The Empire Capital.
This city was entirely different from the one where Glory Kael Magic Academy stood.
If the latter was a tranquil city of magical scholarship, then this was the true heart of the Empire.
Its streets were broad and straight, paved with neatly laid bluestone slabs. The buildings lining them were mostly built from pale granite, their walls carved with intricate reliefs depicting major events in the Empire's history.
Arches, domes, and colonnades-the architectural legacy of the old Empire could be seen everywhere.
Griffin-mounted patrols occasionally swept through the skies above the city, casting fleeting shadows.
Just east of the city center, a towering magic tower stood majestically, piercing the clouds.
Built from pure white magical stone, its surface flowed with pale blue channels of magic power that gleamed in the sunlight.
This was the magic tower built specifically for the Hundred-Academy Exchange Meeting. Its floors housed living quarters, academic areas, discussion areas, laboratories, and more, making it a crowning achievement of modern construction.
At that moment, the spacious square in front of the magic tower buzzed with voices.
Teachers and students from more than a hundred magic academies across the continent were arriving one after another. Flags fluttered throughout the square, and uniforms of every color mingled into a vibrant tapestry.
Some carried luggage, some organized their groups, some searched for the registration desk, and others exchanged greetings with friends they had not seen in ages. Their voices blended together, filling the air with a lively, bustling atmosphere.
Beside a stone pillar on the eastern side of the square, two girls embraced warmly.
"Long time no see! You're looking pretty well!"
The first to speak was a girl with a brown ponytail named Kaira. She wore a dark green academy uniform, and the badge on her chest