted from the carriage as I saw the coachman waiting for me.

"It's here," he said with a dull voice.

Surveying my surroundings, I failed to spot any buildings. Instead, there were mountains and hills for as far as the eyes can see. As I was looking across the seemingly endless meadows, a soft breeze ruffled the white petals of wild flowers and a sweet fragrance of honey reached my nose. It was certainly a beautiful scenery. However, it was also very different from what I expected.

"Uhm… There is nothing here," I told the coachman.

"This is as far as I can go," he explained. "Someone should come to pick you up at anytime now, you just have to wait. In all cases, my job here is done."

Without giving me a chance to reply, the coachman approached his horses. After such a long journey, they were exhausted and their neck was lathered in thick sweat. The coachman took the flask filled with water attached to his waist and poured its content on his animals, in order to cool them down. Then, he gave them a small pat before taking the front seat of the carriage, and with a gentle whiplash, he ordered them to move forward. Leaving me behind in the middle of nowhere, the carriage left.

As I watched the vehicle slowly disappear from sight, I started growing restless. I couldn't help but think that the coachman got the destination wrong. These lands seemed like a perfectly wild area, without any human presence. Encountering a magical beast or a wild animal was not particularly worrying me. I was much more concerned by how I was supposed to find the school by myself. I wanted to ask the coachman to wait with me, but I didn't dare to ask. Paid on a commission basis, I could understand why he was such in hurry.

Fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long and my worries quickly subsided as I saw a woman heading in my direction. Dressed in a tight-fitting garment and her black hair swept up into a bun, she reminded me of a lawyer. Distant and professional. However, as her eyes met mine, she greeted me with a warm smile.

"Hello. You must be Lynett, right?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"My name is Agatha Kelly. You can call me Mrs. Kelly. I'm the Chief Secretary of the Arcane Academy." She introduced herself. "Are you alone? And is that all you have?" She then inquired, as her eyes fell upon my suitcase.

"Yes, is it weird?"

Mrs. Kelly shook her head. "Not weird, but rare," she explained. "Usually, young nobles are always accompanied by one or two attendants. They also have this bad habit of taking too many bags with them."

I see her point. It was true that I didn't have a lot of personal effects and I couldn't bring Ivy with me.

The Academy allowed young nobles to bring one attendant with them –two for the richest- provided that they would also be enrolled in the school. While they didn't follow the same classes as their master, they were still considered students of the academy. Such a practice wasn't rare.

Usually, in order to build loyalty, noble families would take in young orphans or children sold by their parents at a very young age and made them become attendants of their children, which is why most of the time, masters and attendants are about the same age. Not in my case though. Ivy, my attendant, was originally a maid. As I grew older, my uncle didn't bother hiring someone new and just changed Ivy's job, so I couldn't bring her with me. Already in her forties, she was clearly past the age to go to school.

"So, shall we go?" The chief secretary proposed with a gentle smile, as she invited me to follow her with her hand.

"Is it far?" I asked. "I can't see the school anywhere."

Seemingly amused, Mrs. Kelly chuckled. "Don't worry, we won't have to walk a lot. In fact, we are already here."

I tilted my head to the side and squinted, trying to study her expression. She didn't seem to be joking. So what? Is the school hidden or something?

"The Academy is protected by a barrier," Mrs. Kelly then started to explain, confirming my assumptions. "It may not look like this, but this place is actually infused with mana and attracts a lot of magical beasts, so the headmaster created a barrier to protect the school from a potential attack. It also avoids unwarranted visitors."

She marked a pause, as she showed me the sterling silver ring placed on her pinky finger. "You'll need this to enter the barrier. It's a proof that you belong to the school. Every student and every staff member here possesses one. You'll receive yours as soon as your enrollment is completed, but for now, I'll have to ask you to stick with me. Alright?"

Mrs. Kelly extended her hand in front of me, clearly expecting me to take it. At my age, it was pretty embarrassing to hold hands with someone else, but it couldn't be helped. With a simple nod, I took her hand and she guided me to the path she had taken through the meadows to meet me.

After only a few seconds, similarly to the time where Harri used his barrier, I felt the atmosphere change as it became a lot heavier. It was as if I just left an air-conditioned room and was now assaulted by a sudden heat wave. It was clearly not a pleasant feeling.

"Don't worry you'll get used to it" she said.

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Note From Ozen_Ice: Since I disappeared without a Trace for no reason the past few weeks I will atone by doing a mass release, starting with this chapter.