A small pillar in the middle of a town’s center was all that was left from the original camp. Surrounded by the waters of the fountain sourced from the nearby lake, it served as the reminder of the humble origins of those who founded the city. 

The Town’s population has been steadily growing for the past two years. 

Ever since the decisive battle at the ridge brought an end to the conflict, the arid lands quickly turned into farmlands that were soon overtaken by the urban sprawl. 

The city itself was split into districts, each separated from the other by massive water canals, using the waters of the central lake to supply both the population and the rich farmlands at the Town’s outskirts. 

The streets were filled with all kinds of people.

Just by taking a look around at the main plaza of the city, one could spot some Generians who often visited the city to trade their prey and artifacts. Besides them, former cultivators would walk calmly, enjoying their retirement.

Out of every possible group, Slavian migrants turned out to be the biggest. With their new nation settled just outside the city’s protectorate area, they made full use of the benefits of trading and overall cooperating with the city. 

The only group that would often catch the attention of the new migrants from outside of the interspace were the beings formerly known as monsters. 

While they rarely possessed any humanoid traits, they were perfectly aware of communicating with others.

It was largely thanks to the beastshifters, as they turned out to be called, that the insane rate of the city’s development became possible. 

Between the massive psychique of some of the beastshifters, immense strength of the former cultivators, and magical support of Irea Works Incorporated, projects that would normally take years if not decades to finish were done in the span of months and even weeks. 

“Hey, hurry up!” a middle-aged man shouted towards a cat-girl heavily breathing behind him. “You don’t want to be late for the class!” the man’s excited voice was free of prejudice, the one thing that the beastshifters had to face during the founding year of the city. 

The lack of this interracial hate was something that only Yelna’s Medicinal Study could be thanked for. As it turned out, this hero of the Battle at the Ridge wasn’t a hunter by choice but by fate. What she was really interested in was magical medicine. 

An art that allowed some of the more powerful beastshifters to attain human-like forms. 

From the moment the first cat and dog-girls appeared in the city, it took entire… three days for a massive movement to force the government to adopt new taxes, all for the sake of supporting the development of the magi-medicine responsible for that transformation. 

And right now, humanoid beastshifters could enjoy widespread popularity and love of the city’s population!

“You know that I can’t run any faster, you meanie!” the girl replied, barely able to squeeze any words out of her supple chest. Even though her family managed to secure a great job at the Irea Works, their combined earnings were still far from sufficient to secure a house anywhere near the academy. 

The academy was the only building that stood in the very middle of the Town. In fact, it wasn’t even a building but a compound five times greater than the initial outline of the entire camp. 

The academy compound was surrounded by a massive garden, filled with all sorts of mementos of the heroes that laid down their lives to set the foundation for the future everyone could enjoy right now. 

“Hurry up!” someone else called out. “The Celestial delegation is about to move out of the Al’s Casino!” a man in a fancy robe rushed outside, fixed his attire on the go, and pulled out a recording stone from his pocket. 

Only a few moments later, a one-meter tall owl flew out of the building, chasing after the man with a memory-storage stone in its beak. 

The city was more lively than ever. With the delegation from the Celestial world coming to discuss the terms of the new, extended trade agreement, the local population awaited the news with anticipation. 

If the deal went through, they would usher in an era of prosperity that no one could even imagine in the past!

Layn sat in his favorite seat, watching over the city from the balcony located at the highest floor of the academy’s central tower. 

He took a sip of his tea before looking over at the documents one of his attendants brought. 

“Second phase of reconquista, huh?” he muttered, looking down at the proposal drafted in the document. “Well, not my problem,” he ended up shaking his shoulders before gently kicking a massive cat sleeping below his desk. 

“The fuck is wrong with you?” the cat instantly jumped on all fours, hissing at Layn and protesting. 

“Get this paper to Markus’ office,” he ordered. “I believe Faglar will be quite interested in it,” he said, watching over as the massive cat begrudgingly took the document and walked out of the room on all fours. 

Even though this attendant of Layn’s could easily afford the humanization procedure, he opted to stick to the roots instead. According to its usual hissing, it was a way to honor his own ancestors and spit at the silly, modern trends. 

“So you really aren’t interested in the war anymore,” Consal commented lightly, taking a sip of his bear. 

While the Celestial delegation would only meet with the government by the afternoon, those two former enemies were already past the fourth glass of tea and bear, respectively. 

“I got my fair share of it,” Layn smiled, raising his left hand above the table.

Even with all the developments of Magi-medicine, his injuries from when the nuclear magic burned through his body remained. He could mask them with illusion magic, but Layn ultimately opted to leave them as a reminder. 

Of what made them all go against each other, what made them bury their differences, and what started this entire journey in the first place. 

“Right, that reminds me,” Tytus raised his previously bored face and pulled out a small letter, still bearing the seal of Ation’s force. “There are some rumors about a certain group trying to create a nuclear reactor,” he reported, passing the letter down on Layn’s table. 

“Not my problem anymore,” Layn smiled. “As long as they don’t do it in my city, you should report that to Arto instead.”

“Boys,” Irea said in a gentle tone as she entered the room. As it was the principal’s office, she was of the very few people in the entire city that could walk inside freely. “I think you tired my husband enough for today,” she said, standing behind Layn’s seat and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“Yeah, we won’t impose on you two anymore,” Consal stood up from his chair, lifting his jug along as he downed what was left of his drink. “I push more people to look into Bar… Mukken’s matter,” he said as he was about to leave, changing his words after throwing a quick glance at Tytus. 

“Much appreciated,” Layn nodded his head with gratitude, guiding his guests to the door with his eyes. 

“Damn, I’m so tired!” Irea protested the moment the doors shut close, circling around Layn’s seat only to plummet down on his lap. 

“How is the company doing?” Layn asked with a small smirk. 

“Do you really need to ask?” Irea replied with a question on her own, sending a nudge to Layn’s side in retaliation. “Still,” she muttered, looking out past the walls of the academy compound. “I would never believe we could achieve so much so quickly when you created that company for me,” she added, staring at the orderly rows of housing and commercial buildings only to rest her eyes at the massive industrial district right by the border of Town’s protectorate. “On that note, there was an attack at the labor train over there,” she said, pointing her chin towards the industrial district. 

“Slavians from the outside?” Layn asked, even though he already knew the answer. 

“Slavians from the outside,” Irea mirrored Layn’s question, turning it into an answer. “I can’t really blame them,” she added in a soft tone. “Despite working in our city, they don’t have the pass to enter it…” she muttered, clearly troubled with this matter. 

“We need to set rational limits for everything,” Layn smiled in response. “One day, we will be able to welcome everyone to our place. Sadly, today is not yet that day,” he explained, smacking his healthy hand against Irea’s shapely bottom to make her stand up. 

‘To think that I would one day molest the CEO of the biggest company in the dimension,’ Layn thought, unable to stop a smirk from appearing on his face. He then stood up from his chair and reached for his official robe, haphazardly hung on the nearby chair.

“I know you have your lessons, but before you go,” Irea didn’t react to the smack in any way other than gently smiling. “The new employees are really hoping you would come and visit during their inauguration ceremony,” Irea said, a playful smile appearing on her lips.

She then took a few steps forward and placed her hand on Layn’s crotch, moving it gently up and down. “You know I will make it worth your while,” she whispered, leaning over Layn’s shoulder. “Just imagine this, a hall filled with freshmen, all hopeful to start their new jobs and elated to see you, the hero of the ridge…” Irea whispered sweetly, only to bite her lips and add, “all the while I suck you off below your stand…” she whispered, making her hand move a bit quicker when she reached the spicy parts. 

“Leave that playfulness for when I’m done with the lessons,” Layn laughed out, sending another smack towards the richest CEO of the city and the dimension’s ass. Despite Irea’s fancy dress, he could still feel her warm flesh react to his touch. “Unless you want some of the animal girls to catch the sight of my boner?” Layn laughed off, fixing his robe and leaving the principal’s office. 

The journey to the bottom of the central tower was quite long and tiresome, even despite Layn’s magic and cultivation. Yet, as he descended down the steps, he couldn’t help but reminisce about the past. 

‘Just two years ago, this place was a barren wasteland, burned to the ground by the army of celestials,’ he thought, reaching the main level of the compound and taking a turn to the left. ‘Just two years ago, we finished the battle at the ridge and begrudgingly agreed on how to split the influence, both in this dimension and back in both of the worlds outside,’ Lyan suddenly stopped, right as he approached the doors leading to his study hall. 

The archmage took a look at the massive clocktower visible from the corridor’s window. 

‘I’m already late,’ he thought, watching how the clock’s arrows announced the undeniable truth. 

“Dean!” a student suddenly appeared on the corridor, his face freezing in terror when he saw Layn’s robes. “I’m sorry for being late! I promise, this won’t happen again!” the young foxman proved his agility by executing a fully-fledged bow without stopping his rush towards the hall at all. 

“Just get inside, you rascal,” Layn smiled gently, pushing the doors open. 

Upon walking inside, all the chatter and whispers in the hall disappeared. While there were some teachers that had to struggle with their students, Layn never had this problem. 

Whether it was his fame as the hero of the ridge, his authority as the dean of the academy, or the power of the most powerful being in the known world, he didn’t know. 

But in fact, he didn’t care either. 

‘It was a long journey,’ Layn thought, looking down at the several hundred students gathered in the study hall. They were all eager and waiting for his lesson, passionate to learn more about what magic really was. ‘But I’m finally there,’ he thought, opening the book left on the stand. 

“Todays’ topic, permutations of the multi-dimensional structures and Kassian Theory!” Layn shouted, making the title of the day’s lecture appear on the blackboard behind him. 

The end.