Year 658 of the 4th age 

“William Everward. Come forward.” 

My father prompted me to go forward, towards the priest. I was nervous, sluggishly moving forward, with sweaty palms. 

No one would notice, even if you did make a mistake. They don’t have the right education to make it out - well, aside from the priest, obviously. 

As I was making my way toward the altar where I would receive my blessing, I studied the priest’s face. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes; it was obvious he was expecting something from me. 

“Kneel before the lords of the heavens, the original gods. Ask for their guidance on the path that is your life.”

“I shall.”

I kneeled in front of the altar, facing towards the centre of the continent, whilst crossing my arms in front of my chest. Holding my head low, I spoke the words I had been taught, stumbling over the last syllable: “I, William Everward, son of Margrave William Everward, seek the gods of the continent Baltia, the God of Craftsmanship, the God of Magic, and the Goddess of War, for their guidance. Offer this humble believer your blessing, for he shall do his best to strive for humanity’s advance-ment.”

I could feel my cheeks getting red, though I was unsure whether it was from embarrassment, or from the warm feeling starting to spread around my abdominal area. Because the ceremonial clothing revealed the area around my navel, so that the priest could determine what kind of blessing I had received, if any, I was able to see a purple pattern spread. It was something resembling a flame, surrounded by intricate runes, whose meaning I was unable to ascertain - but there were two things I could tell, as any amateur magician could. The runes were part of creation magic, the edict of magic utilized by gods. And the flame in the middle of the constellation - was recognized as the symbol of the god of magic. 

As the magic circle, which was the best way I could have described the pattern at that time, seemed to come close to being finished, the warm feeling got exponentially more intense. My thoughts began to race, as the feeling was, at the same time, enjoyable and a source of discomfort. It was comparable to the feeling you get while jumping from great heights, except it wasn’t concentrated around my chest, but rather started spreading throughout the entirety of my body, seemingly following my blood vessels, going up to my heart, then spreading to my limbs, my head, and my extremities - the longer the evolution went on, the more exhilarating it got, no longer uncomfortable, but rather more pleasurable than anything I had ever felt before - when it seemed to reach its climax, it stopped so abruptly, I was taken aback. 

Has the evolution failed? Why would it stop so suddenly? This can’t be happening! No, calm yourself! Rationalize the situation! Obviously, you’ve received the blessing, there is no doubt about that - then, what could have caused it to stop? Or did it fail in the first place? How about my magic? Has it increased? If I received the blessing of the God of Magic, then surely it would have increased drastically! N…No way! It’s the same? Wait, think! Your father has described this before! What did he say? I can’t remember! Calm down, Will, you need to focus. The ceremony isn’t over yet. Focus. 

A strangely immediate sense of calm seemed to come over me, a person unable to control their emotions - something so obviously out of the ordinary, even I was able to notice it. I looked up, seeing the priest relax his facial expression, which seemed to have tensed whilst the mark was forming. As I was the first to undergo the ceremony that day, I didn’t have a point of comparison for what he would usually behave like. The priest started speaking, in a preaching tone, as if to reprimand those listening to him: “Loyal believer, the God of Magic has deemed you worthy. Your future growth will be spectacular - if your determination does not falter. Proceed to the chamber to give the god your thanks.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I rose to my feet, gave a small bow to the priest, and with large steps, I made my way to the chamber behind the altar, which was usually only accessible to priests of the church, when they wanted to pray in solitude. There were two entrances, and as I had approached the altar from the left, I felt obligated to choose the right entrance. The room was in the form of a circle; on the right side of the half circle, in which the statues of the gods were laid out, was the God of Craftsmanship. In the centre, looking down upon me, was the goddess of war. She had a ferocious look on her face, as though she were thinking about how she should kill me. She had a youthful face, with sharp features. In the stories and legends, I was told, she was described as having violet hair, which made her look quite similar to my mother. The fact that my mother had received the blessing of the Goddess of War made me wonder about the correlation between blessing and physical features. I turned left and stood right before the Goddess’ statue and bowed. Then I, once again, turned left and kneeled before the statue of the one who had chosen to support - or guide, as members of the church called it - me.

The sculpture of the God of Magic was wearing a long, simple robe, reaching all the way to his ankles. His feet were adorned with boots, with intricate patterns carved into them. 

I do not know what to say. All I can say is, that I am grateful you felt I am worthy to receive your blessing. Though I do not know whether the evolution caused by the blessing was successful, I still hope that it will be of use to me, so that I do not disappoint your expectations. 

Having thanked the god in my thoughts, I stood up again and finally looked at his face. His features were soft, except for his jawline, which served as a contrast to the rest of his face. He smiled down upon me as though looking at his child, but somehow as though he were able to comprehend every last detail of me. He had a somewhat small nose and thin lips. He looked grotesque, but charming at the same time - incomprehensible seemed like a fitting description at the time. 

Trying to hold back a snide remark, I left the room through the left exit - having now completed a circle. When I came out, I could see the next person entering, following my example, and choosing the right entrance. I could see my parents smiling at me, which lifted my spirits and brought back my usual confidence. Now taking wider strides, I quickly arrived at my father’s right side, with my younger sister on mine. Standing in silence, we watched the next blessing take place. It was the son of the sole weaponsmith residing within the capital of our territory. He also received a blessing, to be specific, he received a blessing from the god of craftsmanship. A large mass of magic started to gather in the hall, quickly concentrating on the boy receiving the blessing. It was uncomfortable, like staring at a person twice as tall as you, who is standing right in front of you. I could see why the priest tensed up while I received my blessing. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, 3 at most, which was strange, as it felt much longer when I was the one kneeling in front of the priest. “Loyal believer, the God of Craftsmanship has deemed you worthy. Your creation will be of incredible value - as long as your determination does not falter. Proceed to the chamber to give the god your thanks.”

After that, it got repetitive and boring. The pressure of the gods intervening in the realm of mortals was impossible to get used to - there were only a few people who received blessings, so there wasn’t much of a chance to, anyways. 7 of the about 50 people attending were able to receive a blessing - to my knowledge, that was a respectable number. In most territories, less than 10% of people received a blessing. Although it did make sense - the Everward territory was on the border to the elven forest. As the elves were few in numbers, they did not have enough numbers to kill every beast within their borders, a lot of them wandered out of the forest, or ran from their predators. As such, we needed strong defenses. Obviously, the average person within a military house’s territory would be stronger, thus attracting more attention from the gods. 

When the last person returned from the chamber, my father walked up to the altar, turned towards the young talents of his territory, and started to speak: “Once again, we have a significant number of blessed in our midst. We will give all those who received a blessing the opportunity to attend a school, or university, of their choosing. You will not need to pay for your education, or living expenses, as long as you are the holder of a blessing and still receiving education. Now, go home and celebrate, for it is a day worthy of such.” 

He stepped down from the pedastole upon which the althar was seated, and walked towards the entrance. One after another, first my sister, then myself, and last my mother, we turned to follow the head of our house, forming an orderly line with him in the front. We stepped into the carriage, which was waiting for us in front of the temple, on the path connecting it to the small town our mansion was situated in.