As always, Ieros accompanied the Princess to the Dining Hall, although this time he didn’t eat much.

Curious, the Princess asked, “Is something the matter? Why aren’t you eating?”

Ieros said, “I just do not feel hungry your Highness.”

The Princess asked, “Are you sure?.”

Before Ieros could reply, the doors to the Dining Hall were opened and everyone directed their gaze curiously to said doors, wondering who it was that would dare disrupt the King’s lunch. What they saw caused them to stiffen, bowing their heads with respect, all with the exception of Ieros who just stared at them.

The Surveyor was also looking on with curiosity, for it sensed the power of Light within these individuals. Ieros too sensed a strange power within them, not like the mana he had previously known in most mages, these individuals did not have mana, but they did possess an energy of a sort. Meanwhile, the Priest accompanied by his Templar Knights surveyed the room, seeing Ieros who had not bowed his head.

He frowned, turning to the King saying, “Why is there a dark mage in our presence?”

The King said, “He is the Court Mage of the Atheran Ambassador, Princess Stellaria.”

The Priest directed his gaze towards Stellaria.

“Has Athera fallen so far from Light? Since when were dark mages made into Court Mages.”

Stellaria bowed her head.

“He isn’t only a dark mage, Sir Priest, he is currently the most talented mage in all of Athera, and I dare say the rest of the world.”

The Priest’s frown deepened.

“This makes him only more dangerous, I must perform an exorcism so that his powers are used for good. Templars, restrain this mage.”

The Templars went to do so but they were confronted by Ieros’s golems, the stone constructs, their broadswords intimidating the Templars who seemed puny in comparison. Ieros—paying no heed to what was going on—just created a cup and filled it with a mysterious blue liquid, arching an eyebrow at the color before taking a sip.

Meanwhile, the King stood up angrily.

“Does the Luxian Theocracy think so little of my sovereignty!”

The Priest hastily turned his attention to the King, bowing his head.

“My apologies, your Majesty. I just wish to carry out Light’s will.”

The King said, “Ieros has given me no indication of being corrupted by darkness. Those that are corrupt are often insane, are they not? Well as you can see, he is perfectly sane.”

The Priest was unwilling to give up.

“But your Majesty, just because he hasn’t made a move now doesn’t mean he won’t in the future. I beseech you to imprison him.”

The King shook his head.

“And cause a war with Athera? I think not.”

The Priest wanted to object but remembered where he was, eventually saying, “Then I insist on accompanying him to make sure that he doesn’t do anything wrong.”

The King looked to Stellaria.

“Would you mind?”

Stellaria bowed her head.

“I see no reason to deny the Priest his wish.”

She glanced at Ieros who merely reached out to grab his cup, taking a sip from it. The Priest eyed him suspiciously but returned his attention to the King.

“Your Majesty, when you have finished with your meal, may we go elsewhere to talk?” he glanced at Ieros, “Somewhere more... private.”

The King nodded, standing as he did so. He nodded to Stellaria before walking out. But before the King left the chamber, the Priest directed one of his Templars to accompany the Princess to keep an eye on Ieros.

“Princess, please take one of my templars to accompany you.”

The Princess bowed slightly.

“I thank you for your offer but isn’t it their duty to protect you?”

The Priest said, “The duty of the Templars is to protect all from the corruption of the Dark, something I fear you may need Princess.”

The Princess put on a false smile.

“Then I suppose I shall accept your offer. You have my gratitude.”

The Priest bowed his head.

“It is only my duty.”

With that, he designated one Templar to escort the Princess, the Templar seeming to glare at Ieros, his hand at his sword. Seeing this, Ieros’s golems put their hands on their broadswords, the Templar turning his gaze to them.

Ieros said, “It is best you do not draw your weapon. Those golems may perceive it as an attempt on the Princess’s life.”

The Templar gave one more look to the golems and reluctantly released his grip, the golems doing the same.

The Princess, sighing with relief inwardly, said, “Let us go, I have eaten my fill and desire some fresh air.”

Ieros bowed his head and followed the Princess, the uncomfortable Templar following.

The three began to walk wherever the Princess so wished, the Templar ready to act if Ieros did anything. However, Ieros did absolutely nothing that the Templar viewed as against his doctrine and thus the Templar did nothing as well. As much as he disliked dark mages, if they did nothing wrong, he couldn’t act. However, he still viewed Ieros with suspicion, for what was to say that this wasn’t all some sort of act and he was waiting for the perfect time to strike. The Templar resolved to be ready for that, after all, it was better to be careful than regretful.

But as he got a closer look at Ieros, he was slightly confused. The Blessing of Light made him only see the darkness within but the mage’s outer appearance seemed almost too young.

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And so the first words out of the Templar’s mouth was, “How old are you?”

Ieros turned to look at the Templar before directing his gaze ahead.

“I am fifteen years old.”

The Templar asked incredulously, “Fifteen? And you’re... a Court Mage.”

Ieros nodded.

“Yes, my abilities were judged to be worthy of the position.”

The Templar asked, “Aren’t you too young?”

Ieros rather bluntly said, “I too feel that I am a bit young for the job but the King of Athera has appointed me to this post. I couldn’t very well refuse.”

The Templar was slightly confused.

“If you were taught magic, how was it that none of them knew of the darkness within you, or was it taught to you by Athera’s School of Magic.”

Ieros said, “I was born with a legendary class affinity to darkness. Rather than to waste it, the Archmage decided it best that I was to be tutored in its ways but also learn not to fall to its temptation.”

The Templar was shocked, a legendary class affinity? Just that alone would make Ieros one of the geniuses of the century, nay, perhaps even of the millennia. But this also made him a greater danger however, with so much talent for the dark arts, he could become the greatest of evils to ever walk Agleon. The Templar felt that he had to report this to the Theocracy so that proper actions could be taken, for as unfortunate as it would be to seal away his great potential, it was far better than Ieros becoming one of the most powerful dark mages to ever exist.

He looked at slight disbelief at the fifteen-year-old, his thin frame juxtaposed to the actual power he held. The Templar always imagined those that held such affinities to be magnificent to behold, with bodies like demigods and possessing an overpowering aura. But this boy whose only unique physical features was his skin color and facial features, his appearance was not unlike the Traders from the far South, a remote people that did not take kindly to outsiders.

There were tales about the strange things that went on there but these were vague, not much was really known about these Traders other than the fact that they possessed goods which were a rare and much sought-after commodity in this region.

Wondering about this, the Templar asked, “Are you perhaps related to the Traders of the South?”

Ieros replied, “I suppose I must be, on account of my appearance. But as to how and why I am here instead of where the rest of my people are, I unfortunately do not know. I was found in the forest by my step-parents who saw a strange shadow-being watching over me.”

The Templar mentioned, “Ah, the fabled Sentinel, the being who stands guard over those who are lost.”

Ieros turned to him, “You’ve heard of him?”

The Templar nodded.

“Of course, there have been sightings of it spanning across multiple countries. The Theocracy even tried to subdue it but it quickly became apparent that whatever this thing was, it was far beyond our own capabilities. Eventually, when a Saint Templar was killed, the Pope decreed that we were to leave it alone as it never proved to be hostile.”

This time, the Princess spoke, “A Saint Templar was killed?”

The Templar nodded, “Yes, the supporting priests described how the being seemed impervious to his attacks, eventually killing the Saint Templar without leaving any physical injuries. Since the Theocracy had no way of defeating this being short of summoning an angel, the Pope decided it was better to just leave it alone, if it wasn’t too late to do so. Luckily, the Sentinel never came back for revenge.”

Ieros took this in, for him, this was the first time he was hearing about the Sentinel’s past.

The Templar studied him.

“It seems like you didn’t know.”

Ieros nodded slowly.

“I didn’t.”

The Templar probed.

“Does it bother you?”

Ieros was a bit confused.

“What do you mean?”

The Templar explained, “Does it bother you that the Sentinel has killed?”

Ieros thought on this for a long time before saying, “It doesn’t. It is no different than you killing a mosquito for sucking some of your blood.”

The Templar was astonished.

“A mosquito? Those were human lives that were lost!”

Ieros shrugged.

“And what of the lives of mosquitos?”

The Templar shook his head.

“That is different.”

Ieros said, “Really? How is it different? To the Sentinel, those that attack him are like the mosquitos, a mild annoyance that needs to be taken care of.”

The Templar was outraged.

“How can you think so little of those who lost their lives to it!?”

Ieros shook his head.

“You misunderstand. I do not think little of them, the Sentinel does. I think that it was unfortunate that they died, however, I do not blame the Sentinel for their deaths. It was something that they brought upon themselves.”

The Templar stubbornly said, “But it still wasn’t right at all! Lives were taken, innocent lives!”

Ieros just sighed.

“Lives were lost, yes, but innocent? No. They were guilty of daring to attack him, I’m afraid that is an offense that—in the Sentinel’s view—couldn’t be pardoned.”

The Templar shook his head.

“It should not have killed them! Injure them perhaps but not kill, it is common decency not to-”

Ieros interrupted, “The Sentinel is not beholden to our laws nor does it possess our common knowledge. All it knew was that something dared to attack it and to make them not attack anymore, it decided to end them.”

The Templar said, “A creature that decides to kill to end its problems is never good.”

Ieros said, “I never said he was, I am just explaining what the Sentinel must’ve thought.”

The Templar studied Ieros anew, no longer thinking of him as a mere boy or even a man. He was... something else.

Seeing the look on his face, the Princess nodded in understanding, whispering, “He just doesn’t seem normal, does he.”

The Templar nodded hesitantly.

“Yes... he’s far too mature for the age he’s at.”

Having heard their little conversation, Ieros said, “Unfortunately, the great power I possess demands I must mature. So to survive, I had no other choice. Also, next time, please just ask me directly instead of whispering.”

The Templar nodded, bowing his head in chastisement before he realized that he had just been scolded by a fifteen-year-old. The Princess was also slightly embarrassed, although she plays it off, continuing to walk on ahead as if nothing had happened.

Nothing of much note happened after until the Priest met once more with the Princess, deciding to accompany her personally. However, it was at this time that the Princess conveniently decided that she had enough and wished to return to her chambers, dismissing Ieros to his own. However, when Ieros had walked some ways from the Princess’s chambers and his golems left at her door, the Priest and his Templars surrounded Ieros.

Ieros frowns.

“What is this.”

The Priest said, “I cannot allow such darkness to wander about freely, you will come with me to the Temple where I can do more.”

However, Ieros had no intentions of moving until he had reached a decision.

“If you force me to accompany you, I shall see this as an act of hostility and respond as such. In addition, I’m sure that the Atheran King will not be too pleased when the Church assaulted one of his court mages and attempted to remove his magic.”

The Priest said, “I’m sure the King will understand, what I will do is for the sake of the world.”

Ieros sighed, it seemed that to deal with these priests required a show of force. However, if he did go down this road, he would have to face the wrath of the Theocracy, and if that were to happen, he may very well have to face them on his own. But, so what? If that happens, so be it, Ieros was one who was chosen by Darkness, the greatest of all beings.

He had come to know of this being through the shadows, a being that he had never come across in all of his learning at the Grand Librarium. But according to the shadows, he was the creator of all things, incredibly old and immensely powerful. In some way, Ieros had come to possess the tiniest sliver of his power, which translated to his great magical gifts.

And with it, Ieros was confident that he could take on any mortal force in the world if he so wished. But he needed to consolidate his strength, he had the potential, but not the immediate power. And so, Ieros decided to follow the Priest without too much trouble, after all, the power he possessed was of Darkness, it shouldn’t be so easily exorcized.