- “It’s been a long time, Sir Nozroc.”
Val said plainly after removing his hood. Like suddenly hit by a train, Nozroc knelt down and bowed hurriedly to greet Val
- “Y-Your grace, may Goddess Heira be with you”
- “Can I come in?”
Val didn’t wanted to attract attention, the festival was in full swing and city was quite crowded.
- “P-Please don’t ask, the city and the people are the possession of divine family. Forgive me, if the place is not to your liking”
Nozroc with clearly paled expressions, got out of the way to invite Val in, and with a nod Val entered the house. The house was medium in size but big enough for the family of three. On left side, there was a dining table just two hands away from the large window, behind it was the fire place.
On right side, there was a simple yet beautiful, well furnished living hall. Nozroc urged Val to take a seat in the living hall while kneeling beside him.
- “How’s your new life treating you, Sir Nozroc?”
Asked Val with his dead eyes set on Nozroc. Nozroc flinched and his expression twisted, his lips started trembling, like he’d break into tears any moment
- “I-I..”
- “You must be a great father and a great husband as well. I wonder if your family is aware of your past deeds?”
- “N-N-No, I beg of you, y-your grace. I’m aware of my sin and I’ll accept every punishment but please have mercy on my family, they are innocent”
Nozroc slammed his head into the floor and started begging desperately
- “So was I, a 7yrs old at that, not much different from little Ozlo. But you didn’t care. Well, I agree, even if you had refused then someone else must have done it”
Val said it coldly and Nozroc was dead silent, not dared to say anything.
- “As for your punishment, I’ve already decided”
- “As you wish”
Nozroc said with a strong conviction, prepared to even give his life, if Val would have ask for it.
- “I want your race exclusive ability, Familiar Summon and Monster Tongue”
Said Val as plainly as like asking for a candy. Nozroc frowned in confustion.
- “I-I apologize but I don’t underst-”
- “False Blessing”
Val’s word colored shock on Nozroc’s face. He opened and closed his mouth several times but no word came out.
- “F-Fals.. I-It’s a sinister magic, your grace. Forbidden, even amongst demons”
- ‘Yes, it’s a forbidden magic because the side effects are too severe. The one who donates his ability would lost several decades of his life, depends upon the quantity and quality of the donated ability. And the one who receives it, might get his body morphed into a bizarre shape due to the sudden change in his mana signature. However I’m different because my mana affinity is much higher, even though it’ll be little difficult but I can suppress the flux in mana ’
Thought Val, remembering the knowledge from his novel.
- “Do I need to give you a speech or remind you of the treatment, I received in the monastery? Are you refusing me?”
Val said coldly.
- “I-I don’t dare, your grace.”
Val raised and held his left hand in front of Nozroc while glaring in his eyes. Seeing no way to avoid Val, Nozroc bit his lips and poked a small hole in his finger with his beastly nail. Blood droplets started dripping from his poked finger.
Then, Nozroc closed his eyes and a faint red light traveled inside his body and finally absorbed into a single droplet of his blood, meanwhile Nozroc’s hair turned gray and several decades of life chipped away from him.
Nozroc dropped the blood droplet on Val’s carving which soon got absorbed in it and the carving shone with a red light momentarily.
Thud!
Nozroc collapsed while Val closed his eyes and started suppressing the irregular flux in his mana by using primal mana breathing. It was not easy either, blood dripped from his nose and from the corner of his lips.
Val furrowed his brow in pain. It took few minutes to stabilize his mana and after it, he used mana healing to heal his internal injuries.
- “Hooh~”
Val exhaled and finally looked down on Nozroc indifferently.
- ‘I need a mount to travel within Dunnet-Un(Forest Valley) and undoubtedly, these abilities will prove invaluable in future. Though I still don’t know the exact location of that ruin but I’m sure I’ll find some information in main library.’
Not giving a second glance to unconscious Nozroc and neither giving any pity, Val pulled back his hood on head and left the house. Ana reunited with him a little distance off from Nozroc’s house and they returned to monastery.
Half an hour later, a scream of a woman echoed from Nozroc home.
***
Next day, alone in the room, Val checked his newly gained abilities on soul window by creating a thin wall of water and placing his left hand on it.
[ Primal Mana Calibration: 61.886% ]
[ Innate Abilities: Accurate Intuition (St.1)... ]
[ Acquired Abilities:
Primal Mana Breathing(max)
Kelnar Weapon Arts Revised (mastery: 30%)
Mana Healing(max)
*Familiar Summon(limit: 1) – Can summon one contracted familiar near yourself.
*Monster Tongue(max) – Able to communicate with different monster races.
Other Mana Related Abilities(+12) ]
- ‘I can only summon one familiar for now, and the mana calibration increased from 57% to 61%. At this rate I need to leave Kelnar as soon as possible, otherwise, the awakening of mana heart will gather lot of attention’
- ‘Now that I think about it, soul window conveniently named my innate abilities for me, which I hardly know were within me because all of them are passive in nature’
Thought Val while looking at his innate ability section. After that, he canceled his soul window and went to the study room to read the books on runic language which he bought recently.
Now that he broke the daily regime of sparring session, he was spared with much time. He read the books and made notes for several hours, making it to the evening. He especially ordered Ana to not let anyone disturb him.
- ‘hmmm, it seems like they didn’t discover all the alphabets of Greek and Kyrgyz, that’s why they can’t use the runic language to its full potential. On top of that, to use runic language for magic, enchantment and such, it takes a rather unique word sequence between these two language. To create a powerful blessing similar to given by gods, I suppose I need to figure out this special sequence’
Thought Val while reading the notes holding in his hands. When he wrote his novel, he briefly explained the runic language and only talked about its appearance. That was why he needed much understanding to utilize the full potential of runic language.
- ‘Hmmm... It’s strange for them to not act after what happened in last sparring session. I hope they don’t cause any trouble for me’
Thought Val about his family while turning and looking outside the balcony.
Knock Knock
He heard a knock which broke his thoughts and he moved to the bedroom. There, he found Ana standing with her hand held in front of her.
- “Your grace, Priest Maximus is here”
- “Let him in”
Val ordered as he sat down on the couch. Soon, Priest Maximus wearing a gray robe and veiled face, entered the room with 2 other deacons who came carrying something. Maximus order them to put the items on the table and left them.
- “I give my heartily congratulation to your grace for receiving the blessing from Goddess. I came carrying the gifts from his holiness himself, his holiness expressed his congratulation to your grace.”
Maximus knelt and pointed to the items which were covered in a blue silk cloth. Maximus was a middle aged man, with a bulky body and voice respectively heavy, suiting his build.
- “Tell him I expressed my gratitude for the gifts, but what are they?”
- “His holiness sent the finest gifts. First is the Sky Piercer, a fine crystal blade of Legendary grade, made out of rare mana crystals, highly durable and with high mana affinity”
Maximus presented each gifts while uncovering them. He firstly handed the blade to Val.
- ‘hmmm, 45in. long, 5cm wide, sky blue, dual edge crystal blade, two hand grip and it’s even enchanted!’
Val analyzed the blade.
- “It’s enchanted with a magic which increased its sharpness upon channeling the mana into it.”
Maximus explained. Then, he moved to the others gift.
- “Second, Legendary Grade Armor, made from the hide and scales of rare Water Wyvern. Additionally, it’s embedded with 10 mana marbles, each providing a mana shield which can absorb an attack from a legendary class beast and Grand-Priest ranked individual. It’s custom made, your grace.”
Val looked toward the full body light armor which was blue and beige in color. It looked like a blue body suit with beige scales covering the vitals, and over it was a blue coat with beige scales covering whole arms and shoulders.
- “His holiness also sent 20 Holy Coins and prepared a Legendary Class mount for your grace’s upcoming journey”
- ‘He’s indirectly telling me to get out of the city and that this whole blessing thing doesn’t matter to him. Well thankfully, he solved my problem regarding the mount and even give me 20 Holy Coins which equals to 20,000Cemu. How generous.’
Val got the true massage behind the gifts sent by his father and he was really satisfied with it.
- “And..”
Maximus hesitated and Val waited for him, sitting on the couch cross legged.
- “His holiness prepared a challenge for your grace and it’ll be held a day after tomorrow”
- “To prove myself capable of pursuing the path of paladin?”
Asked Val indifferently
- “Yes, your grace”
- ‘He’s even hurrying me to get out of his city. That’s what I want anyways’
- “Then, it seems like I don’t have much time. Priest Maximus, I need your assistant to gather these items as they are crucial for my journey”
Val took out a small paper and handed to Maximus which had the list of items he would need in his journey.
- “I’ll prepare everything by tomorrow, your grace”
Maximus and Ana left the room. Ana was clearly unhappy with the events, she hoped that Asvaldur could stop Val to leave Kelnar as he became much stronger and capable than before.
- ‘I don’t have time, I need to find the location of that ruin’
Thought Val as he stood up and wore his casual coat. He was thinking of going to the library to collect information but when he took few steps, a sudden throbbing pain emerged in his heart.
- ‘Ugh..what is happening?’
Val clenched his chest and frowned in pain and confusion. The pain intensified quickly and he lost his balance, somehow he grabbed the back side of couch to support himself, and soon, a mana wave burst out from his heart and simultaneously, his body floated in mid air.
Woong~!
The mana wave repelled everything that were near him, making the floor clean around him. Everything in his bedroom got misplaced. Val quickly reached the floor and fell to his knees with heavy breathing.
The increase in his mana capacity made him realize what happened to him, so he quickly checked his soul window, and it was proven right. His mana calibration reached 63% and his temple rank went up by one. He was now ranked as a Cardinal Priest, single rank away from setting his foot in the holy rank of Bishop.
- ‘After the sparring session, primal mana breathing became much more efficient. That’s why, my mana calibration is increasing way too quickly. At this rate, I’ll keep breaking through the temple ranks and soon, will become the center of everyone’s attention’
Val didn’t wanted to attract attention. Thanks to his high mana affinity, it became easier to manipulate his mana. So, he suppressed his mana capacity back to the Arch-Priest Rank, in order to hide his ever so increasing temple rank.
After fixing his bedroom back to normal, he left for the city library. Ana met him in the hallway, apparently she was running toward his room, worried after feeling a sudden mana burst. She questioned him but he feigned ignorance since the source of mana burst was unknown.
They reached in front of a large coliseum like building which was the city library. Built near the monastery, it held almost every book and knowledge, but of course not everyone was allowed access for the most important or potentially dangerous ones, like dark magic and such.
Val entered the city library with Ana. The librarian was a female priest, old but still filled with vitality. She and several other deacons and deaconess greeted Val, then, the old librarian asked if she could provide any assistance.
- “Anything regarding Dunnet-Un and beyond. Be it maps, history books, fables, legends and myths. I want everything”
Ordered Val
- “As you desire, your grace. This one will help you find whatever you need.”
Said the old librarian. She pointed toward a assistant deaconess and ordered her to help Val after giving her some guidance regarding Val’s order.
- “Please come this way, your grace”
Urged the assistant deaconess. Val and Ana followed her to the upper floor, which was rather vacant despite being filled with countless bookshelves.
- “This floor is reserved for the divine family members and some especially granted people. Please take a sit, your grace, I’ll bring the books to your table.”
The assistant deaconess left Val after giving a bow. Val went to a corner seat adjacent to a large window and sat down while Ana stood beside him.
- “Your grace is seeking information about Dunnet-Un. You are not planning to go there, right?”
Asked Ana worriedly. Dunnet-Un, a forest valley in the west of Kelnar, den of ferocious monsters and beasts, home of deadly mystical creatures, mentioned in several legends, not exactly pleasant if you may ask. It was uncharted and unexplored territory, setting foot there was no less than committing a suicide.
- “Just the outer parts, hunting some monsters, gathering some herbs and such.”
Val lied without missing a single beat like he already prepared it in advance. Soon, the assistant deaconess came with a large pile of books floating behind her, she put the books down on the table and separated them into few small groups.
- “Your grace, I separated them as per your words. Maps, history books, fables, legends and myths”
Said the assistant deaconess
- “You have my gratitude, deaconess”
Said Val sincerely
- “I-I’m deeply honored, your grace. I’ll be here in the back, if you need anything else then please just call for me”
The assistant deaconess said as she bowed, and happiness showed in her voice.
- “You are just going to stand there?”
Asked Val
- “Y-Yes”
- “Then deaconesses, why don’t you both take a seat and help me with this? I’m short on time after all.”
Val looked between Ana and the assistant deaconess. They were reluctant to sit in his presence, but he insisted firmly. After they sat down hesitatingly, he told them to look for any ancient place around the end of Dunnet-Un. Then, all three of them started rummaging through books in earnest.
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