SSS-Ranked Summoner: Only I Summon All Heroes And Heroines Of Legend-Chapter 10: Welcome to Arlindel

The download finished while Altair slept.

He woke to knowledge flooding his consciousness, it wasn’t like reading, but like remembering. Arthur Pendragon, the kingdom Camelot. Excalibur, Knights of the Round Table. Every detail crystallized perfectly, as if he’d lived it himself.

But no invitation yet.

The cart rolled to a stop as dawn broke over the horizon.

"Where here, Arlindel," Brecken called back. "End of the line, kid."

Altair pushed aside the canvas flap and stepped out into wonder.

Valthoria had been grand, all old money and established power, with marble facades and generational wealth on display. But Arlindel was entirely different.

As if It was alive.

Architecture from a dozen different eras and styles collided in organized chaos. Gothic spires rose beside geometric glass structures that flowed with contained arcane energy. Hex-magic wards glowed faintly along building edges, shifting patterns whose markings where a bit unclear to Altair, still it remained beautiful. Floating platforms drifted overhead, the lower tiers of the Hanging Cities, connected by suspension bridges that defied conventional physics. because it wasn’t, it was magic.

Street lamps powered by captured mana-crystals illuminated everything in soft light. The air itself tasted sharper, charged with possibility.

This was neutral ground. Where all four kingdoms met. Where power was measured by merit, not just bloodline.

Altair paid Brecken the remaining balance and hauled his trunk toward the transit hub Brecken had pointed out.

The airport.

It sprawned across three city blocks. A massive complex of departure gates and landing platforms. Airships of various sizes and classes bobbed at their moorings, held by enchanted tethers that glowed against the brightening sky.

Nobles clustered near the premium gates. Flying their houses colors proudly with banners and uniforms that announced their lineage to anyone watching. Servants carried luggage. With family crests inscribed on trunks and cases.

Altair kept his head down and his Elfender markings covered.

He purchased passage on a middle-class vessel, decent enough for comfort, while still remaining anonymous enough to avoid attention. The ship was smaller than the elite carriers but well-maintained, its envelope painted in neutral grays and blues.

Inside, bench seating ran along both walls, facing each other across a narrow aisle. Altair chose a spot near the middle and settled in, trunk stowed beneath his seat.

The ship filled gradually with merchants, minor nobles and scholarship students clutching their acceptance letters like lifelines.

And across from him, a boy.

His pink hair stuck up at odd angles despite obvious attempts to tame it. Round glasses perched on a narrow nose. Thin frame drowning slightly in an oversized academy prep uniform. And an unwavering smile fixed directly on Altair.

Altair held eye contact for exactly two seconds.

The boy’s smile somehow widened. He raised one hand in a sheepish wave.

Altair broke eye contact immediately, staring pointedly out the porthole.

What a weirdo.

The airship’s engines ignited. The vessel lifted smoothly, rising toward the Hanging Cities above.

They arrived thirty minutes after the elite-class ship, clearly preference was a major thing here. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

And the floating capital was heaven.

Floating islands hung in the air, completely defying gravity. Each one was like its own little neighborhood. Plants grew over the sides, and waterfalls tumbled down into a mist that never hit the bottom. Thin bridges made of crystal arched between the islands to connect them.

The buildings were made of cloudstone, a strange rock that looks solid but feels light as air. It formed tall, twisting towers that sparkled in the sun.

But the Academy dominated everything.

Gran-lusia sat at the heart of the capital like a massive display of pure power. The main building was designed in giant circles that stacked upward, with each level being bigger than most wealthy mansions. Everything was made of stone painted in bright white and gold, and tall towers stretched toward the clouds with magical flames burning at the very top.

It was easy to feel the magic everywhere. It radiated with energy through hidden shields and spells that kept the massive buildings standing. It was the physical result of hundreds of years of magical research and engineering. It felt impossible, amazing, and a bit scary.Altair knew the Academy was a impressive, but the view of it exceeded his expectations. The landing spot led right to a street where rows of vehicles were parked. They weren’t old-fashioned horse carriages, they were actual cars.

Altair had seen them on rare occasions in Valthoria during special ceremonies. Horseless carriages powered by mana-engines, their brass fixtures and leather interiors polished to gleaming perfection. Wheels of reinforced rubber, glass windows and steam venting from exhaust ports.

In Arlindel, they were everywhere. Not so common, still too expensive for that but available enough to be part of the city’s rhythm.

He signaled for a ride, hailing a public transport unit decked out in the Academy’s signature colors, and loaded his trunk inside.

"Academy main gates," he instructed the driver.

The engine let out a low, magical hum as the car pulled away, merging smoothly onto the main boulevard that led straight toward the Academy’s massive silhouette.

The gates were a work of art. Heavy wrought iron twisted into intricate murals that detailed the school’s history, from epic battles to groundbreaking discoveries. Groups of students flooded through the entrance, their laughter and shouts filling the air as they caught up after the summer.

Altair walked up to a staff member near the entrance who was busy managing the wave of new arrivals.

"Excuse me, where can I find the registration office?"

The woman pointed toward a nearby building without even glancing up. "East administrative wing. Second floor, you can’t miss it."

Altair followed the directions. And as he got close, he spotted the pink-haired kid from the airship.

The boy stood near the administrative building entrance, that same unsettling smile plastered across his face. His eyes lit up when he spotted Altair.

"Oh! We meet ag..." Altair walked past him without acknowledging the greeting.

Inside, the registration office was a scene of controlled chaos. Desks were swamped with incoming students while the admin staff moved with the kind of speed that only comes from years of repetition. Altair stepped up to an available clerk, a woman in her late fifties with sharp gray hair and reading glasses perched low on her nose.

She looked up with a weary gaze, like she’d already stared at three hundred identical documents that day.

"Name and papers," she muttered.

Altair set his documents on the desk. She picked them up with a sigh, clearly already labeling him in her head: just another commoner with big dreams. The Academy saw dozens like him every cycle, kids with just enough talent to get through the door but way too much optimism to survive the reality here. To her, this kid and others like him were just more fodder for the legacy students to chew up.

She started typing his info into the digital registry, barely paying attention to the screen.

Then she froze.

She stared at the name again, her eyes going wide behind her lenses. Slowly, she looked up, actually seeing him for the first time. The dark hair with distinct white streaks. The piercing gold eyes. The features marked him as something legendary...

"An Elfender?" she breathed.

"That I am."

"We... we didn’t receive notice of an Elfender registering." Her tone shifted completely, professional concern replacing her dismissive routine. "The family has accomplished so much here, we would have prepared accommodations, made proper arrangements..."

"Right. Let’s just say this is a last-minute enrollment."

The clerk’s attitude shifted instantly. She blazed through his paperwork with a sudden, frantic urgency, her fingers flying across forms as she applied stamps and signatures in a blur of motion.

"Alright, do you have a preference for a specific house or dorm, Mr. Elfender?" she asked, pausing just long enough to catch her breath.

"Whatever works," Altair replied shortly.

It was like she hit a play button; she went right back to her high-speed movements. Seconds later, a student ID card slid out of an enchanted press that burned his data directly into the plastic.

"Welcome to Gran-lusia Academy, Mr. Elfender," she said, giving him a small, respectful nod as she handed over the card.

Altair took it, offered a quick nod in return, and walked out. Once outside, he scanned the busy courtyard. The pink-haired kid was nowhere to be seen.

"Good riddance," he muttered to himself.

Altair looked over the card. It had his name and a photo that the registration crystal must have snapped when he wasn’t looking. At the bottom, his housing info glowed: HOUSE DAERYION, Room 347. As he focused on the text, a small enchantment triggered, projecting a translucent golden arrow into the air to act as his personal GPS.

He followed the floating marker for fifteen minutes, trekking through a campus that seemed to grow larger with every step. He passed open fields, endless lecture halls, and meticulously kept gardens before finally hitting the residential district.

House Daeryion stood there in solid shades of brick red and earthy brown. According to a plaque near the front door, the colors stood for strength and loyalty. It wasn’t the highest-ranked house on campus, but it was respectable enough.

He tracked down Room 347 on the third floor and reached for his key, only to realize the door was already unlatched. Frowning, Altair pushed it open.

The space was surprisingly big. A standard double with two beds, two desks, and two wardrobes. One side was already claimed, with a bag tossed onto the mattress and clothes being pulled out by a familiar figure.

The person turned around. Pink hair. Round glasses, and that same annoying, unavoidable grin.

"Ohhhhh shit,"

The words escaped his mouth.