As realization dawned on the mass of students atop the platform in the sky, a few began to walk toward the edge closest to them, hoping to find stairs or any other method of descent.

Looking around at the hopeless gazes of the students around him, Silver was able to confirm there really was no easy way down. With a sigh, he decided to sit down, as there was no point in wasting his energy. Perhaps time would reveal a path.

"Hey, man. Don't tell me you've given up already?" Zac asked him with a look of disappointment.

"What do you expect me to do then? Jump?" Silver rolled his eyes in response.

"Err... No, but at least we should discuss a plan, no?"

"Okay, I'm all ears. What do you suggest we do then?"

"Uhmm... I don't know. Do either of you have any magic artifact used for flight?" Zac looked toward Isabella for support, feeling awkward at Silver's nonchalant behavior.

"Nop." Isabella shrugged and decided to sit down as well.

"Oh, come on. Not you too." Zac felt awkward looming over his two companions, so he just decided to leave the matter and join them.

At this point, a tall youth with dark hair and a muscular build started laughing with his two companions.

"Hahaha, I knew it was a good idea to bring my Betsy," He said as he began to mount a giant sparrow-looking beast that was easily over 10 meters in height.

"Come, let us be the first to see the Academy," He added, gesturing for his companions to join him.

"Hahaha, your intelligence is as high as your attractiveness Sirius," replied a decent-looking girl with long white hair as she joined him atop the beast.

"Oh, please hold your tongue, Katie. Before you embarrass me with your uncouth words." reprimanded Sirius, although a slight smile was evident on his face to those around him.

The skinny dark-haired youth accompanying them also joined them at this point, without saying a word as though he was mute. Sirius was eager to move, so he spurred his mount to the platform's edge as they took flight.

Everyone's gaze was drawn to them as they watched in anticipation at what would happen next. Some looked at the three youths with eyes of jealousy as they wished they could also join them. Others looked with disdain as they mocked their foolishness. How could it be that easy?

Silver stood up at this point and walked towards the nearest edge as his eyes looked onto the three youngsters atop the Shinbi. He wondered if they would actually manage to safely decent. At first, nothing interesting happened as the beast flew towards the main island. But as the minutes passed, everyone noticed the distance wasn't getting any shorter.

It seemed as though there was an invisible barrier blocking the bird from descending any lower. No matter how much it flapped its giant wings, the Shinbi could only move up but not down.

After struggling to make any progress, Sirius instructed his mount to fold its wings entirely. Unfortunately for him, reality did not align with his expectations. They were merely suspended in the air as if they had already landed.

All the students witnessing this atop the plateau began to get headaches from these events. Some who had already mounted their flying beasts hoping to follow Sirius' lead had pained expressions on their faces. Others, like Silver, who expected something like this to happen, returned to their seated positions.

Sirius was pissed off and embarrassed, but deep down, he was also slightly relieved. It was evident that some sort of magic array was blocking their path. Luckily this array had been quite passive and didn't just blast them out of the air. Sweat rolled down his back as he realized the error in his choices. He bit his lip and instructed his Shinbi to fly back onto the platform. Luckily, they were able to do so without any resistance.

"Hehehe, it's the return of the dumbass and his crew," said a short youngster with an eyepatch in a voice audible to everyone on the plateau.

"Who dares mock me?" Sirius roared in anger as he looked toward the aggressor.

"I dare. Dumbass. What are you going to do about it?" the short youth repeated his previous insult.

"You!" Sirius was speechless and couldn't believe the shamelessness of this scoundrel. How could he insult him so openly? Did they have any previous enmity? Why was he targetting him?

"Good, good. If I don't make you regret those words today, then I shall be known as your son from this day onwards," Sirius was outraged as he got off his mount and walked toward the scoundrel. He was smart enough to know this wasn't the time or place, but if he did nothing, how would anyone witnessing this ever respect him? He simply had no choice.

"HAHAHA. You? Make me regret? I would like to see you try." the short youth replied as he removed his eye patch, revealing a blue eye that seemed out of place considering his other eye was brown.

The youngsters around them separated to create a path as the two approached each other. No one seemed intent on stopping them as they all anticipated a good show. Even Silver looked with interest as this was an excellent opportunity to see how he compared.

Unfortunately for the spectators, the skinny, dark-haired youth accompanying Sirius suddenly came behind him and whispered in his ear. No one heard what he said, but he somehow managed to stop the hot-blooded youngster in his tracks.

"Oh? What happened? Did daddy say you can't come out to play?" mocked the short youngster, goading Sirius for a fight. Unfortunately, despite the lock of sheer anger and disgust on Sirius' face, it was apparent he had no intention of fighting anymore.

"Do you dare give me your name?" He asked instead.

"Why should I bother giving a coward like you my name?"

"You! Very Good! I hope you remember this the next time we meet." Sirius knew talking with this youth would lead to further embarrassment, so he decided to walk back to his mount and Katie. No longer bothering with this unreasonable character.

At this point, another tall youth with a muscular build that made Sirius look relatively small got up with the aid of his huge sword and walked towards them.

"I can entertain you if it's a fight you are looking for," he said as he stared at the short youth who had now put his eye patch back on.

[ Shit! Why him of all people?] Andrew began to feel fear as he noticed one of the two people he wanted to avoid walking toward him. Although he was panicking slightly, he couldn't let anyone else notice, so he feinted disinterest.

"Hmm? And who are you exactly? I have no interest in fighting you," he replied.

"Why should I tell a coward my name? Are you willing to fight or not? I don't have time for chitchat," the imposing youth had used Andrew's own words against him.

Some of the surrounding youngsters laughed at this as they began to get excited. Who didn't like seeing domineering behavior brought to a rude and abrupt halt? This was prime face slapping material, and they were all here for it.