Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Due to the lack of faculty members and the ongoing construction of the 'Aldrnari College', classes for the new department weren't scheduled for the first two weeks. Vahn had set this up to allow the children time to adapt to the campus and, if they wanted, find other classes they were interested in. It also allowed word to spread regarding the benefits of joining the nascent department as, with so few staff members, it would be problematic to accept new students after the lectures and classes had started.

As could be expected, the introduction of five new mysterious girls, each possessing some degree of beauty, caused a few ripples within the Clock Tower. This was especially true for Mordred and Mash as, despite the former being a bit of a tomboy, she had a very similar appearance to Artoria. As for Mash, she projected a calm and intelligent aura and, despite only being fifteen, had a developed figure that earned her a considerable number of admirers in a very short period of time.

One of the things that annoyed Vahn the most about this situation was that it wasn't just students trying to meet with the children. Rather, due to the complex internal politics and the traditions of the Clock Tower, relationships between faculty and students weren't nearly as regulated as they should be. This led to situations where some Professors used their position to proposition female students in exchange for better grades while, in some situations, high ranking faculty members would even pressure students into becoming 'research assistants' well after their graduation.

These were all things Vahn intended to change, especially after he noticed some forty-two-year-old Professor from the Faculty of Zoology trying to coax Astrid after learning about her preference for animals and unique creatures. While others may seem this as a relatively harmless attempt to try and scout a new student, Vahn's Divinity made him very aware of the intentions of others so he ended up paying a personal visit to the man to 'explain' the meaning of propriety.

If he were being honest, Vahn was disgusted with the current system so the rules he drafted for the operation of the Faculty of Unified Theory of Magecraft were drastically different. His agreement with Solon allowed the rules he had established to supersede the Clock Tower's own, at least within the department, Vahn was determined to set a better example. As for why he didn't try and force the Clock Tower to implement changes to the existing system, it was because there were a number of students who actually took advantage of it as well...

While not the healthiest or 'best' choice, there were a number of poorer students that readily took advantage of their looks and other assets to further their education. Having change suddenly forced upon them would put them into an even more difficult situation as the larger portion of the student body was too used to the existing system. After all, the loose nature of the restrictions placed upon them was what allowed them to act with impunity in the real world. If they suddenly had to face the reality of a changing world, one they were grossly unprepared for, the dissent would be widespread.

Vahn understood that it was futile to try and force change unless he was in complete control of a situation. Many of the current generation of Magi were already corrupted by the system so, while it was not impossible to correct their course, it was easier to target and empower those that naturally resisted the current system. He would rather save and protect those that desired change, rather than waste time and resources trying to forcibly change people that based their entire world view on the premise of benefits and exploitation.

Eventually, once his department began to grow and stabilize, a natural rift would form between the 'normal' students and those affiliated with the Faculty of Unified Thaumaturgical Theory. This would eventually lead to conflict but, as this was necessary to implement real change, Vahn was already anticipating it. He would do everything within his power to prepare the students and, when the time came, keep them safe, all while cutting the heads of any enemy brazen enough to try their luck at antagonizing the Empire...

---

As he had originally promised, Director Atlasia eventually arrived from Egypt after meeting with the veteran Alchemists of the Atlas Temple. It didn't take much effort for him to convince them to work alongside the Empire once they became aware of the fact he had Alaya as a 'familiar'.

At Director Atlasia's behest, a total of ten students of the Atlas Temple were enrolled in the Faculty of Unified Thaumaturgical Theory. He even brought his Vice-Director, a young woman named Sion, to act as a supplemental instructor and an understudy of Da Vinci. She was a brilliant woman with long purple hair, tied into pigtails, deep purple eyes, and a set of glasses that also served as an advanced Mystic Codex.

Like the students, Sion wasn't exactly human. Rather, she was an artificial lifeform that had been created by Zepia in the past. She was one of many subjects that he had developed while trying to research Dead Apostles so, as a result, she was also a modified Vampire. This allowed her to use a very advanced form of the Mystic Eyes of Charm, the reason why she needed her glasses. It wasn't that her eyesight was bad, rather, she used them to block the effects of her charm.

Fortunately, Sion was a sensible woman and, though she had a few quirks, there was a reason why Director Atlasia had raised her as both his daughter and successor. She was fully dedicated to the preservation of humanity and, unlike the rather somber and borderline emotionless students, she radiated an aura of positivity. Though he hadn't spent much time around her, Vahn had yet to see her without a genuine smile on her face, a stark contrast to the 'students' hailing from the Atlas Temple.

As the Atlas Temple very rarely scouted outsiders, almost every student and internal member of the Atlas Temple was some kind of Artificial Human or Homunculus. There was even one, a petite young girl named Rani V, who embodied the so-called 'pinnacle' of Atlassian Alchemy. She was an Artificial Intelligence given a biological form.

Rather than a normal nervous system and Magic Circuits, she had an artificial nervous system constructed of pure Ether that had been condensed into a macro-filament held together by organic nanomachines. As for her Magic Circuits, they were an intricate weave of circuits that, while not as high quality as a 'Perfect Homunculus' like Illya, made all natural-born Magi seem obsolete.

Rani was the fifth generation 'Ultimate Lifeform' that had been developed by the Atlas Temple in an attempt to further human evolution and prevent the extinction of the species. Her brain had greater processing power than even Ark and Mother as, much like them, she had been modified to allow for split processing using Spiritrons. This turned her brain into a biological supercomputer, something that Da Vinci found 'extremely' fascinating.

Unfortunately, in order to power and maintain her body, Rani V had an 'Artificial Dragon's Heart' comprised of a complex matrix of Etherlite, the same material serving as the framework of her hyper-advanced nervous system. This gave her a functionally infinite amount of mana but, as a result of her brain's requirements, she was a very low-energy girl with a perpetually blank expression. Her mind was capable of processing so much information that she spent more time lost in her thoughts than focused on reality, giving her a distinctly machine-like personality.

The most troublesome aspect of Rani, however, was that her heart was an incomplete product and, as the very existence of an artificial Dragon's Heart went against the Laws of the world, her nervous system would be slowly damaged beyond repair due to the strain. While this would still allow her to be of use, as her mind would still be active, she would spend her final years as nothing more than a living computer that would eventually reach a critical level, exploding like a medium-sized nuclear warhead.

As this wasn't something Vahn was willing to tolerate, he gave Rani, and all the other students, a modified version of the Ouroboros Seal. In Rani's case, hers was designed to actually siphon off a bit of the magical energy her Etherlite heart produced as, unlike the other students, she was the only one in danger of potentially exploding in the future. He would eventually either give her a new body or, as was the more likely scenario, allow Da Vinci to develop one for her. This was Director Atlasia's and Sion's hope as well so, in order to ensure there wasn't a need for a Rani VI, they would do what they could to guarantee the current generation model was capable of 'upgrading' itself...

---

With the inclusion of the ten exchange students from the Atlas Temple, another wave or ripples spread through the Clock Tower. This was largely due to the fact that the Atlas Temple was much older than the Clock Tower and, as a result of their reclusive nature, had almost no contact with the outside world. Even the 'Ten Major Families' had very little contact with them and, regardless of how powerful and influential you were, it was virtually impossible to pressure the Atlas Temple into doing anything. They were an extremely unified organization, one which even the Holy Church had failed to shake, even at the peak of its power.

As could be expected, the students of the Atlas Temple inspired just as much mystery and intrigue as the Mordred, Sakura, Mash, Astrid, and Zoë. However, as they were extremely anti-social due to their origins, the flair resulting from their enrollment quickly wore off. The only exception to this was Rani who, despite having a very peculiar appearance, could qualify as a beautiful and petite girl. She had dark skin, much like Lakshmibai, which paired surprisingly well with the pale purple hair that reached all the way to her lower back.

What stood out the most was that Rani generally wore golden rings and accessories on her body and, perhaps as a quirk of her original creator, had a very lean and petite figure by design. Though she looked more than a little childish, despite being sixteen years old, she had an adorable quality that increased her appeal to both male and female students. This, combined with her intelligence and the 'aura' the emanated, inspired a lot of male students to try their luck at getting to know her better.

Unfortunately for them, Rani had absolutely no interest in anyone outside of the Faculty of Unified Thaumaturgical Theory. It wasn't an exaggeration to say she had been 'programmed' to fulfill a very specific purpose. If a matter had no relation to her objective, she treated it as if it didn't exist, at least in so far as her behavior was concerned. This actually gave her a cult following among a select group of students but, as it was quickly being established that students involved with the new department were 'untouchable', they could only observe her from a distance...

By the time two weeks had passed, the total number of prospective students had increased from twelve to thirty-seven. This was only a fraction of the ones that wanted to join as the vetting process had eliminated more than seventy percent of applicants almost immediately. The rest were filtered out as a result of the investigations into their character, conduct, background, and situation. This meant that, of the four-hundred-and-nineteen applicants, only around five percent met the criteria that had been established for prospective students.

There was a considerable amount of dissatisfaction with this arrangement, especially when people noticed that the Aldrnari College could easily facilitate a thousand students, but Vahn didn't really care. He knew a few rotten fruit could spoil an entire harvest so, if they had a high chance of causing trouble, the students were not allowed to enter his department. It didn't matter how much that tried to complain as, from the very beginning, the Faculty of Unified Thaumaturgical Theory operated in sovereignty from the rest of the Clock Tower.

Vahn, and by virtue his department, were accountable to no one, not even Solon. Even if the Lords of other departments and factions tried to appeal to him directly, he would not allow their hand-picked spies and arrogant descendants to enter into a class that basically served as protection against them. They had nothing of value or interest to offer him and, as Sherlock had been compiling several thick stacks of documents pertaining to the crimes they had perpetrated, Vahn had absolutely no patience when it came to playing political games with them...

Due to the hard stance he had taken, Vahn had very few friends among the other factions, especially those associated with orthodox practices and traditions. Inversely, he was immensely popular in the unnamed faction headed by Waver, even if there were a number of 'commoner' students who had accused him of favoritism and discrimination.

Even during the two weeks leading up to the start of class, there were several rumors fueled by the other factions that came up with a variety of bogus justifications for why some were accepted over others. This was a sad attempt to vilify the students who were fortunate to be accepted but, as the average student had become pretty skeptical due to recent events, they rarely gained much traction. It helped that, every time another rumor was spread, the culprits behind its propagation would be quickly exposed. At the same time, a number of their past scandals would be made public, sending many departments into damage control in a vain attempt to salvage their nonexistent dignity...

Needless to say, Da Vinci's technical prowess, combined with Sherlock's investigative ability, was a nightmare in the Information Era...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The Clock Tower is kind of fucked up','Every time Rani's heart beats, it is like the pulse of a nuclear reactor :D...','Vahn is really riling up the other factions (UwU)...')

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