After months gone by,

The convoy crested the final hill, and Sparkshire Academy revealed itself like a contradiction given architectural form.

Opulence and austerity. Grandeur and brutality. Beauty designed to intimidate rather than comfort.

The main campus sprawled across elevated plateau—fifty buildings arranged with geometric precision, connected by covered walkways that formed defensive lattice, surrounded by walls that served dual purpose as fortification and a statement of institutional permanence.

This isn't just school, Bright recognized immediately, his spatial foresight cataloging defensive positions automatically. This is a fortress. A Command center. A Symbol of the Republic military power condensed into an educational institution.

The architecture radiated wealth in ways that made Vester's infrastructure look like improvised survival.

Marble facades imported from quarries Bright had never heard of. Crystalline windows that caught dawn light and transformed it into prismatic displays. Lamp posts arranged not just for illumination but for aesthetic impact—showing that the Academy had resources to prioritize beauty alongside functionality.

They're making a statement, Bright understood. Showing that the Republic can afford the extravagance. That military power generates wealth enough to build monuments.

But beneath the opulence, harsh reality asserted itself.

The walls were reinforced with soul-force technology that made them nearly impenetrable. The walkways provided covered movement between buildings—tactical consideration disguised as architectural flourish. The training grounds visible in the distance showed scorch marks, impact craters, evidence of combat practice that pushed students beyond safe limits.

Beautiful prison, Bright thought. A Gilded cage that transforms children into weapons.

The convoy's other passengers—mostly outpost recruits like Bright's group—pressed against windows with expressions ranging from awe to intimidation to carefully maintained composure.

Duncan's eyes were wide despite attempts at control. "That's… I didn't expect…"

"Excess," Mara finished quietly. "They're showing us what power looks like. What we're supposed to aspire to. What the Republic can provide if we serve effectively."

"It's working," Ellarine observed, her noble training providing a framework for understanding the political theater even as she struggled with her own reaction. "I knew the Academy was well-funded, but this is—" She paused. "—this is a statement. This is an institutional declaration that the military excellence deserves such luxury."

Silas existed in background as usual, his lack of input in the conversation making him forgettable even to squadmates, but Bright caught his murmured comment: "Wolves get fed well. Sheep get comfortable pens before slaughter. Wonder which category we're in."

Both, probably, Bright thought. Depending on how we perform. How we develop. Whether we become assets worth investing in or failures to be discarded.

The convoy entered through the main gates—massive structures reinforced with soul-force matrices, guarded by soldiers whose combat cores radiated Initiate and Adept-level power.

Even the guards are exceptional, Bright recognized. Even the lowest-tier security personnel would be elite fighters at most outposts.

Inside the gates, the campus revealed additional details.

Manicured grounds where grass grew in patterns suggesting deliberate cultivation rather than natural growth. Sculpture gardens featuring artistic representations of historical experts—heroes whose achievements had earned permanent commemoration. Training facilities that looked more like palatial complexes than utilitarian structures.

This is what Central looks like, Bright realized. This is the heart of Republic power. Where resources concentrate. Where wealth accumulates. Where the distance between the outposts and the capital becomes viscerally apparent.

He kept his expression neutral,bland and unreactive.

Because showing awe was weakness. Displaying intimidation was vulnerability. Revealing that this opulence overwhelmed his outpost-conditioned expectations was exactly what the Academy wanted—was part of the psychological sorting that began before the formal training even started.

They're testing us already, Bright understood. Watching who maintains composure versus who gets swept up in grandeur. Who treats this as a casual environment versus who sees it as reward for service.

I won't give them an easy read. Won't show how much this affects me. Won't reveal that part of me wants to run back to Vester's honest brutality rather than face Central's beautiful corruption.

His face remained carefully blank as the convoy proceeded toward the receiving area where new candidates would be processed, assigned quarters, introduced to the institutional hierarchy that would define their existence for the foreseeable future.

Behind that blank expression, calculations ran at maximum intensity.

Adapt. Observe. Survive the social combat that Vester taught me to recognize. Don't let opulence distract from underlying reality—this is still a predator environment. Just prettier than expected.

-----

The convoy had made multiple stops during its months-long journey from Vester to Central—dropping off passengers, collecting new candidates, transforming from a single-outpost transport into a mobile collection of Republic's selected youth.

Lieutenant Estovia Armand had departed three weeks prior, her injuries fully healed through combination of natural recovery and healing serums applied during transport.

The stop had been near House Armand territory—"near" being a relative term meaning within fifty kilometers, which counted as adjacent by Republic geographical standards.

Bright had watched her departure with mixed feelings.

She survived, he thought. Carried her evidence to safety. Escaped Vaelith's assassination attempts. That's victory, technically.

But the evidence she'd gathered—documentation of House Crownhold's corruption, proof of supply diversions and political maneuvering—felt increasingly irrelevant the farther they traveled from Vester.

What matters in Central? Bright wondered. What does a local outpost corruption mean when you're surrounded by institutional power that makes even the adept look like amateur?

Captain Selene had spoken with Estovia before her departure—a conversation Bright had been close enough to overhear despite not being invited to participate.

"Your patriotism is admirable," Selene had said, her tone suggesting the opposite. "Misplaced, but admirable. You actually believe presenting evidence will change things. That documentation will force accountability. That the system wants to be corrected."

"The Republic is supposed to serve its people," Estovia had replied, her conviction still intact despite everything. "Corruption undermines that service. Evidence demands response."

"The Republic is corruption," Selene corrected flatly. "Not corrupted—is corruption. The entire structure is a festering wound, and every attempted medicine serves a dual purpose as poison to a different organ. You think you're fighting the cancer. You're actually fighting the biology. Fighting the fundamental nature of power itself."

"That's cynical—"

"That's accurate," Selene interrupted. "I've worked for noble houses across the Republic territory. I've seen how power actually operates versus how it pretends to operate. Your evidence will get filed. Reviewed. Acknowledged. Then buried under political considerations that dwarf whatever local corruption you've documented. House Crownhold will defend itself. Other houses will leverage the scandal for an advantage. And you—" She paused. "—you'll be labeled a troublemaker. Someone who doesn't understand how things work. Someone who needs to be managed rather than empowered."

Estovia had no response to that. Because some part of her recognized the truth even as her idealism rebelled.

"My advice?" Selene had offered. "Take your evidence. Present it to whoever you think will care. Then accept that nothing substantive will change. Move on. Find different battles that actually matter rather than tilting at institutional windmills."

"I can't just accept corruption—"

"You can't fix corruption," Selene corrected. "Not this structural corruption. Not the kind that's woven into power itself. So either waste your life fighting unwinnable battles, or recognize the limitations and work within system rather than against it. I know that's what I do."

Estovia had departed with her evidence and her convictions, heading toward House Armand territory and whatever reception awaited.

Bright suspected Selene was right. Suspected that months from now, they'd hear nothing had changed. That investigations had occurred and determined insufficient evidence for prosecution. That political considerations had superseded legal ones.

But Estovia tried, Bright thought. That counts for something. Even if it accomplishes nothing.

-----

Rhys on the other hand had departed separately—collected by a personal escort sent by his father, traveling in a private transport that made House Aurin's mercenary convoy look utilitarian by comparison.

The young noble had surprised everyone by returning Estovia's evidence before departure.

"Keep it," he'd told her quietly, away from observers who might report to his father. "Use it. Try to make difference. Even if—" He paused. "—even if it probably won't work."

"Why?" Estovia had asked. "Why give it back? You could leverage this information. Trade it for an advantage."

"Because you actually care," Rhys had replied. "Actually believe in your Republic ideals rather than just using them as justification for self-interest. That's… rare. Worth supporting. Even if supporting it costs me political capital."

It had been unexpectedly principled for someone trained in noble house politics.

*Maybe he's different*, Bright had thought, observing the exchange. Maybe Clear Light's Eve had changed him. Showed him that power without principles produces madmen in power. Produces corruption that kills hundreds.

Or maybe he's just bullshitting, few years or months back at his house and he'll probably rip the mask off, and actually go for what he really wants.

Time would tell.

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