The Skyhome Academy

The Skyhome Spire’s infirmary was a long room filled with beds, cabinets, and medical equipment. A number of the beds held patients who chatted with each other or rested comfortably. There were also doors to smaller patient rooms and privacy curtains, though the vast majority of the latter were pushed aside.

Dark clouds could be seen outside. The spire’s windows were different from those throughout the rest of the academy—rather than glass panes, they used arcane shields to keep out the weather. Unlike most shields, these could be adjusted to repulse forces in one or both directions. Each of these special windows included exterior metal plates—these could be left open, partially closed to form an arrow slit, or completely sealed. The windows were open and stopped movement in both directions by default.

The architecture of her surroundings was ignored by Emma as she followed a dozen older cadets and Dr. Walter Ramos toward a patient’s bed. Her emotions were conflicted—she was honored to be invited on rounds with the best healing students in the academy. But she was also terrified of making a foolish misdiagnosis and humiliating herself. Lord Walter was not even her regular healing instructor—he was the head of the department! If he lost confidence in her, her hope of getting into the advanced classes was lost.

Lord Walter was pale and lanky, with dark hair and a thin face that rarely showed emotion. He addressed the cadets in his dreadfully serious tone. “Mr. Stonebrook is in his mid-forties, Graylandic, and works on a farm just outside of Stonebrook. His symptoms include headache, muscle soreness, fatigue, chills, and these pale blotches all over his body. Usual childhood diseases and vaccinations.”

The peasant farmer in a hospital gown waved to the cadets—despite his illness, he seemed excited to be the center of attention. “You’ll never guess what I’ve got!”

A cadet standing next to Emma addressed the patient. “Mr. Stonebrook, have you recently been exposed to waste from magical animals?”

“No, My Lord.”

“Griffon flu?” Lord Walter asked the boy who had spoken. “A reasonable hypothesis, but it was ruled out by our tests.”

“Lyme disease?” another cadet asked.

“That would present with a red rash. Also, it’s unlikely this time of year.”

No one else ventured a guess. Emma had a theory, but she doubted it was the right answer. Lord Walter seemed to sense her uncertainty. “Cadet Smallport?”

“…⁠It could be due to the undeath vaccine, Sir.”

“An allergic reaction would have happened when he was vaccinated as a child.”

“Not an allergy. A reaction to a zombifying toxin that was fought off by his immune system due to the vaccine. He was poisoned.” The other cadets were startled by her conclusion.

“Correct,” Lord Walter said. The farmer gave her a thumbs up before the doctor continued. “Ever since the undeath vaccine wiped out the zombie plague a century ago, the Defiler Cult has sought to overcome this immunity through alchemy. This is clearly another failed attempt by one such aspiring necromancer. The authorities in Stonebrook have already been notified. Treatment?”

“Bed rest, unless his immune system is compromised in some way.”

He nodded to Emma, and then looked to his patient. “Your blood work just came back, and you should be fully recovered in three days’ time.” He offered a reassuring smile that surprised her, given how reserved he seemed.

Lord Walter then addressed the cadets once more. “We’ve finished for today. If there aren’t any questions, you’re free to go. …⁠Cadet Smallport, please walk with me.”

Emma had just begun to relax, but tensed up once more. The other cadets departed, while she remained beside the professor as he walked slowly through the infirmary.

“I was disappointed in your performance today.”

The serf felt panic grip her. “I—I don’t understand. I answered correctly for both patients you asked me about.”

“Yes…but you didn’t once volunteer a theory. You have an extraordinary memory for diagnostic criteria, and a strong grasp of the mathematical principles of spellcasting. But those gifts will be wasted if you don’t have the confidence to use them.”

Emma fought back the urge to cry. “I apologize, Sir.” She hung her head in shame.

“Please don’t misunderstand. I only expressed my disappointment so that you’d be aware of the need to improve. Your instructor told me what a diligent student you are. And everyone has weaknesses—I’ve struggled to improve my bedside manner throughout my career.

“Also, there’s no need for you to address me as a noble. I only married into the station. Before that I was a peasant with his village for a surname, just as you are.”

Emma looked up to him once more. “Thank you, Doctor. I’ll speak up next time.” She knew it would be helpful to be on closer terms with him, so she worked up the nerve to continue. “…⁠If you don’t mind my asking, what village are you from?”

“It’s not a place you’d have⁠—”

“Fallbottom Village,” a voice said from behind Emma. She glanced behind her to see the approach of the other Professor Ramos. The mage floated over until she was behind her husband, then rose further off the ground to more easily place a hand on his shoulder. “It’s a tragic story, how his village got that name. One day, everyone’s butt just fell right off.”

Emma covered her mouth and giggled, while Dr. Ramos struggled to maintain a straight face through his embarrassment. “The village is at the bottom of a waterfall,” he corrected.

“Oh, that’s right. Your hometown only suffers from the worst naming skills in the kingdom.” Mage Isabel then looked to Emma. “I saw your noble waiting for you outside of the infirmary, Cadet. Better move along.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Thank you.” Emma nodded to the professors and then hurried out of the infirmary.

As promised, Lady Rose was present. Simon waited beside her. “Hey,” she began. “How was your first time at rounds?”

“I think it went okay.”

“It’s pretty amazing you got asked to go as a first year,” Simon said. Rose nodded in agreement.

“Thanks.” Emma did her best to sound gracious, but acknowledging praise made her uncomfortable—she never quite felt deserving of it.

“Oh, I heard back from my mom,” Rose told her. “She’ll bring Bea when she comes to visit.”

“It was kind of you to ask her.”

“Don’t mention it. …⁠I’m glad you don’t have academy chores today. I don’t have anything for you except some laundry, but you can get to that later.”

“Thank you, My Lady.”

“For now, we’ve got big plans,” Rose announced.

“The guards’ aerial exercises?” Simon asked her.

“I want to see that, but first I’ve got a surprise—I got permission from my dad for us to see the mana singularity.”

“I’ve always wanted to see the machine that’s been nice enough to stop us all from plummeting to our deaths,” Simon said lightly.

“I read that the Skyhome’s singularity took fifty years to build,” Emma added as Rose led them into the nearby elevator. “Thousands of alchemists helped assemble it.”

The trio drifted upwards in the elevator, and after a brief silence Simon spoke. “So…Lady Rose. I was wondering…if you aren’t busy sometime…maybe⁠—”

Emma noticed he was fidgeting. But before he could continue, Prince Robert and a pair of his bodyguards entered the elevator a short distance above them. The royal looked downward. “Lady Rose. So good to see you—your radiance always brightens my day.” He smiled at her.

“My Lord. You look so good. I mean nice. I mean handsome!” She then blushed.

Prince Robert laughed pleasantly. “Thank you, My Lady. I’m fortunate to meet with your approval. …⁠You’ll have to pardon me, but this is my floor.”

The prince and his bodyguards stepped out of the elevator. “Bye!” Rose called after him. “I mean, it was pleasing to see you, My Lord!” Though by the time she finished that sentence, the group had already drifted up past the doorway.

“…⁠I could have handled that better,” Rose said. “That was my big chance.”

“My Lady?” Emma asked.

“You didn’t hear? He asked Princess Mei to the Winter Formal…and she turned him down! She has to be insane. I hope he asks me next.”

Emma noticed Simon hang his head. She was certain that he had been trying to ask her lady on a date, but clearly the moment had passed.

At the top floor of the elevator the trio drifted to a halt and stepped out. To their right was an emergency staircase back down into the spire, and before them was an unadorned corridor with six defensive alcoves. Each alcove had a guard standing inside. “Who’s there?” one of the men called out.

“Cadet Rose Spellshield and her companions.”

“You may pass.”

The trio continued through the far doorway and up a long and winding staircase. They then emerged through the lowest entrance to the singularity chamber. The room was incredibly expansive, covering the span of five floors beneath their position and another five above it.

Past the railing of the catwalk they stood on was a drop down to the mana singularity itself. This floating sphere was forty feet in diameter and covered with gray metal plates, wires, and lights. But it was difficult to look upon the singularity and make out the details clearly—the surface constantly distorted in various directions, flowing like molasses back and forth. There was a low, pervasive humming noise from the device, and white energy danced over it in quick bursts.

Above them was a great maze of catwalks, stairs, control rooms, and reinforced mana flow pipes. Some of the last connected to the singularity itself. There were also six large machines. Each was adorned with a few controls, gauges, and bolted seams, though their surfaces were otherwise smooth. At the very top of the spire, Emma could see a glimpse of the Phoenix Maw.

“Whoa,” Simon said as he looked around.

“Cadet Spellshield,” a guard greeted her as he approached. “Welcome to the singularity chamber.”

“Thank you, Corporal,” she replied after a glance at his peasant-style uniform.

The guard stood with them as they continued to look around. Most of Emma’s focus remained on the singularity itself.

“Strange, isn’t it?” the guard asked her. “The damn thing generates so much mana it messes with space itself. And all that mana flows up there to those machines, which convert it into different types of magical energy—levitation, telekinetic, telepathic, arcane, fire, and ice,” he explained, pointing to each in turn.

“It must be weird patrolling near this thing,” Simon said to him.

“After a few days you get used it. Sometimes when we’re bored we whip pennies at it.”

“…⁠You throw pennies at a giant distortion in the laws of reality?” Rose asked in disbelief.

“Sure. Want to try one?”

“Hell yes!” The guard handed Rose a penny from his pocket, and she threw it at the singularity.

The coin stopped falling a couple feet above the surface of the machine. It then began to ripple like a liquid before finally breaking up into tiny pieces and vanishing.

“That was something,” Rose said. Emma and Simon nodded.

After more time spent observing the singularity and touring the upper levels, the trio finally departed from the chamber and went back to the elevator. They soon passed through the mess hall. The room lacked the fancy table cloths that had been evident during the Arrival Banquet. And instead of bringing meals directly to the diners, the castle servants left containers of food on two tables—one for peasants, the other for nobles and foreign cadets. As usual, guards stood in alcoves on either side of the spire’s gate.

Once outside the trio found the evening air to be cold. However, the torrential rain outside of the castle did not reach them. The massive arcane shield above them could be modified to repel rain or let it through, depending on the academy’s water needs. At present, most of the rain was being funneled through gaps in the shield over water catchers on top of the spire and other buildings.

The cadets cast their personal shields to protect them from the cold as they crossed the courtyard. They let the spells lapse when they entered one of the towers adjacent to the castle gate. Like the rest of the outer wall, this part of the castle lacked any decoration. Other cadets who also wished to watch the aerial exercises were peering out non-magical arrow slits. The trio found three adjacent openings and looked out beyond the castle.

“They’re starting!” Rose said excitedly.

Soldiers on many different fliers sped towards each other. They were difficult to see in the rain and darkness, until the light of many different offensive spells and flares illuminated the mock battle. Adversaries on both sides pursued, evaded, and attacked. The magical beasts screeched and whinnied at each other, while the faint buzz of propellers could be heard from the flying machines. Shields flared with each hit, and the combatants who were enervated flew clear of the conflict.

The cadets watched a pair of contests. Towards the end of the second, Rose cheered as Lord Spellshield enervated two opponents in a row with a well-timed attack run on his pegasus. “Did you see that?” she asked excitedly. “I can’t wait until I’m a squire. I’ll learn so much more about tactics fighting alongside my dad than I ever could in a classroom.”

“I just hope I can learn enough in the classroom to pass,” Simon said ruefully. “Aerial combat is my worst class.”

His problem gave Emma an idea. “You should both ask for day passes so you can get in more flying practice.”

“You could come with us,” Rose suggested.

“I’d only slow you down since I’ve never flown.”

“If you’re sure…?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

Outside, the exercises came to an end. Rose cheered her father’s victory. “That was great! …⁠Anyway, I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”

The peasants nodded to her. Rose started toward the stairs, but Simon lingered a moment and whispered to Emma. “Thanks for helping me spend some time alone with her.”

“Not all wing men fly,” she joked quietly. “Good luck.” They then hurried after Lady Rose.