It didn't take Skyl long during his visit to the Academy to confirm one thing: Melina really didn't have many friends.
"You really are the Lands Between's living legend of loneliness," Skyl teased. "You're actually attending school and still don't have more than a handful of people you can talk to. If Millicent and I hadn't come to visit, were you planning to stay all by yourself forever?"
Melina had always been aloof. No matter what anyone said, she maintained the same indifferent expression, which only made teasing her more entertaining.
Skyl was planning to hold a recruitment fair at the Academy and convince some people to move to Skylrael and become Avowed under him.
Of course, this would be a completely voluntary arrangement where both sides benefited. They were civilized people. How could anyone call that tricking students into joining him? He wasn't running some Wild West outlaw gang. If people weren't interested, he certainly couldn't drag them off to his hideout by force.
Still, if he wanted to hold a recruitment fair, he would obviously have to speak with the head of the Academy first.
Skyl knew a little about how these things worked. The key was securing the school's cooperation. Every student he recruited could earn the Academy a commission. As for the interns'待遇 and salaries...
Well, that depended on how badly they wanted their diplomas.
It was the oldest business arrangement in the book: everybody got their cut, seventy-thirty.
Skyl amused himself with the thought.
He was here to recruit sorcerers, not acquire slave labor. In the end, sincerity was still the best way to attract talented people.
Besides, ever since the war began, the graduation rate at the Academy of Raya Lucaria had plummeted. Large numbers of students simply remained at the Academy, living peaceful shut-in lives and never even thinking about employment.
A normal recruitment fair wouldn't accomplish much.
He would need a different approach.
When Skyl met Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, again, she was still in the Grand Library.
Rennala's mental condition had improved considerably. The spirit of Radagon that Skyl had fabricated remained by her side throughout the year. Although it wasn't the real Radagon, it at least gave Rennala something upon which to redirect her emotions.
She no longer spent every waking moment drowning in grief and obsessing over children who had never been born. These days, she remained completely lucid for roughly half of every day.
The Queen of the Full Moon looked radiant, yet worry still seemed permanently etched across her face.
She and Radagon had three children: Rykard, Radahn, and Ranni.
None of them were exactly living reassuring lives.
Rykard had merged with the great serpent and become a blasphemous monster. Radahn had been infected by the Scarlet Rot and lost his sanity, wandering the battlefields of Caelid like a wild beast.
For all practical purposes, both of her sons were already dead.
Only Ranni remained, and lately even she had been exhausted from constantly evading those hunting her.
Her Order was tied to the cold Dark Moon. In this age where the stars remained sealed, the Dark Moon could not fully manifest. Only after Starscourge Radahn died could Ranni truly establish her Order.
After speaking with Rennala, Skyl learned that although the Queen of the Full Moon had mediated the conflict between the Carian royal family and the Academy, the Academy's major conspectuses still obeyed her in public while quietly doing whatever they wanted.
There wasn't much she could do to help Skyl directly.
"Ever since I ordered the exile of the two primeval sorcerers, the voices questioning my decisions have never ceased," Rennala said. "The study of the Primeval Current must be treated as taboo. That is a principle I have believed in throughout my life."
Sorcery in the Lands Between could trace its origins back to ancient astrologers.
They studied the movement of the stars to uncover the mysteries of the world and drew magical power from glintstone, the crystallized remnants of fallen stars.
Sorcerers who pursued the Primeval Current sought above all else to return to the stars.
They used sorcery to alter their own bodies, gradually transforming their brains into glintstone to improve their ability to wield sorcery.
The transformation process was exceptionally cruel, and the experimental subjects were often other glintstone sorcerers.
The Primeval Current scholars possessed an even more deranged technique: merging vast numbers of sorcerers into a single spherical mass and turning them into the seed of a star.
Supposedly, such a being could eventually ascend into the heavens and approach the stars themselves.
Put simply, the Primeval Current sorcerers were lunatics who believed the flesh was weak and salvation lay in ascending through glintstone.
Because their experiments had caused far too many deaths, even sorcerers who desperately yearned to glimpse higher realms of knowledge ultimately chose to abandon the Primeval Current.
Skyl had never conducted much research into the sorcery of the Lands Between.
The entire system was rather strange and came with severe limitations. From his perspective, it was of fairly limited usefulness.
Even Sorceress Sellen, one of the most accomplished scholars of the Primeval Current, had shifted most of her research toward magicka and cosmic souls shortly after joining the Tower of Tomes.
Skyl was confident that if he brought out the Book of Mora again, he could attract Raya Lucaria's students to the Silver Tree just as he had drawn scholars away from Candlekeep.
Rennala asked whether he was in a hurry.
"I've got plenty of time," Skyl replied with a smile.
"Then perhaps you should remain at the Academy for a while as a visiting instructor. Raya Lucarian sorcerers are an exceptionally insular group. If I personally tried to recruit students on your behalf, it might have the opposite effect.
"With your knowledge and ability, you would distinguish yourself almost immediately. Sorcerers may appear aloof, but they are quite willing to gather around those stronger than themselves. Even the thickest Glintstone Crown cannot suppress their hunger for prestige. All you would need to do is demonstrate what you're capable of."
Skyl had only recently graduated from Hogwarts, and now someone was already inviting him to become a professor.
The whole situation felt slightly surreal.
After going around in so many circles, was his ultimate destiny really just to keep ending up in schools?
Still, the idea sounded amusing.
"Rather than becoming a professor, I'd prefer to enroll as a transfer student. I really don't have any interest in teaching."
"That will work as well. I'll prepare an admission letter for you immediately."
Millicent, standing nearby, looked hesitant.
"Make one for my companion too," Skyl said.
He had always been observant enough to notice what Millicent was thinking.
And so, the very next day, both of them officially became transfer students at the Academy of Raya Lucaria.
Skyl obviously had no intention of remaining there for long. Once he recruited enough sorcerers, his objective would be complete.
It probably wouldn't even take a few days.
Millicent became Melina's roommate.
Skyl received a dormitory assignment of his own.
He requested the quietest room possible, and after considerable searching, the Academy staff actually found a men's dormitory that met his requirements.
It was still technically a shared room, but there was only one other resident.
A sorcerer from the Lazuli Conspectus served as Skyl's guide and led him toward the dormitory while explaining the current situation at the Academy.
"...At present, the Academy has four major conspectuses. Each has its own standards for advancement, though in practice a great deal depends upon the attitude of the instructors. Mage Skyl, your best choice would still be the Lazuli Conspectus. Our relationship with the Carian royal family is exceptionally close."
"I've heard that every conspectus focuses on a different branch of research," Skyl said. "Am I allowed to attend lectures from the others?"
"Of course. Choosing a conspectus primarily gives you the support of fellow students and greater access to instruction from its senior scholars."
"So, forming factions."
The guide paused.
"Yes. Although we prefer to call it mutual support."
"And if I pass a conspectus's examination, I receive the corresponding Glintstone Crown. Is that correct?"
"Indeed. However, the path of sorcery is infinitely deep. Any single path could consume an entire lifetime. I strongly advise you to choose carefully."
Skyl merely smiled without answering.
The guide eventually stopped outside the dormitory.
From beneath his cold stone Glintstone Crown came a hesitant voice.
"Mage Skyl, this is your room. I believe I should warn you about something."
"Let me guess. My roommate isn't particularly friendly?"
"Yes. Although I wouldn't describe him as ill-tempered. He's simply... unusual. He is also an exceptional sorcerer who passed the examination of the Twinsage Conspectus and broke the Academy's record for the youngest scholar ever to do so."
"A genius roommate? Now I'm even more curious. Don't worry. I'm sure we'll get along."
"...Then take care."
The guide turned and left, clearly not feeling particularly optimistic.
Traveling light, the new transfer student entered the dormitory, looked around, and immediately expressed his admiration.
He had expected to find the stereotypical room of an antisocial scholar, books scattered everywhere and clutter piled in every corner.
Instead, everything was meticulously organized.
The books were neatly arranged on the shelves in alphabetical order.
Very satisfying.
The mouths of the ink bottles had been carefully wiped clean, while the quills rested inside velvet pen cases.
Very satisfying.
Every drawer had its own label describing exactly what tools or miscellaneous items were stored inside. Everything was divided into categories, and even the drawers contained individual storage boxes to prevent anything from becoming mixed together.
Extremely satisfying.
The only bed currently in use had been positioned at precisely equal distances from the desk, balcony, and main door.
Its headboard rested flush against the wall. Two identical glintstone lamps stood symmetrically atop matching bedside tables.
Even the curtains had been opened to exactly the right width, ensuring that the first rays of dawn would strike the sleeper's eyelids every morning.
It was immediately obvious that the resident suffered from an almost pathological obsession with order.
Skyl actually liked people like that.
A roommate who kept everything clean was practically an angel sent down from heaven.
The genius roommate wasn't back yet, leaving Skyl alone in the room.
He wasn't in any hurry to choose a bed.
Instead, his attention was drawn to a blackboard standing beside the desk.
Skyl approached it and discovered that its surface was densely covered with derivations, equations, and spell models written in white chalk.
The primary mathematical framework resembled group theory, while the research itself clearly concerned the conduction efficiency of glintstone energy.
"Interesting."
Skyl rested his chin on one hand and studied the blackboard.
After checking several of the calculations, he picked up a piece of chalk and continued the derivation along the same line of thought.
"Don't touch my research without permission."
An urgent voice came from the doorway.
Rapid footsteps followed, and within moments the newcomer had rushed directly in front of Skyl and blocked the blackboard from view.
He wore a Twinsage Glintstone Crown.
"You don't understand any of this," the newcomer said coldly. "Don't contaminate my work with your impoverished intellect."
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