Chrysalis

She never knew when they might come for her. She would fall asleep in her bed, in the orphanage, alongside the other children who had lost their families, and wake up somewhere else entirely. At first it was confusing, opening her eyes and finding herself still enveloped in perfect darkness, but she grew used to it. The nameless one would meet them when they awoke each time, welcome them back to the sanctum and initiate the next round of training.

The loss of her sight was the first challenge that was posed to her and the others. Could they learn to move in the darkness as if it were the light? Were they able to adapt until this state of sightlessness was as comfortable and relaxed as the daylight. To achieve this they needed to rely on their new senses, to follow the scent that the nameless one lay down for them, even if it was an indistinct wisp, masked by misdirecting and misleading trails.

"Our training for you will be difficult for both of us," the nameless one told them, "we have never explored the different ways the System interacts with you as opposed to our kind. You cannot mutate, cannot evolve, but you have your own advantages. We will push those to their limits, but it will require patience, trial and error and dedication. Remember, you can quit any time you like."

The reminder that they were free to leave came often, at the end of every session. That first night they had to walk through a maze relying only on their strange new sense of smell. None of the children succeeded, wandering for hours between cold stone walls. When the time ran out, the nameless one gathered them up and reminded them that they could quit if they so chose. None of the children took the ant up on the offer.

She didn't remember drifting off, but she awoke back in her bed, somehow refreshed and rested. She went about her day as usual, and the next, and the next, never knowing when she fell asleep where she would wake.

"Welcome back," the nameless one greeted them the third time. "Let's get back to it."

Over the weeks they sharpened their senses and their minds to the point where traversing the maze without sight was trivial. Their trust in the new sense was absolute and it continued to level at a rapid pace. If the ant was pleased with their progress, she did not show it, she simply told them that the next time it would be harder. And it was, it always was. The next time they entered the sanctum the maze was gone, replaced with a running track. They would only be allowed to move on when they were able to complete it in under a minute.

Determined to show how much she had improved, Emilia took off as fast as she could, her concentration complete as she sought any hint of scent.

"Jump," she perceived.

Then she fell in a hole.

"There are obstacles on the track," the nameless one told them, "which will change every time you arrive here."

had to sprint as fast as they could, ducking, jumping, swerving hazards that they could not see, the scent warnings coming at only the last possible moment. She was grateful that the ants had managed to find a way to pad everything,

to return, you have but to say so," the ant reminded them at the end of each

the

they awoke

stone," the nameless lectured the three startled youths from her position hanging from the ceiling. "Nevertheless we believe that this training is a fundamental part of being

after a minute and her fingers locked after three. Without a sound she dropped

minutes, then climb back

an hour without falling, they were deemed to

twenty four hours,

it was impossible to tell

called the eightfold genuflection," they were told, "it will be difficult to perform with only four limbs, but I believe we will be able to modify it so that we

three humans to the brink of their flexibility, straining and contorting their limbs to their limits and beyond. Then they practiced for hours

will repeat this practice for an hour at the start of every session here. Now you will learn the hidden speech of the order. Again, it will be hard, your bodies are different from ours, but I believe we are clever

their own. The nameless one never allowed them to grow complacent as they practiced. They had to practice while running the ever changing courses. They had to practice while hanging from the roof. They had to practice while hiding from the

well, the ant signed to them. I

each of the three with a warmth that they could not express. Emilia's eyes

become as comfortable in the dark as you are in the light. Your skills have improved, along with your levels and you have each proven that you are

the ant dipped her

come and take