Tesla was once more reading books from his seemingly endless collection of books.

  Surrounded by stacks of books that reached the very top of the bookshelves, in fact the basement looked more like a dwelling of an old hermit wizard than a chain library of an old church.

  And as he sat on the floor, covered in books and lit by a gas lamp that was fixed with who knows what, he saw Luka come down.

  "Tell me, Tesla, have you ever considered to clean up and sort through these books?" He carefully looked below him to make sure he didn't step on any loose pages.

  Tesla looked at Luka as if to acknowledge his existence and turned back to his books.

  Luka sighed and opened the doors slowly and quietly as not to be too much of a bother.

  All the while, Tesla slowly finished his collection of books, which may have taken him around 3 years to complete. His tastes in literature changed rapidly, from fairy tales told to children to comedies parodying the very idea of life, yet it felt complete.

  All the books, papers and notes have been read through, it felt like an end to an insurmountable goal, and yet at the same time it felt incomplete, like a puzzle where one piece is missing from the mosaic.

  And as such he stood up his legs weakening with each step, struggling to keep himself standing, for it seemed that the pains that he went through in the past were indeed coming back.

  He knows how to fix it, but his fear to face that fact, to experience the unknown, to do something he never did, that itself made him feel weak.

  As Tesla finally got out of his book cave, he spotted Luka talking to what seemed like a student, their attire was regal, almost like that of a nobility, yet the clothing combined that with a feeling of a scholar.

  In fact it wouldn't be wrong to say that the entire outfit was designed around that fact.

  To give off both the feeling of nobility and intelligence.

  White shirt in combination with a dark brown suit, with what seemed like medals on the left chest side.

  Pants had a narrow form in the middle and went well with the brown suit, and the shoes seemed to be made out of high-quality leather.

  Luka seemed to be talking to this student about who knows what, after all, you can't really hear through a window, but whatever it was felt important even without noise or context.

  After basically staring for 30 seconds out of the window with the stature of a log, he decided just to check it out.

  It's not like he had more books to read.

  With the doors opening Luka drew the attention of the student to Tesla.

  "Ah Tesla finally you got out there come here let me introduce you to our guest." Luka's eyes lit up like a candle in the night

  "This is Siene Rhone student of the Imperial Academy and a personal student of the Archmage Merlin" Luka felt especially proud while saying it. "She will give you a rundown of the Imperial Academy, after which you will meet up with the Archmage and the Principal of the Academy."

  Tesla felt a shock down his spine. "Does this mean..."

  "Yes, it does, congratulations your skills were accepted." Luka's voice felt light and calming. "Miss Rhone, could you please guide Tesla to the academy?"

  "Of course sir, if you'd follow me-" She looked around and it seemed like Tesla ran off. "Did he run off?"

  Luka looked at her. "Give him like a minute" as he said that, a noise of someone falling down the stairs was heard beyond the doors of the church.

  The doors opened, and the only thing that changed about Tesla was the fact that now he had a notebook and a graphite pencil of his own making in his arm

  "I am ready" was the only thing Tesla said today, at the very least for now.

  And as the carriage doors closed with the horses carrying them away Luka thought to himself that he perhaps he should drink for today was a good day.

  The streets ran away beyond the window of the carriage, and to Tesla's surprise, it was a smooth ride, usually the public carriages are a bumpy and uncomfortable, most probably from the lack of a proper suspension system that would smooth out the ride, but Tesla was unsure.

  Nonetheless for him to see the city turn from derelict slums to towering houses that occupied the inner sanctum of the city felt weird, it felt weird that the same city that has houses which barely stand would also have houses that were made from bricks, had insulation and even plumbing with running water, only question for him was, why?

  What exactly does plumbing and running water bring to be so important? convenience makes sense after all it is much more comfortable to simply open a tab and get water you can then boil to drink but still you can do that easily by going to a pump or a well.

  "We will first meet up with the principal and the Archmage, after which I will show you around the academy, oh and you will have to choose a major as well, but that will probably be much more later"

  Tesla nodded along, his legs shaking and feeling wrong.

  "I understand that you feel stressed but trust me all of this is just a way to ensure a standard procedure and what not." The confirmation of that felt good, since Tesla rarely went outside.

  Tesla looked at Siene "...alright"

  "Also one more thing, if you encounter any trouble, be it with other students or professors let me know, understood?"

  "Of course."

  "Listen you don't have to all formal with me, also you might need some textbooks, but don't worry too much about it." she opened her notebook and suddenly remembered "one more thing, the academy also houses officers and soldiers in training so keep that in mind"

  As Tesla looked outside from the window he saw the academy.

  It's size was immense, the campus area had a huge 5 story palace that acted as a main building for the academy, with two adjacent wings and a dome in the middle of the central part of the palace.

  While in the area surrounding the palace were other buildings, from laboratories and cafes to large parks and open air gyms that allowed students, workers and teachers to relax.

  To call this an academy would be a disservice, it is a town inside of the largest city.

  A separate world where knowledge and education is above all else.

  Yet this place was not only for those of age but even children and parents, it is clear that this felt more like a utopia then the hungry slums Tesla grew up in.

  As if they were waiting for them, guards and entourage were welcoming their arrival.

  "Madam Siene" an old butler looked at Tesla "Sir Tesla" he smiled "Archmage Merlin awaits you at the Dome study"

  "did he book the entire thing?" Siene asked shocked

  "No, I believe his exact words were "I wish to see the child that understood the rambling of that insane bird face" after which he promptly threw out everyone there"

  Siene looked exhausted "Tesla I will apologize to you right now but my teacher is a bit-"

  Butler interjected "unconventionally idiotic, that is how the young madam called him, but please do not be alarmed he will not bring you any harm whatsoever."

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  Tesla felt stunned "I... see..." once again he was quiet

  And so the trio departed to meet the archmage but before that the butler directed all of the luggage to be transported to Tesla's new room with a list of textbooks required for the studying for the first year.

  While Tesla and others were walking around the halls of the academy something peculiar was noticed by Tesla, the halls were not build for an academy, while yes the hallways were wide and tall, they had carpets everywhere, and some places where there'd be a door are blocked by a large painting or a notice board, not to mention the chandeliers and expensive curtains, it was clear that this was build as a noble residence at first and only after some time was it expanded and changed to an academy.

  As the trio arrived in front of the Dome, huge doors stood before them that looked like they weighted like a horse, but the butler opened the doors and surprisingly even in his old age he easily opened them, though that was only a surprise to Tesla for others, not so much.

  Tesla took the first step right behind the butler and Siene, he felt composed yet feared for his future.

  The Dome was surrounded by libraries on the walls, and staircase that went to the central podium located all the way at the ground level, with each step being a level for a students, teachers or listeners to sit at.

  While on the ground level there was a blackboard and if you looked up then you would see that the ceiling was made was made in such a way that the light passing through would create a night sky with stars that have since left, a beautiful reminder of what was once lost.

  In the middle stood the old man, a mage straight from a fairy tale.

  Only a large staff was missing and maybe a longer beard, but other than that he had quite the outfit.

  With a white robe which had a beautiful embroidery made from what seemed like bronze, underneath it a plain white button up shirt and grey pants, yet the boots were made from white leather.

  "Finally you've arrived my student" old man's voice surrounded the room

  "For how long have you waited for us?" Siene wondered

  He walked up to her "long enough for me to feel pain in my legs"

  "so not long" she muttered

  "What was that"

  "oh nothing."

  "You better hope it is nothing." he looked at Tesla "mind introducing yourself young man"

  As if the words came out of him without a choice he spoke "My name is Tesla Vane, adoptive son of Father Luka and a blood brother of Jean Vane"

  Siene looked pissed off "You do realize that utilization of magic on students without permission is against both the rules of the academy and the Imperial law-"

  "I know, I know but I need him to talk not to twiddle his thumbs like a toddler"

  Although Siene did not say anything it was clear she was not quite a big fan of utilization of magic on people.

  For Tesla it felt like he was finally able to breath a fresh air after getting forcefully drowned in salt water.

  And yet the mage did not seem to care about the overall feelings of the up and coming student.

  The old mage looked Tesla once more "Firstly I apologize for using magic on you" it was clear he only said that because his student was there "and secondly, I must say that your appointment here was quite an unexpected one."

  Tesla looked at him. "How so. sir?"

  "because you were put here without the prior knowledge of the commission, but to be honest whether the commission knows or not doesn't matter, what does matter is whether or not you are willing to be here." the mage questioned Tesla.

  Tesla looked at the mage's eyes where it felt he saw an endless stars "I do not understand the question, sir."

  The mage sighed "what do you want to do with the knowledge that you will gain here?"

  If only the answer would be clear, sadly it is anything but that.

  Tesla wants so much yet there seems to be no way to achieve it or rather say it.

  "I desire to create and connect the people across the world."

  to the mage it seemed like a childish dream but an acceptable answer, that lacked context. "how exactly do you want to achieve that." he looked at Tesla. "How exactly do you mean connect the world, in what kind of way do you want to do that, what do you want to create, have you asked yourself those questions or have you just said that without thinking?"

  Tesla stood quietly.

  "Thought as much, but at least you have a dream, that is still better than most people that study here." the mage was not interested for he simply really did not care.

  Yet he added "there is a professor here who is currently researching and developing a way to talk through long distances without the use of signals." he looked at back at Tesla "I will assign you to him, help him out."

  Both the butler and Siene were shocked and the old buttler had to speak up "Sir I must warn you, not only will you force him to study but you will also want him to help out on a project that has yet to bear any results let alone any working prototype."

  Mage spoke "Well from how it looks like, the little inventor here wants to invent, so let him" he looked at the butler "but of course he will have to pass through the classes like any other student." he turned back to Tesla "Do you agree?"

  without skipping a beat Tesla agreed and a paper manifested in the hands of the mage, a contract.

  It stated what was said, that the student Tesla will have to study and pass through classes while also helping the professor of engineering with his projects at least 20 hours a week, luckily it was paid position.

  With the signage of the contract, that also had many other stuff like, vacation, leave and sick days and other stuff signed.

  The butler escorted Tesla to his room in order for him to rest and prepare for tomorrow.

  Yet Siene felt pissed. "Are you insane."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You know exactly what I mean, you are putting him up for failure."

  The mage looked at his student "The kid wanted to connect the world, so I am giving him the ability to do that."

  "Yeah by putting him on a project that has failed several times, not only that he has to study and go on several classes where he will need to learn and study for more than 80 hours a week!"

  "He was brought here unannounced and without the permission of the commission, the only reason he is being given the chance is because I was given an order."

  Siene about to break her calm demeanor "So as a way to get back, you give the poor man an impossible task!?"

  "Siene, I was given an order to accept him, not to take care of him and hold him by his hand."

  "But he will not be able to do all of the stuff that you have-"

  Mage pulled out a folder "Siene do you know anything about him?, what sort of life he lived through, how he survived, where he lived?"

  Siene stood silent

  "Tesla survived on scraps and the fact that he is alive is a miracle" he opened the folder looking for something. "And not only did he have no money, he himself worked for free for a church because it was the only way for him and his brother to live." he pulled out a paper "Yet with whatever books he got in the dusty library of that church he was able to write this." The mage gave a paper to Siene.

  It was a paper that was written by Tesla, that speculated that you can move not only objects but machines using water vapor. "While this is overall an old knowledge, what is surprising is the blueprint on the second page."

  Siene looked to the second page, it was a crude blueprint, clearly drawn with lack of materials and it was a mess, yet it showed a machine that wouldn't be used for some small scale tricks but a large scale operations. "Still it doesn't change the fact that you gave a student-"

  "I gave him a job" the mage interrupted "somewhere where his talents would be of use" he looked at the paper again "I already gave the paper to the professor he will be under, so there is no need to worry about him failing."

  Siene felt dissapointed "So he has no choice"

  "No one has a choice Siene"