The Mechanical College of the Imperial Magic School stood in another valley ten kilometers north of the College of Life. Unlike the vast forest surrounding the College of Life, this valley—five kilometers long from north to south and several hundred meters wide from east to west—was like one enormous workshop.
A dozen or so floating platforms hung evenly in the air. Together, they spread out a Magic Array that formed the workshop's roof. It not only kept out the wind and rain, but also completely constrained the flow of magic throughout the valley.
Dozens of long corridors ran from east to west, connecting the mountains on either side and serving as the roof's crossbeams.
The mountains to the east and west averaged 200 meters in elevation. Inside the eastern mountains were rows of workshops and furnaces, while the western mountains housed dormitories, teaching buildings, and other school facilities.
From south to north, the ground was divided into materials storage, component warehouses, assembly workshops, and finished-goods storage. The northernmost kilometer was devoted to a colossal machine—the airship the college was trying to repair.
The highest peak in the eastern range was also the school's only building that rose above the roof: the Mechanical College Dean's Tower. From the corridor on its fortieth floor, one could see the entire valley and the college below.
On January 30, Landen was invited to this corridor for the first time. To secure an audience with Slem of the Imperial Capital, the Demigod Dwarf, he had installed a new Magic Furnace in each of the college's northern and southern mountains.
The Demigod Dwarf was no shorter than any Human Race Legend. With dark skin, he looked like a black Bear. He wore metal work clothes, with dozens of Magic Arrays arranged along the sleeves, and his