Apocalypse Reborn: Academy Start (Patreon)

Apocalypse Reborn: Academy Start

…

Commissioned by J.A.

Wordcount: 2500

…

Alistair, the headmaster of the Academy, looked at me and I looked back at him.

“Sup.”

“Impudence at the very first breath. As I expect of you, Jack.” He sat behind his very expensive, wooden desk swathed in dark purple robes with golden vestments. All you need is a phallic-looking hat and a cane and you’ll be able to pretend to be the pope, y’know? “Would you care to explain your latest exploits that have driven you to my office? For the third time this month?”

“Professor Eli was being a moron and a racist. I proved him wrong. He sent me here after.”

“After which he resigned, left the Academy, and did so without his family or most of his belongings and wealth.”

“Good on him. Starting over scratch is great. I wish him the best.”

“He was heading east on the wagon heading out of Academy territory. After selling everything he owned.”

“…Maybe, he’s decided to live as a hermit free of earthly possessions?”

“More likely that he’s consigned himself to death by barbarian, Jack! I told you many times over that the professors of the Academy are not toys for you to break over your knee!” Alistair yelled, and I got the message. I raised my hands up placatingly and didn’t speak a word. That was enough for the bespectacled, white-haired man who took me in to simmer down. “Your intellect and knowledge is apparent to all. You are a rising star and you have my full backing, however, your rise to become my heir will be hampered if you keep making so many enemies.”

“…Sorry, I’ll try better to be quiet, even when people are wrong.” It took everything I had to say it, but I knew I had to. Alistair was a bastard, a scoundrel, and probably a psychopath, but he wasn’t a liar. If he said my actions were making it hard for him to hand over his spot, he meant it, and I needed his spot to get what I needed to survive. The other option was stealing shit, running away, and hoping that the apocalypse hit me last. “Is that all?”

Alistair relaxed at my words. It took a lot of time and effort for me to manage to link the idea that I was the same as him in his violent skull. You might think that I like fucking people over who I think are incompetent, you rotten bastard, but I’m just doing it because I have to. Otherwise, you’ll just put me down as a threat to you. Thankfully, Alistair liked the sound of his own voice, and once convinced of what he thought, he wasn’t the type to change his worldviews and adapt.

He was the sort of guy that insisted he’s right, even with the evidence right in front of him.

“No. It isn’t, but with that solved, we can move on.”

Ever the drama-queen, he was slow as he took the package out from a drawer in his desk and unveiled it.

Inside were the objects that I’d started looking for the moment I found myself reborn into this mess.

“Two Control Rings of the Ancients. Each one capable of unlocking and finding a supply center of the ancients. You told me about them, you asked for me to search for them, and now… I ask of you where we can find them and ensure the Academy’s supremacy.”

This was a ridiculous test on the surface. He was essentially asking someone who just told him about something, and when he found that something, he demanded where they led to. This guy was a corporate manager in the extreme. If you asked him for anything, the project should already be 90% done so he can swoop in to get the job done and take the majority of the credit.

Thankfully, I was more than happy to let him tank the assassination attempts.

“The nearest ones to our lands would be in the territory of the Children of the Elm, as well as the Talon Hills.” I moved over to the map of the continent on his desk and he peered over as I placed my finger on the coordinates. The exact coordinates where all the Citadels showed up were known to me, so I picked the best ones to start out with. Well, Talon Hills were just above average technically, but it had a lot of room and tiles for improvements and settlements. A late-game investment. Shit early game, though. “Their lands are always filled with conflict, too. Nothing that can stand against the Academy.”

“Well-reasoned and astute. I’ll verify the matter and see the preparations made.” Translation: I’ll be taking credit for your discoveries, and you better not complain because I have the actual power to get things done and you don’t. Translator’s note: go ahead and get yourself murdered or stuck at the top of a Citadel forever. As long as the Academy gets access to the Citadels and starts using them, this place gets a better chance at surviving the apocalypse, which is all I want. “Return to your home. I will call upon you after evaluating your current professors for their work.”

“Can I go to the library to study instead? Home is boring.”

“No, even you need rest.” Translation: I can’t you getting any smarter. Go stay in the gilded cage I’ve set up for you. Well, I guess I’m going to spend the rest of the daydreaming and writing up papers to hopefully get the people in charge to not eat shit and die. Sometimes, I wondered if it would be better if I hadn’t been born into the Academy, then I remember that outside the mountain walls were a free-for-all involving innumerable warbands. Yeah, I’m fine sticking around in here for a couple more years. “Go home.”

“Understood, I shall take my leave.”

With that exchange, I left the matter for Alistair to figure out, while I tried to come up with the intro to my next project.

You can’t, after all, just start a paper with “we’re fucked if we don’t work together.”

That didn’t work back in my world and it won’t work it this one.

…

“So, you’re the famed Prodigy of the Academy.”

I looked up from my bathtub, situated in my front garden, where I’d been busying myself with my latest iteration of a rubber duck. Everyone else in Academy lands have gotten used to my antics. Meaning they realized that I was trying to provoke them, so they decided to ignore more. Jokes on them, of course.

I wanted to be ignored.

“And, you are Lady Celia of House Adil.” I went ahead and tried to track down all the versions of possible leaders of each faction. Most of my results were inconclusive. The Scholars kept to themselves in their flying city, most of the other Factions were squabbling or fighting one another, and some people were just really far away or still underground. The Guardians of the Moon were a bunch of aristocratic Undead with lots of troops, lots of money, and a general predisposition to try and do good around the world. Meaning that they weren’t exactly subtle. “Why dress like a man?”

“Perhaps, I was interested in being treated according to my station rather than my gender.” Nah, this world’s equal all things considered. For every woman running around near-buck-naked, there’s a man doing the same thing, for pretty much all factions. Stats, perks, classes, and magic aren’t dependent on gender, either. That would’ve been a shitshow online, if it had been. Wait, she must be talking about the actual society of this place. Ah, didn’t pay much attention to that. “Then, after walking about, I find the rising star of the Academy wearing only swimming clothes, in his front yard, in a bathtub. I must admit, perhaps I’m overthinking things.”

“Perhaps. Only you can decide such things. What can I do for you?” I pinched the latest iteration of the rubber duck that I created. It gave off the familiar quacking sound that I wanted, but the yellow and orange and blue of the dyes weren’t close to neon. The finishing touches would have to wait for the far off future, I guess. “If you want to be guided through the Academy’s halls, I’m afraid Headmaster Alistair sent me here and demanded I stay until I am called upon.”

“And, why did the Headmaster do that?”

“I made a professor quit, leave his whole life behind, and escape to the wild lands beyond the mountain range.”

“…How?”

“I invalidated most of his curriculum and ripped through most of his theses in an hour.” The man was a hack, all things considered. All talk and no substance. Most of his work on the Ancients was based off folklore and hearsay. All surface-level accounts from myths passed down through generations. He didn’t even go into a single Ancient ruin himself, despite living in Academy lands where you can trip over a ruin in an instant. Like I do. “After that, I suppose that he went off to try his hand at remaking his image in the wild lands.”

“Or, perish in ignominy.”

“He wouldn’t need to go all the way out there to do that.”

That earned me a raised, scarlet eyebrow from the living, breathing main character in front of me. Hiding your identity by not sharing your gender is one thing, but you know that you could also not dress in clothes that most people in the city can never afford, right? You’re sticking out like a sore thumb wearing all red with a bright white cravat and gloves. Your shoes are also shiny as hell. The Academy is clean, but not that clean.

“Your tongue is as sharp as the tales tell. Interesting. I look forward to seeing you class, though I imagine that you’ll be a teacher rather than a student.” Yeah, no. Alistair’s just waiting for an excuse to get rid of his Vice Headmaster and put me in that place. Lots of people were trying to stop him, but this is the Academy. Money, power, and education mean everything, and no one has more than the Headmaster of the Academy. Sure, the nobles can kick up a fuss, but they’re all subordinate to him. He, after all, had a tight grip over the military here and the espionage force. “You are a rising star in this place, but let me tell you this: my people will soon rise even higher than the Academy and reinstate the Ancient’s peace upon all the continent. We hope to work with the Academy to do this, but perhaps you would like to be more than a mere professor and something more.”

Ah, shit. The Academy-Undead alliance bug was still in play.

The Guardians of the Moon are going to get their shit pushed in.

Should I do something about that, though?

Hm, yeah, having unending legions of Undead makes tarpitting anyone easier, so…

“I’ll consider it, but only if you do on your own. If you ally with the Academy, you’ll be little more than a subservient power. One that the Academy’s enemies will target, especially as you’ll be beyond our walls.” I put the rubber ducky aside and extended my hand outward. Ayah was quick to provide me with my bathrobe and put a towel down. I put it on, left my place, and matched Lady Adil’s gaze. “I truly hope that there will be other powers out there that wish for peace and stability across the continent but know this: you risk everything by allying yourself with the Academy immediately. We are strong, but we have many foes, and you must at least stand at our shoulder to stand with us and survive.”

I really hoped that got through to her, but the future Faction leader made no response to my words beyond a nod and turning on her heel.

“I shall see you in the Academy, Prodigy. Farewell for now.”

Dammit, I really hoped that she listened.

Once she was out of earshot, my Ancient Administrator disguised as a maid/servant decided to speak.

“The Guardians have always been hard-headed, but reason is well within their ability. She will head your words.”

“I hope so… anyway, how’s ‘my’ latest business venture going?”

“Exceptionally.” Ayah promptly held out her hand as soon as we were behind closed doors. Her flesh contorted until there was nothing but a thin skeleton of a hand. The Ancient Golem could remake her body and form with a thought. Therefore, she could use her body to present information with ease. The mass of her hand became a series of columns and numbers. Expenses, revenues, and finally profits. Under my name, as I pretended to be universally talented at everything, she was co-opting the businesses and industries located in the Academy. We were going to prepare this place for war. “The development of chemical-based firearms is progressing smoothly. The guilds we have co-opted are searching through Ruins at an increased rate. Our current pace is good, even with the impending rise of the Citadels, which will signal to the rest of the Ancients foes to return here.”

“Play fast and loose, take risks, and go for the throat. Use whatever I have. Money is useless when you’ve got enemies like them.” With Alistair heading up the Academy as its leader, I was going to work in the background as a hybrid between Champion and Faction Leader. With Ayah, I could get the groundwork and development of an economy going, while gathering artifacts and finding other people to recruit. Champions were key in this case. We needed to get this lumbering beast with so many unexploited tiles on the warfooting, and get the regions of the Citadels we were taking on the warfooting, too. “How’s the shipping company doing?”

“Exceptionally. Many of the towns across Academy lands are now using it. Trade is increasing significantly and many smaller businesses are rising up. The mercenary corps providing protection to outside lands is also making much money.” A PMC and a shipping company. Hopefully, in the future, I’ll be a shipping magnate/PMC owner. Maybe, I’ll get my hands on Ancient Transports and develop the Fulton system, while getting an artificial island. No, that’s stupid. One of the enemies literally lives underwater. It’ll get wrecked. “This land shall be a fortress.”

“Good.”

I hoped that it was true.

The Demon were going to overtake these lands, but in-game the Academy fought for five years, and with outside support their loss was a close one and left the Demons severely weakened.

If only they had more men, and could move faster, they would’ve won, according to the text.

Well, if that’s what’s needed, then that’s what I’m going to get the Academy.

More men and the ability to move them, as well as the Citadels needed to push supplies in.

Hopefully, with all that in play, the Academy and its lands won’t be lost.