It did not look different in sunlight.

I would even argue that sunlight really brought out the individualistic cracks of the charming stone walls and highlighted the numerous homes of lovely little vermins also pursuing an education at this esteemed academy. Just stepping beyond the gate I can feel my joy being sucked away by the depressing atmosphere of the entire building.

Maybe I should stop trusting everything I see on the internet. That's probably a good rule of thumb. The internet hasn't been kind to me so far and I don't know why I keep giving it a chance to hurt me. It's like inserting your bleeding hand into a shark tank hoping you're lucky enough not to get bitten, despite knowing you've had bad luck your entire life.

Unnecessarily reckless.

"-and here are the female dorms, for your two beautiful daughters." The dean introduces, smiling up at Zyl and Lym.

I push Mthyl and Lily forward, "Yes. My two beautiful daughters." They both grin brightly at him.

"Im sorry." He exchanges a glance with his assistant, "It's just a little difficult to tell-"

"It’s fine." I wave off his apology, "They look very alike." Most Crlyans had the same hair color, skin tone, eyes, and even the similar general structures of their faces as a whole.

It’s why I’m sometimes unsure if their ability to form romantic relationships with one another could be attributed to their own narcissism or my profound amount of self love affecting their psyche.

But surely their height differences helped a little?

I even made the girls wear smaller platforms as females were usually shorter than their male counterparts.

While it is difficult to spot the differences between male and female Crlyans, to the extent it could be claimed there are no differences between male and female Crlyans; it's definitely possible, since I wouldn't randomly assign my citizens genders just to fit in better with other humanoids.

My desperation for acceptance is high but I would never stoop so low.

Crlyans in history books had no gender because their achievements mattered more to me, not their sex. So yes, there are differences between male and female Crylans, and they can be found with a more thorough search. Like in their organs or something.

Maybe.

I look around the four person-dorm room, at the wooden bed frames then at the glass windows showing the riveting cloudy gray sky outside; My gaze pauses on the small closets, wooden reading desks, and the almost nonexistent space left amidst the old furniture. Nothing is quite… Crlyan-sized as I had hoped.

My expectations were not this low.

"It's very…quaint." I manage, trying not to sound disdainful of their institution. I'm sure there's a good reason their tuition is so high. Sure, renting an apartment in the city and hiring a driver would have been more cost-effective at this point but consider; Their focus might lay more on academics.

"Thank you-" The dean begins, expression a bit surprised.

Or I might just be getting scammed.

"Is there a hidden storage compartment?" I walk over to knock on the brick wall, futilely hopeful. "Like in the walls or under the floorboards?" A light kick at the polished wooden floor.

That would be lovely. Like a secret residence, but in much worse quality. It might even reduce the unpleasant feeling of spending a quarter million on this decrepit institution yearly.

"I've seen those in movies, I've never had one before but- do we get that?" Mthyl perks up, a surprising amount of hope blossoming adorably on her face; an emotion I thought had died when communal showers were being introduced.

Great. She'll thrive here.

"Um, no." The assistant replies, smiling awkwardly.

Poor dear.

It must be difficult, having to explain the extent of their scam to every parent visiting the institution. I would feel more sympathetic toward his plight had he not assured me of the greatness of their academy over numerous phone calls and emails.

"Oh." Mthyl wilts. She tugs on the bow string of her sun hat, an accessory I believe she’ll soon find completely unnecessary at this school.

"So…this is our room?" Lily asks hesitantly, "Not that it isn't great! I love the decor." She reaches out to touch the dusty reading desk on her left, "It's very, um, scholastic?"

Zyl throws an arm around her shoulder, squashing their cheeks together"The arrangement gives us a chance to make two more friends. I already can't wait to meet my dorm mates."

"Yeah." Marly says optimistically from her side, "And the atmosphere really brings out my urge to study. I'm so excited to learn."

They all gather to give her a group hug, Zylm offering to share from his candy stash afterward.

I turn to the dean. "As much as I love the unique ambiance of the shared dorms-" Printed copies of my receipt from the website appear on my hands, "-I distinctly remember paying for five single rooms."

And a single bathroom too, now that I remember. The rooms in the pictures were at least in a much better state than these.

"Those are pictures from another branch-"

I cut him off, "That's rather unfortunate but I'm afraid the single dorms were a necessity, not a suggestion, Haha! Unless I suddenly became demented, I remember paying to refurbish these rooms, correct?"

And a truly excessive amount considering furniture is not that expensive. It’s neither fire nor water resistant. Just plain oak furniture.

"Well, we don't give refunds. It's a school policy." He says, lips drawn in a thin line.

My head tilts curiously at the boldness of his claim. "Is financial fraud also a school policy?"

We lock eyes and I hold his stare.

"…we have some available faculty lounges."

"Wonderful." I turn to the door.

To think he almost got cursed.

Haha...

=============

As I wave to the kids from the window of my cab-an actual certified non-intoxicated driver's cab- a feeling akin to guilt emerges at leaving them in such subpar living conditions but is quickly squashed down.

I turn away from the window.

Maybe it'll be good for them. Cryla could hardly be considered a 'challenging' environment in comparison to the rest of the continent. Although they'll be returning home for the weekends, living amidst other creatures might give them a different perspective on life. A more…grateful perspective. Maybe they'll emerge from it feeling more appreciative of the simple comfort that is Cryla, where nothing ever goes wrong and everyone cares about you and you never have to worry about your livelihood since the system protects you from the moment you were administered into it.

Crossing out enrollment from my to-do list, I place a star next to picking up my vehicle from the border, applying for a business license, starting a company, and last but not least-buying property. These were all made possible by the new additions after that entire debacle two months ago and are equivalent to creating a foothold in another part of the continent- so I expect to face maximum resistance from all parties involved.

All tasks also require at least some degree of intelligence.

….void.

Do I really have to?

Maybe I could finish them all in…my eyes rest on the estimated amount of time and I pause.

Leaving Cryla for such a long period is simply impossible on my part since it would actually endanger the well-being of the entire nation as a whole.The barrier needs weekly argumentation, our factory golems need frequent aether imbunement to function, our water supply needs constant treatment, the new spawns from my main body needs to be registered, there’s so many festivals I need to be present for else I risk breaking my deal with the deities blessing our agriculture and-

"Huu." I pull off my gloves, holding my fingers hesitantly in a light grip before abruptly breaking them off.

"ARG-"My canines sink into the flesh of my palm as I attempt to muffle my pained scream, The driver looks back in alarm at the sound but I wave him off with my non-disabled hand, transporting the fingers to my storage dimension before they begin to disparate.

I…don't enjoy creating advanced clones this close to my next evolution.

Since most of my aether has already concentrated at my core, creating a clone is akin to pulling off a single string of a rubber band ball from the middle. It hurts a lot and affects everything else around it, essentially multiplying the pain.

Usually, lower leveled clones required the tip of my fingers for more complicated tasks or even nail clippings for simple and rudimentary assignments. However, I needed identical clones to be able to complete everything on my list.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

And five identical clones with basic intelligence required a lot of aether.

On the bright side! My fingers already grew back.

I'm grateful for that, at least.

========================

After two weeks basking daily in the gloomy aura of another country, I missed being at Cryla during daytime. I missed the brightness of the sun, the pleasant temperature, and the overall vibrancy of citizens enjoying their life as a whole.

My day started as usual.

I emanated from my main body and transported the new Crylans to my residence, where they'll be moved to the actual nursery to be cared for. Usually at this stage families or individuals wanting to start a family make an appointment on adopting the new Crylans and go through the motions for acquiring qualifications.

It's a very demanding process, sometimes taking up to six months for potential parents who fail to meet all the requirements but still desperately desire to start a family. After twelve months, when the batch has grown enough limbs to qualify as an infant, they are then taken to their new homes.

If they don't get adopted, the new Cylans are cared for by paid workers till their second growth sprout. Then they'll apply for college, get a job after graduation or pursue higher education- it really depends on the individual. In most cases, Crylans don't leave the care of the system till they're almost in their fourth growth sprout or started a family.

Since no one actually dies unless purposefully destroyed, the chances of having your previous revision partner as your current child is very…I quickly derail that train of thought, since ignorance is bliss and I choose to live in ignorance regarding some truly unfortunate parts of my nation.

The biggest backlash Cryla faced when we first left isolation was the accusations of inbreeding as an explanation for how similar we all looked and a logical conclusion considering we were alone for thousands of years. After I tried to explain that Crylans did not reproduce biologically and were all my direct descendants, the accusations transformed into incest.

I did not realize at the moment how having my kids become partners with my other kids could be considered incest by outsiders so…were the repercussions of time travel not so severe, I would time travel to keep the accusations of inbreeding as they did much fewer damages to our reputation than being known for incest. Since many isolated species were inbred, but direct incest-that was rare.

I don't think it made a good first impression on the rest of the world….

Moving on swiftly, I begin the next morning activity - weekly national announcements. The time of day when I inform the nation of recent important news and reject or accept some bills being proposed. Before mass media, we used arrays drawn on customized rocks to communicate across long distances. They worked perfectly fine, just as well as a radio, and were even more durable and convenient to carry around, in all situations. However, they also required monthly recharging and most Crylans only had enough aether to recharge exactly once before they were demobilized from aether exhaustion. But! With the introduction of the media, we now have access to video and audio screens, thus leaving communication arrays an item for the past, and cameras the item for the future.

"Good morning Cryla, wonderful weather we're having today-as always-but look out for the hail. We are unfortunately expecting a significant amount of hail in the next two days. It's a Category four so, maybe stay indoors."

One of the repercussions of creating a barrier that essentially placed us in another dimension was that we were extremely susceptible to random weather conditions. Sometimes it snows in summer, rains in winter, and gets very, very heated during spring. Other times we get sudden hail, ball lighting, and a truly atrocious amount of fog with no scientific explanation as to how or why it was even getting foggy in July. We've been unable to determine a pattern for their appearances but after thousands of years, I can at least predict their basic information.

However, at other times of the year, the weather in Cryla is very lovely.

I mentally scroll through the sudden influx of messages in my inbox, randomly clicking at any profile on the screen.

"Evelyn 88906." I connect to the caller and she appears holographically on the chair opposite me.

[Igetis Cyl! Good morning!"] She greets brightly, waving to me and then at the cameras.

"Good morning Evelyn, how have you been?"

[I'm great! The move to CL2 has been wonderful so far. Although I'm currently jobless and relying on funds to survive, I've been meditating a lot and I think things are already looking up at the moment.] She tugs her hair shyly, [ I'm thinking of joining the gardening club in my community, it's been a bit difficult without my family to keep me company…and I think I've found a potential partner~]

Sometimes the messages have absolutely nothing to do with our topic.

"That's wonderful! I'll see what I can do about your employment situation. In the meantime, any questions about the upcoming hail?"

[Nope! I just wanted to say good morning.]

"Great! It was nice meeting you, Evelyn. Have a beautiful day."

I disconnect the call and turn to the projection camera.

"On a more positive note, our polls for the quarter have all come to a close. First up on the list is the bill to ban mandatory refurbishment." My eyes connect with the camera, "Please stop placing this on the polls. I understand it's unpleasant but it's mandatory for a good reason, repealed."

"Next up is a bill to ban the new holiday of Vida." Great! "We've had some complications reaching an agreement with the Dryads. They did not appreciate our artistic liberties with their goddess; approved." I ignore the messages at that announcement, "Third on the list is an update on the sudden outbreak of sluggishness across some neighborhoods in CL3. It was fortunately not an actual disease, merely the repercussions of some second-stage-sprouters protesting the Sunshine vaccine. I understand the outside world might raise doubts with their ridiculous theories of mind control; but please do not skip your yearly appointment, they are vital to your average lifespan and merely leave you disabled after some time."

The early Crylans only lived for a decade and were often sluggish not only in body but also in their minds. They were dependent on me for almost everything despite already gaining functional limbs and lived with the minimum awareness of their surroundings. Sometimes I wonder why most of my children are so dim-witted, forgetting that I, their progenitor, was also similarly mindless at the beginning of its evolution and sometimes make very questionable decisions even in the present.

Now, however, they've grown so much from their early manifestations and can even form their own ideas and beliefs. Although the second stagers were largely influenced by their outside world in their ill-fated protests, it makes me proud to see them protesting about anything at all. Maybe in a century or two, they'll even be ready to live in an environment outside of Cryla.

How wonderful.

I'm broken out of my musings when my international phone begins ringing, a call from an unknown number.

That's odd.

"Igetis Cyl of Cryla, how may I help you?"

"Hey Igetis Cyl!" The bright voice of Anatomic Ana asks over the noise of the background. Is she in a fight? "You know how you said we could call for anything at all?"

I turn off the camera.

"Of course."

"Great! You wouldn't happen to know a-what's your name again-" She asks someone on the other side, "-Triglav the great, would you?"

Triglav? "The dragon?" I thought he was dead?

"Yes! Great! Could you…meet me at the location from last time?"

"Okay?" I don't really have anything important scheduled for today.

"I'll get back to you in thirty minutes." Maybe an hour.

"Thanks, Igetis Cyl!"

"No problem." I cut the call and switch the camera back on, continuing the announcements.

"Fourth on our list is a bill to re-commercialize antifreeze." Again? "A resounding no, to that request. I understand you might enjoy the taste but please stop drinking it-"