Doggone Academy

***

It was quite hot even though the sun had set because it was summer. He was the only one who stayed in the workshop to work. He consulted the calendar. A year had passed since the day he went to get a piece of star with Liza. His feelings surfaced as he remembered that moment.

Suddenly, a light came through the darkened window. It was strange. He looked out the window. The world lit up as if the sun had risen again.

He wondered if he was so focused that he didn’t realize it was dawn.

No. It hadn’t been long. And the clock in the workshop read just past midnight.

Maybe there was a fire. He hurried to gather his things to leave the workshop.

He stood in the town streets and looked around. There were no flames or black smoke anywhere. Then he realized that the intense light was coming from the sky.

When he looked up, he saw a huge star streaking across the sky. The star, which emitted a blinding light, left a bright trail in its wake.

His mouth dropped open in admiration.

Soon, the star disappeared into the northwest sky.

The moment he went to get a piece of star flashed through his mind. And as if the earth’s gravity pulled him toward that star, a force that was hard to describe pulled him in the direction the star had disappeared.

“Have you seen the star?”

Everyone treated him like a freak. After all, he was the only one who saw the star in this town.

He didn’t know if it was a revelation from heaven or if he was so crazy that he had hallucinated. But after this event, he couldn’t go on with his life as if nothing had happened.

He went home, packing his clothes in such a hurry, it was as if he were being chased.. He also took the money he had saved and a dagger in case someone tried to rob him.

He left town before dawn. He set out on a new journey in search of the star pieces. He did not hesitate, even though death might await him at the end of this reckless journey.

***

Sylverine, who was in the bathtub, frowned. She turned her head to look through the open window. She could hear the sound of the horses’ hooves as they made their way to her mansion. She shook her head because her pleasurable moment was interrupted.

She quickly got out of the bathtub, dried herself roughly with a towel and put on a robe.

When she came out of the bathroom, a maid was waiting for her.

“A messenger from the Academy has come to deliver some letters.”

“Why didn’t they use a stitch?”

Stitch were small round metal spheres with wings on both sides. They were often used among magicians as a substitute for messenger pigeons.

“The messenger said that the director did not use a stitch because it is an important matter.”

“Old people are unnecessarily careful.”

She looked at the letter on the silver tray. When she gestured to the maid to leave, she left after bowing. Sylverine, with the letter in her hand, went out onto the terrace. She sat cross-legged in an armchair.

In all, there were five letters addressed to her. Three contained requests of minor importance. She threw those on the table without finishing reading them.

Only two letters remained. One was from the director of the Department of Magic andthe other from a student who had graduated from the Academy.

Sylverine first broke the seal on the director’s letter.

It said that she had to prepare to return to the Academy next semester for the entrance exams. There was also subtle pressure for her to use the letter of recommendation system, something the masters at Eternia Academy used to use.

In addition to teaching and research, Eternia’s teachers had another duty, which was to discover the hidden talents of the world. This duty was based on the ideology of the Academy’s founder, Bern Eternia.

Bern Eternia found countless cases of anonymous geniuses who grew up in terrible conditions, so they became evil. He founded Eternia to prevent this.

The meaning had faded a bit over the centuries, but the founding principle of Eternia’s paragraph 1 article 1 stood firm: ‘to lead the talents of the world to the light’. And the system of letters of recommendation allowed exceptional talents to enter the Academy.

Sylverine had never taken a student to the Academy before.

She was admitted to Eternia thanks to this system of letters of recommendation. However, she did not like this system, because some masters abused the letter of recommendation for personal gain.

“What can I do if I don’t know anyone interesting?”

Sylverine tossed the director’s letter on the table. Then she grabbed the letter from the student who had graduated and was working as a researcher under Sylverine’s supervision. Posted only on NovelUtopia

She was a little puzzled that it had a magic seal that could not be opened unless she was the addressee. Magic seals were only used for confidential information.

She broke the seal to check the contents.

It said that a large-scale mana explosion had been detected in the Loin Basin, an unexplored area near the Palanca Ranges, in the northwest of the continent.

The Loin Basin was a dangerous area that was closely watched by the Academy. It was known as the ‘Land of the Dead’, since this was where the undead and demonic beasts lived.

Sylverine closed her eyes after reading the last sentence.

Could be a sign of black magic on a large scale considering the location of the event.

She put her hand to her forehead, feeling like her head was going to hurt.

The words black magic meant her vacation was gone.

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