The night passed peacefully as Nam didn’t try to do anything. Shiro did accidentally scare the living crap out of Ras as he forgot they had a guest huddled in the corner but they managed to resolve it without waking up his father.
When morning came, Nam cooked up another meal before Shiro left.
Thanking the father and son duo, Shiro left the cabin and made her way back to the city so that she could attend the public lesson that the teacher was hosting. After all, he was a good source of information at this moment in time.
Waiting by the school patiently, she could see a few parents frown at her but eventually ignored her presence.
Some of them made their disgust known by saying lines such as ‘they really do let anyone participate huh? If it wasn’t for free, I wouldn’t even want my child to be near a beggar like her.’
To which Shiro would only shrug and ignore them. After all, it’s not like they were going to leave this village any time soon and live a better life now.
She knows how it usually goes, she shows them her power, they beg for forgiveness. It’s better to spare herself of the trouble.
After waiting for a little while, Shiro could see the teacher approaching in the distance.
Standing up, she greeted him when he got close.
“You seem eager to learn.” He chuckled softly.
“I require knowledge after all. Without knowledge, you can’t do anything.” Shiro nodded her head.
Smiling at her response, he gestured for everyone to enter the building.
Some of the parents started to complain to him about Shiro’s presence but he ignored them.
The classroom was rather poor as it was just some benches lined up with no desks. There was a chair at the front and a slab of dark grey stone which had several pieces of burnt branches set to the side so that he could draw on the slab.
“Today we’ll be learning about this world and the trials that are located everywhere across this land. Since we have a new student joining us, I’ll go over some of the things that we already know.
“First, our world is called the Forgotten Realms as stated on the Mural of Beginnings. It is split into five sections each representing one of the primordial deities. Nyx, Gaia, Ouranos, Tartarus and Chronos. Each section is filled with cities and unique environmental scenarios which are due to the Gods’ power.
“In the Section of Night which houses the tower of Nyx, day is much shorter than the other areas and beasts roam the night. The closer you get to the tower, the more powerful the beasts become and some say that the beasts located at the entrance can’t be defeated even by those who have obtained three divinities.”
“But how are you supposed to complete her tower then?” One of the kids interrupted as the teacher sighed.
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it was easy, everyone could obtain the powers of a deity and turn this world asunder. Anyways, I shall resume my lesson now.” He explained while using the charcoal to draw out a rough diagram of the world.
“The next Section of Life which houses the tower of Gaia. It is located in the west where plants and wildlife are an abundance in this section. The closer you get to the tower, the denser the forest becomes. The monsters here are mostly harmless and won’t try to kill anyone. People who hunt the monsters are then punished by the forest itself. The forest will drain you of your vitality in order to balance out the life of which you took. Therefore, if you ever find yourself in the Section of Life, do not kill any of the inhabitants or else your life is forfeit.
“The third section is located near the north is the Section of Sky. Most of the land mass in this place are broken apart and float freely in the air while maintaining a certain distance from one another. There are times where the islands come close to colliding but they never do. After studying the patterns of the islands, some have managed to construct a few bridges that join together when the islands are close and allow safe passage. There are also air channels scattered through the section that act like air carriages which carry your body with a gust of air. The safe channels are marked while the dangerous ones are guarded by enforcement so that people don’t accidentally harm themselves.
“The fourth section is located in the east and it’s the Section of the Underworld, one that has the tower of Tartarus. This place is one that you should avoid whenever possible as it is filled with criminals and large monsters that attack everyone. Occasionally, things called Wardens of Tartarus will appear but people don’t know what they do as all who run into them have disappeared without any exceptions. They are only rumours but the disappearing people are real.
“The last and final section is the section of Time. This section is smaller than the others in that it is squashed between the Section of Life and the Section of the Underworld. The flow of this place is rather weird as there are instances where you would find yourself back to where you were a few moments ago or where you could have been if you kept walking. There’s not much known about this place as it is hard to investigate the flow of time but people have been able to map out a rather safe route to the tower. Thankfully, there aren’t any monsters in this section and you can live your life there if you want with some small problems but they’re not too bothersome.”
As the lesson continued, Shiro made sure to memorise everything.
During the second half of the lesson, the teacher started to talk about where they are and what trials are near this place.
Right now, they’re in the outer edges where the influence of each section is minimal. The closer you get to the towers, the more apparent the influence becomes. The closest tower to their current location would be the tower of Nyx and the closer they get to the centre, the longer the night becomes.
After the lessons ended, Shiro decided to ask the teacher some more questions. Seeing as though Shiro was entirely focused during the lesson, he agreed.
“Do you know where the trials belonging to Heracles and Achilles are located?” Shiro asked curiously.
“I do but they’re rather difficult trials. Most would take them as their second or third divinity. Seeing as you are still young, can I guess that you’re looking for your first divinity?” He asked as Shiro nodded.
“I have something I need to do so the first one must be as strong as it can get.” Shiro replied.
“I see… In that case then I don’t recommend Heracles or Achilles since their trials are tough. There’s no way that you can complete them without a single divinity.” He shook his head.
“Then what’s the most powerful trial that you can recommend?” Shiro asked.
“I don’t know since I don’t know about your current abilities. You’re malnourished and wounded. Any trial is dangerous for you.”
“Mn… Then can you tell me about the most notable trials for a first trial? If possible, can it be something combat based or utility based?” Shiro asked.
“Ok, let me look through my notes.” The teacher nodded and started to flip through his notes.
“There are a few that I’ve found and probably the most noticeable one is Perseus. His divinity is a mix of utility and weapons and it grants you a small armoury of weapons of which you can summon at will but must replenish manually. Depending on how well you did his trial, the divinity may also grant you some physical benefits such as increased strength, speed, vitality and the such.
“If you want a strength-based divinity then Theseus might be one of them. Think of it like a weaker version of Heracles’ divinity.”
“Hmm…” Thinking back to their legends, Shiro knew that Perseus was the one who killed Medusa thanks to some of the items granted by the Greek gods. A magical helmet, a shield, the winged shoes of Hermes, a magical bag and a powerful sword which allowed him to cut through Medusa’s hard neck. On the other hand, Theseus slayed the Minotaur without any tools from the gods. Perseus’ legend was similar to Theseus only that he needed the weapons as Medusa was a tricky foe and was more powerful than Minotaur.
“There are a few harder trials that might be completable without a divinity but it hasn’t been proven yet. The Goddess of speed, strength and victory, Nike also known as the winged goddess. The God of strength and power, Kratos. Hermes is also one of them.”
“So I have a choice between Perseus, Theseus, Nike, Kratos and Hermes huh?” Shiro asked just to make sure.
“Yes, these are probably the most powerful ones that you can complete without a divinity. ‘Probably’ is the key word.” The teacher nodded.
Narrowing her eyes, Shiro started to consider her options.
