Abyssal Bone Forest Academy

The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was a medium-strength Magus Academy located on the South Coast of the main continent and was affiliated with the Poolfield Kingdom. They were famous for specializing in the dark element and are also pioneers in soul research.

The Academy was Leylin Farlier's first organization and served as his introduction to the Magus World.

## History

The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was constructed in the Gregorian Year 324, the founder being Merlin Falek Driwilc.

## Location and Description

The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was situated in the Abyssal Bone Swamp on the South Coast. It only covered a small area and was located in a rural region.

In the immediate vicinity, to the south of the academy, lay the Death Sea. To the north was the Mountain Plains of Despair, to the west was Sage Gotham's Hut, and to the east was the Poolfield Kingdom.

The north and south regions were both off-limits due to the presence of dangerous creatures with different bloodlines, some of which had been contaminated, as well as evil spirits filled with grievances. Any acolyte who ventured into those regions was sure to meet their demise.

The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was built under a vast graveyard that had been forsaken for ages. The graveyard had a striking contrast of black and white marble tombstones and monuments, creating a gloomy and solemn atmosphere. The graveyard was also rich in shadow and dark energy particles, which were beneficial for Shadow and Dark element Magi, the main disciples of the academy.

The most prominent feature of the graveyard was a colossal grave that looked like a black castle made of stacked marble stones. It was the entrance to the academy, but also the most guarded one.

Two lifelike stone statues stood on both sides of the grave’s door. One was a ferocious two-headed dog with spikes all over its body, and the other was a grotesque earthworm with wings and fangs. They had black jewels for eyes that glinted in the dark.

The statues were not mere decorations, but powerful guardians and alarms for the academy. They demanded a password from anyone who approached the door. Without the right password, the intruders would face their wrath.

The door of the grave opened to a stone staircase that descended into the depths of the earth. The staircase was a spiral shape that twisted and turned until it vanished from sight. The only light source in the staircase was the blue flames of the torches that lined the walls. The staircase had a medieval and mysterious design.

The underground complex was much more spacious than the graveyard above it. It was not just a few times bigger, but several orders of magnitude larger. It resembled an underground kingdom in its scale and structure.

The academy had a main hall that matched the location of the grave’s door above it. The academy also had many other exits scattered throughout its territory. The academy permitted its students, who had reached the level of Magus, to choose and claim an empty tomb as their personal passage.

The academy consisted of several major sections: the dormitories, where the students and staff reside; the classrooms, where the academic and practical lessons are conducted; the laboratories, where the students and staff conduct experiments and research; the gardening areas, where the students and staff cultivate plants and herbs; the trading post, where the students and staff exchange goods and services; and the mission area, where the students and staff receive and complete assignments.

The academy had a Spell Experimenting Area specifically designed for acolytes and Magi to test the power of their spells. Because various spells had immense strength, and radiation was also a concern, it was important to manage the experiments carefully. If not managed properly, the academy could have been destroyed.

## Recruitment and Hierarchy

The Abyssal Bone Academy, like many other Magus schools, focused on training acolytes who had the potential to become Rank 1 Magi.

As per the ancient agreement, choosing the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy entitled an acolyte to attend basic lessons on meditation techniques, free lodging, food for five years, and residence. Additionally, the academy permitted the use of magic crystals as payment for knowledge exchange with the professors.

However, the treatment of these acolytes varied depending on their level, proficiency, and the professors they encountered. Some professors even chose to experiment on their students.

Level 1 acolytes were new students with some students with high enough proficiencies to reach this level before arriving at the academy eg: Jayden. Level 2 takes a bit more effort. And level 3 has an infamous bottleneck. Level 3 is the backbone of the academy amounting to the average strength. There have been some rare occasions where acolytes are treated with extreme care (such as in the aftermath of the bloodbath of the war between the ABFA and Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle).

In the early stages of a Magus' development, Acolytes' proficiency plays a crucial role. Level 5 students were considered to have a 90% chance of achieving rank 1 Magus, making their proficiency quite prominent. Discrimination between different proficiency students was common, and cliques may form even before arriving at the academy. Level 3 students were considered average, while levels 1 & 2 were regarded as weak, level 4 as great resources, and level 5 as the greatest. Professors preferred students with higher aptitude as they were more beneficial for their image. Although the selection of professors was either random or based on a book, level 5 geniuses were often immediately recruited as protégés by teachers and heavily favoured.

The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had a wide recruitment coverage, extending to even the remote Chernobyl Islands which were considered barren. The reason behind such generous actions was that many acolytes turned to the Light Magi for better treatment (no one wants to be turned into a pig). The Academy set up its recruitment tent on Death Beach, alongside other academies. The entrance fee to the academy was 13 crystals, with an entry test. From the start, higher-ranked proficiency students were given preferential treatment, even getting magical artifacts. The recruits are ferried across the Death Sea to the academy via an airship. Upon arrival at the school, which consists of a graveyard and a huge tombstone, they were then led to an old man who assigned them to their respective professors. There are only two options available.

1. Random: Randomly get assigned one. The professor could be a renowned teacher, an eccentric weirdo or a human experimenter. All luck.
2. Pay to Win: Pay a magical crystal for 5 minutes of browsing through the teacher catalogue. Pay more for more time. The acolyte could choose his mentor.

Despite the old man’s constant reminders of not changing teachers, changing teachers was possible at the risk of offending the previous teacher.

The academy operated under the influence of three prominent families: the Lilytells, the Liliels and the Redbuds. These families enjoyed a privileged status in the academy and had access to various resources and benefits. They also had a habit of recruiting new Magi into their ranks by offering them Grine Water and spell models. Other families also received some advantages, but not as much as the main three.

Potion Masters were a rare and valuable breed of mages, coveted by both the academy and many influential families for their ability to produce lucrative concoctions. The academy offered generous incentives to attract prodigies like Merlin, who enjoyed more privileges than the average.

## Education System

Abyssal Bone Forest Academy strictly followed the Magus rule of equivalent exchange. Essentially, nothing was free.

Acolytes had to choose or be assigned a mentor from various professors in the academy and the fees taken by these professors varied. Some required magic crystals as payment and others wanted their apprentices to partake in experiments. These experiments could be very dangerous and endanger the life of the participant.

Free as well as paid public lectures were also given to the acolytes. Paid lectures required a fee of some magic crystal whereas free lectures didn't require any fee but the quality of free lectures was very subpar as compared to paid lectures. However, both of them couldn't compare to private lessons by the mentors.

The free lessons in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy were not many and they only consisted of the history of Magi, the basics of the ancient Byron language, the principles of Magi spells, basic potioneering, anatomy, and basic magic spell theory.

The professors giving free public lectures always had dark expressions, and they would hurriedly leave right after the period ended. Not only would they not answer the acolytes' questions, but it seemed as if everyone owed them magic crystals.

The academy was only providing land and the most basic of services. As for everything else, like acquiring advanced information, one had to learn from a professor, the chances of which were very slim.

Moreover, there weren’t any compulsory missions that one must take on. As long as a person could pay the school fees and did not meet a bad professor, one could normally stay here for 5 years!

## Strength and Affiliations

The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was a medium-sized power and part of the Dark Magi faction on the South Coast. While theoretically part of the same faction, Dark Magi frequently had wars against each other. The ABFA, while not being a powerhouse, had the power to hold off 2 competing academies at the same time. Its core strengths were Chairman Siley and the three houses. After the events of [insert everything in twilight and central continent arc], the ABFA was now mainly controlled by Nyssa while the houses had limited authority. While most of the ABFA’s strength was from acolytes, they nonetheless had powerful members such as Siley or Marb. The ABFA was closely related to the kingdom of Poolfield.

The number of professors numbered to a hundred, while the acolytes numbered over a thousand.

## Known Professors

There were more than 100 professors in the academy. Among them, only 53 were accepting apprentices.

* Lester
	+ Department of Souls
	+ Specialties: Transformation, Neurology, Composition of Radiation
	+ Able to provide information on 3 topics free of charge
	+ Requirements: Must assist in an experiment every month, and cannot be declined for any reason
* Dorotte
	+ Department of Shadow
	+ Specialties: Anatomy, Conversion of Energy, Necromancy
	+ Requirements: Must pay 1 magic crystal per month and cooperate with experiments
* Kroft
	+ Department of Potioneering
	+ Specialties: Medicine, Herbalism, Neutralization of Energy
	+ Able to provide information on 1 topic free of charge
	+ Requirements: Must always help with the cleaning of the experimental lab, preparation and handling of various herbs and assist the Magus in carrying out herbal concoctions (on the basis that they cause no harm to the acolytes)
* Estelle
	+ Department of Curses
	+ Specialty: Curses, Dissection of Human Anatomy, Soul Studies
	+ Able to provide information on 5 topics free of charge and can guide acolytes in their studies at any given time
	+ Requirements: Cooperate with one experiment! Only one!

## Enemies and Wars

The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy has been a long-time enemy of Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle. The reason for this enmity was long forgotten.

The enmity also resulted in a war taking place between the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy and the alliance of the Sage Gotham's Hut and the Whitewoods Castle. However, there were rumours that the real reason for the war was Siley's, chairman of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, provocation.

With the pincer attack from the Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy should have been in a precarious situation. Even the academy headquarters' defensive spell formation was damaged by half and was almost broken.

However, in the end, it was unknown what method the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's chairman used. He had managed to appeal for help from the Lighthouse of the Night. Under the forceful mediation of the Lighthouse of the Night, the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy finally managed to escape from its dangerous situation, eventually reaching a treaty between the two rival factions.

However, this was an incomplete news. The war between the official Magi had ended, but for acolytes, it was still far from ending. Although the Lighthouse of the Night was one of the strongest factions in the South Coast, they were not the only one. Behind Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle, there was also a powerful faction supporting them. Hence, under the mediation of Lighthouse of the Night, although the war between both sides had ended, there was a special clause.

The opposing factions had requested the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy to recall all of their acolytes and engage in a bloodbath with their acolytes in a Secret Plane.

Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had already suffered tremendous casualties from the war before. As for Sage Gotham Hut's and Whitewoods Castle, they were forces with a level similar to Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. If any of these two were to engage in a bloodbath with the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's acolytes, it would be 50-50, not to mention there were two of them.

Moreover, at that moment, there were only 50-60% acolytes remaining behind in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy.

This was too crazy, but the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had no choice. Sage Gotham's Hut and the Whitewoods Castle wanted to wipe out the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's acolytes at one go, and let its legacy be broken.

Furthermore, be it their acolytes or the enemies, they were not allowed to bring in any battle items of official Magus strength. This was programmed into the defensive spell of the secret plane. Any tools which exceeded the strength of an acolyte would have been immediately rejected upon entering the secret plane.

To raise the strength of their acolytes before the bloodbath, the academy decided to conduct a competition, where the rewards were bountiful. Moreover, various remunerations were increased twofold, and the spell models and potions on the sales counter were also made available at a large discount.

The academy also issued a mission to all Level-3 Acolytes for a blood vengeance. They were to massacre as many acolytes as they could inside the bloodbath.

In the end, almost all the acolytes were killed except 50. The enemies also suffered some losses but the academy's losses were much greater.

The Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had almost become a tomb. Within such a great academy, one could rarely see another soul. The classrooms became vacant, the Trading Area was left uninhabited and even the academy's mission area only had a few acolytes accepting missions.

The entire Abyssal Bone Forest Academy had sunk into a stillness as silent and steady as a grave. However, the great thing was that the acolytes who survived the bloodbath, as well as other professors, were extremely resolute; so they were able to maintain the operations of the academy, even under such circumstances.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 20
2. ↑ Chapter 42
3. ↑ Chapter 89
4. ↑ Chapter 80
5. ↑ Chapter 83