The two women brought information from two opposing viewpoints, enabling Tercius to create a rudimentary map of the political climate. On one side, he inferred, were mages who wanted to change the way knowledge was disseminated, while on the other were those mages, like Mistress Helfira, who were fine with things staying as they were so far.

Tercius had intended to just keep quiet and listen, gathering as much new information as he was able. He had hopes of finding out what each side represented, but Master Kot, The Meddler, had put a sudden stop to it.

The two women barely said a word as students made their way through the doorway and into the snow-covered valley that housed both a forest and the Pyramid. As they moved to the snow-covered building, Tercius kept thinking about what he heard.

I need to learn more, he thought, then looked at the two women who walked on the side. Each of them glanced at the other occasionally, seemingly ready to continue at a drop of a pin. Maybe I can give them a push?

"I think Mistress Helfira is right," he said, his voice loud and clear.

Tercius had waited until Master Lazarus, Master Slav, Mistress Fenia, and Master Kot took down their respective groups before he said a word. Currently waiting in line was Mistress Porfira, with a group of her students, and Mistress Helfira with her group. Tercius was at the back of Mistress Helfira's group when his voice echoed in the silent space.

Both women, along with almost all of the students present there immediately turned his way. He felt exposed under the scrutiny of so many eyes, and his body made him aware of how much it liked this kind of attention. Yet he wetted his lips and readied himself.

"I know I am, but what exactly do you mean?" Mistress Helfira said.

Mistress Porfira snorted and turned her back to Tercius. Tercius turned to the old lady and said, "People can't expect to get something for nothing, Mistress. If it's freely given then that is another story. That's where I think you are right."

"Take a good look here, Porfira, even a child gets it." The old lady said to her daughter.

"It's easy for you to make that judgment now, let me see if you spin the same story in a decade, student," Mistress Porfira said cooly, not even bothering to turn around. "Only basic education is available for purchase with money. Everything else is only obtainable by your blood, sweat, and tears. Your inventions and discoveries."

"As it should be, oh daughter of mine. It has been that way since the Pyramid has stood, and it will stay that way long after each of us turns to dust."

"We are not searching for everything, oh Mistress. We are only searching for a bit more–"

"And your appeal had been granted at the last Council of the Pyramid. The collections in Test Rooms were updated."

"23 cycles! That's how long ago that was."

"What's your point?" Mistress Helfira said.

"How many have managed to pass those tests since they were put into place? I will tell you. 30 mages. That's how many. Nearly a quarter of the century and only 30 managed to pass the tests, and get a chance to learn the spells! They might as well have left things as they were. Those old men and women in The Repository just take and take, giving little in return."

"That's not true, and you know it Porfira. They are always fair in their dealings-"

"And what of us who have nothing or very little to exchange? I worked for years and do you know how much that work is valued? And now, I am too old to use Test Rooms, so even that is out of the question. Why should we just sit and watch as they gorge themselves on the knowledge of our ancestors, while they spew some rhetoric about how we need to earn our keep? Should we just leave as some of the others say and whisper? This is our home!"

The old lady shook her head sadly. "That's where you're wrong. This is no home, sweet child. This is a place where you come and work. And the Council Members you so loathe have the same restrictions on knowledge as we do, they only have more tries before th–"

"Oh don’t tell me that, as if I will believe a word. Mother, I was born here, I grew up here–" Mistress Porfira growled.

"So was I. Born, raised, married, gave birth… lived for over 70 cycles. That still gives us no rights Porfira. Nothing here is mine, nothing here is yours, nor will it ever be. Not even Council Members own a speck of dust. I know you don’t believe it, but it is still true. Everything here is owned by the Grand-Master, and he is long dead. He clearly stated that we are allowed to use it for as long as we contribute something new. If you don't contribute, then your place is not here."

"But that's so… wrong. Our whole lives dedicated to the Pyramid, and we have to fight over scraps just as an-"

"Please, ladies, I thought that we agreed to leave this for another time." Master Kot said as he came upon a platform. "Lazarus and the others are waiting,"

Master Kot-us interruptus, Tercius groaned. Strikes again.

***

Tercius had enough, now, to form his map with more clarity.

First off, he previously knew of two councils. The first was the Council of the Academy, a collective of teachers that governed the Academy, and was responsible for teaching new students. Mistress Dea sat on this council as the one responsible for oversight of students in their private time, and the woman informed him that this council was mostly there to deal with day-to-day problems of the Academy. Then there was the Council of the Repository, composed of four Head Archivists and led by The Prime. The Prime was the titular Head-Master of the Academy, but Tercius learned that the man— or woman, it was unknown to everyone at the Academy who Prime was— had rarely meddled with the Academy itself.

This Council of the Pyramid was something Tercius just heard for the first time and it was probably, judging solely by its name, an all-inclusive governing body. He would have to do some more digging about it.

The whole situation was a mess, a downplayed opinion of his if there ever was one.

On one side he had the Traditionalists who held the reigns and were unwilling— or unable, as Mistress Helfira repeatedly said— to loosen the rules. From what he heard this fraction was headed by the Council of the Repository, possibly by The Prime, and had some traction amongst the Masters and Mistresses of the Academy.

On the other side, there were the Progressives or Insurgents as Mistress Helfira so helpfully called them, a collective, of unknown numbers, which advocated for change in those rules— and had been doing so for quite some time now, with little success. The second step of the Pyramid, besides housing the Academy, also had an entire city. Tercius knew that the population of this city was made up of the dropouts of the Academy, from ages past, and their children. It was a perfect fertile ground for these Insurgents to plant seeds and hope for results. The class Master Lazarus held showed what the mages taught their students.

The fact that Mistress Helfira thought the Progressives responsible for the state at hand, and that Mistress Porfira didn't deny it, indicated to Tercius that the Progressives have had enough of waiting and lines were starting to be drawn in the sand.

Tercius did not honestly know how to feel about all of this. He could empathize with both sides, to a degree. He felt sympathy for them yet he was also disappointed in all of them. He had built this image of a perfect society in his mind, and now that image came down crumbling like a house of cards. He felt disappointed in himself, for he thought that he learned his lesson long ago.

Perfect doesn’t exist, does it? It’s all… broken, at least a little, he thought. I, or rather some part of me, want to believe in something perfect and then things like this happen, that shatters the veneer of perfection. Does that mean that I am the problem? Am I… chasing a dream once more?

Snap out of it, man, he thought as he slapped himself on the face.

Once they arrived at the same space where the portal left them, over a month ago, they took the door to the left. A mage let them though and they ended up in a giant circular room, easily the size of a football field. Orb-lit tunnels lined the walls everywhere, and Tercius had an image of a train station in mind when he saw large circular platforms come and go. Master Lazarus sent a large pulse of Mana into a wall, and a part of the wall started moving out. With a rumble, a giant circular platform, covered in Runes, slipped out of the wall and slowly made its way before Master Lazarus, making a stop near the floor level.

With a single step, the Master climbed up and waved his group to board. Out of the sides of the platform, a transparent shield rose and enveloped them into a see-through dome. The platform rose into the air a meter and slowly made its way to a tunnel on the opposite side of the room. Once there the platform aligned itself. One moment it was there, and the next, with an audible snap, it shot into the tunnel.

While Tercius watched that, Mistress Fenia and Mistress Porfira had boarded their groups, and each slowly made their way to the same tunnel Master Lazarus used.

"I need to make a small adjustment to ours," Mistress Helfira said as she walked on the platform. With each step, the platform was slimmed while it gained in radius. Tercius realized that their group would not have been able to fit onto the same platform as the rest if Mistress Helfria did not extend it.

“Climb up,” the woman said.

When it was Tercius' turn, he took a hesitant step forward and expected a wobble of some kind— yet the platform did not give in, not even a little bit. The transparent shield enveloped their group, cutting off the sounds and echoes. Even as their platform started moving forward, no force worked to push him back, which his braced body found disconcerting.

Ahead of them Master Kot's group disappeared into the well-lit tunnel, and they followed. Mistress Helfira waved her arms around and the platform made adjustments, slowly turning into a proper position. With a snap of a finger, the platform sped forward as the kids around him exclaimed in wonder.

“This is amazing!” Eunim said as he touched the transparent barrier. “I’ve never seen anything like it,”

“Much of these enchanted buildings are the work built by generations of mages, each adding onto the previous.” Mistress Helfira said. “That’s how knowledge is built.”

In less than a minute of blurred surroundings, the platform made a stop, and Tercius and his group joined the others at a terminal.

“Chameos is right above us, children,” Mistress Helfira said, as she sent a pulse of Mana into a solid wall.

Chameos, the town south of the Pyramid, was built to deal with the overflow of the population that had started clogging the streets some centuries ago. Tercius had read a book about the town, in the history section of the dorms library, and the fact that two-thirds of the Pyramid's population served as the first settlers of the town now gained another angle. Rather than moving of their own free will, these people might have been banished to make more room.

Tercius glanced at the walls with his Stone Sight and got a surprise. While he was at the Pyramid, his skill of sight never worked even though the whole thing was made of stone. Mistress Dea had told him that the Pyramid was enchanted against any types of intrusive skills and spells, which was why the last time he used the skill was over a month ago. His Stone Shaping also drew a blank on the stone from the Pyramid.

On these walls, however, the skill Stone Sight worked, to a degree. He was able to see that the wall was over five meters in thickness with two passages to the left and right of them. After that, the skill had an abrupt end.

“I thought that we were expected,” Mistress Helfira said as she glanced at the wall. “Who is the Keeper here?”

As Mistress Helfira said that, a wall opened to their left.

"Come along children," Mistress Helfira said as she strode right into the new opening.

A man came and greeted them, and then they were shown to their rooms. Built in the same way as those in the dorms, these rooms were only different in the fact that there was no window. That was to be expected as this whole facility seemed to be built underground. How far exactly underground, Tercius had no idea.

The dinner was a brief affair, held in a large central hall where three hundred adults could have dined, to say nothing of two hundred children.

There was a speech from Mistress Porfira, who had the honor of being their caretaker, in Mistress Dea’s place. She explained some things about how classes were to be held, a few details about each Master and Mistress who would teach them, and a few details she deemed important to mention. His roommates went to sleep as soon as they were finished with their meal, and Tercius did not want to bother them so he went and tried to find the library. Amber stayed with Eunim, so he was free to do a bit of wandering exploration. The walls were bare and gray, all so alike each other.

Eventually, he found the library on one of the lower floors. As he closed the door behind him, he noticed two other students inside. Penelope had claimed a table for herself and had a book open before her. She had her back turned to him, but he knew it was her— this was not the first time he found her like this. There was another girl there, sitting in the corner. Tercius knew her as the one who answered two of Master Lazarus's questions earlier in the day, and that was it. He didn't even know a name.

Penelope's dirty blonde hair swept his way, as he approached, and she sent him a smile. “I knew you would come here,” she whispered.

“Am I that predictable now?” he whispered with a smile.

She shrugged. “Sometimes. Looking for anything in particular? That section there is for history, that one is–”

“I don’t know, honestly. Just something to rest my mind a bit,” he whispered.

“What was that about, earlier, when you said those words to Mistress Helfira? You had this face–”

“What face?” he said, in a higher voice than he intended.

“You figured something out, didn’t you?” she whispered, her eyes accusing him. Tercius saw that she got her confirmation somehow. “I knew it. Tell me!”

He shook his head. “No way. Your mother asked you to keep things quiet, and you spilled the story anyways.”

“Did not!” she snapped back, her eyes glaring. “I may have said a few words, but–”

"Eunim told me the whole story. You may have left out a few words, but not said a few words," he whispered.

“Can you two stop talking, I am trying to read here,” the third occupant of the room said.

“Sorry,” Tercius said as he stood up. “We’re done here.”

"No, we are not! You need to tell me," Penelope demanded.

“Penelope…” he said in a tone of warning as he glanced at the girl in the corner.

"Tell you what? Maybe I can tell you and we can finally all stop talking." the brown-haired girl said, as she closed the book she was reading, got up, and matched to Penelope's table. Her hands on her hips, she locked her confident brown eyes first on Tercius then on Penelope and said, "Well? Ask away?"

Penelope threw a hesitant glance at Tercius. "Will you tell me later?"

Tercius started walking away the next moment.

“Fine! You leave me no choice,” Penelope said. “You asked for it. He figured something out from the fig–”

"Stop." Tercius ran to Penelope, covering her mouth with his hand. At that moment he startled both of the girls, as he just appeared like a ghost between them. In his haste, his Running went into overdrive, and he just moved without thinking.

"Whoa," the brown-haired girl took a few steps back, as a shield appeared around her. Its glowing blue surface was semi-transparent, and the girl looked through it straight at Tercius and Penelope, her eyes narrowed.

Tercius looked at the shield, but then his initial goal made its way back to the forefront. He removed his hand, wiping away the bile from the attempted bites, and looked at Penelope. His eyes narrowed and his voice deepened as he said calmly, “Really? Is that how you will behave? Threaten me?”

"It worked so far," Penelope said.

Tercius did not know what to say. It was indeed the truth that he usually capitulated and ended up telling her when situations like these happened before. But those times were benign things, small insignificant details. She would try to squeeze out details and when he proved too tough to beat by herself she threatened to make Euria and Lomera join the pestering, but he thought that she was joking when she said that. He realized now what he had been doing. I sometimes forget how old they are…

"I'm… After everything we talked about just this afternoon and now this…" he said with a sigh. "Penelope. This will stop now. No more of these… play threats."

Penelope seemed taken aback. The tone in which Tercius said the last part... She whispered, “I… I… I’m sorry, I just wanted to… to find out.”

Tercius looked at her, saw her eyes moistening, and he did not know what to do. He wanted to say to her that it was him who made a mistake, but that was only a half-truth. She was acting childishly, trying to get things to her way by any means possible. She needed a lesson, and he knew of an effective, if cruel, way of teaching it. An image of Lux and Seliana flashed before his eyes and he had his decision. Those two would approve, he thought.

He was by no means sure that this was the right way to do things, but he knew that something had to be done, and done as soon as possible. Is this how parents feel all the time?

With a final look, he turned around and walked out of the room without another word.