"You're not going to shut down the Academy. You want to know why? Because my work has consistently produced the most powerful and accomplished shrouded and the highest numbers of true shrouds in the history of the CA. My methods work. I don't care how many families are angry that I'm not bending over backward for them. They'll get over it, or they'll fall behind their competitors. Their kids are stronger. The country is stronger. The Council is stronger. So shut up and let me do my job." Recording of Headmaster Damon Vestigious, in closed chambers, speaking to the Central Council on a protest made against the Central Academy by several prominent families.

Caeden couldn't help but stare in awe. He had been annoyed when Erik had nearly beat him awake, yelling that they were there like a hyperactive 5-year-old, but now he understood. At least a little. Because he was standing at the bow of the War God, staring down at the single biggest and most beautiful city he had ever seen. It covered everything he could see, from horizon to horizon. There were hundreds of etherships of all shapes and sizes filling the air, adding to the fantastical, imposing quality of the cityscape. Some of those ships put the War God they were on to shame, looking so big they could have contained the whole town Caeden had lived in with room to spare.

The buildings themselves varied wildly in shape and color; many had ether crystals built into them for purposes Caeden couldn't even fathom. Many of them rose dozens of stories into the air, metallic construction making them stand out against surrounding buildings constructed of wood and stone. In spite of their more modern neighbors, the older buildings still managed to look refined and graceful, dripping with grace and wealth. Everything was shining brightly in the early morning light of the Pillar, off to the right. The Pillar took up much more of the horizon this far into the islands.

Caeden had heard stories of Central City, the seat of the Council and the most advanced and influential city in the entire Starry Sea. It was supposedly built in between four entire islands, constructed over millennia as a nexus of wealth and excess over all of the territories under Central Authority control. The waters so close to the Pillar were calm, unlike their continental counterparts. Caeden had noticed the massive waves slowly giving way to calmer and calmer waters over the last three weeks.

The phenomenon had allowed this massive mega-city to span across the waves, connecting what had already been four large and wealthy cities into something that was so much more. The city over the sea was so tense, so thoroughly linked to the parts on land, that Caeden couldn't even tell the difference. The amount of raw material and physical labor that went into this feat of construction and engineering was staggering to contemplate.

They were heading to the very center of the city. The Academy sat equidistant from all the island as a statement of neutrality. Based on some of the things Anthony had said. Caeden had some doubts about how neutral the Academy truly was, which was fine. This was going to be an uphill battle no matter what. The burning, raging desire he had first felt when he had spoken to his uncle had only grown over the two weeks it had taken to get here. Caeden was determined to succeed. His uncle may be able to live with things as they were, but he wasn't.

Those weeks had been filled with more training. Caeden still had nowhere near the skill and finesse that Erik displayed, but he could hold the tall man back for several minutes before being overwhelmed. The effort was draining, but the noticeable increase in his capabilities was rewarding.

Caeden had also devoted time to building up his control over his new shroud. That had been much slower going than he had hoped. Caeden had expected his previous experience with Sharp to translate over to Physical Enhancement. That had not panned out. It felt like the two of them had completely different natures, which made sense to a certain degree.

Sharp wanted to move; it followed Caeden's will with little input from him. The hardest thing he had ever learned to do with it was forming flat plains without an edge. Physical Enhancement was sluggish and belligerent. It only moved easily in reaction to a threat. When it did move, it was always overkill. The hardest thing was restraining how much shroud he used. It seemed to be very much an all-or-nothing situation. That training had become a constant source of frustration.

"It's awesome, right?" Erik was grinning like a loon, rapidly looking between Caeden and the view. "You're glad I got you, aren't you? Don't lie, c'mon." He waggled his eyebrows.

Caeden couldn't help but laugh. "Ok, you were right. This is pretty awesome. Please don't make a habit of trying to beat me awake."

"Yeah, sorry about the bunk collapsing on you."

Caeden shrugged. "At this point, I'm pretty used to it. Are you sure you're not cursed?"

"Curses aren't real."

"Look, man, the level of random accidents that happen around you go beyond bad luck."

Erik shrugged. This was not a new conversation. After three weeks of spending a decent amount of his time around Erik and seeing all the inexplicably slippery floors, or falling sections of ceiling, or broken water pipes, or any of the dozen other things that happened around the guy, Caeden was officially convinced that something was going on.

"I don't understand how you can live in a world with flying boats and people who can cut stuff with their mind, and you don't believe in curses."

"Have you ever seen a curse?"

"Well, no, but-"

`"There you go," Erik nodded decisively. "I've seen flying ships and mind knives. Never seen a curse."

"I don't think you can really see a curse. It's more of a metaphysical thing."

"I don't even know what that means," Erik said with a great deal of pride.

"Ignorance isn't something to be proud of."

"Says you!"

"Yes, says me! How did this conversation devolve into nonsense again? I swear this happens every time with you." Caeden shook his head.

"Cuz I'm great at nonsense, duh."

"Still not something to be proud of."

"Hey, it's what I got; I'm gonna own it."

"I guess that's cool in a sort of reverse psychology way." Both of them stared down over the majesty of a foreign land. Caeden reflected on how nice it was to be in such an unfamiliar place with at least one person who could understand how jarringly different this giant uber-city spanning the horizon was compared to the cities they had both grown up in.

"We're a long way from home, aren't we?" Caeden asked softly.

"Yep! It's pretty exciting!"

"The both of you are in for much worse than you think."

"Do you enjoy sneaking up on people?" Caeden shot Anthony a dirty look. All he got back was a smug smile.

"Seriously, you need to get over the whole 'oh wow, isn't this so amazing and wonderful' shit because you will be in serious danger the second you're at the Academy. Especially you, Caeden." He gave both of them a stern look. "You won't get left out of that if you keep hanging out with him, Erik."

He got an incredulous snort in response. "Cae is my boy. I'm not about to abandon him just because all the rich kiddies are dicks."

Anthony shook his head. "It's not that simple. They'll try to recruit you at first, but when you turn them down, they'll get very, very aggressive. The school will try to contain the worst of it, but they can't stop everything."

"Yes, and they'll be really mean and try to get us kicked out or killed." Caeden finished. "Anthony, I'm not trying to be dismissive, but this is literally all you've been telling us for weeks. We get it. We'll be careful. We won't accept any deals."

"Even if they offer to heal your uncle?" He pressed.

Caeden sighed. "Yes, even then. If I ended up under a family's thumb just to heal him, Unc would kick my ass. I won't be stupid about this, I promise. And I'll watch Erik's back."

"And I'll watch his!" Erik added excitedly.

"Good." Anthony's mouth twitched, almost forming a smile. "I'm not supposed to say this shit, but screw the CA. Sending you kids in blind is just unfair. Now," He clapped his hands. "A skipper came up with your uniforms. It's time to get ready. We're only a few hours out."

{}

The uniform robes were primarily black with white accents. The style and cut were the exact same as the military robes Caeden had been wearing for the past three weeks, so it wasn't much of a change. Erik, who had been wearing his own pants and shirt, was not having a good time switching over.

"Look, all I'm saying is that they're restrictive. How am I supposed to move in this crap?" He tugged at various bits, trying to adjust it.

"It's really not that bad." Caeden made sweeping motions, demonstrating the mobility. "The fact that it covers so much more gives the illusion that it's more restrictive, but the mobility is honestly about the same."

"Says, you man. Your flexibility is shit." Erik pouted, attempting to contort his body into different shapes in a way that was slightly uncomfortable to watch.

"Yeah, yeah. Not everyone is practically boneless. Stop doing that; it's freaking weird." Erik's shroud having healing properties had allowed him to perform stretches most people would find exceptionally physically damaging, safe in the comfort that he could recover. He had proceeded to abuse the hell out of that fact, increasing the flexibility of his muscles and joints to a borderline superhuman degree.

"Nope. Gotta limber up. We're about to be in mortal danger, according to mister doom-and-gloom." Erik shook his head, which was currently between his legs; after he had bent over backward so far, he had come all the way around to face forward again.

"Hmm," Caeden didn't offer a response. He was busy watching the Central Academy from above. They were currently on an ethership slightly larger than the skipper. Big enough to hold over thirty people, which it was currently doing. Caeden had been aware of the other continental shrouded that had been on the War God with them but hadn't made many attempts to get to know them past a few initial encounters. Most were either upset about being picked up and unwilling to participate or excited about the opportunity with a solid sense of superiority over the reluctant ones. Caeden found both groups annoying.

His attention extended beyond his friend, beyond the other new students milling about the deck, focused toward the grounds of the Academy ahead of them. There were dozens of other ships similar to his own heading in the same direction. A massive tower extended into the air, much taller than anything around it, constructed of bronze, like many of the larger buildings in the city. It had an array of ether built into the structure like decoration.

Caeden had noticed similar structures around the city as they flew past, and they acted as hubs for etherships to dock and load and unload cargo and passengers. This one seemed to be dedicated specifically for use by the Academy. There were tiers of docks situated at the top for ships of various sizes to hook on. The tower itself was set on the outskirts of the Academy, along with three other buildings, all equidistant from a central structure.

All the buildings were majestic and unique and magical in their own way. The four outer buildings all had a flair to them, one dark and foreboding, another bright and shining. These two sat opposite each other, forming a contrast. The one opposite the bronze tower was comprised of a massive variety of ether crystals, to the degree that Caeden was not sure if the walls themselves were simply made of crystal.

The central building, though, was formed of a mixture of all four of the outer structures, with a central spire of an absolutely clear material. Caeden didn't know if this was crystal, or glass, or something else. Somehow, despite the clash of all the various aspects of the others, he thought the central building was the most beautiful.

They docked only a few minutes later, along with hundreds of other students. Caeden immediately began assessing everyone. It was easy to tell who came from where, who was friends with who, based on a few key factors. The easiest difference to spot was between continentals and islanders. Mainly because the islanders had luggage. He could see many people moving about with dozens of bags, some even having arrived on their own etherships with attendants in tow to carry their baggage.

A more subtle difference was the presence or absence of weapons. Continentals didn't have any or had some basic, uninfused armaments. Only the islanders had infused weapons. Using his shroud, Caeden even felt he could tell a few that had shrouded weapons. However, those were few, even among the islanders.

A much more telling difference was disposition. The islanders were confident and comfortable. He saw a few obvious continentals trying to match that swagger and failing miserably. Some of that must be down to the weight of hundreds of shrouds pressing against his own. The exercises Erik and Caeden had been doing made that pressure much more tolerable, but it was still grating after living most of his life without being near a single other shroud. How much worse must that be for those who hadn't gone through the same process?

The last easy difference was the assholes.

"God, you are fucking useless, aren't you? I asked you to bring one thing, and you fucked that up! You need to learn a lesson!" A shout rose above the general clamor of hundreds of people. Caeden focused on it, which was easy since many others were doing the same. A young man around his age was facing a woman within that same range. Even as Caeden laid eyes on them, the man started to conjure streaks of bluish-white lightning in his hand, arcs jumping across his fingers.

No one looked like they were interested in interfering. The continentals were scared, and the islanders seemed unmoved. Caeden ran an internal debate. Interrupting was likely to get him an enemy before school even started, which was a dumb move. Plus, he didn't even know this girl or anything about the argument they were having. It wasn't his problem.

Then the man dropped a bolt on the lady.

She screamed and dropped to the ground, flopping about bonelessly.

Unc would be pissed if he knew you had watched this happen. Your parents would be disappointed. Whispered in the back of his head.

Before he could think his way out of it, Caeden was stepping up behind the lightning man. He was shorter than Caeden by a few inches, which made grabbing his raised hand much easier.

"I think that's enough." He said evenly, internally wondering what the fuck he was doing.

The man whipped around, his face contorted in anger, an incredulous look in his eyes. Without a word, he redirected a bolt at Caeden, running along his arm and blasting him away. Searing pain ripped along his nerves, blanking his mind. His ears rang, and he could taste copper. Immediately, Physical Enhancement rose up, running over the damaged areas. Caeden could feel his shroud enhancing his natural healing factor, recovering the damage at an extreme rate.

Before he was recovered, another shroud slammed into his own, trying to seize control of his body. Without all that he had learned over the last three weeks, Caeden would have been instantly overwhelmed. In fact, without both his shrouds, he would have been overwhelmed. Physical Enhancement protected his body, preventing the invader from reaching any further. Meanwhile, Caeden directed Sharp to go on the offensive, taking the total weight of the attacker off his full-frontal assault.

It wasn't enough. The other shroud was so much heavier, bearing down and practically ignoring every attempt Caeden made to attack. Luckily, Caeden wasn't trying to win; he was just trying to buy time to recover, which was happening. His hearing returned in a rush, the tingling and burning along his arm fading rapidly. Unfortunately, Caeden could hear again. Immediately his ears were assaulted with the loud whining of a toddler on a power trip.

"Do you have any idea who I am?! I'll kill you, you piece of shit! I'll kill your fucking family! Give up and die already! Fuck!" The semi-coherent speech turned into incoherent cursing. Caeden barely listened, focused on weathering the assault while conserving his shrouds as much as possible. Whenever the lightning shroud would focus down, Caeden would distract him with pinpoint assaults. After a while, the man seemed to run out of steam. Caeden could feel that his shroud had lessened in intensity. Finally, he cut off the attack.

"Fucking not even worth it! Eat shit and die!" He stormed off, not even looking back as he made his way to the tower's center.

Caeden sagged, mentally drained and physically exhausted from the prolonged effort.

"You good man?" Erik was standing over him, Caeden having been kneeling on the ground since the lightning blast.

In response, Caeden keeled over and threw up.