Central City was a marvel of modern shrouded society. The bulk of the city was situated over the Starry Sea itself, set in between four small islands. Of course, all shrouded knew that the city was not built out from those islands. Instead, the Academy was established equidistant between all of them before Central City ever existed.

At the time, near the beginnings of the Central Authority, the four members of the newly formed Central Council each controlled one of the four islands. Damon Vesetigious, disgusted by the absolute meat grinder the military had turned into, worked to form a training Academy free from all influence. One that neither the Families, Central Council, or the military could interfere with.

To do that, he needed a location free of any ownership or powers. At the time, no such place existed. So Damon Vestigious decided to do something impossible. He built a vast Academy in the middle of the Starry Sea. That place which rejected all shrouded and the creations of man. He would build his Academy there, where no one could claim influence or ownership. It took nearly a decade and hundreds of shrouded, but he did the impossible.

Central City sprung up around the Academy in the centuries and millennia that followed. Every shrouded in the CA was required to attend. Such a centralizing feature forced society to bend around it, and Central City was a natural consequence.

The four islands it connected, previously bastions of society and power, fell by the wayside in face of the new brilliance and raw charisma of the Impossible City, the Floating Wonder. Of course, the city’s creation happened with great investments from all the major powers from the Families and the Council. They owned large swathes of its streets and buildings. Their power never faded; it just moved.

Still, the old seats of Council power were not forgotten. The Corner Islands, as they came to be known, were the homes of the old powers in the modern CA. Vast villas and massive mansions that spanned miles and miles of the limited landmass. In Central City, owning a house on real land was a status symbol. The object of only the most powerful and wealthy.

And at the center of each island was the home of a Council member. In a position of pride and authority. Each unique to their owner, but all equally massive and filled to the brim with great works of art, rare monster generated objects, and grandmaster-level infusions. Interestingly, the only valuable items missing was any form of ethertech. Many of the oldest shrouded found the idea distasteful or unnecessary. Most of the Council was among that number, with one exception.

When matters of grave importance occurred, it was in one of these homes that the Council would gather. They took it in turns as to who hosted the others. A sign of trust and unity, to place themselves in the heart of the other’s power and territory. Though that was mostly a relic of old times, when the bonds between them were weaker, and their budding world power was more fractious.

In more modern times of the last few thousand years, the Council was quiet. Indeed, it was in this period of relative inaction that ethertech had made such a massive rise into prominence. Of course, none of them were truly inactive. They each had responsibilities to attend to, and they did so. But it was much different from the times when Council members were engaged in shadow wars of politics, economics, and territory with each other. Wars that sometimes escalated into actual fighting and dying.

No, the last few millennia had seen an unprecedented period of internal peace within the Council. They held to their spheres of influence, focusing their aggression outward toward the other major powers of the Starry Sea. In that peace, minor powers that would have been crushed in the grind between the greater powers flourished. It gave rise to much advancement and progress. Now, the Central Authority was the leading force on the Starry Sea when it came to ethertech. Other nations and powers envied them and copied their tech, stealing all they could.

Their unwillingness or lack of care also led to the current situation. The Revolution.

They gathered within the home of the Bronze Seat. A room deep in the heart of his massive bronze tower, echoed by the Bronze Seat at the Academy, though his home was many times larger in every dimension. The room was heavily infused to prevent every kind of spying ever created, and some that only existed in theory. It was a high-ceilinged round chamber with four booths set up high above the ground. The entire middle of the room was a churning pit of molten bronze, the glowing metal providing lighting for the space.

The booths were lavishly furnished and maintained, with every amenity one could wish for, though they lacked ethertech of any kind. Comfortable chairs of fine silks and deep seats faced the central chamber. It would surprise anyone who did not know that this room and these booths had been coated in a thick layer of dust only a day ago. The Council had not met in this manner for well over a thousand years, and their meeting chambers had wallowed in neglect.

The long peace between them made such a meeting unnecessary, but that was not the only reason for such a long separation. Gathering four of the strongest people, the co-rulers of a massive nation, into one space, each with different views and personalities, was a recipe for conflict. Their meetings were widely known to get…heated.

“YOU STUPID FUCK! THIS IS YOUR FAULT! DON’T POINT YOUR DIRTY FUCKING FINGERS AT ME!” Archon Solarium, the Flame of Authority spat, gesturing wildly. None of the other Councilmembers could see him through the privacy screens, but his dark-skinned face was a few shades deeper as he screamed and raged. None of them reacted, as they were used to this. Archon’s passion made him a polarizing figure, though he was quite charming when he wasn’t flying into a rage.

Arianna Quietus, the Shadow of Authority, let out a sigh. Her own dark complexion was unnatural, a feature from her shroud rather than a natural tone. Considering its pitch blackness, far darker than any normal skin tone, that fact was not a surprise to those who found out. “Archon, for the last time. My network has been wholly focused on the bordering nations of the Ten Thousand Empires. They’ve been making moves in the off-season. I was more concerned with a surprise strike like the Burning Night incident fifteen hundred years ago. This ‘Revolution’ wasn’t unknown to me, but it wasn’t a focus. After all, who expected anything from the unshrouded?”

The other two Councilmembers made sounds of agreement.

Archon growled before relaxing an inch. “I suppose that’s not unreasonable. But this had nothing to do with me!”

“Oh, come now, Archy. We all know this is totally something you would do∼.” The sing-songy voice came from Vivian Centris, the Chain of Authority. “I think you did something like that not that long ago. What was it, maybe five thousand years? There were all those unshrouded riots. That was you!”

Archon huffed. “Well, yes, but-”

“Oh, come on. Are we seriously having this argument? Even if Archon had a hand in this, it has obviously gone far out of his control. His precious Families were the ones most hurt by this attack on the Academy. There’s no way he’d allow something like that. Obviously, the puppet has cut its own strings and run off on him. Whether he admits it or not, this is no longer in his hands. We can worry about blame later.” The last Councilmember, Seville Ingenium, the Tower of Authority, spoke up.

“Oh, actually, it’s not just the Academy, though that was a big deal,” Vivian spoke up again. “I’ve gotten reports from the military that many industrial centers and trade ports experienced smaller versions of the same incident. The loss of aura and the machine-men.”

“What?!” Seville shouted. “I’ve heard nothing of this!”

“She’s actually correct.” Arianna jumped in. “This wasn’t a single attack but a coordinated strike on multiple targets. With ethertech on a level we’ve never seen. The unshrouded have grown too powerful in our neglect. Vivian, what do you have to say to this? You’re the one who advocated for ethertech to exist at all.” Her tone was deeply accusatory.

“Hey∼ that’s not nice! Ethertech was going to happen! It’s too useful not to! It was either have it start here or in some other corner of the Starry Sea where we couldn’t keep an eye on it. Plus, I saw your etherships! Don’t act like none of you are using it too! You’re just such oldies, always complaining about the new hotness.” She pouted. Her petite stature and heart-shaped face added to the image.

“That’s not necessarily inaccurate.” Seville acknowledged. “I have to admit that the introduction of some ethertech has improved construction efficiency and time by an outsized margin. But this has all gone a bit too far.”

“Mmmm.” Arianna hummed. “Although ethertech was used in the attack, the technology itself is not to blame. Vivian may have more of a point than she meant to.”

“Yeah!" The Core Councilmember cheered. "Wait, what?”

“Well, we’ve now seen the full potential of ethertech. Or at least, more than has ever been seen before. I believe all of us have underestimated the possibilities. This sets an example of what our own technology could achieve if we only put more resources into it.” Ariana said. There was a moment of silence between them all as they looked at the attack from a different perspective.

“...Yes.” Seville spoke. “Yes, I think I see it. This was a problem that resulted from all of us not paying more attention.” He sighed. “We’ll no doubt suffer the consequences of that, but this could also be an opportunity.”

“You all fail to understand just how much of a blow this is. Too many important families lost important members of their younger generations. Most of the survivors are the unimportant drivel. Sure, the absolute top students of the most powerful Families were away and survived, but so many smaller voices can add up for a devastating impact. We must consolidate. I have no doubt that these other attacks damaged infrastructure and industry alike.” Archon warned. “I’m against pursuing more ethertech at this time.”

“I’m afraid it is neither that simple nor easy.” Arianna sighed. “I’m afraid I have worse news. The other nations already know about the attacks. They see blood in the water, and they’re circling. The Fire King and the Circle of Kings have both committed to starting the Tournament of Powers early. In a month’s time.”

“WHAT! THOSE SPINELESS DOGS!” Archon roared.

“That’s…unprecedented,” Seville commented as the Sun Councilmember continued to rant.

None of the others could see it, but Arianna shrugged. “Never before has a center of learning as prestigious as the Academy been so attacked. Especially by unshrouded. My network tells me that they know the broad strokes of what happened but not the specifics. They want to probe, see just how much we lost, just how weak we are. If they think they can risk it, they’ll attack like flies drawn to a carcass. The fact is, if our students this cycle have a weak showing, or are undersupplied, or otherwise show weakness, they’ll take it as confirmation of how hard we were hit. We must be perfect this time. Absolutely unassailable.”

“Hmm,” Archon had finished his rambling, cursing and raging. “Which will be hard, considering that we actually were hit as hard as they assume. Facilities were damaged, staff was lost. Not to mention the lost students. They weren’t the best of the best, but a lack of diversity is the death of a cycle. Those younglings need the challenge of a diverse collective of fellows to rise up. A variety of opponents is the birth of a powerful shrouded.”

The other Councilmembers murmured their agreements. All of them had fought literally millions of their fellows to get here. The greatest route to success for a shrouded was a wealth of experience. That was the purpose of ranking days. For young shrouded to challenge different shrouds under varied conditions.

“Which leads us to another concerning topic.” Arianna continued. I don’t know if any of you have read the reports Damon has sent up for the last few centuries, but they are horrible for us. He mentions the Revolution multiple times. More than that, the most recent report is…bad. There’s a new Throne.”

Everyone stilled.

“We need to-”

“You’ll do nothing.” The words rumbled through the room. The entrance to the chamber, sealed to all but the Council, opened. Damon Vestigious, Ghost of Authority and unofficial fifth Councilmember, entered.

“What do you want, Vestigious?” Archon growled.

“Hmm,” Damon’s pale lips split into a deeply unfriendly smile. “I don’t think you should be taking that tone with me, Sun. Not after the shit you’ve all caused. Not after the mess you made of My. Academy.” His words echoed, containing the whispers of a million damned ghosts.

Archon couldn’t help it. He shivered. They all did.

The Council was the pinnacle of the Central Authority. The highest force within their hierarchy. But in the grand scale of the Starry Sea, there were many just as strong or stronger. They stood so high based on their relative unity. Damon was different.

He was strong enough to stand alone.

“No, all of you annoyed me, constantly whining for more control and influence over My Academy. I give you the smallest of leeway, and this is what happens? You’ve all been ignoring my reports for years. How do you think your factions would feel if I told them just how much you all should have known about this, but didn’t?” His eyes burned into each of them, despite him never even looking in their direction.

“Just so you know, that young Throne is the primary reason the death toll at My Academy wasn't five times what it was. Many, many important people had their sons and daughters, their scions, in that group. So you are going to leave him alone and let him win the Tournament of Powers for us. Because that’s exactly what he will do if given half a chance. He’s gathered up quite the eclectic group of powerful younglings with him. Even my granddaughter.” He chuckled. It was a cold, empty sound. “If you want even a chance of making it out of this fiasco without multiple open rebellions on your hands alongside two very interested foreign powers willing to capitalize on the chaos that follows, you’ll listen to me.”

“Is that all?” Seville asked quietly.

Damon snorted. A sound so full of contempt it practically burned their ears. “Yes, that is all. Don’t get up; I’ll see myself out.”

The opening closed behind him.

Each of the Councilmembers waited a long moment before they relaxed. Only for Archon to jump to his feet. “FUCK! HE PLAYED US!”

“It does seem that way.” Arianna acknowledged.

“How long could he be planning this? How soon did he know about-” Seville started.

“Ahh! I know!” Vivian jumped in her heavily padded seat. “Oh, I can’t believe I forgot!”

“Vivian, what did you do?” Seville asked, suspicion dripping from every word.

“Welllll, I may have gotten a report about a Throne being picked up by a recruitment patrol. He was also duel-shrouded.”

…There were no words to encapsulate how the others felt.

“Vivian, what did you do!” She had a reputation among the other Councilmembers.

“Nothing! Well, I told them not to heal his dad or uncle or something like that. He was injured in some kind of attack or something; I don’t remember. I thought it would be good leverage, you know? But I kinda forgot about it. Sorry∼” the words tumbled out.

Arianna sighed. “Vivian, I swear you will be the end of us all.”

Seville shook his head. “A duel-shrouded Throne. And the Ghost of Authority is backing him. Friends with his granddaughter. The unshrouded growing more powerful off the back of ethertech, and the other local powers are more than willing to strike. We need to keep a close eye on this. We’ve been lazy for too long. Pieces are in motion, more so than in the last fifty thousand years. This feels like the turmoil that let us form the Central Authority. We either rise above once more, or we’ll drown in the depths.”