Chapter 2: Moonlit Chase
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
- Lao Tzu
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Our mare glowed in the darkness as we dashed through the night. I was sat in front of Priest Duncan, who did nothing to alleviate my growing pain from riding so fast. I’d never ridden a horse before; living in Pendale, I’d never had a need. It was horrible on the legs and core as I tried to steady myself.
‘On a more important note, how did I learn [Calm] so quickly? I don’t think Father or Mother had that skill, and I thought they were quite powerful. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I have magic or that I’m a Saint? I have so many questions I need to remember to ask Father Duncan.’ I thought to myself.
The moon rose higher and higher into the gloomy sky as trees flashed past us on either side, illuminating us like a miniature star in the blanket of the night.
“How much longer? I’m hungry and sore,” I grumbled to the man behind me. I hadn’t had a chance to eat dinner what with the hustle and bustle earlier of my being chosen by a god and chased out of my home. Typical Wednesday evening. My muscles continued to scream in pain as we travelled faster and faster. The journey so far hadn’t been as fantastical as I’d hoped.
“It will take as long as it takes,” the Priest whispered back to me, barely audible over the clopping of hooves. I felt he was hiding something from me - multiple somethings in fact - so it was considered only fair that I didn’t tell him I already had a skill and ‘free points’, whatever they were.
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30 minutes earlier
Three horses came careening into the small village of Pendale just as the place seemed to be quieting down for the night. Sat upon these shadowy stallions were three cloaked figures, one of which was obscured in pure darkness, each with a knife attached at the hip. They stopped at the stables, where a now disgruntled stable boy was sweeping one of the empty pens. The leader of these dark figures disembarked his steed and walked up to the boy.
“Hello there, lad. Have you seen anyone leaving the village of late?”
“Who’re you?” The boy asked, beginning to look anxious as he glanced from side to side.
‘He won't be gaining a [Lie] skill anytime soon if he keeps that up.’ The man thought to himself with a smirk. ‘It’s good that another follower of Luminaris is weak. It means that our plans will go more smoothly in the years to come. But we need their Saint most of all, or our attack will be pushed back by months if not years.’
“We mean you no harm, we’ve come from the town of Derban to the north of your little village. We were hoping to find your priest riding out with a young boy of perhaps 10?”
Finally beginning to relax, the boy replied, pointing “Yer lookin’ for Priest Duncan an’ Daniel. Yeah, they rode out of ‘ere ‘bout an hour ago, that way.”
‘Too easy. I was half expecting to have to kill him, or at least chop off a few fingers!’
“Much obliged,” the man said, tossing the boy a copper piece. Mounting his steed once more, he disappeared into the night with few in the village any wiser. One boy was aware of them, however. Theo, an acolyte of Priest Duncan, was watching the men leave from the giant window above the church of Luminaris. As a 14-year-old, he didn’t have access to his skills or status, but Duncan had taught him some tier 1 magic that didn’t strictly require the system. “[Message],” he whispered, recalling the events of the last few minutes into the spell. When the magic was complete, he breathed a sigh of relief and knelt in front of the altar, praying for the safety of their Saint.
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Father Duncan looked up at the sky and huffed in annoyance, urging the horse forward to sprint even faster. Was he aware of something that I wasn’t? We were already a blur; I didn’t see a need to go any faster. Though I didn’t know the relative endurance of horses, that couldn’t have been a natural speed. Maybe the horse had attributes? Could animals have attributes? My thoughts were cut in half by the increasing pain spanning every tired cell in my body. I needed rest and food, and soon. I had barely been holding on before, but this was the breaking point.
You are unfazed by worldly pains in the pursuit of enlightenment.
New Skill Gained - [Pain Tolerance]
That was a nice surprise. The pain settled into the back of my mind. It was still present but could be endured more easily now. Thanking Luminaris or whoever had granted me this ability to absorb skills so quickly, I looked at my status:
Name: Daniel Lightbringer
Age: 10
Class: Saint
Health: 100/100 | Mana: ?/? | Stamina: 74/100
Free Points: 2 (+1)
Skills: [Calm] Lv1, [Pain Tolerance] Lv1 (+1)
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Spells: ?
Strength: 15
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 13
Intelligence: 22
Charisma: 7
Wisdom: 12
I was gaining skills way too quickly; it couldn’t have been natural. Nobody was educated beyond the basics, so this was all completely new to me. I had dozens of questions for the Priest sat behind me, and I couldn’t wait to get to the city to do some research on the System and Sainthood. A dedicated teacher would also be great, if the church truly wanted me educated. While I’d miss my parents and Jacob, I was so ready for this adventure and gaining the powers to protect and help them.
That was when I heard 3 Stygian horses approaching from behind, gaining on us.
“Have they been following us the whole time?” I asked.
“Yes, they worship Umbrael, the goddess of darkness and chaos. They want you dead. If you die, then our church will lose prestige and no longer be the strongest. There will have been 6 Saints decreed today. If they are found by a church that isn’t theirs, they will be killed or captured. It looks like a priest and 2 acolytes are chasing, so we still have a chance here.”
“But how would they know I’m a saint if even you didn’t know I was a Saint until I touched the testing stone?”
“I haven’t been entirely honest with you, my boy. I’m sorry. A decade ago, one of the Cardinals prophesised that the saint had been born in your village. I was sent to Pendale to protect you, though we weren’t sure if it was you or one of the other children. After you released that beacon of light by the river, I set up a meeting point with an old friend of mine and prepared Theo for my absence.” He looked around. “They’re within range now. [Light Beam]!” The man shouted as he whipped his hand back. As the name of his magic implied, a straight beam of the brightest light shot from him. The cloaked figure on the very right was knocked off his horse, his steed stopping in confusion at the loss of its rider. 2 were remaining. I assumed that the one who’d been blasted was an acolyte, considering he didn’t have any magic to stop that seemingly simple attack.
My mind was reeling from Duncan’s words. There had been a prophecy about me? And who was this man that called himself Duncan if he’d come to Pendale specifically for me? I was interrupted as the remaining two horses closed in on either side of ours. She let out a neigh of alarm and I looked up at the face of the man on the right. It was surprisingly normal, not monstrous or demonic like I was expecting. I was almost disappointed after reading too many adventure books. However, he did have a scar spanning half of his pale face that went directly through his eye. I winced at the thought of the pain that would’ve caused. That was until he reached out with a gloved hand only a foot away from me; pure, unrestrained shadow seemed to emanate from him, warping the very fabric of reality. I echoed our horse with a very inhuman neigh of my own as his hand came closer. From behind me, I heard a booming voice shout “[Restore Order]”, cancelling the enemy’s magic in a flash of light and blowing him backwards from his steed.
But that was the point that I felt it. Heat and pressure spread from my left shoulder as I looked around. We'd been so entranced by the actual priest that we had ignored the last acolyte, thinking him harmless. How wrong we were. He’d stabbed me in the shoulder before I could’ve even reacted. To my surprise, the blade wasn’t particularly painful, just hot as I felt blood come pouring out of my wound.
Our horse, who was growing on me more and more, seemed to know that something was wrong. She barrelled straight into the acolyte’s black stallion, knocking both horses and their humans to the ground. I rolled across the ground, once, twice...six times. That seemed to be the breaking point for my new skill [Pain Tolerance], bringing it all back to the forefront of my mind. But, as if on cue:
[Pain Tolerance] has levelled up – Lv2 (+1)
‘Perfect timing! This is almost easy!’ I thought as I checked my new status:
Name: Daniel Lightbringer
Age: 10
Class: Saint
Health: 37/100 | Mana: ?/? | Stamina: 62/100
Free Points: 3 (+1)
Skills: [Calm] Lv1, [Pain Tolerance] Lv2 (+1)
Spells: ?
Strength: 15
Agility: 8
Dexterity: 13
Intelligence: 22
Charisma: 7
Wisdom: 12
My health was not looking good at all; it was decreasing by the minute. I rolled and looked up to see Father Duncan, the 60-year-old, fighting against the spritely acolyte, and winning! Were attributes this powerful that they could give you superpowers? I vowed that I would find out if I didn’t die here.
The old man dodged or blocked every attack, retaliating with a slash of his own. It must have only lasted for half a minute but felt like hours when you’re bleeding out. Duncan ducked under a stab to his chest and slit the acolyte’s throat without hesitation. Who was this man that he could so callously kill someone who was barely an adult? He had always been so gentle in Pendale, never hurting a soul with words or wounds. What he had done felt wrong, however, I couldn’t help but agree that it was necessary. I may have to do far worse things in my life if there would always be people hunting me, it was a simple, yet cruel fact. The tired man hurried over to me, panting and spluttering.
‘Maybe there is a limit to the powers of attributes after all.’ I thought. Slightly glad that he wasn’t invincible
He held out his hand above me and closed his eyes, bathing me in golden light and a pleasant warmth. My health swiftly ticked up as my wound reknitted itself. This amazing magic also seemed to work every knot and pain I had in the rest of my body. I was still tired and hungry, but it was an improvement. That was a spell that I vowed to learn one day.
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Later, we were back on our horse, who’d somehow managed to pin the black one to the ground. Our horse’s identity seemed to be one of those mysteries of the universe, but I was very glad she was on our side. As she walked along the path at a much more comfortable pace, I asked “What was that magic?”
“[Major Heal]. A tier 3 spell.”
“Of course it was,” I sighed in exasperation.
“You’ll learn it one day, don’t worry,” He chuckled in response to my annoyance.
“You owe me dinner, and about a thousand explanations, without hiding anything this time. Let’s start with an easy one – Who are you, really?”
He chuckled. “I haven’t been fair to you, you’re right. You can ask me anything you want over dinner. As for who I am, my name is Duncan Penrith, an Archbishop of the Church of Luminaris. But you, Holy Saint, can just call me Duncan.”
I was wide-eyed. Utterly speechless.
“Ah, would you look at that! We’re at the meeting point.” The, now Archbishop, said.
We were approaching an inn by the side of the road. I couldn’t have looked forward to food and sleep any more than I already did, even if I’d tried!