Charlene Dezu Antiga tapped her fingers on the long, u-shaped table while she waited for her colleagues to arrive. She was seated at the lower left side of the U-shape, while her fellow Agazan instructor, Silus Gethen, sat beside her around the corner. The Sharom instructors would be seated on the opposite leg of the U and, as usual, those quirky tea-leaf readers were late.

“It’s ten minutes before the scheduled conference,” Silus Gethen subtly reminded her.

“Hmmph!” Charlene snorted derisively. If they weren’t at a meeting at least fifteen minutes before the scheduled time, they were late by her books. Not that the other Academies’ instructors and proctors were any earlier. Unsurprisingly, Lunette’s representatives were already there, though all three had their noses buried either in a thick book or pointed at a crystal screen. One of them, Caolan Aralka, if Charlene wasn’t mistaken, was furiously scribbling in his notebook while alternating between looking at a screen and a textbook.

No doubt Aneurin’s representatives would be late, really late, if only for a couple of minutes. Ithel Esras, as part of the Eastern Duke’s clan, loved to make a point in his so-called importance. He wanted to earn his title and be posted in a district but Charlene thought he was still too young. Either way, the man’s frivolous attitude irked her something fierce and she could barely muster the control not to break his all too noble nose.

Other than Gethen, Agaza’s last representative, Devon Kinnock, was seated with his eyes closed, meditating. The Kinnock house’s young prodigy had been stuck at the Knight level for a decade now but it was still early. Most talented people remained Knights their entire lives but even amongst those in the Anima level classification, there was a huge gap between an ordinary Knight and an elite one.

“Tsk.” According to her internal body clock, it was only a minute until the start of the conference.

The door opened and the three Sharom representatives came in. Charlene nodded at their apparent leader, the orange-haired, yellow-eyed Kiyo Alfein, whose pupils were shaped like a cat and whose graceful curves and exotic beauty attracted the eyes of all the men in the room...and some of the women’s, too.

Kiyo stared into Charlene’s eyes long enough that she felt herself wanting to caress the other woman’s tawny hair. She looked away and heard the beautiful woman’s sultry chuckle.

Sure enough, five minutes after the Sharom group came in, the Aneurin panel sauntered into the room, full of cheeky smiles.

“Thank you for your patience, dear colleagues,” Ithel greeted warmly as he took his seat at the bottom right corner of the U-shaped table. “Now that we are here, let us review the candidates for each of our Academies’ Elite Class. Let us focus on the ones who passed multiple assessments…”

Ithel droned on for several minutes while Charlene sipped a cup of calming tea. She needed it so badly that she was on her fourth cup by the time he finished and she had to head to the water closet to relieve herself. When she returned, there was a light construct projected in the middle of the U.

It was of a young man with his dark hair braided. His grey eyes had a mischievous light to it and his lips had a subtle smirk. Danazzo Talwen Aralka.

“Mr. Aralka has passed the assessment of both Agaza and Lunette academy,” Silus noted, and he had his eyes on one of Lunette’s proctors, Caolan Aralka.

The other man grunted but remained impassive. Charlene nodded approvingly.

Silus continued. “Based on Mr. Aralka’s Heritage and Facet, and his splendid showing during the practical trials, he should do well in Agaza.”

“Hold on,” one of the other Lunette representatives, Killian Lawson, interrupted. “His written exam results in Lunette were perfect. He also showed great aptitude in identifying and classifying medicinal herbs.” She glanced at Caolan and nudged his side. “Danazzo would fit well under Lunette’s Alchemistry department.”

“His Facet and Heritage is from his mother’s side, isn’t it?” Charlene interrupted. “It is definitely a combat class Facet. It would be a waste if he never has the chance to develop it properly.”

Caolan Aralka nodded and didn’t say anything, while his colleague sputtered. In the end, Agaza Academy got its way. The Empire needed all the warriors it could train and any promising seed must be nurtured in the proper greenhouse.

Danazzo’s bust disappeared when the attendant changed the settings and a young woman’s features were displayed along with a name. Ella-Mai Wol.

“She passed Sharom’s examinations with flying colours,” Safiya Canteril, a proctor from Sharom whose looks were, unfortunately, overshadowed by Kiyo, said.

“She passed Agaza’s exams as well,” Silus added.

“This girl also passed Aneurin’s exam,” Ithel stated.

“And she passed Lunette’s,” Fionn Greenwood, the last member of Lunette’s panel spoke up.

“Well, this is a quandary.” Ithel looked at the image in front of them. “What is her Heritage and Facet?”

“She’s received the Wol Heritage,” Kiyo said easily. “Her Facet allows her to easily see minute details from both up close and from a distance. This makes her a passable scout, or…” Kiyo drew out the words, “a great runescribe.”

“She also has a meticulous personality, perfect for the nitty-gritty of governance,” Ithel argued.

“Her ability is also great for artwork,” Killian read, “but I don’t think she wants to become an artisan.”

“So which of us will take her?” Silus asked grimly.

Kiyo rested her chin on her palm, elbow on the table, and flashed Silus a languid smile. Charlene felt her colleague stiffen in his seat and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes and glare at Kiyo. The cat-eyed instructor gave another sultry chuckle.

“Ah,” Silus squeaked, “the armed forces could always use more runescribes.”

Charlene sighed but she nodded, too. Nothing against the brat but Ella-Mai’s attitude during the exams meant that she wasn’t that suited to train in leadership.

“Still,” she added “I request that we add some of Agaza’s courses to her curriculum. It will help her develop her Facet more and maybe save her life in case the unthinkable were to happen.”

“I agree,” Kiyo shrugged.

“Aneurin, any complaints?”

“I will agree only if she takes a class from Aneurin as well, at least during her first and second years. That way, we’ll know if she is really worth our attention.”

“Agreed.”

At that, the attendant replaced the image on the projector with another child’s. This one passed Sharom’s and Aneurin’s exams, so Charlene’s group had nothing to do with him. She leaned back on her seat and considered the coming school year as well as the murmurings she heard outside.

The Ivalans down south were getting restless. Those people wanted to move up north to encroach on the Empire’s territory for lack of arable land. The other city-states south of Ivala City had grown to encompass all the available land. There were also rumours from further south of Ivala, Ekelus City, where someone had invented an engine that didn’t run on Animus.

Charlene was short on the details but she knew that the folks in Lunette were eager to get a hold of the details. Animatech was limited by how many of the people were capable of channelling Animus. Practically all of the Empire’s citizens were capable of that, no matter how pitiful their abilities were. In contrast, the Confederation of The City-States of Rumiga, and really, any nation that lived in any of the contested planes, didn’t have as much Awakened.

This limited their war potential, their ability to protect themselves from Chaos, and for their industry to progress. But if Ekelus City was moving away from Animatech, well…perhaps the years ahead would be a bit more turbulent than before.

The panel cycled through five more candidates, just about average for the beginning of the school year. There were no disadvantages to applying for the Elite class, merely the testing fee. If the child succeeded, he or she would receive a scholarship and a supply of Zoi Elixirs as a stipend every week.

The Zoi allowed an Awakened child to safely and steadily build their Animus reserves up to Sollus for their Anima Strength. At that point, they would have to advance their Facet to the next level or inlay a new one before they could continue.

The Sollus state was the point at which the Animus core could no longer increase its reserves without bursting. While it wasn’t possible for someone’s core to be destroyed in such a way, drinking more Zoi Elixirs would just be a waste of coin though it sometimes made a Sollus state Animus core denser. There were advantages and disadvantages to that. On the one hand, drinking to excess had a small chance of making someone’s Anima permanently stronger but on the other, they risked Chaos poisoning.

The next candidate’s face appeared on the projection and Charlene saw Kiyo visibly perk up. The woman had been lounging on her armchair, somehow giving the impression of a lazy cat, but when Yuriko Davar’s assessment came up, the cat-eyed woman sat on the edge of her seat. If she had a tail to match her eyes, Charlene was sure it would be pointing straight at the ceiling. Or flicking Arastil’s nose--the proctor from Aneurin who was seated beside her was leaning far too close.

“Yuriko Mishala Davar,” Silus read, pausing at the girl’s middle name and glancing at Kiyo. “She passed Agaza’s assessment but also Sharom’s. Her Heritage is unknown…”

“How?” Ithel suddenly asked. “Most newly Awakened children know the name of their benefactors.”

“Her statement says that her Ancestor did not name himself and that when she inlaid her Facet, no knowledge became available.” Silus answered. “In either case, her Facet is not of direct use in combat, however, her claim is that a…Shadow…of her Ancestor appears in her dreams when she activates her Facet and passes down Animus and even martial techniques.”

“What a strange Facet,” Ethan Dinia, the last member of Sharom’s panel, murmured. “It is a knowledge-based Facet yet it doesn’t imprint its knowledge directly to the child’s mind?”

Silus glanced down at his crystal screen. “No, it doesn’t.”

“Well, clearly she should enter Sharom,” Ethan declared. “Her results are remarkable in both our written and practical trials. And since she doesn’t have a combat-related Facet, we have priority.”

“Hold on,” Silus interrupted. “While her Facet doesn’t give immediate help, it is of the sort that makes her a more effective combatant, given time. Her martial prowess is incredible for a child her age and she is quite versatile, too. She can wield melee and ranged weapons with equal ease. She would be perfect for our Armsmaster course.”

“Hmmm,” Ithel of Aneurin interrupted, “I agree with Silus on this one. Versatility is useful on the battlefield.”

Charlene cleared her throat. “Please do not make assumptions for a field that isn’t yours. Miss Davar only qualified for Agaza’s and Sharom’s Elite class.”

“I see, forgive my presumption,” Ithel gave a short bow, though Charlene could see his eyes flash. It was gone the next moment, hidden behind its placid depths.

“Thank you,” Charlene replied, for once without sarcasm. Not openly anyway.

“Ahem,” Silus coughed, “as I was saying, Yuriko Davar clearly belongs to our academy. Her martial prowess will be a great gift to the Empire in a few years.”

“That would be true if her Animus manipulation skills weren’t one of the best I’ve seen,” Ethan rebutted. “She is able to divide and manipulate her Animus more than five times, I believe. She managed to write several paragraphs within the allotted time and she almost finished etching the trial rod during the practicals. Knowledge, especially of esoteric techniques, are rightly under Sharom’s research department.”

“You’d waste a great warrior by locking her up in a lab!” Silus growled.

“You’d waste a potentially powerful Sorcerer by making her a foot soldier!”

“She gave no indication that she wants to be a Sorcerer!”

“Children often don’t know what they want at this age!”

Silus and Ethan exchanged heated looks with their fiery words. Charlene looked at Kiyo, who had remained oddly silent. The beautiful woman met her eyes and then nodded ever so slightly.

“Ahem,” Charlene called for attention. “While I agree that she would benefit a lot from our curriculum, I find that her Facet, and her temperament, isn’t that suitable for command.”

Silus turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. She patted his arm and gave him a level look.

“I propose the same arrangement with Yuriko Davar as with Ella-Mai, she should enrol in Sharom’s Elite class but have cross-academy courses in her first couple of years.”

Kiyo nodded at her with a satisfied look.

Charlene grunted then added, “Besides, her guardian had expressed that she wants to enrol her daughter in the Sorcery department and even when Miss Davar took the elite trials, the results spoke for themselves. She is better suited to study under Sharom than Agaza.”

Silus leaned back against his chair and sighed. “Well, as long as she can take additional courses in my department then it’s fine.”

The panel moved on to other candidates and in a couple of hours, all of the disputed candidates were distributed properly. Charlene gathered her notes and other things and left the chamber as soon they were done. She briefly met Kiyo’s gaze before she left and the other woman gave back a dazzling smile.