The world's greatest institute known for producing talented individuals in the fields of magic, arts, and knighthood.
[Eclipse Institute of Magic and Arts]
Or in short simply [Eclipse].
It was founded right after the era of the 'Five Calamities' ended—by none other than the second king of the Liora Kingdom.
Eclipse was the name proposed by the king's second wife, to represent the contrast between classes.
Light and darkness. Noble and commoner. Good and evil… blalalala…
Well, in reality it was just Haru alone who was high on caffeine at 4 a.m. looked outside his window and muttered…
"Eclipse sounds so badass."
The next morning when he checked back the code base, he cringed super hard at himself.
But he was too lazy to change it.
So he left it as it was.
As grand as the capital Liora's palace.
It was half the size of the Liora Kingdom's capital—Shinra. And located right in the middle of it.
Within this massive area, only about 10,000 students lived.
Among them, 2,000 were first-years, while the rest were second, third, up to fifth-year students.
Admitting both nobles and commoners from across the world, it was more competitive than any other magical institute.
In a way, Eclipse was too harsh and dreary to be called a home for 18 to 22 year olds.
Furthermore, there were countless staff members, including instructors, cleaning maids, butlers, chefs, recruiters, government associates, researchers, doctors each playing their part in maintaining and operating Eclipse.
With everyone combined, nearly 50,000 people resided within Eclipse.
It was basically a city within a city.
Though it had residential zones and infrastructure of its own, only students and staff were permitted entry.
Since most of the royalty and noble children from across the world resided in Eclipse each year, the institute had its own set of rules and internal management.
The outside laws did not apply here.
In simple terms, Eclipse was the only neutral zone in the world untouched by government authority.
Not even the King of Liora had power inside Eclipse. It was a politically free zone for the nobles.
In the game Rebirth of the Fivefold Calamity, Eclipse was the starting point of the protagonist's journey as a Hero.
Directly recruited into the institute, the protagonist lived quite a luxurious life here.
But even so, his soon-to-be lavish lifestyle wasn't without occasional doom.
For the story progression of course.
There were a total of twelve main arcs in the first year.
And the protagonist would gain allies and more importantly, uncover the world's hidden lore, as he slowly progressed over time.
…And among those twelve arcs, Leon's death arc would be one of them.
Staring at the giant metal door, Leon squinted up at the towering structure in front of him.
Thick steel gates. White stone walls. Dozens of tall towers stretched into the sky, each connected by skybridges and walkways.
Eclipse looked less like an institute and more like a fortress.
'This looks so grand in real life.'
"You didn't forget anything did you, young master?"
Beside him, Myra asked, stepping out of the carriage.
"No," Leon replied. "I took everything mentioned in the document."
"That's good to hear."
Myra looked around.
There were dozens of carriages lined up near the entrance.
It was clear from their luggage that they were the first-years who would be enrolling alongside Leon.
The parents were there to escort their children. Leon saw a family of some local commoner, where a lady, likely the mother, was squeezing her daughter in her arms.
Just not too far from them, a man in a proper noble suit was proudly chatting with others.
Clearly, they wanted to introduce their son or daughter to other families to make connections.
Seeing that, Leon glanced at his own modest group… he was here with his personal maid, as well as two horses and a carriage driver.
"..."
'What can I expect?'
He sighed and turned to his maid.
"Are you sure you'll be fine here with me?" He asked.
Myra replied.
"Young master, Lady Veronica personally assigned me as your maid. I'll be here with you as long as you want me to."
The noble houses, especially the Duke's and royalty were allowed to bring one personal maid with them, on one condition: they had to do the chores of their masters and not get involved in any of the Institute's matters.
'I just hope she doesn't bite me back.'
Last night, Myra had requested Leon to take her with him. At first, Leon rejected the idea, but later the Duke himself gave the order.
Leon didn't have the authority to refuse his father outright yet. Taking Myra with him was the last thing he wanted.
'Exactly what is Veronica trying to pull here…'
"Haaahh."
'Forget it.'
Right now, he didn't want to think about her. After all, he'd already assigned that task to someone else.
"Young master," Myra called out.
Leon turned.
"Yes?"
"I'll shift your belongings to your assigned dorm," she said, picking up two heavy briefcases one in each hand. "Till then, you can make yourself familiar with the surroundings."
"..."
'Holy! She's strong.'
With that, Myra left his sight, leaving Leon staring in a daze.
THWAK—
Suddenly, someone bumped into him.
"Ack!"
He fell.
"What the hell!" An irritating voice came from behind him.
He turned his head upward to see who it was.
'It's her...'
"—"
His words stuck in his throat as he recognized the person.
Long black hair with purple-tipped strands. Red eyes. A black outfit that definitely didn't scream nobility. But she really was one.
She was carrying a briefcase in one hand and tossing a gold coin in the air with the other.
"Huh." She looked down at Leon's fallen figure. "Want something, dickhead?"
"..."
Leon didn't speak.
He knew… if he did, she'd show no mercy.
'Of all the people, why it has to be her?'
"Move," she said coldly, "if you don't want me to crush your balls."
"..."
'But it was you who bumped into me.' He thought.
Leon didn't have the luxury of pride yet. First impressions mattered. So... he held it in.
"..."
He knew if he didn't move, she'd really follow through with her threat.
Ignoring her mocking, he simply stood up and moved away from her way.
"Huh."
Seeing Leon didn't resist, she simply walked off with that same irritating expression.
"...sigh…"
'That's the only way to deal with that girl.'
Leon sighed in relief.
'That was a close call.'
Still, Leon's face didn't show any anger, because the person who just bumped into him was ranked 1st in the game's popularity chart.
Alice Nightson.
The only heir of House Nightson.
Seeing her in real life made him excited.
She would become one of the protagonist's companions in the 4th arc of the game.
For the first time, Leon genuinely looked around.
He didn't just glance at the view. He felt proud.
'All of this…'
The towering structure. The nobles. The commoners. The sky. The river. The birds. That little stone on the ground…
'...they are all my creations.'