The Academy of Steel was impressive at first glance. It had its own walls, ten meters tall and clearly raised by an Earth or Stone Mage, surrounding a large estate, with two Level 60 Warriors acting as guards. Through the gate, Duncan could see over a dozen buildings clustered in the center of the estate, including the tallest building he’d ever seen at perhaps forty meters tall, with a huge number of windows. He presented his letter of introduction to the guard who addressed him, and was directed to wait inside the gate, while one of the administrative staff was summoned.

A few minutes later, a lean Level 40 Warrior in a snappy looking brown uniform ran up to the guardhouse from the main buildings and examined Duncan’s letter. “All appears to be in order. Please accompany me to the admissions office and we’ll go through some of the formalities.” The admissions office was in the second largest building. “This building has all the classrooms for the academic side. We’re only the admissions office for a few weeks out of the year,” the administrator confided. “The rest of the time, we’re student services.”

The man led Duncan into an office, and they sat down across a desk from each other. “My name is Jacob Gallenhough. Welcome to the Academy of Steel. You are an interesting case - the guild warned us that you were exceptional and significantly more experienced than our normal students. They appear to have been understating the case. Consequently, the admissions board will interview you in person to ensure you’re a good fit for the academy.”

“It’s not that you’re not a noble – we have a dozen or more warriors and mages join each year who are commoners. But you’re of a level with many of the staff, which could be problematic. With so many exuberant youths, they often have to impose order. If you’re as experienced as your level implies, that may be difficult for some of them.”

When Duncan didn’t say anything, Jacob continued, “The board will meet you at nine bells tomorrow. Meet me here after breakfast and I will escort you. In the meantime, let’s get you settled in a guest room for the day. I’ll give you a bit of a tour on the way.”

“This is the classroom building,” he said, waving at a utilitarian three story building made of grey stone. “We teach a wide variety of academic subjects here, from history to foreign languages and geography, to philosophy and politics, to battle strategy and tactics. As we exit, you can see several of the training fields. We have our own stables as well, with a variety of mounts to train with. The stables and their associated fields are on the other side of the classroom building from us. Over there we have the staff quarters. And this tall building is the student quarters. Students are placed four to a room. There are communal bathing rooms and toilets on each floor. For many of our noble students, this is their first experience sharing quarters, and we feel it is necessary should they be called upon to lead men on a campaign.”

Duncan raised an eyebrow, “You’re suggesting the nobles won’t have private tents on campaign?”

“Only if they’re commander rank or up. Nobles fill all the ranks from lieutenant up in most of the levies, and lieutenants sleep four to a tent. Also, we find the close quarters enforces a camaraderie they may not have experienced before, and it helps expose some potential problems among the students before they can fester. There are bigots and misogynists and predators in every community, and this helps us weed them out of ours.”

“Why are you telling me that, if I’m potentially a problem child?” asked Duncan.

“Our reasons are well-known among the potential students. We don’t hide our methodologies.”

Ah, but by telling us, it seems you let your students hide their issues.

“The guest quarters are on the ground floor of the student building. First year students occupy the top floors, second years the middle floors, and third years the bottom floors. First years have to climb the most stairs, that way,” explained Jacob.

“Is there a rule against flying?” asked Duncan.

“No, but none of the windows open far enough to allow someone to pass through.”

Not a concern for me – I can Blink. “Alright, thank you.”

“This will be your room for the night. The adjacent building is the mess hall – meals are served around the clock. If you need anything, come and find us at the admissions office.” Jacob took his leave.

Duncan spent the day wandering the estate, looking at the various facilities, and found them impressive. The classrooms were bigger than he’d seen back in the valley, and the seating was tiered so that everyone had a clear view of the instructor and the huge slate at the front of each of each classroom that the instructor could write on. The food in the mess hall was adequate. Probably not what the nobles are used to, though. He spent the evening in meditation, moving his mana through his body and mentally prodding at the condensed ball of mana that Repdam had referred to as a dantian or core.

The following morning, Duncan arrived at the admissions office bright and early. He waited for an hour before Jacob arrived. “It’s not yet eight bells – you’ve another hour before you meet the board.” As he spoke, a bell somewhere nearby chimed eight times. Oh, they mark the hours by ringing the bell. I wondered what that was about overnight.

Duncan meditated as he waited. As nine bells approached, Jacob led him to a large room where five people sat behind a table. The man at the center of the group said, “Welcome to the Academy, Duncan. I’m Eric Dalgleish. I am the head of the Academy.” Eric was a Level 102 126 Warrior. He had a prominent jaw, close-cropped black hair, and wide-set grey eyes over a broad nose. He’s hiding his true level and presenting a lower one. Interesting! “To my left are Janis Silverarm, and Stanislav Murdoch.” Janis was a Level 84 Mage and Stanislav was a Level 82 Warrior. “To my right are Ashleigh Rhodes and William Hughes.” Ashleigh was a Level 93 Warrior and William was a Level 89 Mage.

Duncan nodded to the group, saying nothing.

Eric continued, “The Adventurers Guild has selected you as one of the five candidates they have been invited to recommend to us this year. They told us you were a little higher level than our usual intake class, and also a little younger. Students usually come to us between level twenty and thirty, most closer to the former than the latter.” He looked at Duncan questioningly.

“To be fair, I was probably only level forty when they made the recommendation,” said Duncan.

“You mean to say that six months ago, you were level forty? Preposterous,” spluttered William. He was a handsome man in a fancy burgundy tunic.

“No sir, six months ago I was level twelve,” said Duncan.

Ashleigh Rhodes laughed merrily, her green eyes almost sparkling. Duncan thought he saw a smirk on Eric’s face, too, for a moment. “Perhaps you can tell us your story, young man. How old are you, and where are you from, and how did you rise to such heights in such a short time?” Eric said.

Here we go again. “I believe I turned eighteen a few days ago sir.”

“Idiot,” said William. “Check your soulgem.”

Duncan accessed his soulgem and thought Age at it. “It says I’m six months old.” That one doesn’t rate a sir.

This time several of the board members laughed. “Go on with your story, please, Duncan,” said Eric.

“I’m from a valley in a distant land. We don’t have soulgems there. I trained to become a delver, that is, an adventurer, from age fourteen. At seventeen, I was allowed to start delving. About six months ago, I was knocked through a portal or gate or something in a dungeon and I ended up in the middle of nowhere. The first village I came to was Axford. They told me I had to use a soulgem, and provided one, so I did, and it told me I was level twelve. I solo’d some dungeons, moving around for a while. From level thirty to forty, I was soloing in the Eldritch Horror dungeon near Clermont. For the past three months, I was soloing in the Endless Depths dungeon near Chorley. I wanted to improve my weapon skills and my ability to fight in harness, so the guild suggested I come here.”

“Clearly you don’t have any Techniques involving storytelling,” said Janis, “but that’s an interesting tale, nonetheless. To spend that much time alone fighting monsters, you must have an interesting set of Techniques. Will you share your soulgem information with us?”

“I will not. I will already receive a lot of attention being level seventy-five at age eighteen. My affinities and build are unusual. I don’t want that information getting out. The guild tells me you expect to hear that and have other means of determining my suitability to join the Academy.”

“Very well. So, your only motivation for attending the Academy is to increase your skills?” asked Eric. “You’re not looking to join a noble’s guard or retinue? You’re not looking to make noble friends and gain influence?”

“I didn’t even know the Academy existed until the guild suggested I join,” said Duncan. “I have no interest in politics or nobles. The guild said this was where I could get the best blademaster training, so I’m applying here.”

“You will be giving up adventuring for a while and spending a lot of gold to attend. You’ll lose your solitude and privacy and be in a classroom environment. Do you think you can handle that?” asked Stanislav.

“From age fourteen to seventeen I lived in a student barracks. All I did for three years was train. And I can recoup the gold cost in a couple of days’ delving in the Endless Depths.”

“Well, then. Let’s see what you learned in those three years.” He rang a bell and several warriors filed in. All were around level seventy-five. “These warriors will test your martial prowess. We can provide unenchanted weapons for you,” said Eric.

“No active Techniques, I assume?” Duncan asked.

“Correct. Let’s see your skill, not your Techniques,” Eric confirmed.

“I have a Blade Affinity passive Technique. Do you want me to focus on disabling it when I use blades?”

“No,” the headmaster said, “but you will have to demonstrate sufficient control not to harm the testers.” One of the testers snorted at that.

Duncan demonstrated his skills in longsword, broadsword, mace, axe, great axe, and boar spear in sparring matches for the better part of an hour, fighting each tester in turn, taking no breaks. His stamina regen made recovery trivial. By the end, all the testers showed him respect. He lost most of his bouts, but not all, and demonstrated more skill than they seemed to have expected.

The testers equipped what seemed to be their personal gear. “Now,” said Eric, “you’ll repeat the sparring, but with gear and Techniques.”

Duncan looked over the testers and turned to Eric, “No. I’m sorry, but if I fight using my gear and Techniques, I will kill them.”

The tester who had snorted earlier did so again, loudly. “You’re not bad, pup, but you won’t even scratch me.” He was wearing heavy plate armor with an open-faced helmet and had a sword and shield in hand. He was almost as big as Duncan and oozed confidence.

Eric pointed to a dignified-looking woman with steel grey hair in deep purple robes standing near the door. “Lady Gillian is one of the most accomplished healers in the empire. If you don’t kill instantly, she will be able to save anyone you face.” She was a Level 103 Healer.

Duncan shrugged, “I hope you’re right.” He equipped his plate armor, sword and shield from his storage device in a heartbeat. “I’m ready.”

“Holy shit, where did you get an advanced storage ring!?” asked Stanislav.

“Eighth floor of the Endless Depths,” Duncan replied. “Are you sure you want me to do this?”

“Begin,” said Eric.