Dante gazed at the ancient tapestries adorning the walls of the Verdant Doves' sanctum. The emerald hues and vibrant depictions of nature reminded him of the power he wielded as a member of this revered order.
"Yeeeeesss! I can frickin do magic stuff now! MUHAHAHAHA!" Dante said to himself in front of the mirror. He was washing himself in the tub in the bathroom. "Trela! Wanna watch me do some magic stuff? Oh... right..."
He remembered that Trela had gone to the Nation of Prosperia in the continent of Jeddah to register legally as a Merchant. Dante had been staying in the nation of Sylvanalia, the Verdant Commonwealth. Sylvanalia was founded by the Druids and Forest-dwellers in the year 1171 N.F. during the Echoes of Silence.
"I miss my big sister? I mean? Little sister? Hmmmm... Technically, I'm like 24 years old mentally. But my body just turned 2 years old. So... That makes her my little sister? Wait, but even though she is 10 years old. She's like a hundred years more mature than me. That freak of a bitc-"
[Divine Mindlink Activated]
"Danivio! Shut up! The Divine Mindlink will exhaust all my stamina!"
Dante fell out of balance from the chair he was standing on.
"Aaaah!" BAM!
[Divine Mindlink Deactivated]
"Ouuucch! Whatever... I don't need her anyway."
"I hope everything goes right with the Alchemist Merchant League and Trela though. Those guys are scary as fuck. Like Putin/Rothschild/KimJongUn combined kind of scary. Since the Alchemists can just use their abilities to create gold, silver, and diamonds, whenever they want, the value of rare metals turned to shit. The Golden Collapse is what they called it."
Dante climbed up the chair again, and said, "In the year 1237 NF... Yes! I still remember. So since its 1402 NF today. That was like... ummm... a long time ago! HAHAHAHA! "
"Scriptures!" he screamed in his mind. The interface of the Holy System appeared in front of Dante.
[Scriptures of the Holy System]
[Name: Dante de Monfort]
[Piety: Wanderer]
[Thaumaturgy: Church of the Holy System]
[Invocations]
[Healing Light: Channels divine energy to mend wounds, cure ailments, and restore vitality]
[Holy Smite: Unleashes a focused beam of radiant energy that damages and weakens undead or evil creatures]
[Divine Vigor: Temporarily enhances physical strength and endurance through holy energy]
Dante smiled cockily in the 2 year old body. Flexing to himself, his new magic abilities. "It's not much... but it's a start. The Holy Mystics said that I am Orderless for now. Like Classless or Jobless."
He slumped in shame.
"So that only Invocations I can learn are Palm-tier Invocations. Which means that... even the village idiot can do these Invocations as long as they have some faith in the Blessed Holy System."
"My Lord Monfort-" a woman's voice called for Dante who had been spending hours in the bathroom.
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Knock! Knock!
"Lord Monfort, it is time for your Ritual Ceremony for your Trial of the Illumination. Everyone is waiting for you."
"Yey!" Dante replied in a child-like manner. He still was not at an age where he could display his true maturity. And for a degenerate like him, fooling around was something he did enjoy.
"I'm coming, Sister Silmara!"
With a stressed heart, Dante had finally was ready to take on the Trial that all Holy Mystics take. Although, he wasn't going to be a Holy Mystic, but Marvia and Conrad had determined that he should take the Trial as preparation for his destiny.
Dante stepped out of his hut, clothed and ready. The forest's winds hurled the brown leaves of the phase of Leafshade and twirled them around him, as if annointing him with their natural blessing. Dante's black hair had grown handsomely, as he had taken after his father. He could feel the sun's kiss telling him how much he has grown from the love and care that he had received in his second life.
He kicked the dirt and green grass as he walked toward the field where the ritual would take place. He could hear the Holy Mystics' chants and their divine voices echoing through the open plains of Sylvanalia. All the Holy Mystics from around the world had assembled today for this event. Holy Mystics who were advisors to royalty, counselors to national leaders, and the hermit mystics who can hear the voice of nature itself, reaching levels of cosmic tuning with the Holy System.
A hundred female Mystics circled around Dante who was in the middle. Marvia and Conrad were watching from afar, as they were not allowed to be near the ceremony.
Silmara Tavaluna, an elf and his designated mentor, held Dante's little hand as they all chanted.
"HO HALA HO HO! HALA HO HO!" They all sang the chant with closed eyes, and awakening the energies of the Holy System within them. They all laughed in ecstasy as they felt universal joy of the celestials.
"HO HALA LAHO! HOLA HOHO!" They all sang and screamed, dancing like reeds being blown in the storm. And merrily feeling the passion and daydreams of goodness and nature's sweet honey air flowing through their lungs.
Silmara, the Mystic Elf, declared, "HOOOOO! THE HOLY SYSTEM'S EAAARS ARREEE LISTENIIIING!"
She then slammed her green Scripture on the grassy and moist ground,
BOOOM!
Hundreds of thousands of leaves from the surrounding forest and field explode into a scenery of a rainshower of leaves.
Dante was amazed. The leaves were all suspended and looked like raindrops in a storm of nature.
Silmara continued, "Speak with Arrogance, Dante de Monfort! Dare the Holy System!"
Dante fell to his knees and raised both his hands as if reaching for the heavens. And his eyes flickering in blinking ecstasy.
"I, Conrad de Monfort, dare the Holy System to test me in the Trial of Illumination!"
An figure appeared in Dante's mind. It was the female elf that was with him during his birth and the ritual. She looked exactly like Silmara, his mentor. Dante was experiencing heavely ecstasy and vision and danced in the middle of the circle and the Elves kept chanting.
Inside Dante's vision, the elf spoke to him saying, "My Lord Dante, how you have grown. The Holy System accepts your dare. And shall allow you to take the Trial of Illumination. Listen well for these are your Triune Hints."
"Save, Grove, Guardian," the female elf whispered.
[Trial of Illumination Accepted]
A hideous monster bites Dante's neck off.
"Aaaaaah!"
He woke up from the vision.
Dante shivered with great fear and repeatedly said, "Safe, Grove, Guardian, Safe, Grove, Guardian, Saf-"
He fainted.
The next morning, he wakes up in the lap of Marvia singing to him. And his father Conrad is outside the door, arguing with Sister Silmara.
"You have to let me come! It's too dangerous! You heard the words right from his mouth. It's not possible! He is only two years old!"
Dante's eyes widened, the weight of the news pressing upon him.
Even Dante had realized what those three words meant. "Grove" and "Guardian" was referring to the Grove Guardian. And "Safe" surely meant that slaying the monster would mean safety for everyone in the nation.
An enigmatic and man-eating monster that dwells within the depths of the sacred Sylvanalia Forest. It embodies the essence of ancient nature, taking on the form of a colossal, gorrila-like figure adorned with intricate patterns of moss, bark, and leaves. Its luminous eyes radiate death and its presence instills both awe and dread. Among all the monsters in the Sylvanalia Forest, the Grove Guardian was at the apex.
Realizing the enormity of the threat, he was shocked with fear knowing he could not stand the challenge alone.
Marvia lifted up her child Dante, and let him stand on his two feet.
"What do you want to do, my light? If there is anything on your mind, you can tell me."
Dante calmed down, and said firmly, "I'm going to pass this Trial, Mama."
Conrad saw his little boy's determination, and they knew they could only have faith in him now. And have faith in the Holy System who had given him the Trial. But this meant that Conrad and Marvia had to stay out of it, and let the young Dante stand on his own two feet.
"Time to kill some monsters!"