not seem to see them, only automatically climbing them one by one. In the atmosphere of stillness and silence that currently prevailed in Solvein, it was difficult to speak. The emptiness in the corridors was also unnatural for this place, but according to tradition, only students taking exams and instructors supervising the tests were allowed on the Academy grounds during exams. Therefore, an invitation to talk on the day of the exams was, no matter how you looked at it, quite unusual.
Climbing several floors was demanding, especially for Gizel, who did not want to show that it affected her in the slightest. Darius regretted that the Academy did not have such amenities as the lifts in the Emerald Pagoda. They had to grit their teeth and keep going. When they finally left the staircase, they found themselves in a corridor running in both directions, directly opposite a double set of polished doors. Bleist recalled what the rector's office looked like when he was last here. It was a huge, oval room with a dome-shaped ceiling made entirely of smooth white stone. Along the walls were marble busts of previous rectors, stretching all the way to the window that took up the entire space opposite the entrance. In the centre of the dome was an alchemical crystal glowing with a bright white light. The only furniture in the room was a pearl desk and a marble armchair, or rather a throne with a nearly four-metre-high backrest in the shape of a spearhead split vertically down the middle, with an Atlantis star made of pure gold placed in the middle. The empty space was sterile and bright to such an extent that one's head began to ache just a few minutes after entering. This was the kingdom of Rector Ivan Roswarat, a man of great ambition, powerful ego and royalist views. He also possessed magical abilities and was one of the most powerful chaos mages known to man. However, he was completely devoid of charisma and the ability to win people over. He went down in history for his participation in
