The flaming forest swept across my vision as Amanda and I ran through the leaves and bushes. To my surprise the fires upon the branches didn't burn to the touch, and instead greeted me happily. Amanda had an even easier time as the fire gathered around her as she moved. They transformed into a veil of protection that grew thicker with each passing moment.

It didn't take me long to realise that the forest may have been beautiful, but it was blocking our view. Trying to find a magical plant among the sea of flora was like trying to find a piece of hay in a haystack.

“What are the chances that we get attacked if we reveal ourselves?" I asked.

“It's not likely if there's nothing to gain from it.” Amanda said. “The first people that find something are going to be the ones that have it the worst.”

“Good, because I know a better way to search.” I said.

I conjured a flight of stone steps that led above the trees and sorted them into a skyward staircase. Amanda caught on immediately and without pausing we lunged up the stairway and found ourselves facing the open air with an ocean of flames below our feet.

We’d taken to the skies.

Every few meters I moved the stones behind us into the front, creating an infinite bridge that was held in the air by my magic. From below it would look like a hovering platform that was constantly reassembling itself to move, and as I continued to build a bridge across the sky there was movement from my side as a purple shape glimmered across my vision. Gold flew freely through the air and chirped in delight as he was joined by Agni.

Both of the birds had been assigned to the sky to try and find objects of interest. Now I could tell that it has been a mistake from the start to only send the two of them. Four pairs of eyes were better than two.

A moment later I spotted an irregularity in the forest.

“What's that?” I asked.

Twelve buildings towered over the landscape. Each was a deep shape of purple, as tall as a mountain, and as wide as Koshima Academy. Underneath them were smaller buildings clustered together in nodes. They were far away enough that the houses looked like ants and the entire area was sealed off by an obsidian wall that curved along the buildings like a snake.

It looked like a city, or a big town, but I couldn’t see a single sign of life within its walls. Even the trees avoided it, the ground bare and barren near the walls and within them.

“That's sanctuary.” Amanda said. “Or at least one of them. Similar ones are scattered all over the holy land.”

“That's one of the sanctuaries?” I said.

I'd learned about these towns in history class. Holy lands hadn't always been protected from outside interference. When humanity was younger and still recovering from the madness caused by Artus’ descent they'd flourished and spread out across the world. Frontier cities had been created and prospered, and it had seemed like humanity would never cease their advances.

Then another Divine had descended. Ength.

Like Artus, Ength’s arrival had a tangible impact on the world. Their descent birthed the first symbols, and all those that came after.

And with those symbols came monsters.

“Let's grab a closer look.” Amanda said.

The platform shifted constantly underneath us as we ran toward the empty city. I could see it clearer now, and my eyes swept across it. This was where humanity had hidden from the first monsters. A place of never ending light and magic to help them survive. Each building was seamless in its creation, as though a single magician had taken a mountain and forced it into a more palatable form.

Behind us was the building that we had come from. There were several more like it scattered around the holy land, though none were close enough to be visible to us. As far as I knew they were the only places that people were allowed to stay in, and it included our hotel.

Gold chirped out beside me, his eyes boring into the distant landmark.

Empty. Why?

“This is why you shouldn't sleep during history class.” I said. “The monsters that drove humans into the sanctuaries didn't stay dominant. Soon, there was no need for a place to stay safe.”

Gold looked at me curiously, as though he could tell I was leaving an important part of the story out. Probably because I was.

After years of fighting both humans and each other, the monsters began to thin in ranks. From there humanity had once again spread out into the wider world. But none of the human factions were content to simply leave behind the wonders that were the holy land. As it always had in the face of riches, humanity began to wage war against itself.

The end result was a tenuous treaty that lasted to this day. Nobody would have dominance of the holy lands, and each faction kept each other in check to assure that the peace wasn't broken. Only the younger generation was allowed in, with a few select guardians.

Now the sanctuaries lay empty, a shell of what they had once been.

"I've never seen one of their bells before." Amanda said.

"Bells?" I asked.

I turned around and squinted at the purple city. In the centre of the twelve buildings was the biggest, and I spotted the bell that Amanda was talking about. From afar it was as small as an apple, but I knew that up close it would likely be bigger than the tree in the front yard of my house.

"They used to sound an alarm when monsters came into the holy land. Still do, probably. Nobody's heard them ring for years. They didn't put them on every city so I didn't get to see any on my last trip." Amanda said. "Just the ones that were near the major entrances and more likely to be attacked. Wait. What’s that?"

Her excitement struck through my thoughts and I whipped my head around to see what she was pointing at. In the air above me a ripple had begun to spread across the air. I raised my hands and tendrils of earth and metal emerged from my inventory, but they weren't needed.

The swirls congealed into a single glimmering twinkle.

It was a red crystal.

From a distance it looked like a dice had been carved out of rubies. I raised the platform, but Amanda was first to reach it, her shoes gliding atop puffs of flames that boosted her higher into the air. As I drew closer I saw that the crystal was made of flames.

Amanda grabbed it and we examined it carefully.

“Crystallised fire mana, just like your beads.” I said.

“Not exactly.” Amanda had a frown on her face. “If it was this easy to gather fire mana then my family would be out of business. This is unstable, and if I tried to bring it outside it'd dissipate.”

A quick look at the sky around us revealed that this crystal was an anomaly. There were no signs of other ones anywhere. That was when I noticed something strange.

"There’s no sun.” I said.

The moment I spoke the words I realised that they were silly. None of the rifts I have gone to before had suns inside. All of the light around me was provided by the trees as they burned.

“This holy land never goes dark.” Amanda said. “It’s one of the reasons why the Academy assigned us to a hotel. They’re not worried about us getting hurt physically, but spend a few days out in the open here and you'll go blind permanently.”

“If it's that bad are Gold and Agni going to be okay?” I asked.

My eyes weren't feeling the strain that I thought they would when looking directly at a sea of fire, but the birds had keener sight than we did. To my surprise both of the birds shook their heads and chirped happily.

I protect. Keep safe.

Agni spoke confidently and I saw her wings puff up with fire. Gold was making sure to keep close to his companion, and both of them took off once again into the air in search of treasure.

“I'll do the same for you if we get into a bad spot.” Amanda said. “Flames won't affect you here.”

"You’re the best teammate a person can have.” I said. I gave her a thumbs up and she smiled.

Our journey wasn't a quick one, and after a couple of hours we found ourselves deep in conversation. The trees seemed endless and it wasn't an even field. Some trees towered high above us even with my platform, and mountains in the distance dwarfed our senses as we gazed at them.

The city was growing ever closer and I realised that I’d been wrong. I'd compared the buildings to mountains in my mind, but they were far larger than any mountain I'd ever seen. Twelve towers cascaded toward the sky, threatening to pierce through the veil of the rift and explore beyond.

This was a sanctuary designed to house humanity.

“I’m glad I was born after this place was emptied. A single new symbol appears and lives are ruined forever.” Amanda said. “I'd hate to have been alive when we couldn't fight back.”

There was a glimmer of sadness in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared. Out of everyone in the academy she knew best just how easily a monster’s existence could impact the lives of countless people. Professor Pernacles had never taught us about symbol history. That was left to the history teacher and the teachings of the church of Ength.

The Divine itself was thought of positively in society. Many people even considered it second only to Fue. After all, symbols were a blessing. The Divine had given a gift to the world that helped humanity flourish and advance, even if that gift had only been realised after near extinction.

“Do you feel that?" I said.

There was a shift in the mana around me and I paused the platform. Amanda gazed at me curiously but didn't hesitate to conjure her weapons, a group of six claws made of pure flames that hovered around her.

The first sign of danger was a rumble in my mind as the earth below us churned and roiled.

Then the ground attacked us.

Below my platform a mass of earth and stone pushed aside the trees and flames as it reached out to grab us. Pillars that resembled fingers grasped at my platform and I abandoned it, new platforms pouring out of my inventory.

“[Earth Manipulation].” I said. “[Earthen Spear].”

A tidal wave of stone descended from my inventory and slammed into the incoming hand, forcing it to slow down. I could feel the earth struggling against my stone as both of us fought for control over the element.

Around me dozens of blocks transformed into spears and shot into the ground. Each one slid through the earth trying to find the attacker. All of it was ineffective. I needed to find my opponent or I’d never hit my target.

“[Mana Sense].”

I immediately regretted activating my skill. All of my vision was blocked by the sheer volume of mana around us. It cluttered the air and twinkled in greeting. A moment later I deactivated the skill and prepared my next volley of spears.

"Andross, wait.” Amanda spoke out beside me. “I don't think anyone's attacking us.“

My spears halted in midair, but I kept the frontal assault ongoing as the hill of earth continued to try and grab us. Next to me Amanda had her hands raised up, and Agni and Gold rested on her shoulders. Agni gave me a reassuring nod but Gold was looking down at the incoming hill curiously.

“[Mana Communication].” I said.

The moment my skill activated I knew that Amanda was right. There was no malicious intent imbued into the earth. In fact, no intent was present at all. There was only earth mana, and it was trying to communicate with me.

Come. Join. Inside.

The moment I heard its thoughts, the mass of stone and earth stopped in its tracks. It had only been trying to communicate with me, and that was why it had reached out to grab me.

Gold chirped at the giant earthen pillars and then flew off Amanda and landed on my shoulder, staring down at the trees and stones that had been roaring toward me only moments before.

“I think that's a hill." I said.

“Really? I wouldn't have guessed.” Amanda said.

A giggle escaped her lips as she caught sight of my glare.

“There wasn't a hill there a second ago.” I said. “Do they usually pop up like this?”

"Obviously not.” Amanda said. "And if something is weird then there's a chance that there's something good inside. We should get closer.”

Amanda motioned with her hand and I lowered the platform, spears of earth and silver floating around me. If somebody or something was looking for a fight then they would get one.

Magical beasts weren't unheard of in the holy land, but we were prepared for anything that could attack us. Amanda had her six flaming claws at the ready and I prepared my spears. With confidence and caution we stepped off the stones I controlled and onto the hill.

“There could be a treasure at the other end." She said.

"Or something that wants to eat us.” I said.

"I'm willing to take the chance that you'll get eaten." She said. “Try to throw me something valuable before you do.”

Part of the hill opened up in front of us and we quietened.

It was a tunnel.

I glanced at Amanda and a smile tugged at my lips.

“Ladies first.”