Megalora was now just in front of them; the city was genuinely impressive. In fact, Akhenamen wouldn’t call it a city at this scale. It was much closer to one of the megalopolises of Earth, such as Tokyo or New York, than a fantasy city.
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To access the city, they had to go down into a chasm that led directly under the sea floor. Around them, hundreds of people walked, with a few Transcendents present as well. It was pretty funny as every Transcendent eyed each other like in a western.
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Most eyes were turned to him; the aura of an Authority was unmistakable, and he saw many actually slightly bow to him, showing respect to one of the strongest mortals of Zenthia. He was not a god after all, yet.
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Most people, however, were actually just young teens wearing a blue uniform.
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“Dude… that last mission was so tough, I don’t understand why the teacher didn’t warn us there would be landsharks in the cave! We almost got chomped to death!”
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“We have to be ready for this kind of ambush. If you hadn’t been asleep during the class, you’d recall they said we should be “expecting surprises,” and our entire classes last semester were dedicated to “How to survive an ambush as a fledgling mage”... you just don’t bother listening.”
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Megalora was home to a prestigious academy of magic. If it didn’t reach The Academy’s level, it was still easily second in magical studies. The tunnels they were walking through were lit up by strange, magical spheres that seemed to be able to glow bright enough to make the tunnel as bright as outside.
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Stalls with screaming merchants on either side of the pathways, either tended to by students or by proper merchants, this chasm was clearly a very lively marketplace. The deeper they got, the more Akhenamen could hear the sea above them, and in fact, the ceiling had gone from stone to a strange, enchanted glass, glowing with runic symbols that allowed everyone to stare at the swimming sea creatures above.
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No one was really worried about the glass breaking, even if it did, Akhenamen didn’t doubt the two transcendent wizards guarding the chasm would be able to pull out everyone, as they were known as powerful space law-wielding Transcendents, a very rare but very powerful one.
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They were standing on each side of the chasm on a dedicated personal “cave” which looked more like a fancy suit than a real guard post, they stared at Akhenamen, nodding politely at him.
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“Beyonders.”
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“Yes. They are quite well known in Zenthia.”
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“So what do we do in Megalora?”
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“Well, we make you visit first! Then there’s something I must absolutely show you, but I’ll keep it a secret, or it will spoil the surprise.”
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Valencia seemed very eager. Akhenamen could swear she looked a few years younger, even.
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“This was the first city outside of Pyrax I visited and where I met my old team! We absolutely have to visit Megalora’s magic school! One of my old teammates teaches there.”
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“Then we’ll go. I’m quite curious what a school dedicated to magic would look like.”
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“Didn’t you visit the Academy?”
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“I didn’t truly visit it, and it’s not really built to be a magic school. It teaches everything.”
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Akhenamen had almost slipped and revealed that while The Academy was impressive, it was pretty clearly being built as a future hub for the Players, so it removed some of the charm to him.
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It also made sense to put the Hub where most of Zenthia’s future “main NPCs” studied. So now Akhenamen was also eager to see what a magical academy that wasn’t affected by the system’s construction directives would look like!
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He stared at the map in his hand… one of the glowing red dots blinking in the middle of Megalora. One of his targets. During their stay here, he would have to meet the Fate Chosen and decide how to act like a “mysterious expert”.
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Finally, the chasm’s exit appeared, and Akhenamen was shown Megalora. An immense city under a huge dome of glass, one side showing the beautiful, crystal clear water of the coast and the colorful fishes, glowing corals, and even some massive whale like beasts.
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The other side was much more horrifying though. A man with thalasophobia's worst nightmare. Deep, dark blue depth. That seemed to be never-ending. One side was worthy of being a postal card the other straight out of someone’s nightmare.
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Megalora was clearly built on some kind of cliff. Akhenamen didn’t understand why anyone would think that’s a good idea, but he wasn’t an architect. They did have to leave their chariot at the exit of the chasm and continue on foot.
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Much to the poor stable boy that had almost died from a heart attack when he was pierced by Akhenamen’s flaming eye and the Authority level aura that slammed into him.
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“You’re gonna have to restrain your aura, Akhenamen. You almost frightened the poor boy to death.”
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Valencia’s laugh attracted many eyes as Akhenamen looked at Sapphyra, who waved her hand dismissively in a “I’ll teach you later” type of gesture. The trio was swiftly led to the Academy’s ground by Valencia’s excited steps.
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Around them, Megalora’s buildings seemed to all be made in a similar fashion to Cygislax’s stratums. Every floor of a building was a perfect 3d circle built from a strange white stone and round windows that seemed to float above the previous one, moving around the city.
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Bringing their inhabitants anywhere they wished. In a way, Megalora was a "living city" as its “buildings” moved around constantly and never seemed to stay in place for long.
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The floor level was mainly composed of stores of all kinds, restaurants, bars, taverns, adventurer hall, hospitals, parks, and in the middle of it all, the only building that didn’t move or float, a beautiful circular tower of stone from which students seemed to come and go by standing on top of circular floating platforms.
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“They really like circles.”
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“Welcome to Megalora!”
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“Why is the other side so dark?”
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“It’s actually covered by ink from Filandrona.”
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“Filandrona… the envoy from the merfolk kingdom! I do remember her at the council. So it’s her ink… doesn’t answer why she did that though?”
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“It’s not just the city but a huge part of the sea around that side of the city that has been replaced by her ink. It’s right above a recently formed enclave of the Deep Sea Mermaids, so the ink is more of a protection to make sure that even they can’t bother the city’s inhabitants. Mermaids are naturally mischievous, and having a gigantic, very predatory-looking mermaid tapping the glass wall of your city to have a laugh at your reaction would quickly be annoying.”
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Akhenamen did remember the Deep Sea mermaids had sent a small magical sphere to relay the meeting directly to their envoy, as she was too big to fit in Cygislax… he might have actually underestimated their size.
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“We’re here… where’s the asshole… There he is! Philantrope!”
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Valencia rushed toward her friend, a thin blue haired old man with slight wrinkles under his eyes and a very simple but perfectly taken care of white robe with soft, glowing blue runes around the bottom and his sleeves. He was seemingly talking to a bunch of students.
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He turned around, surprised for a single instant before his eyes stared straight at Valencia. He saw her charging at him, smiled at her, spreading his arms for a hug, only to get a drop kick to the face.
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“AH! Still got it!”
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***
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Valencia was now sitting with a nasty bruise on her cheek after the attack on Philantrope had triggered the magic school’s defensive matrix, but her shit-eating grin showed she wasn’t disappointed in the result.
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Neither did Philantrope seem particularly bothered.
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“You haven’t changed one bit, you old goat. Going on a new journey? I told you you should have opened a school to spread your legacy!”
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“Not my thing, you know I’m bad at teaching stuff. So, how are you going? How’s the school doing? Heard you got promoted to vice-director.”
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“You heard right! My magical thesis around pure mana and elementless magic application is being reviewed by my peers, but I’m quite confident in its success. Here’s a copy if you want!”
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Valencia took the book and put it in her Inventory. Even Akhenamen and Sapphyra were handed one; in fact, the man was very clearly proud of his work. Secretly, Akhenamen was really glad as the subject interested him a lot. He had thought it was a shame to constantly mix magic with an element, so having a thesis talking about that would be interesting to him.
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“Thanks Philantrope, I doubt I’ll read it as magic stuff is boring to me but why don’t we go eating together? It’s been so long!”
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“That’s a good idea! I’ll tell my students they are free today! I’m eager to tell some of your most embarrassing moments to your new friends.”
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