The passage to Heavenly Realm begins in the creamy towers, leading to the underground of the dead forest, where Catalina and company enter another forest, the surroundings a paradise compared to the previous one.
The air is fresh, embracing the first year's lungs with gentle pressure. Instead of rotten air, a smell of heavy fruit and flowers drift through, floating up their nostrils and helping them find comfort.
Contrary to the spooky dead forest with tall snaky trees and sharp ugly green grass, everything here is beautiful; From the lavish greenery ground, pink translucent trees, glowing tiny fairies dancing through the expanded landscape like wind to the blinding azure sky with diamond clouds.
At the center of a plaza Catalina and her classmates gather are ivory fluted columns that spread into the sky like a massive, interconnected bridge, and below are separated levitating steps trailing up. Water fountains glisten down the columns, flowing to dark statues of a magnificent woman riding a dragon, with circular rows of red lilies crawling towards the emerald depths of the water, as if the petals possess a life force.
Heavenly Realm, a labyrinth harboring an animal civilization of divine creatures, is an ancient beauty of the old heaven. It's rumored to have been a portion of heaven that fell due to a conflict between two lost gods. A secret passage to heaven is said to exist somewhere within the labyrinth, yet even if someone has found it, they have never returned to confirm it.
"I'm Iskra Misul," an empty voice states gravely. "I will be one of the mentors of your class. You'll meet Galaxy Watcher, the second mentor in the second semester."
She faces the orderly lined up seekers; her arms crossed, unsophisticated glasses slackly perched and dressed in a white academy uniform. "Everything here from the creatures and landscape is of sacred nature and will not harm you unless they sense danger. Therefore, don't be ignorant and force a bond."
"You are here to find a beast companion. Different from a parallel partner, which you'll learn more about in your third year if you don't already know what that is, they will become your eternal partner, being by your side even after death. They will find you and establish a bond," explains Iskra. "Once you've gained a beast companion, the class will begin, but not until everyone is bonded with a divine animal. It's okay if you don't find one for the first few weeks, but after the first semester, you should be worried."
She isn't very encouraging, but that is fine with Catalina. She never expected such a thing at Lightless Institute. No one should.
"One warning," Iskra says sharply. "Spirits aren't divine animals, and if you see one being enslaved, mind your business. They are insane creatures from a bygone epoch and will attack you whether you are non-threatening or not."
"Do we fight them if attacked?" Drystan asks.
"No," replies Lunar Goddess. "They are powerless and attack mentally, tempting you into a contract, but if you're stupid enough to make one then they take over your body, killing you from within. Now, be on your way. Wander around. I'll summon you when class is over. And if you get lost, my divine companion will find you."
Beast companion lasts from 6:23 pm to 8:00 pm.
The seekers disengage into different areas, some voyaging in groups, but most go solo. Catalina is the first to leave, avoiding confrontation with Kallias and Wyn. The labyrinth is massive, appearing never ending with additional buildings made of gold and light beige in the background.
As her gaze roams, she spots tigers in mismatched hues chasing wolves that possess star symbols in their fur, luminous unicorns bathing in the red moonlight, mermaids and sirens reclining in transparent rivers, foxes sneaking through holes in the trees, and glistening snakes slithering across the gravel pathway in waves.
For some reason, every animal will shrink back from her gaze, as if afraid she would pick them, which is absurd to her overthinking brain. They are selectors, and approaching one out of arrogance or pure naivety ends in the same fate. Rejection.
She convinces herself they are delusional to contain her curiosity.
Don't ever try to understand divinity unless you are divine. That's an unspoken rule echoed internally by mankind. Even if these animals aren't technically gods, they are godlier than humanity—that is for sure.
Recollection of Age is how the publicity addressed each era in honor of the fallen mankind that did not survive the second Big Bang. Alongside the eras are the epochs that represent the history made in that generation as a bundle.
Currently, from 3146 to 4078 there are three epochs in the second generation of Recollection.
The initial generation's first epoch became known as the Age of the Fallen because mankind tapped into forbidden knowledge and awakened the insult of blasphemy towards the heavens. In that era of humanity, instead of worshiping divine beings, they thrived to be one. Those humans craved more than domination; they desired the earth to be their own holy domain.
She navigates with her mana perception, efficiently finding a solitude zone to rest. Striding up stone slab stairs leading into an oval tree house, her hand thrust into her pockets, Catalina pauses in her tracks, a distant scream emanating a mile away.
With her heightened sight, she discerns a chaotic scene of a wolf collapsing to his knees, howling in distress, "The world is a prison! We must get out!"
Two orange foxes hop down from the interconnected bridge, a net of shadows capturing the gray wolf silently.
Tilting her head and leaning forward in confusion, Catalina hears a nearby female seeker ask what's going on and after five minutes, a siren explains that citizens in the heavenly realm are required to report their dreams to the most formidable being in their territory.
Unreported dreams notify the most formidable animals, and they send their minions to take care of it because if they don't the creature will turn into a spirit.
"In a time of broken dreams, people are born to either be ruled by the law, flow between the law, or become a law," the nine-tailed fox says in a seraphic voice, then elegantly strolls back into the depths of the forest.
'What does that mean? Various species, law, culture, dangers... It's like a small world on earth.' Catalina's feet land on the tiled deck and finds a nice swaying chair to settle in.
The bluish black fluffy cushion allows her body to sag, relaxation seeping into her muscles. She gives into the heaviness of her eyelids and shuts her eyes.