East of the capital where Sol went was one of the biggest Euda churches in the kingdom. Euda was a cult that worshipped enlightened heroes, chosen by the light. They built massive churches around the realm sheltering entire civilizations. In other words, each one of the churches contained a village, a town, or even something bigger, depending on the size of its perimeter.

The church Sol went to research more about black magic was the size of the capital if not bigger. Each Euda church had people with ranks, not much different from the other places, but those who possessed positions were chosen by the light, possessing an unnatural gift, or after performing a miracle.

This church was the core of Euda in the kingdom, and 10 chosen ones were assigned to watch over it. Each had apprentices and taught whoever wanted to learn the Euda history. One of them was the High Priest. The High Priest was not keen to have any apprentices and refused to teach others the ways of Euda, instead, he focused all his time on research of all kinds, one of them being black magic.

At first, the other 9 chosen ones along with other Euda people refused to let the High Priest do such a thing, but in time some of them saw potential in his doings and left him to do the research, with one condition, that being to never cross the line to black magic and to keep the other chosen ones informed about his findings.

*Step*

*Step*

*Creek*

(Sol) - Who is there?

*Running*

*Thinking*

(Sol) - I guess it is not common for people to be here.

*Sigh*

(Sol) - I can't find anything about the cursed tomes.

(Sol) - The High Priest might know something, but his lips are not easy to pry.

(Sol) - He is one of the few who ventured into black magic research.

(Sol) - I guess I have to keep searching.

*Sigh*

*Step*

*Grab*

*Drop*

When Sol grabbed one of the books, one from the top shelf fell and opened at a page that caught his attention. When he picked up the book he read something about a Blood Moon and weather that resembled his fight with the cursed tome. But there were a few torn pages and some were burned. He tried to read it, but there were very few details in the remaining pages and nothing that was related to Sol's research.

*Step*

*Knock*

(High Priest) - Come in!

*Door opens*

(High Priest) - Any progress?

(Sol) - I found this book, but there are missing pages and some are burnt.

*Grab*

(High Priest) - Hmm. . .

(Sol) - Do you know what happened?

(High Priest) - I have no idea. Have you checked other books?

(Sol) - This is the only one I found mentioning something familiar to my research.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The High Priest did not recognize the book that Sol showed him, but he could not say that out loud.

(High Priest) - Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I will look into the matter later.

(Sol) - I'll return to my research now.

(High Priest) - Tonight I have an appointment with the enlightened ones, would you mind joining me?

(Sol) - Why me?

(High Priest) - You are the first one interested in black magic, and I did not have an apprentice in a long time.

(Sol) - I would be delighted to join you.

(High Priest) - Would you be in the library until then?

(Sol) - Probably yes.

(High Priest) - I would send someone to pick you up from there.

*Nod*

*Step*

*Door closes*

Sol returned to the library and continued the research for the cursed tomes. While he was reading and taking notes he heard again someone in the hallway, but again when he asked, the person started running. He did not mention that to the High Priest or the guards.

The sun settled and the night came, a guard went into the room where Sol was, and found him sleeping.

*Shake*

(Euda Guard) - Wake up!

*Confused*

(Sol) - Yes, ehm. . . Was I asleep?

(Euda Guard) - Yes.

(Sol) - Did anything happen?

(Euda Guard) - The High Priest instructed me to take you to the meeting.

(Sol) - Ah. . . Almost forgot about that. Give me a second to clean up here.

*Grab*

*Step*

After Sol cleaned up he followed the guard. The guard took Sol to a big room where the High Priest and the other chosen ones gathered. The chosen ones each had multiple people around them, but the High Priest only had Sol. When the meeting started the light went out.

*Cough*

*Cough*

(The Seer) - Oh my, the High Priest finally found an apprentice.

*Chattering*

(High Priest) - Can we start with why you called out this meeting?

(The Clairvoyant) - He is right, we don't have time to waste on small chat.

(The Seer) - I assume we all felt the imbalance in power that happened in the last couple of months.

(The Mirage) - One of my apprentices heard something happen in a village.

(The Seer) - Tell us.

(The Mirage) - An Elemental went on a rampage and ravaged the village.

(The Silver Ash) - How comes we only hear about it now?

(The Seer) - Silence!

(The Seer) - Is that all you had to tell us?

(The Mirage) - No, this village was saved by a human child that defeated the Elemental alone.

(The Clairvoyant) - Impossible!

Sol heard the conversation and knew what happened, but he kept it to himself for the time being. The chosen ones seemed to be bothered by that news.

(The Truth) - Do we know where this child is now?

(The Mirage) - No.

(The Seer) - If he defeated an Elemental and saved a village, then it should not be a threat.

(The Mist) - But he possesses incredible power if he was alone in defeating an Elemental alone.

(The Mirage) - It was a Rock Elemental, one of the weakest ones.

(The Seer) - We should not overlook this matter in any way.

(High Priest) - What about the matter in the capital that involved black magic?

(The Seer) - Do you think that what happened in the capital was the work of black magic?

(Sol) - Yes.

*Everyone was shocked*

(The Seer) - You did not tell your apprentice that he is not allowed to talk?

(High Priest) - I apologize for his behavior.

(The Seer) - You may continue.

(High Priest) - My apprentice was at the place where it all happened and told me about some cursed tomes.

(The Silver Ash) - Cursed tomes?

(High Priest) - It is said that they all contain a form of ancient black magic.

(The Seer) - You should look into this matter, but not alone.

(High Priest) - My apprentice came to me for answers, and we are working on finding more about those cursed tomes.

(The Seer) - If those imbalances in power are created by black magic, then we need to prepare for the worst.

(The Mirage) - I will send my apprentices all over the kingdom to gather more information about the cursed tomes.

(High Priest) - Black magic is very powerful and can control you if you are not careful.

(The Seer) - What do you suggest?

(High Priest) - For those that want to look into this matter, should receive proper training and information about black magic.

(The Truth) - We should vote.

(The Mist) - Those in favor of joining forces to stop the cursed tomes?

Most of the chosen ones along with their apprentices did not want to join. Only the Seer, the Silver Ash, and the High Priest agreed.

(The Truth) - You have your answer.

(The Seer) - Anything else?

*Silence*

(The Seer) - Then this meeting is over, and you can return to your doings.

*Step*

*Step*