There Are No Gods

Chapter 2: Training is lame!

Chapter 2: Training is lame!

Nero, Eleric, and twelve other young prospects of the Senga clan were gathered inside a lavishly furnished room, attentively listening to their tutor, Miss Agathe. The room was a small amphitheater illuminated by a green-painted glass roof, which provided plenty of natural light. The fresh scent of wood wax filled the air. Despite the room's size, Miss Agathe's voice felt naturally amplified, and her soothing tone held the students' attention.

"Could someone please explain the reason behind the five Great Clans' peaceful coexistence?"

A girl from the back row eagerly answered.

"Twenty-five millennia ago, when the founders and their settlers' arrived in The Oasis, clans formed around five heroes. As tensions escalated among their factions, the heroes ended the conflicts by forging a powerful spirit pact, restricting their abilities to protect their clan and territories. From that day on, no one has ever openly challenged one of the founders and invaded their original territories."

'If only they knew what goes beyond the gates...'

All the children, except Eleric, proudly bore the Senga emblem—a golden volcano. Only Nero and Eleric had their emblem encircled, a mark of their direct lineage.

Miss Agathe was striking with her hazel eyes and elegantly tied black hair. Her olive skin contrasted beautifully with the exotic black dress she wore. The dress had slits in the style of beastbound fashion; that revealed white and blue tattoos resembling turbulent waves crashing down her back.

Today's topic was geography, and Miss Agathe was drawing a map of The Oasis on the blackboard. The Oasis spanned over twenty thousand kilometers, encompassing the world where Nero and his clan resided.

In the center of the map, she sketched the Great Lake Nekara, a vast expanse of freshwater rivaling an ocean. She then split the lands surrounding the Lake among the five Great Clans. Beyond their lands lay a jungle teeming with spirit beasts bordered by an unforgiving desert that effectively isolated The Oasis from the outside world.

Except for the founders who guarded this secret, none knew what lay beyond The Oasis. Yet the mystery failed to trouble the Great Clans, as the expedition was deemed too distant and dangerous for even the mightiest warriors.

She then took green chalk, a color she had not used thus far, and drew dozens of arches all over the map. She drew one in Gemini.

"Do any of you know the significance of these arches?"

Miss Agathe nodded to a student from the front row.

"Those are the gates, ma'am."

"Indeed they are. Do you know where they lead?"

"To Trine, the land of the ancients."

"And what do you know about the ancients?"

"...Very little, only that they constructed the gates."

Approaching the students, Miss Agathe gestured to the candle insignia adorning her attire.

"Close to nothing is known about them. Not even the founders know more. Hence, one of our primary missions at the Guild is to study Trine and the gates."

Miss Agathe's tattoos suddenly shone through her dress; a trickle of water escaped from her palm and floated up to highlight a small peninsula west of Nekara Lake.

"Can one of you tell us what this is?"

Nero and Eleric glanced at each other, realizing Eleric's unfamiliarity with the location. Nero raised his hand, receiving a nod of approval from their teacher.