Zephyr Gate was a gigantic marble archway. It sat in a wide plaza bordered by an arrangement of buildings on a raised terrace. Around the gate itself were people wearing an assortment of armor and a small wooden pavilion with a broad-looking human man inside. Olivia approached that man and had a quick word. He snapped to attention and began doing something out of Ethan’s sight.

  As Ethan waited for anything to happen, he marveled at how quickly his thoughts had adjusted. He thought of the man inside the wooden pavilion as a human man, rather than just a man. Similarly, when he saw a cat person, he thought of them as a cat person, man or woman, respectively. He analyzed this thought process and figured it was for the best. Maybe the headmaster was right. If he could just focus on one of those things he had talked about. Maybe he could make it through this without going insane. He had never been the kind of guy to help people for no reason, but he did enjoy a good problem. If Gale House used magic and that magic was even remotely analogous to the problem-solving he so enjoyed, he’d be quite happy.

  All those thoughts vanished as the moment he had been waiting for arrived. Ethan realized instantly that he had seen something similar near the border of the massive gate. Lights, like neon signs, erupted. Then came the haze of heat in front of them, creating the illusion that the lights were moving. This time, the light spread like water poured onto an uneven surface. As though it was a bowl the light flowed toward the center, pulsing with some unknown rhythm. It created a loud whooshing sound that sent a brief gust of wind outward.

  “What are we waiting for?” Olivia asked, snapping her fingers to get Ethan’s attention. “We only have so much operational time with this thing, so let’s get through.”

  Ethan had the instinct to gather his things before heading to the shimmering light, but soon realized he had nothing to bring along. He tried to catch up to Barry, who moved with purposeful strides towards the staircase leading to the light. Barry was the first to vanish, and it appeared as though he had simply stepped the wrong way into a pool of water.

  Olivia was next, and when it was his turn, he hesitated for only a moment. The fear of being left behind sending him forward, and he felt the rippling energy of what he now realized was a portal washing over his body. Only an instant later, he stepped through to the other side, drawing a breath that felt fuller than the ones he had been breathing up on the floating city. Of course, it was at a higher elevation.

  Ethan didn’t even have time to reorient himself to the new environment before Olivia began speaking again. “Welcome to Gale House City, home of Gale House, obviously. We’re in the Brickack district, near most of your future classrooms and other academy-related structures. The city is home to twenty- to thirty-thousand people, depending on the time of year and the current student body. It will take you about a day to walk from one side to the other if you count the outskirts near the farmland.”

  “Fun facts.” Barry produced twin thumbs-up. Ethan was surprised to see the man actually enjoyed those facts.

  “Follow me,” Olivia announced, stopping at a similar wooden pavilion and exchanging some information with a mostly normal-looking man, Ethan realized that it was unlikely he was human, thanks to the pointed ears. It seemed like an elf from Earth’s fantasy media. That made him realize that Headmaster Vesper was also likely an elf.

  While the floating city of Barg was notable for massive structures made from white marble, Gale House City seemed far more inviting. The buildings were mixed, either made of stone or wood, with either thatched or tiled roofs. There were spires tall enough to defy reason and sprawling buildings with large glass windows that had a peculiar odor to them.

  “How are we going to eat?” Barry asked, his voice booming loud enough to startle a nearby group of robed people. They were young, probably in their early 20s, so Ethan pegged them as students’ new line.

  Olivia didn’t turn. She kept walking forward as she withdrew something from a bag hanging at her side. There were two fist-sized badges with their names scrawled over the surface and the word “Temporary” underneath.

  “This district has a dining hall that serves meals three times a day. If you want anything else, you’ll need to buy it yourself. These badges do many things. They’ll act as your access to the building you’re staying in.”

  “Free food?” Barry asked. “I already like this place.”

  Ethan didn’t have time to dissect what Olivia had said. The scent of the sea wafted into his nose, reminding him of his trips to the coast, most notably when he used to drive down to Ocean City in New Jersey. The Atlantic had never appealed to him, so he hoped this was a more temperate sea. When the smell of fish finally entered his nose, he realized they were close to some kind of dock or wharf. Olivia approached a dilapidated wooden building, finally turning to the pair and offering a sheepish smile.

  “This is the best I could do on such short notice. It used to be a warehouse used by the House Gale, but it hasn’t been too useful as of late.” She pressed one badge against a flat brass plate on the door, and it swung open as though by magic. She pressed inside, fanning her face as she did so.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Smells like dead fish.” Barry pinched his nose, fanning the air in front of his face.

  Ethan entered the small building, clicking his tongue as he spotted the source of the stench on the other side of the room. “Might be the crate of dead fish over there,” he said.

  “Again, I’m very sorry about this, but this was all I could drum up. Since the semester just started, everywhere’s packed. It’ll thin out as it goes on, but this is the best I can do unless you want to sleep on the street.”

  “Are you kidding? I love dead fish.” Barry released his nose and took a deep breath. He gagged but gave a thumbs-up again.

  Ethan lingered near the door, looking out. He saw another group of students in the distance. He assumed they were students at least; they had their hands held out, bright white neon lights springing from their palms. They moved in a pattern across the street.

  “What are they doing?” he asked, pointing to gain Olivia’s attention.

  “Oh, they’re cleaning,” she said with a laugh. “With magic, of course, because this is Gale House.”

  “Yeah, but why?” Ethan asked. He had never known students to care about their campus. And this was a city-campus, kinda like Yale, where there seemed to be no defined borders.

  “That’s actually a decent question,” Olivia said, her brows rising in surprise. “They’ll get into this with you when you properly register for your classes, but academic performance is not even 25% of your grade. Things like civil service, hunting monsters, creating and casting interesting spells, and so on, count for far more of your grade.”

  “So it’s more of a hands-on thing?” Ethan asked.

  “Exactly. Each house does it differently, but they all have some form of participation that’s mandatory.”

  Olivia just loved dropping little nuggets. “Each house?” Ethan asked. “So an Academy is the largest structure on the planet, and that’s a collection of houses. Am I following correctly?”

  “That’s exactly right. Tariat Academy has six houses, each dedicated to a group of classes within the X13 system.”

  “And each house has a city like this?” Ethan asked.

  “Correct again.”

  Ethan rubbed his chin. He was fairly certain he wouldn’t be able to sleep with the stench of fish inside the building. It was going to be difficult enough to sleep on the ground, but at least he would be indoors. He gestured to the people magically cleaning in the distance. “What are the chances we could get them to magic away the stench in this place? Maybe you could give them extra credit.”

  “I could certainly ask.” Olivia shrugged as though the task was simple. Which made Ethan question why she hadn’t already done it. “They aren’t obliged to do so, but... I can ask a few groups who are on cleaning duty on my way out of here.”

  “That would be lovely.” Barry gagged again. He rushed out the front, vomiting in a nearby bush.

  Olivia had a few more things to say before she left. She directed them to the administration office, where they could visit to register properly. Apparently, that had to be done in person. She also left a list of interesting locations within the city that they could visit. Of course, all the places she mentioned took payment in the form of their badges. While some of that was free, others would put them into debt, and there was only so much credit they were allowed. After she left, Ethan was happy to take care of the small crate of dead fish. There was a small stain left on the wooden floor, but he ignored that for now, praying for magical intervention.

  “Seriously, I don’t think I can spend another minute in there.” Barry’s face was green and he looked as though he would throw up again at any moment. “Do you want to go get this registration thing over with?”

  “That sounds like a plan to me,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “I don’t think the smell affects me as much as it does you, but if I stay there much longer, I’m going to get a headache. Would you mind if we stopped by the coast first? Olivia put it on her list of ‘free’ attractions.”

  Barry gave him a quizzical look, but eventually conceded. “Sure. Why the hell not?”

  While Ethan’s primary objective in seeing the ocean was to dip his toes in to center himself, he also wanted to get a better lay of the land. According to the crude map drawn by Olivia, this was the western coast of the continent, and the ships here could provide passage elsewhere. They could take portals when they could afford them, but that was outside their range for now. The duo moved through the city, getting a few strange looks from passersby. Ethan was still wearing the threadbare grey robe he had been given when he arrived, and Barry was still shirtless. Somewhere along the way, he had lost his own robe.

  The muscular man didn’t seem to care at all.

  “Did you used to live by the sea or something?” Barry asked as they crested a hill.

  Ethan craned his neck, finally getting his first sight of open water in the distance. His breath hitched in his throat as he saw the sprawl of blue, the sun reflecting off the small waves, creating the illusion of gems dancing far away.

  “No, but it always makes me feel better to look at it,” he said, pushing past Barry and leading the way down a rickety set of steps. He took them two at a time by this point, rushing to be closer to that scent. Only a minute later, he skidded to a stop on a wooden dock, one of his sandals rolling over and nearly causing him to twist his ankle.

  They stood on a large dock with jetties stretching out towards the sea far in the distance. Ethan could see a manmade barrier creating a bay that sheltered several ships. Some were three-masted, while others had only one mast, so it was a mix of ships intended for local and distant travel. That was interesting.

  “Olivia said they did a lot of fishing here.” Ethan took another deep breath, soaking in more of that scent.

  “What does it matter?”

  "Everything matters." Ethan's eyes remained locked on the horizon.