I was so tired from not sleeping last night but as a student, I'm used to it, honestly.
I took my seat and was greeted by Cecilia as usual.
"Looking tired." She said and I nodded.
"Didn't get to sleep last night. I was reading up on the grand order."
"Really? Oh I really liked the story of Lobh. How he saved a nation that was completely in ruins and made it an economic hub. I wonder who the current Lobh is. I would totally love to meet them. Apparently, Lobh still talks to their subjects but they take on different forms to come see them. Last time, it was a crane and before that, a dragon. No one knows what they look like. Lobh is also the strongest! He's really cool!"
Something tells me that she likes Lobh a lot.
"Oh! Who was your favorite?" She asked.
"Ahankar probably because of her kindness towards others and focusing on education. I always was interested in education anyways." I was of the opinion that correct education to correct people can solve almost all world problems.
She kept talking but nothing was going through my head. I was using all my energy to stay awake.
As I was trying to keep up with Cecilia, I realized something. This wasn't usual tiredness. Something was off about it. Staying up like this wasn't hard for me but somehow this was something I had never experienced before.
I heard a silent whisper in my left ear.
"Save me."
I quickly looked left only to see a shadowy figure. It was standing about a foot away, menacingly staring at me. I quickly shook Cecilia to get her attention without moving my eyes from the figure but got no response. I looked sideways to see yet another similar figure sitting next to me. I jumped out of the seat and as I scanned through the room, everyone was gone.
"Save me." A voice spoke to me.
"Who-who are you!?"
As I trying to make sense of it, a bird like object came flying into my face and the very next moment, I was back in my usual seat with the students. Back in the classroom.
"Are you okay?" Cecilia asked. "You fell asleep... you must really be tired."
"Asleep? Ah! I'm just tired. Well anyways, the teacher is here so time to focus on class." I looked away towards the board as teacher asked for our attention. A nightmare... it was kind of insane and surreal. I'm too tired I guess.
After class, I went to Amelia's office and told her about the nightmare jokingly.
"That must be scary. Y'know coincidentally, Ahankar's story is somehow similar too." She said.
"I don't remember reading anything like that."
"Don't know? Well the previous Ahankar was exiled from her kingdom because she was found guilty on charge of negligence. People in her kingdom died of a cause she knew about. She didn't do anything to save them. Well first, she was to be executed but she is one of the grand orders, so, normal means couldn't get the job done. In the end, she was exiled. She died in a desert and the location is called Oasis of Sudha. Coincidentally, two people were in support of Ahankar. King of the sun and Goddess of forest. So you seeing two figures made me think of it. They both passed away centuries ago. The location where previous Ahankar rests also has three chairs fixed into ground. You can't move them whatsoever."
"What kind of disease is it?" I asked.
"Its... well... a person grows weaker with each passing day before succumbing to bed. They also get certain marks on their bodies. Its interesting that only those with magic contracts this disease of Jado."
"I see. Maybe has something to do with the fact that they have magic."
"Could be. But anyways, do you plan to go there? To nation of Dasolsa. That's where the current Ahankar lives."
"Not really. How far away is it?" I asked.
"A month's worth of travel. It's actually quite far away. Even I haven't gone there."
"Maybe when I have the time. I'm quite interested in the stories of this particular grand order. Who is the current one?" I asked.
"Since the previous one was exiled roughly 400 years ago and died little over a hundred years ago, the current one is a child living in her sanctuary. According to some rumors, she is like... five years old mentally and even looks five. Elves age differently and slowly than humans. Since she is so young, she is currently being taught by teachers on how to be a grand order. She is quite weak too... well considering she is a child, it is pretty obvious. She is currently the weakest of the five."
"How are grand order chosen?"
"Heavens choose them. But previous grand order usually passes on their title. Current Ahankar is the child of previous one, Lobh is student of previous one, Kaam is sister of previous one, Krodh is friend of the previous one and Moh is unrelated."
"I see. So, all current ones are alive?"
"According to scriptures found in desert of Dasola, fate makes it such that at any given time, five orders will always exist. As far as we know, the moment previous one dies, new one emerges instantaneously." She answered.
"A desert?!- Ahem... I should go there during vacations."
"Hm? You like sunny dry sandy lands?"
"I don't know but there is just something about deserts. You don't?"
"I'm a high class woman. I can't be seen in such locations. I prefer cities."
I nodded and that was the end of it. I was quite intrigued by the story and it was the best one out of all the stories I had read. The grand order was sort of god-like beings to these people, so, a god like her is worthy of worshipping.
Our conversations drifted towards an entirely different topic leading to food of my world. I explained some cuisines to her and it was decided that I would cook for her something.
After our conversation, I decided to just go back to dorm but as I walked through the corridor, my senses started getting messed up like I was intoxicated.
"Save me." I heard the words loud and clear.
I fell onto the ground passing out.
...
"Are you okay?" Amelia who was sitting next to me asked.
"I don't know." I answered unable to even sit up. "What happened?"
"There was a sudden influx of magic. According to the priest, it was like the entirety of the world tried to shove all of the magic and information of this entire world into you. Your body then gave up."
"The world itself? Obviously it is an exaggeration, right?" I asked.
A priest walked in at the exact same time.
"It is a figure of speech. What happened felt like this but in actuality, seems like a huge amount of magic was forced into your body. As you're not of this world, the body rejected all the magic and to do so, it used all the resources it had and you fell unconscious. Thankfully, there isn't any issue but if you were a being with magic, you could've died."
"oh? I thought I finally had magic."
"That's not how it works, either you are born with it or not. Never a case of someone gaining magic later on in life." Priest did some check-ups before leaving the two of us alone.
"I heard the same two words before falling over as I did during the previous dream." I told Amelia.
"Might be connected but for now, rest. You have classes tomorrow so you need to be in best condition." With this, she, too, left the room.
As I laid there staring out of the window, there I saw again. Two figures. This time I was a lot less agitated by it and could make sense of the figures. One looked a lot like a silhouette of a woman while other that of a man.
"The war has already begun. Tempted by the gift of the heavens, the last one standing will receive a doorway to divinity. But that reward is not meant for you."
The figures spoke in a union before disappearing.
A war? Divinity? Wait- if I'm not the chosen one then why tell? Even then a war is not something I can win. What war?! A world war? Or maybe a civil war? Or a war between two nations?!
I was so confused by these two figures.