Chapter One - Sola’s Teachings and the Otherworldly Users

Running footsteps echoed against the marble floors as a boy dressed in black robes ran down, disrupting the harmonious tune of voices which could be heard in the background of the hallway. The said hallway was well-polished and wide enough for three people to walk abreast with little trouble of colliding into each other. Sunlight filtered in from the left side of the boy, where the walls had arched holes that serve as windows. If anyone peeked out to the windows, they would be able to see the entirety of the building and the hallway itself, because the so-called building the boy was in was built in such a fashion where the hallway was embed into the edges of a pit shaped much like an inverted cone. The highest floor of this place was ground level while the lowest point was considered the "sixth floor" below ground, though it was more often called "coils" instead of "floors" by the residents. Naturally, due to the way the hallway was structured, it allowed one to traverse between the floors without using the stairs albeit more time-consuming. For a trainee cleric like the boy, however, stairs were luxury. They were forbidden to access them unless being accompanied by a full-fledged cleric or someone in a higher position. If that were not the case, the boy would have reached his destination by now.

Eventually the boy reached the room he was heading to. His face crumpled at the sounds of singing voices coming out from behind the doors, lightly blowing a chestnut lock out of his eye which fell due to his hurried pace. His mind clouded with the various forms of punishment he may face for being late. At the same time he had not the heart to back away, for he knew the punishment for skipping a class was even greater. Heaving a sigh, he adjusted his attire and hair in hopes of not increasing, if not lessening the punishment from having a sloppy look.

The voices stopped almost immediately as the boy turned the knob of the door. He was certain the knob barely made a sound and voicelessly cursed at himself. Letting out yet another sigh, he entered.

"Mister Vean."

Came the acknowledgement of his entry. The feminine voice was that of an adult, raspy with age. The boy knew this was the voice of today's instructor and hung his head whilst standing by the door.

"It pleases me to know that you would grace us with your presence today."

The instructor stated without a hint of amusement in her voice. Some of the other trainees in the room snickered at the comment, though the instructor gave no notice and continued speaking.

"As a fellow worshipper of Goddess Sola, I am obliged to discipline those who are late."

This was the moment the boy, Charles Vean, was afraid of. His hair bobbed up and down as he nodded to show that he understood and accepted what the instructor was saying.

"Come see me about it after class. For the time being, get into your position for your daily hymns."

"Yes ma'am."

He replied with a heavy heart. While he was relieved to know that his punishment wasn't as severe as he assumed, for the words the instructor had said to him just now was a typical sentence they gave for a few strikes of the stick after the class, he knew he would be late for classes the next few days as well due to a promise he made. He just hoped the punishments would not escalate too much.

Charles took his designated spot with the others and held his chart of hymns up. Then, the instructor tapped the air in front of her with a wooden stick. A sound much like hitting on a hard surface vibrated out magically. The trainees, Charles included, all inhaled as they knew this was the sign to resume the singing.

As they sang, Charles caught sight of a small piece of parchment floating magically within his reach. Curious, he snatched it while the instructor wasn't looking and peered at the writing held within.

'So what happened? It's not common to see you being late. 

-Kerri'

Charles risked a glance to where his childhood friend Kerri was. The familiar swirl of olive filled his vision as their eyes met, to which she daringly gave a small smile and a wave of hand. Charles' eyes darted to the direction of the instructor with alarm, but the instructor took no notice. Then he realised the other trainees in front of Kerri was blocking the instructor from being able to see her in the first place.

Despite being the same age, Kerri was at least two heads shorter than the other trainee clerics. Not only that, her attire was always too large for her; supplies and clothes all came from Inglorium, the capital city of the Kingdom of Glordia. Each supply from the capital came with a detailed list to prevent leftovers, and all robes had set sizes per age group - unless the robes were too small and were in risk of showing too much skin. It was surprisingly difficult to get a tailored robe when the situation was reversed. Likewise, any rips or tears were fixed simply by ordering a replacement from the Capital.

Kerri was able to adjust the length of the robe by folding it inwards and out of sight for now, but whenever she attempted to fold the sleeves also she would be punished by the instructors for not wearing her attire properly. The white shawl which was supposed to be around one's shoulder became a stole which came down to her thighs to disrupt her walking as well. Charles thought this added to how cute Kerri's appearance was, but he wouldn't dare put such thoughts into words in front of her. Time after time he was tempted to tease her about it to make her cheeks flare up with pink and see those olive eyes glaring at him, but the aftermath of that would be being treated as if he did not exist for a week plus getting hatred stares from Kerri's fans so he kept that to the rare occasion such as during his own birthday.

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While singing, Charles concentrated his attention on the piece of parchment that now laid flat against his hymn chart, his index finger pointed at it. They practiced this particular hymn every day so in truth the majority of the trainees had already memorized it by heart, and Charles was no exception. His finger let out small flickers of light as he willed the power he had received from Goddess Sola on the parchment. It was a simple task, to burn the surface of the parchment such that it became letters. Within moments he was done, and so changed the magic from burning to floating the parchment back to Kerri.

Kerri snatched the parchment out of the air as soon as it was within her reach and Charles' vision darted once more towards the instructor. There was no need for such caution, but his instincts to make sure no harm or punishment befalls on his friend made him check regardless, and saw that instructor had her eyes closed as she listened to the singing.

Kerri's eyes darted down the parchment and as she read, she felt a growing warmth of happiness in her heart.

'Was talking to some Users to see if any of them can sew. Y'know, so that you'd have some proper clothing for once. I'll convince the clerics if they start berating you about it as well so don't worry!

-Charles'

Before she could write another message, the hymn was over. The instructor clasped her hands to a clap and addressed the trainees to move for their next task. This was nothing new to Kerri and Charles; the instructor selected a part from the Solarary, the holy scriptures of Goddess Sola, and the trainees studied about it in small groups. Then came lunch.

"Mister Vean,"

Kerri imitated the instructor when she spotted Charles returning from the punishment. The trainee clerics at the same table as her all burst into laughter at that as he joined them at the cafeteria located on the lowest coil.

Despite being the lowest coil it was as bright as ground level without any artificial light. It was thanks to the open ceiling; the cafeteria was in the very center of the inverted cone-shaped building. The building, also known as the Martyrium of Sola, was created in order to commemorate a certain event listed in the Solarary but in the present day it is also used as one of the six sites in the Kingdom of Glordia where clerics worshipping Goddess Sola are nurtured.

When Kerri first got transferred to the Martyrium, she wasn't sure whether this place could be called a building; from above it was more like a giant hole in the ground with a spiral of hallway impaled to the edge of the hole. Though that was over seven years ago; today, it was the natural view of her home.

"Very funny."

Charles spat, though his smile showed that he wasn't in a bad mood.

"So, details please."

Kerri spoke, going straight to what she was going to ask him before. She also pulled at his hands; there were distinct red marks where the stick had been used to carry out the punishment. A soft glow appeared in the outstretched hands of Kerri as her magic healed his hands. Out of all the trainee clerics at the Martyrium, Kerri's healing was one of the best - though even if her healing magic was not the best, Charles would still have allowed his friend to take care of his hands any day. He did, however, had to force himself to look away from Kerri and her alluring raven hair before he was called a pervert for staring too long and answered the question.

"Yeah, so. This morn I spotted some Users at the top floor,"

He started, but was cut short by the gasps of his peers.

"U-Users?! Here?! That's impossible, only those serving Goddess Sola are ever allowed in the Matryium!"

One of the trainees spoke what everyone had in mind.

"That's what I thought too, but apparently these Users achieved something big, something pleasing to Sola."

"Goddess Sola."

Kerri corrected Charles. He scowled at that, but didn't fight back.

"Anyway, I trailed them for a bit. They were being led to the Head cleric's room by an instructor. I waited until they were coming out, then waited for a chance when the instructor would leave them."

Charles' voice was becoming elated as he talked at the sight of the utmost attention those surrounding him was giving him.

"It was when they were about to leave the Martyrium when I finally had the chance. I was risking everything by that point, since you know what happens if we accidentally leave the place, even by a hair's width."

Everyone nodded at his words; when a trainee cleric leaves the place they were designated for training without proper permission, they risked their favour with Goddess Sola and lose their granted powers. It was possible to regain this favour, however that took a lifetime of effort.

"Luckily I caught one of them before they left. That User was a beauty, really; flowing green hair, icy white eyes. And those hips..."

Charles' grin became bigger as he reminisced the encounter. Kerri gave a glare and as if he realised that, he snapped out of it and continued.

"She told me her name - Sylvia - and we talked for a bit. I asked her about what she did to come here and she gladly told me about it. Apparently she and her party managed to fell the army of Orcs which were terrorizing the towns; but that's not all. They were able to recover something very precious! They didn't tell me what it was, but judging by how they were treated, it must've been something really good. Then I asked her if she knew anyone who could sew. She became really friendly after that and told me that she'd look for one, and that she'd come back again soon!"

Charles ended his story with pride. As he had expected, he was swamped by the awed eyes of the other trainees. Within moments he was a star, being asked questions about the Users he came across, the appearance of Sylvia's party members and more.

"Ugh, it started again."

Kerri grimaced, looking away. Unlike her peers, Kerri did not feel the charm of Users. She was by no means hostile or opposed of them, but the amount of attention everyone seem to give them was overrated in her views. Instead, she left her seat to have a little walk.

Her feet led her to the very center of the cafeteria. She wasn't planning to leave the place just yet as there was time until the next class. The cafeteria's walls were decorated with various tapestries and arts of the events told in the Solarary, but those she revised every day during classes; the center of the cafeteria however held a majestic statue. For some odd reason the instructors and all the senior clerics were reluctant to tell her - or anyone - about the statue and its origins. Perhaps because of that reason, she found herself observing it whenever she can to speculate why. The closest information Kerri had was during the history class about the Martyrium of Sola, the very place she was in. And even then it was just in passing; no note or reason as to why there was such as statue in such a place.

'The Gluttonous Beast of the Damned, the Nahkrab.'

Kerri read the name of the statue in her mind, then circled it. The countless times she had looked at it told her that it resembled a skull sitting on a circle of.. something. The statue was chiseled in grey stone, so she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. She observed every detail once more in hopes of gaining more clue; something she might have missed in the past umpteenth time.

Her search was fruitless, and soon Charles came by to announce that it was time to move on to the next class. With a light nod, Kerri joined her friend back to the slow walk towards the next class.