A Degenerate's Tale

On the sky island, Earl was awestruck by the architecture around them. They were in a huge shrine with an open roof. This shrine was huge, capable of fitting hundreds of people. It was built with a white marbled stone that had bright blue runic lines running through them. This was the arrival area for the people coming to the sky island.

"Now, shall we go?" Ari stood in front of Earl and reached her hand forward. The moon in the sky illuminated her figure, making her look like a heavenly goddess.

Earl took her soft hand, and together, they walked hand in hand towards the exit. "Let's go."

"Fufu. It feels a lot more romantic because it's at night."

"It's a date."

Ari smiled and answered softly. Her halo looked exceptionally bright tonight. "...Yes."

He held her hand tighter, embracing her warmth and appreciated the scenery around him.

Off in the distance, there was a huge building. The path they were on was a beautifully paved stone path. Floating lanterns illuminated at the side and trees were tastefully placed as decoration.

They walked the stone path and Ari began to show him the various spots on the sky island.

"Each division have a building. This one belongs to the Battle Magic Division." She pointed to the towering piece of architecture Earl saw earlier.

One by one, she explained to him the divisions as they walked through the paved path. "This one is for Enchantment... Alchemy... Magic Theory... Advanced Magic Calculations..."

Each building of the respective division carried its unique characteristics.

As he listened to his mother explaining the structure of the academy to him, he couldn't help but be more and more impressed. As expected, the works done by his mother was nothing less than excellent.

"Still, I'm surprised all of this was finished so quickly," Earl commented as they finished going through the Division Buildings.

"Right? I had to spend quite a bit of money to hire the dwarves."

"It looks great."

"I'm glad you like it." She smiled sweetly.

"How are you going to organize the divisions?"

"I'm going to use the other academies around the world as a base and build up from it. Everyone will have to go through an entrance exam and be placed into a division according to their talents. Their time in the academy will last 4-6 years depending on the division. Each year will have a different emphasis to ensure the highest quality mages as graduates."

Ari stopped to think about her words for a second and then clarified.

"Even though I said that everyone will be placed in a division, they will also be learning from other divisions. There's no point in coming to learn here if they are just planning to learn one field of magic."

"What division would you place me in?" Earl asked curiously.

"Hmm... Probably the Magic Research Division? You have a bright mind, probably from your mother," Ari paused to chuckle. "You've invented a lot of your original magic already as well."

"That sounds about right. What about Alea?"

"Alea is definitely a Battle Magic Division type of person. She is a natural-born fighter. Her battle instincts are very sharp and her magic output is good for it."

"I thought you would place her with me, haha." Earl joked.

Ari shook her head. "No. You can fight but unlike her, you do not like fighting. You also take after me in that regard. I don't like fighting and would prefer to shut myself in a room."

"I didn't know that. You are always sparring with Alea so I thought otherwise."

"What I like is magic. Fighting is a part of magic and that's why I can do it."

There was a brief silence.

"That makes me really happy." Earl suddenly said.

"What does?"

"Knowing that there are still things about you that I don't know yet."

A light blush came on Ari's face. "Don't be silly now. You already know everything else about me."

Eventually, they arrived at what appeared to be a greenhouse. It was a small, transparent house with many plants growing in it.

"Are we growing food up here too?"

Ari laughed. "Not exactly. This area contains facilities for students to use. If you look over there, there are training rooms and gyms too."

Earl looked at where his mother pointed and she was right there being more facilities.

"There's everything here."

"That's the plan. I want people up here to be able to fully concentrate on their craft without the distractions of the outside world."

"I noticed we haven't seen the housing area yet."

"I'm saving the best for last!"

"Everything we've seen wasn't the best part..?"

"Fufu, I'm just saying it in the moment."

They arrived at the housing area. No- rather than calling it a housing area, it should be called a neighbourhood. It was vastly different from the dorms Earl had seen in his previous life.

In front of them were tens of rows of fully built houses. There are probably more than a hundred houses in this area alone. The houses were built in a similar European style sporting the classic combination of stone walls and wooden roofs.

"Pretty impressive, right?"

"Isn't this too extravagant?" Earl said speechlessly.

"It's okay, your mom is very rich."

"Okay..."

"I've always enjoyed the idea of living with your peers. It will be your time of youth, Earl."