The electric energy of Dionmar surprised Nia the moment she arrived. There were no shocked or mesmerized faces waiting for her at the pylon when the trio arrived, and there were crowds of people bustling around and minding their own business.

Since she attended an academy at the Capital of the country and frequently visited the markets, Nia thought she understood what a busy city looked like.

She was not prepared for the chaos which was the commercial heartbeat of the country.

“Watch out!”

Nia dropped one of her bags onto her foot, yanking Khyl’s collar backwards before a rushing carriage nearly trampled him.

“Keep up kids. If I lose you, I don’t think I’ll be able to find you.”

Xing’s lazy voice was nearly buried underneath the permanent uproar of shop owners, carriage drivers, scammers, and others shouting about their wares. Nia could barely keep up with keeping Khyl safe and chasing Xing’s elusive silhouette.

After what felt like eternity, the trio squeezed past a tiny break in the traffic, and popped out into a park.

“I think this is the place. Let me check the map.” Xing nonchalantly muttered to himself as he pulled folded parchment from his pockets.

Nia and Khyl dropped in exhaustion, their bags collapsing messily around them.

“Ah, wrong pylon. No wonder it was so busy. Oh, you two should check your baggage to see if anything got stolen. The stores in this area are slightly cheaper than the ones around the dorm that we’ll be staying at, so replace the stuff now if you need to.”

The pair groaned and started the slow processes of examining their essentials.

On Nia’s end, nothing ended up missing. Khyl had lost some snacks that his parents had packed for him.

“Ah, I wanted to share those cookies with the rest of our classmates when we saw them.”

Nia patted Khyl’s shoulder, offering him her condolences about the lost sweets.

After a moment, Xing sighed deeply again, and motioned for the two young teenagers to walk over.

“Do you see this star on the map?” Xing pointed at the left side of the map.

Nia nodded.

“Do you see this box over here?” Xing point at the far right side of the map.

Khyl nodded.

“The Traveling Pylon took us to the wrong side of the city. I was too tired to include the specific pylon to teleport to in my incantation earlier, so we needed up here... That’s my bad. I’ll call a carriage for us so that you two don’t stress about being pickpocketed again.”

Xing pulled a sleek blue card from his pocket and hailed down a passing carriage.

“Hello, esteemed customer! What brings you and your young cousins to Dionmar?”

A large and smiling man with a loud and carrying voice came out of the carriage.

“School activities. And they aren’t my cousins, they’re my underclassmen.” Xing corrected the carriage driver with a small smirk on his face.

The man paused for a moment with Khyl’s and Nia’s baggage on his shoulder.

“My apologies. We don’t find many younger Royal Academy students in these parts of Dionmar. Usually they’re on the Academic Ward on the West side.” Nia could hear the embarrassment in his voice.

“All good. The Academic Ward is actually where we are supposed to be, so it’s my mistake. How long will it take you to transport us there?”

“Not long. With the Royal Academy VIP Card, there are plenty of shortcuts to take. Just sit with me in the front and show that card to the guards when they ask for it.”

Xing nodded at the man and motioned at Khyl and Nia to sit in the open-top main cabin. He approached the front before briefly pausing.

“Oh right, apologies for my lack of manners. My name is Xing, and the younger students there are Nia and Khyl. What’s your name?”

The large man gave Xing another large smile.

“The name’s Dave!”

Dave made sure that the carriage ride was entertaining for the three students as he took them to their destination. The traffic was apparently as busy as it came, but Nia felt like their trip was short.

He told them silly stories about some of his other passengers, as well as the best places to find school supplies and cheap food. Nia took particular interest in the gyms that were scattered around the Academic Ward.

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In Dave’s own words, they were “super fancy and way better than what the Royal Capitol has to offer in every way!”

Xing also managed to get a recommendation on the most expansive library in the city. Dave slipped him his business card with a wink, also offering Nia and Khyl one if they wanted a free tour around the city. They happily took them.

“And we’re here! Sorry that it took longer than advertised, but the VIP card really saved us. It would’ve been easily two or three times longer of a trip without it.”

“Dave, you over exaggerate. The trip was only around thirty minutes. You saved us hours of time and money. You even did us a favor of taking us straight to the academy. I won’t forget this favor.”

Xing shook Dave’s hand and handed him his payment, insisting for him to take extra for tip. The younger students also happily gave Dave a quick hug before departing.

“Well, welcome to the Exemplary Academy of Dionmar. It’s quite a bit bigger than the Royal Academy of Fyhakyr, but that’s what happens when you have way more money.”

Nia doubtfully raised her eyebrow at the tall, but plain building in front of her, thinking about the extravagant design of the Royal Academy’s buildings. Xing saw her expression and shrugged.

“Well, you’ll see when we get past the front gate.”

Xing pulled open the door, and the immediate blast of cold air forced Nia to squint as she looked inside.

“It’s still plain.”

Khyl’s comment echoed Nia’s immediate thoughts, as they entered the well-ventilated, large, but sparsely decorated guardhouse. There were a few portraits on the wall for notable employees and a rather large map of the academy’s campus, but nothing else that was particularly interesting.

“Hi, I’m Prefect Xing Hei, visiting from the Royal Capitol. Could you direct me to where the visiting students are supposed to gather? I have two younger students under my supervision. We’re late due to a mistake on my end regarding the Traveling Pylon incantations.”

Xing hailed one of the guards on break while Khyl and Nia looked at the map.

“This place is actually kind of big…”

The pair found the “You Are Here!” star at the bottom of the map, and craned their heads upwards to see how far the campus spanned.

“Oh that? We exaggerated some of the sizes of the roads and buildings here and there to make the place seem bigger than it actually is."

An older woman in a casual outfit stopped by the young teenagers and gazed up at the map with them.

“It’s only been a few months since the Head Guard managed to get a budget increase for an updated and fancier map. You should’ve seen the old one. It wasn’t even a tenth of the size of this one.”

She chuckled to herself and turned towards the two.

“I’m Elder Clarisse. I hope you two would be gracious enough to make my acquaintance. I couldn’t help but overhear the Prefect accompanying you mention your presence here.”

Elder Clarisse reached her hand out to Nia and Khyl, who firmly returned the handshakes.

“Have you lived here long, Granny Clarisse?” Nia was happy to meet another friendly stranger.

“Nia, You have to call her Elder Clarisse! Not all of the elders will be okay with you calling them Granny and Gramps!”

Khyl gave Nia his usual reprimand every time they met a new elder. It was almost a running gag.

“Sorry about that Elder Clarisse, Nia is always excited to meet elders. It reminds her of her Grandpa back home.”

Elder Clarisse chuckled again, gently shaking her head to indicate that she was fine with the nickname.

“It’s fine. Most of the children around the academy call me Granny Clarie as it is. It’s endearing to be called Granny Clarisse in comparison.”

Elder Clarisse reached into a bin next to the large map and pulled out the smaller, portable version in the form of a brochure.

“Right now we’re here. If you three are going where I think you’re going, it should only be a short walk there. The housing units are all on this side of the campus, which is a bit further than you’re used to.”

As the Elder pointed out the notable locations on the map, she would highlight them and leave notes for Nia and Khyl to follow. It didn’t take long for the map on the parchment to become chaotically filled with lines and scribbles that somehow simultaneously neatly summarized optimal routing around the campus.

“Oh, greetings Esteemed Elder. I am Prefect Xing Hei from the Royal Academy. Thank you for keeping these two company while I figured out our proper destination.”

The older student had finished his conversation with the guard and wandered over to the map. He bowed slightly in respect to Elder Clarisse, who bowed back.

“It was no problem. I was looking to burn some time, and these two students were very pleasant to talk to. You must be quite the supervisor to keep them so well-mannered.”

Xing leaned sideways to raise an eyebrow at Nia, who usually caused trouble for him.

Nia stuck her tongue out back at Xing.

“I am unsure if you have become accustomed to this tradition in Dionmar, but we give cards to our friends to make sure that we can be contacted at a later time. I would be happy if you students would take mine.”

Xing gratefully took one of the cards and placed it along with his VIP card and the card that Dave had given him. Khyl tucked the card in the wallet his parents had given him. Nia placed the card along the Glitter Knife, which caught the eye of Elder Clarisse.

“Nia, where did you get that wooden hilt from?”

“Oh, the Glitter Knife? My Mama gave it to me!”

Nia proudly displayed the handle to the elder, who looked at it with curiosity.

“You can see it yourself if you want! I don’t know how it works yet. My Mama showed it off and then didn’t want to tell me how to get the blade to appear.”

Elder Clarisse slowly turned the hilt over in her hands, with the other three looking at her with an equally curious gaze.

“Ah, I think I’ve figured it out.” Elder Clarisse’s grey eyes suddenly blazed a vibrant orange. The hilt responded in kind, an elegant and curved orange blade emerging.

Khyl gasped in surprise, and Xing raised an eyebrow. Nia forgot that they were not around for her mother’s demonstration, but was also shocked to see the elder performing the same feat.

“Interesting. I haven’t seen one of these in years. Your mother must have quite the range of connections.”

The firm outline of the orange blade faded along with the hue from the elder’s eyes, as she handed the hilt back to Nia.

“How did you do that, Granny Clarisse?”

Elder Clarisse simply winked at Nia before grabbing her hand and Khyl’s hand to bring them to the door on the opposite side.

She gave the door a light shove, showing the magnificent campus behind the plain facade of the guard house. Nia and Khyl let out audible gasps, and Xing chuckled behind them.

“My dear children, welcome to the Exemplary Academy of Dionmar.”