Bellatrium of Alchemy Academy
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March 2, Royal Era 813.
The dawn of Kalendria, a northern city where spring has not yet bloomed, was still cold.
Even before dawn, the footsteps filling the streets all pointed in the same direction. The shouts of carters pulling wagons mingled with the clanking of armor from knight escorts, and the breath of nervous applicants spread white through the early spring mist.
At the northern edge of Kalendria, as the massive stone outer wall, seemingly carved into the cliff, slowly revealed itself, the murmurs of the crowd subsided in an instant.
Bellatrium.
The highest academy of alchemy and elemental magic. This academy, said to have existed even before the kingdom was founded, had an outer wall that was itself a living magic circle. Blue patterns flowing along the wall flickered like a pulse in the dawn light, and the vibration resonated faintly even in the ground beneath one's feet.
The grand plaza in front of the main gate was already crowded with people. Applicants gathered from all over the kingdom—tall northern half-elves with braided silver hair, dwarf artisans wiping sweat while carrying alchemy furnaces on their backs, humans of mercenary origin revealing forearms covered in tattoos, and beastfolk reading the scent of the wind with erect animal ears.
Their races, statuses, and ages were all different, but everyone's gaze was fixed on one place.
At the top of the outer wall, seven spires. Beams of light stretching from each spire intersected in the middle of the sky, drawing a massive magic circle. As that light slowly descended upon the grand plaza, sighs of admiration escaped from the crowd.
The alchemy lock of the massive main gate began to release. As the gate opened to both sides with a heavy resonance of mixed stone and metal, the interior of Bellatrium revealed itself to be a city in itself.
Thousands of alchemy lamps were lined up in neat rows, shining brightly, and aerial corridors connected the spires like spiderwebs.
People walking under that light. Those clenching trembling fists, those raising their chins as if acting nonchalant, those closing their eyes as if in prayer. Out of the three thousand applicants this year, only 300 will pass through this gate again as 'students'.
And now, the first gate of that selection was opening.
#Superpower
#Non-human Being
#Capable
#Royalty/Nobility
#Beastman
#Drama