Beginner's Luck: 39

"Many of the secrets are no longer secrets. Reward chambers, trial chambers, and new magical beasts are all widely known these days. An even greater discovery is yet to be verified. Verifying that possible discovery is one of the reasons why I came back to our home world. Soon we will be conducting a selection from the finest warriors our world has to offer to embark into the rifts. If you are worthy enough, you may be selected to join my team."

Gettar felt himself stand more at attention at this revelation. The possibility of joining this elite team was tantalizing, especially now that he had already gained the rank of warrior.

"I don't understand Guardian... Why would you need lowly warriors? Surely there are first and second-class stewards that would better assist you... How could I or any of my comrades be of any use?"

"What we need are explorers. Capable fighters willing to enter the unknown. We will be an Expeditionary force that will contend with the unknown. It will be a unique opportunity for low tier warriors to grow in strength. Unfortunately, that is all I can say." Grantermas Mal motioned for Gettar to follow, and they returned back down the stairs to await the return of his comrades. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the Solar Guardian joined his top two arms palms together and spread his bottom arms in the formal sign of farewell.

"In a week's time, we will begin trials and selection. Best of luck."

And with that, he left through the front entrance of the cathedral.

____________________________________________________

When Gettar's companions did not return within the next couple hours, he began to wonder what could keep them this long within the rift. Trusting in the abilities of his companions, he began to imagine them having found a challenge chamber. His mind fabricated the infinite possibilities that they must have discovered and spent the rest of the day resting in his chambers. Without him realizing it, his daydreams had become real dreams, sending his whimsical fantasy to a much darker imagination. He jolted awake in sweat, the face of the human he killed burned into his mind's eye. He grabbed at his chest, the same place he had been stabbed, a new pain now slowly dissipating as he realized it was all a dream.

Looking around his quarters, he realized that it was the middle of the night. Had he missed his friends return? Gettar removed his mask and left it in on his bed, before climbing down and wandering out into the hall, back towards the rift cube. The healers were vigilantly waiting near the cube, which told Gettar that something had gone wrong.

"Have they not yet returned?" Gettar asked as he came up alongside the two healers.

"They have not... What's worse is that the cube has sealed itself... No one else is allowed in for a month..." It was Dorasana that had spoken, she let her shoulders drop in worry. Her mother, Maraempha, took in a long slow deep breath before adding some comforting words.

"Worry not my daughter. The two Initiates are fine warriors. This is not the first time a culling has taken more than one day, in fact I remember when a culling team spent weeks inside the rift! As I recall, they were driven by the ambition to clear the rift of all enemies... And even then, they came back having failed to kill all of them." Maraempha turned and placed two hands on Gettar's upper back, her face still concealed behind her healer's mask. Gettar bowed his head slightly and placed his upper arms together and spread his lower hands open in the formal farewell. He walked away without another word, letting his feet carry him wherever they wished. After some time lazily wandering the dark halls of the cathedral, he found himself walking to the training hall to exercise, knowing he would not sleep until his friends had returned.

The training hall was an entire floor of the cathedral. A large oval with painted lanes, circled a field of fake grass. Gettar wondered what the humans had been doing when they designed this floor of the building but understood the usefulness of being able to train no matter the weather outside. Doing some quick dynamic stretches, Gettar began to run the oval. He had always preferred to train himself without the enhancement of his mask, unless he was training his combat effectiveness. As he hit a steady stride and rhythm, he felt his lungs fill with clean air and his mind empty of the fog of doubt. He ran the oval four times in just over 5 minutes, before he decided to push himself. The next four times around, he decided to sprint the straight sides of the circle, and he found himself finishing in just over 4 min. Walking over to the end of the field, he steadied his breathing, then stopped and closed his eyes. The whole hall was silent. Normally, this silence and solitude was exactly what he looked for to find inner peace. But tonight he was plagued with images of violence and adrenaline from his nightmare that had woken him earlier.

Frustration began to build inside his chest when he realized that his routines and personal rituals were failing to bring him respite. Having been robbed of his inner peace, Gettar called forth a training golem from an interface. The hulking golem assembled himself and then waited for instruction. Selecting the highest difficulty possible in hand-to-hand combat, he readied himself for the onslaught that was sure to come. Gettar fought three one-minute rounds, each one to a stalemate. At the end of the third round, he was spent of all his stamina. As the training golem returned itself to its packaged state, Gettar threw himself on the fake grass. He wondered if the humans had made those golems too, or if that was a Derboul creation. Much of his previously understood world had changed, and so now he began to wonder if anything that he knew was true anymore.

Perhaps even the humans weren't as bad as his ancestors had made them out to be. Perhaps there was more to the universe than what had been taught.