On the way out of the academy, Markus handed over the pizzas to Headmistress Elena's personal assistant, asking for a favor to deliver them to Rosanne. In exchange, Markus gave her the New York strip that he bought from the steakhouse at the train station.
Markus sat by the marble steps of the academy's front lawn, waiting for Headmistress Elena to settle some academic matters.
'I would soon transition from running missions to focusing on exploring the laws of space. I have a sense of foreboding after the beast purge event in the northern region of Valeria.'
Markus thought, looking down at the capital city from the academy's steps.
"Let's go, we'll arrive in no time," an Earthen lotus enveloped both Elena and Markus as it transported them through the ground, right before the palace's guardhouse.
The two Swiss guards were awaiting Markus's arrival, patiently waiting to escort him through the several checkpoints of the Palace.
"Welcome, Student Markus, and it's good to see you again, Headmistress Elena," the Swiss guard greeted the arriving duo.
"Let's get this over and done with. Bureaucracy is exhausting," Elena waved him off, hinting at the guard to speed things up.
They boarded a custom-made Rolls-Royce Phantom, powered by mana crystals and protected by grandmaster arrays that could fend off attacks from a Tier-7 attacker.
It was luxury beyond compare, one guard drove whilst another joined them in the passenger compartment as per protocol. Protocol mandates a security shadow for the duration of the transport.
The starlight headliner transformed the roof into a cosmic map, as thousands of fiber-optic light shimmers against the backdrop of midnight black leather.
In the vehicle, not a single piece of plastic could be found. Every surface was either animal, mineral, or vegetable. The seats were upholstered in bull-hide leather so supple it felt like heavy silk, smelling faintly of expensive tobacco and cedar. The walnut veneers were mirrored with such precision that the grain flowed across the doors like a dark, frozen river.
Stepping into the Phantom was like entering a soundproof vault of excess. The world outside vanished the moment the heavy, coach-style door swung shut with a muted thud.
Beneath his feet, the lambswool carpet was so thick it felt like walking on a cloud.
"Student Markus, the letter, please," the Swiss guard requested. It was their method of authentication to pass through several checkpoints within the outer palace.
Markus handed the letter over to the Swiss guard seated in front of him, as he wound down the windows to scan whenever they reached a checkpoint.
'I could never live like royalty if this is what it means to be ruler of a land; this palace is a masterpiece of architectural incarceration. They call it security, I call it a luxury prison.'
Markus thought to himself as the car drifted silently through the ancient cobblestone, the roads winding through several buildings to prevent intruders from rushing in directly.
They are a strategic installation to control traffic flow, enhance security, and maintain order in protected areas.
"What a waste of time," Elena complained, familiar with these processes. To enter the inner sanctum of the palace, the Swiss guards developed this checkpoint system to prevent hostile forces from infiltrating, as well as to confuse visitors whenever they visit.
They could switch up the order of the checkpoints every couple of weeks or months, depending on the political landscape and defense readiness condition of the Empire.
After passing through the 3rd checkpoint, Markus snapped his neck towards the Palace, his 18 points of perception sensing an aura enveloping the entire land.
It was casually emitted from an aged elder, sitting within the confines of the palace. He smiled, looking towards Markus.
"So young, and you can already sense me from that distance, HAHAHA, the rumors do you no justice, young child."
Emperor Valerian bellowed in his meditation chamber, its walls shaking from the laws bending around him.
Valerian was the first awakener to master the law of wind to a 100%, and awaken a second element after.
Most awaken their elements at the age of 10, when they go through the awakening ceremony. But for the first generation, they had to pioneer the unknown portals; there was no guide, no one to learn from, it was all experimentation and survival skills.
From the complete mastery of his primary element, he came to a realisation that all laws were interconnected.
However, he could not just pick and choose which element to awaken next; he had to find compatibility and resonance with another to begin the learning process.
His wind element greatly contrasted with the earth element; he was unable to find compatibility between them. So it was left with fire and water, and of the two, fire was the most compatible with his wind element.
It was only until recently that he had begun to comprehend the initial phases of the law of fire.
He had once burnt down the entire royal courtyard due to his inability to control the flames he was wielding.
After which, Merlin, the array grandmaster, constructed a meditation chamber with the sole purpose was to absorb flames and heat released through Valerian's cultivation of flames.
It was an ingenious design, which converted the energy emitted from flames and heat to generate energy that powered the palace and its dependencies.
Valerian, concluding his cultivation session, stood up from a puddle of sweat and headed to change into a fresh set of royal garments.
His attendants selected a set of gold and garnet, a masterpiece of intimidation: a high, stiff collar that chafed his throat, and sleeves so encrusted with bullion they felt like armored gauntlets.
"I hate wearing jewelry," Valerian grumbled, annoyingly.
"Your Imperial Majesty, bear with it for a while, you may remove them after the lunch with student Markus and Headmistress Elena." His loyal attendant bowed respectfully, pleading for his patience.
Before the Mana Apocalypse, Valerian was a farmer. He lived in the humid, quiet green of a provincial greenhouse.
He wasn't a soldier or a politician; he was a master of the "Slow Arts."
He spent his days calculating the exact silver-ratio of nutrients for heirloom tomatoes and studying the way light fractured through cheap, fogged glass.
He knew the smell of damp earth and the honest ache of a day's labor. He was a "commoner" of the most invisible sort—a man who preferred the company of growing things to the noise of men.
Once Mana invaded Earth, a portal formed within his greenhouse, mutating the crops into a variant of mana-enriched heirloom tomatoes.
By consuming these enhanced vegetables, mana pathways blossomed within his body, cleansing all impurities from within.
He entered the portal and awakened the wind element, hunting beasts with a hand trovel, a farming tool he was deeply familiar with.
The car came to a silent halt before the Inner Sanctum. The Swiss Guard opened the coach door, and Markus stepped out onto the ancient cobblestones, his eyes immediately drifting upward to the high balcony.
He could still feel it—the faint, whistling pressure of the Wind Law, like a permanent hurricane held in check by a single man's will.