I created my own system

"Wow look at the sky!" one of the boys said as he closed his eyes to feel the refreshing touch of the morning breeze.

"Braiden watch out you might fall"

Alicia said while pointing at her friend Braiden

However, instead of paying attention to her words, Braiden began to run across the ship\'s deck. His brown hair began to bounce as the wind gently accompanied him as he ran.

"That little"

"Miss Alicia I think you should let him have some fun"

Apollo said as came from the navigation room.

"He might appear relaxed but look carefully" he said approaching Alicia and simply letting her observe Braiden.

"Even though he is smiling you can see how he trembles, he is so tense that the only thing he could do to hide his nervousness is by acting all active"

"Cut him some slack last night was something no 13-year-old can ever forget"

After saying those words he approached Braiden and gave him a drink.

"Last night was something no 13-year-old can ever forget....you said that but you didn\'t even flinch when killing someone" Alicia then sips the drink Apollo gave to her.

"Hmm? This tastes good"

While Alicia savors her drink Apollo decides to talk to Braiden.

"Where are the others?"

"Oh, the boys are inside playing billiards while the girls are having their breakfast. I want to feel refreshed so I decided to go out"

"Well, looking at the rising sun really is beautiful. The way the light pierces through the darkness and splits the land between night and day, it\'s truly relaxing"

Braiden chuckles after hearing what Apollo said, then he takes a sip of his drink before being surprised by its taste.

"By the way what\'s this it tastes so good"

"Oh, that? it\'s one of the unreleased rations we made during the breakout"

"Pfft!?"

To Apollo\'s surprise, Braiden suddenly choked on his drink.

"Hey, you okay?"

"You mean this is supposed to be military rations"

"Yup but it wasn\'t able to make it since food rations were switched to the House of Atlan"

"House of Atlan you mean the alchemic guild?"

"Yes they were given license by his majesty to take charge of food and medicine ration, while the tower was tasked to deploy their mages"

"But from what I heard the ones that were truly helpful during the breakout were the tonics made from the tower"

"That is also true I still remember when some of the alchemists of Atlan came here to buy the formula"

"Wait they did!?"

"They sure did"

Apollo looked at Braiden and saw dark circles beneath his tired-looking eyes. No matter how he tried to act he was okay, the person he was talking to could see he wasn\'t.

Braiden on the other hand could also see that although Apollo looks okay his body looks battered from excessive use of mana. However neither of them commented about it, they just enjoyed the view and their conversation. Whereas Alicia just stood where she was eating the pastries and beverage Apollo brought for her.

As the two boys continued their talk bit by bit more of their friends came out of the cabin joining the three who were busy with their own business.

"I wonder when will we arrive?" the girl named Agnes said so Apollo answered.

"Maybe at noon, I think?"

"Wait but we started travelling last night and it\'s already dawn"

The blue hair boy named Blair said.

"Blair is right and besides the speed of the aerial ship is immense and yet we would still arrive at noon?"

"By the way I wanted to ask you about this Mr Apollo but why did we use an aerial ship when we can just teleport?"

"Mr. Apollo?..pffft may I remind you I am also the same as you" Aside from Matilda\'s and Niko\'s bombarding questions Apollo was surprised at being called mister.

"Sorry about it\'s just that you act more mature than most of us, just like Alicia," Samael said as he tried to look at Apollo. The latter on the other just shook his head feeling he was still too far from their comfort zone.

"Let\'s play a game it might quench your boredom until we arrive"

"Sure!"

"I am in"

They all run towards their cabin playing games and sharing stories they find interesting. As much as possible Apollo tried to make them feel comfortable. He never asked about their past or how they got into this situation instead he spoke more about his experiences inside the tower.

He picked the most things they might take an interest in, like when he first tried riding on a broomstick and even feeding a magical beast. The conversation grew more as they asked how he invented the spell he used on the exam.

"Look at our little sun he seems to be having fun" Sam said as he continued to observe.

"Yes this is the first time he had this kind of relationship with someone who is the same age as him"

"We should celebrate to commemorate this day!"

"Yes!"

All 72 mages said then they began to plan for the party.

.....

A few hours later...

A sudden knock can be heard which makes Apollo and the rest focus on the door.

"Who is it?"

"It\'s me little sun we have arrived"

"Nice!"

Immediately Apollo opens the door and sees Gavin.

"Let\'s go kids we are here"

All of them went outside and saw the pristine walls of the four towers.

"Man that\'s one hell of a tower" Niko exclaimed.

However aside from the enormous structures they find impossible to construct, the gazes of the children went towards a huge banner bearing the words "WELCOME!"

"Is this a welcoming party?"

Alicia began to ask seeing some giant balloons and cakes prepared outside.

"Yes, children welcome to the tower!"

Sam said happily as he cast a spell to create a beautiful set of fireworks.

"Wow!"

"I never knew having fireworks in the daytime could be this wonderful"

"Now folks let\'s go down!"

At Sam\'s command, the ship suddenly rushes down as if it\'s falling.

"This is!"

Even Apollo was taken aback by this sudden action and couldn\'t help but hold on to the edge of the ship.

"What kind of shit is this!?"

All he could hear was the sound of them falling fast, even their screams were muffled by it. Desperately they started holding on to each other, afraid that if they let go would be the cause of their death.

Then as if by some miracle the ship stops abruptly causing them to become dizzy.

"I can\'t do this anymore I\'m getting dizzy"

Except for Alicia and Apollo the rest of the kids were either unconscious or trying hard not to puke.

"This is a bit unfair..ugh!.." Niko who tries to stop himself from vomiting said, when he saw that the two were all alright.

"Now I know the reason why you acted like that on the exams" Alicia managed to say as she held her head, it seemed she had a headache at the sudden fall and stop of the ship.

"I am sorry about that" Apollo could only say as he tried to assist her.

"Oh dear I am sorry about that, it seems like we have a little miscalculation there" Sam said as he landed with some of the other tower mages with him.

The supposedly welcoming party halted a bit due to some mishaps however, eventually everyone became excited to participate.

Apollo couldn\'t help but smile as if he was seeing himself when he first arrived at the tower. The warm welcome and love he received here healed the wounds he got from his family. Now it seems like his classmates will experience the same thing too.

"I really hope for that"

That day all research was cancelled and every mage inside the tower set aside their unfinished work to welcome their guests. They took extra care of them to make them feel at home and to the happiness of the mages the kids accepted them immediately.

And so as the party ends and days come by, the day they need to leave arrives.

"Here bring this!"

"You need to take this with you it\'s a charm for ghosts!"

"Use the gun I gave you okay?"

Before they could even board the ship the mages began to nag them about the things they needed to bring to the academy.

"Alright Mom I am okay now, I have brought everything"

"You sure?"

"Sure!"

And so they boarded the ship, its destination was set to the city of Sidus.

The aerial ship began to rise on the ground making the people below look tiny.

"Come back during the holidays okay!"

"Call us if something happens!"

Even when the ship began to leave their voices filled with concern can still be heard. This made the hearts of the people who boarded the ship happy.

"We will be back!" Agnes shouted back trying to stop her tears from falling. After the fall of her kingdom, this was the first time she felt genuine happiness and couldn\'t help but yearn for more of them.

The mages of the tower were satisfied and so they happily let the ship fly away.

"Sir Arthur, what\'s that?"

One of the mages asked when he saw a suspicious cluster of clouds which began to approach the ship.

"Not good Apollo!"

Arthur flew up his body clad in yellow mana. As he shot through the sky hundreds of mages followed bearing the might of the Mage tower.