Page 63 of Cerulean Truth
"Tomorrow, I'll give you a tour of the Academy. I've managed to secure access to the Offensives' wing, which is rarely open to outsiders," she said, her tone indicating I should be grateful.
"I'm sorry, but what exactly are Offensives?" I asked bluntly.
Enya blinked. "They're our protectors. Or that's what they like to call themselves. I prefer to think of them as insane assassins, terrifying enough to deter anyone with ill intentions toward the Collective."
"But..." I began, only for her to cut me off.
"Emma, I don't have time to explainallthe basics to you right now. Just come along on the tour tomorrow, and I'll showyou," she said, turning on her heels and leaving me standing there, bewildered and brimming with questions.
Day three: The Summer Palace
The next day, Enya seemed genuinely excited to show me around. While I initially hoped it meant she had finally warmed up to me, it became clear rather quickly that her enthusiasm was mainly directed at watching Academy classes.
"You're in for a treat now." She almost hopped the whole way to the Summer Palace. It was a very strange experience to see Enya "hop." She wasn't a very "hoppy" person.
"I got us into one of the Offensive classes. We're almost never allowed to see them train unless we train with them, which no one in their right mind would do."
“Why not?” I asked, watching my feet so I wouldn’t trip over them–again.
“Because one in their right mind is not suicidal.”
I frowned. “You have to be suicidal to train with the Offensives?”
Enya sighed. “It’s not a prerequisite, but you’ll succeed faster if you’re not afraid of death.”
Suppressing a chuckle, I interjected, "I'm not sure fearlessness is the same as being suicidal..." but my words were swallowed by a sudden rush of air. As we arrived at the base of the Summer Palace, I glanced upward, marveling at the towering structure that stretched toward a skylight in the roof. There were no stairs in sight, leaving me to wonder how on earth we were supposed to ascend the fifteen floors of the Summer Palace.
"Welcome to the Academy," Enya smiled and closed her eyes for a second. A few seconds later, a weirdly shaped platform appeared. It looked a bit like one of those platforms window-cleaners use when they climb skyscrapers, only it wasn't bound to any string or cable.
Enya hopped (!) onto the platform and motioned for me to join her. She grinned at the worry visibly spreading across my face, then snapped her fingers quickly. With a little wobble, we lifted off.
“This must all be very new and exciting for you,” she stated without question. I nodded, unable to find the words to describe whatever I was feeling. As we “flew” by the floors, she continued her explanation.
"Every floor is designed specifically to accommodate the needs of the function being taught," Enya explained, her tone thoughtful as she considered the uniqueness of their Academy. "Not every Collective provides all functions in the Academy. Cyclos Academy is renowned for Offensive schooling, but we also have Healers and Defensives," she added, pausing to let the significance of her words sink in.
"As you can see, we just passed the first five levels where the Defensive classes take place. They all get five levels each, except for the Defensives, who share two corridors for connecting purposes."
"Defensives?" I asked.
"They're like the social workers or police forces you have," she explained. "They work internally, try to keep order if necessary, and send for help whenever needed. They are very nice, very peaceful people.
I frowned. They did not sound like the police in my world at all, nor were the latter interchangeable with social workers…
"Everyone else, like Specialists, Recruiters, Orators, and so on, have to go outside of Cyclos to specialize before they can operate here as such," she explained.
I took a deep breath, trying to process so much information in so little time.
"We'll cross the Healers' levels now," she said, pointing at the next five floors. "Healers are the only magi who can use their energy to influence any state of the body. Apart from our ability to age at will, the rest of us aren’t capable of using magic to change any physical aspect. It takes almost half a cycle to specialize, and only the most exceptional individuals are permitted to do so.”
She gestured toward their level. “Their levels all consist of rooms filled with medical equipment, plants, herbs, and every book ever written on anatomy and complications arising from translation."
Easy enough. Healers were kind of like doctors who specialized in magic.
By the time we arrived on the eleventh level, a rather dark hallway emerged and Enya was almost giddy with anticipation.
Seriously, what’s up with these Offensives?
"This is the Offensives'wing," she smiled, pausing the elevator. We got out on the floor, and I could hear some clear fighting grunts and gasps in the distance.
