"This will hurt," the Daemon warned.

Astraea winced internally as the Daemon's nail sliced through his own palm, crimson droplets trickling down. She followed suit, pressing her own hand against the sharp edge, feeling a surge of pain as the warm liquid stained her palm in red.

"Now," Erasmus instructed, his voice calm despite the wound. "We bring our hands together."

With a mixture of apprehension and determination, Astraea intertwined her bloodied palm with his. As their hands connected, a surge of energy coursed through her.

Astraea's vision blurred as a swirling magic circle materialized beneath them. It expanded rapidly, intricate symbols etching into the ground before gradually shrinking to encompass only the two of them. The air crackled and an otherworldly light engulfed them.

In the midst of this display, Erasmus began to chant, his words resonating with ancient power.

"Oh, great Creator, ruler of all existence. Bind this mortal to my essence. Let darkness mold the light!"

As Erasmus uttered the final words, Astraea felt a searing sensation at the base of her neck. It spread throughout her body, a tingling warmth traveling down her being. The light faded, leaving behind only Erasmus and herself, their hands still linked.

"You’re now my Apostle," Erasmus declared, a hint of satisfaction in his voice. He summoned a mirror once more, revealing Astraea's reflection.

Astraea's eyes widened in astonishment as she observed the symbol etched on the base of ner neck—a small, intricate mark resembling Erasmus's horns. It was a visual representation of their contract, proof that she was now an Apostle.

Beyond the mark, something else caught her attention. She felt different, energized. Her fatigue had vanished, replaced by a newfound strength coursing through her veins. It was as if a dormant power had awakened within her. She felt like she could lift men off their feet or run hundreds of laps around the Abyss.

"I feel...different," Astraea admitted, seeking answers from Erasmus.

"Excellent," the Daemon responded, nodding in approval. "That confirms the contract worked."

While Astraea was admiring her newfound strength, Erasmus felt the heavy shackles of the Goddess break away from him. Slowly but surely, he could feel his power coming back. It was not even a tenth of power at his height, but for now, he was free from her confines.

Erasmus smugly strolled back to his stone slab and settled down, as if he had just completed an exceedingly demanding task.

"Make yourself comfortable, Astraea," he beckoned, inviting her closer. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

With a flick of his finger, a slender beam of light emanated, serving as his etching tool. Skillfully, he carved the image of a human on the wall, pointing towards it.

"This represents you, Astraea. You're now an Apostle, specifically my Apostle," Erasmus said.

A surge of excitement welled up within Astraea at those words. She never fathomed that she would be referred to as an Apostle in her lifetime.

"Through our contract, I’ve unlocked your spiritual channels, enabling you to absorb Energi. This ability is exclusive to those favored by the Goddess, and now, to you."

He paused there, wondering if he should reveal something else. It was true that he freed her spiritual channels, but in the process, he noticed something odd. Her channels looked like they were originally open but became blocked artificially. From his observation, it wasn’t that Astraea lacked spiritual channels, but instead they were sealed.

He ruminated over this thought, but didn’t have much time to think before Astraea quipped in.

“What is Energi?” Astraea inquired, not wanting to miss out on anything. Erasmus looked up at her and smiled, deciding to keep this matter to himself.

"Energi is the fundamental essence of life. Every action performed by humans, plants, animals, and even monsters generates Energi, which is then released into the world," Erasmus explained.

Astraea nodded, absorbing the information, though still grappling with its conceptualization.

"To help you understand better," the Daemon offered, "allow me to show you."

With a sweeping motion of his hand, he erected a barrier around them. As the barrier solidified, Astraea gasped in awe.

Before her eyes, a symphony of colors emerged, hovering like ethereal jellyfish. Hues of pink, purple, blue, green, red, and yellow floated in the air, exuding an iridescent and lifelike glow, as if they possessed a consciousness of their own.

"This isn’t something a normal Apostle can see,” Erasmus explained. “But I’m letting you catch a glimpse through my lens.”

“As you can tell, each color you see represents a specific action that has been taken," Erasmus clarified. "Specifically, there are two hues you need to pay attention to."

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He gestured towards two distinct colors. One radiated a dazzling yellow, reminiscent of the sun's brilliance. Its intense glow was almost blinding if one dared to stare for too long.

The other color, deeper and richer, swirled with mesmerizing swirls of purple and black, evoking an unfathomable allure.

"The vibrant yellow symbolizes what we call Blessings," Erasmus explained, his voice tinged with knowledge. "Blessings are generated through virtuous deeds. Conversely, the darker purple color," he pointed, "is known as Sin."

Curiosity burning within her, Astraea asked, "What is Sin? I'm familiar with Blessings, but Sin is new to me."

"Think of Blessings and Sin as two sides of the same coin," Erasmus said.

He continued carving into the wall, conjuring up words Astraea knew all too well:

Goddess’s Judgment

You will not kill

You will not steal

You will not violate another

You will not greed over another’s belongings

You will not worship the Daemon

“As you know, these Commandments not only work as punishment to those that don’t follow them, but they’re also guidelines for Apostles to gain power. The closer your acts are to these rules, the more Blessings you gain, and the more powerful you become.”

Astraea nodded, so far everything was making sense.

“But as my Apostle, you are not compatible with Blessings, and instead, you must accumulate Sin to become more powerful. The only way you can do this is through breaking these Commandments."

Astraea swallowed, her gaze returning to the Commandments inscribed on the wall. "And there’s no way around this?"

Erasmus shook his head. "If you don’t gather Sin you’ll remain stronger than the average man, but no match for a trained Apostle. After all, absorbing Sin forms the foundation of your powers. Sin will not manifest unless you actively absorb it through your own actions."

“Ok,” Astraea said, trying to make sure she was clear on this. “Then are breaking each of the Commandments weighed equally? And…does it need to be all of them?” She looked at the violating one with extreme apprehension.

“Oh no, no,” the Daemon said, shaking his head. “You can pick and choose. But not every Commandment holds the same level of Sin. After all, I am the Daemon of Darkness.”

“And while the Goddess rewards good and all that is beautiful in the world,” Erasmus said, his voice dripping in bloodlust:

“My Judgment responds to something entirely different. I want to see the ugliest in humans. What makes them foul, what caused the Goddess to instill these wretched Commandments on them in the first place.”

“So show me that Astraea–show me what it means to be human.”

A dark glint appeared in Erasmus’s eyes and he smiled. For just a brief moment, Astraea could see the godly being responsible for the near annihilation of her kind. While it seemed like he took a liking to Astraea, his reactions towards others were entirely different. It was as if he couldn’t stand the sight of people, waiting for the day that they would just disappear all together.

“But let’s continue on,” he said, changing his physical position briefly to stretch. “One more point you need to know, is the closer you are to breaking the Commandment, the more powerful the Sin you’ll receive.”

“For example,” he continued. “One of the Commandments is not to kill. For a normal Apostle, that means protecting people–whether that’s from monsters, humans, the list goes on.”

“But for you,” he emphasized. “That means the closer you are to killing a human, the better the Sin that is created.”

“We’ll use a real life example.” He inched closer towards Astraea, and then suddenly swung his arm.

SLAP!

Astraea recoiled at the stinging impact, her cheek bearing a reddened welt. Shocked and offended by the suddenness of the act, she cast an incredulous gaze at Erasmus.

"What was that for?" she muttered, her voice laced with both pain and indignation.

Erasmus smirked at her reaction and pointed upwards.

"Observe," Erasmus said, pointing to the air around her. She noticed a faint purple floater, unmistakably Sin, hovering near the spot where the Daemon's hand had made contact. Before she could fully process it, the Sin floated towards Erasmus and merged with him.

"Because harming someone badly enough can kill, an action like this falls under the category of Sin," Erasmus explained. "However, due to how far removed it is from the Commandment itself, the power of this Sin is minimal."

"So," Astraea deduced, catching on to the concept. "To accumulate greater Sin, the action needs to break the Commandment..."

"Yes," the Daemon affirmed. "And you don't have much time to accumulate Sin."

"Why is that?" Astraea inquired.

Erasmus sighed, recognizing the need to teach crucial knowledge, but lamenting at how he needed to explain everything. It was no small feat to guide a novice in their path towards power.

But there was a reason he was taking his time to nurture her. Unbeknownst to Astraea, she was the key to his escape from the Goddess's prison, a chance he hasn’t been able to take in a very long time.

"As knowledgeable and powerful as I am, I can't teach you everything. After all, my powers aren’t bound to the rules of mortals.”

He waved around his hands, forming bright purple orbs that spun ferociously around him before disappearing. There appeared to be no rhyme or reason to his magic.

“That's why your best chance to become strong is to enroll in the Royal Academy. Though I doubt it has changed much since my imprisonment, it remains a rite of passage for every Apostle. In fact, the most formidable Apostles have forged their names within its walls."

He paused there, letting Astraea digest the information. While what he said was true, there was a secondary desire to his statement. The Royal Academy also contained the highest concentration of Apostles, and he had unfinished business with some of the deity’s representatives.

Astraea absorbed Erasmus's words, the weight of her decision pressing upon her. If she desired true strength, she had little choice but to seize this opportunity. Time was of the essence. Everyone in the kingdom knew the entrance exam took place once in the Fall, which was just months away.

There was also one more hurdle—the Academy accepted first-year students only up to the age of fifteen.

This was Astraea's sole chance.