Astralis University sat at the edge of the cloud line, high above the misted peaks of the Silverbranch range.
From a distance, the campus looked like a city carved from white stone and glass, resting lightly on the mountainside.
Broad walkways connected tall domes and clean-lined towers, each section layered at different heights like a quiet spiral built into the slope itself.
The buildings shimmered faintly with layered barrier fields, not obvious to the naked eye, but visible enough to remind anyone watching that this place wasn't meant to be ordinary.
It didn't feel like a school.
It felt like a sanctuary.
Floating transport pods passed between spires in silence, and polished metal platforms hovered just above the courtyard for aerial landing.
The largest building, called the Core Wing, stood near the center. It wasn't the tallest, but it was the oldest, with vine-threaded columns and silver inlays wrapping around its wide, arched entry.
