'Solis? Why me? Who is she? Why did you bring me into this world?' Sylvester shouted in his dream-like world. 'What do you want from me?'
But he received only angry insults. 'Weak!' Pathetically weak! You are a fish living in a pond, not knowing there is an ocean outside. Don't make me regret it, my bard. Until now, I've kept you in my best regards!'
'Tell me who that girl is, at least.' Sylvester asked.
'She is your destiny. She is your key to the future. She is the nexus of your entire life. But only when the time is right shall fate prevail. You are naive, child—You have no idea about the world's scale—So mend your ways and mind, or be prepared to painfully fail.'
The vision started to become blurry again.
Sylvester couldn't accept that. 'Are you really Solis? Why bring me here? What's so special about me? Why can I create a halo?'
'When the time comes, everyone, to the truth, succumbs.'
'No! No! No! Don't go! Give me answers!' Sylvester shouted, but not a single word was heard from him. The giant, overwhelming imagery disappeared. Sylvester once again felt like hovering in the void with nothing to do.
He didn't wake up, however. He tried to meditate more and see what had happened to the girl. But, no matter what, he didn't find anything.
'I hope she survives.'
…
"It's gone! His entire body isn't shining now, so we can continue the work." Elaine muttered.
"The fact that it happened, that's strange in the first place. This kid… He's too abnormal for his own good. Let's just keep whatever happened here to ourselves. His life is already a mess." Hendrix said and finished working on Sylvester's leg.
He was just stitching the wound as the rest of the work was done. As for the shoulder blockage, he cleared that up without much need for surgery as it was minor.
That was also the time when Sylvester's eyes slowly opened. But he didn't move and just stared above at the dense cover of the Soul Tree.
'The world is so full of mysteries and challenges. I wonder if I can ever uncover all of them in one lifetime. But, at least now I know Solis is real… Probably.'
"You took a good long nap, Lord Bard. It's been six hours already." Hendrix notified him.
Sylvester was not too surprised as he had even spent days in meditation before. "Tell me, healer. If God was to order you to do something personally, would you do it? If yes, then how far are you willing to obey?"
Hendrix rubbed his beard and looked at his wife and sleeping daughter. "If the orders go against my ideals, then he's no god to me. If God wanted us to be servants, mindless sheep, he would have never given us free will and the ability to think."
Sylvester groaned while getting up. "Wisely said. Well, this was one hell of a session. I hope I won't get any more Solarium Blockages in the future. But, that Shadow Knight, I will have to be careful with it."
Pat!
Hendrix tapped on Sylvester's back. "You're a strong boy. You will manage. I have some faith in you."
"True. I hope you rightfully become the Pope one day and change the world for good and join the two sides fighting for no reason." Elaine added, though in her voice, there was longing for her homeland. Sadly, she knew she couldn't ever go there as the Elven society was messed up too.
They would never accept her and call her a human-whore for spreading her legs to a human. They would never accept her husband, no matter how powerful he was, and her daughter would never live a respectable life there.
However, knowing that Sylvester was also a half-elf, she hoped that he could change the world with his gifts, power, and authority.
"That's the plan, my lady."
Hendrix asked him then. "The path you talked about. Will you walk on it? Or was it just a word game?"
Sylvester sighed and brushed his hair with his left hand. "Who knows? My journey is not even half done yet. I don't know what might kill me someday. It could be a spy, a heathen or perhaps, the one who caused this injury to me, the Shadow Knight.
"The world is not black and white. A good man can turn bad; an ally can stab me in the back given the right concocted recipe of mind-breaking mess. Nothing is uniform, and everything is permitted, for this is a shadow war. But as long as I have the support of a few good folks, I will push forward."
"Lord Bard." Elaine patted his shoulder softly. "I don't know why, but I feel very close to you. Perhaps, it's the subtle way of God to tell me that you will be the one to unite the two worlds. Just believe in yourself, my lord. With your reputation, I'm sure you shall find many arms of support on your shoulder when the time comes, pushing you forward."
Sylvester glanced at Hendrix and received a nod. 'Her feelings smell so genuine…"
"I can only try. But let's return to the mainland now. It's better if you have some rest." Sylvester stood up.
In no time, they all cleaned themselves and collected all the garbage. Sylvester, in particular, was careful with his blood. So, he burned all the waste instead.
Once done, he picked Miraj since the boy was asleep. Meanwhile, Hendrix picked up his daughter as she was sleeping too.
"Where will you be staying?" He asked them.
"In the Guild Peninsula."
Sylvester quickly shook his head and suggested a better option. "That won't do. It's unsafe, especially in the Season of Solis. I have a better place instead. It's a small Palace of a Cardinal who is an… 'ally' of mine. He lives alone and rarely comes home. So you can live there for as long as you want."
Hendrix was smart enough to understand what 'ally' meant. It was another term for servant or lackey. But he was more impressed by the fact that Sylvester, an Archpriest, had a Cardinal under his thumb.
"Are you sure? It won't be an inconvenience to him?" Hendrix asked.
Sylvester laughed instead. "Haha, that man lived as a slave to an evil witch for an entire year. There is nothing in the world that can make him uncomfortable anymore. Come, I will take you to that place."
So, they took the boat back to the Pope's Peninsula. There, Sylvester hired a large stagecoach, and they made their way into the High Clergy's housing district. They even passed by the palace he destroyed a short time ago. "That's where those heathen slaving Cardinals lived. They and nine hundred of their allies are now dead."
"It was big news, and the travelling bards sang about it. Your name often comes in it." Elaine spoke in amazement.
'Ugh, I seriously should start paying these bards in non-monetary ways. Perhaps, I can make pizza for free for them in my shop.' Sylvester had started plotting already.
Soon, they easily arrived at the small palace with a fantastic sea view. It was huge, with well-armoured guards, and the insides of the castle were modest but luxurious at the same time.
"Lord Bard!"
To Sylvester's surprise, Cardinal Cornelius was there. "You didn't go to work, your eminence?"
"I took a holiday today. Today was the day my family passed away in a tragic fire accident more than a century ago, leaving me orphaned. I wanted to pay my respects today and remember some fond memories." Cardinal said, although he didn't appear very sad.
'Why does every high clergyman have a sad story?' Sylvester often wondered.
"May their souls rest in peace. Your eminence, this is the famed, legendary healer Darwin Hendrix, a Grand Wizard and the Pope's personal guest. This is his wife, Elaine, and daughter, Daline. They shall stay in your palace for a few days if you don't mind."
Cardinal Cornelius glowed like a sunflower with smiles. "Of course, they can. The Pope's guests are Holy Land's guests. Besides, I'm going for a week-long inspection of Broken Bay in the Duchy of Zon tomorrow. So just treat this place as a home, respected great healer."
"Thank you for the generosity, Cardinal," Hendrix muttered. But he didn't bother much with him, as he was used to meeting high nobles.
Cardinal Cornelius then left, and Sylvester guided the family into the palace.
"There are many empty rooms on the first floor. For food, there are many servants in the house. They are not slaves but just lower-ranked forever Deacons. If you need anything, just order the—Ugh!"
Thud!
"Bard!" Hendrix rushed to Sylvester's side and tried to help him stand up.
But Sylvester couldn't, as his body felt powerless. "Argh… It's not painful… It's a sensation of burning throughout the body, in all my veins. Did you use any special potion?"
Hendrix quickly checked Sylvester's pulse and heartbeat with a tap on the wrist. With that, his frowning face turned into a smile. "Haha, worry not, young man. This is normal. It seems you are…"
Sylvester deduced that much. "Moving to a higher Archwizard level?"
Thud!
"Ah, the sensation is so much stronger than ever before!" He frowned.
Hendrix stayed beside him. "It's expected, Lord Bard. Your Solarium Blockage has blocked your body from taking in the Solarium that your body should normally be able to. However, with you now healed, your body is reaching its full potential—Especially since you fought so many battles after your initial Ranking-up to Archwizard."
True, it made sense to Sylvester as well. He had his last rank-up during the battle with the Shadow Knight, which happened even before the events of the Raftel and Jartel Counties. Since then, Sylvester had fought a bloodling, war, sparred with Lady Aurora, fought a Soul Eater, another war, an Archwizard and a Grand Wizard.
"But…"
Sylvester gritted his teeth. His body started sweating all over, and veins popped up on his forehead.
"Meow!"
"Why did you meow?" Hendrix exclaimed.
Sylvester glared at worried Chonky, looking at his face. "Ahaha… It's nothing…"
Sylvester's skin glowed paler, and his golden eyes seemed to shine. The process was taking longer than usual. But, eventually, it came to pass, and Sylvester's strong breaths calmed down.
"Gah! Finally… It's over. It seems I have levelled to Archwizard Ni… Wait!"
Hendrix seriously frowned and cursed. "Good God's Grace! Another level-up?"
Bam!
Sylvester just fell face first in pain and tiring sweat.
[A/N: Merry Christmas!!! 2 more chaps will be posted before tomorrow's reset.]
700 GT = 1 Bonus chapter.
1 Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.
Ape Together Strong
