“Hello, miss. Gras College has arrived.”

Gras College, a subordinate academy of the Origin Hourglass school, is probably the oldest surviving college in the Mage Alliance.

“Thank you.” Sylutia steadied herself on the carriage door with one hand, stepped down slowly, then looked up at the tall main gate of the academy.

Eight enormous pillars stood here, each carved with images that symbolized history from the First Epoch through the Eighth Epoch.

First Epoch, the Primordial Age (about 100 million years ago, uncertain), stubborn barren stones, chaotic and obscure.

Second Epoch, the Vault Sea Epoch (about three hundred thousand years ago), the world hollowed by Fungal Threads, becoming a primordial soup of seas.

Third Epoch, the Sun-Moon Epoch (about eight million years ago), the alien star descended, shattered, and the Proud Sun and the Phantasmal Moon rose.

Fourth Epoch, the Star-Beast Epoch (about 1.2 million years ago), the Beast That Looked Up at the Stars gained the first spark of wisdom.

Fifth Epoch, the Fairy Epoch (about two hundred thousand years ago), Verdant Nectar reconciled with Insect Moth, and Fairies were born.

Sixth Epoch, the Seven Dragons Epoch (about one hundred thousand years ago), the Black Serpent devoured the World Tree, split, and became the Seven Dragons.

Seventh Epoch, the Erosion Epoch (about twenty thousand years ago), the Star Dragon broke the crystal barrier, and an Alien Star arrived.

Eighth Epoch, the Newborn Epoch (about seven thousand years ago), six dragons perished, the Hours changed, and the coronal rebirth occurred.

Ninth Epoch, the Covenant Epoch (about two thousand years ago in the present world), the Calamity War ended, dividing heaven and earth.

Sylutia did not enter the academy immediately. She stood before the gate, examined the eight massive stone pillars, and only then stepped through the ancient stone archway.

Inside, she followed procedure to present her identification and the name and details of the apprentice she intended to visit.

“Camilla, you said?” The staff member flipped through a roster, sounding slightly puzzled.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing major, it’s just that this student seems to have applied for a leave of absence recently and isn’t living inside the academy.” The staff member looked up and informed Sylutia.

“Did she leave any other information? Like where she went?” Sylutia felt a bad premonition.

Although Camilla’s temperament was aloof and she rarely socialized with classmates, she was not the sort to whimsically drop out. Something must have occurred to push her to take leave.

“Sorry, I don’t have that.” The staff member shook his head.

“However, applying for leave normally requires giving a reason and getting a teacher’s approval. You might ask the teacher who processed it.”

“Then could you tell me which teacher handled it?” Sylutia asked again.

“This one.” He wrote a name on a slip of paper and added the office address.

“Although it’s the holiday, he shouldn’t have left. You can look for him around two in the afternoon.”

“All right, thank you.”

After taking the note, Sylutia left for a while, then returned to the academy near one in the afternoon.

She entered the old gate again and gazed over the broad campus. The green lawns were dotted with weathered buildings; moss and cracks were visible in the seams of stone walls and eaves, and traces of climbing vines remained.

Much here was ancient; only a few signposts and roadside flowers looked newer.

Origin Hourglass, born from archaeological study, pursued the mission of uncovering ancient historical truths. They were the caretakers and cataloguers of the Mage Alliance central library’s archives, preserving many ancient relics and fossils.

Because it was the holiday, there were few people around. Sylutia walked to the office building at the address and met hardly anyone, only catching sight of some apprentices crossing the lawns from afar.

Knock knock. The girl tapped lightly on the door, and a voice came from inside.

“Come in.” The voice sounded somewhat hoarse with age.

Sylutia entered and saw a teacher of about fifty. He pushed his glasses up and appraised her.

“I don’t think I’ve met you.”

“No, I’m a student from Tetis College. My name is Hedra.” Sylutia answered politely.

“Oh, you’re from Tetis College.” He put down his pen and leaned back slightly.

“What brings you to me?”

“It’s like this...” Sylutia explained about Camilla.

“Camilla Miss...” The teacher tried to recall.

“She was indeed one of this year’s students. I taught her a few classes.”

“Among the freshmen, her ability ranked near the top, but her temperament is somewhat cold and aloof, rarely mixing with other apprentices. Her assigned lodging was placed in a quieter, more secluded area.”

“Last month, just before the final exams, she suddenly came to me and said she wanted to take a break from study. I helped her file the leave paperwork.”

“Did she tell you why?” the girl couldn’t help but press.

“She only said she felt unwell and needed time to recuperate. I advised her to visit the academy medical department, but she insisted it was an old condition and that seeing physicians wasn’t necessary.”

“She then said she would move out for a change of scenery and rented a place off campus.”

“For freshmen, the academy still cares about safety, so before she left she did provide the rental address.”

“Since you came looking for her, I’ll give you the address.” He thought for a moment, fetched a book, and found the entry.

“Sage Street 171, Unit 404, Camilla.”

“Thank you. I’ll go see her and ask about the situation.” Sylutia took note and expressed her gratitude.

“No problem. While talking just now I remembered—you were one of Tetis College’s representatives last year. The Bird spell you cast made an impression on many people.”

“Yes, that was me.” Sylutia didn’t expect anyone here to recognize her. No wonder Spencer valued the Silver Bell Festival performance so highly.

“Heh, go on then. If you find anything abnormal, report it to me. Camilla is still an academy student. If she’s in trouble, we’ll offer assistance.”

“All right.”

Sylutia left Gras College and headed for the address.

About forty minutes later she stepped down from the carriage and looked up at the building in front of her; this was Sage Street 171.

Sage Street was a well-known road for alchemical materials in the Gras District, lined with shops of varying sizes and some alchemy workshops. Rents tended not to be cheap.

It was bustling. Sylutia scanned the street; many mages passed by, and many of them doubled as alchemists.

By temperament, Camilla should dislike a place like this.

Sylutia entered the building and asked the staff, then went to the room on the fourth floor.

She knocked, but there was no response. She asked the staff again.

“You mean the tenant of Unit 404? She hasn’t been here for a while,” the staff answered, struggling to remember.

“I understand.” Sylutia didn’t ask more and returned to the room.

Standing at the door, she checked her surroundings to ensure no one watched, then pressed her hand to the lock. Several silver threads slipped into it, and before long the lock clicked open. She pushed the door and entered.

The apartment was small and a little cluttered. It was clear Camilla did not like tidying. Some dresses lay casually across the sofa and chair backs; the expensive silk fabric bore traces of dust, seemingly unwashed.

The curtains were drawn tightly, letting only slivers of light through top and bottom seams. Sylutia searched the place but found no Camilla. She did find many of Camilla’s usual items: a folding fan she favored, a parasol, her favored shoes, and two notebooks from the term. The air still carried Camilla’s faint perfume.

This girl still liked the Evening Nectar Orange scent so much. Sylutia muttered lightly as she began to tidy Camilla’s room. She put the unwashed clothes into water to be carefully cleaned.

Two hours passed while she worked, and the room was transformed. Things were neatly arranged and the washed clothes were dried by Sylutia’s warm, gentle airflow and folded into the wardrobe.

She then took the two notebooks and sat on the sofa to read.

One notebook recorded class notes, though not continuously; Camilla only wrote down points when she found them necessary. She was lazy about jotting down simple theoretical details.

The other notebook recorded class knowledge in the first half, but the second half turned into experimental notes. Camilla appeared to be brewing a potion, but she didn’t write the potion’s exact name. From the materials used, Sylutia inferred it might relate to a compound Aspect of Bloodline and Secret Word.

A potion of such composite Aspects would likely be Fifth Tier, attempted only by expert-level alchemists. Even with Camilla’s talent, producing such a potion would bring many troubles and difficulties. To test procedures she’d purchased lower-tier materials to practice steps and gain experience.

Bloodline “ignition” suppression “seal” heredity “traceback”... Sylutia studied the frequently mentioned words and notes, forming hypotheses.

Camilla must have run into problems related to her own bloodline. Her champagne-gold hair was rare, and her pupils were an unusually pure red, not like typical family traits.

Sylutia had met many people and could sense a certain presence in Camilla’s demeanor. In some ways Camilla resembled Lovier: she likely came from a very privileged family and had few daily worries, which left gaps in her practical knowledge.

Sylutia had experienced such a life in childhood—maids followed during dressing, washing, meals, and outings. Even when one didn’t need to do chores, her mother would sometimes insist she do them herself to learn life basics.

If things were normal, Camilla wouldn’t have left these notebooks behind. It was obvious she cared about them and had spent much time on her research.

But the reality was she hadn’t returned here for a long time, which meant something unexpected had happened.

From the teacher’s words, Camilla had already reached the Third Tier. With her talent and strength she shouldn’t have easily gotten into trouble, but Sylutia still felt a surge of worry.

For now, her only option was to return and ask that teacher for help. The Origin Hourglass was reputedly most skilled at tracking traces; if they intervened, they should be able to find where Camilla went and what happened to her.