Murai felt like the price of this bargain, sounded way too cheap to his standards. Tough, what else he could negotiate with? This person before him was definitely a curious one, so he may use it to his advantage.
“Is it about Falconers or something is hidden that Iris didn't know? Maybe it is something that Battleworld did to you, told you? Something that you aren't even aware of?” Ceila asked, smiling in wonder.
“No idea. Don't care.” Murai sent.
“Hmph... Fine, keep your secrets, since I will find them anyway. Just so you know, Lady Vermillion has no intentions of going against the God of Battle for the time being, so things may not become what you want. I can't go against my Lady's doctrine, nor her hidden intentions either. I can feel it within my soul. She is my Lady. A precious part of my fate.”
“You don't say...” Murai sighed, telling it with a bored voice. “I will decide the extent of my questions later. I will also voice my questions and request for information in a way that won't collide with your doctrine. Is that fair?”
“Depends on your fairness, but it shouldn't be an issue.”
“Shut up...” Murai mumbled. “I am fair if it's a kind of situation that requires it, which this is, such a situation.”
“Excellent. However, I won't be one helping you. Iris will be enough with that, while I will do the finishing touch. Your bones are not simply broken but shattered in many pieces at their foundation. Iris didn't notice it, so I presume someone tortured you instead? I wonder who would do this sort of thing, and who hurt him.”
“You will see that at our end of the deal,” Murai said, not budging with his Will.
“Alright... Let's keep this connection going, while I will explain the situation to Iris. What will happen next will be part of her too. It's not like I don't want to help you... but...”
“Your lady is against it, isn't she?” Murai asked.
Ceila didn't answer that, nor shook her head. Instead, she turned to Iris to voice the matters in her own way.
“I will allow the help to his Anatidae, but certain conditions require some work to make it possible. Our inner discussion worked out for a deal, so will you accept some responsibility, since you took him here? In return for some favor, of course. I won't make things difficult for you, Iris. Nothing is free in the names of the doctrine under Lady Vermillion's subjects.” Ceila said, but this time, clearly out loud with a gentle tone of her voice.
Iris jerked her head, as she suddenly understood what was going on. They had some form of bonding conversation which went behind her senses or the mana itself. What did that mean? A simple thing. Murai was much stronger than she thought.
“So it is like that...” She mumbled. “Was sir Murai rude to you or our Lady? I am sorry if that was the case.” Iris said openly. Maybe a bit too much, since Murai almost laughed out loud at such an honest and understandable question.
Ceila rolled her eyes, sighing since she was strongly inclined to agree with all of her words. “I am not fit... for this” she mumbled
“What do you mean, master?” Iris asked.
“Nothing. It is nothing bad. Thanks for interfering with this one's fate. Think of this situation as a part of the Verm Trials.” Ceila said tapping Iris on her shoulder with one hand.
“Vem Trials?” Iris exclaimed, hoping to reach a full confirmation of her words.
“Exactly that trial. You are a fine piece already, so how about proper care put for yourself? Like becoming an Intermediate Priest in the next year, and reaching level 20 in a couple of months? There are so many things ahead, so why not continue trying? You can do what you could, and try what you should.” Ceila said, convincing Iris through her worlds alone.
A shocked smile appeared on her face. “I... What do I have to do? No... I can't refuse this. Master knows that already. I can't. Don't wish to.” Iris dejectedly said, knowing full well this wasn't a bad thing, but a huge opportunity instead.
“Good. You will do a simple thing. You will help Murai achieve his... request for a certain problem. It may be bigger than you think, but he is hesitant to reveal everything at the moment, so work with it as you can. Hopefully, he won't mean you any harm, will he?” Ceila said, turning his face to Murai to coldly stare at his very soul.
It put shivers down his spine in a different kind of way than before. After all, he was still on top of her palm, which put certain things into his perspective.
He was like an insect, yet the insect was too lofty to be called an insect.
Glancing at her with his Will and his real body, he gulped down his saliva in a forceful manner.
Maybe I am way too arrogant. Should I change this drive of mine for the time being? Hell... This Vermillion god was aware of me, but she didn't do anything apart from warning her subject. How peculiar... I guess this is something beyond me right now to worry about. For once, she should be able to hide even from my perception and soul, so I guess I shouldn't feel this confident in her church. Right... Let's be a bit cautious, for now.” Murai thought and considered his situation better than ever before.
He was arrogant, but it was an arrogance put forth by his efforts and talent. He felt very rightfully confident in his abilities, and no one should take this attitude from him. Not even the dangers, pain, and injuries caused to his body.
That was until the reality came upon him, hitting him with a situation that was too much for him to handle. It could also be described as being hit by reality, or a reality check, but that wasn't important.
He thought little of the bad past because that will always pass at some point in the far future. Even though he wasn't in the right state of mind, he still hoped for a better future. Calling it stubbornness wasn't wrong either while being physically fucked up at the moment wasn't even an understatement.
The only piece of good news was he met Iris and Timmy.
So if there would be something he could help them with, he wouldn't hesitate even behind his wellbeing. A certain karma was already between them, or so Murai thought. That, or it should wait since he had no power to help others since he, himself, was beyond his own help.
Murai watched Ceila's gaze and shook his beak resolutely even though he was still within range of answering her with his Will.
“Good... I hope you will keep this up because the Wrath of a God, or its subjects is the least pleasant thing that you want, am I wrong?” Ceila stated the utmost truth through her Will, making sure that Murai understood everything. Unfortunately, he already pissed a god, but not some lofty followers.
That was good, and Murai had no plans of changing that.
Ceila gave him another deep look as if pondering over something. There were a lot of variables to care about. Particularly, the topic of this Anatidae was floating around her head, and considering the situation, it sounded fun. “Now.” She suddenly said. “Take a seat, Iris.” Ceila gestured, pointing towards a high chair in the corner.
Iris followed, hoping to hear everything she could since the Verm Trials were already mentioned. It was one of the main roads of a proper Priesthood under Vermillion Church, leading to another level altogether.
Vermillion Church had its proper training regime under Lady Vermillion. It was there mainly for their priests, while the knights and so on had a normal kind of training. On the other hand, the clergy, priests, and helpers directly under the source of the religion were a different story. They were much more important for Vermillion than one would expect.
As for what Verm Trials were, it was something beyond what Iris currently was aware of. She only knew there were some prerequisites, requirements, and task one had to do to move forward in these Trials. In a way, they were hidden questions and requirements that the church had, and her Lady devised.
While she sat down, Ceila placed Murai in the middle of the room. There was a big, circular table of 2 meters in diameter with a similar kind of setup as Iris's special table.
Unlike Iris's homemade alchemy table, this one was an Enhanced Table, and not for alchemy alone. Mages used to perform all kinds of complicated experiments and work in a high-quality table such as this made it better. This one had stronger, and more intricate runes and details throughout its design. It went without saying since this was the office of a level 74 mage.
Though, Ceila didn't want to give anything to Murai, yet. Even though she would like to do something. For now, it was a normal table like any other.
“Let me ask something, ” she asked Iris.
“Please, do,” she replied, her eyes beaming with the light of excitement.
“What would you do to help him? Are you aware of the obliterated roots of his bones? It's close to being an amputation, but it's not too late for... some help.”
“What?” She opened her mouth, letting out a flustered moan. “It was that bad? I didn't know.” she dejectedly said, since she was unable to perform a better kind of healing since her experiences were still a little.
“Don't worry too much about it. No one blames you, since this sort of damage must have been done in a rather strange manner. Someone wanted to put everlasting damage to his bones. Only the kind of priest around level 40 would have enough magical power to perform immediate help, while level 30, would work their mana to the brink of instability to heal this over many hours. Neither of such situations is up to you, Iris. So, calm down. You did good with residual healing, stopping blood, and figuring out what to do next.” Ceila said, giving her a small glistering smile.
“I...” Iris clutched her fists, unable to come to terms with her idea of helping Murai according to Ceila. She was weak, as Murai too, was kind of weak in his own way. After all, he ended up this wounded, so what to think of that? He may talk to Ceila with Wills alone, but that didn't mean a body can live without a Will.
Everything was important. Body and health too.
They weren't that different in their feelings, but their context and overview of their emotions were vast as the sky itself.
“I am giving you a chance,” Ceila said. “It's a follow-up topic for a Blessed, so do you know what it means?” she said, brightly smiling back and forth at Murai and Iris.
“N-no? No. Do you mean like... a companionship? I have a family! My brother won't forgive me for letting him live with my uncle without me.”
“No. No. I meant the other thing.” Ceila shook her head. “You already learned about it, but it's been a while.”
“Other? Other...” Iris fell silent, hoping to retrieve a lost memory of what she could possibly mean.
Ceila wanted to force her to help Murai over a prolonged period of time, but for what? Or, to be precise, in what way? Being with a Blessed meant an opportunity. Battleworld opportunity?
“A Temporal Power Chain?” Iris asked, after remembering the thing that worked in a strange way regarding the system of the Blessed. In a way, it was similar to companionship but was less straining against the non-Blessed part. It still gets some benefits, but it wasn't all that known and used very often.
“That is right. It's unlike...”
“I don't want that. Forcing this child upon me. I won't allow that.” Murai suddenly jumped at their conversation, letting Ceila hear his refusal by his Will.
“Are you in place to refuse this help since you already asked for that? It's too late for that.” She sent him back, unbothered by his attempts to remain without the god's influence.
“Ugh... Why do you insist on doing this to this girl... Is this something to do with that necklace of hers, or is it about her?” Murai noted the thing, that Iris previously didn't include in her talking for some reason. In fact, Iris skipped many details when she explained the situation regarding Murai and bringing him here.
“Necklace? What about that? Did you... Did she activate it?” Ceila asked, appearing more serious than before.
“Freaking gods... That is right. I guess she didn't want to say that, but you forced that from me. Are you planning something with this girl, or is this something... beyond yourself... Or is the Will of your Lady that is speaking from you?”
Ceila furrowed her brows and stopped being so bright. With her back against Iris, she stepped towards Murai once again, grabbing him with her palm.
“G-gentle, woman... That's what she said. Heheheh.” Murai giggled, finding this situation weirdly familiar.
Though, his previous words were nothing but his guest. He couldn't feel anything strange going in with Ceila or Iris. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure, but he could guess a couple of things. It was a hunch, that he couldn't perceive, but he was damned sure he wanted to understand his current circumstances.
Iris looked in shock at the sudden change. It appeared Murai was continuously bothering her master, so she had enough of them since a change occurred. Now, she had a task to work for. A situation as well as an opportunity that won't come by itself for years.
One had to have a talent and the approval of others to follow through the Verm Trials. The secondary thing was God's Will, but she didn't worry about that, since her feelings for her Lady were long formed within her heart.
Getting from the chair, Iris hurried to Ceila to hold her hand that clutched Murai.
“P-please... Let's calm this down, even though I don't know what you are talking to each other about,” she said to the both of them, while neither of them changed their opinion and won't back down just because she said so.