Death, Devotion, Dissonance

…

"It's just excessive, really," Endra spoke as he passed through the humongous ketricite wall that surrounded Arcvallen. "That's what? Almost as tall as our Academy in Ankelite?"

"Now that I think about it, it is your first time coming to the capital, huh," Leanne replied. "Though, I didn't think you'd be one to be surprised about something like this."

"What do you mean? I'm still human. Why wouldn't I be surprised seeing a wall, that's as wide and tall as a four-story building? How did they even build this whole thing?"

"Magic?"

"Isn't it made of ketricite? How would they use magic?"

"Although we can't affect the ketricite itself, it's not too hard to put it atop a cart, then have a mage pull at the carriage from afar, outside the ketricite's effects. The road's a straight line, thanks to the Tenarak mages that terraformed the whole path from here to the Gray Field."

Endra could see the plausibility of the project. 

"I guess, you're right."

Leanne shrugged. "Though, you've become a bit lazy now, don't you think?"

"Hmm?"

"Before, you'd think about how something would work before just asking."

Endra wasn't sure what Leanne was talking about. Maybe when Evin still had a crush on Leanne, he tried to show off his brains? 

Endra, on the other hand, preferred not to use his head too much. Maybe it just had something to do with his age.

"Eh."

"And you've also stopped talking to the others in the class."

Endra looked towards the large group of students flocking around Arza. They were checking out the streets of Arcvallen with avid interest. The commoners were all acting like country bumpkins, while the nobles were showing a cool, collected front.

It took a while, but everyone in the Helm Class, including the commoners and the nobles have warmed up to the red-haired boy. Even Decatur and Bella seemed to respect him to some degree.

Endra, in contrast, was usually alone, either reading a book, or going through the notes he took under the Chairman's tutelage.

"I'm realizing more and more, I'm an introverted person," he shrugged.

"That doesn't mean you should stay alone all the time, no?"

"I've read in a book somewhere… uh," he rubbed his chin. "One should be content with what makes them happy. For naturally unsociable people, it's best to not force them to interact with others. Provided they're happy alone, of course."

Leanne tilted her head. "It just sounds like a sad excuse now."

"Take it as you wish," Endra shrugged. 

Leanne smiled sheepishly at Endra. "Is it because you broke up with Bella? Is that what it is? What happened between you and her?"

The woman's previous wariness of Endra had disappeared completely. She seemed a bit concerned when Endra first started living in her house, but soon enough, she got used to him. She was now acting like that cool aunt to him. Endra also was getting used to her company. But even so, he couldn't open up to her completely. 

"Now that I think about it, will you visit the king in the next few days? I never heard why you fell out of his grace?"

Leanne grimaced at that. Endra even noticed a hint of guilt in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, but whatever it was, it died under her breath. An awkward silence appeared all of a sudden.

'I was definitely right to not mention her little escapade when I first started to live with her…' Endra sighed inwardly. 'Guess I shouldn't mention it from here on out either.'

"Sorry," Endra quickly added. 

"No, no. It's fine," Leanne smiled almost sadly.

Endra thought of talking further, but decided against it. 

He looked around, and took in the sight of Arcvallen's streets. Perhaps it was because they were entering through the 2nd-grades-and-above entrance, the surroundings were much cleaner than he expected. 

The people were at peace and were lively, and the children that ran through the streets were with clean, well-fitted clothing. The shouts of stall-owners filled Endra's ears, urging the new mage students to buy this and that. Though, there was a stall that was advertising something out of Endra's expectations. 

The king. 

The more Endra looked, the more he realized how prevalent the king's presence was inside the capital. Bars and shops in his name, product's borrowing the word king and kingdom, even toys modeled after the man. 

Endra couldn't tell why that was so, but soon, his attention was drawn to another object on a stall.

"Come get your new ketricite plates! Freshly designed ketricite plates! All spells from the wicked southerners would turn to dust the moment they come in contact to this new piece of armor!" 

A man was shouting next to a row of gray plates of armor. Aside from the chest pieces, there were also gauntlets, helmets, and a few feet and leg pieces. 

The stall was also decorated quite dramatically. It showed a griffon throwing a spell (which was aptly drawn as a zig-zagging line) at a gray-armored man and it bouncing off, harmless and useless.

Endra had many methods to bypass ketricite, but he wondered if it would be useful against the griffons' spells. After all, they were mostly manipulators, meaning they couldn't send projectiles like Endra could

'No, it's not like they can't use any other spells, they just prefer the World of Emotions,' Endra shook his head. 

The group went deeper into the city, heading towards the giant building, which Endra guessed was the capital's academy building. 

It really was excessive, how comically giant the buildings in Arcvallen were. The Academy building was at least five times wider than the one in Ankelite city, and it was also two stories taller. Its main building was an almost overdecorated baroque palace, while its entire topside was a beautiful monument of glass and marble. Endra loved the sharp contract between its traditional base and more contemporary roof. 

Now that he thought about it, Arcvallen was just a bigger version of Ankelite city. Maybe that was wrong, since there were more lighter buildings here. In the north, it was too cold to not have proper wood and clay to protect you from the cold air. 

But the generally design of the architecture was quite similar. It was also very similar to pre-Victorian era London, except it looked much cleaner. 

'Guess the ugly parts aren't so visible here…'

Thinking such things, Endra arrived at the Arcvallen academy behind the rest of his class.

A guide appeared before them and spoke about the short, but explosive history of the kingdom's biggest academy. They also spoke in-depth about King Seth, who was crucial in developing and normalizing his father's idea. Honestly, Endra was getting tired of all this talk about the king at this point.

Then, they were brought before an old woman named Lilix Padeshi, who was the Dean of the Arcvallen Academy. She only gave them a brief greeting and simply wished them good luck in the upcoming Helm tourney.

Endra almost sensed a sneer in the woman's voice, but he decided to ignore it. 

Finally, they were brought before a man in his thirties, wearing the classiest and imposing mage suits one could find on Alvox. Though the man's appearance was slightly dampened by the baby-face he had, Endra could almost feel the Authority radiating from his body. 

Even the hefty Lilix Padeshi bowed down before him.

"The 9th Mage King of the Kingdom, Urven Elypsis."