No one in Blackport City knew what had happened offshore.
Blackport City stood in the light, while the West fleet lurked in the darkness. The fleet had concealed its movements well. Thanks to the traitor within the city, it knew the waters off Blackport City and its defenses inside and out.
Blackport City, meanwhile, knew nothing about its unusual visitors.
What was happening at sea was too far removed from Leo. He had troubles of his own.
After returning to the Military Academy, he spent the night writing the report Instructor Willy had demanded.
A quill and parchment made an exceedingly unfriendly combination for writing.
The original Leo had not learned to write until he entered the Military Academy. His handwriting was hideous. Even after two years of study, it remained as crooked and shaky as a beginner's.
As Leo slowly wrote by candlelight, it was his first time forming the script of this world.
Still, he ought to thank the original Leo for having such terrible handwriting. As long as he wrote normally, his own writing would look every bit as bad.
Leo had planned to weigh every word, but soon discovered that the idea was pointless. He had barely learned any words in the written language. What words did he have to weigh?
In the end, it took him only two inches of parchment to recount the day's events. He had no choice but to keep the report simple and unadorned.
He had wanted to show off a little literary flair, but his ability had not permitted it.
Even after two years at the Military Academy, the son of a dockworker could hardly be expected to compose a beautiful sonnet.
He carefully cut the report from the large roll of parchment with a paper knife. Though it was only two inches long, he still tied it into a slender roll with twine, ready to hand it to Instructor Willy the next day.
Leo sat at the table, unsure what to do next.
On his first night in this world, sleep did not come easily.
Through the window, Leo looked out over the Military Academy and tried to familiarize himself with it as much as possible.
The cadets also called it the Academy Castle. The castle now loomed black in the night, with candlelight still burning in only a handful of rooms.
From Leo's dormitory, he could see the roofs of most of the castle's rooms.
Despite its name, the castle was closer to a manor. It was laid out as a hollow square, with four stories along the front, which faced south, and three stories on each of the other sides.
The Academy Castle had once been a private estate belonging to Count Leopold Cavendish of Blackport County. He later donated it to the duke, and it became the Military Academy of the duke's domain.
Count Leopold Cavendish was a nephew of Duke Blois Cavendish. The duke's decision to establish the Military Academy in Blackport County also reflected the count's standing.
The castle contained more than a hundred rooms. The larger ones had become classrooms, while the smaller ones served as offices and dormitories.
The courtyard outside the castle had once held flowering plants and shrubs trimmed into all manner of geometric shapes. It now served as the Academy's outdoor training ground.
Six-story towers stood at the castle's southeastern and southwestern corners. Leo's dormitory was on the top floor of the southeastern tower.
Its residents were Leo East, the son of a dockworker; Brad Baker, the son of a baker from XC District; and Kozmo Enwei, who had just gone missing.
Brad Baker had not allowed Kozmo's disappearance to affect him. He had always been carefree to the point of obliviousness.
One moment, he was assuring Leo that Kozmo would swim back on his own the next day. The next, he was snoring softly.
Leo turned away from the window, took out the notes he had made during his first two years of study, and prepared to adapt to life here as quickly as possible.
Leo's notes were truly beyond description. Not only were they sparse, but they were also scrawled so badly that he could decipher them only through guesswork.
---
The great holy Archmage Hilquins founded the modern schools of magic.
He had studied under the Superstring School, which held that the fundamental elements composing the world were not particles, nor wind, fire, earth, and water, but strings.
Some things in this world existed in material form, such as stones, river water, and people's bodies.
Others were formless yet undeniably real, such as the various invisible forces and people's souls.
There had to be a simple, fundamental, all-encompassing law capable of explaining the principles underlying the operation of the world.
That law was superstring theory.
Holy Archmage Hilquins believed that the world was composed of different strings.
Some were closed strings, loops that manifested the various properties of matter, such as shape and weight.
Others were open strings, linear strings with neither beginning nor end that manifested the properties of fields. People could not observe them, but they undeniably existed.
In human beings, the body was a collection of closed strings, while the soul was a collection of open strings.
Because open strings stretched without end, certain forces could cross limitless distances.
Even when those closest to one another were separated by countless mountains and thousands of miles, they could still share a special telepathic connection. At certain moments, the same wonderful emotion would arise in both of them.
Objects could resonate with one another and even become entangled across vast distances.
No string was motionless. Every string existed in a state of vibration.
Some fortunate souls would awaken a superstring. Their Soul Strings could vibrate at superfrequency, granting them abilities beyond those of ordinary people.
A string vibrating at superfrequency possessed an extremely broad range of frequencies. It could resonate with certain closed strings in the material world, allowing the soul to affect matter.
Some soul vibrations could alter the density of matter, awakening their owners as Cipher Mages.
Some could alter matter's state of motion, awakening their owners as Haste Mages.
Some could alter matter's shape, awakening their owners as Form Mages.
Some could make matter vibrate, awakening their owners as Wave Mages.
Still others could act directly upon other people's souls, awakening their owners as Soul Mages.
The soul is the string; magic is its sound.
The Soul String vibrates and touches the superstring.
This was the secret behind a Superstring Mage's spellcasting.
---
Leo rolled up the parchment notes again, his emotions in turmoil.
Since the open strings of the soul affected the material world of closed strings, a mage's abilities chiefly manifested as changes to matter.
Cipher Mages could alter the density of matter.
Haste Mages could control matter's state of motion.
Form Mages could alter matter's shape.
Wave Mages could create vibrations within matter.
Soul Mages were somewhat different. Their abilities acted directly upon other people's souls.
Leo would have to be extremely cautious whenever he encountered Soul Mages in the future. He could not allow them to detect the state of his soul.
Nothing, not the spire and its evening bell, nor the Intimidation Scroll, could ever be revealed to anyone.
Holy Archmage Hilquins had become the continent's only S-grade mage for good reason. He had already begun contemplating the fundamental laws governing this world.
According to Leo's shallow grasp of physics, not even Einstein in his previous world had managed to discover a unified field theory.
Just as Leo found himself overwhelmed with admiration for the heights the S-grade mage had attained, the shrill call of the assembly bugle suddenly rang out!
Brad Baker sprang out of bed. His eyes were not even open, but his hands were already fumbling with his clothes as he muttered mechanically, “Assembly... Emergency assembly!”
Leo hurriedly returned from his reverie, put away his pitiful notes, dressed, grabbed his weapons, and raced with Brad toward the assembly ground.
As Brad left the room, the rope tied around his arm whipped outward. It not only snuffed out the candle, but also pulled the dormitory door shut behind them.
A place shaped the people it raised. Like most mages in Blackport County, Brad Baker had awakened Form Magic. Those like Leo who awakened a Cipher spell were in the minority.
Brad had just used the Brown Snake Rope spell, the signature spell of an E-grade Form Mage, which allowed him to control rope as deftly as his own limbs.
The two rushed down the stairs and ran to the assembly ground, where they found all the Academy's instructors already standing on the raised platform.
Torches had been lit around the grounds, illuminating them as brightly as day.
Leo peered into the distance in confusion. Blackport City was quiet, with no sign that war had broken out.
The superintendent of the Military Academy, Major General Stuart Cavendish, stood on the platform. The Academy's instructors were gathered beside him, including Major Willy Belloc.
Major General Stuart was Count Leopold Cavendish's third son. Among the count's many children, he had been the first to awaken a talent for magic and had thereby become the count's primary heir.
This was the law of noble inheritance in this world: awakened mages had first claim to titles.
The awakening of a mage was a matter of chance. To ensure that the heirs to their titles would also be mages, nobles fathered large numbers of illegitimate children.
If there was not a single mage even among the illegitimate children, it could only mean that there were not enough of them.
The Military Academy had a three-year program and three cohorts of cadets in all. When Major General Stuart saw that every cadet had arrived, he spoke in a somber voice.
“An obituary!
“Guardian of the Audrian Continent!
“Supreme Commander of the Order War!
“Author of Order!
“Grand Academician of the Citadel Academy!
“The great holy Archmage Hilquins passed away suddenly at the Academy in the Citadel on October 8, Year 50 of the Order Calendar, three days ago!
"The Military Academy has only just received the news. We hereby pay tribute to the great holy Archmage!"
As Major General Stuart's final words fell, the bell in the Academy Castle began to toll.
Its deep peals resounded through the night sky. Everyone bowed their heads and observed a moment of silence for the holy Archmage.
Most felt a hollow emptiness inside.
Legends of the holy Archmage had accompanied them throughout their childhood and youth. They had never imagined that even someone as powerful as he could be defeated by the passing years.
Before long, bells began ringing throughout distant Blackport City as well.
Both at the Military Academy and within Blackport City, there was nothing but silence beneath the tolling bells.
---
Offshore, the twin-lion flags on the West Empire fleet's masts fluttered in the night wind.
They, too, heard the faint sound of bells from the land.
Officers and sailors of the West Empire stood densely packed across the decks.
Rear Admiral Helena removed her tricorne, revealing her long platinum-blond hair.
Though holy Archmage Hilquins had driven the people of the West from the continent fifty years ago, they now bared their heads and saluted in the direction of the distant Citadel.
Even as an opponent and an enemy, holy Archmage Hilquins had earned the respect of the people of the West.
The bells echoed on, mourning the passing of a great soul.
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