Next morning, Rieren’s father came to the sad realization that there actually wasn’t much she would be taking to the Sect with her. They’d had few possessions to begin with, even less that was worth bringing along to the dormitories. The hasty run from the apocalypse had reduced what they had owned even more.

“The cat is all you shall take?” Atelen asked.

Batcat meowed, not appreciating that it wasn’t enough.

“I do not require much else, father,” Rieren said. “I have all I need.”

She did, and it wasn’t only Batcat, as her father rather dramatically opined. Rieren had been forced to take a blanket with her, as well as a pair of clean clothes, a tin of biscuits, plus a box for the cat. All because of Atelen, of course. In an ideal world, she really would have taken on the kitten, but the rest made her father a little happier, so.

Atelen let loose a bearlike sigh, ruffling his beard. “As you wish, Rieren. Do you wish me to accompany you to the Sect?” He summoned a little thoughtful look on his face. “Am I allowed to even do so?”

Rieren waved away the offer. “All will be well, father. I appreciate everything that you have done. As I said, I will send letters regularly, and will visit as often as I can. We aren’t far from each other.”

Atelen wiped a tear from his eyes. “If only your mother could see you now.”

“I’m certain she is watching from the Beyond.”

Rieren hadn’t thought of her mother for a long time. She had died long ago, when her daughter had still been too small to understand the true significance of her passing. There was an inescapable hollow in Rieren, one that her mother used to occupy, but the memories she had were vague. Faint.

They still made her sad, and occasionally, envious of those who still had a maternal figure growing up. But none of them were as precious and meaningful as the ones she shared with her father. It was only natural the living parent occupied more of her thoughts than the long-dead one.

Rieren and Atelen embraced once more, before she waved her farewell and headed to the Sect as the dawn’s light slowly brightened the world, Batcat purring on her head.

The Elder’s letter from before still served her well enough to gain her entry not only through the Sect’s main entrance, but all the way to the dormitories as well. When she showed it to the custodian, the heavyset lady referred to her register before promptly snapping it closed and standing up.

“I will require an authorization from the Sect for that,” she said, pointing at the sleeping kitten on Rieren’s head.

Rieren stroked Batcat’s soft fur, trying to drag the woman’s attention to how adorable the little kitten was. Maybe she would be kinder if Rieren could make Batcat open its big eyes. “I am afraid I do not have authorization.”

The custodian stared at the cat for a while, then sighed. “Go to the menagerie later and obtain it. I will need it by the end of tomorrow, no later.”

“As you wish.”

With a nod, the custodian headed into the dormitory. “Now, follow me, child.”

Rieren did so. She wondered if the custodian would address anyone living in the dormitories as a “child”. By the time of her death, Rieren had been an adult for several decades longer.

It had seemed to Rieren that she had arrived early enough to enter the dormitory without being caught by any of the other disciples. A stealthy entrance that would bypass any undue attention. Unfortunately, it appeared that she hadn’t been early enough. Well, not for the ones who were bent on waking up at ungodly hours of the morning.

“Rieren!” a short, slight girl with wispy hair said. She waved enthusiastically, offering Rieren a smile that was nearly as bright as the sun peeking over the horizon. “Did you only just arrive?”

Rieren smiled tightly at her. “Hello, Nidelin. Good to see you again.”

“I’ve been wondering when you would show up!” Nidelin gave a little hop where she stood. “Can you believe it? We’re… actually going to do this all over again. We can actually make things better this time!”

Nidelin’s eyes shone with a fervour that was actually rather unsettling. The girl was generally mild mannered and held onto a great deal of equanimity. She usually busied herself with her scrolls, preferring to cultivate slowly on her own, as evidenced by the furled pages she even now had stuffed into the satchel on her back.

But her voice was so loud, she might as well start shouting at the whole dormitory.

“It is certainly miraculous,” Rieren said, then acted out a yawn that she politely covered with her mouth. She blinked as though still bleary with sleep, placing her other hand near her ear with an affected wince. “I’ll speak with you later, Nidelin. Once I get a bit of quiet sleep.”

There was no direct admonition in her words, no actual blame laid upon the girl. But Nidelin did cover her mouth, eyes widening as she realized she had been a bit too loud.

“Yes, certainly,” she squeaked, a little flushed with embarrassment. “We can talk later. Also… is that a cat? With bat wings?”

Ignoring the question, Rieren hurried to catch up with the custodian, who had elected to completely ignore the exchange and walk onwards.

Rieren was glad when they finally got inside the dormitory building. Easier to evade eyes now that she had walls around her. It was beginning to dawn on her that she was perhaps obsessing a smidge too much on the idea of attracting any negative attention, that she might be on the path to becoming rather paranoid about being spotted, even by her own shadow.

She centred herself. Inner harmony. The day was still young. A little bit of cultivation, and she would soon return herself to her natural state of placidity and calm. In the meanwhile, it didn’t hurt to be careful. Better to be perceived as paranoid instead of lying dead at the hands of her enemies.

They passed through a few doors and took a few corridors, passing by several rooms until the custodian brought Rieren to her room. She stood at the doorway for a moment. It was the exact same room she had occupied in her last life.

A small bed, a little chair and desk, and one small chest was all it contained, a window above the desk letting in the day’s growing light. All so familiar.

Her old but new home.

The custodian handed her the room’s key and gave her a parchment with a list of things she was supposed to have in the room. “You remember what to do, yes?”

“I do,” Rieren said.

“As I thought. There’s no simpler thing in all the Sect.” The custodian began heading out. “I will leave you to it. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

Rieren thanked the woman. Then she closed the door behind her, sighing as she took in the room. Perhaps—

Heavy thumps on the door nearly made Rieren jump.

“Open up,” Amalyse hissed.

Holding her sigh back this time, Rieren opened the door and let her friend in.

“You have a pet Spirit Beast now?” Amalyse said, taking a seat on the bed as though she owned it.

“Batcat is happy to make your acquaintance,” Rieren said.

The winged kitten meowed deep in its little throat.

Amalyse stared at it for a little while. “I assume you won’t be telling me where you found that thing?”

“I found it on the mountainside.”

“…on the mountainside. I see.”

“I do not deny that there is likely something strange going on with Batcat, but it is a friendly kitten. There is nothing to worry about.”

Amalyse looked skeptical for a moment, but then her expression softened when she met the cat’s eyes again. “Well, it is rather adorable.”

“I agree.”

“But I still can’t believe you decided to come this early. Allow me to guess—you were paranoid someone would take note of your entry if you arrived later.”

Considering what Rieren had been thinking only moments ago, that struck a little too close to the truth. “I haven’t even taken in my room, Amalyse.”

The bigger girl waved it off. “This is the exact same one you had last time. There isn’t anything to check. If you really wanted to avoid attention, why not pick the night? We could have headed over straight from the little ceremony.”

Rieren would be foolish to agree with the former, but the latter wasn’t unreasonable. “Which is what the enemy would have been expecting. An approach under the cover of darkness.”

Amalyse stared at her.

Rieren paused. “Yes, I am aware this makes me sound more paranoid, but if I was waiting to catch someone entering the Sect, someone who didn’t wish to be spotted, I would expect them to try to sneak in at night. Thus, the next best option is the wee hours of the morning.”

Amalyse blinked, seeming speechless for a few moments before sighing and getting up. “Check to see if there is anyone under your bed. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Rieren shook her head as her friend departed. She hesitated for a second, then did check under the bed, inside the desk’s drawers and the chest, and even behind the window just to ensure no one was in the bushes. Satisfied that she wasn’t awaiting any nasty surprises, Rieren sat down on her bed just as Amalyse returned.

“Here. You. Go.” The bigger girl lugged in and threw a blanket, a fluffy pillow, and even a tin full of jerky right on top of Rieren. “A welcome home gift from yours truly.”

Rieren had deftly avoided the barrage of presents, but Batcat wasn’t so lucky. It yowled a little as it got lost under the new blanket, which was far richer than the thin one Rieren had brought with her.

“Really, though, Rieren,” Amalyse said as she took her seat on the desk now that the bed was occupied, carefully placing a stack of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle beside her. “What exactly happened with you? What has you so… antsy?”

Rieren stared through the window as the morning began to truly creep up on the world. The first of the Sect’s inhabitants had begun rising. Servants cleaning the grounds, guards patrolling to position, some of the disciples going about their early morning duties.

She didn’t want to hide anything from Amalyse. After all, if she couldn’t trust her truest friends, who could she put her faith in? And having no one to share one’s burdens with, someone who would not baulk at severity of what one was experiencing, was a wretched existence. One Rieren had no wish to recreate.

But then, it would be the safest to keep truth quiet for now. Even between them. The less Amalyse knew, the less she could be involved. Even if Rieren’s enemies intended to target Amalyse, they would learn nothing from her.

The same with her father. They were safer the farther they were removed from her.

“The Fellserpent,” Rieren said. There was a balance between revealing nothing at all and explaining every minor detail. Hopefully, she could find the right spot on the spectrum of trust and forbearance. “I have seen it before. Faced it before.” She hesitated for a moment. “And I won.”

Amalyse’s eyes widened. “You can kill an A-Grade monster by yourself?” She slowly shook her head, clearly impressed. “I’m not surprised, now that think I about it. You were growing stronger so fast, even when I died.”

Rieren actually laughed a little, though it held no real mirth. “The ones I fought were S-Grade.”

Amalyse whistled low. “That’s… that’s actually insane. The entire Sect could barely handle an A-Grade one.”

“You understand what they would think if the others learned this, right?”

“Right, of course,” she said distractedly, her mind clearly elsewhere. “But… this only makes me think about more questions. Where in the world did you find S-Grade Fellserpents? Why were you even fighting them in the first place? And then, how did you get strong enough to win?”

“That is a long story.”

“There’s still some time before instruction begins today. I am listening.”

Rieren shook her head. “Instructions for which I need to prepare.”

Amalyse didn’t move from her spot. She gripped the edge of the table tightly. “How long will you keep hiding the truth from me, Rieren? Don’t you trust me?”

Rieren turned to face her head on. “Of course, I do. The problem—”

Batcat poked its head from out under Amalyse’s blanket and meowed at them loudly. Rieren glanced at the cat and realized it had a point. They were on the verge of letting things get a little too heated.

“The point,” she said, imagining the calming void within her. “Is that things are more dangerous than they appear. You, father, anyone who is associated with me will share in this danger. That Fellserpent outside? It came here to dispose of me. And the ones who sent it will not stop at one dead monster.”

Amalyse’s stare had grown hard. She didn’t say anything though, opting to process that information silently instead. Rieren simply stared right back.

Eventually, Amalyse got off the table and approached Rieren. “I’m starting to get an idea of what kind of enemies you’ve got now, and…” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then laughed. It sounded a little manic. “You are utterly insane, you know that?”

“Thank you. The paranoia didn’t give it away?”

Amalyse grinned at her, then clapped a hand on Rieren’s shoulder with enough force to make her bow by a fingerbreadth. “If it helps, we can pretend this conversation never happened.”

“It will not help.”

Amalyse nodded. “I will pretend anyway. But here’s the real question I want to ask. What is it that you want, Rieren?”

Something about that question made Rieren feel vulnerable. Amalyse knew her well—sometimes, too well, honestly—but she had thought her innermost desires were safe. That the wishes she herself knew little more of than amorphous thoughts and vague dreams were locked too deep for anyone to suspect they existed, much less attempt to understand.

Except, here was Amalyse, looking as though she was on the verge of some great discovery.

Rieren took a deep breath. Maybe someone who knew her well enough to decipher her so deserved an inkling of the truth. “This… wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.” She hesitated, then forged on as Amalyse nodded encouragingly. “I thought, when I was reb—when I found myself reborn, that I could perhaps not go through the same life again.”

“Oh, Rieren.”

Amalyse had pressed her lips together, eyes shining as though she was about to cry. Rieren knew that look. She stepped to the side as her friend attempted to envelope her in a comforting embrace. Rieren had experienced enough of those for one day.

“It is of no consequence,” she said as Amalyse tutted at her rejected display of affection. “I must grow powerful, and I know exactly how.” A note of vicious eagerness crept into her voice. “Believe me, I look forward to it.”

Amalyse considered her a moment, then her face broke into a wide smile. Her eyes reflected the same eagerness coursing through Rieren.

“Well,” Amalyse said. “Regardless of what kind of danger you’re facing, no matter who your real enemies are, I will always stand by your side. That is what true friends are for. After all, I know a thing or two about crazy enemies. But yes, you can always count on me.”

“Fear not, I haven’t forgotten about your enemies either.”

“Well, considering you killed Essalina in the last timeline, I had assumed not.”

Amalyse laughed, and Rieren joined her with a little chuckle. They soon parted for the time being. With the day about to properly start, it would soon be time for their first lessons.