She raised a second finger and continued, "Omega academy is based in omega city, it's mainly known for it's close relationship with the military. That's because almost every one that goes to omega has plans of joining the military. It has the backing of the imperial family, the top families and clans and most importantly the Tribunal. The reason why Omega academy is nicknamed Omega city isn't just because it is based in the city, it's because the whole city is the academy. Also omega city is actually a military base in the form of a city. It's known for the large number of powerful mages it has raised over the years since establishment. it's reputation is no joke because even compared to the other academies it produces the largest number of elites than both academies put together..
"The largest reason for this is because some of the top strongest clans and great families reside in omega city, in fact very few of them are based in the imperial city."
"Last but definitely not least, we have Alpha academy." She stopped to take a breath at this point, both to catch her breath and to build up he audiences curiosity and enthusiasm.
She continued, "Alpha academy is the oldest academy in the empire with the greatest and most brilliant history, established since before the empire by the first mages because they wanted to create a place where mages could learn to control their abilities, and also a place where nobody is ostracized, nobody is rejected instead mages and regular people could live together and relate. This group of people became extremely influential since the academy gave birth to the most powerful mages ever that spearheaded humanity's fight in the war against the abyss. They later formed what we now know today as The Tribunal."
"Alpha academy has the largest facilities, having departments specialized in all fields of expertise; from research, to engineering, to politics, to combat you name it. it may not produce the largest number of powerful mages, but it definitely released the strongest. Also you don't necessarily need to be a mage to get into Alpha academy."
"Not necessarily be a mage to join the academy, but isn't it a mage academy?" Drake was surprised when she sad this.
She nodded, "Alpha academy's motto is 'Humanity First' it also has a slogan, 'We are humans first before we are anything else!' these are the principles the academy stands on. It's because of this that Alpha academy stands closest to the heart of humanity. Graduate from Alpha academy and you have an almost absolute guarantee to get whatever you want to be in the empire, whether as a freelance rogue mage or joining any agency, with Alpha academy's insignia on your back no one would dare to pick on you with the backing of Alpha."
"Alpha academy encourages non-mages to join the academy not just because of their reputation, but also because they believe that just because mages are powerful doesn't make us any better than any ordinary person. Ordinary people also have ways that they can contribute to the development of mankind. I also personally support this line of thought, but let's forget about that for now. The three mage academies will accept any applicants so don't have to worry about getting turned away at the door."
"Hmm, the mage academies seem to have developed a system of their own." Drake thought about it in silence for a few seconds before turning back to Anna, "Which one would you recommend?"
"You want my opinion? That's surprising!"
He shrugged, "I like to keep an open mind, and you seem to have a lot of experience with things like this so I want to hear your opinion. Besides, it never hurt to ask for directions."
She shook her head saying, "This really isn't my place. You should consult with your family for important decisions like this, you shouldn't rush choices that can determine your future."
A desolate lonely look flashed through Drake's eyes but he quickly hid it and said "You don't have to worry about my family's decision. Right now I'm asking what you think.
He might have hid it fast but Anna had seen it so after being silent for a few seconds she said, "Alright, as a businesswoman being indecisive is not in my code so I will give you my recommendation but before that I need to make sure you understand the pros and cons of choosing an academy to attend."
"Fair enough." Drake shrugged
She nodded then started. "Let's start with Imperial academy. Like I said earlier, the Imperial academy is run by the Imperial family, and thanks to that it is the richest mage academy since it receives not only direct funding and support of the imperial family's treasury and investments from the high end and influential families. There's also the allowance it gets from the empires taxes and since politicians whether young or old tend to be spendthrifts since they're always trying to show off among themselves you can tell just how expensive the place should be if you use your imagination.
With how rich the imperial academy is, if they ever need something they can get it, and since everyone who graduates from imperial academy ends up as an influential character you can expect there is a scary level of competition especially among factions. There are many minor groups and parties among the students, but at the end of the day they all fall into two divisions; the Light and Dark factions. Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking; they're the same light and dark factions of the empire. Imperial academy is one of their greatest open battlefields and the two factions are always competing over everything."
"Anyone who joins imperial academy has to choose a side; it's either you're with or against, there is no sitting on the fence when you're in imperial academy. You can only join a neutral faction in the other academies. Anyone who tries either ends up leaving the academy before long or just disappears, that is just how brutal the politics is in imperial academy."
"Damn, don't they know anything about keeping up pretences? I mean I thought politicians focused mainly on scheming and keeping up public appearances."
"They do. But, that is for when they grow up. You need to understand that the world of politicians is a cruel world full of competition. Right now they are almost completely out of the public eye, and they will remain so until they graduate or at least until they're close to. So for now they will focus on weeding out the weak and getting rid of as much of the competition as they can. Espionage, counter espionage, schemes, bribery, kidnapping, blackmail, assassination, you name it. Right now they can use any means available to them to achieve that, anything goes!"
Drake was appalled when he learned all this, he didn't expect imperial academy to be so messed up.
"Next up is Omega academy! Omega is where soldiers are raised, once you graduate there you have a guaranteed ticket into the military. They pay very close attention to their order and anyone who breaks the rules is punished by military law. Also they have a rule that strictly forbids any factions or divisions, thanks to that they are a tight knit pack.
The higher ups at Omega know that it's impossible to make everyone obey all the rules. like forbidding affiliation with factions for example; Any faction related business on omega territory is forbidden. To make sure nobody can escape punishment for things like that by maybe relying on their connections to influential people in high places the punishments for breaking rules are enforced and executed by the Tribunal."
"Typical military, I expect nothing less." Drake approved with their way of handling things.
The Tribunal was the strongest human organization on the continent, no one dared to stand against it. It had no affiliation with any organization or government. It was the fairest organization in the empire but it held no power specifically over anything in the empire. You could say it was in the world but not part of the world, as long as you didn't break any rules you would remain off their radar.
You might be wondering how it could possibly be the strongest, and how it could remain at the top unchallenged. Well the answer to that is simple. It's because at the top of the Tribunal sat 'Hellhound', the reigning undisputed strongest human existence alive.
"Then we have Alpha academy, it's the oldest academy in the empire since sanctuary's discovery, established and backed by the Tribunal. Like I said earlier Alpha academy has produced the strongest mages humanity has ever seen over the years. If you're interested in politics and joining the aristocracy or military you can do that directly after graduating from the academy, if you're interested in the science department Alpha academy's research and engineering departments are particularly famous throughout the empire since that is the birth place of some of humanity's greatest discoveries like the Bloodlines and War frames."
Though Alpha academy doesn't actively stand against the factions and you can find them in the academy, they try not to cause too many ripples in the open and operate more behind the scenes. The factions from imperial academy tend to recruit people from Alpha and omega especially the more powerful students into their factions to raise their influence."
Drake quietly absorbed all this information, and as he did he already had a choice of what he wanted to do.