Darius frowned upon the mention.
"Promotion? Is that what you told me about getting more…stars?"
He said a little confusedly.
Though we, ourselves, did not exactly know the nature of those stones and what the fairy called 'promotion' either.
But I remembered that those Promotion Stones could turn a 1-star hero into a 2-star once the hero in question had reached level ten.
And by my calculation, Jonah and Shanny should had reached level ten after levelling up on the seventh floor earlier.
Jonah looked up to the fairy while holding the Promotion Stone.
"What do we with this?"
He asked.
[Each of you need to take the Promotion Stone and head to the second floor of the synthesis chamber.]
"What's on the second floor?"
Shanny was the one asking this time.
[Tch. I believe I've told you this some time ago. But there's a promotion chamber up there. You can find a pedestal at the very center of the room. All you need to do is to place the Promotion Stone on the pedestal and experience the promotion.]
"What will exactly happen to us during the promotion?"
The fairy turned upset with the third question.
[Urgh! Just head up to the promotion chamber already! Shepherd, you go first! The maid can go in once he comes out!]
She said before vanishing.
Jonah knew not to disobey the fairy unless he wanted trouble.
He then took the Promotion Stone with him and entered the synthesis building.
The doors immediately shut behind him.
The rest of us sat by the fountain in the first floor square to wait for him to be done.
This would be the first time a hero experience a promotion.
I, at the very least, was interested to see how this played out.
Soon the second floor of the synthesis building glowed up with colorful light.
We all sat there silently, staring the glowing building.
Several heroes training or working on the first floor of the lobby caught sight of us and the glow. They too joined us in the square.
I heard Trudy whispering to them what was happening. Her words triggered a few soft gasps and murmurs that echoed to my ears.
As I said, this would be the first time a promotion happened. Everyone would want to see how it went.
Now forming a small crowd, we all waited for Jonah to come out.
And just before a half-hour mark, the glow in the building finally dimmed.
Few moments later, the doors to the synthesis building slowly opened and Jonah walked out from there.
His expression was dark, full with gloom.
"What happened in there, Jonah? How are you feeling?"
I asked him as I approached the man. I let him decide which question he would like to answer first.
"Nothing's really changed with me, unlike synthesis. But I saw something weird in there. In the promotion chamber. It made me confused."
I frowned upon the end of his sentence.
"What was it, Jonah? What got you confused?"
"As soon as I placed the Promotion Stone on the pedestal, the stone glowed up and my environment suddenly changed. It was similar like being transported to the trial. But it was different too."
"How?"
"Like I was someplace else, but I was certain I was still inside the promotion chamber. If I had to compare it, it was probably more similar to how Trudy and Darius witnessing the record of the fifth floor. But then again I could also feel everything that happened."
"I see. So, where did you go?"
Jonah struggled to come up with his words this time.
There were a few seconds of silence before he continued.
"I was back at the plain. The plain where I'd take my herd to graze."
He stopped again. His gaze was faraway.
"What happened in the plain, Jonah?"
I asked again to make him continue.
His eyes went a little more alive from my calling, but still dark with memories.
"Everything was on fire. Parts of the plain that were not in flames were already scorched black. My flock was scattered and ran around aimlessly. Their wools were glittering with embers."
He took a deep sigh and stared at me with trembling eyes.
"It was horrible, Serafina. It was like a nightmare."
Despite his gloomy expression, I could not help but to have the corner of my lips to curve upward.
Not after what I heard what Jonah just said at the end.
Nightmare.
That was the perfect description for my last day in Dunia.
The murmurs from the crowd behind me turned louder.
Worry tainted the tone of their voices.
How could they not?
Everyone in the lobby except me did not recall of the doom that befell our world in its final hours.
So far I just told them that we were here in the forged land to fight and that we needed to obey master.
I had not exactly told them why we were called in the first place.
My comrades noticed my calm face, as if I knew something regarding what Jonah just saw. And indeed I did.
But before they could speak to me nor I talk to them, the fairy appeared before us once more.
[Hey, wild maid! Your turn! Go to the promotion chamber now!]
After hearing Jonah's story, the ever-so-brave Shanny could not help but to form cold sweats over her temples.
With wariness of what she might see during her promotion, the woman entered the synthesis building while carrying her Promotion Stone.
As if the promotion process was taboo, the crowd began to disperse.
The people tried distancing themselves from the synthesis building as far as they could. More than they usually would at least.
It was understandable after they saw how Jonah looked like after coming out of a promotion.
Then again, this event revealed something new to us.
Other than enabling more powers to the hero, promotion also restored some part of the hero's memories.
The fairy said a hero could attain as much as seven stars.
I would guess every time a hero was promoted, the more their memories got restored.
I wondered whether I would still gain another memory if I were to be promoted to 5-star.
What else could I learn from what I had already known so far?
I could think of a few things. But they would not matter at the moment.
Right now I needed to focus on completing the trials, especially the upcoming Quintal Trial, the tenth floor.
The light on the synthesis building dimmed once more and soon Shanny walked out from there.
She bore the same dark expression as Jonah did earlier.