Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Next day.

Skullius had gotten up early and headed for the Academy immediately.

To skirt away from many possible chances at 'horribly gone wrong' instances, he figured arriving at his destination early would do him much good. Hopefully this applied to the Academy, which was his destination.

Within ten minutes of speedy travel by foot, Skullius had already arrived at the 300 meter tall, screw-shaped building adorned with diamond like glass all over it in a mesmerising, towering view.

Of course, Skullius still couldn't see it, however, now that he was within range of the entire Academy, he could sense that this building was merely the largest here and not the only one that made up this esteemed place.

From a distance, one, with functioning eyes, would be tempted to think that this was the only building representing the Academy's presence as most of the others would be hidden by other structures within the city, but that could not be more untrue.

Tens more artificial rises in the form of towers could be seen all around the Academy grounds, their designs a bit different from the screwy mass but with the same theme of design on their exteriors to emphasise uniformity. They were placed in strategic arrangements that apportioned them according to size as well as amount of mana and various other energies that could were contained within.

It was more than just this but no one outside of anyone attending the Academy knew the specifics.

The vast circular space that the entire Academy encompassed was split into four quadrants that had four tall towers in each, the rest of the inhabiting structures within being half the size or less.

Around the entire Academy premises, a circular, dull silver glow could be seen acting like a fence that cordoned off the Academy from the rest of the city, a large stone archway decorated beautifully with blue, gold and red lesser runes lined in a lovely sequence presenting itself at the only designated public entrance into this esteemed institution.

The Reacher Academy of Higher Magic Virtues.

Skullius felt the brimming, potent force of controlled energies breezing against his senses vividly. The glow around the Academy as well as that which came from the robes adorned by the numerous Mages as well as very few divergent Energy Formers â€" Tamers, Diviners among others â€" going in and out of the place gave him a powerful impression.

This place was definitely on a completely different place from a mere college.

No wonder he had heard that barely anyone approached this place or dared to harass the Mages from this Academy.

He hadn't even entered the institution yet but that didn't discourage his internal alarms from telling him to play it safe.

Thus, with a humble visage and steady gait, Skullius approached the large archway at the entrance where a middle aged man donning black robes was standing, greeting those that belonged to the Academy with a friendly, dimply smile.

When this man's eyes sharp eyes found Skullius standing before him however, his affable expression vanished, replaced by a strict and stern one that demanded formality.

"How may I help you?" the man asked Skullius with a deep voice.

"I was wondering if I could see Arch-Mage Ryte," Skullius replied promptly without skirting away to needless niceties.

"Unfortunately, the Arch-Mage is currently busy with an important task. Please come back later."

The reply that came to Skullius was equally as quick and as blunt as his request had been.

But it was bullshit!

That was the most evasively perfunctory 'get lost' he had ever heard!

It was clear now what Stylla had said. These guys were strict and would rather not have him enter the Academy at all.

Alright. If that was the case...

"I'm afraid what I need is urgent. Would this change anything?" Skullius said as he pulled out the rolled up parchment he had been given by Stylla.

The man guarding the entrance narrowed his eyes as he took the parchment and checked the seal on it.

It was the Bryne Family seal.

Contrary to what Skullius had thought, the man opened the parchment, breaking the seal without a care as he then read the contents written on the full item.

His face grew a tad bit softer before he rolled the parchment back and gave it back to Skullius.

"Very well," the man said before turning and calling one of the young Mage student passing by.

"Show him to the tower in the Transmutation Quadrant will you?"

The young Mage nodded without qualms and politely asked Skullius to follow him.

The Hybrid Luman was surprised.

Just like that?

No venom or fire?

No challenge?

Ah, of course maybe all that was waiting inside.

Phew... for a moment there, the Hybrid Luman almost thought he was lucky or something.

'Let's see who this Ryte is. If Arch-Mage has the same ring of respect as Arch-Lich then his person must be quite powerful,' Skullius thought.

The screw shaped tower at the centre of this Academy gave off a heavy, domineering presence, as if it was alive. The closer one went towards it, the more they would feel stifled and short of breath.

At leas that was the case for Skullius.

The mana became heavy.

Too heavy.

It bore down on him and made even the air too thick to breathe!

He had use [Greater Mana Crafter] to prevent himself from taking up a hunched posture as he walked.

"Wow! You have decent mana manipulation skills sir! I was prepared to lend you my attire but you seem to be managing quite well. I'm sure you weren't told this but you need a custom robe to move around without trouble within the Academy. Luckily for you, we won't be following the path to the Wormworld Spiral," the Mage who was leading Skullius said with a polite smile.

'Decent, huh? I see,' Skullius thought with sweat dripping from his brow.

He nodded to the young Mage and followed, sensing the richly thick mana clinging to everything within this Academy; the well mowed lawns, the aligned bushes and thick trees within that Skullius could only assume were part of parks or private reading spaces within the large quadrants.

The heavy mana from the large tower, the Wormworld Spiral nourished everything above the bountiful mana already present.

All things considered this was the perfect place to train as a Mage or Energy Former in general.

Young and old Mages all around gave Skullius curious looks as he and his escort passed.

It was uncomfortable really.

With every look, the Hybrid Luman's pride was crushed quite a bit.

The young Mage's words gained more power in his mind the more he got strange gazes that made him feel out of place. It was almost like he was some idiot entering an intellectual haven for the privileged!

He was talented too, dammit!

Soon, Skullius had arrived at his destination.

A tall tower with a girth of roughly 130 square meters and a height of 33 meters. The material it was made of was like bricks coated with black liquid diamond, giving it an absolutely gorgeous visage. There was a cone shaped roof above with jagged black tiles adding a dash of intimidating flair to the structure.

This was an Arch-Mage's tower.

At least one that was provided by the Academy.

"I'm guessing you want to see Arch-Mage Ryte or perhaps someone he works with right? You can enter and look for him. Don't be scared," the young Mage instructed politely.

'I'm not scared, dammit!' Skullius thought inwardly while nodding with an appreciative smile on the outside.

To show that he wasn't perturbed by the entire vibe of the Academy so far â€" which he was â€" he pushed open the door to the circular tower as his escort walked away.

On entering, he was met with a narrow winding corridor adorned with a red carpet on its floor. To the right, a circling staircase could be seen where the carpet dropped down from as it went its way towards the arc to Skullius' left.

'Uh, which way do I go?' Skullius thought with a confused long breath, his senses trying their best to navigate the upper floors.

Suddenly, the carpet he stood on started to tumble and shift and what looked like a large wrinkle... no, a mouth appeared from it!

...!

The wrinkled curled a bit before opening up, a voice leaking from it clearly.

"Good morning! Oh. You're not a student? How may I help you?"

A feminine voice that was so squeaky it was nearly impossible to hear what it was saying sounded.

Skullius hid his puzzlement over where, how and why. He took out the parchment to speed things up instead.

"I'm here for Arch-Mage Ryte. Can I see him? I have a letter from the Bryne Family," Skullius said.

"THEURIEN?! IS IT THEURIEN?!" a mighty voice burst from the carpet out of the blue, its gusto and nature vastly different from the one Skullius had heard before!

"HAS THEURIEN FINALLY WOKEN UP?! TELL ME, YOU DAWDLING FOOL! DON'T JUST STAND THERE LIKE A NITROS-INFUSED POSSY FLOWER WAITING FOR STUGGO ROOT ESSENCE TO FERTILISE IT IN THE OFFERNGRAL OSSICRIS!"

Skullius found himself nailed to the wall by the blast of sounds he couldn't comprehend!

What the hell?!

The what flower?!