"Oh? So you have a connection with that Academy genius?" Moongrum cast a side-glance at the Tarnished. "I don't know where the second Glintstone Key is hidden, but I know a fair bit about Sellen. Consider it payment for helping me dispel the Queen's illusion."
"That works for me," the Tarnished nodded.
"You've likely heard her called the 'Graven Witch.' The Academy claims she was involved in the mass disappearance and murder of sorcerers. But the truth... as is often the case with those pedants, is far more convoluted."
"How so?"
"First, a disclaimer. I am not speaking as her advocate, nor out of spite for the Academy. I am merely stating what I know from a third-party perspective. After all, when this happened, the rift between the Royals and the Academy hadn't yet become an abyss," Moongrum explained.
"The Academy has never been a place of unity. When you gather a thousand scholars in one place, you get two outcomes: a golden age of discovery, or a paranoid web of infighting and jealousy. Raya Lucaria is firmly the latter. You've heard of the two Primeval Sorcerers, Azur and Lusat? Masters who peered into the abyss of the cosmos? They were the ones who founded the Primeval Current. And the Academy expelled them for it."
The Tarnished raised an eyebrow. "Expelled for being too good?"
"In a way. The ultimate goal of the Primeval Current is to transform the self into a star—becoming a 'Seed of the Stars.' The Academy leaders feared this truth. They preferred the safety of their books and their stagnant glintstones. They labeled the Primeval Current 'heresy' because it threatened their control."
"So the Academy is less a school of magic and more a school of 'Expulsion,'" the Tarnished remarked dryly.
"Hah! Precisely. They don't understand what they fear, so they cast it out. Take the Albinaurics, for example. The Academy created the Second Generation—those frog-like creatures you saw. But the First Generation? They were created with human-like minds and independent spirits. Because they had 'defects' in their legs and couldn't serve as effective biological weapons, the Academy discarded them. They are cruel masters of the 'Heterodox'."
"So, back to Sellen. What was her 'crime'?"
"Sellen is brilliant—perhaps the only one in her generation whose talent rivaled Queen Rennala's. But she is also a staunch follower of the Primeval Current. She didn't bother to hide her disdain for the Academy's cowardice. She was on the verge of opening her own conspectus—a school within a school. Imagine the panic of the conservative masters! They saw her as a threat to their authority."
Moongrum paused, his expression turning serious. "Now, did she actually hurt people? Sellen's personality is... difficult. She is incredibly devoted to those she trusts, but she is ruthless to those who cross her. In this age, that's hardly a crime. But the Academy framed her, using her radical research as a catalyst to brand her the 'Graven Witch.' They couldn't prove she made the Graven-Masses, but they didn't need proof to exile her."
"And now?"
"Now, she is hunted. Have you heard of the Witch-Hunter Jerren? He is a guest of the Carian Royals, a man of immense justice. He has taken it upon himself to track her down and finish what the Academy started. Sellen, being who she is, refuses to explain herself. She'd rather wear the mask of a villain than beg for mercy from fools. It's a mess of pride and half-truths."
"Thanks for the intel," the Tarnished said. "I'll be staying a bit longer. I still need to find that second key for a friend."
"A friend? You mean Thops?" Moongrum leaned against the wall.
"Yeah. He's a bit down on his luck."
"Thops... a good man. Hardworking, kind, but the Academy ridiculed him. They called his theories 'rubbish' because he didn't have the raw 'talent' for glintstone. It's a shame. Real magic should be about exploration, not just power."
The Tarnished smiled. "You Carians have a surprising amount of empathy for a bunch of knights."
"We serve a Queen who welcomed the outcast," Moongrum said, looking at the distant Rennala. "She gave a home to the Albinaurics when the world spat on them. We don't insult her name by being petty."
The Tarnished exited the Grand Library. The halls were silent, littered with the sorcerers Moongrum had cut down. He began his search for the key, eventually realizing that if it wasn't on the ground, it had to be above.
He scaled the rooftops, dodging a volley of arrows from Marionette Soldiers. With a growl, he shifted his arms into dragon claws, snapping the arrows mid-air before lunging forward to smash the mechanical dolls into the shingles.
As he looked down from a high rafter, he spotted a faint blue glow. "No way... talk about luck."
A Glintstone Key was perched precariously atop a massive chandelier hanging over the Church of the Cuckoo. Nearby lay a corpse. How did you even die up here? the Tarnished wondered.
He hopped onto the beams and used the Aspect of the Crucible: Tail to carefully sweep the key from the chandelier into his hand.
"The Crucible powers are handy. If only I could figure out how to sprout those wings the knights have." He had mastered the throat sac, the horns, and the tail, but the wings remained elusive.
With the second key in hand, he activated a Site of Grace. His "tour" of the Academy was officially over.
"Time to head back to the church. Thops is going to be thrilled."
•
First of all sorry for the late update, I've been so busy with job seeking lately.
Anyway, that's for today! I have translated around 80chs of this series, and among it was few extras and interlude. However I won't post those additional chapter here, at least until the main story end. But if you can't wait to read it, you can found more on my Patreon here—↓
patreon.com/EBBYRITH.
—feel free to visit it!↑