Academies

## Overview

These are places akin to Universities but specialize in training Divine touched on how to become Hunters and adventurers. Everything involved with attending is free for trainees and also gives them the ability to earn money through dungeon dives during their stay. Safety is taken incredibly serious and any found to be disregarding rules and putting others at risk is likely to be dismissed from the **Academy**.

Each Academy has a Guild they work with that gives them sole access to low level Portals and some dungeons in order to train students. A small fee for things collected during diving is taken out from whatever the trainee earns which is what allows the Academies to be so affordable. Of course, there are some who smuggle things out in an attempt to get around the fee, and some even succeed, but it's not often and certainly something that would get a trainee in trouble.

Classes revolve around magic study and practice, understanding how it interacts with tech, learning all about Portals and then all the back-end work of a Hunter. There are many things necessary to know, like territory lines, interpersonal Guild relationships, how to work with Oracles and so on. More book work than most might think, but the combat training and Portal diving live up to the hype. Of course the adventuring course isn't anything to sneeze at, making sure to focus on survival skills and monster identification as well as ingredient identification and proper gathering.

Instructors are both active and retired Hunters and know the industry inside and out. They take responsibility for the students and don't slack when it comes to teaching each one what they need to know. Excuses and lies won't work, but that doesn't mean they won't look the other way so long as a student is pulling their weight and being safe. In the end, the purpose of these instructors and Academies is to help continue making Lethe a better place and helping each trainee achieve their dreams.

Each country has an Academy, though Styx is the most desirable to attend while Acheron is the least. Each country leader is also in charge of their own guilds and Academies, so many will attend one Academy over another simply because of who runs it. They care considered incredibly safe and an absolute must for anyone who wants to be a Hunter or high grade adventurer.

## Battles

Random student battles take place throughout the school year, something the instructors are in charge of handling. Hunter and adventure courses aren't allowed to mix in these battles due to the difference in the power levels. These 1v1 battles can be requested by students who have issues to fight them out, but mainly end up being a sudden match the students weren't expecting.

Battles pull students into a temporary space that prevents any damage to other students or the building. It also prevents the students from dying, but they're forced to stay there until there's a winner or the timer has run out, whichever comes first. These battles help students rank up, which in turns allows them to take even higher profits from their dives as well as first dibs on diving teams and the like.

There are also quarterly matches between the courses that rank students based on their placements. Getting a high placement can help get a student noticed by guilds or positions they're hoping to get into after graduating. Due to this, students tend to show off and try their best to pull the eye of those attending.

Cocytus AcademyStyx AcademyAcheron AcademyNekuia AcademyPhlegethon AcademyAtlantis Academy