Academy Codex

A late-Qing/early-Republic bronze mirror that Lan Yingchen's grandmother designated for him before she passed. The pattern on its back is identical to the split ring he saw in midair—yet appears in no bronze-mirror catalogue.

The academy's first lesson teaches no technique, giving only two words: 'See'—perceive what should not exist; 'Void'—stop for five minutes each morning. The mentor does not explain 'Void.'

Before 'those who can see' set foot in the academy, someone first seeks them out. They call themselves Arts Censors, hidden behind the most ordinary of signboards—say, a counseling center.

At first what you see is a circle; later the circle becomes two. The mentor says: that voice calling your name is another you.

A ring floating in midair with a gap—the gap falling somewhere between three and four o'clock. Others cannot see it at all, nor can phones photograph it. And those golden filaments 'respond' to those who can see.

The academy is divided into five colleges, corresponding to five civilizations' arts: Eastern Fang Channels, Western Magic, Indian Mantra-Wheels, Middle Eastern Starsand Arts, and African Ancestral Pacts. The five lineages see the world in utterly different ways.