Pope Aurum wrote a simple message on a piece of letter paper, which read,
'I've finished the potion. Give it to Solis when you're ready.
-Aurum.'
The Pope folded the piece of paper and placed it under his pillow in the next room over, leaving the sealed potion on top of it. The letter was meant for a certain snake who was in charge of the young boy's well-being.
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In a vast expanse devoid of bright colours, a thin and tall tower stood. The tower was completely unremarkable, all grey and had few windows. Near the top of the tower floated a white snake with greyish-silver rune-like markings and yellow eyes. The snake, though coiled around the top of the tower, was easily 50 meters long, one could hardly imagine how large to snake would be fully extended. This snake was the Serpent of Destiny, Ouroboros. The snake morphed into a tall man with white robes and long white hair. He entered through a hatch at the top of the tower and examined the contents of a note that had appeared in his mind. He stared blankly at the small bottle of yellow liquid on his table, seemingly deep in thought. He envisioned the letter and wrote his response on the other side of the paper.
'Are you sure he's ready? Also, what use would a stage 10 potion have? Even with the seal I have placed upon him, he's still beyond stage 10.'
He waited for the Pope's response, blue ink finally appearing beneath his response as if an invisible hand had written it.
'He must be ready. It has been 6 years since the incident with 'Him'. 'He' has never been one to sit on his hands and do nothing. The young master must be ready. Give him the potion; it will deepen his control over the lower stages, something he needs right now.'
Ouroboros crumpled the letter and picked up the potion containing yellow liquid. It was slightly warm to the touch. He closed his eyes, and the scene around him blurred. He found himself sitting in a creaky wooden chair facing a beautiful green lawn with many yellow flowers. A small boy barged through the wooden front door of the small wooden hut and called out to his foster father. "Hey, old man! Where are you? I wanna tell you something!"
"Over here, on the deck." An aged voice replied. The boy ran through the wooden hut and out to the deck, standing just behind the man with long white hair and small wrinkles sitting in the deck chair. "Your story can wait 'til later. Drink this." He handed the boy a glass bottle filled with warm yellow liquid.
"The hell is this? It won't kill me... right?"
"You'll be fine. Go over to the altar and pray before you drink it. Don't worry, if anything weird starts to happen, I'll save your ass." Solis took the potion and walked back into the hut with little fuss, making his way over to a small altar in the far corner of the main room covered in yellow flowers. He placed his palms together, closed his eyes and lowered his head.
"The Holy Sun,
The Eternal Fire,
The Embodiment of Light,
The King of Opulence,
The Spirit of the Sky
The God of the Day."
A small, dull pain hit his chest, and he grabbed the potion from the altar, popping the lid and downing the warm liquid. Immediately, he felt a surge of pain throughout his body, and he curled up into a ball. A glowing yellow sun reflected in his eyes despite being inside and a faint golden hue drifted from his body. Ouroborus stood in the doorway, patiently observing. Solis showed no signs of losing control or conscience, so Ouroborus saw no need to intervene.
After a few more minutes, Solis stood up again, shaking off the pain he had endured."W-what was that?" He asked, confused as to why his guardian would give him such a foul drink.
"A potion. You're a mage now." He stated bluntly as if this were all completely normal.
"A-wha-- huh?" Solis could not comprehend his recent development and was convinced he was being messed with.
"You heard me. You're a mage now. That potion made you one."
"..."
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"Take a seat. I'll explain." The two sat down on a couch and Ouroboros explained what had just happened. Solis had just ingested the stage 10 potion of the Sun channel. Humans can become mages after drinking potions that give them superhuman powers and strength. The Sun channel is called that because mages of the Sun channel can 'channel' powers of the Sun domain. The channels that the Church of the Sun is in control of are the Fate channel and the Sun channel, meaning mages of the church are all from that channel.
"Why did you choose for me? What if I wanted to be a mage of the Fate channel?" The little brat whined, upset he didn't get to choose his own path and that his mentor had been hiding such a huge secret.
"That's... not possible for you. You had no choice."
"Why not?"
"Can't tell you. Maybe when you're older. Anyway shut up and listen."
"Mages drink potions starting at stage 10 and eventually reaching stage 1 - theoretically, that is - to ascend closer to Godhood. You're currently a recently advanced stage 10 - the weakest of the bunch. You are only slightly stronger than an average human your age, meaning most adults are stronger than you. You have no cool powers other than resistance to sunburn. You're weak.
On this continent, we share religious dominance with the Church of Mother Earth, which controls the Florist and Apothecary channels, as well as some of the Moon channel.
Balta is run by the Church of Storms and the Church of Craftsmanship. The Church of Storms controls the Storm channel, and the Church of Craftsmanship controls the Artisan Channel and the Knowledge channel.
In Heida, the Church of the Night controls the Moon channel and the Night Channel completely, as well as some of the Death and Blood channels. The Church of Therapy also operates in Heida, though they aren't one of the official 'Five Churches.' They operate outside of the Churches and call themselves a 'church' for convenience. They control the Psyche pathway and offer affordable therapy for the people of Heida.
"Why does the Church of the Night have so many channels?" Asked the young boy.
"They won the war against the Church of the Moon and the Scarlet Order over 20 years ago, in the year 1525. The Church of the Moon joined hands with the Scarlet Order, which controls the Blood channel, and attempted to overthrow the Church of the Night and achieve dominance over all of Heida. After their defeat, the Church was removed from the Orthodox Churches and marked as an evil organisation. Remnants of the Church remain, the Church's surviving members scattered themselves around the world, perhaps meeting up somewhere secret."
"Hm... Did we help in the war?"
"A little. We sent over some of our elite Inquisition."
"Inquisition?"
"Each Church has a secret police. Powerful mages selected by the higher-ups to perform dangerous missions that the ordinary police can't handle, like those involving other mages. Ours is the Inquisition. The head of the Inquisition is Bishop Crestet. I'll let you into a little secret. Crestet is a stage 5 mage. One step away from being a demi-God, also known as a 'Saint'."
"Saint... Is Saintess Vivienne a demi-God?"
"Yes. Archbishop Vivienne is the leader of the Archbishops and the third highest authority in the whole Church. Pope Aurum has the highest authority, but mine isn't much less than his."
"So... How long will it take me to become a demi-God?" The boy asked, his head tilting slightly in childish curiosity.
"Hah! As if someone like you would ever become a Saint!" His mentor mocked.
"Tch."
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In an office at the top of the Cathedral of the Sun, two men dressed in white robes, one with a papal tiara on his head, sat on either side of a brown wooden desk.
"Have you given him the potion?" Asked the man with the papal tiara, Pope Aurum.
"I have. He ingested it with no issues." Answered the man with flowing white hair, the Serpent of Destiny, Ouroboros.
"Good. This will help with his stability when it is time for him to truly advance. Your seal has helped him a lot. Only God knows what would have happened without it."
"Mm," Ouroboros muttered in agreement.
"So, what did you do with Sealed Relic 0-06?"
"I re-sealed it underneath the Cathedral, in the Hall of Light. No one should use it for a while. It seems quite agitated."
"I agree. I'll issue a notice to all of the Inquisition squad captains that it is strictly off-limits."
"Any signs of 'Him'?"
"No. We got lucky this time, though we may not be so lucky the next..."
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Outside a small cafe in the heart of Heliopolis, the Capital of the Sun, a young man in his mid-late-twenties lounged on his chair, basking in the sun and enjoying his tea and cookies. He wore a simple robe that didn't stand out, a generic top hat and a brown walking stick. On his left eye was a gold-rimmed crystal monocle, and he pinched it between his left thumb and pointer finger, adjusting it slightly. He looked off into the distance, smiling slightly in amusement.
"Interesting... I hadn't expected you to give him the potion so soon. How cruel of you, old friend."
He played with the black-gemmed ring on his finger, before imbuing it with his mana and disappearing from his seat outside the cafe. He walked through a vast dark space that seemed to extend far beyond what the eye could see, completely devoid of any light. He took out a small handheld lamp and ignited it, walking through the pitch-black void. Stars twinkled above him as he closed in on an even darker hole in the ground. He walked into the whole casually, unafraid of falling down. He fell deftly through the dark hole and landed outside the black gates of a large city, with an enormous castle in the middle.
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