The wagons rolled to a smooth halt just in front of the towering gates.

The door hissed open with a soft pneumatic sound.

"Students, disembark in an orderly fashion," a voice crackled through the speaker system overhead.

Inside Wagon Three, chairs creaked as students stirred, gathering their bags and stepping out into the light. Aston stood up, stretching his legs before slinging his bag over one shoulder. Mirage flew down gracefully while Gray yawned wide before perching onto Aston's other shoulder.

The moment he stepped outside, the scale of Halcyon Reach City truly hit him.

The gates themselves were towering behemoths, etched with silver veins and reinforced with embedded shimmering stones that pulsed with faint luminescence. Overhead, scout-type spirit beasts swept through the sky in rhythmic formations. Beyond the entrance, wide avenues stretched deep into the city, flanked by spire-like towers, elevated walkways, and soaring crystal trams.

"Damn…" someone muttered near Aston. "This place makes Shale City look like a backyard."

Seven figures stood just ahead, each clad in differently colored uniforms representing one of the academy's divisions. They waited beside a large banner fluttering in the wind, with the academy's logo: an upward pointing crest crowned by a rising sun, and the words: Dawn Crest Academy: Rise Above the Rest.

One of them, a stern-faced woman in purple robes, stepped forward. Her voice rang clear through an amplification crystal floating beside her.

"Welcome first-years. You now stand within Halcyon Reach City, cradle of knowledge and frontier of advancement. This is the home of Dawn Crest Academy. From this moment onward, you are no longer citizens of your hometowns, but aspirants under our banner."

The instructors spread out evenly before the gathered students, each emanating a powerful spiritual presence that made the air hum.

"Form up and follow. Your journey continues on foot. Let the city's heart remind you of your ambition."

As the students made their way through the gates of Halcyon Reach and began the long walk up the main avenue towards the academy, chatter buzzed from all directions.

"Do you see that tower from afar? It literally disappears into the clouds! What kind of power runs through that thing?"

"Don't you know? That's the academy's landmark, the Spire of Dawn."

"Still… that floating campus? Which division is that? Wait, never mind—gone. Replaced by fumes now. Did that really change since the brochure?"

"I saw someone from the Spirit Engineering Division with a flying construct. Like actually airborne. Can we make that in the first year?"

"I heard that the Trade and Commerce Division had a different final trial than us. Isn't that unfair?"

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Unfair? Can they even fight? I guess the academy has already considered this during the exams."

The group of first-years murmured among themselves as they began to move. Aston kept pace easily, eyes flickering across the unfamiliar scenery. The streets were cleaner, broader, and humming with spirit tech vehicles gliding silently past. Countless merchant stalls, bakeries, bookstores, and spirit gear workshops line the avenues. Spirit beasts with collars and badges roamed alongside humans, some acting as couriers, others clearly as companions or guards.

He passed a group of children laughing while chasing a light wisp. A trio of performers on the corner were juggling tiny insects that were ablaze, their trails painting shapes midair.

Aston found himself comparing everything to Shale City. There, even the merchant quarters felt cramped, and the air often reeked of coal or dried herbs. Here, the city breathed like a living organism.

"Thirty-minute walk, they said," someone groaned behind him. "Guess they meant spirit training starts now."

"Get used to it. The academy grounds stretch wider than some cities."

At last, after winding up a gradual incline and crossing a marble bridge suspended over a narrow ravine, the gates of the academy came into view.

And they were… breathtaking.

Two arched towers, carved from a radiant white alloy that shimmered like pearls under the afternoon sun, stood in front of them. In between stretched a grand gate engraved with runes and glyphs, each representing one of the seven divisions of the academy. The moment they approached, the runes flared to life, reacting to the presence of the students.

The lead instructor raised her hand.

"Welcome," she said. "You've arrived. This is Dawn Crest Academy."

Behind the gates, the view expanded like an unfolding scroll.

The academy grounds spanned a massive basin-shaped valley with terraced levels and interconnected bridges. Each of the seven divisions was housed in its own dedicated campus, radiating outward from a central monumental tower like spokes of a great wheel.

The Spirit Combat Division campus was a fortress of iron and flame, with sparring arenas suspended in midair and training fields that trembled with latent energy.

The Healing and Support Division campus stood beneath cascading waterfalls and green domes, with visible healing wards and botanical towers.

The Scouting Arts Division, Aston's home, was perched along the valley's edge, hugging the cliffs, its campus woven with rope bridges, observation towers, and camouflaged domes.

The Spirit Engineering Division rose in tiers of reinforced steel, steam vents, and kinetic lifts, with half-built constructs walking through its yards.

The Enchantment Arts Division shimmered with arcane arrays, its entire campus built atop a floating platform that rotated slowly under layered enchantments.

The Spirit Alchemy Division sprawled across vast plains dotted with enclosures, greenhouses, and glass laboratories, with the domed vault at the center.

Finally, the Trade and Commerce Division campus is set atop polished terraces of stone and bronze, its multi-level market zones buzzed with stimulated auctions, economic training simulations, and spirit-bound contracts drifting midair, while at the center of it lies a building reminiscent of ancient Greek structures.

Connecting all of them was the central tower, the Spire of Dawn. It rose higher than anything Aston had ever seen, its top obscured by drifting clouds. Glowing lines of energy spiraled around its exterior like veins of concentrated light.

Aston could not help but stare.

This wasn't just a school. It was a city built for greatness.

I'll be living here for the next four years of my life. Let's make that count.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.