Extra: Yandere Milfs Obsessed with me!-Chapter 97: Daeron Akhazel

Kaiser passed through the great doors of the academy and entered a vast central hall. The ceilings were high, supported by stone columns. Colored frescoes covered the walls. The floor was made of light marble, with geometric patterns inlaid.

The academy consisted of several large main buildings, arranged around spacious interior courtyards. Each building had a massive rectangular structure, with facades of stone reinforced by enchanted metal bands for greater solidity. Around the roofs, a wide peripheral slab ran completely around. This slab served for students to observe trainings in the courtyards below or for collective demonstrations. The interior courtyards were landscaped, with central fountains and combat arenas delimited by circles traced on the ground. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Directional signs were placed at every intersection. They indicated the precise directions to each room. Kaiser followed the one pointing to the amphitheater. He crossed a first interior courtyard, where a few students were going about their activities, then passed under a covered arch leading to the main courtyard.

At the center of this courtyard stood the Grand Amphitheater. It was an imposing circular building, with stone bleachers rising in a slope around an open-air arena. The peripheral slab here was particularly wide, allowing hundreds of people to stand on it to watch events.

Kaiser entered the amphitheater through a side door. The interior was already half-filled with new students. Conversations animated the air, a mix of excitement and apprehension. He chose a seat in the middle and waited while observing the surroundings.

A few minutes later, a progressive silence settled in the room. A man stepped onto the platform.

His black hair was neatly slicked back, and his red eyes swept over the students below; he was known as a mage with a great affinity for fire mana. He wore a long dark robe, edged with discreet flame patterns, and leaned on his black cane embedded with a red crystal at its end. Son of a baron, he was praised as one of those who devoted their life to the defense of humanity.

He lightly tapped his cane against the ground to draw the remaining attention. His smile widened.

"Dear students, I am honored to welcome you here, to the Academy of Sky City. I am the director Daeron Akhazel."

He paused, adjusted his cane, and continued with enthusiasm.

"He he he, I’m a little nervous to see so many people." He scratched his head, and one could even notice his hand trembling slightly.

Former powerful Paladin of the Holy Cathedral, he had chosen to lead the institution after years of service. He had a gentle air, always with a smile on his lips that inspired confidence.

"Here, at the Academy of Sky City, we train young talents like you to fight against the threats weighing on humanity. But above all, we fill the gaps. We give everyone a chance, regardless of their origin. Nobles or commoners, all can find their place among us and develop their potential. The academy is a place of equality where merit prevails, a refuge where tomorrow’s protectors are forged."

The students listened attentively.

"Tsss... all that is just bullshit," thought Kaiser, without paying attention to the rest of the speech.

In reality, before talking about training to defend humanity, it was first and foremost a place where the most powerful identified each other in order to dominate the world. The factions controlled everything: they were the true rulers, the ones who imposed the laws within the academy. There were three main types of factions: that of the humans, that of the elves, and that of the dark elves.

Each chose the talents that interested them, without caring about commoner or noble social status. But without exceptional talent, getting recruited remained almost impossible. And even with talent, refusing to join a faction was like condemning oneself to remain at the bottom of the ladder. The academy was in reality a vast political arena, ruthless toward those devoid of talent or the fools who believed in meritocracy.

Among the humans, it was divided into the factions of the legendary families and the imperial family. The legendary families dreamed of becoming imperial. To achieve this, they formed alliances with elves, with other powerful families, thus accumulating loyal vassals and influential duchies. Once strong enough in military, political, and economic terms, they could even aim for the throne. The stakes were therefore enormous.

On the elves’ side, it was divided between Twilight and Dawn. Each of these two branches had two clans with small internal rivalries, but the true hatred opposed Twilight and Dawn. They all sought to ally with influential people to gain power. Their ultimate goal: to designate a single king for Yggdrasil. The four elven clans had been divided for too long; they wanted a talented leader, surrounded by many powerful supporters, to finally unite their people.

The dark elves, for their part, pursued a goal known to all: to deepen their knowledge to forge ever more powerful artifacts, to become the most feared alchemists or sorcerers.

The new students would take the entrance exam, while the faction leaders attended and offered contracts to the candidates who interested them. Sometimes, the choice depended directly on family origin: for example, the Donoghan duchy would automatically join the imperial faction since Duke Randal Donoghan was already a loyal ally of the Emperor. Once integrated into a faction, the student continued to progress under its protection.

The factions also competed for the resources of dimensional rifts. There, one found not only precious stones, but especially mana crystals ideal for mages’ meditation, as well as ancient relics. When a rift appeared, a faction had to pacify it to appropriate everything it contained, which generated incessant political negotiations.

The director continued his speech:

"In this meritocracy, the academy maintained an official ranking of the strongest. Anyone could challenge a higher rank through a duel to take their place. The very top of the ranking were invariably the faction leaders. The highest-ranked enjoyed significant privileges: personal mansions, abundant resources. Conversely, if you make no effort..."

A very powerful student could refuse the factions and still enjoy many advantages in Sky City: mansion, resources, provided they entered the top 50. But without the support of a faction, achieving this was extremely difficult, especially for a commoner. Talent alone was not enough: it lacked resources and family backing. Such an independent was often seen as a threat and became an easy target for assassins.

While Kaiser was lost in his thoughts, he was brought back to reality by the students’ applause marking the end of the speech. More than five hundred new students filled the bleachers.

"So now let’s begin this exam!"

Daeron Akhazel smiled one last time, then snapped his fingers.

A vast magical circle instantly lit up under the feet of all the newcomers. The light enveloped them in a flash.