~~~一~~~

~~~因帝国~~~

The cry of an eagle was heard in the distance as three sturdy carriages drove down a wide road. They were painted blue with golden accents and two of them held four people per vehicle while the last held their luggage.

They had just crossed the border that divided the Jin Empire and the Yín Empire which had just signed a new peace treaty. Seven of the travelers were students from the Jin Empire's best magic school and would be coming for a student exchange as a sign of goodwill. Likewise, the Yín Empire would also send the same amount to Jin.

The final passenger in the second carriage was merely a chaperone of high ranking. The being would only accompany the students to the capital and would leave the day after their welcoming banquet.

The students were of varying levels of spiritual power but were all hand-picked by their headmaster to represent their empire. Among these students was a young man with no real family. His name was Dàoyì.

Nine years had passed since he left the orphanage to train in the capital and he was now twenty years old. He was slightly taller than average and his features grew sharper as he matured into an adult, but other than that not much changed. His dark blue hair was still kept short as not to get in the way during battle and there was still a friendly light that shined bright in his azure irises.

His clothes consisted of a mostly black uniform that had blue and golden accents. Both the jacket and pants were made of an expensive material that was light and easy to move in, but durable enough to hold well in a fight. Hanging over his chest was a steel pentacle that he rarely took off.

A small hiss brought the male's attention away from the fields and trees that they passed down to the magic beast in his lap. As beings that possessed spiritual energy Iron-Throated Devils could also use magic and this one chose to be able to shrink down to the size of a small python. Unlike the others of its kind, this individual had pure white scales along its upper lip instead of the same matte black on the rest of its head.

'Nana, can you feel it too?' the male thought as he ran two fingers down her spine. His eyes focused on the way the serpent slithered up to curl around his wrist. 'We're one step closer to finding Lián-mei.'

"Dàoyì, have you listened to a single word I've said?" scoffed the woman sitting across from him. Her eyes were narrowed and she wore a small frown as her arms were crossed over her chest.

The other two males that were in the carriage snickered at their classmate's panicked expression before the woman shook her head. She let out a sigh before saying, "Never mind, the streets of the inner portion of the capital are narrow so we have to get out now. A guide will lead us to the school on foot."

"Are you serious?" groaned a male who looked eerily similar to the woman save for his hair which was cut shorter and tied into a low ponytail. "We're living symbols of the peace treaty and they're making us walk?"

"Don't be arrogant, Hǎiyáng!" the female hissed as she opened the carriage door and shoved the younger male out. Lucky for him, the vehicle was already stopped. "This is a rule for everyone in the inner city. No vehicles are permitted within its gates."

"Considering how densely populated the inner city is, that rule makes sense," commented the third male as he stepped out as well. His silver toned hair was braided over his left shoulder as his calculating green eyes scanned their surroundings. "It would be too dangerous to have vehicles rolling through."

As soon as the orphan stepped out next to the others it was clear that they were from the same school. They all wore the same uniforms with the only difference being their first accent color since the gold denoted their empire.

Stepping out of the carriage in front of theirs were four female students who wore similar uniforms. The only difference being that they wore skirts instead of pants.

Two of the girls looked exactly the same, save for their hairstyles. They had peach-toned skin that was littered with scars. Their green eyes held the same curiosity as they each looked at the gates of the inner city. The girl on the left had her electric green hair up in two messy buns at either side of her head. The girl on the right had her hair in a high ponytail.

The third female that stepped out was the tallest out of all of them. She had smooth, dark brown skin that seemed to glow in the afternoon sun. Her eyes were a piercing orange tone that were squinted as she let out a yawn. She then ran her fingers through her short brown hair that was shaved down on the left side of her head.

The fourth and final female that had emerged from the carriage was delicate looking. She had a petite form and soft features to accompany her light pink hair that was styled into a bob and round eyes that matched in color.

"Dàoyì-gēgē!" she chirped upon seeing the blue haired male. Her eyes were practically sparkling as she ran up to him and clung to his arm. "This city is so pretty, isn't it?"

An awkward chuckle left his lips. The male was aware of the feelings she harbored for him and tried to hint at the fact he wasn't interested, but she was unrelenting. She would continue to act touchy with him even if he was uncomfortable with it and was constantly watching for other females who would even dare to look in his general direction.

Before he could ask her to let go, the reptile wrapped around his right arm stuck her head up, and flicked her tongue in different directions. Upon catching onto a certain scent, she let out a hiss and released his limb. As soon as she hit the ground she undid her shrinking spell, growing to the size of a small carriage, before slithering off into the inner city.

The chaperone let out a sigh as multiple people screamed and dived to move out of the beast’s path. The owner of the said beast called out her name before releasing himself from his junior's grip and running after it.

"What are you all doing just standing there?" the woman snapped as she turned to glare at the others who just stood by. She shifted her weight back as she crossed her arms over her chest. "The more damage that thing causes, the more it'll damage the reputation of the empire. Go help him catch it!"

As the young man weaved through the already panicking civilians he let out a gasp as his companion coiled herself around a masked figure that was leading a group of what looked to be royal guards. The armored figures immediately brandished their weapon and surrounded the creature in response.

Just before they could move to attack, a smooth voice came from behind the mask. "Stand down," they ordered calmly, not even trying to struggle. "This serpent means us no harm. She's merely excited."

The guards looked unconvinced, but the creature let out a hiss before nuzzling its head against the person. It made no move to attack so they followed their instructions albeit very hesitantly.

"Nana!" Dàoyì called as soon as he got close enough to the group. Multiple eyes turned to him as the snake perked up and slithered over to him, shrinking back down on the way.

One of the men in silver-plated armor opened his mouth to say something only to be interrupted by the figure that was dropped. "Is she yours?" they asked, now much easier to see without a large reptile wrapped around their form.

The being looked to be female as they wore a black tube top that was cut just under her bust to show her midriff. Pinned onto the cloth over her left breast was a brooch that had eight bars hanging from it, each decorated with ten beads. Worn over her top was a long, black haori that had an ombré of purple flowers starting from the bottom. Along with that, a large amount of her smooth pale skin was visible as she wore high-waisted denim shorts with heeled combat boots that exposed her legs. Strapped across her body and hanging flat against her left hip, was a medium-sized circle basket that was held shut by a metal latch.

The woman's face was covered by a white fox mask with red detailing, but her jet black hair that fell down to the middle of her thighs could be seen. There also seemed to be a black cord hanging around her neck and a black jade bangle around her left wrist, but he wasn't close enough to see the pendant.

"Nana, is one of my friends," the man replied as he allowed the creature to slither up into his arms. As he stood up, his other companions started to arrive. "She's been with me since I was a child."

"I see, how sweet," the stranger commented with a nod. She then flicked her hair over her shoulder before a blue haired woman entered her vision. "Ah, Lady Long, is that you?"

The students looked between the two women in surprise before the noble gave a curt nod in greeting. She then held her hands out in a salute before saying, "Lady Assistant, I apologize for any trouble that my student may have caused."

"Assistant?" the silver haired male questioned. His eyebrows knitting together as he adjusted his glasses. "Lady Long, what are you talking about?"

"This person is the direct assistant of the Seventh Princess of the Yín Empire," Xièhú explained simply as she nodded towards the woman surrounded by guards. "Her mistress serves as the Soul Maiden who is in charge of the Spirit House in the Yín Elite Academy. In other words, the head of the house you all were placed in."

"Thank you for the introduction, Lady Long, but you don't have to apologize for anything. No harm was done," the masked figure chuckled upon turning to the students. All of them wore shocked expressions and she could see the panic in their eyes. "I'm not offended and no one meant to be a threat."

She then turned around and beckoned them to follow her as the guards parted for her to walk. Her head turned over her shoulder as she said, "Now let's not waste any more time. The First Princess is waiting for you."

It didn't take long for the guests to follow the unnamed being, the armored guards falling around and behind them as they went. The inner city was indeed densely populated so this made sure that no one got separated or lost in the crowds.

As they learned before departing for the Yín Empire, many of the royal children were either attending or working within their most elite academy. The eldest child, the First Princess Hikari worked as the Head Mistress of the academy. Everything in the school was organized by her and she did her job efficiently. The Seventh Princess who remained unnamed to many was one of the empire's Soul Maidens. They were regarded as prophets and held the job of guarding and organizing certain things in the various magic schools in the Yín Empire.

In this case, the Yín Elite Academy had five Soul Maidens that acted as the head of their different houses. They were responsible for organizing inter-house issues and selecting students that were eligible to join their houses.

The houses of this specific magic school were all based on the five basic elements. The first four; air, earth, water, and fire; all had at least five hundred students that were housed in their own towers on academy grounds. The fifth house representing the element of spirit only had a total of sixty students which made it the most difficult house to get into out of all five.

As they followed the assistant, all of the students found her to be... odd. Originally, no one could place why they felt that way until Dàoyì sent some spiritual energy into his eyes and let out a gasp.

'What is this?' he thought while his gaze narrowed. He could see no spiritual energy coming off of her whatsoever, not even the small amount that would come from a normal person. She had none. It was as if she didn't even exist in the first place.

Just before he could make any more investigations, the guide turned around to face him, walking backwards as she asked, "Young Master, is there something strange about my appearance?" Her head was tilted to the side as the male tensed. "You've been staring for quite some time now."

"I'm sorry," he muttered. His eyes flicked down to Nana as he tried to avoid looking at the figure any further, but she just let out a laugh while shaking her head.

The woman with the fox mask waved her hand dismissively as she turned to face forward once more. "You didn't offend me, I was just playing around. You all seemed a bit tense." She kicked a stray stone out of the way. "I know you were just curious, but you should make sure that your eyes don't wander when you're in the presence of any of the royal family."

"They're still on edge about those from the Jin Empire coming into our capital so soon," she continued as they entered the gates to the grand school. "As the head of your house, my princess will do the best she can to direct attention away from you, but that doesn't mean you can act wildly."

"You don't have to worry about that," replied the noblewoman in blue. Her eyes narrowed at the group of seven. "I've had it drilled into their heads that they need to behave."

"I sure hope so," the faceless female sighed as she reached her arms up to stretch. She let out a small huff as they reached the doors of the central building of the Academy before turning to the group. "This is as far as I can take you, the guards will take you in to see Her Highness. I wish you all luck."

The woman gave a small salute before disappearing completely in the blink of an eye. All of the students freely expressed their shock as the blue haired male thought, 'So she can use magic? Then where was her spiritual energy when I scanned her?'

"Why do you all look so surprised? Didn't you see her brooch?" their chaperone asked with not a sign of shock on her face. She then began following the guard that had walked ahead, prompting the others to do the same. "She had eight hanging pins with ten beads strung onto each one of them which means her spiritual energy is at level eighty."

"Level eighty?!" the dark skinned female asked as they stepped into the main hall of the building. Her eyes were wide, but she wasn't paying attention to the expensive decorations around her. "But I didn't even feel a drop of spiritual energy coming from her! How could she be at level eighty?"

One of the guards couldn't hide his snicker as Xièhú clicked her tongue and shook her head. "You should be even warier of those who don't have any energy coming off of them," she started with narrowed eyes. "Retracting all of her energy is a tactic she uses to make opponents underestimate her."

"Jiějiě, you've fought her before?" her younger sibling asked as they passed a window that showed the green grass and a stark white tower. "How was that?"

The Yín Elite Academy was built in the shape of a star with the five house towers serving as the main points. There was a large building in the center that held the academy's main office on the upper floors as the lower floors were used to host celebrations. Surrounding all of the towers and central building were magically reinforced walls that created a pentagon around the academy's perimeter. Every other place was built around the main six buildings and organized by what each house specialized in.

As the group stepped onto a lift platform the woman let out a scoff before saying, "I wasn't the one to fight her." They all felt the familiar hum of magic run through the platform before it began to ascend and she continued, "It was another nobleman who challenged her at one of the diplomatic gatherings and he got cocky just because he couldn't sense her spiritual energy." A disappointed huff left her lips. "He lowered his guard and she used that teleport ability of hers to get in close and blocked his energy gates with pinpoint accuracy before releasing her spiritual pressure just to spite him. She won the battle without having to exert too much effort."

By the time the group had reached the doors office of the Head Mistress, they were greeted by another pair of guards standing by the double doors. With a quick exchange of words, the armored beings opened the doors and the foreigners were allowed inside.

The office was large and open with two couches placed in front of the fireplace with a coffee table in between them. There were large potted plants in every corner of the room and two more placed at either side of the desk that sat in front of a wall of books.

Standing at the large, clear glass windows that looked over the west side of the academy was a woman of average height. She had platinum blonde hair that was done up with silver hairpins and wore sky blue robes made of a fine silk. Pinned over her right breast was a brooch with ten smaller pins hanging vertically from it. Nine of the pins had ten beads while the last one only had two.

She turned to the door upon hearing the sound of the doors creak open to reveal a mismatched set of eyes. Her left eye was a deep verdant tone while her right eye was a brilliant blue.

All at once the foreigners saluted with a bow and said, "We pay greetings to the First Princess." All did their best to keep their eyes and heads down under the woman's imposing presence, but some couldn't help but look up every now and then.

"You must be the students from Jin Spirit Academy," the female identified as she went to take a seat behind her desk. She then waved a dismissive hand. "You may rise."

"Your Highness, these are the seven students that were chosen to come to represent our empire," the noblewoman explained before turning to the younger individuals. She then gestured to each one of them and introduced them by name.

Dàoyì was first as he stepped forward and bowed in respect. He had tucked Nana into the jacket of his uniform to make sure she wouldn't misbehave before stepping back.

The second one to be introduced was the shorter female with pink hair. Her name was Yīng Kāihūa and she gave a delicate curtsy with a small smile.

The next one to step forward was the shorter male with lighter blue hair. His name was Long Hǎiyáng and was the younger brother of the woman, much to her displeasure.

The fourth in line was the calmer male with silver hair. Bó Shīmāo bowed with perfect posture as soon as he was introduced and kept his greeting as brief as possible.

The next two girls were introduced together since they were twins. Lùsè San was the girl with her hair in messy buns and the one with the ponytail was Lùsè Shi.

The last of them to be introduced was the tallest of the girls. Jiàng Tiě earned a raised brow from the older woman but didn't speak up about it when she bowed.

"So these are the Jin brats? They don't look like much to me," scoffed another voice and everyone looked up to see another female sitting on the chandelier. She then leapt down in front of the dark wooden desk with arms crossed over her chest. "Are they even qualified to be learning here?"

"And who exactly are you to say that?" asked the male with white hair. His lips were turned downwards as his eyes narrowed at the newcomer.

She had long red hair tied up into a side ponytail as her scarlet eyes scanned over the students. Not much of her tanned skin was seen as it was covered by a form-fitting silver armor and red cape. Sticking up from the armor was the collar of a white shirt that had a brooch pinned to it. It had eight smaller pins hanging from it with all but one decorated with ten beads each. The final pin only had nine beads.

Upon hearing the male's question, the woman threw her head back and let out a laugh that revealed her pointed canines. After calming down a bit, she shifted her weight and placed a hand on her hip as she said, "My name's Ryo. Yín Ryo."

'Crap!' Dàoyì thought as his eyes narrowed. He immediately recognized the name and determined that the woman was the Second Princess of the Yín Empire. 'She's almost at level ninety and is the commander of one of this empire's strongest troops.'

"Er-mei, calm down," the First Princess sighed. She then stood up with her elbows bent and hands held flat over her midsection. "There's always one way we can test their strength to see if they are worthy of attending this academy."

Just as the chaperone opened her mouth to speak, the two princesses released their spiritual energy simultaneously. Aura's of white and red clouded off from their respective owners as the guests were immediately brought to their knees under the pressure.

'Dammit! I knew this would happen!' the blue haired woman internally hissed as she struggled to even stand while hunched over. Her hands were placed on her knees to support her torso, but she could barely fight the pressure. 'I can handle the pressure of the Second Princess since her level is closer to mine, but the First Princess is at level ninety-two compared to my eighty-six!' Her eyes then flicked over to the students who were completely pressed to the floor. 'They're only in the fifties. If they keep this up, they'll kill them!'

'Drawing from the element of Spirit: Dispel!'

A quick pulse of a new energy immediately caused the two auras to disappear, allowing the foreigners to breathe. To one individual, in particular, that pulse felt strange, like he had encountered it before.

"Jiějiě, Er-jiě, what are you doing?" asked a new voice. Blue eyes flicked over to the new individual that stood in between them and the two royals. "You shouldn't be bullying our new students."

They couldn't see the figure's face since they had their back to them, but the guests could tell that it was a woman from the tone of their voice. She had long, jet black hair that was done half up with a silver hairpin while the rest fell down to the middle of her thighs. She wore a long hanfu made of a fine silk in a light purple color and stood with purple posture. Resting flat on her left hip was a round wicker basket that closed with a metal latch. It looked a bit out of place with the rest of her dress but still seemed to match.

Upon realizing who had just appeared, the armored woman tripped over her tongue before settling on, "We were just testing them, Qī-mei." She lifted her right hand to scratch the back of her neck. "As students, they really shouldn't be acting so arrogant in front of the Head Mistress."

"From what I just witnessed they weren't the ones who were acting arrogant, Er-Jiě," the ravenette retorted, causing the general to flinch. While the stranger flicked a stray hair lock of hair over her shoulder, the students took the chance to recover. "If you keep acting so petty, then you'll only put a bad image on our family and empire."

The orphaned male couldn't help but feel completely relaxed in the presence of this new being, who was most likely another princess based on the way they addressed each other. He rolled over onto his back and looked into his jacket to see that his reptile companion was fine before hearing the woman say, "Even if you don't like them you need to treat them with respect." She then turned around, causing the male to gasp. "If their abilities don't meet the standards of this school, then it will show, but for now they are our students and should be treated as such."

The First Princess let out a sigh and turned to address the other, but Dàoyì couldn't hear it. He was too focused on the doll-like features of the woman standing over him. She had pale skin that looked smoother than porcelain and expressive purple eyes that sparkled like crystals. The fact that she had a brooch with eight full pins hanging from it was also notable, but what confirmed his suspicions was what hung around her neck.

It was about the size of a coin and hung from a necklace made of a sturdy black cord. The pendant was made of a silver-toned metal in the shape of a star-shaped flower with five petals acting as the points. The large flower was surrounded by a wreath of smaller flowers cast in great detail. This was the pendant that he had given to his dear friend before she left to train only to never return.

'Lián-mei...'

"Are you alright?"

The male was snapped out of his thoughts by the woman holding out a hand to him with her eyes focused on him. He looked back up to reply, but her eyes immediately flicked off to the side to avoid eye contact before he nodded. "Yes I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"Well, Qī-mei, I'll leave them to you then," the First Princess said as she sat back down at her desk. She opened one of the folders on her desk before picking up a pen. "Go ahead and take them back to your tower."

"Thank you, Jiějiě, I hope you have a good rest of your day," the Seventh Princess said before turning to the armored female with a nod. "You as well, Er-Jiě."

As she turned to lead the foreigners out of the office, Xièhú could tell what the younger male was thinking. She reached out and took hold of his wrist so that they were walking towards the back of the group. This earned a raised brow, but she only shook her head.

Once they exited the central building, the ravenette stopped in one of the courtyards and turned to the exchange students. They all wondered why she stopped but were caught off guard when she held her hands out in front of her in a salute and gave a deep bow.

"I apologize for the actions of my elder sisters," she started, keeping her head down. This caused the noblewoman to internally panic as the visual could draw negative attention to them. "They let personal feelings meddle in this sign of peace and treated you badly."

"Well, at least one of you has manners," Hǎiyáng shrugged, ignoring the two pairs of blue eyes that bored holes into his back, "but which princess are you?"

Just before the chaperone could step forward and scold the male, the princess stood up and giggled. Her eyes squinted slightly as she hid her smile behind her draping sleeve before she lowered it and said, "I am the Seventh Princess of the Yín Empire, Yín Xuělián."

Dàoyì bit his lip as the female's eyes swept over all of them, lingering on him for a moment before looking down. 'It is her!' he thought as his heart began to accelerate, but he knew better than to act out in the open and cause a scene.

"I am also the Soul Maiden in charge of the Spirit House, so if you need anything you can just come and find me," she continued with a smile before continuing to lead them. Her hands held flat against her stomach accompanied by her posture made her look like a doll. "I'll help you out to the best of my abilities."

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but that ‘assistant’ that came down to pick us up was you, right?” the silver haired male questioned with a raised brow. His fellow students just looked at him with confused expressions but he wasn’t focused on them.

The woman in front of them gave an approving nod as she said, “Very good. You figured it out.” She then let out a chuckle before asking, “Is there anything specific that gave it away?”

Shīmāo gave a small hum and adjusted his glasses before answering, “Your voices are the same. Also, the fact that neither of you gives off any spiritual energy was suspicious.” The female clapped her hands together with a smile as she nodded along.

“That’s true, all living things give off at least some spiritual energy even if they don’t focus on training their magic,” she explained. “That’s just how things are, but someone who gives off nothing is an immediate red flag.”

The woman left no room to discuss the topic further as she began turning her attention to the various landmarks of the academy. Before taking them to where they would be staying for the course of their studies, the princess gave them a quick tour of the school that the navy haired male barely paid attention to. He was too busy staring at her and wondering how she got where she was.

When they came back to the Spirit Tower, she explained that each tower had one hundred and two floors. The first floor was the lobby and the top floor was the quarters of the Soul Maidens. Every floor in between held two large apartments that housed up to four students per apartment.

She then led them to a large magic circle in the middle of the first floor and gave each of them a key while saying, "These are the keys to your assigned apartments." She then held up her own. "They aren't only used for locking and unlocking your living spaces, but also for going up our magic elevators."

Just before one of the green haired twins could open her mouth to ask a question, the magical circle beneath their feet lit up. In a flash of light, the floor disappeared beneath everyone's feet for a moment before they felt it again. When the light died down, they appeared in a hall with one door in front of them and another behind them.

"Your living spaces will be here on the ninth floor," the ravenette explained as she held her hands out to the two doors. "Girls will stay in the apartment to my left and boys in the one to my right."

With that being said, she allowed the students to go inside and set their luggage down in their rooms, but one stayed in the hall with her. Purple eyes stayed glued to the floor even as a pair of black shoes entered her direct line of sight.

"Lián-mei... Is that really you?" the male asked with his fists clenched down at his sides. His voice cracked as he spoke, but he didn't care. He needed to know.

His eyes were locked onto the shorter female's form, noticing how her hands gripped onto the cloth of her dress or how her nails dug into her own flesh. He also caught how her next intake of breath was extremely shaky before she looked up at him with watery eyes.

The woman's lips were trembling but she eventually found the courage to say, "It's been a while, hasn't it?" Her stomach churned as she met the same blue eyes that she had found herself gazing into so much as a child.

"Dào-gē."

~~~Fin. Chapter 1~~~