The Endless Balance of an Ancient Sorrow Volume 1 GC Interlude: Palladium Academy

 

Interlude: Palladium Academy 

Palladium Academy sat high on the windswept edge of Fraid City, its pale stone buildings pressed into the bluff like carved guardians watching over the skyline. From a distance, it looked like a high-security facility—disciplined, sharp, symmetrical. Parents took one look and saw prestige. 

And to be fair, that’s what it was. 

A prestigious private institution, blending elite academics with military-inspired programs in leadership, strategy, and physical training. Students here learned more than just math and literature—they graduated with tactical awareness, weapons certification, psychological conditioning, and a sense of order that other schools just couldn’t offer. 

But underneath all that, something else was at work. 

Palladium was one of several elite campuses across the world quietly monitored by FATE—a global intelligence and intervention agency known to few, whispered about by fewer. They watched the top students, noted their performance under stress, tracked their responses to moral complexity. 

And when graduation neared, if a student had proven themselves especially capable—not just talented, but unshakable—they might receive an invitation. 

No orders. No coercion. 

Just a choice. 

Join FATE and vanish into the world’s unseen systems of power. 

Or walk away, diploma in hand, and return to a civilian life shaped by excellence. 

Frank Gavern chose the latter. 

Top of his year. Near-perfect assessments. Turned down the offer. Became a detective instead. Still driven, still dangerous—but on his own terms. 

That was the truth of Palladium Academy. 

It didn’t create soldiers. 

It shaped people. 

And then it asked them what they wanted to become.