The professor's gaze flicked to him—to the lone youth that was unaffected by all this.
'Blanking out already? Dammit.'
"You seem alright." Professor Eury cocked her head. "Right? You look tense."
"Uh, professor?" Thank god for Ashen. "This kid was supposed to apply today and, uh, I kinda…got rid of it."
"Rid of it?"
"The money. It was on the second floor which…." Ashen pointed up. Professor Eury followed and gasped.
"Oh no."
"Yeah…"
"T-that's…okay. Um." Professor Eury wore a plastic, awkward smile. "Oh gosh, I am SO sorry. The academy will compensate for this, I promise. I absolutely promise—"
"Are you sure? I've been saving up since I was young…" Leo looked away and clutched his heart. Time to be dramatic. "It was my dream to attend Arcadia Academy. I just…I can't go back home without at least telling my parents I tried."
"I, ah…" Professor Eury put a hand on his shoulder. She was pretty touchy, huh? "Don't worry. I will handle it! D-do you at least have a form?"
Leo smiled. Folded inside his sleeve was the application paper. His signature was written in ink. "Right here with me. They only robbed me of my money."
"Perfect then! I will talk to the Headmaster. I am sure he will understand!"
***
Leo stood before the towering iron gates of Arcadia Academy once more, still as financially broke as ever—but this time, things were different.
The gates granted passage to him simply because of the woman beside him—Professor Fellowen Eury.
The female professor flashed him a quick grin, brushing a strand of auburn hair from her face. "Are you ready?" she asked.
Leo exhaled and nodded. "As I'll ever be."
With a wave of her hand, the runes flared to life. The iron gates groaned open, and the moment Leo stepped through, the world shifted.
It was like stepping through a ripple in reality.
'Woah, grass!'
Behind them, the great iron gates shimmered and warped, no longer just gates but a vast, swirling portal-like structure. The stone walls that had once marked the academy's boundary had vanished, replaced with rolling hills and lush greenery stretching out before them.
And ahead…
A hamlet.
A small populated area full of life with thatched-roof houses, cobbled streets, and several market stalls where merchants called out their wares. The scent of freshly baked bread mixed with the crispness of the wind. People of all ages wandered about, some carrying books, others chatting in small groups.
A group of locals greeted the professor as they passed.
"Professor Eury! You're back!" a cheerful old woman called out, her arms full of groceries.
"Just barely," the young woman replied with a wry smile.
One of the younger men glanced at Leo and smirked. "And who's the young man with you? Your fiancé?"
Leo barely suppressed a snort. Professor Eury, to her credit, only coughed awkwardly and waved a dismissive hand. "No, no, just a new student. A bit of trouble happened, is all."
"The good kind or the bad kind?"
"The really bad kind," Professor Eury replied, laughing. "Trust me, it's a looong story."
"With you, it always is," the old woman joked.
As they continued walking, Leo discreetly stretched his senses outward.
'The wind here is different…'
It was richer, fuller. He could feel it wrapping around him, brushing past like an old friend. More than that, he could feel the people in the hamlet—their presence like trees in a different forests.
'The population is a little under a hundred here, but beyond this…'
Larger settlements. Thousands of people, spread apart but unmistakably present. Villages. Communities. Entire towns nestled within this strange, enclosed world.
His gaze flicked upward toward the horizon.
And then, he saw it.
The true Arcadia Academy.
Even from two kilometers away, Arcadia Academy was overwhelmingly bright.
The academy sat atop a vast, floating landmass, suspended in the sky. Gravity had simply given up on it. Waterfalls cascaded at three points, spilling into pools who were overflowing and transforming the water into mist. The structure itself was white and bright. A majestic beam of white organized into gothic towers. Leo could feel the open windows and lush greenhouses and the eight stories worth of rooms and height.
Bright.
So bright.
So happy and thrilling.
Golden bridges arched between towers, connecting them like veins of light. Runes larger than buildings pulsated shifting in and out of reality. At first, Leo thought he was imagining them but they were definitely there. The sky above the flying citadel seemed different—bluer, sharper, filled with faint streaks of aurora-like magic that pulsed in rhythm with the runes.
Leo stared. He had no clue how to analyze this place.
Professor Eury glanced at him, clearly enjoying his reaction. "Surreal, isn't it?"
Leo finally managed to speak. "This whole place… is a different dimension?"
"Something like that," she said, popping the 'p' with a grin. "Here's a lesson you're not supposed to learn about until your fourth year: Territory Creation—the Supreme Magic."
"Territory Creation?"
Professor Eury gestured broadly to their surroundings. "It's a supreme spell that creates a special terrain advantageous to the caster. You're technically still in the Recrearer, but reality has been distorted and altered. Think of it as our very own pocket reality, designed to function independently of the outside world."
A Territory…
Could this be…?
"So it's like a god's domain?"
"Exactly," Professor Eury said, snapping her fingers. "It's a technique of the gods that humans managed to copy." She flashed him a teasing look. "So don't expect to learn it here. It takes a hundred Wizards to make a Territory of any kind, much less something as ridiculous as this. Don't be sad though, at least you'll get to live here."
They continued along the winding stone path, the hamlet slowly giving way to rolling fields. Though the academy looked impossibly far away, the roads were lined with magic circles.
Leo had to ask. "What are these for?"
"Stability of the realm. Makes the land flourish and harvestable."
"So there are farms here?"
"We have everything here."
"Even coffee beans?"
Professor Eury brightened. "Yep! We LOVE our coffee. It's sort-of a new trend but it's caught on fast. I drink it almost every morning."
Leo was definitely filing that in his head. A good way to earn her affections and maybe get more lenient grading.
A golden bridge, identical to the ones connecting the towers of the flying white academy, lay in front of them. They walked it like it was nothing, despite Leo feeling that the material of the bridge was delightful. He could hear his own steps and somehow they sounded beautiful.
Professor Eury pointed toward a set of buildings near the base of the floating island. "That's the lower campus," she explained. "Mostly lecture halls, training grounds, and research facilities. The main academy is up there." She tilted her head toward the floating citadel. "You'll get used to traveling between them."
Leo nodded. Sounded simple enough.
At the very back of all the extra lecture halls and training grounds was what the professor called the Citadel Portal—a massive open gateway lined with intricate gold filigree. It was wide enough for five carriages to pass through at once, its twin doors standing permanently open.
There weren't many students coming in and out of it. Only a handful of figures warped out when Leo and the professor approached.
"Not many people here," Leo noted.
"That's because the semester hasn't started yet. Most students are still at home. Even summer school ended some time ago.
"So it's going to get way more crowded, right?"
"Oh, you have no idea," Professor Eury said.
Leo glanced around, adjusting the strap of his bag. "Where are the dorms? I don't get the feeling it's here."
Professor Eury snickered. "Better if it's a surprise."
"Sounds ominous. I'm assuming it's somewhere up…" Leo tilted his head up, up, up. "There." Somehow, despite having a giant floating land mass with waterfalls and tiny pockets of water, no shadows were cast.
'Must be magic.'
"You'll see soon enough. But! Enough dilly-dallying! We have to go to the Headmaster's Office." Professor Eury extended a hand.
"...?"
"Want to hold hands?"
"I'm good."
"Suit yourself. I know I was dizzy the first time I went through a portal. I couldn't walk properly for a whole day."
"I've gone through a couple portals, so I'm fine."
"Great then! Let's go, go, go!"
With a smile, Professor Eury and Leo walked through the portal, and teleported to the floating citadel that was Arcadia Academy.
His life would never be the same.