The following morning, I dragged myself out of bed, still exhausted and half-asleep. Despite Girem’s advice and my best efforts, I had spent half the night tossing and turning as I considered what to do next.

Knowing I may already be on the same timeline as my visions left me worried, but I was determined to figure out a way to change that today, starting with my meeting at the Academy. Over the night, I had decided my best course of action would be to attempt and escape Girem’s oversight as soon as possible. I needed privacy and freedom to debate my options, and I knew as long as I was stuck with a supervisor, I would not get that.

With that in mind, I retrieved the vial I had stashed behind my dresser and slipped it into the pouch I kept on my belt. When we arrived at the Academy, I would request to move into the dormitories early to get an early start on my training and studies.

Once I was in the Academy, I could start researching ways to grow more powerful as a mage as well as leads on how to avoid the early death my visions had foretold. I had a half-dozen other concerns to consider, but dying before thirty was at the top of my list.

Quickly getting dressed, I checked my appearance in the mirror before heading downstairs into the lobby. Girem was waiting there for me, dressed in matching black shirt and pants embroidered in silver. The Estton’s land sat on a silver mine, which influenced their preferences of attire.

The bigger surprise was that Sophia and Leon were already in the lobby as well. I guessed that they had arrived a few minutes prior, to leave for the Academy in a group.

As I approached the three, they ceased their conversation and turned towards me. When I came within earshot, Leon smiled brightly in greeting.

“Good morning Vayne, I hope you slept well. You certainly look ready to meet with a master,” said Leon in a pleasant tone. Girem simply nodded in apparent approval after examining my appearance, while Sophia pointedly ignored me entirely. I had heard she was not a friendly person, and her reaction supported those rumors.

I nodded politely and said, “I slept fine Master Leon, thank you.”

Leon sighed theatrically at my words and shook his head. “I have told you this before. It’s not “Master Leon’, just Leon. I am not a duke or mage yet, so there’s no need to be so formal with me. Especially since we will be classmates for the next five years.”

I had only met Leon a few times in passing before, but from those meetings, I had noticed his skill at making friends. While he was not the most scholarly, he had a way of charming people that would serve him well in the future. If he proved anywhere as skilled a Mage as a socializer, Leon would be a competent duke when he took over the family. Despite his assurance, I knew to maintain respect for our social positions and continue to refer to him using the proper formalities.

Before I could answer, Girem cleared his throat quietly.

“Young master, we should leave now if we want to get to the Academy on time. They expect us within an hour, and it is several miles away,” said Girem. With that, he turned and walked towards the front door, holding it open for the rest of us.

Nodding, Leon looked at his twin. “You ready, Sophia?” She nodded once and, without a word, walked to the door and stepped outside. Looking at me and shrugging somewhat apologetically, Leon followed his sister out to the street. Glancing at Girem as I moved past him, I stepped out into the already bustling city center.

Waiting outside was a carriage attached to several horses. I should not have been surprised or annoyed, but part of me chafed at the idea that I had to find my way while Leon and Sophia warranted an escort. Climbing into the wooden space, we sat on cushioned benches and were on our way.

As the carriage moved smoothly down the streets, I watched out the window and examined our surroundings. We had spent the night in the Upper District, which was almost exclusively populated by nobles and wealthy merchants. The few exceptions were the mages who owned and operated shops catering to other spellcasters.

Because of that, all the buildings we passed seemed massive and opulent, especially to my eyes. While I had lived on the Duke’s estate for the past decade, I had slept in the servants quarters. That building was much smaller and simpler in design than the mansion the noble family occupied.

I noted with interest that many of the buildings had strange letters and symbols carved into them, often at structural points like the foundations or supporting columns. I could not say for sure, but I thought they resembled the symbols on the building where I had Awakened.

I knew Ferris had developed methods of strengthening structures against damage or weathering, but I had never learned the details of how it worked. It seemed the process must involve these carvings somehow.

I would have to keep those symbols in mind for when I got to the Academy. It seemed a handy and versatile field of study, if I managed to become skilled at least.

Deep in thoughts, I barely noticed how far we had gone in the past half hour. Blinking in surprise, I realized that we were already nearly at our destination.

The campus, technically located outside of Volaris, was marked by an enormous stone arch known as the Invictus. Hundreds of feet tall and crafted of pristine white marble, with intricate carvings of robed men and women along its faces. The Academy did not need gates or walls. They had some of the most powerful masters in the kingdom teaching in their halls.

But the arch served a much more critical purpose than any sort of defense. It was a symbol of the might of Ferren mages.

Legends said the Founders formed the Invictus from pure mana to mark where they first learned the Awakening’s secrets. Details of the next several decades were scarce, but we knew that the Founders and their apprentices conquered swaths of land that eventually grew into Ferris.

Beyond the arch, the Academy loomed over the rest of the city. As a show of respect to the mages which formed Ferris’s bedrock, even the royal palace was smaller in size, though still far from a modest building.

Much like the Invictus, the Academy was built entirely of white stone and looked hundreds of feet tall. It was rectangular, with high columns, and a front entrance hall designed to house visitors.

To the sides of the main building were large green fields, dotted with smaller buildings, while stone walkways encircled and linked the main Academy building to these more modest structures.

As we approached, I saw a fountain the size of a small mansion in the center of the walkway, with elaborate sculptures of sea serpents spraying water thirty feet into the air from their fanged maws.

Dozens of men and women walked along the pathways, with most of them dressed in matching clothing consisting of brown pants, dark boots, and shirts of different colors with full sleeves. Most of them wore black or gray, though I saw several in pristine white shirts.

Entering through the large front doorway, we found ourselves in an enormous space with mirror-like floors and towering columns. I noticed the entire structure appeared to be marble, but there were no seams where individual stone pieces met. It almost looked as if someone carved everything from a single, massive piece of stone.

The impression I had gotten so far was that whoever built the Academy was a bit full of themselves. Everything I had seen spoke of overinflated egos determined to emphasize their skills as often as possible, though considering what most Mages are capable of, perhaps it is warranted.

Decorating the walls and ceiling of the atrium were massive paintings depicting Mages in battle against dragons and other legendary creatures. I noticed that there were also marble statues ten feet tall lining the walls, many of them holding staves and surrounded by intricate depictions of fire, lightning, and water.

Girem noticed my wandering gaze and said, “The frescoes depict the Founders battling the beasts that lived where the Academy would one day stand. They drove off these beasts after months of nearly constant battle. The statues are prior archmagi, ninety-four in total. It’s the Academy’s way of paying respect to its forefathers and greatest disciples, the finest spellcasters in our history.”

“There have only been ninety-four Archmagi? I thought there would be more of them,” said Leon.

Girem shook his head and said, “There are ninety-six, they only build statues for deceased archmagi. A new one will appear around every twenty to thirty years or so. Right now, there are two living archmagi in the entire kingdom. One is far to the south, handling a dispute with the Wandering Cities of the Tinkerers. You’ll likely have heard of the name Elden, often called Elden of the Earthen-Spear.”

Elden was legendary even in the Western Plains, where I had grown up. His nickname was given by those who had seen him in combat, as he could summon spires the size of a house. However, I had not realized there was a second living archmagi.

“What about the other one?” a feminine voice asked quietly, echoing my thoughts. It seems even Sophia was engrossed in hearing more from Girem. Nearly every child in Ferris had dreamed of meeting an Archmagi, learning more about them was the closest thing most would ever get.

“She is far more reclusive, more at home in a library than on a battlefield. However, you are far more likely to meet her than Elden, since Alexandria is the current head of the Academy. By popular demand from several prominent mages, she took up the position a few years ago.”

Girem paused to let the information we would be sharing a home with an archmagi sink in, before continuing.

“The stories sometimes miss the bigger picture, most mages, even archmagi, spend their lives learning rather than fighting. The era where mages are required to live and die conquering land has long passed. However, we will have to continue this later as it seems an attendant apprentice is here to lead you three to your advisors,” said Girem.

Looking over in surprise, I noticed that a young woman around sixteen was walking towards us. She wore the same uniform I had seen worn by the people outside, with a white shirt and bronze trimming along the sleeves and shoulders.

Stopping in front of us, she smiled and said, “I apologize for any wait you have had my lords, if you will follow me please.”

I was a bit surprised she had directed the same respectful tone towards me as well, but maybe she thought I was one of the Duke’s children. I was short, slim, and had matching mud-brown hair and eyes, while the twins were the opposite in nearly every regard. But maybe the apprentice would prefer to be careful than make a mistake and insult a Duke’s child.

Girem nodded and said, “I will be here waiting for the three of you when you are finished. It is considered improper for anyone but the Applicants to be present during advisory. I have already spoken to each of you individually, so you should be aware of the Duke’s expectations.”

Nodding, Leon smiled and replied, “Thank you, Girem. We will be back shortly.” Turning to the apprentice, he shot her a flirtatious look and said, “Please lead the way, ma’am.”

I suppressed a scowl as the mage blushed and giggled at his flirting tone. If he was an ass, I could hate Leon, but he had been nothing but polite to me. Still, I would be lying if I said I was not envious of his charisma. I had several gifts, but an easy time talking to others was not one of them.

Walking along with the apprentice, Leon spent his time chatting idly with her, asking questions about classes and what to expect as a student. Sophia and I were silent as we trailed a few feet behind them, listening to Leon flirt with the student whose name we quickly learned was Cynthia.

Something I noticed as we walked was the sheer size of the building. While the Academy was massive from the outside, the entrance hall looked large enough to take up most of the building. Yet these halls seemed to go on for far too long, and there seemed to be too many rooms.

“Apprentice Cynthia, is magic used to make the building larger than it should be?” I asked curiously.

Cynthia turned to me in surprise. “Yes, actually, it’s a form of spatial magic used to compress the building. One of the Academy’s architects found a way to use darkness mana and clever enchantments to allow larger volumes of material to fit inside of the Academy’s main building. He later managed to shrink the enchantment and attached it to storage materials, which are the spatial pouches nobles tend to use when they are traveling.”

Leon nodded and said, “Our father has a few of those in our family vaults. He can fit an entire room worth of supplies into a bag the size of my hand. It weighs almost nothing too, is that part of the spell as well?”

“It’s an enchantment actually, not a spell. But yes, the enchantment also lessens the relative weight as a side effect. Truthfully, I am not sure how exactly it works. I only took beginner courses on enchantments. Spatial pouches are a much higher-level creation than I ever learned.”

The mage stopped before a door covered in vines and flowers, and turned to Sophia. “Applicant Sophia, your advisor is inside waiting for you. Applicant Leon, you are across the hall and Applicant Vayne, you are further down the hall if you will follow me.”

Sophia knocked on her door before entering, while Leon crossed the hallway to a door that appeared to be dark gray stone. Heading a little further down the hall, she stopped in front of another wooden door. This one had intricate swirling symbols and depictions of storm clouds over mountains.

“Your advisor is inside. Good luck.” She said with what looked like sympathy in her eyes before turning and heading back towards the entrance hall.

Knocking firmly on the door, I waited until I heard a muffled, “Come in!” before opening and stepping through the doorway.

A large desk made of a dark wood dominated the room. Bookshelves, full to overflowing, lined one wall while the other was covered entirely by a large blackboard, with intricately designed symbols written in various colored chalks. In the far corner, I saw a workbench covered in scraps of parchment. It certainly looked like the office of a mage, though quite a bit messier than I would have expected.

Behind the desk was a man who looked to be around thirty. His blonde hair was somewhat unkempt, and his face looked pale, like someone who spent most of his time inside, but judging by his frame, he did his best to keep in shape.

Looking up at me, the master said, “Ahh, you must be Vayne! Please, take a seat. My name is Julian, and I will be your advisor today. I have been dying to meet our newest Archmagi!”