Bishop Hamilton turned towards the collision, his face tinged with slight surprise.

The action seemed to have caught him off guard, as it wasn't every day you'd see an Apostolic Bishop engaged in a collision, especially one that seemed so mundane and simple.

He half turned towards the approaching solemn seer, Bishop Enir, his voice lingering with worry.

"Are you alright, Enir? It's not like you to bump into someone like that?"

The Sightless Seer seemed to be lost in thought, responding with an absentminded nod, before walking off with the rest of the group.

Bishop Hamilton seemed to want to say something but was interrupted by the wave of a Prye Church Bishop, urging him to catch up.

The man then pulled himself out of his thoughts, hurrying to catch up to the group of five as they made their way to their destination.

However unbeknownst to all, one of the five was subtly gazing at the young man's departing figure, his eyes bright and golden, like the radiance of the soul was etched into his soul.

He pulled his eyes away as he disappeared from view, a spurious smile playing on his face, akin to a spectator watching the start of a beautiful play that he already knew was approaching a pitiful ending.

...

In a solitary confinement quarter hidden deep within the academy's regal grounds, a small group of 7 was hurdled over a man chained to the inner walls.

The man's eyes held two empty black holes, like an abyss of darkness threatening to drown out the light, with dried red blood at its side, looking like crimson magma pouring out from within.

His appearance was shriveled, pale and lifeless, like a corpse that had been left without care and sunlight for many years.

His entire physical condition was similar to an individual on the steps of death, silently waiting for the arrival of the grim reaper to pull them out of their misery.

Even with the presence of the looming figures above him he didn't flinch or react, acting like they weren't there or maybe being incapable of even detecting their presence.

Bishop Dufresne gazed at the shriveled man, his voice abnormally grave.

"How did it get this worse in under 8 days? Wasn't his condition said to have been stabilizing?"

The question was issued to no one in imparticular, as each member present was occupied with their own thoughts.

Professor Conti leaned leisurely on his cane, drawing from a gentleman's pipe before puffing out soft clouds of smoke.

The smoke had a type of medicinal smell as if its contents were a mixture of various rich herbs and plants.

He took a brief moment to savor the rich mixture, drawing it deeper into his lungs before exhaling with a clear look of relief and satisfaction.

"Indeed it was... well, at least for the first 6 to 8 hours."

Professor Conti cleaned the tip of the pipe with a fancy white cloth, stuffed it into a custom holder and tucked it into the side of his coat. He then continued to speak, his voice casual and without worry. "Due to I and Hamilton's combined efforts, we were finally able to get through to him, temporarily soothing his inflicted mental state with our mind powers, which surprisingly led to him responding to psychic counseling, no longer being as aggressive and unapproachable as he was before."

At the mention of this, Bishop Hamilton who was nearby suddenly sighed deeply, his face bitter and grave.

"Yes... It was supposed to be a miracle and cause for celebration. I was elated, thinking that we had finally found a way to grant my brethren the peace he deserves. But that ended up being false hope, a calm before the storm of another round of life-threatening consequences."

Professor Conti walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder in a show of silent sympathy.

Bishop Hamilton shook his head slightly, his tone tinged with pity. "About 8 hours after he was successfully placated, his physical condition suddenly deteriorated, worsening to a point where I had thought he wouldn't make it through the night.

"His body seemed to suddenly be drained of its vitality, half of his organs instantly gave up and even the ether and divine power within his body suddenly started to run rampant. Half of his brain melted overnight, and the only reason he is alive right now is due to the combined efforts of the Naturist and Sightless Seer Bishops who hadn't departed after the Apostolic Assessment."

His voice then trailed off, as if trying not to believe his own words.

"I'm afraid... he will truly be dead after this visit."

The entire chamber was enveloped in solemn silence, each of the five orthodox church delegates having different experiences on their face.

Professor Conti simply stood at the side, watching the entire ordeal like a silent spectator.

A man suddenly walked closer to the afflicted half-corpse of the once dignified True Scholar, garbed in the official Archbishop robes of the Truth Church.

The man stood before his clergyman with heavy emotions, sighing and stretching a hand toward his temples.

After sensing for about 1 to 3 minutes he slowly withdrew his hands, turning to face Bishop Hamilton with soft eyes.

"Well done. You seem to have kept him alive this long by constantly flooding his body with a steady supply of life essence, all the while recycling and forcefully changing his misfortune into good luck, ensuring that he would not die and could stay alive as long as possible.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"This was a great way to handle the situation Hamilton, as an effective combination of both abilities allowed him to avoid his death, albeit for a little while. If I had gotten here a day later he would have undoubtedly succumbed to his afflictions, responding to the voice of death that has been constantly calling out to him. That still doesn't take away from your achievements, as I would have made the same choices had I been in your shoes. All in all, you did well, I shall pass on your contributions in my report to the upper Cardinals."

The man smiled while speaking, his tone reminiscent of a teacher who was praising a student for a proud achievement.

Bishop Hamilton solemnly bowed his head, not caring about the praises due to the heavy mood.

"Thank you, your grace. It was a combined attempt and not due to my efforts alone. If it wasn't for the aid pitched in by the other churches, as well as the help granted to me by the professor, I'm afraid this wouldn't have been possible."

The man, who had the temperament of a religious sage, nodded to the other four church bishops, giving them his thanks.

After receiving varying nods of acknowledgment, his gaze then drifted onto the silent figure of Professor Conti, a familiar look on his face as he prepared to address him.

Professor Conti noticed this and sharply cut him off, his eyes stern and impatient.

"Ditch the pleasantries, Francis. I'm a busy man so can you please get to the point? what happened to him? I can already tell that you've figured something out. Stop wasting our time and get on with it."

Professor Conti's sharp and concise remark caught the other religious dignitaries off guard, as they clearly noticed the animosity hidden between the lines.

Archbishop Francis however didn't show as much of a reaction, maintaining his soft smile, as if expecting it to some degree.

He lightly waved his hands, stopping Bishop Braun, an Ember Cleric and clergyman from the Pyre Church, from challenging the disrespectful tone, meaning that he took no offense.

He regarded Professor Conti with a casual attitude as if he was talking to a friend he hadn't spoken too for a long time.

"Don't you think you are being too aggressive, Conti? Sigh... You are always like this whenever we meet, are you really going to keep holding onto the past?"

Professor Conti gritted his teeth, strengthing his grip on his silver cane until light scratches appeared on its polished surface.

He seriously felt like punching this man's annoying face right then and there but held himself back from doing so.

No one knew how to push his buttons quite like this sly religious man.

Both Professor Conti and Archbishop Francis had been friends in the past, getting accepted into the clergy of the Truth Church at quite a young age, with both having seemingly limitless potential.

Both of them had balanced resonance with both ether and the divinity of knowledge, making even the high-ranking Cardinals at the time view them as potential successors to their seats in the future.

They were trained in the ways of truth and wisdom, dedicating themselves to the pursuit of fruitful knowledge while devoting themselves entirely to their belief in the god of Sapience.

Everything seemed set in stone for them to walk onto the path of religious glory until an event happened in their mid-20s, an event which would drive a wedge in not only their life journey but their friendship as well.

Professor Windsor had fallen in love with a local maiden who sold flowers, giving into youthful spring love while promising himself entirely to her.

This was totally against the customs and beliefs of the Truth Church, an orthodoxy whose practices expected sole dedication to the pursuit of truth and nothing else.

This meant that he committed a sacrilegious sin, a sin which went against everything the church stood for.

This secret was eventually found out by Archbishop Francis—his then best friend—and even after listening to Conti's pleas, he still ended up reporting it to their mentor, leading to Conti being thrown out of the church for sinning against their practice.

To make things worse the girl he loved turned out to have been promised to a noble knight all this while, eventually breaking it off with Conti, leaving him with no love and no faith to walk away with.

This caused Professor Conti to be extremely bitter, bitterness which he transferred onto Francis, his sole scapegoat in the situation.

Thinking about the past made Conti almost lose his cool, taking a while to stabilize his emotions before saying matter-of-factly, "Get to the point."

Archbishop Francis shook his head briskly, before turning back to the bony body in front of him.

"I have indeed found out what happened to him, and honestly I'm still a bit confused myself."

Professor Dufresne, who had been a silent observer so far, suddenly spoke up. "Why, your grace?"

He continued to gaze at the figure in front of him, his gaze complicated.

"Well, how do I put this? Let's just say this is indeed a case that hasn't happened before, a very grave one at that, one that opens up a lot of frightening possibilities."

He then turned sharply to face the group of religious delegates, his robes swaying slightly as he moved.

"To put it simply, his Inner Body of Truth was corroded by ether in some odd way, causing it to be riddled with cracks like a broken mirror. It was as if ether made its way into his mind and body, similar to how it forcefully invades biological entities and objects, almost as if it was willed to attack him by something or..."

He paused, weighing his words.

"Someone..."

...

Elias sat on his bed in the dark, allowing the light of the moon to fall onto his silently seated figure.

His silvery grey and amber-colored eyes were fixed on the back of his hand, to which the illusory image of a fading lantern symbol was vaguely outlined.

He gazed at it with a mixed expression—excited to find out what it was, but bitter at having yet another mystery thrust onto his constantly growing pile of troubles.

Lars slowly floated at his side, his eyes also fixed on the lantern tattoo.

Lars lingered for a bit before turning to face Elias, his voice filled with obvious worry.

"Are you sure?"

Hearing his brother's sudden question pulled Elias out of his conflicted thoughts, as he laughed bitterly. "Do I have a choice?"

Lars thought for a bit before replying, "Yes, you do. You always do. Even if we have accepted your unconventional abilities as the norm now, I do have to place emphasis on still being careful.

"Ether is a very dangerous thing, and just seeing it puts you under a lot of mental distress. I'm not yet comfortable with you using abilities directly related to this unknown world energy, especially abilities born from who knows where. So yes, you do have a choice. The choice to be patient and wait."

Elias slowly absorbed his brother's words, rubbing the back of his right hand where the fading lantern was engraved.

"Yes you are right, but we can't continue being passive. You know that, and I know that as well. This is a perfect opportunity to test out one of the two runic Invocations I have yet to use, understanding the ability so I can better utilize it when I need to.

"I understand your apprehension, but we can't afford to sit on the back end anymore. A lot of bizarre and unconventional things keep happening to us as soon as we step foot on this island, the least we can do is better prepare ourselves to respond to all of these hidden dangers."

With that, he clenched his fists, his voice resolute. "I would rather endure temporary pain a thousand times than be powerless in the face of my death. I refuse to do to our siblings what Father Bernard's death has done to us."

Heavy silence enveloped the room, the sound of crickets being the only thing still present.

Lars lingered for a bit before sighing, gesturing to signal his reluctant approval.

Elias smiled at his brother softly, before getting to the task at hand.

He focused on the image of the lantern tattoo, all the while searching for an ability hidden within himself, willing for it to be activated.

Elias got an instant response, as a torrent of information burrowed its way into his mind, imprinting him with vague contents before abruptly vanishing like it had never arrived.

He had successfully invoked Identification for the first time!

A name suddenly stuck out of the net of mixed-up information, one that left an instant deep impression on Elias,

'Ebonshade.'