’I wonder what’s in that Academy. Why were the Jamani trying so hard to get inside?’
Jason’s mind travelled back to his conversation with Jaen in front of the Northern Solstice Alliance Academy, and Jason wondered what Jaen was trying so hard to preserve inside there. The fact that Jaen had refused to even tell Jason what was in there meant that it had to be something extremely important. Jason didn’t think it would be anything dangerous, because if that were the case, then there was no way Jaen would’ve been nominated to be one of the Overlord candidates, but Jason was sure that it was something important enough to warrant locking the entire Academy just to prevent the mercenaries from taking a look at it!
Jason’s subordinates were still watching the Academy, and there were no signs of movement around it for now, but Jason frowned slightly when he saw the Academy door open through his [Eye of the King], and someone walked out into the courtyard. It was Headmaster Jaen, and he stood with his hands behind his back before he called out in a calm voice.
"Lord Jason, are you there?"
[King’s Substitute]!
Jason immediately vanished from his bedroom, and he reappeared in the courtyard, standing a few feet away from Jaen. The cold night breeze blew past him softly, and he took in a deep breath and released it calmly.
The Academy building looked even grander at night than it did during the day. Jason looked up at the magnificent building looming over him for a moment before he finally looked at Jaen with a curious gaze.
"Did you finally decide to tell me what’s really going on here, Jaen?"
Jason spoke in a calm tone, and Jaen bowed his head to Jason before he spoke up.
"I apologise for not giving you an answer earlier in the day. I couldn’t say anything about the Academy business without first discussing it with the headmasters of the other Alliance Academies around the Domain. This is not my secret alone to tell."
"Is that so? Well, now that you’ve spoken with them, can you finally give me an answer?"
"Yes, we decided that you are trustworthy enough to know what we have been working on. If you’ll follow me."
Jaen turned and began walking towards the academy, and Jason put his hands in his jacket pocket and followed behind him calmly. The magical shield surrounding the Academy shimmered as Jaen passed through, and Jaen let out a burst of mana that made the shield ripple so that Jason could pass through as well. Once they were inside, Jaen led Jason through the door and into the Academy.
The inside was somehow even grander than the outside! The Academy looked like something straight out of a gothic fantasy with dim halls that echoed with each step and a ceiling that stretched impossibly high! The area Jason was in now was a massive, wide-open space with a statue of a hooded man standing in the middle. Jason didn’t recognize who the statue was for, but Jason guessed it had to be someone important to the Academy.
[The Statue is a homage to the great Academic Researcher Jucal Varga]
The system suddenly sent Jason this message, and Jason couldn’t hide his amused huff when he read that name! Of course it’s Jucal Varga! There wasn’t a single research-based topic in the Primordial Expanse where that man’s name didn’t come up, so if anyone deserved a statue, it was definitely him!
Jaen turned around curiously while wondering what was so funny to Jaosn, and Jaosn just told him to ignore it as the two men continued walking.
There were a few mages wearing long research robes walking quickly across the grounds, and up above on the balconies, there were even more research mages moving around with either clipboards, magic stones, or massive trolleys filled with strange biological matter.
As they walked, Jaen spoke up calmly.
"For the past two centuries, researchers of the Northern Solstice Alliance Academy have pushed the boundaries of science to try and discover new ways to gain power. I’m sure you are already aware, but the sixth domain is severely lacking in terms of power and education when compared to many of the other domains."
Jaen looked at Jason curiously, and Jason hummed in agreement. Jason already knew that they were lacking, and Jason knew that Earth was lacking even more compared to the others. That was the reason why Jason was pushing to establish an academy that would help them grow stronger. They needed to figure out a way to improve their strength if they were going to stand up to the other worlds.
Jaen nodded when he heard Jason’s agreement, and he continued.
"The Northern Alliance Academy is a collection of fifteen Academies across fifteen worlds in the Sixth Domain, and we work primarily on the research and development of magic power."
"You experiment on people?"
"That is correct. But do not worry, we make sure to keep our experiments within the borders of morality. We teach young mages with potential how to go beyond their mortal limits, and we try to find ways to boost the magic power of the people in our worlds. But recently, we came upon a discovery that changed everything."
As they walked, none of the researchers in the academy stopped to greet Jason or Jaen, and it was obvious that they cared more about their research than showing any form of respect. Jason was glad for that since he wasn’t really interested in people staring, and Jason simply followed behind Jaen as they made their way to a room on the opposite side of the hall.
Inside this room, there were four guards standing around a circular platform. The guards held long staffs that had jewels embedded on their tips, and from what Jason could feel, they were all in the upper levels of TITAN Rank II. Jaen said something to them before he motioned for Jason to come up to the platform with him. The platform had a large rune embedded on it, and just from a glance, Jason immediately knew that this was a transportation rune! The rune glowed with a blue light once Jason and Jaen stepped on it, and they were suddenly transported to a long hallway that was lit up by white magic crystals embedded in the ceiling.
There were fewer scientists walking through this hallway, and when Jason looked out a window beside him, he felt his eyes widen slightly when he saw white clouds floating past him! The moon looked like it was just a few feet away from how large it was, and Jason realised that they were in the sky!
"This is the highest floor of the Academy building. Not even the King of L’horm is aware that it exists."
Jaen spoke up when he saw Jason looking out the window, and Jason turned to him and asked.
"Why the need for so much secrecy? What sort of experiment are you doing up here?"
Jason knew that the only reason why Jaen would be this secretive was if they were carrying out an experiment that was either so impressive that it could reshape the entire Primordial Expanse if it was revealed, or so evil that no one would ever support them if they revealed what they were really doing! Since Jaen had already told Jason that the scientists here were not going against the moral code in their experiments, Jason had a lot of hope that there was something in here that could reshape the Primordial Expanse!
Jaen didn’t answer Jason’s question directly. Instead, he asked Jason another question.
"What would you do if you discovered a power that could change the entire world? Would you share that power with the rest of the world or would you keep it for yourself?"
Jaen looked into Jason’s eyes with intensity as he asked this, and Jason realised that this was some sort of test question. But Jason didn’t really care about the test, and he simply answered how he truly felt.
"It depends on what sort of power we’re talking about."