Arascus walked into Mikhail’s workshop. He had stepped with Anassa into her various worlds of sorcery before, this was much like that. There was a desk he door, and then the realm of men ended and industrial insanity began. “Mikhail.” He summohe ngineer from behind a cluster of pipes and blinking lights.

  “What is it my lord?”

  “You fashiohe drill, did you not?”

  “I did.” He said rather proudly.

  “Do you fashion ons?”

  “It’s why I took this job.” The engineer pulled out a small device from his pocket and pressed a button. One of the walls lowered to reveal an armoury to make any knight blush. Arascus walked into it: swords, hammers, gives, axes, there was enough here to outfit a small horde of beastmen.

  “Fine works.” Arascus said as he spun one of the swords in his hand, it was finely banced and it didn’t have any needless decorations. The craftsmanship spoke for itself. “But they’re primitive.” That seemed to catch Mikhail’s attention.

  “Primitive?”

  “Ba the Great War, about thirty years before it ehe dwarves fashioned muskets, started to at least.” The God turo Mikhail, his eyes weren’t fused ry at the insult. Instead, they burned with a hunger enough to devour a mountain. “A day of training with that on is enough to surpass a decade of knighthood.” Mikhail grabbed a piece of paper and a pen.

  “Show me.”

  The Arcadian School of Magic served as the gra institution of magi the entire world. In the era of the Great War, it had stood as a fine colle of towers surrounding a sacred leyline crossover point, now the institution had devoured the neighb the towns and gre enough to be sidered to be a tiny nation. It had even been given a new name: Arcadia.

  It was the beati of magic for aire ti, even the govers of Epa would not try a up their own national colleges. Afterall, what hope did they have to try and pete with the Goddess of Magic? She had served as the school’s headmistress sis founding. It was generally a quiet pce, the various training facilities had their own noise suppression fields. One of the dorm-rooms was exceptionally quiet today, with nothing but whispers between the four students inside.

  “Lyca, you OT do that!” Eliza shouted at her friend, she was a shirl in her prime, short but well blessed by nature. She k herself, the skirt had been rolled up to reveal a fair amount of thigh. They were all final year students of Arcadia. She turo Edmonton, her brown eyes pleading for the oldest of them to stop Lyca. “Tell him something Ed! We’ll get expelled.” Edmonton ran his hands through his hair a out a heavy breath, he stood an inch taller than Lyd was a month older but that’s where the seniority ended. Lyca was the most talented of them all.

  “Is it that bad though?” He asked Eliza. The girl tugged at the edges of her bzer, then finally crossed her arms with a hmph.

  “I’ve never met anyone as cretinous as the two of you.”

  “Don’t moralize in front of us.” Lyca said again as he poio the piece of paper. It of Essa’s Gardens. The gardehe size of a small town, students would visit them to go on dates or to practice magic but there was one location which was to never be visited. The Divine Library, it was one of the first things any student would be told, the library held divine magical arts which would cause your mind to explode. It had always made Lyca curious. “And you answer my questions? If it’s so dangerous, why is there no guards? Why do teachers not even go there? If the knowledge in there is s, why do we not use it?” He rattled them off one by one befetting to the ohat had made them all ied. “And why is it THE Divine Library, not Essa’s Divine Library?” In the gardens, everything carried the Goddesses’ name, even the benches were called Essa’s Blessed Bench of whatever-year because her ass had oouched it.

  Edmonton tapped the piece of paper. “But we ’t have been the first to ever work it out.” He leaned back against the bunkbed, he twisted and pulled the green pillow to rest his back. “e on Lyca.”

  “That’s the point, hoeople have actually disappeared?” Lyca said, the buttons on his shirt were undone and his chest trembled with excitement. His blue eyes couldn’t tain what he just worked out.

  “Actually, I cur with Lyca.” Fleur said, like the rest of them, she was in the elite csses of the final year. Those elite csses trained only the stro of the geion and that strength bred a certain type of character. Her hair was bd straight, she wore her tie high, her skirt modest, her face was sharp and angur, her eyes were dark but they shoh the brightness of quick wit. Whereas Lyca’s uniform was creased in various pces, Fleur’s was so perfect she may as well have been born in it: she was a true Rancais.

  “That’s three against one Eliza.” Edmonton said.

  “I never said I’d wouldn’t do it.” Eliza quickly bit back. “I’m just saying you’re stupid for it.” Lyca burst out in ughter, his light hair almost danced in the light of the sun outside. “And you’re pn isn’t even stupid, it’s the sort of thing I’d expect a child to think up. Although even a child would have enough brains to realise how idiotic it was.”

  “Oh really?” He joked.

  “Yes really.” Eliza crossed her arms and pushed her breasts up, Fleur silently averted her eyes. There wasn’t much she was envious of, she was smarter and strohan Eliza but Lady Luck had blessed the girl in oain aspect. “You want to sneak in in the middle of the night like some supervilin. That’s not how you do it.”

  “Enlighten us then.” Lyca said.

  “A week from now, we have the semester assembly. Everyone will be there.”

  “I ’t miss it.” Fleur quickly said. Eliza merely smiled at the girl and pushed her chest out even more.

  “I didn’t ask if you or not, I’m saying you will miss it. There’ll be a parade, all the teachers, everyone will be there. We’ll have aire day to walk in and browse at our leisure.” Eliza turo the two boys in front of her. “There’ll be no running ical artefacts or whatever, we’ll simply go on a walk. We act like we belong there, then no one will think twice about us.”

  “Like I said, I ’t miss it!” Fleur said again. Lyca was about tue back when Edmonton pushed elbowed his side. Lyca was a brat, he was smart yes, but he cked social skills, Ed did not. He thought so at least.

  “Why not?” He asked.

  “I’m giving a presentation.” If it was Eliza who didn’t want to go, maybe it would be challenging, but Fleur was an easy bde to handle.

  “I fot, they really deserve to see you, don’t they?” Fleur’s eyebrow twitched as she closed her eyes.

  “Of course they don’t.” She said quietly.

  “No no, you should stay Fleur. We need someoo take the hit aertain the masses to take attention off us.” Fleur didn’t respond, Edmonton only pressed the attack. “Make sure to give them a nice smile as Miss Yana said, the boys need something to give them sweet dreams.” Fleur shook her head.

  “Don’t eveion that hag.”

  “She’s a teacher you know, you should always listen to your betters.” Fleur opened her eyes, they were rolling in anger.

  “As if she had the gall to say that to me!” She shouted. “And she isn’t my better!”

  “Is she not?”

  “NO!”

  “She knows more than you do.”

  “Only because she’s a hundred years old!”

  “Then you live in her shadow for the tury.” Edmonton made his void emotionless and then tapped the map. “Or she live in yours from week.” Fleur sighed and shook her head.

  “I kly what you did.”

  “I’m not stupid enough to think I trick you.”

  “You ’t, and we’re doing it week.”