Time passed unbearably slow for the boy as he asked each day when he could attend the academy. The pain of waiting was reduced as Ciaran did all manner of wacky things spurred on by his recent acquisition of as he now dubbed it “the monocle of truth” it was the fifteenth name he had given to the monocle and would not be the last. Alas Ciaran’s effort bore fruit and today he would attend his first day of school at the academy Ciaran got dressed in a less formal suit that still displayed wealth and placed the monocle on his right eye. heading downstairs it only then struck him that he would stick out like a sore thumb, so he quickly got changed into casual clothes which made him look less of a brat and more of an innocent village child.

Once Ciaran was downstairs, he had breakfast, his father had a joyous face while his little brother could not restrain his curiosity about the academy, though it was to be expected his mighty brother talked about it so much. Ciaran’s mother was also at the table but unlike her beauty she barely had a presence, it was like a ghost in the wind that threatened to fly away. Breakfast was simple and hearty as the main meal was at mid-day. After breakfast Ciaran’s father gave the boy a leather satchel

“Use it well, and don’t fly off”.

“I’m not that small”.

Unfortunately, his dad’s joke was not unfounded, the satchel looked like a sail on the boy, if Ciaran didn’t know better, he would mistake his father’s words for genuine. Unfortunately for Ciaran only his mother could accompany him as dad had to work but he enjoyed it nonetheless as he got dragged out the door.

“Come on let’s go”.

His mothers bright smile washed away the cold no matter the weather and contrasted heavily on her pale skin.

On their way Ciaran got to take in the bustling streets as the town began to awaken from its slumber. Normally the town would have been bustling long ago but most of the residents had children in the academy. today those children started, some for the last time, others, their very first. Ciaran saw the smoke rise from chimneys of a few bread shops, they were preparing the evening meals filling the air with all manner of flavours be it fruit nut or spices, mixed into the delectable smell of baking was the occasional sweat and sap that wafted off of laborers, some had to work regardless of time or weather to keep the aging town together.

Before long the two arrived at the academy, it was as old as it was wide taking up a third of the town. Of course, not all of the academy was one building, it was separated into twelve buildings all of which were dark and gloomy with tall steeples. The main building had two steeples either side with a triangular roof, no signboard or identifier and was littered with many ornate designs and patterns, there were no doubt countless similar buildings built in the era of Sildar the great, a pioneer of knowledge and war.

Entering the main building Ciaran was greeted by a long line, of course they did not wait and were ushered in by the head of the academy himself, the joys of power in a small town.

“Misses Aerecura lilium, we welcome you to our fine establishment”.

“Mister Gilbert it has been some time, how goes the children?”

“Left the nest and flown for greener pastures I’m afraid”.

“I suppose they will make nests of their own soon then?”

“Indeed, indeed one of them has already found themselves a hen”.

“My best wishes then”

“Yes well, I suppose we should move on to the wee one you brought with you”.

“of course, he is a smart wee one, he has a few symptoms of higher Aether aptitude like increased learning ability and longer memory, he likes to create things hands on and works well with others”.

“I don’t suppose you have any opinion on the marking guide for this year?”

“Go with it and see, if necessary, some alterations may need to happen.”

“I’m glad there are no issues, would you care for a cup of tea, mister Luper can guide your son to his class.”

“Why of course”

Ciaran had been waiting patiently, it was rude to interrupt adults when they were talking after all. Though the child was not unaware that they were going to be talking about bribes

Aerecura kneeled and kissed Ciaran on his forehead gave him a hug and said her farewells.

“You be good now, follow mister Luper and don’t cause any mischief, mummy loves you.”

Ciaran’s mother then gave him another hug before leaving him to mister Luper. Mister Luper was not one to hold hands, so he led Ciaran to the class, it was in the main building down a short corridor and on the left. The stoic Mister Luper didn’t let out a peep until he got into class at which point he sighed.

“How did I get this low, taking care of a bunch of gremlins”.

the classroom was old and cold with wooden floors that spoke of prior times yet despite this the class had a colorful air as the walls were decorated in bright colors and murals depicting the greatness of the empire and its feats of power and might.

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it took fifteen minutes before the last child entered the classroom. the classroom was uncomfortable no chairs or desks, not even a roll was called but the children were soothed by their intrigue. the children had never seen a man who looked as old as Mr. Luper did. despite the overall calmness a few children did shuffled from time to time in time, they were children afterall.

at the center of the class Mr Luper's thin legs now dangled from a chair which was not there last time Ciaran looked over, it had less padding than the floor and seemed unbearably uncomfortable. Mr Luper begun his lesson not caring for introductions or an icebreaker, his lesson was simple in theory, but unfortunately for the children man had been used to teaching real students instead of children and used language beyond their level, luckily for the children it was a lesson on the history of Aether to ease students into the hell that was the imperial education system.

According to Mr Luper the great divine had gifted humanity the beasts of blood to hunt. blood beasts were beasts that were saught after for their bloods magic properties that allowed humans to control parts of Aether. it is said that when humans hunted their first beast it was when a veil was lifted and humanity exited the age of unknowing and entered the light of the divines grace, this was called the “enlightening”. After the enlightening there were three major events in the history of Aether, the first was the united empire, the second was the freedom federation and the third was the new dawn.

the united empire was the first true pioneers of Aether as they dedicated half their nation to new magic and discoveries with many of their discoveries still influencing the world of magic several thousand years later. Mr Luper went on a tangent and gave heavy praise to the united empire, Ciaran learned from this that the united empire was the first world spanning empire, they created the first golem, they created the imperial system that most modern countries still use, the list went on and on, it seemed that Mr Luper genuinely enjoyed the topic even if he was telling it to children.

Mr Luper’s tangent lasted until the first break it was one of two breaks that were allowed to first years, a luxury compared to the higher years. Ciaran spent the time interacting with his classmate and discussing how cool Mr Luper’s lesson sounded while also bragging about his monocle. Ciaran’s efforts were aided by the classes Aether aptitude that fueled their curiosity and before long, Ciaran had accrued quite a gaggle of curious followers mostly in part due to his unusual behaviour, but Ciaran believed it to be his natural charisma.

Soon the break came to an end much to the children’s disappointment and the lesson resumed discussing the freedom federation which was a coalition of nations that sought to escape the tyranny of the fallen kingdoms that had risen in the wake of a burning united empire. The freedom federation invented flight magic opening the sky for human domination and exploration, bringing in thousands of new and exotic types of magic. So far most of the lesson had been filled with fluff which deeply confounded Ciaran as he saw Mr Luper as such a serious man but unable to find a chance to ask the second break came upon them and it was lost to the back of Ciaran’s mind.

During the second break the children were bored of talking so they ran around and played games one such game was drowned lady, it was a game taught to the kids by some of the older boys in the village. the rules of drowned lady were really simple, one person would play a beast and the rest were ladies, the lady had to hold its breath when the beast was looking at it and the beast had to hold its breath when it had its eyes open, when the beast closed its eyes it was allowed to breath and the last person to go out won. the children played such games like drowned lady not knowing of their origin, rather horrifying especially when drowned lady came from only a few towns over. at the end of break Ciaran felt like nothing could stop him, he had the most friends in the class already and he got to show off his monocle alot.

Mr Luper continued his explanations with the new dawn. the new dawn was something that permanently changed the direction of magical study away from beast blood and towards artificial beast blood. the daylight church which believed in the great divine had a subsidiary that created artificial blood. the daylight church denounced artificial blood, enraged by this the dawn church fought back with mass produced warriors made using artificial blood. the dawn church won the and became the worlds largest religion with a new doctrine that focused on artificial blood.

The explanation for the new dawn was the briefest and marked the end of the day, the entire class clumped together as they left the hall at which point Ciaran realized, he had yet to use his satchel for any books but surely that came later? They didn’t expect him to remember everything… right? When Ciaran got out of the main building and found his mother he decided to ask her.

“Mum, I didn’t use a book today, do i have to bring them?”

“You will have to take notes, just not yet. We will speak more about that when we get home, say goodbye to your friends now”.

Ciaran said goodbye to his new friends which were also being picked up by their mothers and headed home. The streets were far busier at the end of the school day with the smell of food stalls and hawkers lining the streets, it was small but still showed that the region had some spirit left in it. Other than businesses many grizzled warriors walked round advertising their services for any who wished to venture out into a danger zone, outside of the guard’s active hours, or for protecting a trader on his way to the next town.

When Ciaran got home the sun was still bright and Ciaran’s mother brought him inside to avoid it's terrible gaze. once inside Ciaran gave his satchel to a servant and then asked.

“So, can you tell me why I won’t need my books yet now?”

his mother acquiesced a little and fed his curiosity.

"the empire is a big, old and prideful place, order has been carved into it since long before anyone has recorded. with time comes dissent, the empire wants a healthy spirit, what is the empires spirit?"

"the emperor of course"

despite his confidence Ciaran was wrong

"if one cannot be two aspects of the empire, what is it's mind, the one that controls its actions for better or worse"

"the... Emperor... then what is the spirit of the empire?"

Ciaran's mother let a chuckle escape her lips and then answered

"it's you, its me and everyone around you. the spirit is the empires personality, it's emotions and it's identity. for a healthy empire the mind must appease or control the spirit, you will be taught the greatness of the empire before you can learn anything important."

“Why wouldn’t I like the empire?”

another slight chuckle escaped the lips of Ciaran's mother as she looked at her son's innocent face where her eyes dwelled for a minute before pausing for a moment and saying.

“That’s the right attitude to have”.

Ciaran's head was filled with much confusion, was there really a need to say that at home?. before Ciaran could pose a question Ciaran’s mother sidelined any attempt to find out more through some teasing, praise and some distractions. soon his mothers kind words had lulled him away from any attempt to learn more.