Chapter 14: Belief

After climbing down to the ground, Naomi and Lira began to set off towards the church once again. The darkness that had hindered Naomi’s path through the woods before seemed to barely affect Lira at all. Her pace was determined, and each turn she made had purpose in her body language while she led the duo back to the edge of the woods.

Between her sore feet and exhausted mental state, the walk felt more like a trudge on auto pilot as Naomi followed the elf. It only took a few minutes before reaching the tree line that bordered what Lira referred to as the “training meadow”. As they emerged into sunlight, a loud BOOM from the tree line made Naomi jump and turn towards the woods again. Hands raised and powers active, she stood frozen facing the direction where the noise came from waiting for anything to jump at them from the darkness.

“Relax. That’s not a danger to us.” Lira said, still walking towards the church without breaking her stride.

Naomi kept her hands raised but relaxed her shoulders, trusting the Hunter’s words but staying vigilant just in case. “How can you be sure? Did you know what that was?”

The elf stopped in her tracks and turned her head to look back at Naomi while smiling. “The third test.”

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It took at least an hour before reaching the familiar door that Naomi had managed to squeeze out of that morning. The tabaxi that had given her the red cloth tied to her arm was no longer standing by it, presumably to move on with the rest of the staff to follow the recruits as they took their entrance tests.

Lira opened the door and led them back into the courtyard where the recruits had assembled before and met the various branch leaders of the Lodge. Muddy footprints on the white brick floor next to the center of the courtyard retold the story of the recruits vying for the goal of the first test. Inside the field, Ambrosia leaned against the wooden platform used by the branch leaders to give introductions.

She wore the same armored grieves that Naomi had first seen her wear during the troll attack, but her chest plate and gauntlets were taken off and resting next to her on the platform. While she was a large elf, the armor had seemed to be absurdly large on her to Naomi. The oversized chest plate made it seem as if her entire torso was swollen rather than well fitted to her frame, but the sheer amount of muscle revealed when she wore only a cloth tunic revealed that the armor might in fact be too small for her physique.

Each of her arms were larger than Naomi’s waistline and were scored with veins running down from her bulging shoulders. The scars and veins that traced her skin spoke of her experiences, battles fought, and victories hard-won.

Baas stood in front of a newly erected training dummy made from cloth and straw, his back was to Lira and Naomi as he had raised hands towards the faux enemy and periodically swayed his body left and right as if he was dodging a flurry of punches.

“How far did she get?” Ambrosia asked, crossing her arms as she spoke.

“Made the woods.” Lira replied, placing a hand on her hip as she addressed the captain.

Ambrosia chuckled and stood.

“Well, better than I expected.” Ambrosia turned and pushed herself to the top of the platform. She walked to a crate and pulled out another training dummy. She hopped down to the grass and stabbed the wooden stake that supported the dummy into the ground. “Now that we know that you have some basic cardio endurance, we can work on your magic.”

Lira turned to Naomi and flashed a smile. She then turned and walked away towards the platform, jumping effortlessly onto the top and sat down, letting her legs dangle over the edge.

Naomi closed her eyes and exhaled before walking towards the training dummy. “You know I’ve killed real things before relatively easy, right? This bundle of twigs is probably going to break if I sneeze on it.”

Lira giggled and Ambrosia shot her a glare that stifled her laughter. She turned back towards Naomi. “We’re not testing for power, just to see each spell you have in your arsenal.” She gestured back to the dummy. “We don’t expect a dummy to last against most spells, which is why we have several in case you one-shot any of them.” She backed away a few strides.

Naomi shrugged and closed her eyes. She lifted her left hand and willed her mana to manifest. Darkness enveloped her palm, eventually culminating into a solid dark purple orb. A hint of pride began to build in her chest at the growing responsiveness of her power.

Baas stopped shadow boxing with his training dummy and turned to watch the demonstration.

Naomi pointed her palm towards the dummy and mentally ordered her tendril to grab it. The tendril responded instantly, lashing out from the orb and closing the distance to the dummy in less than two seconds. After wrapping around the dummy, Naomi lifted her arm to bring it into the air. She reeled her arm back and with a throwing gesture shot the dummy into the air through the open ceiling of the courtyard.

She withdrew her tendril and looked to Ambrosia while smiling in accomplishment.

“I don’t know why you’re smiling. You threw a target into the distance before confirming the kill.” Ambrosia responded.

“It went like, eighty feet in the air. How is that not confirming a kill?” Naomi asked, raising her hands in frustration and confusion.

Ambrosia sighed and placed both her hands on her hips. “Most monsters, at least the ones we face, are mana enriched and capable predators. Even monsters without wings can survive a fall at that height. All you would have done is launched it away from your unit and give it a chance to escape wherever it lands.”

She turned to Lira on the platform and made a clicking sound with her tongue. Lira acknowledged the message and leapt to her feet. She went to the already opened crate on the platform and pulled another identical training dummy from it. With a twist of her body, she threw the dummy towards the captain.

Ambrosia caught the dummy and stabbed it into the same spot as before and backed away. “Try again, but this time use a different spell.

Naomi, growing frustrated, summoned her orb again and aimed towards the replacement dummy. She closed her eyes and pictured the ethereal flames she was able to summon before and placed her intent upon the dummy.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Within a few heartbeats, opaque purple flames enveloped the dummy. The cloth material began to darken as it burned, and the fire spread across the entirety of it within moments. After a few seconds of burning, all the was left was the blackened wooden stick frame of the dummy.

Sweat began to bead on Naomi’s forehead after the flames burnt out. Fear of passing out again crawled into her mind as she looked from the remains of the dummy back to the captain.

The captain shrugged as she made eye contact with her. “Useful. There's no indication of where the spell is coming from like a traditional fire spell. Good to know.”

After replacing the dummy again, she stepped away again and gestured for Naomi to begin.

“Which spell this time? Tendril, or fire?” Naomi asked, arms raised for attack at a moment’s notice.

“Neither. I was in the room with the bishop when you listed your abilities. You’ve shown us what your demon powers can do, now I want to see what the Light gave you.” The captain replied.

Naomi raised an eyebrow, remembering the other abilities her skill screen had listed. She relaxed her stance and brought one of her arms over to hold the other in embarrassment.

“I…I haven’t used those powers yet. Not sure how to yet.” Naomi muttered, looking to the ground as she spoke.

Ambrosia looked to Lira, silently asking for confirmation of Naomi’s claim. Lira nodded back.

“So, this entire time you’ve been here, all you’ve used are offensive spells that the demon gave you?” Baas asked.

Naomi turned to look at the dragonborn, surprised he spoke to her after the plethora of threats he’s aimed her way. “I guess. After everything that happened when the trolls came under attack by you guys, I had already accepted that my life was most likely over. All I wanted to do was to take as many of those fuckers with me as I could. The powers seemed to respond, and I was able to instinctively figure out how to use them. Now the two spells I just showed you are the most familiar and easiest to use.”

Baas squinted his eyes, as if looking through her after she finished explaining. “Your birth class is ‘Priest’, right?” He asked.

“Y-yeah?”

The dragonborn nodded and looked towards the captain. “Might explain it. She did just get to Lias.”

“Yes, but the consensus has been that she was already blessed by the Light when she came through the gate. She can already cast, so most of the clergy thought she could also call on them too.” Ambrosia replied to the dragonborn.

“How can she call on them if she has no idea who she’s trying to talk to?” Baas retorted. “This is basic class fundamentals. I’m not even in tune with the Light and even I know that!”

“Yes, but she already was briefed on the skill screen so why wouldn’t she put it together on how this works?” Lira interjected while raising her hand.

“Guys?” Naomi quietly tried to interject.

“BECAUSE she’s new. We grew up with mana, we know this already. She hasn’t had to undergo any trials or rites of her village because she literally just got here from another world. How does that not make sense?” Baas yelled back at Lira.

“GUYS!” Naomi yelled, catching each of the hunters’ attention.

“What are you even debating about?”

Ambrosia placed a hand over her face. “Ok. So, we need to cover a lot more than I thought…”

She let her hand slide down her face and looked to the sky before speaking again. “How much do you know about mana?”

“Assume nothing. I did just get here.” Naomi replied, glancing at Baas while smirking.

The dragonborn’s face remained stoic and stern.

Fuck you, I’m funny.

Ambrosia sat in the grass and gestured for her to approach. Naomi did so and sat a few feet away from the elf.

“Mana is everything here. Our abilities, strength, endurance, all of it comes from mana within us. There is a lot of speculation on where it came from or why Lias is saturated in it, but that’s the main point of everything.” She raised her hand and closed her eyes as a ball of yellow light began to emanate from her hand.

“It doesn’t matter if your class is ‘Smith’ or ‘Warrior’, we all use mana in one way or another. For me, it enhances my defenses and strength so I can survive close combat with enemies. There are nuances of course, but for now you just need to know that mana is why we can perform our duties as Hunters.”

The glow dissipated, and she lowered her hand.

“For casters, they have different methods for casting that enhance their base mana pool. Mages use arcane magic for their spells that allow them to cast fireballs and freeze water. They gain those spells through study and practice of the arcane arts and battle magic. Priests are different though. While you can cast spells that can heal or deal damage, the root cause of those abilities is from your deities that grant you their power. It’s a symbiotic process where you act as a medium for conducting their will while also being able to defend yourself while in danger.”

“That’s…pretty close to what I’m doing already with the spells I can comfortably cast. Cindara –”

“Don’t say its name!” Baas yelled, taking a step forward from where he stood, the familiar look of fury returned to his reptilian face .

Ambrosia raised a hand at him, eyes hardened with authority. Baas glared in silence at her for a few moments before turning and slashing at his training dummy, crushing it with no effort.

After Baas stormed off around a pillar and out of view, Ambrosia looked at Naomi again.

“You’ll have to forgive him. Dragonborn are one of the few remaining species that were most affected by the scourge. He is right about demon names though, despite pointing it out in the wrong way. Each time you use their name, it strengthens their presence wherever they are in the world. Even though the scourge came to an end a century ago, saying any demon’s name is still a superstition and insult to the dragonborn.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Naomi said, brow furrowed in concern.

“It’s not your fault, and he should know that by now. As you both have stated, you are very new to our world and have plenty to learn before you’re fully integrated into our society.” Ambrosia replied, her tone soft with understanding.

“However, I understand where your thought process was leading and no, the relationship between a priest and the gods is not the same as a warlock or hollow and their patron. The gods, or ‘celestials’, are benevolent beings that helped guide sentient beings as far back as when the elves first arrived on Lias. Demons…are different.” Ambrosia looked to the ground as she spoke, her voice nearly a whisper as she finished.

Sensing the context of how much baggage the elven captain must have, Naomi tried to change the subject to avoid further awkwardness.

“Wait, you guys know your Gods? Like, not just the concept of them or what the Church tells you about them? Also, there’s more than one?” Naomi asked.

“Why do you think it’s called the ‘Church of Celestials’, as in plural?” Lira said, reminding Naomi that she was still present in the courtyard.

“I don’t know. I thought it was like an overall reference to the cosmos or something. Between the rapacious trolls and being locked in a cell, I haven’t had a lot of explanation on how this world works.” Naomi shot back.

Lira thought about it for a moment and shrugged while nodding her head in acknowledgement.

“Yes, we know them.” Ambrosia said. “They appear once every few years for updates on the world and to give suggestions to the various branches of the church depending on the local situation.”

“They...appear?” Naomi said, tilting her head to the side.

Ambrosia pointed to the tower nearest to the courtyard. “These towers aren’t just for show. They act as a beacon to the gods on where the church stands. The mana-laced materials at the top act as a conduit for them to project an image of themselves to the leaders of the church in the highest room.”

Naomi thought for a few moments while looking at the various windows and stained glass of the tower. The material looked like regular white stone and glass, but apparently nothing was as it appeared in Lias.

“Wait, if there are these all-powerful benevolent beings that can open dimensions to different planes of existence, then why don’t they just come down to Lias and wipe out all the threats to the church.” Naomi asked, looking back at Ambrosia.

Ambrosia stared for a few moments at Naomi, the silence becoming more and more uncomfortable.

“Look, we are getting too sidetracked on this subject. The point I was trying to make is that you need to feel the power that the gods gave you to use them. Recognize and embrace the connection to the celestials.” The captain finally replied.

“Look I’ve never been very religious. Even back in my world I was raised in the church with my family, but it never stuck with me in adulthood. I’m agnostic for the most part, but even the part that believes in the possibility of deities has shrunk in the past few years.”

“Then maybe it’s time you review your beliefs. You are in an entirely new world, with different species than your own, using powers you couldn’t fathom before. This mental block you have might just be your subconscious way of refusing to believe in the concept of ‘gods’. But I assure you, ours are very real and are the reason you still draw breath.”