“The Mesola Kingdom is a place where people come and live in embrace faith towards the gods and goddesses. However, even Divines have their very own tiers. The highest tier of Divines is called Transcendental Beings and there are only two of those are known to exist.” Gard explained as he guides everyone towards the lower sanctum, the Sanctuary where Falikh wants to go.
“After that come the Deities to be known to govern over all races. In total, there should be over eight divines that exist in the Mid Tier. The Low Tier Deities are those who ascended to divinity. They are those divines that were revered by people, some even started from a small cult until they are proven to exist.” Gard added.
“In other words, Gods and Goddesses are divided into three strata and from each level, it represents how powerful they are or how much faith they accumulated, right?” Aspara asked as she walks beside Mika.
“Not quite. The Highest tier of Divines, the Transcendental Beings, are beings that have a power that could control cosmic, natural phenomena, bend rules and facts, and cause miracle as easy as moving their finger. They existed before the other deities lived.” Falikh answered Aspara’s questioned.
“That’s difficult to believe. I see no basis for any of those. Is there any more logical explanation behind it?” Reysha exclaimed as she started pondering the information.
“Well, that’s what our doctrine dictates, the church that the Archpriest leads, the believer of Tivat.” Gard answered Reysha’s question. “But now that you mentioned it, I can say that there isn't anything logical about it.” He added.
“Everyone…keep your voices down. We may not that…religious but…remember…we are talking about gods and goddesses inside a city where devout believer lives. I don’t want my face to get stoned, okay?” Mika timidly said as he glances to people with watchful eyes.
It is as Mika said, this is a city where the faithful come, a place where they come seeking for salvation.
Extra people here are those who give income and make the city lively. The war between the Beast Kingdom and the Mesola Kingdom was also proven to further prosperity. Unneeded to say, The Mesola Kingdom Capital is one of the most attractive places to live if you are aiming for a stable life with a stable income.
While this is true, people who have lived here for so long has developed a strong faith and dearly hates who will be proven to be heathen.
“What Sir Gard said is true. Gods and Goddesses exist.” Ivy nonchalantly said as she stared at the spectacle of the buildings. “My father told me that he once walked and fought together with our famous Hero-Goddess two hundred years ago.” She added.
“Hero-Goddess? What is this I am hearing Miss Ivy?” Gard asked as he snaps his sight towards her.
“If you are referring to the God Eresti who was one of the two highest Divines, chances that all of you are being deceived is high. The faith towards God Eresti, to the Church of Tivat, should go nowhere. After all, Eresti is long dead.” Ivy said that gathered everyone’s attention. Even the passerby snaps a leer at her.
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“This Archpriest who follows Eresti must be nuts.” Ivy simply added as she shrugs her shoulder.
Gard’s jaw gapes like it is about to fall on the floor while Reysha, Aspara, and Mika looked at Ivy with inconspicuous gazes.
“Hahaha! Ivy, damn! You just nailed it! That woman is nuts!” Falikh said with a laugh. From Falikh’s reaction, everyone already guessed that Falikh has a deep connection with the Archpriest. “By the way, if this God Eresti really existed, then you are saying that someone killed him, right?” Falikh added a question.
“I have books and records that…I borrowed from my aunt’s library. Those books are all about the records about that Hero-Goddess, Blooming Thorn. I have never met this Blooming Thorn that people talked back in my land and my father refuses to talk about her, which is a shame.” Ivy explained.
“Wait, putting everything aside since we won’t come to a very satisfying conclusion, I wanted to ask why are we heading towards that Sanctuary where this Archpriest reside.” Reysha asked with a fine judgment knowing that they have to know their solid objective.
“Isn’t it obvious? The hero is summoned by the King, however, the king is held by the neck by the Archpriest. Therefore, the summoned hero is related to the Archpriest. And more so, I have business with that woman.” Falikh answered.
“Hey, what are we going to do if we found this hero? What are you going to do once you meet the Archpriest?” Mika inserted a sane question.
“Madam, if a hero is summoned, there would be a reason why. Think of it, why summon someone powerful? The possibilities are scary. The Mesola Kingdom could spark a war again to another Kingdom or they are after the Demon Lord. This Archpriest must be a real freak to garner so much hate towards non-human.” Aspara deducted. Everyone has reached an agreement with Aspara’s words and pushed through for their objective.
Suddenly, in the middle of their conversation, the bell rings.
DONG
“Wha--?! The surprised me.” Aspara said as her body jerks from the sudden loud sound.
“This is bad…it’s here, the Morning Prayer.” Falikh said as looks up.
Meanwhile, Gard kneels down and clasps his hands together. Everyone around did the same and kneels down to the ground with a praying stance.
“What is this? Is this something…GUH!” Reysha tried to ask something, however, before she could finish her words, she fell sideward to a wall. She held her head like she is having a strong headache. “Wha--?! This…! Ack!!” she followed, however, the pain was too much for her to handle.
“Ah…Damn…what’s this?!” Aspara said as she also collapsed to the ground while enduring the throbbing headache. She writhes her body because of the excoriating pain.
“This is…hey…Falikh…what is this?” Mika asked as he held his head. It seems for Mika, the pain is far less than what Reysha and Aspara are going through.
Falikh turns around to them and seemingly unaffected by the sudden rage of pain invading everyone’s temple.
“This is how she gathers faith. It is called Guidance. However, the truth behind these phenomena is nothing more but cruel and wicked. People are compelled to pray once a day in this place in return of prosperity. That is what everyone thinks and now, they pray like this so the pain will lessen.” Falikh explained as he approaches ivy.
“It is a power that makes anyone experienced this pain. It is a power that can also cause serious emotional damage to non-believers and non-human. However, there are those who are an exception.” Falikh continued to explain as he cradles the crying Ivy as the pain is far unimaginable and worse for her. It hurts so much for her that uttering a single word could break her.
Once the Guidance started, Ivy immediately fell to the ground as she painfully cries. It was too unbearable for her that crying is the only thing she could do. Falikh gently strokes Ivy’s head as he put her head on his lap.
“This is nothing but a big farce. Those who are an exception for this power is those…who are equally twisted as her, those people with bent morals and view of life. I guess I am one. That’s why…I renamed that skill to something else.” Falikh stops and takes a deep breath.
“Hellmind.” He said.