Several years later, Zar attends the elite Academy located at the Ridge of Revelation atop the Mountain of Mortality. The school attracts the brightest minds and most powerful sons. 

On his first day, the Academy Director welcomes Zar and another boy into his study, and turns to Zar:

welcome young man

to our school in the skies

where heaven and earth meet

here only the strongest rise

i know you came

from a modest land

unlike our legacies 

born to power’s hand

so with your high marks

and top admission score

prove to us you belong here

at the academy, we demand more

The Academy Director turns to the other boy and says:

such as our honored ts 

heir to a great tycoon

owns half the ridge

born with a golden spoon

Zar ignores TS and hands the Academy Director a school flyer calling for essay submissions to compete for a place at the Nature of Reality series debate later that year and asks:

i am honored to be here

and will not let you down

but you can you tell me

how to win this crown

The Academy Director chuckles and responds:

slow down zar

you are not of age

a great philosopher

you must be on stage

The Academy Director motions for Zar to leave. Once outside, he pauses to reflect: 

he does not know

what haunts me at night

but their arguments i will break

before i choose my flight

and yet i sense a power

in me no longer banned

the world’s truths are idols

waiting for my tempered hand

Zar leaves the encounter intoxicated. If the Mountain bows to power, he will master the wisdom behind power. His mind as a weapon not a refuge. 

Zar studies philosophy while TS studies business.