Call of the Weaver

Chapter 4

Nirah spent her first night in the camp turning around in her bed, barely able to fall asleep. When the morning finally came and everyone woke up, she was grateful for an excuse to get out of the strange, unfamiliar room she slept in.

She ate her tasteless porridge while chatting with her roommates and getting to know them better. They were nothing but nice to her ever since she arrived, but she still sighed in relief when she saw Alya waiting for her outside of the dining hall. She waved the girls goodbye, and once they saw Alya, they all greeted her enthusiastically, especially Fubjalla.

"Morning," Alya greeted Nirah. "How was your first night here? Are you getting along with your roommates?" She had nothing bad to say about them so far, and Alya seemed pleased with that. "Ready for your training?" she asked.

At the very mention of training, Nirah felt the nervous jitters building up in her body. "No," she admitted.

"There's no need to be so nervous. They always go easy on you the first day. You'll mostly go through some assessments, and that's it."

The words didn't help soothe her nerves as much as she hoped to, but Nirah still followed the counselor upstairs. Since this was her first day, she had a different schedule from her roommates, making Alya the only familiar face she'll have around.

They ascended to the second floor, and then headed to a corridor full of identical, nameless doors, spaced out in the same length. Now that she's seen a few of the hallways around here, Nirah realized that many of them looked the same way—nameless, faceless rooms, stretching out everywhere her eyes reached. How did people find their way around in this place?

"Don't worry if there's no one inside when you get there, Fvyobei is late all the time," Alya said as they stopped in front of a door. She wished her luck in her first training session, and then went back the same way they came, leaving Nirah to enter the unfamiliar room all on her own.

She opened the door, and stared in surprise when she realized that the room was empty. Not the type of empty that had no people in it, but completely empty—no tables, no chairs, no furniture at all. There were only a few pillows scattered near the farthest wall, but she wasn't sure if she was allowed to take them, so she closed the door and stood patiently on the side.

The man walked in soon after, not even noticing Nirah at first. He stopped and exclaimed when he turned around and saw her standing there. "Ah, good morning. My name is Esikov Fvyobei, and I'm here to assist you in learning to control your energy and finding your true element."

He gave Nirah a slight bow, and she returned it before introducing herself, although she assumed he already knew her name. After she finished her introduction, he walked over to the other side of the room, picked up two pillows from the floor, and then handed one to her before sitting down.

"To start off, did you know you were a Summoner, Nirah?" he asked as she sat down.

Nirah shook her head. "N-no."

"Nothing out of the ordinary. How much do you actually know about Summoners?"

I know they're monsters. She wasn't sure an answer like that would satisfy him, so she kept silent, trying to think of something else to say.

He must've understood what her silence meant, since he asked, "Do you at least know how many different types of powers exist, and which ones they are?"

To this question she could answer affirmatively, since that's something almost everyone knew, Summoner or not. The Summoners had to learn how to differentiate each other, and the normal people had to learn what to fear and what to avoid.