The bearded mage left the classroom at an easy pace, his lips gleaming with grease and his round belly sticking out like he was six months pregnant. Half the lunch spread Skyl had prepared had ended up in the man's stomach, while Millicent had polished off another quarter.
The first class of the afternoon was held in the Debate Parlor and taught by the Karolos Conspectus, the oldest of the Academy's schools of study.
Skyl followed Melina toward the classroom. The short-haired girl had put on her crown and walked ahead with quiet, measured steps, crossing scarlet carpets and shadowy corridors. Most of the sorcerers they passed also wore cold, impersonal glintstone crowns. There was no laughter along the way, no joking or horseplay. Solemn, austere, dilapidated, and desolate, that was the Academy of Raya Lucaria.
A school of sorcery that had isolated itself from the world in the midst of war.
The Debate Parlor was essentially a grand lecture hall. Only the four most influential conspectuses had the authority to apply for its use as a teaching venue. Ordinarily, its main purpose was to host meetings and lectures, much like the Hall of the Elements at the College of Winterhold.
The three entered one after another. It was a vast hall lined on both sides with solid wooden desks and chairs. Tall iron candelabras rose between the rows, while hanging glintstone lamps and candles illuminated the room. The cold glow of glintstone mingled with the warmth of flame, blending into a hazy white light.
Nearly everyone was holding their breath. The Debate Parlor was so quiet that a dropped pin could have been heard.
From the doorway, Skyl could see six enormous blackboards floating at the far end of the hall. A sorcerer wearing a Karolos Glintstone Crown stood before them, furiously writing away. The sharp tapping of chalk was perfectly audible, and every so often he pressed too hard and snapped a piece in half. The professor never even paused, seemingly oblivious as he continued filling the boards with lesson outlines and equations.
Many sorcerers, upon entering, first turned toward the far-right corner of the room and offered some form of greeting, some placing a hand over their chest, others merely inclining their heads.
Millicent followed their gazes.
A gigantic red wolf lay curled in the corner of the Debate Parlor. It was the creature the Academy sorcerers were greeting.
Red wolves were the leaders of their kind, capable of standing more than eight feet at the shoulder. Fully upright, they towered over most men. Their fur was as red as fire, thick, flowing, and beautifully curled. Like Runebears, they ranked among the deadliest predators in the Lands Between. They were also remarkably intelligent, capable of understanding human speech and even learning sorcery.
This particular red wolf had a master, Radagon, the red-haired champion and former husband of Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon.
It was also something of a guardian of the royal family and the Academy's unofficial mascot, which made it quite popular. After all, who wouldn't like having an enormous dog sitting in the back of the classroom during lectures?
Unfortunately, the last time Skyl had visited the Academy, he had beaten the wolf up.
The Red Wolf of Radagon clearly held grudges.
The instant it saw him, it sprang to its feet and bared its fangs.
Millicent rested a hand on the long blade hanging from her waist. That was her staff for applied physics.
The swordswoman said gently, "I've killed a few red wolves myself. They really are clever beasts. Their pelts are warm, too."
The Red Wolf of Radagon looked furious enough to grind its own fangs to pieces, but then it noticed that Millicent's belt was made from red wolf hide.
It immediately sat back down like a very well-behaved dog.
Skyl smiled. "Good dog. You even know how to read the room. Reminds me of an old friend. I'll introduce you to Afu sometime."
"Quiet."
A passing sorcerer reprimanded them in a low voice.
"Find a seat."
Some said that arrogance flowed through the veins of Academy sorcerers.
And arrogant people often placed great faith in rules, treating them as necessities of life.
Since Skyl had been the one to disturb the classroom's silence, he had no grounds to complain about being scolded. He obediently found a seat.
The desks in the Debate Parlor were ancient. Their varnish had peeled away, exposing dark wood grain beneath. Skyl lightly ran his fingers over the scratches carved into the edge of the desk, then noticed the short notes and cheat sheets written across its surface in quill ink, traces left behind by generations of students.
One line read:
What does Sorceress Sellen really look like beneath that crown? I'm dying to know...
Someone had written beneath it:
If you like her, go ask her out. Stop being brave only when you're writing on a desk.
Another comment followed:
The guy above is an idiot. Sellen kills people without batting an eye. Don't fall for anything she says!
And at the very bottom:
Sellen's been imprisoned. She's gone now, so stop pining after your upperclassman. Pay more attention to the new girls instead.
Skyl added another line.
Never trust an upperclassman.
There were plenty of similar little exchanges scattered across the desk, and Skyl had to suppress a laugh as he read them. These stone-faced weirdos hiding under their crowns were apparently much more talkative than they looked. Give them a public message board and they'd probably rack up 99+ notifications in seconds.
Millicent noticed something interesting and quietly leaned toward Skyl.
"Skyl, none of the sorcerers here are wearing Lazuli Glintstone Crowns."
Skyl nodded.
"Probably an internal dispute..."
A voice suddenly rang out from the front of the hall, catching them completely off guard.
"Sorcery is the art of studying the stars. I am aware that some among you believe the moon should be regarded as equal to the stars. I have no desire to refute such absurdity yet again, nor do I wish to hear any discussion of it in my classroom."
The professor at the front had finally stopped writing. His vocal cords were clearly damaged, leaving his voice deep, muffled, and difficult to make out.
The Debate Parlor remained utterly silent.
Even the Red Wolf of Radagon in the corner perked up its ears and softened its breathing.
The professor swept his gaze across the room. Although his face was hidden beneath his crown, Skyl could tell that the man's attention lingered on him for a moment longer than on the others.
"Glintstone is the closest substance to the stars that we are capable of obtaining. It possesses two fundamental properties.
"The first is matter-energy duality. Glintstone may be converted into energy, while energy may likewise be condensed into glintstone.
"The second is mental resonance. Glintstone resonates with perception, producing forces and magical phenomena.
"Because of these two properties, every living creature possessing a soul is theoretically capable of learning glintstone sorcery.
"The first step in learning glintstone sorcery is to meditate and perceive the frequency of glintstone. Every individual piece of glintstone possesses a unique frequency, but all of those frequencies remain confined within a broad range. We call that range the glintstone resonance band.
"Mental energy operating within this resonance band can control the magical power contained within glintstone, extracting it and converting it into various magical effects. Alternatively, one's mental power can be directly converted into glintstone magic.
"The comet sorceries founded by Primeval Sorcerer Azur are the primary field of study pursued by the Karolos Conspectus. Our work focuses on condensing glintstone energy into physical particles, which we call magic pebbles, then launching those pebbles to inflict harm upon an enemy.
"Glintstone Pebble is the most fundamental of these sorceries. It is the starting point of one's exploration of magic."
The professor tapped the blackboard and pointed toward a simple mathematical model.
"This is the secret behind Glintstone Pebble. Master these numbers, and the doors of sorcery will open before you. Every comet sorcery originates from this simplest triangular model.
"It contains only three structures: pebble formation, launch, and tracking.
"Simple, controllable, yet possessing respectable power. There is harmony in that simplicity."
The professor raised the glintstone staff in his hand.
The large piece of glintstone mounted at its tip suddenly flared with light. A dark teal, diamond-shaped crystal shot forth, dragging a three-foot comet tail behind it.
It flew roughly sixteen feet across the open center of the hall before the pebble exhausted its energy. Its entire structure transformed into the trailing light behind it, then dissolved like a sugar cube dropped into water.
That was the uncomplicated beauty of comet sorcery.
The Karolos sorcerers studied how to fire pebbles.
Then how to fire bigger pebbles.
Then how to fire absolutely fucking enormous pebbles.
The legendary primeval sorcery Comet Azur simply took that philosophy to its logical conclusion by unleashing a massive torrent of magical power.
It was the ultimate expression of a very simple principle: bigger is better.
After completing the theoretical overview, the professor immediately dove into the real subject matter, discussing the compatibility between souls and glintstone, the conversion efficiency between mental energy and magical power, and countless related concepts.
The lesson went from Magic 101 to upper-level university coursework in the blink of an eye.
Millicent tried desperately to follow the professor's reasoning, but in the brief moment it took her to bend down and retrieve her quill, the equations on the blackboard had already become completely incomprehensible.
Skyl silently mouthed to her:
I'll teach you after class.
"New student."
The professor abruptly stopped his lecture.
He strode toward Skyl and stopped directly in front of him, looking down from above.
"You show contempt for this classroom. I have the authority to revoke your right to attend my lecture."
The attack came without warning, swift and merciless.
The air inside the Debate Parlor turned to ice.
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