Instead of appearing rather alarmed or frightened at the possibility, Elias quietly sank into contemplation.

"But doesn't that seem rather odd? I do remember our founder confirming the existence of only six of the divine gods. Wouldn't that greatly go against the message conveyed by the seal, stating that there had actually been seven instead?"

Lars immediately put on a spurious smile, almost as if he was satisfied to have grasped a clue that his brother didn't.

"Well yes, but when you sit down and think about it for a moment, does that really contradict the message conveyed by the first seal of your Wisp?"

Elias became alert to his brother's unusual tone of speech, feeling like he was indirectly pointing towards a certain detail he might have missed.

He pondered over the message in silence, running over each of the lines in order to not miss a thing.

This was when his mind settled onto a singular sentence, one which didn't seem to stand out as much as the others but still enabled every piece of the puzzle to fall into place.

The line read as such; 'However unbeknownst to all was the silent birth of a seventh, forgotten in slumber while awaiting the one who shall one day gain its acceptance.'

Elias finally realized what his brother was eluding to, his expression one of stark realization.

"I see, so that's what it is. Even if the seventh was born, 'it' was still in a dormant and unclear state, lacking individuality and uniqueness, so from what I've managed to pick up, it seems like it needs to awaken inside of a more compatible body, before its existence would truly become defined and set in truth."

Lars nodded, signifying that he had the same idea.

"That's why the answer from our founder is correct. There have only ever been six divine gods, as those six were the ones born with a trace of individuality and existence. I don't know what happened to the seventh to put it into such a unique state of incompleteness, but I'm sure it couldn't have been anything small." Lars said.

"Hmm..." Elias felt unconvinced, almost as if the puzzle was still incomplete. "But I do remember the founder making mention of a predecessor of ours, and even the seal only ever designated us as this entity's 'second follower'. If there was an Apostle before us who even Mr. Noa El-Lah knew, then why didn't the revival process take place inside of them, why does it have to be us?"

'Why does this guy keep saying 'us' all the time? Is he trying to implicate me in all of this? I'm just a tenant in your body, don't involve me in this!' Lars mumbled to himself grudgingly, while maintaining his outward usual expression. "I have no idea. That's something I'm curious about too, but being curious about it doesn't mean the answers will just fall onto our laps. At the very least we can only try to uncover the answers little by little, we don't need to rush."

Elias rolled his eyes, speaking with mild annoyance.

"Easy for you to say, you aren't the one that has to deal with the potential of an unknown existence taking over your life and body!"

Lars floated up to him, putting his illusory hand across Elias's shoulder.

"Oh come on, I'm sure there is no immediate need for worry. You are too weak now, so if the entity takes over your body, the incoming divinity and ether will most likely tear you to shreds. I assume that this is a problem we will need to address when you get to the Bishop or Archbishop level, so why worry yourself now? Besides, don't we have more immediate things to deal with?"

Elias's face instantly darkened, his voice becoming flat and aggressive.

"Indeed we do. We now know that Father Bernard's death was instigated by a third party, a thought I've always had since the very beginning. This actually makes things a whole lot easier, as I now have a clearer end goal in mind. Let them enjoy the little time of safety and stability they have remaining, for I vow to spare no expense in tracking those b****** down, no matter how long it takes." He paused, gritting his teeth in anger. "His name is the last thing they shall ever hear."

Lars did nothing but smile at his brother's display, as hidden deep within his heart, he also felt the same.

He had tried for too long to contain the emotions of anger and unwillingness he felt for many years, so now hearing that there was a target for his vengeance made him a lot more relieved and expectant.

He gave Elias a firm pat on the shoulder, floating towards their reading table before bringing something over.

Within his hands was a decrepit large brown-covered book, looking so weak and tattered as if it might fall apart in the next second.

Lars safely arrived back at the bed in tow, before drawing open the dorm room curtains to allow for more light to stream into the room.

"So... What do we do with this?"

Elias shrugged helplessly, signifying that he had no clue.

"I don't know. Heck, I don't even know how it followed us back here. Wasn't this the book we used as an entrance to the Infinite Library?"

Lars nodded his head, with Elias feeling rather awkward.

"Uhmm are we allowed to just have this on us? Aren't all of the books kept in that section of the archives pretty dangerous?"

Lars nodded once again, before falling deep in thought.

"There must have been a reason it followed us back here. Maybe the founder has something to do with it?"

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Elias considered it, feeling like it was quite possible.

He glanced at Lars and the latter glanced back, both of them appearing quite hesitant.

"So... do we check what's written inside?" Elias said.

Lars took a moment to inspect the book, before heaving a brief sigh of relief.

"At least it doesn't appear to give a warning to my spirit body, so it should be quite alright. Just be prepared for anything, we don't know what could happen."

Elias took the warning to heart, having similar thoughts.

He carefully opened the book to reveal pages the color of brown autumn leaves, noting a line of words that was currently being embedded into it with newly added ink.

'Elias, Lars, this is your founder, as well as your new teacher, Noa El-Lah. I regret that I wasn't able to accommodate you both for a little while longer, as it has been so long since I've enjoyed the privilege of another's presence, and for this, I must say thank you.'

'The road ahead of you both is by no means easy to thread on and even though I'm not aware of the specifics concerning the situation, how could I who was once hailed as the most intelligent mortal alive not have some ideas? It is because of these ideas that I want to offer you some help, no matter how direct or indirect it might be.'

"Why does he feel like he is praising himself a bit too much? He is honestly such a unique old man, no wonder he was referred to as the 'Benign Philosopher' by the public." Said Lars sarcastically.

Elias chuckled, before continuing to read.

‘This book serves two purposes, as it is both a reward for solving all the riddles and puzzles I left behind, while also acting as your constant connection to me. I fused a bit of my mind and soul signature into the book's pages, so I will be able to summon you back up into the library next time.'

'Unfortunately, distance and direction aren't constant within the Spiritual Sea, so it will take a bit of drifting around before the Infinite Library is back within a suitable axis of the Physical World where I can sense the signature and pull you up again. Until then, stay safe and do try to further your studies diligently. An educated man makes the best gentleman after all.'

Elias's eyes sparkled, as he couldn't believe his luck.

His having another opportunity to go into the Infinite Library would mean a second opportunity to ask more questions, which was as valuable to him as anything else.

A lot of the questions he had could easily be answered by a person of Noa El-Lah's status, making him look forward to the next visit with expectancy.

He turned to the next page carefully, before welcoming a pleasant surprise.

'As for your reward, I went ahead to seal all of the relevant information pertaining to the seven main Echelon of Faiths, including all of their subsequent levels and requirements. Each of the information seals will be released as you increase your strength, as I want to make sure that you aren't exposed to the probing of 'that' particular entity.'

'The information available right now should cover all of the Apostolic Deacon and Priests levels, so you should study it in order to better prepare yourself for any potential future battles. Take this as the first present from me, your teacher. There will surely be many more in the future. Yours sincerely, Noa El-Lah.'

Elias and Lars took a deep breath, as they didn't expect to come across this big of a treasure trove.

Knowing what to expect before a battle would greatly reduce the risk factors, allowing them to better prepare counters for multiple different situations.

It was just a pity that he didn't include information pertaining to the Blasphemy Crests, but Elias felt like if he asked, the old man would most likely provide it.

He slowly turned to the next page, the words written on it slowly entering his view.

Apostle of Ruination :

– Arms Deacon : An Arms Deacon is an Apostle blessed with natural synergy with any and all item-type artifacts that fulfill the criteria of being a 'Weapon', with their Innate Blessing allowing them to have near-perfect synergy with these weapons. Becoming an Arms Deacon leads to an increase in all-round physical stats, as well as granting minor heat and burn resistance. Its three Runic Invocations are;

I - The King's Armory : This is an invocated rune that enables an Arms Deacon to create a duplicate phantom image of any known weapon from the divine Armory of the Eternal Flame of War, as long as they have sufficient knowledge about its operation, history, and structure. The summoned duplicate has its level automatically restricted to the level of its summoner, and can only be maintained for as long as the summoner ether pool can allow.

II - Hail Mary : This Invocation creates multiple flame turrets in the air, which release fire shells that explode upon contact with any surface. The number of turrets that can be summoned has an upper limit of fifteen, while also having a lower limit of ten at this level.

III - War Artificer : This rune allows the Arms Deacon to craft weapons with supernatural qualities and effects, so long as the base material used in production is any metal of high density, while also using blood from an Apostle's heart as the main catalyst. The level and effect of this weapon are limited to the strength, quality, and characteristics of the Apostle blood used, with the chance of success depending on the Deacon’s level in contrast to the weapon being created, with the base success rate being set at 75% or more at similar Apostolic levels.

Trial of Faith : To successfully transition from a base Disciple to an Arms Deacon, the subject spirit body must be transported to an illusory version of the King's Armory within the Realm of Imagination, and they would have to craft a weapon of suitable quality for the real armory under the watch of the Eternal Flame of War.

Tribulation of Faith : An Arms Deacon can 'understand' and feel the intent and emotions coming from any of the weapons they synergize with due to their unique constitution, so they would be forced to bear part of the stress and strain these weapons undergo.

The brothers read the entire thing with interest, noting how vastly different it was from the qualities of Elias's own Echelon of Faith.

Unlike with the Dion Deacon, the Arms Deacon was perfectly grounded in both offense, defense, and utility, as their potential was vastly endless due to the War Artificer rune.

They could create weapons of different quality, weapons whose number was only limited by the amount of materials they had on hand.

This made them a very tricky foe to go against, and that wasn't even taking into account The King's Armory and Hail Mary Invocations.

These two runes had destructive capabilities that Elias could only gulp at, particularly the first, as being able to call upon a duplicate of any properly understood weapon was scary to think about in battle.

"Why do I somehow feel like I got the short end of the stick with my Echelon." Elias sighed wistfully.

Lars slightly shook his head, his eyes trailed on the Trial and Tribulation of Faith.

"Even if this seems a bit more desirable than yours, we can see that the path to attaining it is a lot harder. How can they expect mortals to craft a weapon sufficient for the armory of a god? I feel like that's a bit too harsh. Wouldn't that mean that the deity was solely responsible for who passed and who failed?"

Elias halted his sulking, running his hand through his dark hair as he replied.

"Well, now I know why the Physical Department is teaching its students metallurgy and weapon structure. It's all to prepare them for this. The academy is really thorough when it comes to these things.

"As for the Trial of Faith, I somewhat understand it. I just know it's going to be quite a painful experience if a weapon synergized with an Arms Deacon is to shatter. Yves better prepare herself for it."

Both brothers giggled in amusement, as they could already picture the usually cold and apathetic princess wincing in pain and annoyance once a weapon she crafted for Damien was carelessly smashed.

It would be quite the comedic sight!

Elias shifted his eyes back to the pages, reading the heading of the next Apostolic level under the Echelon of Ruination.

- Ash Priest.