Chương 4: Chapter 3 - The Training Grounds 1/2

It took longer than it should have to convince Alyssia that she was well enough for a walk. Karina had expected a labyrinth of a building. A name as impressive as the Cathedral of Concentric Sunrise seemed to promise hallways upon hallways, and towers upon towers. And maybe there once had been. The hallway outside Karina's room was clean but broken, as though fresh sweeping could make up for the missing stretch of wall. What should have been a window was a ragged opening in the second-floor corridor.

The collapsed masonry lay in the courtyard below, where weeds had begun to grow between the stones. Alyssia didn't even acknowledge the hole as Karina slowed. Apparently, this didn't warrant a glance.

"This place has seen better days."

"Yes, it was much grander at one point," Alyssia said, "but as I mentioned, we are well beyond the protective barriers of the central kingdom right now. The touch of divinity is—""How long has it been like this?" Alyssia stopped and followed Karina's gaze out to the courtyard.

"This damage is newer, but the cathedral has been in some state of decay since I was an early acolyte." She furrowed her brow.

"Which would have been either eleven or twelve years ago. It's hard to keep track when you travel as much as I do. The seasons keep changing around you." There was something to ask in there. Questions about the seasons, but all of that was less pressing than the war, the demons, and her previous life. Of course, Alyssia followed the least important thread.

"There are four seasons where you lived, right?"

"Yes," Karina said without needing to think about it. She couldn't see through all the fog of her memory, but that much felt natural.

"That sounds nice and stable," Alyssia mused before turning to continue their walk. She had agreed to take her to the training yard, but any exploring would have to wait.

"Another question, then," Karina began.

"About our seasons? There are—""No. Why can't I remember everything?"

"Oh?"

"My previous life. I know I had one. I know things about it, but when I try to remember actually being there—""Oh!" Alyssia said.

"Your memories haven't fully returned yet."

"Are they supposed to?" To their left, beyond the hole in the wall, there was an empty patch of discoloured stone in a near-perfect square. A painting or a tapestry had been there.

"They should be muted at first," Alyssia said.

"It happens during the summoning process, to help you ease into your transition into your new life here."

"I wasn't asked whether I wanted help with that."

"It's a good thing, though. I can't imagine it would be easy to focus on starting a new life if you're always thinking about the old one." There it was again. The measured speech Alyssia used when she was reciting, as opposed to conversing. Practiced lines that, whether intentional or not, were closer to reading from scripture than speaking to someone. Then she glanced away, and her voice became more conversational.

"Honestly, there are some experiences in my life that I would love to cover the same way." Karina looked at her.

"I feel like whenever I say that, people ask about those memories, which just feels rude." Karina let her keep them. She would have liked the same say in what happened to her own. Two more bare patches interrupted the stone before they reached the surviving tapestries. They hung over a dozen feet high, thickly woven and threaded with gold. Karina recognized the visual language of the images. White wings. Rays of sunlight. A burning sword. They weren't just depicting a war. They were depicting a holy war.

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"Alyssia," she said.

"Mhm? Feel free to ask. I'm sure you have plenty of questions."

"These battles—" Alyssia didn't slow to answer.

"Oh, I would love to explain the details of each, but we could be here for months. Maybe once we have a moment, back under the barrier, I can walk you through some of my favorites. There are some lovely examples of Sigardian stitching in Dos Valour, the capital, and—""Which war are they from?" Karina asked.

"Which battles?"

"Which war?" This time, Alyssia did slow. A guard in polished silver armour approached from the opposite direction. He avoided meeting Karina's gaze as he passed.

"They're of the war," Alyssia said.

"The war against the Demon Queen."

"All of them?"

"Of course. Thank goodness there hasn't been another war. I don't know about heroes like you, but I find the one hard enough as it is, thank you very much." She blushed as she finished.

"If I may speak plainly about the subject." Not wars. The War. Singular. Even this ruined corridor held battle after battle from the same conflict. And they were still summoning people to fight it. Karina tasted ash. She ran her tongue across her teeth, but there was nothing to scrape off. She couldn't change how a thought felt in her throat.

"Just a little further," Alyssia assured her.

"Though I should warn you that our training yard is a glorified field." Their footsteps echoed through the empty, slightly charred hallway. A simple wooden door hung crookedly in its frame at the far end. Alyssia stopped before it and turned to Karina.

"Before we step outside, I would like to warn you that most summoned heroes feel uneasy in the training yard at first."

"Pardon?"

"The heroes I've guided came from places without magic, but Dashun and some of the High Solars would know more." She motioned to the door.

"This cathedral's training yard is in disrepair, but it was once heavily enchanted. There used to be spells here that stitched wounds and helped with recovery. Traces of them remain." That? That was phenomenal. Had the same enchantments been in the room she was in? If someone could enchant land, could they enchant clothes? What did that mean for—"Most people from your world find the touch of magic almost sickening at first."

"But—""And I understand there was the incident with the Karash." She lowered her voice as she said the demon's name.

"But being able to cast magic doesn't feel the same as stepping into an enchantment." It took a moment, but Karina nodded.

"Okay! When you're ready, then," Alyssia said as she stepped out of the way. Karina pushed the door partly open. As her hand passed through the threshold, a soft green shimmer ran across her skin, like fire tracing across a splash of oil. The colour flared and then settled, nestling between the bandages and in the burned cracks of the skin underneath. She closed her eyes, waiting for a wash of pain or vertigo or something, but it never came.

After a moment, she withdrew her hand and the green slowly faded from her fingertips. The black on her fingers had receded with the magic, revealing more of that fresh pink skin. Alyssia stared at Karina's hand.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Karina asked.

"Most of those enchantments faded long ago. There shouldn't be enough energy left here to heal a wound." Karina flexed her fingers.

"I'm glad it did." Alyssia looked through the doorway, then back at Karina's hand.

"There were enchantments on the yard that would—" She stopped and rested a hand on Karina's shoulder.

"How did that feel? Do you need to rest a moment?" Maybe her encounter with the Karash had already exposed her to enough magic. Maybe the difference had something to do with her class. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she'd met a god. She almost asked about that last possibility. Then she remembered how carefully Alyssia had discussed her rejection of the Divine Class. Would knowing she met a 'god' reassure her or make the whole thing worse.

Both Alyssia and Dashun had been kind to her, but she still didn't know what they would do with everything she told them.

"Hero?"

"I'm fine," Karina said, "and please call me Karina."

"Is that your old name?" Alyssia asked.

"Pardon?"

"The name Karina. Did you come here knowing that name?" It was a strange question, but her name was one of the few things about her previous life she had known from the beginning.

"Yes."

"Then I would suggest you adopt another, hero," Alyssia said, making a pointed effort to address Karina by her title.

"A name is a powerful thing to a demon. Even between friends, your true name is—""I've already told you." Alyssia hesitated.

"I should have explained sooner. For now, please don't introduce yourself by it again." Karina looked down at her hand. A new body. A new class. Now she was supposed to find a new name, too.

"Is your true name Alyssia?" She nodded.

"My name is bound to this world. I enjoy the divine protection of the many rays. The summoned are not as lucky."

"That might explain the name Cascad."

"Is that not a normal name where you are from?"

"Assuming Cascad and I are from the same world, then it doesn't sound like it." She sighed.

"Not that I remember enough about it to know for sure."

"I understand," Alyssia said before hesitating.

"Or rather, I empathize, but I won't pretend to understand. Heroes remember a different amount of their lives upon arrival."

"But they remember eventually?"

"Some do."

"Some," Karina echoed.

"You said they were muted to help us settle in. That sounded temporary."

"It can be." Alyssia's answer was quieter now.

"I can't promise you how much will return." For once, Karina might not be an exception. There were other people here who couldn't remember their lives, and apparently some had been waiting much longer than she had. Alyssia squeezed her shoulder once before letting go.

"You don't need to come up with a name right now. I know it's difficult. Our parents usually take care of that for us." She smiled in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood.

"Until then, everyone, myself included, can simply continue to call you hero. It's your title, after all."

"Doesn't that get confusing with so many people being called hero?"

"Some go by their class, and most have been here long enough to make a decision." Karina looked through the open doorway.

"I suppose it wouldn't be smart to just have you call me Cinder Mage." Alyssia bristled at the name.

"It's probably best if we don't draw attention to that." She cleared her throat and gestured toward the yard.

"But perhaps the best thing we can do is learn what your class can do." Apparently her time with the Karash hadn't been enough of a demonstration. Karina stepped through the doorway.