At precisely 8:40, the von Carstein family carriage sped through the academy grounds. At this early hour, the place was nearly deserted, with many teachers not yet arrived. The only class scheduled for eight was an opera appreciation course, where a teacher and two students were engrossed in a classic opera, recorded during the heyday of the Sylvannian Empire thousands of years ago. Nowadays, vampires no longer had the resources to produce such grand artistic endeavors.

Deeply absorbed in the opera, the three vampires paid no heed to the commotion outside as the von Carstein carriage barreled through the grounds, finally halting at the main building’s entrance.

"Sister, you’ll get Principal Asta in trouble with such behavior," Norton remarked as he disembarked, voicing his concern.

"What does it matter? Hardly anyone is around at this hour," Juana replied dismissively as she followed him out.

Norton knew better than to argue with his sister, whose proud nature wouldn’t relent. Shaking his head, he decided to drop the subject. Although he had visited the academy briefly yesterday, focusing only on Teacher Triss’s residence, he hadn’t had a proper look at the campus. The rapid carriage ride gave him no opportunity to notice much, only perceiving the fluctuations of magic winds akin to that of a large protective ward—the academy’s defensive measures, he presumed.

With Juana momentarily calm, Norton took the opportunity to survey the academy environment. The most striking feature was the towering white spire before him. It seemed this would be his home for the next few years.

The towering structure was grand and aesthetically pleasing. Built entirely from black stone, it rose over a hundred meters above the ground. Sections of the tower were adorned with gold leaf paintings depicting scenes of war. Norton, with his keen eyes, discerned that the illustrations seemed to narrate an ancient battle.

The artwork’s protagonists appeared to be a heavily armored lich commanding an undead army from atop a colossal skeletal dragon, wielding a bat-shaped staff and tome, crowned with a massive horned crown, and a rugged barbarian brandishing a warhammer, leading a primitive barbarian force. Initially victorious, the undead army was eventually overwhelmed when the barbarians gained allies—noble elves in shining armor and robust dwarven warriors who joined forces with humanity to defeat the undead, ultimately slaying and dismembering the lich.

"This looks like some ancient battle," Norton thought, eager to learn more, when Juana interrupted impatiently, "Enough looking around; let’s go inside." She clasped Norton’s hand and led him into the tower.

"This tower houses most of the academy's classrooms. You’ll likely spend most of your time here," Juana explained as they walked. "There’s a magic-fueled lift that can take you to any floor. Alternatively, you can use flight spells or directed teleportation."

"A lift? Is it an alchemical device?" Norton inquired.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Yes, very convenient for tall buildings. But there aren’t many such buildings in the Old World," Juana affirmed, offering to try it out.

"No need," Norton declined, opting to continue exploring on foot. "Let’s keep walking." He had experienced elevators in another life, he mused silently.

Juana continued leading him along a spiraling staircase to the second floor, detailing the tower’s layout:

"The first floor mainly hosts the most popular courses. Core black magic classes are concentrated on the first and second floors. The third and fourth floors cover other magic disciplines, martial skills, strategy, and tactics. The fifth floor is for alchemy, pharmacology, and rune magic. Above that are politics, history, literature, and geography. The top floors are less crucial, devoted to dance, music, and the arts."

Norton listened attentively, nodding, and then asked, "So, Principal Asta is on the third floor then? Doesn’t he have a private office?"

"He’s the strategy and tactics instructor, so he’s there. Why do you ask?" Juana responded.

"Nothing," Norton realized, considering that vampires weren’t a hierarchically rigid society. "Let’s visit the principal. He mentioned he’d guide me once I started at the academy."

Juana, however, seemed reluctant to end their time alone so soon, dismissing, "He teaches many students; one more or less doesn’t matter," and tugged Norton’s hand to move on.

"Not going to look around more?" Norton inquired as they descended the stairs.

"There’s nothing much to see; you’ll get tired of it with time," Juana said, picking up the pace. "There’s a fascinating alchemical equipment depot south of the academy and some experimental new undead. Let’s check that out."

"Aren’t we supposed to start classes soon?" Norton asked, confused.

"Who cares about that! Skipping a few classes won’t hurt," Juana declared, breaking into a run.

"Wait, what?!"

Norton realized belatedly that Juana had no intention of familiarizing him with the academy academically; she just wanted to have fun with him.

"This kind of attitude is detrimental to our studies, Juana!" Norton protested.

"No worries! With your intelligence, you could graduate without attending a single class. Besides, you have six years here!" Juana dismissed his concerns, dragging him back downstairs, into the carriage, and towards the southern part of the academy. Norton resigned himself to his sister’s whims, hoping this burst of mischief would pass.

Their carriage careened through the grounds once more, narrowly avoiding other students. Juana paid no mind to the close calls, swiftly arriving at the alchemical equipment depot. This "depot" resembled a large warehouse, storing spare, outdated, or currently unused equipment. Conveniently, the door was unlocked, allowing them easy access.

"This place is secluded, dimly lit, and rarely visited. Ideal for secret meetings," Norton observed, shrugging. The equipment mirrored what was in Drakenhof Castle’s underground factory, so he lost interest quickly. However, the new undead that Juana mentioned piqued his curiosity more.

Necromancy had been around for millennia, with tried-and-true undead classes: skeleton soldiers for cannon fodder, tomb guardians for backbone forces, black knights for strikes, skeletal scouts, cheap spell fodder zombie mages, unique units like cairn wraiths, gargoyles, and direwolves, with legendary creatures like the undead dragon at the pinnacle—even ghoul and crypt horror productions from the renegade Strigoi were thoroughly vetted and standardized.

Despite ongoing research for new undead and improvements on existing ones, Norton knew no new undead had been formally added to Sylvannia's military for nearly a thousand years, meaning no recent R&D effort had succeeded.

This also highlighted the potential glory for anyone whose undead creation became part of the regular army.

Fascinated by this prospect, Norton ventured further into the alchemical equipment depot, where the experimental undead were stored, marked with "Important."