Phoenix Academy is not the only academy on Integrated Earth. It is also not the greatest academy, despite how often I boast of its great achievements and magnificent alumni.

If you seek the oldest academy on Earth, then you will be heading far east, to Moonwall. You will ascend the Yun Wei Mountain there, and only if you pass a final examination administered by the so-called spirits which guard the place can you enter those grand and hallowed walls. I've seen the grounds, and I can attest that they are not boasting. Those walls are grand, and a part of the academy does reside at the center of our shattered moon. How, you might ask? Well, I cannot say. The secrets lay with Moonwall and Moonwall alone.

If you wish to be honed in the heat of battle, you should go to Dragonrest. There you will learn to be a Pathbearer the iron way, and there your classmates may well be beyond your expectations, for within the bleached bones of Dragonrest, monstrous Pathbearers strive to better themselves on a journey towards higher sapience, while individuals gain Blessings, strike pacts, and find strength beyond what mere mortals can offer.

The Horde Lord of Dragonrest, Nalkanor, might well be among the oldest Pathbearers on our world. Though long she has slumbered, she awoke recently after our newest incursion, and now serves as both governor and guardian to her personal academy and her own continent of Atlantis. I've faced her a few times in battle, and I will not mince words. Atlantis and the Republic have always been at war, but it is important to acknowledge the power of your enemy just as much as the feelings of your kin.

Then far south, there is Sorrowash, School of Sacrifice and Sacrilege, where mysteries and secrets are passed down from master to disciple. Sorrowash is selective, but it is also the place to go if you seek a new future, and your past is far too scarred to bear. For there resides one of the great ways to the Fairwoods, and the instructors and loremasters there are of the Eternal Lines of the Fairest. Who else could defy the rule of the Scarred Ones, and who else could force such an accord of the Feathered Wyrm?

Now, you may well think, why has this headmaster, loyal subject to the Republic, boasted so much of these other schools? Does he doubt his own institution? No. It is because I hold no doubt in my Phoenix Academy that I laud the others. For Phoenix Academy offers you breadth. You can become anyone here, and more importantly, you will not be burdened by worries aside from furthering yourself and deepening your knowledge.

All these other academies and institutions are perilous affairs. They are places of intrigue and treachery as much as they are sources of wealth and good power, and so, you enter them at your own peril. Contrarily, should you fail to enter Phoenix Academy, you are in peril. For here we forge warriors and scholars both.

For here we do not cast you to the wolves, but make you into the hunters who will drive the beasts from the woods.

-Legend-Headmaster Hades Hymn

207 (I)

Admission [I]

Shiv's time as a Pathbearer was more than tumultuous. For the past few months, his life could best be characterized as an endless stream of extreme fights punctuated by deaths, other strange and absurd encounters, with only a few moments of tranquility, cooking, and company in between. As such, trying to sneak into a morgue seemed like just another misadventure for him.

On the other hand, sneaking into a morgue was less audacious and more outright sacrilegious in certain ways, especially since he was stealing the very soul essence of another person to see this deception through. In the end, this was the best option he had. He didn't have months to wait for someone else to create a false shell and another semblance for him, not when he already had a mask capable of doing such a thing.

He also couldn't afford the System giving him away every time someone laid eyes on him. It placed a target on his head anywhere he went, and Shiv couldn't afford that. Not if he wanted to operate in the capital and find a way out in time. Not if he wanted to aid Irons in figuring out where his student went or what Daughter had done to the poor girl.

He needed that flexibility while Adam and the others tried to come up with alternative strategies to find a way out of the Ascendants' quarantine.

As such, only a few people accompanied Shiv on this initial expedition. Whisper and Tequila wished to experience school life alongside their Insul after giving oaths that they would not vanish any students, and Helix joined them as well. Mortar, in a moment of genuine honesty, decided to remain because: "they're just too enticingly vulnerable."

Grim, but honest. As much as I can ask for from an orc.

Also within Shiv's Forest of Alloy was Radio, hidden deep and making nary a sound. A good thing too, as Shiv couldn't afford to have the Educator know about its existence.

The Educator, meanwhile, decided to reside in the hidden Coliseum, and that's where most of the prisoners, orcs, Adam, and Can Hu decided to stay. The Forgotten Ascendant wished to interrogate the two crafters about the slipgate they were working on, and Can Hu wanted to assist them. Shiv guessed that the Penitent also had another thing in mind. When Can Hu intervened earlier, it made sure that the crafters weren't infusing any hidden enchantments to subvert Shiv.

Now, it was likely trying to figure out what the crafters were building, perhaps so it could replicate it in time. Can Hu wasn't a Heroic-Tier Pathbearer in terms of crafting without the unique skill offered by Gate Piety, but it was still knowledgeable enough that it might be able to gain some useful insight through this participation.

Adam himself was burdened. He wanted to go along with Shiv, but he also wished to keep an eye on the Educator—not only her, but also Merrielmel and Concelhaunt as well. At the same time, there were things he needed to discuss with Irons. They had a great deal to catch up on, and it was better that Adam tried to procure more of the man's trust than Shiv. Irons pledged to meet Shiv soon after things were underway, and the morgue sent for a representative from the academy. Hence, the Deathless prepared to disembark from the buried coliseum to steal a spot meant for a corpse.

As the dimensional rift opened before him, allowing him to cross over back into the maze, Adam called out to him at the last moment. "Shiv," Adam said, and proceeded to project one of the keyhole rings locked over his arm like a bracelet. It slid over Shiv's arm, and the Deathless looked down in surprise.

"That's me being in two places at once, right?" Adam said. "Just so I can keep an eye on you. If you need to take it off when you get put in the morgue, just place it in your cape."

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Shiv nodded. "Probably not a bad idea at all," he mumbled.

Getting dressed while using Perfect Semblance was a bit awkward. It required him to throw on articles of clothing while he was still wearing his Voidmantid armor. But though it proved to be a snug fit, the Perfect Semblance made it seem like Marcus was the one that was dressed. Ultimately, this had the benefit of ensuring Shiv didn't need to be unarmed when he went into the morgue. No, he just needed to remove the school uniform he currently had on and throw Adam's bracelet into his cape later.

"I'll keep an eye on you through the bracelet," Adam added. He promptly commanded the other dimensional ring to hover over his hand, and as it did, a pulse of static erupted from it. At the same time, another pulse wrapped over Shiv's hand, and Adam jabbed a finger through. A chronokinetic jab thudded off the inside of Shiv's forearm.

"Seems kind of voyeuristic," Shiv said, then he caught himself.

"Oh, so nothing's changed for you, huh?" The Gate Lord let out a half-hearted scoff. "I'm taking that back when you no longer need it, and I'm definitely taking it away from you once we find Uva again."

"Well, if you forget, I'm chucking it back at you. None of us wants to do that again. One time was enough."

Adam rolled his eyes. "Yes, but I'm sure you'll find a way to traumatize poor Valor somehow." Shiv clenched his teeth to hide a wince. "You know I'm right," Adam continued.

The Deathless retreated before he had to engage with his friend's argument. Psycho-Cartography told him that his honor could only be defended upon more favorable theses, and exposing Valor to private moments wasn't one.

As he ventured forth out of the maze, he heard footsteps following close behind. He turned, expecting to find Adam, leering at him, trying to take a final shot. "Listen, I didn't really want to..." He trailed off as he found himself staring at the Educator. The woman once known as Maia folded her arms and stared at him with a tense expression. Her face was creased as she licked her lips.

"I suppose you do not trust me enough to let me embark alongside you."

Shiv didn't see the point in lying. "No, not really, Educator."

She frowned. "Not taunting me with Maia anymore?"

"Look, I don't like you, but I don't see a point in being a dick. We're going to be like adults, right? That's our agreement."

Something almost akin to a scoff and a chuckle escaped from her. "Fine. The Neath has its ways. The Dragon Brokers have operated under the Ascendants' noses for years. They have their relics and powers as well. More importantly, the Ascendants like to use them against each other. They will be able to get you to the morgue. I understand that you are still responsible for yourself first and foremost, and I cannot stress enough how perilous having your identity compromised will be."

"You don't need to," Shiv said. He thought back to his previous stints as a spy, and it demoralized him a bit. At least now he had some experience. More importantly, he was operating on far more favorable conditions. Marcus Unblood was not particularly known in the capital, and more importantly, he was a nobody, not particularly cared for, with little attention directed at him. At most, Shiv expected some surprise from the other survivors in Marcus's expedition, but that was all. Shiv could deal with surprise; he had been dealing with constant surprises all this time.

"Do not allow yourself to be compromised," the Educator stressed again. "We cannot afford your recapture, and that bitch Chandler will not make the same mistake twice."

Oh, if only you knew she was half the reason I got out. The Deathless looked past her shoulder and gazed upon the temporal echo he had left within the crafting chamber. "If things go wrong, I'll be sure to dip out. I already have a time anchor set up for a retreat."

"So if you suspect anything, if you feel even a slight bit of suspicion, it's best to cut your losses," the Educator said. "That mask of yours can steal multiple identities. Don't be afraid to burn one."

"I'm not," Shiv replied, suddenly aware of how worried she was. A beat of silence followed. "How important am I to Udraal's plan?" he asked on a gamble.

She fell quiet then, and the silence that clung to her was oppressive and hesitant. It was immediately evident that though she was an Ascendant, she didn't hold the power in the relationship. After all, she was performing the labor, operating for her own interest but also for Udraal's as well.

"He's always watching," she said, not directly answering his question. He caught her reaching for her tome reflexively before she pulled her hand back. "Understand that everything you do will be known to him in time, and he will be scheming. He's always scheming, so mind how you step."

"Yeah," Shiv said, "you too. We're just things to him, you and I, just like we're things to each other. But I think we can treat each other better than he treats us." That word left him on a gamble. Shiv wasn't sure how much loyalty she had to Udraal, but when she tightened her jaw slightly, his intuition bloomed. He had taken a shot in the dark, and it might just have landed.

"For me to be free, I need him. I need what he knows. I need to be reborn, whole this time, unchained from my mistake." She sounded ashamed of that admission, ashamed that he knew this much about her at all.

Instead of mocking her weakness, Shiv just nodded. "Yeah, and I can abide by that. What I can't abide by is if you or Udraal hurt anyone I care about, or if you end up hurting a lot of innocent people. That's my line, anyway."

The Educator looked away from him then, but with the way her gaze fell, Shiv thought he gleaned another emotion from her, and it was one of reminiscence and shame. "It doesn't last, you know."

"What?" Shiv asked, trying to figure out the meaning behind her words.

"The morality, the urge to care, the will to fight for those weaker than you. It doesn't last. You lose it. The lucky ones never had it to begin with, but in time, your heart will be less of itself." The way she spoke sounded less like a portended promise and more like a lamenting confession.

Everything hardened inside Shiv, and he decided to take another swing. "You lost a lot of people, didn't you?"

The Educator swallowed then, and a part of her cheek turned to glass. She turned, unwilling to engage with him anymore, and as she made her retreat back into the crafting chamber, Shiv realized he was developing an unhealthy sense of empathy toward the Educator.

He still didn't much like her. He didn't much understand her, either. But he thought about who he might be if Adam died, if Uva died, if Valor died, if everyone he cared about right now was taken. He wouldn't break, at least not for long—his mind would not allow for it—but he would probably come out of it less in a great many ways.

It was hard to be kind when you were raw with sorrow.

Shiv shook those thoughts away as he left the maze. As soon as he slipped out into the arena proper, he found the liaison from earlier waiting for him. There the man stood, rubbing at his luxurious doublet with a piece of cloth. He noticed Shiv approaching and aimed his most refined smile at the Deathless.

"Well, I see our crafters are as efficient as always. An item with Perfect Semblance. That's a rare reward indeed."

Shiv grunted. He didn't much want to speak with the liaison. The less the Dragon Brokers knew about him, the less they could use against him. "So, are we going?" Shiv said. "Using the sewers again or something?"

"The waterways, yes," the liaison said. "But before that, I would like to introduce you to one of my colleagues."

"Yeah, look, whatever you have to sell..."

The liaison held out a hand, bidding Shiv to stop speaking. "It's not a thing of commerce. It's more like a binding arrangement. Think of him as your personal liaison, for we all need to ensure our interests are fulfilled, don't we?"

Shiv frowned underneath his mask; his perfect semblance replicated the expression. "So are you sending one of you guys to shadow me, to follow me around?"

"No, it's more like I'm shackling them to you." The Liaison looked up, and his features turned vicious. "Cullyweir!" his voice echoed, and it traveled further than Shiv expected. The air around him reverberated, and it sounded like the call was traveling down a distant tunnel, but the maze wasn't nearly long enough for that, and the echo just kept on going.

All of a sudden, something appeared right next to the liaison.

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