The city-state of Rezelus. The place revered by all of humanity. Even if the human kingdoms sometimes went against each other, the people are united as one because of it.

It is the most holy place, the origin of the unifying church. The place where the Divine Emperor resides, and the home of his most loyal followers.

No kingdom has as much magical power as Rezelus, but the kingdoms were not worried. For the church aimed for peace, and the Divine Emperor their mediator. Harmony was established once the Divine Emperor moved his hands. Their guidance are the teachings of the church, and their way of living agrees to the laws of the Divine Emperor.

But, not every people respect the church’s authority. There are many faiths that emerged aiming for the fall of the church. One specific faith was considered most problematic. It was the faithfuls of Lucien.

The Rezelus church wanted to prevent violence. They wanted to resolve the conflict between opposing beliefs in a peaceful manner. However, they couldn’t trust the other faiths, especially the Lucieneans, and so, they established the day of blessings.

The “day of blessings” is not one event. It was comprised of multiple separate ceremonies that are performed in a single day. It is an important holy event, and it was also a method to increase the city-state’s magical might.

One of the events held during that day, was the sanctification of children. In this ceremony, children, usually of noble birth, were blessed to become future citizens of the city-state. This means that the chosen youth will have the privilege to serve the Divine Emperor, by being his warriors and preachers. Many people wanted their children to be blessed that way, but there are strict requirements that all the chosen should have.

First, the children should either possess an innate magic, or show clear signs of high mana affinity. This ensures that, with proper guidance, the chosen children will grow to become master grade, or grandmaster grade mages. There’s not a single child that was accepted that didn’t qualify to this requirement. It’s to be expected, as they are serving the Divine Emperor himself.

Second, the children should be one with the faith of the church. It’s also a crucial requirement to ensure the great morals of the child. The parents of the chosen are the ones more responsible for this one. Any great parent will teach their children about the faith, if they wanted to give their children a bright future.

Third, the children must not have any kind of illness. If they passed the first two requirements, they should be cleansed first before they can enter Rezelus, as the city-state is a holy place.

Fourth, the chosen children were typically children of nobles. It was generally the case so that it was easier for the church to investigate the previous life of the children. However, this demand could be neglected, if any children showed greater gift compared to their peers. All of this should generally be true to all of the candidates.

The preparations for the important day were all set inside Rezelus. The only thing that the church needed to do was to make the people ready for the occasion. That means that the unnamed mages were allowed to go outside the city-state.

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One of the unnamed mages was assigned to go to Ucar, the small kingdom where the unnamed mage will meet Lenan, one of the child candidate for the sanctification.

He was too excited to meet the child that he arrived to Ucar earlier than Duke Decynus. He used the teleportation platform leading to the king’s castle. On the other side, he was greeted by the king of Ucar, and was attended to by the royal servants.

“Is there anything that you wanted to eat?”, the king asked.

“No, just let me have my fill of what you have”

The king commanded his servants to quickly bring food for the unnamed mage. Such is the respect given to even the lowest citizens of Rezelus.

The unnamed mage waited for several days, but he wasn’t irritated. The time he said to the Duke was many days ahead from the day he arrived, and so, he waited patiently. Eventually, Duke Decynus arrived, and entered the king’s castle.

Duke Decynus decided that only the Earl should accompany him as he meet the unnamed mage. His wife couldn’t refuse, as she was ashamed of the Earl.

The two friends enter without any detours. They wanted to meet the unnamed mage as soon as possible. As expected, the person they wanted to see was already in their meeting place.

“At last, you’re here”

The Duke profusely apologized. He realized that the unnamed mage was waiting for him for several days. The unnamed mage didn’t mind though, and was more focused on his mission.

“Where is the child?”, the unnamed mage asked.

“I left him outside sir”, the Duke answered, still a little abashed.

The unnamed mage nodded. “So, are you committed to this agreement?”

The Duke was silent. He couldn’t say the words he had in mind.

The unnamed mage observed the Duke’s face. He didn’t like the expression of the noble. He thought that the Duke will withdraw from their agreement.

“Sir,”, the Duke finally talked. “Can I show you something first?”

The unnamed mage was confused, but he wanted to earn the Duke’s trust. He was eager to get the child, so he agreed to the Duke’s request.

Duke Decynus was marching quick along with the Earl. The unnamed mage didn’t have a choice but to follow through. Soon, they were outside, and the large cloth that seemed to be covering something caught the unnamed mage’s attention.

“What is that?”

“That’s what I want to show you sir”

The unnamed mage looked at the Duke. He was cautious, as he felt the unusual feeling in his surroundings. The mana in the air was thinning, which gave him a hint that the thing inside the cloth was absorbing it.

The Duke looked around and raised a small region of the cloth. He gestured to the unnamed mage to come, which the latter reluctantly followed.

As the unnamed mage got nearer, the mana in the air was getting thinner. He was sure by then that the thing that he was about to see absorbs the mana in the surroundings. He was intrigued, but he was also nervous. He looked at the Duke once again, and looked at the opening made for him.

‘Huh?’