After the shock of my own body behaving as most bodies like it would, waking up felt much more relieving than it usually did, though the schedule on the wall next to me did indicate I was cutting it close with the spatium session, a realization that prompted a dash from me like I had never seen before, slightly melding with the space strands, to the point I could probably triple my speed for up to a minute, while investing the effort it usually took for one jump.

Occasionally, I send out runes to further increase my own speed, even consume movement on someone who was probably in a situation similar to my own.

I reached the room just as the door closed, a bell ringing from the top of the tower we were currently inside, a row of benches arrayed behind us, a row that everyone decided to take a seat on.

When I found Noel and Skulk near each other, it was almost impossible for me not to sit there, and thus I did so.

Then, the benches began to move.

Immediately, I cast the connect rune on Skulk, who directed his rune towards Noel, who, in turn, decided to choose me.

As the room twisted, and we three were positioned in a single row, the world before us suddenly split wide open, revealing the professor we had been waiting for.

“This is what happens if a different spatium mage decided to mess with you.” His gaze drifted to our trio, fixating on us with a hint of pride, before seeing me.

“That is a group of people who know how to counter such magic. The first lesson is to prioritize what you want to transport, choosing is the most essential skill for this line of study. Left or right, up or down, every single impact we have results in choices, and every choice will have an impact on someone. Thus, I ask that each of you considers the consequences of their actions when using this Arcana. There are three disciplines each spatium mage will learn, and each of them will help with all further choices. First would be movement. Each of you wants to teleport some day, move between points on this worlds tapestry. I ask that you remain aware of this goal whenever you do anything in regard to moving,

The second technique is to repair, be it closing someone else's gate or healing a wound, we can do it, so long as the material remains, all this discipline requires is to be strong enough to stare into the hells, or worse, the grand nothing, from time to time. The Discipline I consider the hardest is the art of sealing, forever banishing something from our direct range of interference, an example for that would be the common procedure of opening a pocket dimension, pushing your foe into it and then closing the dimension, really simple, and once you have completed it, you only need to relax your attention, catapulting your foe into the great between, where he will be someone else problem, or even better, open a gate to the dimension of necros, and force your opponent to stay in that wretched place, further feeding the abominations, it used to be a popular technique, and is the entire reason having access to both necros and spatium is punishable by death.” He let his speech sink in, looking around for anyone that would dare to question him.

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“I hate the last discipline, as I will be the one to clean up the between. I use the second one so my students failures don’t spell doom, and the first is something I use only to imprint how much more powerful I am compared to the strongest among you. There is, however, a much simpler power in spatium, and I will demonstrate it now.”

Every torch suddenly lost the tip, the sunlight remaining the only thing passing through towards us.

“Now, I ask of each of you that you discuss and understand the importance of spatium. The power that binds the realms, the power that makes sure each of us remains at least partially alive. Without the between, fires would burn brighter, the sun would illuminate the world for at least half a day, the winters would be harsher, the oceans larger, and vibrant plant life would be longing to kill every single one of us. Every one of the nine Arcana has a purpose, and ours is to manage everyone else.

We are the guardians of this reality, and if you do not feel that you can learn this task, you are free to go. The windows are to my right, and the door is locked.”

Someone did, actually, jump, spectacularly splashing near the ground, before a net of something froze him midair, setting him down as it did so.

“This is the bounce, a grand compression of air and space that makes it impossible for anyone to die when they fall off the bridges. I tried to get it removed long ago, but somehow, no one that wants to get rid of it is capable of doing so, we don’t even know who implemented it first.”

He explained the phenomenon, his right hand slowly moving to caress his beard.

“Now, if anyone has a question, feel free to ask.”

A boy in the first row raised his hand, only for the professor to shake his head.

Slowly, a chalkboard appeared, a piece of chalk already fixed to it with a string.

“To ask a question, you need to write it for everyone to see.” A soundless moment passed, before he cast the connect rune on the chalk, moving his own hand to write the question in the worst handwriting I had ever seen.

“What will we learn?” Was the question, something the professor answered almost immediately, the chalk disappearing from the board, and reconnecting to the writing material.

“You will learn manners and fine control, without which, no one will grant you a job that relates to transportation, if they are not perfectly sure they can trust you, and let me tell you, the other two disciplines pay nearly nothing, to the point that I have to teach a new batch of students every year, most of which prefer randomly dying to actually listening. I had to cut more and more from the curriculum, and still, every year some of you geniuses find a new way to spread your parts across the realms. I still propose that the idiots among you simply die, that way, my attention span will be less stunted, and those who actually want to learn will be given the appropriate training.” He sighed, snapping his fingers for everyone to suddenly stand before him.

“I don’t care about you. This class will take everything you have and leave you as a single-minded protector. Do you understand me? When you leave, every single one of you will be either dead or a legend, and if you are a legend, there is a high chance we will have to fight. I killed too many for it to be fun, people more promising than all of you combined. If you want your little freedom, remember that space is rigid, everything is connected via strings, and every single clockwork has to work perfectly, else the machine will falter, do you understand?” He asked, and all of us nodded, my hatred for him festering more and more with every word he managed to say.

“Class dismissed.”

And those words prompted me to jump out the window, grinning as I fell for thirty meters, the slow zone saving me from becoming decoration on the ground, with quite a few of my fellow students jumping.

Once I reached the ground, my path brought me towards the room of Aqua, the biggest aquarium in the world, with hundreds of fish swimming along the walls as I continued along the decorated hall.

A beauty beyond comprehension stretched before me, and yet, the sound of laughing children ruined it, the fish in the walls reacting to us, some swimming away, others looking for the source of the trouble, while I opened the doors to my future, a big pool, made for many people to sit at the border of, with a deep hole in the center.

It was gorgeous, a million times better than the space room, and the bubbles rising from the ground promised a lesson much more entertaining compared to an old man's ramblings.