"Of course, I saw him grow from little. I was his aide when he was chosen as a God's Favored candidate. Who could have thought the kid with the runny nose would become the Pope one day."
'So this man is to the Pope what Sir Dolorem is to me?' Sylvester realized. But the difference in power was too high. It was understandable, however, as old times were much harsher and more dangerous.
"Then… is the Holy Father not worried about your health?"
"Of course he is. That's why he gave me full access to the Soul Peninsula. I live beside this tree now, but I'd call it Axel's selfish greed. He does not wish to cry over my grave. But, if I can delay his tears for some more time, it'd make me happy too." Grandpa Monk responded.
For the first time, Sylvester noticed the faint emotions of love. 'This man… he truly sees the Pope as a son."
"What did you mean by tough love?" He questioned.
But the old man moved to stand up next. "Come with me, young one. My little hut is near, so give these old bones a push, will you."
Sylvester rushed to help by holding the old man's arm. Then they slowly walked towards the hut while he spoke.
"Axel is an emotional man. If he saw me as a father, he saw the whole church as his mother. By that logic, he sees all of the Clergy and the faithfuls as his children. He loves his children dearly, but he believes every person must face hardships to truly cherish their blessings.
"I believe the task he gave you is not just because he wishes to test you, but because he feels you can truly grow stronger with this. Archbishop Noah told me about his views; while I cannot outright say you are the final true God's Favored, I can see why some would say that.
"You have been blessed by Solis, Sylvester. The church took care of you all these years, so it's akin to an investor. Like all investors in any endeavor, some good returns are expected. Even more so if the investors wish to provide more support as time goes on." The old man parted his wisdom.
"So I'm like a business endeavor for the church? A product they have invested in?" He remarked.
They stopped before the hut, and the old man caressed Sylvester's head. "You are the future, son. Axel is growing old too, and he knows he won't always be as strong as he is. And the drums of war are getting louder. You being stronger means a stronger church of Solis—and peace. We can definitely use another Supreme Wizard in this time of darkness."
The man opened the door to his little hut and entered. But he stopped Sylvester from entering. "Not today. If you wish to see my treasures, you must revisit this old man."
Sylvester chuckled. "You're bored?"
"Extremely bored. That's the fate of dying old men. But if you visit again, perhaps I will hear one of your hymns if I'm lucky. Until then, take care, train hard and stay blessed."
But as the old man was shutting the door, Sylvester asked one final question, something that would give him a target. "How strong was his holiness at my age?"
Grandpa Monk stopped and remembered things. Then he glanced at Sylvester's rank plate. "You're one rank below. It seems you've gotten lax in these years. Better start rushing, or you'll hit old age, and after that, it's like moving a mountain by blowing on it. Good night, Sylvester."
Thud!
The door closed and left Sylvester in an existential crisis. 'I'm weaker than the Pope at this age? Was he already an Arch Wizard? But he likely had chances to fight in various battles… is this why he gave me this job?'
It appeared that he had found many answers to his questions. Satisfied, he decided to return to Pope's Peninsula and prepare for his coming training.
…
The following day, Sylvester headed to Saint Wazir's office with his friend to get the month-long crash course for their upcoming job.
The location was in the administrative building run by Saint Wazir. It was not far from the Pope's Palace. Nearly all of Holy Land and the faith's day-to-day tasks were managed from here, and apparently, the Sanctum Inspector as well.
Sylvester showed his appointment application and entered it with Felix. They were guided towards a small room on the third floor of the white marble castle-like building. It was beautiful as all the church buildings were. But here, most rooms were offices of some department.
In no time, they found themselves seated in the middle of a room on well-cushioned chairs, surrounded by other possible trainees for the job of Sanctum Inspector. However, both boys frowned as they noticed something obvious.
"Max, why is everyone except us so old? They all have white beards… are we in the right room?" Felix nervously asked as they could sense that all these old men were actually strong in magic or knightly arts. Moreover, all of them had sharp wise eyes that oozed experience.
Sylvester sighed. He had already expected this much to happen. Sanctum Inspector was not a profession easily given to anybody.
He lowered his voice and spoke to Felix. "Let me explain in your own messed-up vocabulary. They are the old mares that have birthed dozens of foals by now. While we're on our first trial run."
"We're gonna get f-fuc…ked?"
Sylvester shrugged and looked in front as someone had just entered. "Yes, figuratively."
"Welcome, my brethren of the faith. I am Saint Wazir, Cardinal Ethias Lovecraft. I shall debrief you today to inform you of what I expect from each of you. However, since all of you are seasoned veterans in your respective previous professions, I will not waste time lecturing you on that.
"What I expect is honesty! That's it. As Sanctum Inspectors, your authority will allow you to override the decisions of nearly every branch and office. This is because you work under me, in the name of the Holy Father, at the highest level of authority.
"As Sanctum Inspectors, you shall look into crimes done against the faith, reports of dark entities, and above all, finding and marking Unidentified Supernatural Phenomenons USPs. You shall have the authority to call forth the Inquisitors, judge sinners, order around the local Monasteries, and utilize church resources.
"All this power bestowed upon you can easily corrupt any man. So remember, the de-facto punishment for corruption or any sin while in this position is public hanging inside the Holy Land, after getting excommunicated."
Saint Wazir let the crowd of 30 men digest the information first. Corruption was common in the faith, but not at this level.
"You will spend your next thirty days memorizing all the rules, regulations, protocols, chain of commands, our secret assets, and such. You will get no physical training from here, as I believe you've had enough.
"You shall have a written test at the end of your training period. Those who do not pass shall go through the training again… again and again until you pass with 90% marks."
'Are they so desperate they won't even fail someone?' Sylvester thought.
Knowing the human psyche, he wished to avoid another situation. 'I hope they don't call us to the front, us being so young it can create jealousy in the minds of others.'
"Now, to the part that has likely left you all in wonder. Let us welcome the youngest ever member of this elite organization of Sanctum Inspectors…the two God's Favored Candidates, Priest Sylvester Maximilian and Priest Felix Sandwall, the Bard and the Sword. I know all of you are Bishops but give these two young men some guidance. I know they can easily leave all of us behind."
'Fuck, that's not helping, you buffoon.' Sylvester cursed silently and felt like chopping off his tongue for jinxing himself.
"Come forth, young men." Saint Wazir called.
Having no way, Sylvester and Felix walked towards the front of the room. But as they walked, Sylvester noticed the gazes of these old white-bearded men. In normal times they'd all be smiling and be grandfatherly, but here, the smell of jealousy they emitted made everything clear.
'Man, when will my beard grow?' He wondered as that was the quickest way to have some respite.
"Thank you for this opportunity. Hehe, I wish to learn from all the kind seniors." Felix, however, was oblivious of the jealousy in the air and dumbly greeted all the men.
'This guy, these old men will leave us to die if they get a chance. There's nothing kind about these seniors.' Sylvester muttered and greeted them too.
He looked at each face and tried to gauge who was the most jealous of them… even borderline hateful.
One by one, he remembered those faces. 'So these are the ones I should leave for dead whenever opportunity strikes?'
He made a poker face that could still imply he was not a naive little man and spoke in rhymes. "I am but a young student of Solis; I hope to get your guidance. I know together we can make the faith spread far and wide to the lands that remain untouched—I will ensure the enemies of the faith are crushed."
All the ambitious old men shifted a little in their seats as they felt somewhat uncomfortable by Sylvester's emotionless smile and piercing golden gaze. In an instant, their minds unconsciously knew they were not the alpha in the room—neither was it the Saint Wazir.
"Marvellous, that's the spirit I expect from the young ones. I shall leave you now. The instructors will come and start your training immediately. May the holy light enlighten us."
"May the holy light enlighten us." Everyone replied.
Sylvester returned to take his seat, but as he passed through the gaps between the chairs, the old men in his way shifted away to give space.
'I can't let them feel an ounce of authority over me, or else it's game over. I'll be the forever bullied kid.' Sylvester quickly set a few rules in his mind.
He knew this would be much different from the School of Dawn, for these men were battle-hardened. Sylvester never denied the possibility that there could be men much more intelligent than himself around.
And it was best if he remained as far away from them as possible.
'I take pride in planning ten steps ahead, but others must be looking much ahead—not ten but a hundred steps instead.'
GORILLA WILL STEAL YOUR STONES!
**669 Stones = Bonus Chapter!**
APE TOGETHER STRONG!
