A silent but fast return.

Konnor didn’t have time to see more of the basilica before everyone stood up and started leaving and since he was in the last rows, he was the first in line. Soon after he stepped outside of the holy grounds his two guides stepped up to lead them back to their room, with the exception that the shorter man had to support Mars who was still trembling and a face drenched in tears yet his expression was full of joy.

And he wasn’t the only one. As more people stepped outside, many lost strength of their legs and their own servants stepped up to become their support before helping them to walk away.

Just as they were walking Konnor took one last look and could catch a glimpse of Yvrel in the same state along with Maui, he couldn’t deny that witnessing the pope in person was fascinating but he believed that many including his friend were exaggerating, not like he would dare to say that out loud.

The small group followed almost the same route that they used except that before reaching the room where they suddenly appeared they turned to the left and climbed the stairs that led to an empty but long hallway, the trip became mind numbing as nobody spoke besides his friend’s occasional high-pitched sighs.

When they finally arrived at their room entrance, Mars was fully calm, but his eyes were still red. The strange duo opened the door for them and closed it when they passed through.

The two friends found themselves inside their rooms and changed back their original clothes and returned the tunics back to the servants, who happily accepted them and left as fast as possible. All done without sharing a single word, it was awkward, to say the least.

Konnor finally dropped on his bed and let all of his muscles and mind relax after a very long day, or at least what felt like a very long day since the sun moved a little. He took a quick glance at his friend, who was already praying at the altar.

The scene made his mind unconsciously replay the ceremony repeatedly; he was deeply grateful to the archbishop for all those hours spent practicing as he would have made a fool out of him if he didn’t take part in the rehearsal. Another thought came, there were quite a handful of people who were like him, saying there were dozens would be a rough estimate, but that mattered little as it was shocking for him to see that beastfolk were more numerous than humans, the divine powers worked in mysterious ways. At the same time the image of so many masked strangers trying to touch him was uncomfortable, he was glad there was a lot of distance between him and them or he wouldn’t have known how to act if they swarmed him but one thing remained very clear in his mind.

The beloved messenger of the gods, everything around the existence of such a figure filled his mind with many doubts, but hearing the voices somehow filled him with a sense of happiness and the lingering voices in his head gave him a calm heart, “Mars, that was the pope?”

Konnor got up from his bed, so he could sit at the edge and watch his friend stop his prayers so he could turn his attention to him.

“Is such a majestic sight, isn’t it? I’m truly blessed to witness the messenger of the gods so close and hear their sacred words.” The young priest wiped any tears that formed at the corner of his eyes. But his expression was faltering, trying to hold off all the emotions.

“Mars, I do not mean to offend but, what is the pope?” He asked as he recalled the faceless body and the multiple voices echoing across the walls of the basilica. The pattern of the movement, everything showing that the pope wasn’t part of the known Empire’s races. He was sure of his assumptions.

The priest slightly widened his eyes in surprise.

“Is complicated,” Mars looked away for a moment, chewing his lower lips as he was thinking for a simplified answer, “Them, the pope is them.”

“Them?”

He cleared his throat, “The pope is the synthesis of all life on this plane of existence. Two lives conjoined in holy marriage for their soul and body become one so their light may guide us through the darkness.”

“Two lives?” The concept was confusing at first but if there were two souls inside that body then it would somehow explain how the pope had multiple voices speaking at the same time, but it was still a puzzling subject to think about since he never saw or heard any similar occurrence before.

Also, he didn’t know that they took the marriage in such a literal interpretation. Two lovers join hands and live together for the rest of their days until death do them apart.

“Love is such a powerful thing Konnor, there is no greater love than this.”

“I guess?” He scratched his head.

Mars brought his hand to his mouth to suppress his good-hearted laughter, “It is a perfectly normal reaction my friend, for you to understand you would need to study for years the dogmas and sacred texts. Love in itself is complex and we cannot properly describe the unconditional love of our gods with mere words.”

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The idea of more books didn’t sound appealing to the chosen boy in the slightest, as he already needed to learn volumes upon volumes of history and races, “What should we do now?”

The blonde priest’s lips twisted into a cheshire smile and pulled out a book from under his clothes, a book Konnor could recognize from days ago back at the capital. “For now, we should review the First Monster Invasion.”

Mars opened the book and skimmed through a couple of pages before marking one page.

The farm boy let out a sigh and laid back on his bed before rolling to the side and buried his head on his big feather pillow, “You didn’t forget...”

The priest let out another hearty laugh, and patted his friend back, “I won’t forget so easily, Konnor. Get up, there is a lot to cover and we have more than enough time.”

Konnor deliberated between the ideas of complying or pretending to collapse from exhaustion, until an idea to escape resurfaced in his mind despite it was still not very appealing, “What about my training?”

He quickly got up and turned to face his friend, whose face changed to surprise as he slowly closed the book.

“This is no place for violence. If you truly want to train your spear, we have to go to the purified grounds of attainment. The holy knights will gladly teach you and answer any doubt about your training.”

“I want to train then.”

Mars bit his lower lip for a moment before releasing a long sigh, “If that’s your final decision, then let’s go. We have no time to waste.”

The priest stood up and knocked on the door and, just like before, the masked man opened the door. However, Konnor followed close, and he was the one who made the request. The masked men jumped in joy and pulled him outside along with his friend before releasing their wrist and taking the lead to their next destination.

A couple of turns later Konnor found himself at a different place yet was surprised that he didn’t need to leave the entire building complex was built with connections to multiple places, including the training grounds and he only needed to follow the lead of the servants. He was glad that they made the walls out of glass, allowing him to appreciate the city from a high point.

Unlike the capital, the buildings were taller and built very close to each other, however, all of them had a large symbol of the trinity church painted over them and taking a better look he could see platforms where people were passing through white they were carrying a long staff with a three-pointed star. The second detail he saw was that they organized the buildings in rows when building them, very long straight rows, only the height of the buildings varied.

In a matter of time, they reached the end of the path and the servants rushed to open the glass door for them and closed it for them after they went through. If they followed the marked stone path, they would arrive at the training grounds.

Immediately, Konnor took the chance to approach the stone railing of the platform and look at what was below them.

“It is still crowded. Not even the capital was this crowded.” He commented as the same scene of his arrival repeated right under him, the full dressed procession of people walking in a straight line with their head low. However, the streets were darker, just like those dark alleys that many advise to avoid as it could hide dangers to those who aren’t aware.

“Santiò is overpopulated. Every faithful follower wants to be in the holy land closer to our gods. That’s why the holy city is divided into many floors. We are on the last floor if you were wondering.” Mars replied as he approached, taking a quick glance at the procession happening below him.

“Is it always like this?”

He stroked his smooth chin a few times, “Only at the daily public penance, the lower levels are still crowded afterwards, but not at this level. This is a very important act to start the day. No matter how long it takes, everyone in Santiò will do it.”

Konnor looked at the people below him again and turned to the right when a very familiar sound echoed through the lower street. He gave a couple of steps in that direction and the noises became clearer to him once again. The same scene that occurred at the griffin balcony developed again.

“Why do I keep hearing whips? And is that… chanting?” Konnor stepped closer again. He could hear the faint sound of a chorus after the non-stop sound of the whip in the distance. And the platform where he was on didn’t seem to end, so it was natural for him to walk in the noise direction to satisfy his curiosity.

However, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

He quickly broke free from the grip and turned to his friend with a deep frown. Mars had been stopping him many times in a single day, even if he had his reasons that didn’t stop him from getting annoyed by the overprotectiveness. Not even his parents acted like that.

“You aren’t ready, my friend. Please, let’s just hurry to the purified grounds of attainment,” Mars pleaded.

Konnor softly chewed his cheek as his expression softened, Mars’ expression didn’t lie but at the same time he really wanted to see the origin of everything as it was part of him to learn more about the outside world, “Why are you so against the idea? You were never like this Mars.”

The blonde priest placed both hands on his friend’s shoulder and locked eyes with him, “To witness a public penance is not a beautiful sight, as it gets quite… excessive.”

Mars’ painful grimace made Konnor reconsider. He had a gut feeling that there would be another chance in the future to witness the event again, and he would have a stronger heart by then. Growing up watching the slaughter and butchering of cattle might not be enough to harden a soft heart like his.

After all, his first cultural experience outside Uslvania didn’t need to be something ugly to watch, it should be a beautiful experience to enjoy and remember for the rest of his days.

Konnor let out a sigh in disappointment before he flashed a smile of understanding, “If you think I’m not ready then I will believe you.”

Mars quickly pulled him into a tight hug for a few seconds before pulling apart and leading him towards the training grounds.

His new trainers were waiting.