I am not even ashamed to admit that this point has endlessly infuriated me. This notion that I am some inept ruler of the Magical World. This pretentious idea that I treat the Magical World as a private Order and as a fiefdom and when things convenient for me, then I simply leave it alone. This need that other Divines have to pretend that Magicians are not exceptional. This utter humiliation when they think they can lower me to their standards.

The World of Magic is not, has not and will never be a Divine Order. I incarnated during Worldbreaking. I incarnated when Magicians were being expelled from Society. Magical Colleges exist because I was not going to bring my own people to extinction! Colleges had to be formed because if they weren't going to be colleges, then what would they be? Fortresses? Bastions? Refuges sheltered from society? No. The Colleges kept Magicians at arm's length from society but still within it until Magical Militarization once again forced mundane man to accept the World of Magic.

I did not have the luxury of crafting my own set of pretentious little rules or rituals. I could not afford to be picky in who I want to lead Magicians. I never had this clean slate to work with. There was no such thing as a Seeker before Allasaria because Allasaria created Seekers. There was no such thing as a Paladin before Maisara, no Guardian before Fortia, no Cleric before Kavaa. We can talk endless things about what being a member of an Order means, but that will never change the fact that an Order is nothing but a career path one can join at will. Magic is a set of skills that once awakened need to be trained else they lead to tragedy.

Any comparison between me and Anassa, any critique hurled at me which uses Anassa as an example is worthless, historically illiterate, garble. Sorcery before Anassa was simply magic without a catalyst. I watched that woman rip sorcery from my demesne and grow it into her own realm. Anassa does not train her own, she sends them into planes of madness to awaken their own sorcery, or she lets them die. Fortia and Maisara endlessly complain about the strength of mages compared to that of sorcerers but what else is supposed to happen? A sorcerer takes five years to mature, a mage in five years can rise out of the ranks of apprentice.

Anassa was the first sorcerer. Anassa could create her own realm. Sorcery is her own little kingdom true, but it will forever remain her little kingdom for she micromanages it so much. Magic was already a nation before I got it. The only way for me to turn the World of Magic into Magical Orders is to start culling mages until their numbers became manageable.

I have been asked to rewrite this section so I will simply take out the names I wrote: Surely there are some of us in the Pantheon who are older than Worldbreaking. Surely there are some of us who thought Mankind would never rival Divines. Maybe there are some of us even who fought on the side of the Divine Tyrannies back then. Maybe there are some of us who hold a grudge they are unable to forget. I suggest nothing here, it is simply something to think about.

There is a reason I have written a book called "The Great Equalizer"

- Excerpt from "Discussions of the Future." A book written by all White Pantheon Divines. This segment is credited to Goddess Elassa, of Magic.

The feeling shouldn't be nervousness. There was no reason to be nervous. There was no reason at all. Arcadia was Imperial territory. Arcadia was an Imperial school. This could be a good chance to get in with Elassa as well. No other Epan deity had done it yet either, this was going to be a first impression for what National Goddesses could do when they weren't shackles by the whims of mortal government.

And yet as Olonia walked through Arcadia carrying a suitcase of documents she wished to discuss today, the Goddess of Lubska was nothing but nervous. She had visited this place in the past during great events, but that was way back before all of this started. During the times of the Epan Community and even before then. Back then, Arcadia had been one of the grandest places she had ever attended.

The grand dormitories, each one a castle for all intents and purposes shot upwards into the air. Their roofs high and slanted and without a single inch of smooth stone on them. It was all gargoyle and column and pillar and balustrade or great glass window. The towers that rose out of them where again their height and they had bridges that extended a dozen or so metres off the side and then simply cut off: tiny runways for magicians who could fly to land or take off on. And it was also the people. Arcadia had been a megalopolis with the traditionally medieval as clothing, but it was a megalopolis nonetheless. It had been a city of the young, where students under thirty outnumbered the older fifty to one. Where one could walk to see young love and laughter and the next generation of the magical world be raised.

Now?

It was one of the loneliest.

And it was shrinking. Olonia was certain of that the moment she had looked through the grand gate. Already several dormitories were missing. As were some of the towers. They had been replaced by ponds and fields or formations of rock. All of it was still beautiful of course, and the amount of statues to Divines and of famous magicians must have increased tenfold, as had the amount of hedges and benches and fountains, but the actual structures? And the people?

Mages still hovered in the air. A few even turned with curious eyes to what Divine had come to inspect them. There were still a few students and the signs of youth were still here. A boy and girl were sat holding each other and giggling about something. A teacher in a brown robe was giving a pair of boys one-to-one exercises in pulling huge rocks out of the ground. In the distance and close to one of the many lakes of this land, a teacher was giving a presentation to a class of five. Huge horses and turtles and lizards, all conjured out of the water, were sprinting around in circles.

Things had changed since those classes were hundred of students would practice how to move a ball of water around in the air. Definitely things had changed, now, Olonia could not pull her eyes away from the demonstrations of power going on. A rumble came over a nearby hill. Olonia knew the way to Elassa's main office here and the administration building of Arcadia, but…

Well, she did want to hear what that rumble was. Frankly, she had plenty of time. So the Goddess of Lubska changed course in her stride. She walked in her black Imperial uniform although without the cap. Her hair, as white as snow, had a nice contrast with the black fabric. She had to admit though that she had stolen the style from Malam almost one-for-one. The only thing Olonia added was a small traditional cloak that went over one shoulder. The cobblestone turned into a marvellous marble path as Olonia went up the hill. Mages in uniform or in dress or in casual clothes were coming down and up, some greeted Olonia, some just ignored the Goddess.

And then when Olonia finally began to crest the zenith of the hill, she came to a stop and almost dropped the suitcase she was carrying. Ahead was a crowd of maybe a thousand mages. Maybe two thousand. Just that, it would have not even filled up the market square in Zawitz. They made a thin line around a huge dormitory. It was a magnificent structure, with more windows than the people surrounding it. Like every building in Arcadia, its towers could have been skyscrapers, they were spears with those sharp, pointed roofs that threatened to the stab the sky. The walls were all pillars and columns, with statue upon statue that managed to all fit together even though they crowded for the viewer's attention. Any structure in Arcadia could have been a centrepiece of art in any other city. Here, it was just a dormitory though.

And this dormitory was sinking in the ground. The earth was churning, grass was moving, roots were pulling the structure down. Slowly but surely, it fell into the ground. Past the line that was the audience of mages were a hundred more, all equally spaced apart, all in dark cloaks with highlights of red and purple, and with staves that topped of with shining amber and glowing emerald.

They were burying this dormitory. They were swallowing it into the ground. It was… Olonia felt her mouth fall open as she just stared at it. "What are you doing here?" Elassa's voice suddenly awoke Olonia from her stunned stupor.

"I'm…" Olonia blinked and forced herself to pull her eyes away from the sinking structure. "Sorry, sorry." Silently, the Goddess of Lubska cursed herself for saying that. What a terrible way to start. And then she cursed herself when she saw Elassa.

The Goddess of Magic hovered in the air and stared down at Olonia. She wore a dress fashioned like the Imperial uniform, all black with the edges trimmed with white, but then there were obvious traces of Elassa herself. She had a tiara of gemstone, the dress' neckline swooped downwards to reveal a horribly fat diamond on a necklace. The woman had rings connected by chains, all with gems too and a shawl of red and purple: Arcadia's own colours. It was as if the sun had chosen to shine on the woman, all the gemstones on her body were glowing. Elassa made an unimpressed face, those blue eyes carried absolutely no emotion or judgement or anything. It was worse than if she just said Olonia was stupid. "What are you doing here?" Elassa repeated.

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"I wanted to talk!" Olonia half-said and half-shouted and Elassa sighed. She pointed in another direction.

"Do you see that building?" Olonia turned to where Elassa was pointing towards. It was a huge tower in the distance with plenty of balconies. At the bottom was a massive structure that could be anything, from a palace to a cathedral. Knowing Arcadia though, this was probably some warehouse.

"I do." Olonia said.

"Do you know what that is?"

"I don't."

"Arcadia Guests and Visitors. Go there and book an appointment with me." Olonia stared at the tower in the distance for a few moments as Elassa's words replayed in her head. Did she just hear that correct? Did Elassa just tell her to go away and stop annoying her? That's what she right? That's exactly what that meant. Elassa just did the equivalent of showing her were the door was.

Olonia realised how it was going to be. She couldn't afford to be nervous now. No. Not at all. She called upon whatever bravery Fer and Iliyal and Kavaa had taught her and just threw caution to the wind in the same she did when stepping onto the battlefield. "Wait!" Olonia shouted and realised Elassa had not moved from her position.

Elassa smiled down at her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I wanted to ask about the Colleges and about a project we're working on!" Elassa sighed.

"We're not a construction company and Colleges are the realms of the Imperial Bureau of Magic. I run Arcadia." Olonia blinked for a moment. Excuse me? What? But wasn't…

"Aren't you the head of the IBM?" Olonia asked.

"It's an Archmage called Veron Askapin." Elassa said in a bored manner. "He's talented enough but I'd suggest just asking Helenna for her contacts because Askapin only ran a department in Arcadia before this. He's still learning how to hold the reins so to say."

"Really? Where can I find him?"

"Do you have a phone?" Elassa asked.

"I do." Olonia said and pulled out her phone to show it off. It was a huge thing, more akin to a tablet for a mortal but a man would reach up to Olonia's stomach.

"Open maps." Elassa said. Olonia unlocked her phone, opened the maps.

"Mmh." She voiced.

"Go to the search bar." Elassa said.

"Mmh."

"Now type in Imperial Bureau of Magic Headquarters." Olonia got to the second letter before she realised what she was doing. Elassa was smiling from above. "I'm a teacher, I teach. You won't make this mistake again, will you?"

Olonia stared up at the Goddess of Magic, at that wry, self-satisfied smile and Olonia felt something crack within her. She may be just a National Goddess and Elassa may have been the leader of all Magic, but there was a difference between being higher on the hierarchy and just being flat out disrespectful. "I want assistance so I came to you." Olonia demanded. Elassa raised her eyebrows and her smile grew deeper. "What am I supposed to do? I came to discuss with you! Not go to some fucking visitor's centre to book some appointment!"

Elassa rolled her eyes. "What a speech." She said. "What development." She whistled. "Do you feel big now?"

"Can you just listen to me or not?!"

"You really are a child."

"Elassa!" Olonia shouted and was surprised by herself. The Goddess of Magic that floated in the air did not seem to even care though.

"Well then the teacher will teach again." Elassa mused. "Do you think Arascus has ever once asked me about how he wishes to talk? Do you think I go up to him and say." The woman pulled a horribly high-pitched voice. "Sorry sir, may I please ask a question? Please sir I'm just a cute little girl, please listen." She dropped the tone and stared down at Olonia, the Goddess of Lubska felt herself going red. "I'm not going to humiliate the both of us by giving another Goddess permission to ask me a question."

Olonia stared at Elassa for a few moments and thought on what to say. Frankly, what was there even to say. She couldn't argue back to that. She could… She wanted to though. She really wanted to shout at Elassa and exclaim how she should be treated with the most basic amount of respect. But even she could see where that would end up. "I was going to suggest that the Lubskan Colleges of Magic in Zawitz and in Kaczaw both hold exchanges with Arcadia and that we send our mages to you to be taught."

Elassa shrugged. "I'm against it." Olonia stood there for a moment and didn't even know what to say. Elassa was against it? Just that? The woman had nothing else to say? Olonia had prepared a whole speech about how it could help Arcadia generate money and how it would advance the cause of magic and Elassa said she was against it? Just that?

"Why?"

Elassa pointed to the building that was being swallowed by the ground. "Arcadia is the most prestigious College of Magic in the world, it is the best and most demanding institution as well. Neither my students nor yours would benefit. Mine would have to slow down, yours would not be able to keep pace." Elassa shrugged again. "The Grand Arcadia project served to illustrate that. The reason Fer managed to cause so much damage here is because we had to teach at the pace of the slowest ten percent. It simply won't happen Olonia."

"Oh."

"Mmh." Elassa said.

"So there's no swaying you with benefits of tourism or anything like that?" Olonia asked, she saw Elassa turn and raise an eyebrow. "I'm just asking because I want to know whether to just save my breath or not."

"If I want money, I will simply go and ask Arascus for an expansion of Arcadia's budget."

Olonia had to try. "And if he won't give it to you."

Elassa smiled and shook her head. "We're both pre-Great War Divines Olonia. It's different with me and him versus me and you."

Olonia sighed, maybe there was a chance for an exchange in the other way? "Then could you send mages to the Lubskan colleges so that they learn how to teach?" She asked.

Elassa shrugged. "Teacher exchange is a Bureau of Magic program and Arcadia is independent from the Bureau. We don't fall under it." Olonia didn't even bother asking why. No doubt it was not reason but rather just private drama between Elassa and the other Divines. She saw the line of attack opening.

"That's why I came to you and not the IBM." Olonia and Elassa chuckled.

"Just a minute ago, you didn't know we weren't the IBM." Elassa said. "Arcadia is not looking for any teacher programs right now. I'll consider Zawitz or Kaczaw, I have nothing else to comment."

"I won't get a promise even?" Olonia asked.

"I don't intend on Arcadia sending mages out when they're still being taught in the first place." Elassa sighed heavily. "Where they go after, I do not care. They are adults, they can make their own decisions. If you wish to employ Arcadian mages in your colleges then you can send your applications to me and I'll pass them on. You'll be competing with a dozen Imperial Bureaus though." Elassa said and raised an eyebrow.

"I thank you for that." Olonia said. Frankly, she could tell she wasn't going to get anything else out of Elassa. The woman's tone alone was curt and snappy. She just wanted to get this over with. "I also wanted to ask for help from Arcadia in the construction of a telescope."

Elassa raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised. "We're not a construction crew for hire."

"It's not construction!" Olonia quickly said. She put her suitcase down, opened it and brought out the images she had brought. It was of Olephia's home high in Lubska's southern mountain. Olephia wanted her telescope and frankly, if Olonia could get a Daughter-Goddess of Arascus himself to live in Lubska, then that was already a win. Olephia had designed a rather comfortable for herself. Olonia had thought it would be a palace but actually all the woman wanted was something more equivalent to a cabin with modern amenities like a shower, a bath, a hot tub, a pool, a kitchen and a bedroom. All sized for Olephia of course, so even larger than it would be for Olonia.

And frankly, Olephia wasn't even pushy with the toys. The only thing she was adamant about was the telescope. And the only thing that was a problem was the telescope. Olonia brought out the pictures of the steel frame for Olephia's home. Diggers were strapped to mountainsides on huge ropes as they worked to smooth out terrain. Men were scurrying about the ground. Heavy cargo helicopters were airlifting materials in. "Everything is being built, we even have a sight for the telescope and we're building that too!" Olonia quickly burst out. "But we need to build a lens."

"A lens?" Elassa asked.

"For the telescope. We're working on the designs right now but…" Olonia honestly felt stupid. "I mean, no one has ever built a telescope on this scale. We were wondering if Arcadia could help. Even if you can't make a lens, then maybe you have documents regarding the how to make them."

Elassa finally lowered herself down to Olonia's level. She looks through the pictures of construction going on and then at the blueprints of the telescopes designed. "This is just a mountain spyglass." She said.

"We…" Olonia blushed and scratched her cheek. "We found documents in Lubska's National Library regarding it."

"The Dwarves built them in the past. It does work and it can see into space." Elassa shrugged. "Why can't you build it then?"

"We can't figure out how to temper the glass."

"Oh." Elassa said. "No, I suppose you wouldn't be able to." Frankly, it did not even sound like the woman was trying to be offensive and more as if she was just talking to herself. Her demeanour had changed entirely once they had gotten off the topic of Arcadia itself. Olonia made a note that it was a touchy subject for Elassa then. "You said you were making this for Olephia?"

"She asked me for it and then she said she'd get Helenna."

"Ahh." Elassa said. "Then it will end up at my desk either way." She sighed. "Alright, I'll do it personally. Arcadia will supply the materials and everything. I know how to get them. The structure has to be ready first." Elassa moved her head from side to side as she thought for a moment, then looked back to one of pictures. A finger gracefully tapped an image of a helicopter. "Bring as much steel onto the mountain as you can for me to work with. I'll bring the diamond and quartz."

Olonia had not even known it needed diamond and quartz. Frankly, she could not believe that she was talking to the same woman who had just been so rude. Was it really a case of simply being forward and not touching Arcadia? "So you'll do it?"

"Haven't I just said I will?" Elassa tutted.

Olonia wanted to burst out in laughter and cry out in joy. She didn't know how she didn't it. She didn't even know if it was her or if it was simply invoking Olephia's name that did it. But she did not care.

She had done it!

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