Early morning!
The Main Academy.
Ian stood behind Kieran. Farther ahead was Simon, the Academy's deputy dean, though this was only his clone.
Even so, the reception showed how seriously they took the visit. Their battle with Crimson Eye was raging, and Simon's true body was still on the front lines.
"I wonder when they'll arrive!"
Ian pondered. The message said the Gray Tower Wizards would arrive this morning, but gave no exact time.
"They're here."
At Kieran's words, Ian looked up and saw a gray Airship slowly approaching.
The Airship looked ordinary enough, but there was an emblem at its center.
It was peculiar: an upward-pointing equilateral triangle within a regular hexagon, with a closed eye at its center.
"The Eye of Gray Tower."
Ian narrowed his eyes. He already knew it was the emblem of Gray Tower Wizard Academy.
He kept his gaze on the Airship, studying the seemingly ordinary vessel.
Perhaps it was not so ordinary after all.
Its exterior resembled a normal Airship, but the elemental propulsion streaming from its stern and certain details on its surface made it seem a class apart from the Airships of Elemental Mysteries.
A higher-ranked Academy surpassed a lower-ranked one in more than raw power.
Its foundations and craftsmanship were superior too.
Ian steadied his breathing and watched the Airship slowly land.
The hatch opened.
A Wizard stepped out. He was a Second Ring Wizard with graying hair, dressed in a gray Witch Robe bearing an Academy emblem on its chest.
But the emblem differed slightly. Inside the hexagon, four equal arcs extended outward from a central circle, each ending in a small star. Together, they formed a rotating four-pointed star.
"Radiance Branch Academy."
The name surfaced in Ian's mind. It was one of Gray Tower's branches for Elemental Wizards.