Christopher was finally going to see the inside of the Academy, and he even had a guide to show him around.

They walked at a leisurely pace through the tunnels, Christopher following Vitin’s lead.

“So, Christopher, right?”

“Yes, and I believe that the old man called you Vitin?”

“That’s me.” She said happily.

Vitin turned around, looking at him with curiosity.

“So, this is your first time at the Lumen Academy, does that mean that you are a beginner when it comes to the Soul Arts?”

“For the most part. Although I am pretty close to achieving mastery for two of the Soul Effects”

“Oh, that’s great, which ones?”

“Soul Heat and Soul Frost.”

“That is an interesting combination. I wonder what kind of techniques you can develop by combining those two Effects.”

He was curious to learn that as well, he did not even really know how Soul Force worked beyond the basics. The information was not put into circulation due to its danger in the hands of the untrained. Hopefully, he could create something powerful one day with the resources that the Lumen Academy had on offer.

“What about you, do you know any Soul Effects?”

“Oh sure, I have already achieved some proficiency in all of the basic effects and I am working on developing my first higher-tiered technique. It mainly uses Soul push and Soul Weight.”

“That’s amazing, developing a more advanced technique is my end goal as well. I would love to see your technique in practice sometime.”

“Of course. Unlike most, I don’t keep my training and practice a secret. You are free to check it out whenever you want.”

“Thank you. Others keep it a secret?”

“I know, it's frustrating. You would think that everyone would gladly exchange tips and tricks for use against the Blight, but unfortunately, that is not often the case.”

Christopher let out a groan. Maybe he should not be surprised anymore, but it still kind of pissed him off considering the circumstances of this world. He bet they would have changed their tune if they knew what would happen to Lumen in a few weeks.

Something changed as they turned another corner. The material from which the tunnel was made turned from wood into a metallic grey. The thump of his feet confirmed that it was indeed metal. It was probably the first time that he had seen metal being used for construction in Lumen. Using metal for such a purpose did seem a little wasteful to him though. He knew that metal was the lifeblood of the Economy and essential in making the city work smoothly due to its synergy with the Soul Arts.

“We are almost there, just a few more corners”

Christopher suddenly sensed that something had changed, and he immediately recalled that he had felt this way before during the Soul Heat examination. There really was something different about the air around the Academy, he could feel it when he breathed in.

“Why does the air here feel different than anywhere else?”

Vitin chuckled. “So you noticed already. It is one of the reasons why the Academy is such a great place to develop your Soul Arts. The air within the confines of the Academy serves to speed up your Soul Force regeneration by a decent amount. It really helps with increasing your rate of progress.”

That was an incredible and surprising revelation, Christopher was pleased to hear about this unexpected future boon for his training. The time that he had to wait between infusions was one of his major bottlenecks in making progress quickly.

“How do they achieve this?”

“Hmm, I am not an expert. From what I understand it is a side effect of the large concentration of metal soaking up all the Soul Force for such a long time. You would need to ask an expert for a more detailed explanation.”

All of a sudden, he saw sunlight streaming around the corner. As Christopher emerged from the tunnel and saw the Academy campus for the first time, he was amazed. ‘Have I landed in some far-flung future?’ He wondered for a second. Everything he saw seemed made out of metal. Multi-storied skyscrapers in strange circular designs rose up like trees. The sun brightly reflected on the uninterrupted smooth metal, the light bouncing chaotically all over the futuristic area.

The entirety made up only a few city blocks, but it still appeared as a miniature city to his eyes. He wondered how many people lived here permanently. The buildings rose so high in the air that he should have seen them from outside of the Academy. He had no idea how they could shield such a place from outside eyes, there must be some kind of magic involved.

On closer inspection, he noticed strange metal pillars spaced in regular intervals rising even higher than the metal skyscrapers. He could see a shimmering in the air that seemed to start directly at the top of each pillar. Christopher deduced that they might be responsible for the cloaking. As he looked around there were many constructs that he could not even begin to guess the function of. Even the people walking the streets below seemed different than the regular Lumen folks. All were dressed in a similar style as the people that he had seen in the administration office. Strange metallic constructs and decorations were worn all over their bodies as accessories. Vitin looked at him with a pleased and amused expression. Had he been gaping?

“So, what do you think, anything like you expected?”

“I knew something special was going on, but no, I had not expected anything like this.”

“And this is only what is above ground,” she said matter of factly.

What the hell, so there was even more? How big was this place?

“Where did all this metal come from, is it really alright to make buildings out of it?”

“Ah, it makes sense that you do not know. The Academy is built on the largest metal deposit that can be found on this side of Venaria. Why else did you think that people build a city in the middle of the forest.”

He had honestly not really thought about it. He figured that it had just been for the abundance of the impervious Sternel lumber. He was amazed that the city had managed to keep this place a secret from him all this time. Well, maybe he would have found out if he had been more insistent with his questions.

“So, I am guessing that people actually live here?”

“Sure, many of the most talented Soul Mages of Lumen have their residence here. They all like the boost that it provides to their Soul Force regeneration, and it is a great place to live as well. I actually have a small bunk of my own here.”

That made perfect sense, that way you would have the boost to your regeneration working all day round. Christopher now kind of wanted to rent a room here himself. It was something he had to look into.

“Come on, I will take you to the Academy campus and explain how everything works.”

“Then what is all of this called?”

“We simply call this place the mage district and it was slowly formed after the regeneration field was first discovered. You can imagine that many Soul Mages wanted to live close by.”

Christopher was curious how it all worked, he was excited to start his studies on Soul Force. As Vitin led him to the actual Academy, he looked around with wonder. This place was certainly alive. People were eating and drinking at several terraces. There were shops that sold everything from general goods to magical items. Some people were walking around with pets, he saw everything from the giant hamster-like creatures riding on shoulders, to a strange-looking rolling furball that seemed to navigate with some thin feelers. If he had suddenly woken up here, he would not have guessed that they were still in Lumen.

It soon became obvious that they neared the Academy. They were currently passing by a big open garden in which some people were individually training advanced Soul Arts. These Arts appeared to be associated with vines and other plant life. There were people of all ages training, and the effects all seemed chaotically different. He saw an older woman somehow manipulating some thin vines to whip around and grasping objects, they were moving slowly but the sight was still very impressive. A younger woman was quickly accelerating the growth of the pinkish moss. And a young man was attempting to weave needle-like plants into some kind of wall. It was all a bit of a shock since he had never seen anything remotely like it.

He had hoped to see more of this kind of magic here. He knew that magic quickly became more diverse and fantastical once you reached the higher tier Soul Effects. And that many of them were somewhat unique to the person that developed it on their individual path. There had been little opportunity for him to see any of it, but it appeared that this would soon be changing. Christopher could not help but smile, it seemed that he had made the right decision to pay the tuition fee.

“This is just one of the Academy training grounds. There is a place suited for pretty much any Soul Effect, even for some of the more volatile ones.”

They soon arrived at an enormous building. This building was made from a metal that had a reddish tint to it. From the outside, it looked like a stadium with smooth rounded edges. Large softly glowing letters at the top let him know that this was in fact the Lumen Academy. The building was freely accessible by the use of many large open gateways, which allowed sight within its halls.

Vitin confirmed that they had reached their destination. “Welcome to the main building of the Lumen Academy, let me show you around.”