Wild Era 4, Ch 3: Archmage's Sanctum

The academy site was about twenty miles to the south of Highmist and a bit to the east, set on a hill overlooking a bend of the Sirenflow River and the neighboring forest.

It was close enough to be associated with the city, but far enough that it was troublesome for students and anyone at the Basic Evolution to cross quickly.

For anyone at the First Evolution or higher, it wasn’t difficult. If they couldn’t teleport, they could just walk or jog over in short order. 

Kelin planned to put in a short-range teleportation portal linking it to the guild hall eventually, but for now it was a pleasant walk.

When he arrived, he spent some time studying the area from a distance, analyzing the layout and the current construction. 

A smile creased his features as he saw that quite a few buildings were already in place, particularly in the center, as well as most of the defensive wall that created an outer ring.

Dotted along the wall were towers every two hundred feet, which would eventually be points both for offensive and defensive spell formations, as well as observation posts.

It was both an academy and a fortress.

Inside the walls, there were areas for winding gardens and open orchards that already showed newly planted saplings, numerous areas for meditation and pleasant walks, carved fountains, and other gathering areas, including pavilions and ponds.

Many of the areas were only partially complete, but it wouldn’t take much longer until they were finished and ready to welcome students.

With the help of mana and crafting abilities, construction was swift.

The sight of the buildings rising up brought a flash of hot pain to his eyes, which he brushed away with the back of his hand.

When he designed this academy, he had modeled it after the Irian Mage’s College, his ancient home. It was over two miles across, with plenty of space for thousands of students and workshops.

The old college had been even larger, but the layout of the core buildings here was the same and the fountains, walks, and green areas were a match for his memories.

He’d added a few new things that fit his preferences, additions he’d always wanted his old college to have, like more meditation gardens and better defensive walls, but the core was the same.

This was enough space for now, but there was room to expand if needed.

Despite the proximity to the city, the location was a wild area with four dungeons nearby that ranged from Levels 40 to 160. 

For now, the guards were keeping an eye on things and clearing the dungeons as needed, but that would be the students’ job eventually, a way for them to earn experience and merit points, which they could then use to buy gear or other items.

In the future, he planned to expand the dungeons with the help of the Path and make sure they could support the demand.

He turned his attention farther to the south, where the forest and the bend of the river reached to the horizon. 

A couple of hundred miles off in that direction, there was the Midmyst Delta where the Sirenflow and Shieldrun Rivers met, and then the city of Midmyst, one of the most southern city-states of Celadon. 

Past that, the Celadon River marked the southern boundary of the kingdom, dividing it from the Selis Plains and the Kingdom of Baralis.

To the east, the Shieldrun Forest stretched for three hundred miles until it touched the edge of the desert and the border with the Empire of Sarathia.

Highmist was in the central part of Celadon and slightly to the south, which gave it a useful location.

Now, his academy would be the same.

He walked down the hill and through the academy grounds, nodding as he passed a few guards who were watching over things. 

They saluted, but stayed at their posts. They all recognized him, thanks to their captains making sure of it.

There were also some masons and other craftsmen hard at work on the buildings and grounds, and Kelin waved at them. 

Quick brushes of mana and surprised whispers followed as some of them analyzed him. It didn’t take them long to realize who he was, but most went back to their work, taking their cue from the guards.

Since the academy didn’t have any wards yet, the guards were handling wandering monsters. There were always a few around, some from dungeons and others born naturally from ambient mana, so they had to keep a sharp watch.

A few scarred and burnt areas outside the walls marked where ones had already been dealt with, but there were always some guards at the First Evolution present, and so far that was enough to keep things under control.

Kelin took a roundabout path through the academy, checking on the walls and key buildings as he built up a mental plan for what needed to happen.

The most important thing at the moment was to establish the wards and the basic defenses, which would make sure the walls actually did something to stop monsters, and then he could get started on the more complex parts.

There were already a dozen class halls completed, as well as some residence buildings, a dining hall, a combat hall, several training yards, and more, but the most important place was the building at the center.

The academy library.

It held pride of place at the center of everything, surrounded by a sprawling lawn that would one day be filled with curving meditation paths. 

It was one of the first buildings he’d ordered to be constructed and it was done except for some finishing touches and enchantments.

It was a towering structure that rose two hundred feet and more into the air and it was as large as a palace. Stone arches swept upward, supporting noble walls and elegant towers, all of them built of carved stone by mana-infused skills.

The stone was already harder than steel, and after it was enchanted, it would be able to endure for ages.

The front of the library was dominated by two massive arched doors that opened outward, each with a smaller door inset at the base at a more comfortable human height.

The main building was over a thousand feet long and wings extended on either side for five hundred feet. With the gardens around it, it took up a full ten percent of the academy’s footprint.

From above, it looked like a bird in flight.

This was where all the spellbooks, artifacts, potions, student records, and more would be kept. It was designed to have the strongest defense and to be the fallback point in case the rest of the academy was besieged and destroyed.

It was also where he planned to build his sanctum.

If he had been limited to standard academy designs, there would have been something like a chancellor’s house next to the library, or perhaps a workshop on the upper floors, while the rest of the building would have been filled with offices and library halls, as well as all the other necessities of life.

When it came to spatial magic, however, there was no need to limit himself.

The ward cores he’d purchased were capable of creating independent spaces inside the area they defended, allowing for almost unlimited storage, and he was going to take full advantage of it.

His sanctum would be a second dimension that was as large as the academy itself, a private domain of meditation gardens and workshops hidden away from sight.

He would fill that area with life and magic and make it the true core of the academy.

The Archmage’s Sanctum.

It would be the greatest concentration of mana in the academy and, if needed, the last fallback point for the defenses, a place that could tear itself away and rip apart space and time to carry away all of the students and the true heart of the academy.

Irian’s destruction would not happen here.

It would take time to build all of that and achieve his vision, but thanks to his connections in the guild and the wealth he’d already spent, it wouldn’t be that long.

His sanctum was going to be the keystone of the academy wards, so the defensive enchantments had to start there.

It was also where he planned to anchor elemental gates, set up mana-gathering formations, establish medicinal herb gardens, and more.

The library would also have nearly endless spatial divisions inside to create even more areas, so that walking through a doorway could lead to a private hall.

There would be no limit to the number of places where students could gather, individual workshops and residences for every faculty member, and more.

He would include a Chancellor’s Office and a teaching hall where he could meet students and give lectures, and the library would also have an auditorium attached for significant events, but that would be just the tip of the iceberg.

He pulled out one of the ward cores, which looked like a silver-blue sphere the size of his hand. It was softly glowing with the mana and spatial energy that felt like an endless ocean.

These were the highest-grade general ward cores the guild had to offer.

He’d only been able to purchase them due to his connections and his status as a Knight of the Path.

Normally, they were reserved for guild offices like the one in Highmist, where they offered nearly absolute protection from anything at the Fourth Evolution and below. 

There were more powerful ones, but those were all custom work, things that pertained to specific Laws and specialized needs.

This type was designed to protect a guild hall from destruction in the wild, whether it was from elemental storms, monsters, or invasion.

They were the first things put down to protect an area and the last things to be destroyed, which would only happen in case of an overwhelming cataclysm.

These ward cores and the spatial crystals to adjust them were all he needed to get started.

Normally, they had to be placed by an enchanter at the Fourth Evolution who could command spatial energy, which was where the real cost of the installation came from, but he was going to handle that himself.

He studied the core for a moment, familiarizing himself with a few minor changes to the basic design since the last time he’d used one.

Then he walked up to the library doors, where he levitated into the air until he could see the entire academy and the outlying lands below.

Spell structures and runeforms flashed through his mind, overlaying the area as he examined the construction and compared it to the plan he’d created.

High-grade spatial crystals flew out of his storage and began to float around his shoulders, each of them shining brightly as they connected to his will.

Streams of spatial energy flowed out of the crystals and into the ward core as he made a few adjustments. 

Then he drew on the spatial crystals more heavily and rippling lines of force flew out of them, creating distortions in the sky.

Arcs of energy began to crackle around his hands, shining with a bright blue light that spoke of endless distances and shifting space. 

Each strand looked like it opened to another world, as if its interior were constantly receding into the distance to create a new horizon.

Without his old memories and his innate Spatial Affinity, he never would have been able to command this energy, and as it was, it was a struggle to contain it.

It usually required a Concept at the Fourth Evolution, as well as intrinsic changes to your order of life and innate aura in order to command spatial energy. 

Nevertheless, he managed. 

The echoes of the Laws he had helped, each of them like an extra muscle that forced the energy to respond to his will.

He gathered the energy between his hands and organized it, weaving it into the pattern he needed, and then pointed at the earth.

At his command, lines of force sank deep into the land, stretching across the entire foundation of the academy. 

The foundation of the academy glimmered as distortions appeared, like the land was receding behind a tide. Colors began to shift and merge, like the slowly swirling expanses of the stars. 

Kelin pointed upward and more lines of force shot outward into the sky, sinking into the space there the same way as they had the ground below.

He stood at the center, commanding the energy all around, as he sent additional anchors to sink into the world around him, each of them targeting a key node.

The spatial crystals around him crumbled to dust and were replaced by others, all of them shining brilliantly like starlight.

Slowly, a framework of spatial nodes began to appear, stretching between the anchors he’d set, with every one connected to the rest by shimmering threads.

Before long, there was an intricate web of spatial energy woven across the entire academy that created a sphere. It glimmered like a thousand flames, each of them rippling with strange depth.

This was the basic outline of the academy’s spatial footprint, as well as the design that the defensive enchantments would be woven into. 

It was supported by over a hundred nodes, but they were organized into twelve sections. 

Kelin spent a few minutes adjusting the spatial lines to make sure they were perfect and then he raised the ward core in his hand.

A tap of his finger sent it flying toward the first section, which happened to be the area occupied by the academy library.

The ward core shimmered with force and brilliant light as it fused into the nodes there, which suddenly became a thousand times denser and more vibrant. 

They had been temporary things, but now they took on a sense of permanence with a feeling that even if the world shifted, they would remain.

One by one, more ward cores appeared in Kelin’s hands and he sent them flying to different areas, one to each section.

As each one activated and locked into place, the spatial web there became more real and powerful.

He also felt the echo of the enchantment forming in his mind as command runes and authorization keys appeared, ones that naturally occurred as he activated the cores for the first time.

This was one of the main reasons he’d wanted to do this himself. If someone else had activated the cores, he wouldn’t have had the primary keys.

Now, he did.

He would have asked that they hand them over, and it was unlikely that they would have tampered with the wards or refused, but it wasn’t impossible.

It was always more reassuring to do things yourself if you could.

As soon as the last ward core was in place, the entire sky began to distort as a spatial barrier appeared. Waves of starlight and elemental energies swirled through it, pulled in from the Void itself and bent by the force of the spell.

It was beautiful, filling the sky with swirling power and illusions, like a mirage of the heavens had sprung into existence and was reflecting itself.

The barrier felt like nothing and everything, a silver line dividing truth from illusion, a reflection in a mirror that separated two worlds, where one side could never touch the other.

The people below had stopped their work and were staring up at the lines of starlight and space that rippled through the sky. Gasps of astonishment and wonder appeared as they pointed at different parts.

Kelin smiled slightly, but he didn’t have time to pay attention to them as he let the command keys for the wards fill his mind.

He organized them and then began to weave them into the intricate pattern of a spatial enchantment, the one he’d designed to protect this place.

Everything up to now was just the foundation., 

This was the true spell.

Swift lines and runes formed, swirling with the energy of the Laws he commanded, and slowly the enchantment took shape.

As he worked, the spatial barrier around the academy bent and warped, weaving itself into the same pattern. Runes and elemental essences swirled through it, changing like the aurora with every passing moment.

Before long, he was done.

It was a breathtaking enchantment spun from every energy and Law he commanded.

At the center of it, there was a single complex rune, the true command key to the academy, which was made purely of his aura and will. Without that key or a sub-key that descended from it, the wards wouldn’t respond to anyone.

He brought his hands together and a flash of blue and golden light rippled out from him like a shockwave, spreading the final changes throughout the spatial barrier.

Then the enchantment sank into the space and the academy below, weaving itself through the sky, land, and buildings.

The walls shimmered with spatial energy and began to glow softly, while runeforms appeared on the stones that made up the buildings. Lines of enchantment spread across the earth, weaving through the orchards and the meditation gardens.

At the center, the library was filled with light as spatial energy concentrated on it, pouring into the stone and weaving through every stone and tower that made it up.

Kelin felt it when the final line settled into place.

The enchantment resonated like a drum, echoing with deep, incredible force.

For a moment, the entire academy was covered in an intricate web of runes and power, shining with vibrant life.

It sang with force, outlining everything in existence.

Echoes of small explosions rang out from different places as foreign runes exploded, ones that were no longer allowed by the enchantment.

Most of them had been set there by the local nobles, who saw themselves as Kelin’s competitors, but there were a few from other organizations as well, including the city lord and the assassin’s guild that Kelin had tangled with a few times.

They’d all wanted to see what he was doing and to either take a part of it or to find a way to control it. 

A flicker of amusement made his lips twitch.

They wouldn’t have much luck with that.

The wards would prevent any similar scrying spells from being set up again, and he hoped the spies who’d been looking through those enchantments had been there until the end. 

They would have seen quite a sight.

They would also have a blinding headache from the backlash when their spells were destroyed.

There was a new presence in his mind of the wards and a miniature model of the entire academy. It was an exact copy of the structure and the people in it, as well as all native and foreign spells and other energies.

The ward cores were monitoring everything now. There wouldn’t be another chance for spies to set up scrying spells.

As soon as they tried, they would explode in their faces.

It might be a fun way to catch them.

He scanned across everything in an instant, checking on the academy and the buildings. Everything was represented in his mind and he could get instant information about it.

After a few moments, he nodded.

At his command, every swirl of light and color in the wards swiftly faded away, leaving the sky clear and bright, without a trace of spatial energy visible.

The runes on the buildings disappeared, returning everything to the way it had looked before. The only difference was that there was a subtle force in the air now, if you knew where to look.

Kelin smiled as he looked down at the result.

Then he walked down through the air and to the gates of the academy library, where he disappeared between one step and the next.

The wards on the outside were stable and would integrate themselves into the construction as it was finished.

That meant it was time to step up his sanctum.

When he appeared on the other side of the wards, an expanse of grassland and high clouds filled his eyes. In the distance, the river and the forest stretched away to the horizon.

It was an exact replica of the outside world, but the only building here was the massive academy library.

It was an exact copy of the one outside, but its walls sparkled with concentrated mana.

Thanks to the wards and the energy-gathering formations he’d set up outside, streams of elemental essence and mana were everywhere, swirling as they formed visible streams of energy in the air.

Trees and grasses were glowing as the mana infused them, and thanks to that, they would slowly change into more powerful forms.

Kelin let out a breath as he looked around, a bigger smile appearing.

It was a pleasant place and from the top of the library towers, he would have a good view of everything nearby. It would only take a flick of his will to see the outside instead of this private abode.

It was a good start to a personal sanctum.

Now it was time to get his workshop set up, as well as some gardens with fruits and herbs that had once flourished on his home world.

After that, he’d work on a teleportation platform that led to the guild. Once it was ready, there would be no need to rent a crafting hall there any more. Whenever he finished a dungeon or wanted to rest, he could come back here instead.

Golden flames surrounded him as he pulled open the doors of the library and walked inside, his feet echoing with every step.