Yuliana tilted chin, a confident smile unfurling across lips. “Mr. Chance, perhaps you are unaware… In Celestia, scholarship is no mere ornament. The very act of reading, of testing reason against scripture, polishes the spirit so finely that heaven’s spiritual energy answers twice as readily. Every academy compound houses a training arena. We study, then we cultivate, and our strength should not be belittled.”

At that moment, the bronze bell in the academy boomed, its note deep enough to rattle the paving stones. From lecture halls on every side, students poured out in orderly lines and streamed toward the distant training arena.

Jared’s eyes sparked with genuine interest-or something very close to it, as turned to Yuliana. “Ms. Fiala, if that is so, would you allow me a glimpse of these students in action? I would be honored to see the marriage of book and blade.”

Yuliana hesitated just long enough for the breeze to tug at the purple tassel in hair, then inclined head with gracious composure. “Very well… Follow me, Mr. Chance…”

They stepped onto the wide stone terrace that ringed the training arena. Inside, several dozen students were showcasing their divine power.

One youth was wreathed in gold divine markings that spun from his skin and hardened the surrounding air into razor-thin blades. Another chanted under his breath until the field buckled, a tunnel of raw spatial energy whipping up a savage wind.

Each movement linked to the next with liquid precision, and where pairs trained together, their timing had the inevitability of rehearsed music, clearly the fruit of long, disciplined hours.