A groan escaped my lips as my eyes fluttered, light seeping into my vision. Where am I?
"Ugh…" I held my side, feeling an unfamiliar tickling pain.
"You shouldn't move," a voice called out, making me flinch, "Your wounds might open."
I opened my eyes to a ceiling arched high above, painted in intricate patterns of blue and gold. It was like nothing I'd ever seen—beautiful, almost otherworldly.
"Wait…wounds?"
I looked down and realized I was wrapped in a weighty blanket, not my clothes. Instead of my shirt and brown pants, I was dressed in a thick green robe with soft white fur trimming the cuffs and collar.
Both my arms, my torso, and my right leg were tightly wrapped in white bandages.
"Yes, wounds, adventurer," the girl at a study table said.
Huh? Adventurer?
"Wait, wait…Adventurer? Who? Me? And where am I?" A flurry of questions flew along with spit from my mouth. It didn't help that every part of my body hurt.
Stopping whatever she was working on, she turned to me, "That was quite an entrance, I should say. Dangerous, but it was something. As for where you are, have you not read this?" She held up a crumpled piece of paper.
"…I have," I stared at it, really stared at it, "But I—you don't understand, I'm not—I just graduated." I stammered, not making sense of everything.
"Slow down, adventurer. Tell me exactly what happened. How have you sustained an injury like what I healed you from?"
Sigh. I breathed out. She's right, I should slow down.
"I don't have any idea," I paused and met her eye. "The last thing I remember was reading that letter, and I was suddenly just here."
She flipped the letter, skimming through it again, "Huh. Interesting."
For a while she just studied the letter, feeling it's edges.
"Hello..?" I called.
"Come with me," she suddenly said.
I looked back at her. She got up, picking up scrolls, "Hurry now, I'm in a rush."
Hurry? I stopped, still in a daze.
"I said hurry up and come with me!" She called out.
"Ah! Yes!" I immediately went after her as she jumped out the window. My feet halted, the wind blowing my hair away. "I can't fly!" I realized.
"Just jump!" she shouted over the wind. I looked down—stone pathways, marble towers, glowing trees—far, far below.
My knees locked. I couldn't breathe.
"A-ah…"
She reached. I hesitated.
Then I grabbed her hand.
"Woah—Ahhhh!" I let out a guttural scream, partly because of pain. We surged through the air, passing huge pillars left and right.
Though still shivering, I pried my eyes open and immediately drew my breath.
Beneath us, a sprawling forest blazed with reds and yellows, stretching as far as I could see. I can see mist-covered peaks of white in the horizon, blanketing the light of the rising sun.
And just below, marble structures stood proudly—vast and elegant, like something from ancient Greece, only bigger. Dots of figures in red garments moved across its grounds. A university? My mind spun.
Not soon after, we started descending, my robe clinging to me. I was able to get a better look at the courtyard. Granite paths intersected perpendicularly with a deer with wide antlers on its back—wait, no, those are wings! —It was spewing water upward.
Around the pavement was grass with glowing bugs frolicking around.
We soon landed, our soles satisfyingly thudding on the smooth stone...Though I lost all sense of balance as soon as the sensation of being held afloat left me, causing me to stumble forward.
Gazes flickered, and necks spun as we touched the smooth, granite floor. "Are you famous around here?" I asked the girl, wondering why she was still holding on to my arm with her hand like a cuff.
She didn't spare a glance as she half-dragged me across the busy plaza.
"Woah, look at those robes!" a guy called.
"Ha…I wish to have my own soon! Can't wait to build my pillar!" responded another.
"Heh," sneered the first guy, "You can't even fly yet."
"Shut it."
Their banter stood out to me. So I kept listening in and observing them. Their uniforms looked rather posh. Burgundy blazer over a white shirt collared with a black tie—black pants, and black, pointy shoes.
Living in the pillars is a big deal, huh?
Where are we going? I wondered. I let myself be dragged, I don't have much strength anyway. We came to the entrance, the doors tall and wide enough to, well, fly into. However, I did notice that students land before even getting close to the door.
Then, we were in a wide corridor, taller than the entryway and just as wide. The floor was extremely polished that which made the place look even grander and huge than it already is.
Left and right, there were steps leading up to elevated, wooden doors. I frequently saw students walking in and out.
We turned right, and then left to a stairway that led into a slightly narrower hallway.
My eyes gaped at the open space on my right side. A grandstand that spanned to the very limit of my eyesight, "A colosseum!" I paused, grabbing onto the brass handrail and feeling its coldness on my palms.
No way someone would be able to watch from this far. On one side of the grandstand are two seats that resembled thrones, and a podium at the side.
Up ahead is a dead-end, only a square door that was wide open can be seen. It led into an open office of sorts.
That's where we are currently.
I am sitting on a lime-green couch. In front of me is an opening—a window to the colosseum. It seemed like we were waiting for someone as the girl holding scrolls anxiously tapped her pointed heeled sandals on the white marble floor.
I reached out inside my robe, surprised that my dagger rested inside. I took it out and played with it. My shoulders relaxed.
Then, the air changed. Tangibly.
The echo of unhurried, deliberate footsteps filled the room.
A tall, broad-shouldered man appeared in the doorway. His tailored black coat brushed his knees, every line of his stance precise and powerful. Not a wrinkle nor dust, he was measured down to his cuffs.
The alchemist girl straightened instantly, her shoulders stiffening as she greeted him with a respectful, "Master."
And I felt intimidation like never before.
His deep-blue eyes then flicked to me, cold and unreadable, and I felt like I was being measured, assessed down to the smallest detail.
"And who could this be?"