Chapter 4: Learning

Exactly one week had passed and Noah was settling in to life at the temple, interacting with his immediate neighbor Ryan and the apprentice priestess Serah. They were the only people apart from Diara that were members of the temple, other people there where the townsfolk who either had a request or two or came to help out with chores. The temple also served as a school of some sorts and that explained the presence of the kids Noah saw on his first day here. This meant Diara found it no issue at all to fill in the gaps on Noah's knowledge.

Noah schedule so far could be explained as such, he'd spend the first few hours after waking up helping out with chores around the temple then head to the temples library. He'd have a lecture with Diara for a set period of time before she leave him to peruse through the books in the library. There was no problem with that because during the course of the teachings she discovered Noah was probably more knowledgeable than her in terms of language, both spoken and written, he could read virtually any book he laid his hands upon and even converse in the languages of other races. Since that was not the weirdest thing she knew about Noah apart from the initial shock, she took it quite alright. After spending a majority of the day in the library, Noah would go out to take a stroll and spend quite some time with Ryan as they both kept an eye on the children or help out with any other chores available. Then in the safety of his room he'd review what he knew then sleep. Food and such was provided by the temple, he guessed it was the job of the apprentice priestess Serah as he had helped deliver groceries from the storehouse to her once.

After repeating such a schedule for a while, Diara decided to test Noah on what he knew, this would decide if Noah was ready to learn about new stuff and expand his activity range. As much as she was wanted Noah to be independent and able to care for himself, she didn't want to take any chances by rushing him through the right steps. If he was able to meet the standards she set, he'd be ready for the next step. While Noah didn't know that was the essence of the test, he was still going to put in his best, Diara had already been a lot of help to him, and he didn't want to let her down if possible so he was determined to do his best.

They met in the library as usual and the test had officially begun.

"Alright Noah, it's been 7 days since you were allowed access to this library and started your lessons. It's time to review how much you've learnt, while you won't get any punishment as there's no set standard as a passing grade or a learning grade, I want you to put in your best . Is that clear?"

Diara asked with a smile on her face, while she wanted to be serious, she also didn't want to come across as too strict.

"Yes ma"

"Alright, tell me what you understand about time and the seasons"

Noah took a deep breath to calm his nerves before he started

"Starting with the seasons, there are four seasons in a year, with each season corresponding to which element is more dominant at that time period,

Spring - The season of the cool air and the blooming flowers, the elements of the air and life are most dominant in this time period

Summer - The of season all round high temperatures and heat storms, it is the time of the elements of fire and magma

Fall - The season of the earth. The earth and metal elements are the dominant elements of this time period. It is said that Kreatia uses this to wash away the pains of the flames and temper itself, preparing for the next season.

Winter - A blanket of ice fills the world, the time for rest has come, the dominant elements being ice and water."

Taking a glass of water to quench his breath and a moment a catch his breath, Noah continued

"The four seasons make up a year, each season lasting for 2 months, the months are named after the elements of that time period. starting from first to last they go in this order

Aer - Vita - Ignis - Labes - Terra - Ferrum - Aqua - Glaciers

Each month consist of forty five days, divided in 5 weeks consisting of 9 days. While the Global calendar uses one element for each day of the week from air to lightning, different regions have different names for addressing these days. A day consists of 36 hours and an hour 60 minutes"

All while Noah was going on about the seasons and the time period, He made no mistakes, and he did this all by memory, Diara wondered if he knew all this before he lost his memory so it wasn't too hard to remember after reading it a few times in the library so she decided to spend the whole day asking him questions from different aspects of life. The test went all over the place from geography to arithmetic to etiquette and even philosophical topics. Noah seems to be able to give an answer most times and even return a thought provoking question in the case of the philosophical topics. At this point, Diara had even forgotten about the test and was just enjoying the presence of a learned person. It seemed his time in the library had not been a waste, he definitely had passed her standards in terms of knowledge, all that's left was to instill a sense of values and common sense in him before sending him out for practical studies, after all power without knowledge and the right mindset will only lead to destruction. Diara was ready to end the lesson for today , she would have a talk with Ryan as he was necessary for the next step in Noah's training. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Noah asked her

"Priestess, why is that even with the amount of books in the library, there is little information about the order of faith itself?"

While it was a simple question, the answer to it could both be simple and ambiguous because of the state of the order in relation to the world, strictly speaking, Noah wasn't a member of the order and telling him the inner workings of the order might prove to be harmful to him since he lacked the strength to ensure his safety and not get swept away by the currents so the best answer she deemed fit to tell him was

"The order of faith might doesn't belong to any party and it's relationship with the world is ambiguous at best, so detailed records of what we do and our past isn't available for just anyone to see, only those who are chosen are worthy "

Noah at this point knew it was a topic he wasn't privy to so he wisely thanked the priestess and left for his room. It had been a busy day and it was time he rested, what tomorrow had in store for him, he'd wait and see. Diara was staring into the empty air even after Noah's absence, the question he asked kept her lost in her thoughts for a while even after his absence.

"In due time child"