Ariadna spent the morning practicing a single combat stance. Her hands and feet ached, and her muscles felt sore. She had never experienced such fatigue, neither in this life nor her past one. Vayan remained calm and collected as always, and if she were honest, he was a good teacher. By the end of the training, Ariadna felt she had improved.
When their session ended, Vayan handed her a list of books to read in the afternoons and left her to her own devices. She returned to her room, took a bath, and changed back into her familiar priest robes. After having lunch in her room, she took a short nap.
When she woke up, she headed straight to the library to collect her books. The first one was *The Creation of the Holy Family of the God of Destruction and Renewal,* followed by *Prayers to the God of Destruction and Renewal,* *The Rituals and Celebrations of the God of Destruction and Renewal,* and *Legends of the Gods.* Ariadna sighed; all the titles seemed terribly boring. Yet she knew she had to learn. Feeling lost after using the divine flame, she realized that gathering knowledge was the only reasonable step forward. So she sat down and began to read.
Three months passed like this. Ariadna still felt hollow and purposeless, though combat practice brought her some joy. Vayan was pleased with her progress, and despite being devoted and constantly praying, he taught her well. The books, however, were another matter—they were dreadfully dull. They praised the God, detailing prayers and celebrations, which she had to memorize in case she ever needed to lead a prayer or a ceremony. To her, they felt hollow and ceremonial, lacking real substance.
Yet, even so, she learned a few things. One important discovery was that something was missing. She began to notice a slight difference between the prayers and the true meaning behind the rituals. Ariadna sensed something was amiss but couldn't quite grasp what it was. This feeling prompted her to search for the oldest books. While all sources claimed that the domains and holy families had existed for 3000 years, the oldest texts she could find about rituals, prayers, and history were no more than 2000 years old. She felt puzzled by this inconsistency but was reluctant to ask anyone about it.
Another thing she learned focused on the use of the holy flame. In rituals, it symbolized the God and was well described—even in the context of destruction. However, she could not find any rituals that discussed using it to burn down an entire village from another domain. This made her realize that her death had been something abnormal. These two discoveries guided her research, however she felt like there wasn't much progress.
While she was busy with her everiday shedule, the time came for her new teacher to arrive. Ariadna felt a mixture of emotions—unsure if she was ready to meet him again. But once again, it was not her decision to make. She felt swept along by the choices others made and the timelines they dictated.
One beautiful morning, she prepared herself and stepped out, fully dressed and ready to meet Velor once again.