Nil stood on top of a pile of corpses, overlooking the blood-drenched fields of the purged world. They dispassionately gazed at the horizon.

A figure approached cautiously from behind. It was not human. Nil wasn’t either.

[Are you satisfied?]

Nil tilted their head up. The sky was still as beautiful as the day they’d arrived. Somehow.

“It is not my duty to be satisfied.”

[Of course.]

Nevertheless, Nil reached a hand toward the open sky. Flakes of ash drifted around it as the air swerved to avoid touching their armor.

“Why… do I feel like this? It is not right.”

[Because you have a heart, despite it all.]

Nil fiddled with their gauntlet, and it dropped to the ground with a thud. They closed and opened their scarred hand slowly. Ash touched their skin. Their expression did not change. It had never changed.

Nil walked away from the bodies, leaving their bloody gauntlet behind.

----------------------------------------

For the second time, somewhere else entirely, Nil woke up, crying.

Their foggy vision cleared up as they wiped the tears from their face, revealing an unfamiliar room filled with beds.

What did the dreams mean? Why did they always find themself in the role of that thing? This one seemed like a continuation of the previous one, after the fighting was over. There wasn’t enough information for them to put together the whole story.

Well, it had been just a dream—so they told themself.

A voice broke them out of their stupor.

“You’re finally awake!”

Still dazed to a degree, Nil looked to the side of their bed. They started as they saw the group of people beside them.

“Huh? What are you all doing here?”

Ray, Nova, and even Max.

“I happened to catch a glimpse of you as you were being carried to the infirmary,” Ray said, grinning. “Of course, I immediately went to get these two, although they didn’t believe me at first.”

Nova huffed. “Can you really blame us? We thought you were dead!” Her face softened, and she even smiled slightly. “I’m glad you’re okay, though.”

Max was avoiding looking directly at Nil. He looked ashamed about something.

“Max,” Nil said, prompting the man to finally look them in the eye. “I was the one who offered myself to stay. Don’t blame yourself for not speaking up.”

He started tearing up as he heard the words.

“You’re all just kids. It should’ve been me who—”

Nil cut him off.

“It’s water under the bridge. Nothing you can do about it now.”

Max looked stunned for a moment, but then rubbed his eyes and nodded.

“I’m indebted to you, Nil. We all are.”

Ray and Nova nodded in agreement. Nil scratched their head, embarrassed. The truth was that they had been initially forced to stay behind, but the atmosphere felt too heavy to bring it up now.

“What’s with all the seriousness?” Ray said. “We need to celebrate!” He grabbed Nil’s shoulder. “Have you checked out the cafeteria yet? The food’s pretty good!”

Nova rolled her eyes. “It really isn’t.”

Ray laughed and playfully hit her with his elbow. “Don’t ruin the fun!”

Nil chuckled. “It looks like you guys have gotten pretty close.”

Ray nodded. “I guess we’ve been sticking together since we arrived here a few days ago.”

Hold on, what?

“A few days ago? How long have I been asleep?”

“Two whole days, kid,” Max answered. “Mana exhaustion.”

“You made quite the entrance!” Ray said, slapping them on the back. “You broke that record like it was nothing, and then you fought the director!”

Nil felt themself blushing a little. “It wasn’t my intention to do either of those things.”

“Well, you sure went and did them anyway,” Nova said. “By now, everyone has heard about it.”

“You also missed the first two days of class,” Max said, sighing. “We’re only staying here for a month, so it’s a pretty big deal.”

Nil rubbed their chin. “How do they coordinate everyone? Shouldn’t there be new people arriving every day?”

Max shook his head. “I see you haven’t recovered from your amnesia. The portals open once a month.”

Nova nodded. “Only when there’s a new moon.”

“Huh,” Nil said. “Isn’t it strange for them to synchronize with the phases of our moon?”

Ray shrugged. “Not stranger than there being portals that transport you to a different world, if you think about it.”

Nil chuckled. “You got me there.”

Still, it was weird. Not remembering anything was driving Nil insane.

“What’s today’s date?” they asked, realizing they didn’t even know that much.

“It would be April 10th, if we were still on Earth,” Nova said.

“The calendar here is different,” Ray continued. “So it’s the third day of the Blooming Moon.”

“Just in case you’re both forgetting,” Max interjected. “Today’s lesson is about to begin.”

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“Oh, that’s right,” Ray said. He looked back to Nil. “What group are you in?”

Nil shrugged. “No idea.”

Ray laughed. “Just come with us, then! All three of us are in the same one.”

Nova narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure they can just join whatever group they want.”

Ray waved a hand. “It’ll be fine! Are you well enough to come?” he asked Nil.

They nodded, and started getting out of the bed, but they almost stumbled as they landed on the floor. Ray caught them, and threw their hand over his shoulders.

“Guess it’s my time to help you walk around,” he said, smiling.

“Thanks, Ray, but I can walk, really,” Nil said, flustered.

“Don’t be like that!” Ray said. “Just let me do it.”

Nil sighed, and accepted the help in the end. The group guided them to the classroom building, and they headed into a lecture hall labeled ‘5’. It was easily large enough to house one hundred people, with the wooden seats arranged in a sloped curve around a podium placed on a raised platform near the entrance. Not wanting to force Nil to climb the steps, despite their protests that the worry was unnecessary, the group found a set of empty spots near the front of the class.

“The place is pretty empty,” Nil commented. “Are we early?” Over half the seats were unoccupied, and the professor was seemingly yet to arrive.

Nova shook her head. “I mean, we’re a bit early, but don’t expect the room to fill up much more. A lot of people have decided to ditch these lessons.”

Nil cocked their head. “Why is that?”

Max sighed deeply. “The first week is all about history, culture, geography, and that sort of thing. The only requirement to graduate is to have good enough stats, so these classes don’t help at all in that regard.” He mumbled something under his breath, about the youth these days.

“I think it’s pretty important for us to learn all this,” Ray said. “I mean, we’ll be living here for the rest of our lives, won’t we? Imagine not knowing the name of the country you inhabit. It’d be embarrassing.” He laughed.

Nil nodded. “You’re right. The ones who ditch these classes will have a hard time navigating society afterward.”

“They were probably pariahs back on Earth anyways,” Nova said. “I mean, why would they have come here otherwise?”

“Wouldn’t that make them want to fit in better now that they have a second chance, and not the other way around?” Nil asked.

Nova shook her head. “Maybe that’s the case for some people,” she said. “But others will have given up on it, and just want to learn magic or whatever. Others still will have come here to escape law enforcement, or… who knows. There are many possible reasons, and none of them are particularly nice.”

Nil wondered why they had come themself. They also felt the urge to ask the other three about it, but it felt like a touchy topic. Maybe later.

As they were pondering over it, Corwyn entered the class, and walked over to the podium. He noticed Nil and waved them hello with a smile. Nil awkwardly waved back.

“Is he the professor?” they whispered.

Ray nodded. “Yeah. He seems nice enough.”

Corwyn’s appearance made Nil suddenly remember the device he had given them. They patted their pockets, and it was fortunately still there.

Corwyn clapped loudly, prompting the quiet murmur that filled the lecture hall to stop. As he spoke, his voice boomed across the room, as if amplified by a microphone, despite no such device being anywhere in sight.

“Welcome to your third lesson at our esteemed Academy,” he said. “As on the previous ones, I’ll be your lecturer, and we’ll be focusing on Asphodelian Geography and History.” His eyes glanced at Nil for a moment, and his smile broadened. “I have a special surprise prepared for you all today, but first, let’s review what we’ve learned so far, shall we?”

He waved his hand in front of him, and a huge message window appeared, with a map etched on it:

Map of Asphodel [https://i.imgur.com/ysViMuI.jpg]

“This is the map of Asphodel we worked with yesterday,” he said. “Who can tell me—”

Suddenly the door burst open, revealing a burly young man, who was panting heavily. Nil raised an eyebrow when they saw who it was.

“Kai?” they muttered.

Kai locked eyes with Nil and smiled. Then, he effortlessly jumped over the row of seats separating them and sat next to the group.

“Hey!” he told Nil. “You impressed me the other day. Let’s be friends!”

Corwyn just stared at him as it happened. As the ruckus quieted down, his expression of shock turned into an annoyed smile.

“You, the one who just got here,” he said. “Since you can afford to come late, I’m sure you have a good grasp on the topic. How about you tell the class how many kingdoms there are in Asphodel, as pictured on this map?”

Kai blinked several times as he examined the image.

“...Ten?”

Corwyn looked over at the rest of the class.

“Anyone know the actual answer?”

Max raised his hand, and Corwyn called on him.

“There are four kingdoms,” he said.

Corwyn snapped his fingers. “That’s right! Can you tell me their names?”

“The Azure Alliance, the Exalted Union, the Iron Triad and the Verdant Reaches.”

Corwyn nodded. “This map is a representation of the territories ruled by the ten High Houses of Asphodel. However, only four of them are royalty: House Silfer, House Grelden, House Foller and House Leven.”

He zoomed in the image to the westernmost part of the continent.

“House Calais and House Rane are historical allies of House Silfer. Together, the three of them constitute the Azure Alliance. Even though House Silfer rules the kingdom on paper, the other two maintain a large degree of autonomy.”

The map moved to the east, focusing on the regions bordering the Alliance.

“The Exalted Union is governed by House Grelden. They originally owned the entire region, but the territories now ruled by House Morell seceded almost a century ago. After a long and bloody war, they were allowed to keep a semblance of independence, on the condition that they remained subordinate to the Greldens.”

The picture moved again, crossing over to the other side of the continent.

“The Iron Triad’s history is even more defined by war. Originally, House Faerson and House Celter ruled kingdoms of their own, until House Foller invaded them. Nowadays, they’re nothing more than subjects.”

Finally, the map reached the eastern limits of Asphodel.

“House Leven and House Zervas control the most isolated areas of the continent. They like to keep to themselves, but they’ve united as the Verdant Reaches in order to discourage the Iron Triad from attacking them. The Levens may hold the crown, but the two regions are nearly independent.”

As Corwyn wrapped up the explanation, a few people threw up their hands to ask questions.

“What is ‘Owl’s Crown’?” someone said. Nil wondered as well. It was marked with a star at the very center of the continent.

Corwyn nodded. “Good question. That’s where this Academy is located,” he said. “It’s an important city because it’s a neutral territory. It represents the uneasy truce between the Exalted Union and the Iron Triad, and it’s ruled by a council in which half the members are appointed by each kingdom.”

After answering a few more question, he slapped the podium with both hands

“Enough talking for now. Let’s move on to the special surprise I mentioned.” He clapped twice in quick succession and a small crate appeared in front of him. With a wave of his hand, the white gems filling it floated into each of the student’s hands. Nil took theirs and examined it, noticing a concentration of mana inside of it.

“Those little things are catalysts imbued with a certain spell. If you pour mana into it, you’ll be able to access a pocket dimension. You can use it to store your things, of course, but more importantly, it’s a perfect place to train by yourselves. The training grounds are only so big, after all.”

Nil sent a bit of mana into the gem, and a small portal appeared, just big enough to put an arm through it. If they expended a larger amount of mana, they could probably create a portal big enough to walk through.

“I recommend you make good use of it,” Corwyn said, “because for the second part of my surprise, I have an announcement to make.” He adjusted his glasses with a grin. “This month, the Academy will be holding its very first championship!”

“Championship?” Nil asked.

Corwyn nodded. “You will form teams of five, and fight against one another. The winning team will get a very valuable reward.” He threw his hands up in the air. “Of course, this is all optional. The requirement for graduation is still unchanged. We just figured this would be a good idea to motivate everyone a little.”

Kai grabbed Nil by the shoulders excitedly. “Hey, team up with me! We’ll totally win if we fight together.”

Before Nil got the chance to respond, Ray pitched in as well.

“I’m in,” he said with a smile. “We can do this, right, Nil?”

Nova sighed. “I suppose there’s no reason not to do it,” she said. “I’ll help too.”

Everyone’s gazes turned to Max, who looked uncomfortable. Finally, he clicked his tongue.

“Sure, I’ll join, but I don’t know how much help I’ll really be in a fight.”

Nil, who had been roped into it without being given a chance to answer, just smiled at the absurdity of the situation. They did need to get stronger, and these people seemed dependable, so it was as good a start as any.

They couldn’t get the images of the ravaged world out of their head. Were they really going to come to Asphodel too?

Only one thing to do about it, they supposed: Train. And so they did.