High Artificer, Ch 4: Admissions

The crowd of teenagers in front of the academy gate was massive, easily above a hundred thousand people.

The ornate doors towered into the sky above them, marking out the entrance to their future, as well as all the hopes they held for the classes they would get today.

Altey was near the front of the crowd, standing with the few hundred others who had admission to the academy. Sam and the rest of their family stood next to her.

Almost all of the students had a similar group who had come to see them off, but a few were alone. They’d either come on their own by choice or their families hadn’t been able to afford to teleport everyone here.

It was likely the former.

Teleportation costs were high, but they were primarily paid in mana, which could be stored in mana crystals by most classes. It was also easy for the students to find patrons on their worlds who could afford to send them here.

Except for those few hundred at the front, the rest of the crowd was made up of youths who were hoping to unlock a class and gain a scholarship. About a quarter were from Council, while the rest had come from other worlds.

Sam’s real body was below, but one of his avatars stood with the faculty on a platform that was slightly above the crowd, watching everything take place. Only a few of the professors were needed to run the ceremony. The rest were here to be seen by the crowd.

Whispers between the faculty were common, mostly commenting on the events and prospective students. The messages were sent by a thread of mental energy so the crowd couldn’t listen in, but they were traveling through his domain and he heard them all.

“There are more offworlders this time than usual,” a gruff and bearded dwarven professor said as he crossed his arms. “Usually it’s about half locals.”

“That’s because the crowd is bigger,” a stern-looking sorceress in elegant robes replied. She was a Lifeweaver and mana-infused sigils glowed across her skin. “We do this every year and the number of locals doesn’t change too much.”

“There are a lot of students from notable families this year.” The words came from a Winged Fury professor who had two thin longswords at his hips. “They’ve brought quite a few servants and followers of around the same age. They want to use them to train as a team.”

“More like a small army,” the dwarf grumbled. “What a waste of space. Maybe it’ll help them in the trials, but just having a bunch of laggards behind them isn’t going to be enough. Individual effort is what matters, not their family name.”

“It’s politics,” the Lifeweaver said, shaking her head. “They brought their followers here to bind them more closely to their family, so that they will feel grateful for the experience and for getting a class early. It happens every year, just not in this number.”

“It’s because of those young royals,” a Dragon Spirit replied, his eyes flickering with a golden color as he looked across the crowd. “Most of the extras have come here to try and win their favor and to be in the same academy year as them if they’re lucky enough.”

His eyes stopped on three distinct points in the crowd where larger than usual groups had gathered.

There was a young Winged Fury, a Dragon Spirit, and a Winter Sylph who were at the heads of their respective groups.

“Ugh, royals,” the dwarf complained as he looked them over. “Every time they show up, they cause trouble, stirring up the students, arguing about their classes....”

“It’s nothing new,” the Lifeweaver said indifferently. “They’ll fall in line. They’re only royal on their home worlds. Other than that, their influence is limited.”

Sam glanced at the three students, but except for the Winter Sylph who was a bit interesting because of their relation to the Ice Sylphs he knew, they didn’t stand out to him.

To be called royals, it meant they were from the major families of the High Nine races who ran their ancestral home worlds. Council was fortunately neutral ground, so their influence here was limited.

Many of the faculty were also from the High Nine races, but not all of them came from their race’s ancestral world, so there was a mix of opinions on the presence of the royals.

He frowned at them as he considered again whether it was better to teach Altey himself. He definitely could and with the help of the Path of Stars she wouldn’t miss out on any area, but the academy wasn’t really for that.

It was a chance for her to grow in other ways, to develop friendships and to meet other students from across the galaxy. It would broaden her perspective and let her be more than just a powerful mage.

She had been too isolated growing up until now, so this was what she needed.

The Winged Fury royal looked up at that moment and met Sam’s eyes. His face paled before he shuddered and looked away again.

Sam shook his head. His domain was perfectly controlled, but he must have been glaring.

“Good, terrify that one,” the dwarf professor looked over at Sam and grinned, his teeth showing through his beard. “That way he’ll behave. It’s the best method. You’re the new professor of artificing, right?”

“Artificing and enchanting,” Sam replied with a nod. “I’ll do a demonstration later for the students, so they know what it’s about and can sign up for classes.”

His status was concealed, so the faculty around him couldn’t see the specifics. For now, they just knew that he had arrived the day before.

“I’ll look forward to it,” the dwarf said, clearly intrigued. “I’m Broden, Professor of Smithing and Enchantment. We’ll probably see a lot of each other. Your workshop is near mine.”

“I’ve brought some decent ale and other drinks with me,” Sam said with a smile. “You should come and try them.”

“A man who knows what’s important!” Broden grinned as he held out his hand for Sam to shake.

Sam took it with a chuckle and as soon as his hand met the dwarf’s, Broden squeezed down, trying to test his strength.

It was harmless and he could see the glint of humor in the dwarf’s eyes, so he grinned back at him as he returned the pressure.

The dwarf’s hand was like a rock, but it wasn’t capable of shaking a Titan’s grip. Broden’s eyes widened as Sam increased the pressure a little.

He was capable of crushing a world between his hands, but he kept it to a friendly game. The dwarf didn’t mean badly. He just wanted to sound out the competition.

“There’s time to play games later,” the Lifeweaver frowned at the two of them. “Don’t make us all look bad up here.”

Broden just chuckled as he waved her words away, but his attitude towards Sam was more interested than before as Sam let go.

“I know what drink we should start with,” Sam said with a smile.

He’d brought quite a few elemental elixirs along and he was curious what the dwarf would think of them.

“The academy is about more than drinking and hitting things with hammers,” a Winged Fury nearby glared at the two of them. “We’re supposed to be role models for the students, not that I expect a human to understand that.”

She had been looking at the Winged Fury royal with interest, and now that turned into a dislike for Sam.

Her words were sharp and her two white wings were folded behind her back, gleaming in the sun. Two daggers were at her belt, each of them formed of a nearly translucent crystal that resonated with a Wind affinity.

The Lifeweaver huffed as she looked away from them all.

“Ahh, they’ll be fine,” Broden waved the words away indifferently. “The ones who want to be smiths will find us faster this way. Not everyone goes sneaking around and avoids attention like you rogues.”

“What are you going to learn by being nice to a human?” the Winged Fury hissed at Broden before she gave Sam a glare. “He’s not even one of the High Nine. He’s only here because the headmaster wants more of his own kind around.”

Her attitude was readily apparent, although she couldn’t see anything about Sam except his outward appearance.

“Did he steal some of your students already, Jasperi?” Broden laughed at her. “It’s not your business, so there’s no need to poke your nose into it. The last I heard, you passed out across a table the last time you tried to drink anything decent. You need to keep your feet on the ground and not fly away from reality.”

Jasperi hissed angrily at Broden, but the Lifeweaver glared at her, which made her settle down a little, but then she turned to Sam again, her glare returning.

“If you have an issue with humans,” Sam said as he glanced at her. “We’ll settle it very quickly.”

“You want to duel with me, new human?” Jasperi said, looking pleased. “Good, I will teach you your place. This academy is too high class for you.”

“Tomorrow then,” Sam replied, “after admissions. It will be a good demonstration for the students. When you lose, you can work for me for the rest of the year.”

The faculty had rules to dueling, including what could be bet, and one of them was working for the winner, but a year was the longest possible term, which could only be achieved by a devastating victory.

Jasperi almost drew her daggers to stab him, but she managed to restrain herself to just twitching in place.

“Tomorrow, human,” she hissed. “When you lose, I forbid you from taking any personal students this term.”

“We’ll see,” Sam said with a chuckle as he looked away from her.

He had no interest in putting up with her. Just tolerating her current behavior was pushing at his temper.

It should be a good lesson for the rest of the faculty not to bother him.

“I’ll be your second,” Broden offered as he looked at Sam thoughtfully. “If you’re really going to do it. This type or nonsense happens every term when we get back together. You should know that she’s not the only one who’s been looking for an excuse to see how strong you are. As soon as you were announced last week, everyone got curious. The dueling fields are already set up and some have started betting, especially since they can’t see your level.”

Sam gave Broden a nod of thanks.

The faculty here wasn’t as well behaved as in more traditional academies. These professors were more like a group of adventurers who’d been forced into teaching.

The success with their students spoke for itself, but their attitudes were rough and had little room for politeness.

Their personalities were on full display already, perhaps due to the boredom of the entrance ceremony.

It was no wonder Asperio spent all of his time on a mountain.

Jasperi’s insults toward humans were also no surprise. It had just happened more quickly than expected.

His arrival made it seem like Asperio was playing favorites with humans and appointing new ones to the faculty, which meant some of the current professors were interested in challenging him to maintain what they thought of as their place.

Some of the High Nine races had a significant bias against other races. The Winged Furies were one of the worst offenders, especially at this academy that in many ways symbolized the High Nine and the prestige of their people.

Those like Jasperi saw the academy as something that should belong to them and viewed every other race who came here like beggars asking for handouts.

In all the years since the Titans walked these halls, some of the younger races had forgotten where they began.

The Titans had raised them up and built this place. Now those races wanted to prevent others from achieving the same thing.

Even with Asperio as a human and the academy’s headmaster, it wasn’t enough to stop it. It was better than it had been before he arrived, but there were a few holdouts.

If Sam showed himself as a Titan, he could crush all the opposition, but it would only help from the outside. It wouldn’t change their real opinions, just make them bow to force.

That day would come, but for now he would do it in a way they couldn’t forget.

As a human professor.

A slight smile tugged at his lips as he scanned the conversations around him and took notes on which ones to deal with.

Hiding his status was a game that would be over soon. He wanted to see how they behaved before he scared them away.

The racial bias was something to correct as soon as possible. He wasn’t going to let that sort of thing interfere with Altey’s studies.

The best way to change things was to set an example from the beginning. After that, he would institute more sweeping changes once he identified the trouble makers.

Only two of the faculty so far were at the Fifth Evolution, both around Level 510. Jasperi was at Level 465, which made her one of the stronger professors, but it wasn’t much.

A flicker of blazing starlight passed through his eyes and then they returned to their blue appearance as he went back to studying the students.

He had little interest in the royals unless they bothered Altey, which would be a grave mistake on their part, so he put them out of his mind as he looked over the rest, studying their auras for unique points as he occupied his time predicting what classes they would get.

Fortunately, the wait wasn’t long before the ceremony started.

A bolt of violet lightning cracked through the sky, followed by a swirling storm of clouds that sprang up from nothing.

Asperio’s lightning domain filled the area, pressing down on everyone present in a wave of electricity that made hair stand upright and sparks to jump from person to person.

Sam blocked the sparks away from reaching him, but many in the crowd jumped, laughing or yelling in surprise as the sparks leapt from their clothing and frizzled their hair.

Altey laughed as she captured a floating spark in her hands, surrounding it with a field of ice that turned it into a lightning flower.

While the display entertained the crowd, the pressure of the swirling storm warned them of the power behind it.

“Welcome to Archaios Academy’s Class Day,” Asperio was invisible, but his voice rolled out from the clouds to fill the area. “You all know why you’ve come here, so without any more delay, we will begin.

“There is no need to wait for long. The world artifact left behind by the ancient Titans is more than capable of handling everyone at once.

“Remember that if you receive a powerful class and wish to apply to the academy, you can come forward after the current students are admitted. You will be evaluated for a scholarship. Anyone admitted in this way will have your tuition, room, and board covered for all the years you attend the academy.”

His words brought a tidal wave of cheers and shouts from the crowd, which temporarily descended into chaos. A good number of the faculty would be busy with the interviews as soon as the ceremony ended.

“I don’t need to explain all the advantages the academy has to offer,” Asperio continued. “Just remember that you are expected to be Level 200 before you graduate. Your Evolutions will be the best we can prepare you for and you will have a full complement of support abilities. When you walk beyond these doors, you will be able to forge your own path and shake the skies.

“Remember, your academy years will be some of the most important years of your lives, but if you do not keep up with the requirements, you will be expelled.”

There were plenty of opportunities for the students to go on organized hunting trips and gain levels, which was where most of their experience would come from, but they could also go on independent hunts.

Most of this world was wild.

The academy did have a deep ability to assist students with Evolutions. It was aware of the requirements to get help from the world node and it pushed the students to achieve them. They had the best results in the settled galaxy.

Most of the current High Council had attended Archaios Academy. Beyond them, the network of its graduates was enormously influential across the span of settled worlds.

Asperio continued his speech and highlighted more of the academy’s advantages, but Sam ignored the rest. Eventually, the headmaster moved on to the main event.

“By the authority of the High Council that is granted to me as headmaster of Archaios Academy, I request the world node grant classes to the youths gathered here.”

A crystalline pressure appeared across the world, thrumming at the edge of the students’ awareness. It felt like a rising tide pressing against the shore, rippling in a series like a wave.

It was much weaker than the World Core, but its presence was still powerful, enough for most of the people in the square to look shocked as it surrounded them.

Sam watched as the wave of energy passed through the crowd, singling out those who didn’t yet have a class and assessing them.

A thread of his attention connected to the artifact, and he felt a link form as it acknowledged his authority.

In that moment before it could start handing out classes, he linked it again to the World Core, bridging the gap with the Path of Stars and his own essence.

A web of silver runes appeared in the depths of Council’s ocean near the world artifact, which looked like a massive crystal shell. Walls of transparent astral crystal shimmered with an opalescent light as energy radiated from it.

The shell was in a subdimension of its own and slightly divided from the main world for protection, but it was much closer to Council than the World Core was to Aster Fall.

The runes turned into a silver star, which fused into the shell and disappeared.

Notifications began to appear in Sam’s mind, similar to the ones the World Core liked to send. It had been a long time since a Titan visited Council and the artifact was complaining.

This was why he hadn’t connected with it earlier.

He set the Titan Star to sorting through them for anything important and then he took control of the class accession for Altey, handing it off to the World Core instead.

A familiar wave of silver light appeared around her. It was brighter than the other crystalline waves that were washing across the field as hundreds and then thousands of class accessions occurred at once.

All of Sam’s attention was focused on Altey, watching the notifications that appeared.