In downtown Mithil the buildings mostly all blended in together, with only a few standing out as prominent landmarks.
For example, the glorious [Grand Athenaeum of Mithil] was impossible to miss when approaching central downtown from any angle--with its wide set of polished marble steps serving to elevate visitors off the filthy, trash-ridden streets, into a conspicuously clean, well-maintained facade of a large-looming white structure, designed with Roman-style columns and gold trimmings; that was, unlike its neighbors, noticeably devoid of any age-showing nicks or chunks broken away here and there, almost as if it had just been constructed the day before.
Akira, Ai, and Kanna stood before it, gaping in awe at the structure that put even the Oracle of Acquama's dwellings to shame, as a continual trickle of scholarly-looking patrons climbed and descended the steps, passing in and out of the rotating glass doors with businesalike order and efficiency.
