It has been a month since Colzen Adventurer Academy's representatives left the academy with a few chosen instructors and Dean Snowcrest as the leader of their entourage.
The representatives left a bit earlier than the chosen companions because they would still have to register for the competition.
Finally, after a long journey with multiple rest stops in different cities, the Colzen representatives arrived at the venue of the Valenzia Region's Adventurer Academy Competition, Valenzia City.
The World Adventurer Association's Headquarters in the Valenzia Region was located in Valenzia City so to prevent complaints from the other adventurer academies, the World Adventurer Association (WAA) decided that no adventurer academy would be established in Valenzia City.
Instead, Valenzia City would be the venue for the Adventurer Academy Competition every year.
Upon arriving at the gates, Shye was awestruck. Just the city gates alone showed him how small Colzen City was compared to Valenzia City.
According to his estimates, Valenzia City was at least ten times bigger than Colzen City. It was understandable though since it was the central hub of the top adventurer guilds of Valenzia Region.
In addition to this, Valenzia City was the most advanced city that Shye had ever seen and even those huge cities where they stopped by were nothing compared to how advanced and luxurious Valenzia City was.
Once their entourage was granted entry, Shye was even more awestruck. Even the fourth-year students who have been here before couldn't help but appreciate Valenzia City again.
Main branches of prominent shops, headquarters of the top adventurer guilds, wide streets that could accommodate ten large carriages side by side, loads of people wearing luxurious clothing, and many more.
Shye felt like Valenzia City was the "City of Dreams" and he couldn't help but clench his fists and vow to return here someday on his own.
Even the fourth-year students repeatedly vow to themselves to return here in the future. However, it was easier said than done.
The cost of living here is astronomically high and even Shye's parents who were already diamond-ranked adventurers couldn't afford to live here and had to settle down in Colzen City to be able to give Shye and Maia everything they needed without breaking the bank.
In addition to this, you have to obtain a Valenzia pass before you can go in and out of the city or stay inside for as long as you like.
For visitors, Valenzia City issues a visitor's badge which could be purchased for 200 silver coins and this visitor's badge would only allow you to stay inside for two days.
Every time your visitor's badge expires, you have to get out of the city and purchase another one for another 200 silver coins. Just from this rule, it can be concluded that Valenzia City was a premium city for premium adventurers who could afford premium lifestyles.
This is the reason why all of the adventurers in the Valenzia Region dream of obtaining a Valenzia pass.
Unfortunately, 90 percent of the adventurers in Valenzia Region could only dream and there was no hope for them to ever stay inside Valenzia City for a long time.
For example, the adventurers outside the intermediate adventurer zone near Colzen City would never have a chance to obtain a Valenzia pass.
All they could afford was the visitor's pass and even if they could get inside, it would be hard for them to afford a room they could stay in for two days.
In addition to this, there was no way for these adventurers to afford food inside a restaurant in Valenzia City so even if they managed to enter using the visitor's pass they could only sightsee inside the city.
Even Shye and Maia's parents would have to use their silver coins sparingly whenever they visited Valenzia City for an important agenda.
Finally, after another hour, they arrived at the inn designated for Colzen Adventurer Academy and of course, the World Adventurer Association (WAA) would pay for their accommodation.
However, Colzen Adventurer Academy would have to pay for half of the accommodation fees of the companions.
The inn designated for them was way fancier compared to the inns inside Colzen City but among all the inns inside Valenzia City, their inn could only be labeled as mediocre.
Shye and the other representatives chatted with each other while waiting for Dean Snowcrest to settle the paperwork required for them to be able to stay at the inn.
During their long journey, Shye found out that most of the fourth-year students were kind and there wasn't an ounce of arrogance in them.
He thought that his Senior Ren was already one of a kind but it seemed like most of the fourth-year students had pleasant dispositions unlike most of the freshmen students.
The reason why the fourth-year students were like this was because they were humbled by their experiences during their four years inside the academy and they had already been slapped by the reality that they were nothing special at all and that there were many people as strong as them or even stronger than them.
Finally, after half an hour, Dean Snowcrest finished the required paperwork and the inn staff led them to their respective rooms.
The representatives of course get one room each but the companions would have to share the rooms among themselves to save as many silver coins as possible.