“Oh! That was the new Magisterium and the previous one’s daughter wasn’t it? It’s been a long time coming. I wonder how they like the gift I left them.”
Leaving Pareth as a surprise present in case of an unannounced teleportation was something she had thought of ever since she had bought the spatial anchor bracelet, though he didn’t have any real order on what to do next.
Let’s see what’s going on.
Sofia switched to Pareth’s view. I never really did that but technically I can take control, well no need. As she had observed during the half a second she had been there in person, the two who had summoned her weren’t exactly trying to fight. This didn’t look like a trap either, in fact, it looked more like this was an emergency hiding place of some kind in an old crypt.
In fact, now that she had a better look at them, the two paladins in their late twenties looked deadly tired, sick, and with the addition of Pareth in the equation, also terrified.
This is far from what I had expected… Astelia did say that there had been strange happenings at the Church, but what is this about now?
If they’re not moving and not talking what can I do? Go check outside the crypt, Pareth. In the meantime I need to prepare my rune…
The ten minutes to channel the rune were quite long, Pareth had left the crypt only to find himself in a dense forest without much going on. Judging from his location, it wasn’t that far, somewhere in the center of Skyreach.
She had him guard the entrance of the crypt. I might as well just go there and interrogate them. Who better than the new Magisterium himself to tell me all I need to know about the Church.
Of course if they had a hand in the orphanage, I’ll make armor out of their bones.
With the rune ready, she flew north for about an hour, soon finding herself over a thick and dark forest.
“That’s where the old capital was, isn’t it? So it’s a forest now… Why would these two hide here of all places? And why would that woman summon me if not to take revenge? I did kill her father…”
Following Pareth’s location, it was a piece of cake to find the crumbling crypt deep in the forest. If it was to do this I might as well have saved some money and not bought the bracelet…
Entering as if on a light stroll, Sofia re-discovered firsthand the crypt’s interior and its two occupants, sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall like two sacks of potatoes.
[Protector - Lv. 178]
[Supporter - Lv. 120]
Not so impressive anymore…
“You summoned me. Once was not enough?” she asked, already annoyed. The whole ‘can get summoned by the Church’ had been a constant weight on her mind and no matter how pitiful her two ‘summoners’ looked, she felt little to no empathy.
Finally the man [Supporter], who had to be the magisterium, opened his mouth, “I- It’s not-... You talk, Perenia.”
The woman in orichalcum armor had been looking down, and she still was, “You…” her voice was weak and lifeless. “You killed him…”
“I did.”
“You did…”
“That’s it? All this time, I had to be worried about being summoned and enslaved again, all this time, for this?!”
The woman continued, still looking down, “You were right to be worried... Before... Things have changed now. A lot changed…”
“What, you suddenly grew a conscience and realized I did the only thing I could do, then you fled the Church in shame?”
“I’m sorry…” the woman mumbled, her voice almost extinct.
Wait, really?
The man cursed, “Shit!” bending over to place his hand over the woman’s forehead, he blasted her head with holy light. A healing skill? “H- Hold on Perenia, you can’t… sleep now…”
Perenia straightened up a bit, afterwards, struggling to reopen her eyes. “Thank you, Jeb…” she said, still lethargic but with a bit more energy than before.
Did they summon me to help them stay awake?
“Seriously, what is going on?”
It was Jeb who answered this time. “Please… Heal… We can explain…” his bloodshot eyes were closing by themselves as he spoke “But… Whatever.. You do… Do not… Touch…”
This is taking forever… Do I really have to heal them? If I can learn more about Verenha… She threw two health potion vials to the man on the ground, he struggled to drink one himself then force fed the other to Perenia.
What am I doing…
“Thank you so much!” Jeb exclaimed with a weak but bright smile, still sounding quite tired, as he struggled to stand up, legs shaking. Sofia could tell he was on the verge of crying. The girl didn’t stand up, merely fixing her posture, but she finally looked up at Sofia. Unlike the man, her face was a mixed bag of emotions. But Sofia knew by looking at her. It was obvious if you looked her in the eyes. She had seen that look many times before. Street kids, orphans, slaves. Those were the eyes of someone who had given up on life.
“I’m sorry…” she said again, her short blonde hair stuck to her untidy face from the sweat, if not for the armor she might have looked like a homeless vagrant. That was all she could muster before bending over and breaking down in tears, holding her head with both hands.
Completely lost, Sofia turned her look to Jeb again, who sat down on a closed stone casket. As he looked up at Sofia, his gaze turned dark too. “I’m… I’m also sorry. I’m infinitely thankful that you helped us despite the… circumstances. Let me explain, there’s a lot you will want to know… We know about many things… The orphanage…”
Sofia’s vision blurred for an instant and Jeb had a jump scare when her hands lit up with electricity.
A refreshing feeling coursed through Sofia’s body. Did Pareth just [Greater heal] me…?
She was already at full health, and the rune prevented any healing anyway, but it helped clear her mind.
Oh.
She hadn't even realized what was going on when she felt the burn on her hand. Canceling the two [Angel’s bolt] she hadn’t meant to use, she let out a long and dreary sigh. “You best choose your next words very carefully, Magisterium.”
“God…” the man couldn’t help but look down at his feet as he slowly continued, “has betrayed us.”
Somehow I am not surprised. “Elaborate,” she answered in a glacial tone.
“He took over the Oracle. No one knew… He gave orders… Sickening!” The man’s tone betrayed his anger. “Anyone who disobeyed… they died in their sleep, turned… unliving.” saying so, he turned to look at Perenia still sitting on the ground. “That’s why… We cannot sleep. Or we will… Become sinners…”
Sinners…
“Touch us not… It spreads to all, by contact…”
I wonder if…
Sofia grabbed the man by his head, he was shorter than her and weakened, he tried and failed to dodge.
“Are you… crazy…”
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
“By the lords…” Sofia murmured as the wall of system notifications flashed through her vision.
How many is that? Also it outright killed them? Aren’t they monsters above level 300? And I’m not even getting any experience… Was that a trap for me? He did warn me to not touch him twice so I guess not.
The question now is are there any left? Well that’s not really my problem.
“I’m fine,” she said as she let go of the feebly struggling man’s head. “Now tell me how you knew about all these details. Who told you that you couldn’t sleep. Why would you know about the Orphanage? And why summon me now? Do I have a single reason to trust you?!”
The soul parasites do make his story very legitimate sounding… But he doesn’t know that. On the flipside that could mean he was manipulated to summon me here and now.
“Thank G-... This… We were… A High-Priest defected and told us… Unbeknownst to him, he was also infected… Passed it on to us…”
“Where is he now?”
“K- Killed. Himself. Wanted to avoid… Sin,” the man stammered through his vague retelling of the memories, and, shaking, ripped off a string that had been tied around his neck. Held by two knots on the string was a small round bead of blue glass.
A storage item… What could…
“Proof.” Jeb said, presenting the glass bead.
She grabbed the bead and looked inside. The body of an old man laid in there, throat slit wide open. Sofia had a flashback to the day she woke up in the Church for the first time.
“The Saintess is awake. Guards, call for Magisterium Ovohen.”
…
“High priest, you called.”
That’s him…
“Oh! That was the new Magisterium and the previous one’s daughter wasn’t it? It’s been a long time coming. I wonder how they like the gift I left them.”
Leaving Pareth as a surprise present in case of an unannounced teleportation was something she had thought of ever since she had bought the spatial anchor bracelet, though he didn’t have any real order on what to do next.
Let’s see what’s going on.
Sofia switched to Pareth’s view. I never really did that but technically I can take control, well no need. As she had observed during the half a second she had been there in person, the two who had summoned her weren’t exactly trying to fight. This didn’t look like a trap either, in fact, it looked more like this was an emergency hiding place of some kind in an old crypt.
In fact, now that she had a better look at them, the two paladins in their late twenties looked deadly tired, sick, and with the addition of Pareth in the equation, also terrified.
This is far from what I had expected… Astelia did say that there had been strange happenings at the Church, but what is this about now?
If they’re not moving and not talking what can I do? Go check outside the crypt, Pareth. In the meantime I need to prepare my rune…
The ten minutes to channel the rune were quite long, Pareth had left the crypt only to find himself in a dense forest without much going on. Judging from his location, it wasn’t that far, somewhere in the center of Skyreach.
She had him guard the entrance of the crypt. I might as well just go there and interrogate them. Who better than the new Magisterium himself to tell me all I need to know about the Church.
Of course if they had a hand in the orphanage, I’ll make armor out of their bones.
With the rune ready, she flew north for about an hour, soon finding herself over a thick and dark forest.
“That’s where the old capital was, isn’t it? So it’s a forest now… Why would these two hide here of all places? And why would that woman summon me if not to take revenge? I did kill her father…”
Following Pareth’s location, it was a piece of cake to find the crumbling crypt deep in the forest. If it was to do this I might as well have saved some money and not bought the bracelet…
Entering as if on a light stroll, Sofia re-discovered firsthand the crypt’s interior and its two occupants, sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall like two sacks of potatoes.
[Protector - Lv. 178]
[Supporter - Lv. 120]
Not so impressive anymore…
“You summoned me. Once was not enough?” she asked, already annoyed. The whole ‘can get summoned by the Church’ had been a constant weight on her mind and no matter how pitiful her two ‘summoners’ looked, she felt little to no empathy.
Finally the man [Supporter], who had to be the magisterium, opened his mouth, “I- It’s not-... You talk, Perenia.”
The woman in orichalcum armor had been looking down, and she still was, “You…” her voice was weak and lifeless. “You killed him…”
“I did.”
“You did…”
“That’s it? All this time, I had to be worried about being summoned and enslaved again, all this time, for this?!”
The woman continued, still looking down, “You were right to be worried... Before... Things have changed now. A lot changed…”
“What, you suddenly grew a conscience and realized I did the only thing I could do, then you fled the Church in shame?”
“I’m sorry…” the woman mumbled, her voice almost extinct.
Wait, really?
The man cursed, “Shit!” bending over to place his hand over the woman’s forehead, he blasted her head with holy light. A healing skill? “H- Hold on Perenia, you can’t… sleep now…”
Perenia straightened up a bit, afterwards, struggling to reopen her eyes. “Thank you, Jeb…” she said, still lethargic but with a bit more energy than before.
Did they summon me to help them stay awake?
“Seriously, what is going on?”
It was Jeb who answered this time. “Please… Heal… We can explain…” his bloodshot eyes were closing by themselves as he spoke “But… Whatever.. You do… Do not… Touch…”
This is taking forever… Do I really have to heal them? If I can learn more about Verenha… She threw two health potion vials to the man on the ground, he struggled to drink one himself then force fed the other to Perenia.
What am I doing…
“Thank you so much!” Jeb exclaimed with a weak but bright smile, still sounding quite tired, as he struggled to stand up, legs shaking. Sofia could tell he was on the verge of crying. The girl didn’t stand up, merely fixing her posture, but she finally looked up at Sofia. Unlike the man, her face was a mixed bag of emotions. But Sofia knew by looking at her. It was obvious if you looked her in the eyes. She had seen that look many times before. Street kids, orphans, slaves. Those were the eyes of someone who had given up on life.
“I’m sorry…” she said again, her short blonde hair stuck to her untidy face from the sweat, if not for the armor she might have looked like a homeless vagrant. That was all she could muster before bending over and breaking down in tears, holding her head with both hands.
Completely lost, Sofia turned her look to Jeb again, who sat down on a closed stone casket. As he looked up at Sofia, his gaze turned dark too. “I’m… I’m also sorry. I’m infinitely thankful that you helped us despite the… circumstances. Let me explain, there’s a lot you will want to know… We know about many things… The orphanage…”
Sofia’s vision blurred for an instant and Jeb had a jump scare when her hands lit up with electricity.
A refreshing feeling coursed through Sofia’s body. Did Pareth just [Greater heal] me…?
She was already at full health, and the rune prevented any healing anyway, but it helped clear her mind.
Oh.
She hadn't even realized what was going on when she felt the burn on her hand. Canceling the two [Angel’s bolt] she hadn’t meant to use, she let out a long and dreary sigh. “You best choose your next words very carefully, Magisterium.”
“God…” the man couldn’t help but look down at his feet as he slowly continued, “has betrayed us.”
Somehow I am not surprised. “Elaborate,” she answered in a glacial tone.
“He took over the Oracle. No one knew… He gave orders… Sickening!” The man’s tone betrayed his anger. “Anyone who disobeyed… they died in their sleep, turned… unliving.” saying so, he turned to look at Perenia still sitting on the ground. “That’s why… We cannot sleep. Or we will… Become sinners…”
Sinners…
“Touch us not… It spreads to all, by contact…”
I wonder if…
Sofia grabbed the man by his head, he was shorter than her and weakened, he tried and failed to dodge.
“Are you… crazy…”
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
[You have been affected by : Soul Parasite. But your skills eliminated the intruder.]
“By the lords…” Sofia murmured as the wall of system notifications flashed through her vision.
How many is that? Also it outright killed them? Aren’t they monsters above level 300? And I’m not even getting any experience… Was that a trap for me? He did warn me to not touch him twice so I guess not.
The question now is are there any left? Well that’s not really my problem.
“I’m fine,” she said as she let go of the feebly struggling man’s head. “Now tell me how you knew about all these details. Who told you that you couldn’t sleep. Why would you know about the Orphanage? And why summon me now? Do I have a single reason to trust you?!”
The soul parasites do make his story very legitimate sounding… But he doesn’t know that. On the flipside that could mean he was manipulated to summon me here and now.
“Thank G-... This… We were… A High-Priest defected and told us… Unbeknownst to him, he was also infected… Passed it on to us…”
“Where is he now?”
“K- Killed. Himself. Wanted to avoid… Sin,” the man stammered through his vague retelling of the memories, and, shaking, ripped off a string that had been tied around his neck. Held by two knots on the string was a small round bead of blue glass.
A storage item… What could…
“Proof.” Jeb said, presenting the glass bead.
She grabbed the bead and looked inside. The body of an old man laid in there, throat slit wide open. Sofia had a flashback to the day she woke up in the Church for the first time.
“The Saintess is awake. Guards, call for Magisterium Ovohen.”
…
“High priest, you called.”
That’s him…
