Trent Boehm
patreon
Chapter 155
🕑 Added 2023-08-25 07:56:38 +0000 UTCChapter 155
Usually students didn’t enroll halfway through the school year. In fact in was unprecedented here at the Imperial Academy to do otherwise, but those rules did not apply to Allie. The Kingdom of Dawn, namely the imperial majesty, was bending over backwards to get her to attend to Imperial Academy at all costs - and he'd sent her a letter describing just how outright delighted he was at news of her attendance. He even said he’d personally come to speak with her before winter was over to discuss how things were going, and added that he was very interested in meeting her brother whenever Riven eventually returned.
Allie was somewhat excited about the idea, she’d never attended college back on Earth and had always wanted to - but she was also weighed down by her responsibilities as queen of the necropolis and by thoughts that perhaps Riven wasn’t going to make the timeline he needed in order to survive. Flashbacks of Jose’s death haunted her, and she shuddered at the thought that she’d lose another one to the plays of the system.
But she had to have faith. Riven was rank 60 in the world on the power ladder now, stronger than her by a good margin since acquiring dao insights in Chicago, and if he couldn’t do it - then no one could.
So here she was, day one of school as an ‘exchange student equivalent’ - or so Mara called it - to start fresh and hopefully take her mind off of the shit hand life had dealt her. Insistent on going alone today, she had refused Mara’s company and had graciously accepted an enchanted broach from the king per her own request to change the color of her eyes to hazel. The reflection staring back at her was still pale, abnormally beautiful, and her locks of brunette hair overshadowed one half of her face.
Her head was leaned against the glass window of the decorated carriage as it drove by eloquent snow-covered gardens and fields of flowers that trailed out for miles. Snowflakes drifted slowly downwards from an overcast sky, remnants of a recent snowstorm, and snow crunched underneath the wheels of the carriage as the landscape passed by. Large half-frozen ponds rippled under the light breeze to either side of the well-made road as they neared the esteemed estate of the academy on the highest level of the city, and a couple airships sailing amidst flocks of birds far overhead calmed her burdened heart. She lost herself in the vast depth of the sky for many minutes, minutes that turned to hours, until the carriage suddenly stopped at its destination.
“We’ve arrived at the academy Lady Allie Wraithtide,” the driver said with a bow after opening the carriage door. “Do you want me to carry your bags, miss?”
She shook her head. Allie wanted to remain anonymous while here, aside from direct knowledge of the king of course, as having the pretentious title of queen on an outing like this would no doubt do the exact opposite of what she’d set out to accomplish - have some relaxation time while she learned about the inner workings of Dawn from the perspective of a low-tier noble. “No, I’m fine. I can carry my own bags.”
The carriage driver looked slightly surprised but gave a small bow and got back on his seat. “Have a pleasant stay, miss.”
Soon the man was off to pick up other customers, leaving the earthborn woman standing alone outside the shining white gates to the academy. She looked very out of place amidst such splendor with her intentionally basic cloth trousers, leather boots, and her white linen shirt.
Allie took a long deep breath and let it out slowly as she approached the two heavily armored knights standing quietly at the front watching her. She really wasn’t sure if she should be here at second glance, and as she made it to stand directly in front of the guard on the right with her sack strung over her shoulder - she thought she may very well turn around right then.
Why was she nervous? She’d killed thousands of people and conquered cities for god’s sake. This was nothing compared to something like that.
It took a while for the armed soldiers to snap out of their trance and resume their duties. They'd been so caught up in Allie's good looks that they'd completely forgotten to speak, but the attitude they had towards her being here still reflected rather poorly even despite their utter shock at her beauty. Minutes later when their conversation had ended and while pondering this topic, she had to question just how they'd have reacted if she hadn't looked the way she did.
“State your business, commoner.” The knight was obviously making a reference to the way Allie was dressed and didn’t seem to like the idea of the lesser class making an appearance here.
A flare of anger surged through Allie at the snide demeaning comment, and for just a moment her body let out a compulsive and reactive wave of hostile energy. Allie hadn’t commanded it to come to her, but the death mana radiated out in a wave of cold flames that scorched the earth about her feet. She quickly reigned in her anger though as the guard backed away and reached for his weapon.
The knights stood looking warily her way for some time before Allie pulled out the sealed letter of acceptance the king had given her to present at this exact moment, and she handed it over without a word. The knight broke the seal and began to read, and seconds later the man completely changed his attitude.
“My apologies, Lady Wraithtide. I didn’t expect someone with your reputation as a lady of the court to be wearing such clothes… or any student of the academy to wear such clothes for that matter. Please allow me to escort you to the headmaster.”
Allie simply nodded, clutched her sack more tightly, and smiled warmly at the knight. “Thank you, I would sincerely appreciate it.”
Her response gave the knight pause, though Allie didn’t know why, but he quickly opened the gate afterwards and motioned her to follow. Down the road they went, with the glistening white gate closing behind them - and snow-capped buildings made of marble, polished wood, and gray stone began to rise up with their approach.
The sparring arena was the first of the buildings they passed, a monument to Dawn’s achievements towering high above her with magnificent carved lions’ heads bearing the symbol of the sun above every entrance. Flags of the sun also waved along the top of the enormous theater and caused Allie to feel quite small.
“Classes are in session so not many people are out right now.” commented the knight while they made their way through the pristine cobblestone street. Colorful glass windows both clear and colored decorated every roman-styled building on campus, and most of the buildings stood many stories high.
Eventually they stopped in front of the largest of these structures. It had pillars supporting the flat roof many stories above them where a living red drake was perched atop having a knight riding its back.
“Admiring the drake? The letter did say you’re a noble from outside of Mandon. A lesser known country noble, right?” Allie could hear the pride in the knight’s voice as he looked up at the beast too. “The breed is called a ‘Sun Drake’ after the sun god that blessed our nation long ago. They were native to this area before the integration and have been domesticated for centuries under the supervision of our military. Similar to the more common rocs we use.”
“How big do they get to be?” Allie asked curiously. She was certainly impressed. This ‘sun drake’ was certainly big - being twice the size of the rocs she’d seen knights of dawn ride on before, but it still wasn’t huge. Comparing it to the size of the drake Riven had given her for a corpse - these sun drakes could have been chomped in half. They were likely just a smaller draconian breed, but then again she didn’t have a lot to go on other than the dead dungeon boss in her spatial sack.
“This is their adult size. The babies are much smaller. They come in handy as one of our primary airborne units when we go to war. They’re often support units for the more heavy firepower. You see the airships above us do you not? Those are galleons of war patrolling overhead. Our aerial dominance using the drakes, rocs, and airships is the only reason we lasted against Tereen long enough to find allies in the Thane Necropolis to the north, otherwise we probably would have been wiped out by now. Our ground forces are simply inferior to the elvish cavalry in every way.”
Mention of the Thane Necropolis got Allie’s attention, and she side-eyed the knight as they started walking again. “What are your thoughts on the necropolis? As you said, I’m a noble from the outlands and have little experience with the undead.”
The knight paused in his step, thought about it, and shrugged. “Kinda creepy bastards if you ask me, I’ve seen a couple personally and up close - but as long as they’re killing elves then they’re friends of mine.”
The large double doors were already open and they walked inside to behold two carpeted spiral staircases on either side of them with a long hallway continuing straight ahead. Velvet chairs and couches decorated the entryway with refreshments Alliedidn’t recognize and a detailed map of the continent was painted along the ceiling.
Walking further down Allie saw that most of the doors led to classrooms with many of the classrooms having glass windows looking out into the hall. A single classroom was in most instances created as a small amphitheater - seating anywhere from 20 to 40 students, and every one of the students were far better dressed than she was with many of them having servants waiting along the wall or taking notes for them.
Coming around a bend in the hallway she was taken to a dead end with a locked door. The knight knocked on the door twice and waited patiently before it swung open to reveal a pretty middle aged woman with long black hair dressed in robes of a fine red cloth.
“Archmage Zefima Navir,” the knight bowed low while removing his helmet out of respect. “I have a delivery for you.”
The woman eyed both of them curiously for a time and took the letter Allie had given her escort. The archmage's demeanor changed from curious to elated as she read, and she pocketed the letter to warmly hug a very surprised Allie.
“Allie! I’m so glad to finally meet you!”
The knight was flabbergasted and his jaw dropped at the warm welcome, but he immediately straightened up and dismissed himself, turning around the bend shortly thereafter with a final curious look over his shoulder.
“Please come in so we can speak in private before you’re set up with your dormitory and class schedule!” The woman held the door wide open and shut it behind them as Allie entered the private office of the archmage. Books in varying languages and thickness lined the shelves to her right and left with an intricate wooden desk in the middle twice the size of a dining table from back on Earth. The back wall had a stained glass window lighting the room even aside from the orb glowing on the ceiling, and potted flowering plants were set regularly around cushioned chairs.
“So tell me! What’s your impression of our Imperial Academy at first glance?”
Allie watched the overly friendly and enthusiastic woman with suspicion, but straightened her posture and brushed her long brunette hair to the side. “It’s very well kept… the limestone buildings especially add a nice touch, and the gardens surrounding the estate miles out are very impressive. It must have cost a fortune.”
“Many fortunes I assure you!” Zefima winked at Allie playfully and took out five large books from underneath the desk. “I’ve had these all modified with more of the essential topics upon hearing you would be attending! Anything underlined will no doubt be tested on at least once, so keep that in mind and don’t tell the other students I did that for you.”
“… Thanks?” Allie muttered while she sat down in her own chair opposite of the archmage.
Putting each book side by side they were titled: ‘Fundamentals of Battle Magic,’ ‘Magic Theory Basics,’ ‘Anatomy and Healing Techniques,’ ‘A History of the Eternal War,’ and ‘Illusions, Trickery and War Games.’
The archmage tapped on ‘A History of the Eternal War’ with her brilliant smile radiating Allie’s way. “The other books are relative to your classes, mostly being broad spectrum to encompass many different pillar orientations - but this one I thought you’d take a personal interest in. Be sure to tell me what you think of it. Anyways! Our Imperial Academy is geared towards creating military personnel and officers for the army. All classes taught here are geared towards this end. This is not a normal school of magic and we go at a fast pace… but your brother assured me that this would be ok.”
“You spoke with my brother?” A frown of concern crossed Allie’s features and a pit in her stomach appeared. How had this ‘Zefima’ character spoken with Allie if Riven had left months ago?
The older woman suppressed a laugh and nodded enthusiastically. “He’s quite a charmer! Even if he is a little bit scary. We had many in depth discussions and he paid for all three years of your education up front along with significant donations to our studies and research department - even aside from the crown’s own intervention. Riven apparently thought it prudent to show you two weren’t taking handouts… and the research teams were very pleased, I assure you.”
Allie raised an eyebrow but didn’t press further. “Alright. And what’s your name again? Zefima, if I recall correctly?”
“Oh! I’m so sorry for my rudeness! I never properly introduced myself. My name is Zefima Navir, Archmage of the academy! If you ever need ANYTHING please feel free to ask! And your identity will be kept a safe secret with me, Lady Thane. Only myself and the king know of who exactly you are, as the crown felt it prudent I intervene on your behalf should anything out of the ordinary encompass your stay here. He very much values the relationship with your necropolis.” Zefima leaned forward mischievously, winked, leaned back and took out a parchment. Handing it over to Allie she clasped her hands together with a cockiness Allie kind of liked. “Are you ready to start today?”
“Today?” repeated Allie, surprised. “I don’t even know where my classes are or where I’m supposed to live. And I should mention that my companion, Mara, is still taking tours of the lower levels so she’ll need to be brought up later on.”
The archmage smirked and clapped her hands loudly twice. A couple of seconds later and the door opened up and a young woman came in to bow low in a plain brown maid’s outfit. She was very pretty, petite, a redhead, and had lots of freckles to adorn her kind features. If she had been standing outside the door when Allie had arrived, she certainly hadn’t seen her.
“I’ve prepared a handmaid for you ahead of time. Her name is Sherine, and she is one of the best servants we have here. Very capable.”
Allie put on a brilliant smile and gave a small wave. “It’s nice to meet you Sherine.”
“Lady Wraithtide, the pleasure is mine.” Sherine curtsied and walked over to pick up Allie’s books for her. She didn’t smile but she didn’t frown either and avoided eye contact. Perfectly straight-faced, she turned to Allie. “Your second class of the day has just started, would you want me to escort you there now? Or would you rather be shown to your room?”
“Sherine, dear, Allie needs to change into some new clothes. They’re all ready and waiting in her wardrobe back at the dorm. Please take her there first!” the headmaster said politely as the servant girl bowed again.
“Very well. Lady Wraithtide, please follow me.”
Comments
Wrath
Wonder if the cripple from earlier chapters will be making a impression.
James Faulkner
All hail the double chapter!
