The Royal Academy has four towers, each aligned with a cardinal direction. The White, Black, Red, and Purple Tower.
The White Tower stands on the western side. Known as the Tower of Wisdom, it houses 3,000 years of ancient knowledge stored within the depths of the Chained Doors.
The Black Tower is located on the southern side. It is known as the Tower of Temptation and Trial, a place designed for individuals to overcome their limits. Those who enter can experience a myriad of pains and emotions, simulated by a great spell cast by a Sage to torment an ancient demon to death.
The Red Tower occupies the eastern side. This is the Tower of Combat and Time, a space dedicated to training and countless attempts at improvement. Inside, there exists a powerful spell that can slow time.
The Purple Tower stands on the northern side. Known as the Tower of Nature and Emptiness, it provides a calming place for inner reflection. It is a favorite spot for the Academy's mages to meditate and sharpen their control over their mana.
Access to these massive, ancient structures is highly restricted. Only Professors, the Vice Principal, the Principal, and selected students—those destined to make significant contributions to the world—may enter.
Inside the archive level 4 of the White Tower, a platinum long-haired woman moved her fingers across the words after words of an old book had been laid by her on the table in front of her. The title of the book is *The Pit of Knowledge*. Her pale, bluish lips muttered the words so softly, melodically, coldly, akin to whispers of a frozen angel.
"I shall rose, he said. He stood to face the white being standing before him. Its words were underlined, unknown, but he could hear its laments. Fear, it uttered. It feared upon seeing the true face of the..."
As the woman's lips continued to voice the words of the book, the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the table on which she sat. She closed her lips. Her white, bluish eyes checked the one who disturbed her learning time. Her eyes became even colder as she spotted her figure.
The golden, fake golden.
"Faker..." The platinum-haired woman, Julimune, muttered with disgust under her breath.
"Oh, hello, Miss Murderer." The woman, who had just entered the archive, replied to her condemnation.
A smile and a glare meet.
"Where's your toy, Faker?" Julimune shifted her attention back to her book as she asked that question with a small amount of sarcasm.
The woman's golden hair swayed as she made her way near a bookshelf and laid her hands upon some books there which had piqued her interest. She turned several books, took a second to check the content of the books, and picked the most interesting one. Only then, she replies to Julimune. With a smile.
"You mean Lory? I'm not sure~. He's been avoiding me lately, you see, fufu~."
The woman's words implied her loneliness, but her light tone betrayed the nature of her words. The contrast makes it hard to discern the true feeling of the woman.
Julimune flipped a page of the book she was reading, before asking the woman once more. "And you're fine with that?"
The woman's shoulders were shaking as a response to her question. Julimune received a giggle instead of an answer.
Then the sound of footsteps once again echoed inside the archive as the golden-haired woman made her way out of the room with a book entitled *The Brave and the Maiden of Ghena* in her embrace.
"Faker... Just what kind of bad things are you planning to do this time?" Julimune whispered to herself, her eyes never leaving the woman's back as she left the room.
***
Meanwhile, in the garden of the academy, Loryarc felt a surge of cold run down his spine all of a sudden.
"Haa-a chuu!" He sneezed.
Marie, who stood beside him, acted fast and immediately handed him her handkerchief.
"Are you okay, Master?" She asked after her master received the handkerchief.
Loryarc wiped his nose while wagging his hand, gesturing his well-being. Only after wiping his nostrils clean from the snot, Loryarc opened his mouth.
"I dunno, but maybe the winter wind still lingers?" He said as he wasn't sure himself.
Marie looked at the sky, at the green grass of the garden, and at the trees. She couldn't find any sign of coldness left anywhere.
"I think the weather was warm enough lately," She commented.
"You're right..." Loryarc agreed.
The two of them stop speaking and stay still; their eyes gazing upon the landscape of the garden—the embodiment of the spirit of the spring.
As the warm silence engulfed the two, the noises of the students who were hanging out here became clearer to hear than before.
"I thought you'd been chosen as one of the challengers?" One of the students asked her friend, her tone filled with doubt.
"A-ahaha... Maybe my luck betrayed me?" The man sat beside her replied while scratching the back of his head, even though he didn't feel any itch there.
The woman student narrowed her eyes.
"You have lied," She blurted, "You're a liar. You know what? I hate liars most."
"W-wait, no! I..." The man panicked. He raised his hand to reach the woman, but she waved his hand off.
"Goodbye," The woman had only used that word before leaving him.
The breeze blew from the back of the stunned man, bringing along the already old leaves with it, pushing these leaves until they stopped in front of Loryarc and Marie.
"Spring, the love season, they said," Loryarc muttered softly under his breath with a bitter smile on his face.
Marie also has a bitter smile on her face.
What a poor man that student is, being left by his woman at the start of this love season.
After some time of giving prayer for luck to the man, Marie looked at her master's face. She noticed an added pride under his bitter smile.
"So... How is it, Master?" She asked.
"Well, I'd been chosen, of course!" He said with a grin, holding an envelope with the Academy's watermark.
***
Inside the Principal's office of the Academy.
There was a long, half-circular blackwood table here. Hundreds of documents were piled above the table, every single one of them contained important affairs to be done and agreed upon.
"Loryarc... Lapizburn?" A voice raised as one of the two ladies sat behind the table was checking the list of the challengers of this year's Spring Seven Challenges.
The vice Principal pinched the bridge of her glasses and threw a questioning glance, narrowing her wrinkled eyelids toward the young lady who sat beside her.
The young lady, the Principal herself, could discern her meaning just by looking at her eyes once.
"He's qualified, Monica." The young lady stated.
The vice Principal began to furrow her brows as she heard her superior's words. She couldn't help but have doubts regarding this young master of Lapizburn.
The Good-for-nothing Bastard, people called him. And that's where it's not for no reason.
But her superior has made up her mind.
"He's qualified," The young lady repeated.
Her face was a mirror of seriousness itself. There's no doubt or excuse behind that face, only fair judgment.
"Understood... Grandmother." The vice Principal nodded and agreed.
Monica knows about how calculating and cunning the Principal of the Academy, her Grandmother, could become when the time comes. The approval of Loryarc Lapizburn's application to become a student was a clear sign of it. Because the Principal thought that by accepting Loryarc Lapizburn, the Academy would gain more merit than the side effects he brought.
After all, the Principal was the number one person here, in the greatest Academy in the man world.