The travel back to Molten Ridges was, thankfully, completely uninteresting. The choppers cut down on the travel time significantly, which Angel was thankful for. He couldn’t wait to start truly digging into the multitude of mysteries he was carrying around.

During the trip, he continued regular checkups on Lilian. His temporary power source was still running as expected, and she let him continue studying the other Magitech within her. He’d already learned a lot, but there was still a good number of parts that he still had yet to discover the purpose of.

“Look up there,” Silver said, nodding at a thick haze rising up in the distance and warping the sky. The imposing black and burnished red walls of Molten Ridges rose at the edge of a huge lava lake. “We’ve arrived.”

“I’ve never seen Molten Ridges from this high up,” Angel said, poking his head over Silver’s shoulder to get a better look. “It’s intimidating.”

“You haven’t even seen half of it,” Silver said with a laugh. “Their security is incredible, especially in the academy. I tried to steal some seeds from those trees at least ten times, but there’s always some hawk-eyed bastard watching them.”

“I thought you gave up your life of crime?” Lilian asked.

“Suspended,” Silver corrected her. “You don’t ever really give it up. And I haven’t actually done anything. Just thought about doing it. And planned it out. And – well, you know what, it’s the fact that I didn’t actually get anything that counts.”

He brought the chopper lower in the sky, angling it towards a huge landing pad nestled within the enormous academy’s walls. Several enormous Magitech cannons, blinking with lights and with house sized canisters linked to their bases, traced them as they grew closer. The whole thing looked more like a castle than anything else.

“Identify yourself,” a voice crackled through the speaker. Silver grabbed it and cleared his throat. “Wind Snake here. Retrieved Magistrate Dalliah’s target.”

“Clear,” there was a click, but the crackle didn’t stop. The cannons turned away from them and in a much quieter voice, someone muttered, “who else would it be, Captain Jameson? There’s an entire fleet of choppers. Why would a whole fleet roll up here?”

“You’re still transmitting, idiot,” a rough voice snapped. The crackle vanished.

The cannons turned away from them and Silver pulled back on a lever. With a whine, the chopper swept in and touched down at the center of the pad. Its rotors slowed to a stop and Silver sat back in his seat with a sigh. “Home sweet home. Welcome back, lads.”

“Where’s my workshop?” Angel asked.

“Hah. I’m sure Captain Jameson can lead you to it. Dalliah sent him here as a show of goodwill to the city. He’s been helping manage the chopper pads, but he’s still in her employ.”

“Perfect,” Angel said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, and I don’t want to waste time.”

He pulled the door of the chopper open and was greeted by the loud roar of the other choppers in the fleet as they descended around them, buffeting the platform with powerful winds. Angel grimaced, then slid to the ground.

A heavily armored man stood at a doorway on the far side of the platform. His Magitech armor was significantly larger than that of the average soldier, and a mask covered the lower half of his face.

A puff of steam exited a vent at the side of the mask and he reached up, removing it with a click as Angel made his way towards him.

“Captain Jameson, I presume?” Angel guessed. Lilian and Silver wandered over from the chopper and joined the two.

“Correct. You would be Angel, then.”

“As far as I’m aware. What’s with the mask?”

“The choppers let out fumes,” Jameson said, turning on his heel and waving for them to follow him. “I must keep my body in perfect shape, and that includes avoiding possible contaminants.”

He ducked under the doorway and led them inside the building. Each step he took was like a muted thunderbolt in the metal hallways, but the guards they passed had clearly gotten used to it.

The inside of the building was rather plain. It was mostly made from a mixture of bronze and copper, with a few barred windows looking down onto the city below them. The group had to stop every few hallways as Jameson tapped in a passcode to open a blast door. The Academy clearly wasn’t taking any security risks.

“Miss Vanessa is currently in class,” Jameson said as they descended a spiraling staircase. “She extends her regrets in being unable to greet you personally.”

“It’s quite alright,” Angel replied. “I’m sure we’ll get time to say hi soon. Besides, it would be a shame for us to have brought her all this way just for Vanessa to skirt her studies.”

“Exactly,” Jameson said, nodding vigorously in agreement as they reached the bottom, which was walled off by yet another door. He tapped a passcode into the keypad beside it and the door hissed open, rising into the ceiling to grant them passage.

The room they emerged into had a large door at the far end and a counter beside it where two armored guards were playing a game with a pair of dice and cups. The men leapt to their feet as Jameson strode inside. One of them positioned himself to block the game and cleared his throat.

“Ah, Wind Snake! You’ve returned,” the man exclaimed with forced excitement.

“We spoke no more than five minutes ago.” Silver smirked. “You couldn’t have forgotten me already.”

“Of course not,” the guard replied. He quickly pressed a button hidden behind the counter. With a rumble, the door parted to allow access to a huge courtyard. It was mostly grass, with several stone footpaths traveling throughout it. On the back side of the clearing was a black metal wall, decorated with intricate patterns of red stone that looked like fire.

“That’s the Academy armory,” Jameson explained as they walked out into the courtyard and started down one of the paths. “Some of the finest weapons in the Barren, all made here.”

“Fascinating,” Angel said, memorizing the building’s location. “And where would my workshop be?”

“Magistrate Dalliah said you’d be wanting to find it immediately,” Jameson said. “She was right – as always. Brilliant woman, Dalliah.”

“Quite,” Angel agreed. “Workshop?”

“It’s in the Tinkerer’s Wing,” Jameson said with a grunt. “Not too much farther. You’ll have access to the Academy Mess hall as well, although I have better things to do than show you. I believe Dalliah arranged for a student to shadow you in exchange for showing you around.”

“That’s… acceptable, I suppose,” Angel decided. “So long as they don’t expect to be there all day. Some of my work is sensitive.”

“I’m sure it is,” Jameson said, not sounding the slightest bit insincere. They passed under a tall archway linking two Academy buildings to each other, then started down a widening path. Through the windows in the buildings, Angel spotted students of varying ages attending classes.

Some sat at desks taking notes, while others sparred or held artifacts. There was a small flash from one of the buildings and one boy jerked away from a small box in his hands, smoke rising from his eyebrows.

A tall woman strode over and slapped him on the back of the head while Angel chuckled. They passed a few kids wearing red and black clothes. Some of them had gold lines stitched onto their shoulders.

“What’s with the matching fashion?” Angel asked.

“It’s to mark them as academy students,” Jameson replied. “The robes grant some degree of authority in the town and help provide some protection for the kids. Anyone that attacks an Academy student is treated as if they’ve attacked the Academy itself. It does much for keeping criminals far away.”

“I’m sure,” Angel said, making a point not to glance at Silver. Jameson led them into a large, rectangular building. There were fewer students here, and most of them looked older as well. Not many of them showed any interest in the group as they slipped through the tight hallways and closed doors. There were a few windows, revealing huge lecture halls, but many of the rooms were completely closed off.

Jameson came to a stop before a door marked with the number 71. He tossed Angel a small key. “This is your room. Don’t lose the key. Don’t replicate it either. It’s Magitech. Completes the circuit with the door. A normal replacement will end up frying whoever sticks it into the keyhole.”

“Noted,” Angel said, examining the bronze device curiously. Runes wrapped around its handle, and he made a mental note to study and replicate the key as soon as possible. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“Nothing Dalliah or Vanessa told me,” Jameson said. “Someone will drop by in a few hours to show you around. Wind Snake, can you lead your friend to her housing?”

“Sure,” Silver said. “Have fun, Angel. That look in your eye tells me that it’s best to leave you alone, so I’ll see you at dinner.”

Angel waved farewell as Silver led Lilian down the hall while Jameson retreated the way they’d come. He turned back to the door and put the key into its hole, turning it with a satisfying click before stepping inside to inspect his new workshop.