In the first place, calling this a mere ‘campus’ was a bit of an understatement. In reality, the grounds that belonged to the Academy of Mystic Arts seemed more like a town. An enclosed city within a city, with its own separate wall that completely sectioned off a portion of the middle layer. It stretched all the way from the wall in the distance that separated off the great bulk of Kyronkar looming overhead, and the small homey towers of the lower district. The particular wall that enclosed the Academy campus from the rest of the city of Blutstein seemed to be a relatively recent addition to the foundation, constructed of a different material than the rest of the city. While the majority of the stone that Blutstein was apparently conjured from was a dark grey granite, the walls of the Academy were instead a different shade, so light they almost looked white. The sharp contrast between the two stones marked a clear delineation point between the property of the city and the property of the Academy.

  One problem, though.

  The massive black steel gates, big enough to hold off an army, were very much closed. Our party of seven stood before the impenetrable and very much closed entrance and silently stared at it.

  “Well…” I said slowly. “What now?”

  Renauld scratched his head. “Uh. I don’t know?” At my look, he shrugged. “Hey, I’ve never actually seen the gates closed like this.”

  “There a different entrance?” Azarus asked, scratching his chin through his beard.

  Liora studied the looming walls with crossed arms and a frown. “There is a freight elevator connected to a canal running out to sea. The Academy sees to its own material needs through that matter, directly negotiating with trade partners. The entrance is back down in the harbor district, and the exit is somewhere in there.”

  That caused Renauld to blink. “Oh, hey. I didn’t know that. Makes sense, though, I suppose. How did…you…” He trailed off at the look Liora fixed him with. “Right, right. I forgot. Former spook.”

  I shook my head at their back and forth and adjusted the napping Aveline on the hip from where I held her. I looked over at Venix inquisitively. “Any ideas?” I asked him, causing the Antium samurai to stir from his quietude. “Presumably you lived here for years after Grey recruited you.”

  As if seeing the closed gates for the first time, Venix looked up and frowned. “Do not attempt the supply lift. I have seen the defenses in that corridor, and it would be foolish to test them.” He stopped, then, and looked around at the group of us standing around idly. “Have any of you simply attempted…to knock?”

  There was an embarrassed silence, then, as none of us met each other’s eyes. I think I heard a feline snicker from Azarus’s direction, but when I glanced in that direction, Sena looked totally composed.

  Venix sighed at us and stepped forward towards the gate. He raised one chitinous arm, his white and pink robe falling around it…

  And pounded on the massive edifice before us, his fist impacting the blackened steel hard enough that it rang like a gong. The noise was so loud that it traveled a long distance, far enough that when I looked over my shoulder I could see more than a few pedestrians had stopped to watch us. I winced and hurriedly looked back around.

  Nothing happened for several minutes, all of us watching the door silently and waiting for any hint of movement. Venix was rearing back his fist to bang on the gate once more when something happened. The gates didn’t open, no.

  But a small slot at around eye level did, something I hadn’t even been able to see on the surface of the steel. In that new rectangular opening, I could see a pair of suspicious brown eyes set into deep sockets staring out at the world. That was all, though, as the eyes were pressed pretty close up to the slot. I saw nothing else about the owner. The opening was off to the side of Venix, and so the owner didn’t see the Antium man.

  He sure saw us, though, and he didn’t look happy about it.

  “Stop makin’ all that damned racket!” A rough, pissed-off voice said in a…strangely familiar accent. I turned to face Azarus with a raised eyebrow, hooking my head towards the gate. My visibly surprised Dwarven friend nodded without looking at me. “What the hells do ya kids want?!”

  “Uh…” Renauld said, raising a hand and causing the eyes to snap over his way. The Gnoll flinched slightly at the regard. “I’m a student here, and I want to get inside? My friends too.”

  “I don’t give a damn who you are!” The gatekeeper barked at him. “You or yer pissant friends! These gates ain’t openin’ till the new King signs the treaty, and that’s flippin’ final! If ya didn’t want ta be stuck outside, then ya shouldn’t have gone gallivantin’ off in search o’ glory!”

  The view slot slammed shut with a ringing sound.

  I blinked.

  “But I didn’t…” Renauld said surprisingly meekly. “I was in prison…”

  Venix sighed and then raised his fist to bang on the gate once more. This time he was only able to cause the blackened steel to ring one more time before the slot was wrenched open again.

  “I’m warnin’ ya, ye little shits!” The owner of the now bloodshot eyes shouted at us furiously. “If ya bang on me door ONE MORE TIM-”

  This time the gatekeeper was interrupted. “Kargath Gravelfoot,” Venix said flatly, stepping into view before the doorkeeper could keep shouting at us. “You know me. I have returned from my task in escorting the Headmaster's apprentice. We seek entrance and audience with the Shattered Sun.”

  'Kargath Gravelfoot' blinked his reddened eyes at us. “Eh? Venix? Where the hell did ya come from? Wait. Wait a second…” He turned his eyes back to the rest of us standing behind the Antium samurai to study the group. His eyes flickered over everyone before ultimately landing on me. “Well, I’ll be damned. Uh…name was…” The eyes looked down, and through the slot, I thought I heard a ruffling noise. “Nathan…Hurt?”

  “Hart, actually,” I said with a wince, stepping forward. I shifted my grip on the snoozing little girl in my arms and did my best to smile at the gatekeeper. “Grey-Headmaster Greycton should be expecting me.”

  “Well, no shit, boy,” Kargath said flatly. “Only the Headmaster told me ya were likely ta get here tomorrow. Made good time, did ya? Nevermind, nevermind. Give me a mo’.”

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  The slot closed once more, and seconds later I heard a grinding noise as something was lifted from the other side of the door. The gates briefly shuddered, and then the leftmost one was opened just enough for a large head to poke out and stare at us.

  Only, at a much lower height than the view slot had been. Dwarven height, actually.

  Staring out at us expectantly was the large, bushy head of a Dwarven man of average height for the race. He appeared to be in the middle stages of middle age, with long, brown hair streaked with grey, bound up in numerous braids adorned with iron ornaments. A full-length beard of the same shade adorned his face, tied up into two additional braids that trailed down his thick chin. Normally I would have thought that was the indication that this was a Dwarven noble, but…

  Somehow, I was getting the impression that this guy wasn’t from the Principality.

  One thickly muscled arm snaked out of the crack and waved at us with fingers as thick as sausages. “Well? C’mon, then. I ain’t got all day, and I don’t trust those damned Loyalists out there,” He said, with a suspicious squint at the crowd in the distance.

  We did as Kargath asked, squeezing through the gap he had opened. Once through, I stepped to the side to let my companions follow behind, as I took in the grounds of what was likely going to be the focal point of my life for the foreseeable future.

  I had been right to call this a secluded town within a city. The Academy of Mystic Arts was massive.

  It wasn’t all one building as I’d typically thought of when I considered Universities. I…had never had the opportunity to attend myself, back on Earth, and so I had only been able to fantasize about it. I’d needed to both provide for and take care of my Father, and one of my common daydreams during those hard days had been about my perfect fictional college life. I had, naively, thought it would be all one majestic building where people my own age could mingle and learn.

  But the reality here in magical fantasy land couldn’t be farther from the truth. There were dozens of huge majestic buildings stretching off into the distance before me, all of them distinct and meticulously cared for. All of them were constructed in varying styles from across the face of Vereden, using materials that almost seemed excessive in scope and, frankly, Aetherial density. Generally, I think the architects of the Academy facilities had deliberately chosen not to imitate the ‘tower and spire’ motif that the rest of Blutstein seemed to follow. I’m not sure what purpose the solid gold trim I could see on one of the buildings nearest to the gate served, but even I could tell it was supporting some powerful enchantments.

  They had the amenities to support all of it, too. I was damn sure that some of the construction I saw in here looked like restaurants, general stores, and even more specialized ones as well. It was somewhat unsurprising to see what looked like a stationary store.

  I’d probably be frequenting that one.

  I believe I even saw a Gyreite Church somewhere in the distance, the sunlight reflecting off of the Rorician sandstone of its walls.

  It seemed like they had everything in here. Everything you could possibly need to both support a University…or withstand a siege.

  Everything seemed meticulously planned, as well, with distinct paths leading to and fro all the different subsections of the campus grounds. I could barely even see all of it from where I stood, and I could already tell that this place was expansive. But not, strangely, in an overwhelming manner similar to what I’d experienced out in the lower layer of the city. I think what helped matters was the large spaces in between the facilities, dominated by well cared for greenery. Shrubs, flowers, gardens, and trees were to be found aplenty on the grounds of the Academy. So much so that it almost felt like I had taken a step outside of the Blutstein gates and out into the wilderness.

  Only, it was filled with powerful resources to train the next generations of Classer, be they Magi or Cultivator.

  Oddly, none of them were to be found. I didn’t see anyone actually out and about on the beautiful grounds stretching out in front of me. Which was…odd to say the least. It had been my impression that nearly the whole of the faculty and student population had been locked up in here ever since the war had really started to heat up. After all, it had been one of the most secure places on the continent, even though the Academy was right in the heart of Loyalist territory.

  Strange. Where was everyone?

  I was knocked out of my initial rubbernecking by the sound of the gate closing behind me. Looking back and then down, I saw the Dwarf from earlier gazing up at me with a single raised bushy eyebrow. I had to restrain a laugh when I got a look at the inside of the gate behind him, and the stepstool shoved off to the side. That must have been how he had been staring through the viewport earlier.

  Good thing I didn’t laugh, because this guy did not look like he fucked around.

  Kargath Gravelfoot was quite possibly the most stereotypical Dwarf I’d ever personally met here on Vereden. He wasn’t anywhere near as tall as Azarus, who was abnormally tall for one of his people. Kargath looked to be maybe four foot one at best, but an extremely thickly muscled four foot one. The Dwarf might just have biceps bigger around than my head he was so powerful looking, with a barrel chest that visibly stood out from his plain, dirt-stained workman clothes. For all of his evident physical prowess, Kargath looked like nothing more than a common farmer.

  “Ye done there youngster? Have a nice look see?” He said wryly. Before I could even open my mouth, he shook his head. “Eh, don’t matter. I’m Kargath, the Groundskeeper here at the Academy. Don’t mess with me rose bush’s or I’ll mess with yer bones. Got it, lad?”

  “Ah…yeah,” I blinked at him, only for all the conversation to finally wake the sleeping little girl in my arms. Carefully, I set Aveline down on the cobblestones of the main thoroughfare and watched as she yawned. Fade moved up to stand next to her, and taking advantage of the situation, Aveline leaned on him.

  Honestly, I don’t think he minded at all.

  Flicking my eyes back up, I saw that Azarus had surprisingly started a conversation with the apparent Groundskeeper.

  “…do ya have any younger relatives, greybeard?” Azarus asked him, looking surprisingly awkward.

  “Aye…I do,” Kargath answered, eyeing the much taller dwarf with a hint of suspicion. “Who’s askin’?”

  Azarus took a deep breath. “Azarus of no House,” He said brusquely. “Is one of their names Torgir? I…spent some time in Khazerak Hold, and knew someone named Torgir Gravelfoot. He…stood up fer me, when I needed it most.”

  Kargath squinted at him. “That’s me nephew’s name, sure enough. But that boy ain’t been livin’ in Khazerak fer years now. He’s here, if’n yer lookin’ fer him. I sponsored the layabout when he got into a heap of trouble with Ol’ Garlan. Somethin’ ta do with the poor old battleaxes daughter, I think.”

  Azarus’s lips parted in shock then, and I barely heard his next words they were whispered so quietly. “Torgir is here?”

  Huh. I…wonder what that was about.

  I didn’t have time to ask, though, because Kargath turned to me. I noticed that his gaze softened a touch when it landed on the half-awake form of Aveline. “Let’s get ye lot over ta the Headmaster’s estate. I can see yer gel there swayin’ in the wind like a reed. There’ll be a bed there fer her, and no mistake. But…ye’ll have ta wait ta see the man himself.”

  “Why?” I asked, taking Aveline’s hand in my own and following after Kargath as he walked past me.

  As I felt my companions fall in beside us, Kargath shrugged. “He and the Lady are holdin’ some big fancy meetin’ ta address the entire student body. Everyone is over in the main hall,” He nodded towards a particularly large building off in the distance. “But I already know what it’s about, and I don’t give a hoot. Ain’t my business, and it ain’t none o’ yers either. Not until yer officially a student.”

  Well, that answered the question of where everyone was.

  But the group, led by Kargath the Groundskeeper, had barely walked more than a few paces before something unexpected happened.

  The front wall of the 'main hall' Kargath had indicated in the distance...

  Exploded, and two figures came flying through the new hole in the grand structure, surrounded on all sides by dust and rubble. The distance wasn't so great that I couldn't make out some details on them. One appeared to be a middle-aged Kawamaran man wearing pure black robes, his arms from the elbow down surrounded by conjured water deep and dense enough that it looked to have been shaped into turtle-shells, of all things.

  The other was much more familiar.

  An older Kawamaran woman wearing Healer's robes, with two crimson flaming wings buffeting her every movement.

  Honoka.