Graduating high-school was a weird experience. Dallion remembered being a bit bummed out that he might not see his friends, yet at the same time was looking forward to the freedom college life offered. The final meal with raven and the rest felt something like it. Part of him was relieved he wouldn’t have to deal with “alliance matters,” part of him was relieved he wouldn’t have less to deal with kids, but at the same time he also felt he’d miss the goofs. There was no doubt in his mind that from tomorrow, the echoes that steered the young nobles and prodigies would quickly limit their connection to him until he became nothing more than a distant memory. The problem was that he would still remember.

“Maybe it’s for the best,” he said out loud, lying on his bed.

Floating about, Gem was amusing itself, exploring the room and casting minor spells on anything that caught its fancy. Ruby seemed to be a prime subject. At his current level, the shardfly was incapable of causing any harm to the aetherfish. His wings, sharp as razors, would rip through the jellyfish as if it were made of air. After a few attempts, Ruby just gave up and stoically endured the spells cast on him. The latest increased his size five-fold, making him take a quarter of the room.

“Seriously, you two?” Dallion grumbled.

If that was a level one aetherfish, he dreaded to think of the chaos the familiar would cause when he leveled up.

“Gem, don’t you have a realm to scour?”

It’s more interesting out here, the aetherfish replied unapologetically. It was also right. Despite all of Dallion’s improvements, his realm couldn’t compare to the real world, even after placing the Moonstone in it.

The Vermillion ring had worked quite well transporting the stone within Dallion. There was a slightly unexpected moment when it turned out that the size of the stone had vastly increased to the dimensions of a small house. Dallion’s echoes and some of the guardians were rather amused. Nil, especially, was very intrigued, spending almost all his time examining the crystal for his personal curiosity.

“Just don’t go overboard with the spells, okay?”

Why?

“They aren’t allowed here.”

In the real world?

“No, in the room. Although it’s not a good idea to cast them in the real world without a very good reason.”

The comment made Dallion think about life outside the Academy. While he was studying in his small magical bubble, events were unfolding with greater speed, events he had no knowledge of. All rumors about the war had ceased. There wasn’t even a mention of what was going on with the civil war in Wetie province, and then there was Euryale. It had been quite a while since the two had been in touch. Dallion would still dream about her a few times per week, but any attempt at communication outside the Academy was strictly forbidden.

“What’s happening outside, Nil?” He asked.

Do you really want to know? There’s nothing you could do, so the knowledge would serve no practical purpose.

“That’s for me to decide.”

It will needlessly distract you. Trust me on that, dear boy.

“Nil…”

If you insist… Nil’s disapproval was palpable. The empire has suffered losses. One province is half gone, and it doesn’t look like it’s the end of it. Imperial legions have had to step in. There’s even talk that the emperor’s personal guard might have to take the field. A bit premature, but the fact that rumors are circulating is concerning in itself.

“What about Eury? How is she?”

Ah. Well, I assume she’s fine. She’s dropped off the map. My original made a few attempts to find her, entirely for your benefit, but so far, he’s been unsuccessful. She was on a mission last, seeking out an obscure artifact, but that’s all. As always, she refuses to use her echo ring, so it’s not exactly a surprise.

Eury was on a mission for Adzorg? That didn’t come as a complete surprise. The old man had been sending Jiroh on missions before Dallion even woke up in this world. The rational part of his mind tried to rationalize her absence, explaining that missions such as this took time. After all, he himself had been gone for weeks hunting in the wilderness back when they were together. Yet, there was a part of him that made him feel loss, even if it was buried by more immediate concerns.

She’ll be fine. She’s been through a lot worse while at a lot lower level.

“I know,” Dallion said, mostly for his own benefit. “And Wetie?”

The old echo didn’t immediately reply.

“Nil?” Dallion asked after a few seconds of silence. “How bad is it?”

It’s not good. Countess Priscord is winning. The Archduke has lost half of his support and even now his brother’s city is under siege. The way things are going to a showdown is inevitable. The Archduke knows that the more he waits the weaker he’ll get, so it’s a matter of weeks before he gathers everyone and goes on an all out war. There’s every chance things get as messy as during the Wars of Succession.

A mini nova of thoughts exploded in Dallion’s mind. Hundreds of questions popped up and were quickly answered by his internal logic, yet none of the answers were particularly hopeful. An all out war would devastate the province. Many of his friends and acquaintances would be forced to choose a side. Fleeing would be no option any longer. Nerosal, Lanitol, and every other city would become a valid target for attack, even smaller settlements such as Dallion’s home village. And after the carnage was done, a neighboring country would have every incentive to take over the territory. Normally, the fear of imperial retributions would stop them, but with the Empire on the losing side, things would be different. March, Vend, Spike… all of them were already at odds with the countess. Even Hannah and Adzorg might get involved, possibly Di as well.

“And the emperor has too many other problems to care,” Dallion sighed. Rage filled him. Despite all his power, he felt so helpless. It wasn’t merely a matter of leaving the Academy. Even if he did, there was nothing he could actually do. In the end, he remained one man who couldn’t even take sides without being outcast by the Academy. There was no way he could stop armies of awakened.

There’s one more thing, Nil said cautiously.

“Worse than everything you’ve told me so far?” Dallion let out a laugh, hoping to be contradicted.

A few alliances have cropped up, all aiming to match the empire in strength. The most pressing danger is the Azure Federation composed of seafaring countries that never had any direct contact with the empire. They are the ones conquering territory at present. The echo paused for a few seconds. Recently, a second great power has formed. They haven’t entered any battles so far, so their actual military power is unknown. They call themselves the Steel and Stone alliance—a union of dwarves and gorgons mostly along with a few smaller countries.

“Eury?” Dallion jumped up.

There’s no proof of that. At this point, there isn’t even a rumor that—

“But you suspect it.”

Well, she had been spotted in the general area of the alliance. Mind you, that was back when the alliance didn’t even exist, so chances are—

Dallion didn’t wait for the echo to finish. Using athletic skills, he rushed out of the room. His body instantly shrunk to its child state as he propelled himself to the administration “building.” The main corridors were crowded as ever, even earning him a few annoyed comments as he navigated through the crowd like a racecar driver.

Within half a minute, he reached the blue building, storming inside.

“I need to urgently speak to mage Katka,” he all but shouted. “On her request.”

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing, giving him strange looks. It wasn’t the first time a novice had caused a panic. Usually it would be for trivial matters, turning out to be not worth the panic. However, there wasn’t an assistant that didn’t know who Dallion was. A claim coming from a hunter in his twenties—even in his current appearance—was a different matter and had to be taken seriously.

“It’s urgent,” Dallion stressed, using his music skills to instill the world in everyone’s mind.

That wasn’t something he was supposed to do, especially here, of all places. However, it had its desired effect. Two separate apprentices cast spells, informing Katka of the urgency. Seconds later, one of them went to Dallion, taking him by the hand back in the corridor along which they continued for several minutes. The pace they were walking at was quite fast, although Dallion felt they were moving with the speed of drunk slugs. After what seemed forever, Dallion was dropped off at another building, where another apprentice took over.

“Aren’t we going to central administration?” Dallion asked.

“The mage instructed me to take you to her office,” the apprentice explained as they went in a new direction.

She has an office? Stood to reason, although Dallion didn’t remember her saying she still taught. Even with a memory trait of seventy-nine he wasn’t able to remember everything.

After another few minutes they finally arrived. Kaska’s “office” was a small building within the Learning Hall. That much Dallion could expect. What he didn’t was that it would have the shape of a miniature castle. It seemed to conform to her delusions of grandeur, although one had to admit that the level of detail was rather impressive. Her claims that she was exceptional in spelling weren’t empty boasts, it seemed.

“Thanks, Eva.” Katka emerged from the entrance in a cyan robe. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Yes, mage.” The apprentice bowed, then quickly rushed off.

Any other day, Dallion would have made a comment about her keeping her apprentices on a short leash. Since he was the one asking the favor, he had to humble himself.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you this soon,” she said with a conniving smile. “Definitely not after your glorious success. Enroy was rather smug about it, though don’t tell him. His ego is already too big.”

“I need your help.”

“Ah. A novice needs my help. What else is new?” The mage laughed. “I was in the middle of something. Normally I wouldn’t even bother, but given our history…” Katka waited, but Dallion didn’t say a word. “Fine, I had my fun. What is it?”

“I want you to teach me spelling.”

“You brought me here just for that?” Anger emanated from the woman. “You could have asked any—”

“No, I want you to teach me spelling,” Dallion interrupted. “Not what’s in the library, not what’s taught in class… not what’s accepted in this world.”

Katka’s expression changed. The anger all but evaporated from her face.

“You want the real stuff. Quite the request. It won’t be easy or intuitive, but it’ll put you on a level above most. Why do you need that?”

“I need to get out of here,” Dallion said. “Fast. Knowing that will help me remove my seal.”

“Why so eager to leave the Academy? This is your safe haven.”

“Not the Academy. I need to get out of the empire. I need to check something.”

The mage’s eyes narrowed.

“Well.” She shrugged. “Not my business what you want to do or why. I’ll help you out, but it won’t be for free.”

“It never is.”

“Glad to see that you’re learning. Get the bureaucratic stuff sorted with Enroy. I’ll teach you evenings, after your other classes are over. You’ll need both if you want to get your seal off in… months?”

“Weeks,” Dallion corrected.

“Weeks. Not impossible, but you’ll be in for a wild ride. Is it really worth the rush? You can get there in two or three months without pushing it.”

“It has to be weeks. And yes, it’ll be very worth it.”