Chapter 109: Apothesis

"This looks incredible," Nicholas said, looking down at the silver embroidery running along the edge of his coat.

Leon was practically vibrating beside him. "I cannot believe we’re actually going to the Upper Academy!" He clenched both fists at his sides. "I’m so excited I don’t know what to do with myself!"

Roselle looked at both of them. "You two are children." She said it flatly, but the warmth underneath was obvious to anyone watching closely.

They wore the same pristine white ceremonial uniforms. The coats fell neatly to the knee, silver thread tracing patterns along every edge, polished insignias sitting near the collars, vivid crimson sashes crossing from shoulder to opposite hip. They looked nothing like the uniforms of Astral Academy. They were something else entirely. Something that said these people earned their way somewhere that most never get to go.

Emilia stood beside Leon, looking up at him with a smile that was trying to be bigger than the sadness behind it. "Big brother Leon. Sister Roselle." Her voice was soft. "Good luck. I hope I see you soon."

Roselle smiled warmly back at her. "Of course you will."

Leon immediately grabbed his sister and pulled her into a hug that could have been classified as a natural disaster.

"I’ll be back before you know it!" He squeezed tighter. "And I’ll bring you something amazing from up there!"

"Let go!" Emilia pushed against his chest. "You’re squeezing my lungs!"

"This is a proper farewell hug! It has to be tight!"

"It has to let me BREATHE!"

"Stop being annoying, Leon." Roselle said with a sigh.

He let go reluctantly. Emilia immediately stepped back and rubbed both shoulders with a glare that had too much fondness in it to be convincing.

A short distance away, Darius walked beside Alden and Claire, keeping his voice low.

"Seris’s situation," he said, glancing at Alden. "I’ll find a way to get her into the Upper Academy tomorrow without the vampire detail becoming public knowledge. You don’t need to worry about that."

Alden looked at him. "Thanks, Gramps."

A short pause fell over before Claire spoke up.

"There’s something I don’t quite understand though."

Darius looked at her.

"You already knew what she was," Claire said. "Why didn’t you report her?"

Claire continued, turned towards Alden. "That’s true. She’s technically from the enemy side. You protected her and asked our help to keep it quiet. Why go that far?"

Darius’s face went slightly more serious. "That’s exactly what I’ve been asking myself." His eyes settled on Alden. "Seris is a vampire. Whatever personal connection you have with her, she belongs to a race that has officially declared war on humanity. So why are you saving and hiding her? What makes you certain she won’t betray?"

Alden thought about it for a moment.

"Nah," he said. "She won’t."

Darius stared at him. "That’s your answer?"

"Pretty much."

Darius’s face twitched. "That’s not reassuring in any way! She’s a vampire who has been living among us under a fake identity! Give me something to work with!"

Claire nodded. "At minimum, have some doubt."

Alden considered it again. "Maybe she will."

Darius’s eyes went wide. "Then WHY are you so calm about it?!"

"Because I just know she won’t," Alden said simply.

Darius stared at him in total silence.

"...That is somehow even less convincing than the first answer," he said finally, pressing his fingers against his forehead.

Alden shrugged.

Claire sighed. "I think he might secretly be a vampire too and is hiding some complicated plan."

Alden kept smiling and said nothing.

"Alden! Over here!"

Leon’s voice cut through the morning air. He raised one hand from across the courtyard and waved them over.

"Good, you’re all together."

He made no sound and cast no shadow. Without warning, Alarion stood directly behind them.

’When did he get here?’ The exact thought struck Leon and Roselle at the same moment, both jumped at the same time. Nicholas’s hand moved instinctively toward his sword before his brain caught up to his body.Alarion looked at the group with his usual calm expression. "Just now."

Leon turned slowly. "Wait. Did you just..." He swallowed. "Did you read our minds?"

"Predicted," Alarion said, without any change in expression.

Roselle stared at him for a second. "That’s somehow scarier."

Darius stepped forward and bowed his head properly. "Sir Alarion. The five cadets you requested are here. The sixth will be discharged tomorrow and will follow." He straightened. "I’ll leave them in your care."

Alarion gave a single nod.

Leon raised his hand cautiously. "Sir Alarion. How exactly are we getting to the Upper Academy? It’s above the clouds, isn’t it? We can’t exactly fly."

Alarion raised his right hand.

An arcane circle appeared above his palm immediately. The circle expanded outward from beneath the group, spreading across the stone until it enclosed all five cadets and Alarion together.

Nicholas looked down at his feet. The ground was still there but it already felt different.

Then it wasn’t.

The solid stone simply wasn’t beneath them anymore. The magic array lifted the entire group upward, and the academy grounds began shrinking below their boots.

"Whoa—" Leon grabbed his own coat.

The array accelerated.

WHOOSH.

The buildings of Astral Academy turned into small shapes and then into a single speck, and then the clouds rushed in around them, and then even the clouds were below.

Leon held on. Nicholas kept his footing through sheer stubbornness. Roselle adjusted her stance like someone who refused to be caught off-balance. Alden stood still and watched Astral Academy disappear.

From below, Darius raised one hand toward the sky.

"Do your absolute best," he said quietly.

Claire looked down and waved until she couldn’t see him anymore. "Thank you, Grandpa."

Alden raised his hand briefly. That man gave him more than he deserved during a year that should have broken him twice over.

The clouds parted.

Leon stopped breathing for a moment.

What came into view was not a building. It was not a campus. It was something that made the word school feel like the wrong word entirely.

A vast white castle rose above the cloud line, its towers stretching toward the sun. Silver bridges connected them to each other and to sprawling estates that extended in every direction.

At the center of it all, a massive crystal fountain sent water cascading through tier after tier into a wide basin below, the spray catching the light at the altitude and breaking it into something that didn’t look quite natural.

The whole place radiated a stillness that wasn’t emptiness. It was the stillness of something that had existed long before anyone living could remember and would exist long after.

The magic array settled onto a grand white platform and dissolved.

"We have arrived."

Alarion’s voice carried across the platform without needing to be loud.

"Welcome to Apothesis." He turned slightly toward the gleaming structures ahead. "The land of deities. And the home of the Upper Academy."

___________________

Author’s note:

Hello guys, you reached this far? XD

Well as you already know that this is the beginning of Volume 2, I want to say something before we properly start.

I’ll try my best to maintain the quality and character consistency from here onward. I know some of you might have been a little unhappy with the latest Chapters because they felt rushed or some things happened a bit too unnaturally.

For that, I’m really, genuinely sorry.

But please understand it from my point of view as an author as well bruh, you guys have been giving me reviews, PS conditions, and all sorts of requests, and to satisfy those conditions, I’ve been trying to give you three Chapters almost every day.

At the same time, I’m trying to build a stockpile, which means I’m writing even more Chapters ahead.

So lately I’ve been pushing myself to write 4k+ words every day, and honestly, that sometimes means I’m running on fumes.

And on top of that I’m still a student who has to give time to his studies too. Then, after everything is done, I sit down late at night and write before going to sleep.

So yeah... sometimes the writing gets a little messed up. XD

I can already imagine some of you saying:

"So what? We’re paying you and satisfying your conditions. I don’t care about your excuses. WE WANT OUR ChapterS!"

So harsh... Tears ;<

Okay okay, I get it.

I guess instead of making excuses, I should just accept the criticism and try to improve.

My bad, guys.

I’ll do my best to improve the pacing, keep the characters consistent, and most importantly, not rush things just because I’m trying to maintain the update rate.

So... show me your greed by unlocking more Chapters, privileges, and gifts. Maybe that’ll put me into a good, fresh mood and I’ll start writing like a robot. XD

Anyway, I hope I can stay consistent while also giving you guys better Chapters.

Let’s make Volume 2 better than Volume 1.

Cyaa!