Pale golden light streamed in through the ornate porcelain windows of the academy halls, transforming them into halls that seemed worthy for a king to stroll through.
The birds chirped in excitement as they did every day, causing the academy to enter into the bustling phase that came with the arrival of noon.
Multiple first-year apprentice students streamed through the hall, engaging in friendly discourse or trying to maneuver their way through the dense crowd of bodies to either get to their next class or move toward the school cafeteria.
The general youthful chatter filled the first-year academy building with a bright and sunny atmosphere, causing most of the onlooking professors to smile at the sight.
Elias and his group walked calmly towards their specific departmental buildings, chatting and willing away time until they reached their destinations.
Damien had a hand casually draped over Elias's shoulder, causing the latter to twitch in annoyance.
"Damn, that was such a long class... I'm so spent!"
Aamiya gently smiled at the side, elegantly shielding herself from the rays of the sun with a custom-made parasol.
Her smile was as soft and gentle as it usually was only this time, there seemed to be an underlying hint of fatigue hidden beneath her delicate face.
"I have to agree with you on that. That was the most mentally taxing class we have had to date, and the shocking part is that we haven't even covered half of it."
Elias shot Damien a glance, his gaze mischievous. "Why are you of all people complaining? It's not like you were actually paying the class any attention."
Damien pretended to be aghast, looking at Elias with a gaze that said 'Whatever made you think that?'
Elias was caught off guard by his theatrics, turning back to find Aamiya chuckling at his bemused expression.
Elias shook his head slightly before a sharp glint appeared in his eyes.
He turned towards Damien, his face calm and composed.
"Oh? Then care to tell us what specific type of plant the Flower of Bewilderment is? Or maybe give a short summary of the paper drafted by Sir Li'tel of the Silverbell Tower to explain the inconclusive Ether-Oddity relationship. This much should be easily explainable for someone who paid attention to the class, no?"
Damien instantly shuddered, patting Elias's shoulder awkwardly while trying his best to change the topic. "Ehem... questions like these are best left to nerds like you. I'm mentally preparing myself for my body-building class, it's not good to think too much before exercising."
Elias scoffed, turning his face forward with a complex expression.
"The class was indeed taxing, but it did introduce us to a lot of new things. Especially.. the Black Sea. Its concept is harrowingly frightening, to say the least. Out of all of the peculiarities we have covered since becoming Apprentices, I can confidently say that this is the one that bothers me the most."
Aamiya's expression instantly turned grave, her usually soft voice taking on a slightly deeper tone.
"I agree. Who knew there was this type of encroaching danger just silently existing beyond one of our sea borders? I always wondered why the nautical maps and sea paths always depicted another ocean segment aside from the Naric and Central Sea, but who would have thought that the third bore such a nightmarish nature."
Ne'em, who had been walking silently behind the group, chipped in his input, all the while still keeping his eyes glued to whatever new novel he was reading.
"Indeed... The existence of the Black Sea has been concealed perfectly by the higher-ups of the orthodox churches and racial kingdoms. If it wasn't for us becoming students of this academy, I doubt we would have ever found out about its existence."
He then paused, his voice turning complicated.
"Not like it is something we needed to find out about anyway."
The entire group went silent, their faces turning complicated.
Aside from Oddities and mutated beasts being formed during high ether dense periods such as the Solstice Shower, Professor Windsor had talked about the more 'alternative' route to their formation in the second segment of the class.
If the Solstice Shower represented a natural foundational mutation, then this other process was purely artificial and could be carried out by anyone, albeit with high stakes and risks involved.
In his explanation of the Black Sea, the stoic professor stated it to be the most permanently constant ether-dense location on the planet, a location which seems to be predominantly occupied by raging unbalanced ether.
This sea line itself exists beyond the east coast of the Kingdom of Lorraine and is a sea route location that many know nothing about, even after thousands and thousands of years.
The Black Sea encompasses the calamitous nature of ether, being totally unrestricted by natural sea laws and normal observable nautical conditions.
The seawater beyond the black sea is totally pitch black in color, and its periphery is almost entirely encompassed by dark fog, making visibility almost impossible within its waters.
What is much more bizarre and frightening than that were the reports that the sun doesn't exist beyond the Black Sea's coast, causing a lot of religious and scientific enthusiasts to speculate that it is because the star is unable to occupy such an ether dense location, similar to how the concept of the sun doesn't exist within the Spiritual Sea.
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According to the survivors who were unlucky to have gone beyond the Central-Black oceanic border, the barely sane sailors described the area beyond the boundary as a place of utter madness, fright and terror etched onto their faces.
No one who ventured beyond the Black Sea had successfully come out unharmed, with the degree of affliction varying from minor mental illnesses to downright biological mutations.
Professor Windsor explained all of this with a cold and unemphatic tone, causing most of the students, including Elias, to shudder in fright.
What was even more scary was that it wasn't the end of it, as the unconventional nature of the Black Sea went against almost all known logic applicable to sea regions.
According to the professor, numerous studies into the Black Sea had shown it randomly changing its border locations over the years, causing a lot of innocent seagoers to be drawn into it even while steering clear of its periphery.
This was why the information on the Black Sea was concealed from the public, to curb curiosity and make sure no one ventured too close to the Central Sea safe line borders, set up by a joint naval brigade of the three human kingdoms.
The supernaturally toxic nature of this oceanic region was also one of the reasons why it was designated as an Oddity within official records, an Oddity that was one of the oldest ever observed, at least according to the professor.
But back onto the main topic, Professor Windsor shockingly revealed that an odd entity or object can artificially be created by simply dumping them into the bizarre sea region, as long as they have high resonance with the ether around them.
The only problem is that only a madman would take such a risk, with only a few daring lunatics trying and surviving over the years, albeit while bearing a lot of backlash.
Professor Windsor had been very vocal about the insanity of various anti-religious heretical groups who tried this method, specifically lingering on the various calamitous backlashes such recklessness has on mundane society.
It was quite apparent from his explanation that this was a shunned and unwelcomed method, and he was simply explaining it to the class not only so they'd understand it, but also to make sure they shied away from ever being curious enough to test it out.
The group continued to make their way through the openly free halls in silence, the tension from the previous topic still in the air.
In the end Damien couldn't stand the stifling silence, twirling the tape on his arms in an awkward manner.
"Anyways I don't think we need to be worrying about the Black Sea at our level. It seems to be something way beyond our capabilities to solve, so what is the use of getting anxious about it?"
Elias gazed at his friend's overly positive demeanor, recognizing his effort to bring the group out of the wistful silence.
Elias thought about it and smiled, agreeing that there was no use worrying about something that they were currently powerless to solve.
All they had to do was get stronger, strong enough that they would be able to have a valid say in the fate of the physical world, as a lot of inherent danger exists just beyond the boundaries, threatening to silently suck their bright world into a cavern of nocturnal fright.
The group continued to walk, chatting freely with each other.
After seeing the various academy departmental buildings from afar, Elias suddenly remembered a question he had been meaning to ask, causing him to turn towards Damien with a curious gaze.
"That reminds me. I've been meaning to ask, but what exactly is the exact nature of your Echelon of Faith, particularly your Disciple level, and the changes that come with it?
"For us to function as a proper group in combat and informational situations during our external commissions we all need to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, so this is a question I should have asked much sooner as the designated group leader."
Elias honestly felt like he should have asked this question sooner, causing him to sigh in regret.
He had been so preoccupied with a lot of other things that he failed to account for such basic team-building information, information that would prove vital in many key moments during outside operations.
Elias—who was currently an Apostolic Deacon under the bizarre Echelon of Irregularity—was actually admitted into the academy as an Apprentice under the Nature Department which mainly covered the concept of life and harmony.
He also later found out that the title of the official Echelon was the Echelon of Life, an Echelon presided over by the Benevolent Mother that dealt with nature as a whole.
During most of his introductory departmental classes, Elias had been able to figure out that being a Disciple grants numerous superhuman changes to the body, mainly due to the presence of the wisp as a foundational base.
Even when the wisp was unsealed it still caused numerous bodily mutations within its owner, causing them to become much more superhuman while leaning towards the side of the supernatural.
These individuals are who are referred to as Disciples, being just lower on the faith power spectrum than their follow-up level being the apostolic classes, classes which clearly develop into the supernatural realm.
It was taught that a Disciple with an unsealed wisp related to life would develop the ability to expertly tend to wounds and injuries, giving them almost superhuman-like doctor skills.
This is the point Elias should have been at the moment if only the amount of bizarre experiences he had gone through didn't happen.
Elias sighed. He honestly felt that his life would have been much more simple if he was actually in such a normal situation.
Damien lightly nodded, feeling like his friend was making sense.
"As you know, my department is the Law Department, and it's a section related to the Echelon of Law and Order, which is presided over by the One True Law, the god of the Church of Ordinance.
"Disciples under this Echelon are capable of enriching their allies with courage and valor just by the latter being in their presence, meaning that anytime you guys are with me, negative thoughts such as fear would hardly cloud your mind as long as it doesn't cloud mine. "
Damien then lingered a bit, before adding in a low tone, "Also might I add, the first apostolic level of my Echelon is known as the Dawn Deacon, and seems to be related to sunlight in some type of way."
Damien revealed a lot of information all at once, causing not only Elias, but the entire group, to sink into contemplation.
Elias didn't expect him to share the name and nature of his subsequent apostolic path with them so easily, especially because it wasn't relevant to the current situation since they were currently only disciples.
The message behind Damien's seemingly naive move was clear as day; he was asking them to build trust, trust which would help them vastly during their external excursions.
This made Elias feel quite guilty, as he couldn't really open up and tell him about how unconventional his current situation was.
In the end, he sucked it in, before revealing the corresponding name and nature of the apostolic level of the Echelon of Life, which was Hope Deacon.
What Elias was taught was that these Apostles wield and control positive human emotions, a vague explanation with very few contextual clues.
He felt like the academy was purposely trying to obscure as many details as possible before their Trial of Qualifications, which made a lot of sense to him.
This was to prevent the leaking of vital information, as well as to keep the students interested by using this information as bait.
It was quite a simple move, but one which worked efficiently given their current situation as green students.
The group continued to walk on in silence, waiting for the next person to pitch into their unspoken pledge of trust.
This went on for a couple more stifling moments before Aamiya broke the ice, her voice unusually resolute and mature.
"My department covers everything under the Echelon of Possibilities, a fate-based divine category overseen by the Everchanging Tide, the goddess of time and destiny."
"My Disciple abilities enable me to have a more advanced level of déjà vu, allowing me to sometimes predict actions before they happen with heightened awareness. It is mostly random and usually happens without my consent, but can be forcefully triggered if I concentrate hard on it."
The young lady then sighed soft as a bird, her eyes turning complex.
"As for the subsequent apostolic level, it has a strange yet simple name, but one I quite like for its aesthetics due to its relationship to fate."
She paused, before saying in a flat but low voice,
"Kismet Deacon is its name."