Mir and Reno stood in front of the Priest nervously, maintaining a certain distance between each other. Their past rivalry was well-known in the class. It had caused some snickers to rise among the students when both names had been announced as the first-position holder.
"Hmm... I wonder which of you deserves the license to the Sacred Ground. What do you think, Zula?" he said with a sidelong glance.
Professor Zula handed him two answer sheets without commenting. The old man turned over the answer sheets to check the last answer.
"Hahahah, both of you listed the exact same companion beasts! No wonder!"
The priest's marveling tone made Mir and Reno exchange a gloomy look between themselves for a fraction of a second.
"Would you two like to fight it out? Or do you want to go through a coin toss?" The Priest asked, apparently having noticed the tension.
The students behind laughed in schadenfreude.
"Fight it out!" someone shouted from the back.
"No surrender! Knockout or death!" Another guy added.
"Underwears only!" a girl yelled, receiving several hoots in response.
The Professor coughed loudly and slammed a palm on his desk to silence the rowdy crowd.
"Alas, Principle Juno would never let us take a step inside the College premise if we did make them fight. A toss it is!"
Much to both of their relief, the Priest chose to go with the second option. Going by the usual style of the Church, he might have chosen the first option if it didn't come with negative consequences.
He took out a coin from within his navy-blue robe and showed it to the two competitors.
"Shattered sun on one side, the Lord's hand on the other side. Choose one."
"The Lord's hand," Reno immediately replied. Mir had opened his mouth to choose the same option, but he was a beat too slow.
This choice had a high possibility of being a second test. A shattered sun signified the end of the sun's curse, while Sunbreaker's hand signified allegiance to his cause.
The Priest had practically made them choose whether their allegiance lay with the Church or whether they'd choose the greater good over Sunbreaker's cause.
And sure enough, Reno's quick thinking got the Priest smiling.
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"Do you have something to say?" he turned to look at Mir, giving him one final chance to fight back.
Mir thought for a second before shrugging nonchalantly and said,
"They're both the same choice. Both sides are equal. I don't need to make a choice."
Reno's face paled as he realized the trap Mir had laid with that sentence.
Could the Church afford to admit that its cause differed from the greater good?
Heh.
The Priest's smiling gaze froze for a second. Without a word, he tossed the coin up and let it fall free on the desk.
Clatter clatter clatter clatter...
The coin bounced a couple of times before spinning erratically for a few seconds.
45 pairs of eyes focused on the movement of the coin....and the result made them freeze.
The coin didn't fall to a side, standing vertically.
The problem was, the desk was not horizontal. It was made with a slight tilt for the teachers' convenience. Everyone could clearly see that.
"It seems that we have two winners again. How troublesome! I suppose the Lord would reward both children with his grace. Mr. Reno and Mr. Mir shall receive a license each! Praise the Lord!"
This time nobody could muster up the courage to laugh. This reward was far too enviable! One of these licenses was worth 5000 units. Some of their families didn't even have a monthly income that high.
Mir took one last look at the standing coin, wondering which beast companion he was using to keep it up.
Impartial and generous! This was the image the Church was trying to establish here. The rivalry between him and Reno had given the Priest the perfect opportunity to do that.
Mir and Reno went back to their seats. With some parting words and a salute, the priest left. Professor Zula dismissed the class and hurriedly followed him.
The bell rang to signal the official end of the period. They had no more classes for the day, which prompted Mir to take his leave.
While walking out of class, someone bumped into him from behind. Mir didn't need to turn back to see who it was. He kept walking as the guy hopped forward to match his stride.
"We need to have a talk about your promise, Mir."
"Do you really think an oath taken under the name of YOUR god would be something I'd abide by forever, Reno? Come on, you're not that much of an idiot."
If his derision angered Reno, he didn't show it. Patiently, Reno replied with the perfect answer.
"It is not about beliefs, Mir. It is about opportunities. There are 7 Sacred Grounds around Enet District, and two of them have been graced with Lord Doomhorn's divinity. We both understand the risk you're taking on by openly mocking his power and breaking an oath made under his name. Those two Sacred Grounds will forever be places you cannot explore. Are you willing to give up such a huge range of opportunities for momentary gains?"
Mir sighed, knowing he couldn't refute the fact.
"If I abide by that oath, then I might not even get the chance to become a superhuman. Would I not be giving up the opportunity to enter all 7 Sacred Grounds that way?"
Reno looked troubled. Nineteen months ago, he had proposed a challenge to Mir over a heated debate, a challenge which he hadn't expected Mir to take seriously.
Mir had loudly sworn under Doomhorn's name that his older brother Murray would become a Transcendent tier superhuman with a score over 90% on the Evolution Standard Scale. If Murray failed to do so, he would quit studying for the rest of his semesters.
It hadn't been a challenge of facts, but rather, a challenge of confidence. He had asked Mir if he had the guts to swear on it. But too deep into his pride, Mir had been stupid enough to take the bait. Not even Reno had expected that.
And three months later, Murray had been disqualified from the National Exam. He didn't even get the chance to make it to the Evolutionary period. His next thirteen months had been wasted in jail.
Mir and Reno, once great friends, had naturally drifted apart after the incident.
"You made a mistake that day by taking the stupid oath. Today, you're making another mistake by breaking it, Mir. This isn't the Ceres before the sun's curse. You can not mock gods and remain untouched."
"Well, I'm not really mocking them. I was just bending the rule a bit," Mir said lightly.
"What are you talking about?" Reno asked in surprise.
"Murray has joined the Church as a trainee Deacon. Suffice to say, with his talent, he could become a Transcendent once the probationary period is over. So it's only a matter of time before the oath stays binding on me."
Reno gasped. "No wonder! Did he tip you off? Is that why you could score that high all of a sudden?"
"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" Mir smiled woodenly.
"...No. But I'd like to advise you to wait till Murray becomes a superhuman. His prime time has long passed. A score of 90% might not be as easy for him as you think."
"I suppose so. But that's still gonna take a while."
"So you're really going to break the oath?" Reno asked, sounding exasperated.
"Hey, it was probably a one-time thing, bro. I studied because Murray tipped me off. Don't worry about me snatching away your spot as the class's best student. I know you want the best university scholarship. I have no interest in that spot anymore."
Mir gave him a rough slap on the back and walked through the college gate, leaving him behind.
"Aren't you afraid that I'll tell the teacher that you cheated?" Reno shouted. "You just admitted it!"
Mir turned to look at him with a slight smile on his face.
"You're the one who should be afraid. You're afraid even now. Come on, Reno. You're not that much of an idiot."