Following the young boy's voice, they crossed over to the order of lights' territory.
The land around the building was not vast in any capacity; however, its green colors seemed to stretch limitlessly
Unlike everywhere else in the capital, there was no flowers
Nature was left, not untouched, but untampered
A feeling of home overcame Luca
This was accompanied by confusion—he had never been at a place like this before
Kaia seemed to have noticed Luca's troubled look and quickly figured the reason behind it
"Yeah, we all had that too." She said, looking over the land with a teary smile on her face
"The feeling of being home." The corners of her mouth fell slightly as she sorted her thoughts
"This place is using some sort of magic that is making us feel this way."
Her expression hardened.
Then she made a request
"Don't fall for it. Don't be like the others."
The boy who had called on them earlier called them for a second time, standing at the entry.
"Are you coming? Why so slow?"
Kaia's eyebrows seemed heavy as she lowered them into an angry glare
"I will punch that kid one day I swear."
As they approached the door where he stood, the young boy smiled, not aware of any danger
"You are Luca. Nice to meet you finally. I am Elias." The boy answered proudly
"Oh wait, I forgot. Thalare said to always say my full name to new people." He then grasped his hair between his fingers, and began anew
"I am Elias Varen, follower of light… and… eh… what else…"
Elias was a young boy who, by his account, was always happy.
Yet on the outside, his emotions appeared to fluctuate continuously.
"Oh right! I'm ten and a couple of months."
Luca's mind began to work.
Weren't they all sinners?
He wondered how he could have been deserving of such a fate at such a young age.
This train of thought led to another realization
Kaia herself was quite young.
Wait, how old am I?
Not noticing that his mind was preoccupied, Elias decided to continue his monologue from before
"Thalare said that I am an adult here. That I need to work just as much as you."
He then shot out his chest and said something that would stick with Luca more than anything he had seen up until this point
"I will fight too."
As the smile faded from the young boy's lips for the first time, he whispered something almost too low to be heard
"I will be useful; I will help."
The boy then smiled again as he showed the way forward.
When they stepped inside the main entrance, Kaia excused herself
"I will go meet with the others; you go with Elias to meet with the old woman."
Luca nodded slightly as he and Elias began moving towards the room in which Thalare was waiting.
Luca noticed that they had continued to walk downwards for several minutes
"So where exactly are we going, because I feel like we are headed for a dungeon or something?"
"Yes," Elias answered enthusiastically
"…Ah." Luca grabbed his forehead then started rubbing his eyes
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a stress headache, I think. It's fine. So yeah, it's fine."
"Hah, you said it's fine twice, you know."
"Yeah, well…" Luca started to look around before
They continued to walk in silence a couple more minutes before Luca started to lose his patience
"Are we at the dungeon soon?"
"Yes, it's just down those stairs, then around the corner."
The stone walls curved to reveal an opening to what looked like a torture chamber
As they stepped inside a female figure could be made out in the distance
The figure moved closer and closer until her face was clearly visible.
She appeared to be in her late sixties, with pure white hair, which stood in contrast to her dark brown eyes.
As she placed her eyes onto him, Luca's entire body froze
For her to then looked away, instead focusing her gaze on the boy he stood with
"Thank you, Elias; you may leave now."
The boy bowed his head in response to her words and then left.
"Welcome, Luca; we have been waiting for you for a very long time."
"Yeah, I've heard; apparently everyone else got here two days ago."
"Yes, but we have been waiting for much longer than that."
"What do you mean?"
"That is not a part of the introduction course, I'm afraid."
Before Luca could protest, a door appeared in the middle of the room
"Open it."
"I…why would I do that…?"
Do what she says
…fine
Luca walked up to the door and grabbed the handle
He felt some resistance from his hand when he attempted to turn the handle, and opted to using both hands
Everything went dark
Then images started flooding by
Images of death
Torture
"This is why you are here." The old woman's voice carried over to him; although he could not see her, he felt her presence
Luca became disoriented for a moment
"I am here only to see this. Is this what the introduction course is about? Watching people die?"
His expression grew darker at the visuals became more and more grotesque
"You do not yet understand." Her words faded into the imagery, not completely understood, but heard faintly nonetheless
"This is why you are in this world."
Lucas felt his face stiffen as his eyes widened in surprise.
"…why? … What are you talking about?" His voice shaking uncontrollably
"I… I did not do this."
Of course you did
"I did not… I…"
Luca could not speak
He could not cry
He could not move
All he could do was stare at the image of people burning
Their flesh falling off
The sweet scent in the air that he wished he could forget
Before he knew it, he was bent overlooking down at the ground as it was being covered in a disgusting liquid
What is going on
He then understood what was happening
He was vomiting uncontrollably
Luca attempted to catch himself, but he ended up falling anyway
As he lay there, a pain spread from his stomach and up his throat.
Everything else was numbed
"This is what happens when your power of ascendence corrupts you."
Ascendence
He thought back to the old man from before. He had used the same word.
The one who tried to surpass God.
"We will ensure that it is not misused like that again. To that end, we found it necessary to show you part of your past."
Suddenly the illusions faded, and Luca was back in the dungeon
The old woman stood before him, staring down at his body, covered in vomit
"Most of us acknowledge that you are, as of now, a new person."
Her eyes took the form of sympathy, if only for a second
"I therefore apologize for the images."
"Wait… You said most right, so not all then?"
"That is correct; there are some who cannot forgive. Some who have personally been hurt by you. Some who seek justice through revenge."
She then extended an arm to Luca, urging him to get up
"Well then, should we start the introduction course now?"
"Wait, that wasn't the introduction course?"
"No, no, of course not. That was something special just for you."
Then her tone changed
"So, I wouldn't try to share it with anyone else."
Luca went quiet, which she chose to take as understanding
"Now then, let's begin."