Two little comets streaked across the skies, cutting a parabolic arc as they landed in front of the gate to Lower Elysium. The entire city was a no-fly zone for anyone without a permit, and as respectable and upstanding would-be students of the Phrontistery of Scientific Reasoning, Gaius didn’t want to go against the Pinnacle’s rules and laws.

Gazes fell upon the odd newcomers, and Gaius could see why immediately. Gaius was physically younger than almost everyone else, while Isabelle had Nakama on her back…although it seemed that most of the eyes were drawn to a little flower sitting on his sister’s head.

Ignoring the curious onlookers, Gaius led the others into Lower Elyisum, where they quickly blended into the crowd after a while. The phrontistery was located in the Mortal Light Dynasty’s capital…the true capital, in fact.

With their certificates of residence, the three were able to enter Upper Elysium without any incident too, other than the occasional delectable scents that entered the boy’s nose. As they continued to walk towards Twilight Elysium, Gaius soon noticed a lot of well-dressed children and teenagers walk in the same direction, with what looked like reverence on their face.

Once again, Gaius thought back to the near-reverence that had permeated the capital of Mi-Zu when he first arrived.

But it seemed that this reverence was far more nuanced in Elysium — it was apparent that entering Twilight Elysium was something like a pilgrimage. In silence, the three continued to walk onwards, and the stream of would-be students grew as they approached the boundary that separated Twilight Elysium and Upper Elysium.

The inspection was strict. There was only one entrance into the vaunted hub of the North, and over a thousand troops stood there at the ready. Another bunch of people — around a one hundred orderlies — were checking the credentials of those who wanted to enter Twilight Elysium. Once an inspection was done, the orderly would leave with the visitor, with another orderly taking his or her place.

“This level of security is somewhat insane,” Isabelle murmured. “I don’t think Sephira or Empyria had anything like these.”

“Stay frosty, then,” Gaius replied.

With a hundred or so orderlies, there was nothing like a queue. The three of them chose an orderly at random, seeing as all of them were wearing helmets and full body armour.

“Purpose?”

“We’re prospective students of the Phrontistery of Scientific Reasoning,” said Gaius. “There’s an admission test today, and we’re going for that particular test.”

“That test is reserved for people with recommendation letters only,” replied the orderly. “The general admission test is next week. Do you have one such letter?”

Gaius nodded, and took out the three letters. Distributing them to Nakama and Isabelle, the boy slid his own over to the orderly, who opened it. His face was hidden by a helmet, which made it impossible to see the emotions of the orderly as he scanned through the document.

“Everything seems to be in order,” said the orderly, after he scanned through the other letters. “Very well, please follow me to take the specialised admission test. Please do not run about or create a commotion when you enter Twilight Elysium.”

The three nodded, and then followed the orderly docilely as he led the way. “Lots of people come with a letter of recommendation, but this is the first time I’ve seen one from the Southern Assembly.”

“The writer is actually now in the Republic, though,” said Isabelle.

“The old people club transcends national boundaries. In fact, cases like yours occur when your patriarch or matriarch decides to get you something nice,” replied the orderly. “Of course, the most impressive one is the fella from the Western Holdings, who came in with two hundred and forty letters of recommendation.”

“Two hundred and forty?” It was Gaius’ turn to ask. “What’s the point of getting so many?”

“To show off, naturally. She dropped by an hour ago. I think some of my buddies are still busy verifying every letter,” said the orderly.

“Isn’t verifying one enough?” Nakama asked curiously.

“Well, little girl, there’s a rule. We need to verify everything.” The orderly shuddered. “Luckily, I wasn’t on that shift, or else I would still be reading until now. I think we’re going to submit an appeal to change that rule tomorrow.”

Gaius didn’t know what to say, so he watched on silently as Nakama continued to ask about the surprising event. As his sister pressed on and on, the orderly’s voice became sadder and sadder — Nakama was making him relive the traumas of his current occupation, and the man didn’t even realise it.

The boy looked around and narrowed his eyes slightly. Of the three areas in Elysium, Twilight Elysium was the area that resembled the cities of modern Earth the closest. Of course, the shopping centres and whatnot were all in Upper Elysium, but that didn’t stop billboards from popping up everywhere. Advertisements dominated the animated screens, while an omnipresent news ticker at the bottom of each screen played news blurb after news blurb.

Well, at least some things didn’t change all that much. It didn’t take long before the group of four reached the phrontistery, and with a wave of his hand, the orderly sent them off.

A pair of chrome-plated school gates filled Gaius’ vision. Hundreds of people filed into four different queues, and the boy suddenly felt like he wasn’t that special after all. He’d heard it earlier, but to see so many people clutching on to the same letter of recommendation…it was somewhat dispiriting.

Oh, and that blue-haired girl there with a small cart full of letters too. The fifteen Knights around her just made it a bit sadder, but the true icing was the cart. Shaking his head, Gaius led the others over to register.

There was an hour left before the test began.