After Ira was Ku-Aya, which was Purattu’s home.

Ku-Aya was indeed much more impressive than anything Xerxes had seen on Ira, Humusi, or any of the lower starisles. All the buildings were taller. There were columns everywhere, some of which featured statues of fantastic creatures atop them, like winged lions or horses with horns. There were archways and temples, public squares and broad streets wider than the largest squares on Mannemid.

But most impressive of all was a mass of white and green rising up in the middle of the city.

“Is that a mountain?” he asked.

“Nope,” Purattu said. “Behold the Hanging Gardens of Ku-Aya. You won’t find anything like them in a lesser starisle, believe me.”

It was a huge structure made from white stone, with ascending tiers of gardens. He saw trees, bushes, vines, and even what seemed to be entire fields, all on this massive man-made structure that he’d originally mistaken for a landform. Circling around it took a full hour, and there never seemed a lack of interesting aspects of the place to gaze upon. Immense sculptures. Waterfalls. Bridges.

Xerxes was so entranced he hardly noticed how long it took to reach their destination.

Eventually, he saw buildings outside the carriage, most of them two or three stories tall, surrounded by brick walls. Then he realized they were entering one such compound. After they went through a set of outer gates, the carriage rolled to a halt.

As it turned out, it was a villa owned by the Ku-Aya Mage Parliament.

They were assigned rooms, with most mages being put with other mages from their own starisles. Xerxes and Gandash got a pair of bunks in a tiny room at the end of a hallway.

“Not incredibly impressive,” Gandash said.

Xerxes tossed his traveling pack onto the ground at the foot of the bed, and his sword onto the mattress. “Better than the Academy dorms though. At least there’s a timepiece.”

“True.”

After dinner, Purattu told the mages they would spend the night and the following day in the villa while he gave a report about his mission and made arrangements for the final leg of their journey.

“Don’t leave the compound,” Purattu said. “I want you to spend the entire time in meditation. Get your chambers of energy as full as possible before we get to Sin-Amuhhu.”

Xerxes was getting very behind on meditation. He still had yet to perform a second Flush. And given that he needed to do twelve total to reach the High Seer level, he knew he shouldn’t be slacking. Of course, there were some mages who were content to take years, decades even, to become a High Seer. There were even some who, because of lack of talent or initiative, never managed it. And that wasn’t to mention the baffling limitations imposed by natural law. But Xerxes knew that he had to become a High Seer.

Once he got to the Institute on Sin-Amuhhu, he needed to rise above his peers. If nothing else, he wanted to be ready to repay Purattu as early as possible. In fact, even though Purattu didn’t want to charge interest, Xerxes was determined that he would provide interest with the repayment. That was what an honorable person should do. And he obviously couldn’t do that if he didn’t make some significant progress with his magic.

That evening, he focused fully on meditation, with the exception of about an hour studying the Asgagu Sebum rune.

The following day, he was equally as studious, to the point where he skipped lunch.

It was around the dinner hour when Purattu returned. As the mages gathered to eat, Purattu pulled Kashtiliash and Xerxes aside.

“Here,” he said, handing each of them a lacquered box. “Fifty shekels each, as promised. I split them between gold and silver.” He grinned. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”

After a light meal, they were back in the carriages and heading to the final Gateway complex.

There were a lot more guards and soldiers, and more formalities. Purattu handled everything. There was only a short wait for carriages after they stepped out of the tunnel. Once on the streets of Sin-Amuhhu, Xerxes found himself yet again staring out the window.

The strangest thing was that when they left Ku-Aya, it was evening, but when they arrived at Sin-Amuhhu, it was morning. It turned out to be good, as the trip from the Gateway complex to the school took many hours.

However amazing Ku-Aya was, this place was even more impressive. The buildings were bigger and taller. The streets were wider. Everything was extremely clean. The paint was fresh. Some structures had gold, silver, and jewels embedded into them. Right on the street!

There were no beggars. What was more, everyone he saw on the street wore clothing of finespun cloth and even silk. And they seemed laden with immense amounts of jewelry.

Even Purattu was craning his neck to take in the sights.

About two hours later, the carriages went through the gate of an enormous wall.

“This is it,” Purattu said. “The Sin-Amuhhu Institute of Military Magic. Get ready for your lives to change forever.”

As they stepped out of the carriages, they found a group of three uniformed individuals waiting, presumably staff or teachers. One of them led Purattu away to fill out forms. The other two took charge of the new arrivals.

What followed was a whirlwind of activity. The twenty-one mages were interviewed, took a medical examination, and provided some basic personal information. They were given new uniform robes of overlapping blue and white fabric, with girdles of black leather, plus a strongbox for valuables.

Finally, they were assigned temporary quarters. Female mages and male mages were kept separate.

“You’ll stay here for a short time,” they were told. “After your assessment, you’ll likely be split up again.”

By the time Xerxes and Gandash were finally able to sit on their cots and look each other in the eye, it was evening. They were both exhausted yet exhilarated.

“This is amazing,” Xerxes said.

Gandash nodded. “Yeah. I just wish Bel could be here to see it.”

“Yeah.”

It felt like the right time to have a deep talk with Gandash, but Xerxes' eyes were just too heavy, and he fell asleep.