After a few more minutes of walking and dodging the occasional stare from curious students who were still whispering about "the guy with the cat on his head," I finally reached the front of the auditorium.
The thing was massive.
It rose from the heart of the Academy like some kind of steel-and-marble monolith, smooth white panels interlocked with dark gray framing, the surface reflecting the light like polished glass. There wasn't a single rune etched into it, not a shimmer of mana pulsing through its structure. Just clean, precise architecture. Pure engineering.
A marvel of human craftsmanship, beautiful in a way that didn't rely on magic.
Even Sacha stopped fidgeting, her ears twitching as she stared down from my head. 'It's big,' she whispered. 'And shiny.'
"Yeah," I murmured, tilting my head up to take it all in. "It's impressive."
I smirked. "Guess someone out there really wanted to prove science could keep up."
