-" It's best for you to rest, training like this won't be fruitful." Thorin was surprised to find Baltsar still trying to visualize his Sun Energy, it looked like the man had gone the whole night without an ounce of sleep.

Baltsar's resolve had impressed Thorin, and he was sure that if he had truly awakened as a Sun Blessed, it wouldn't take too long for him to master his new powers.

-" I just can't believe that I can't even do something like this." Baltsar looked defeated, the hours of training with no result only making his confidence worse.

-" Don't let it take you down, after all, we don't even know if you really have Sun Energy." Thorin's mind was clear now that he rested, and he now had an idea. " There is a slight difference in the way that Sun Energy is stored in my body compared to Vysard and the rest," Thorin spoke as he played with the Sun Devouring Chains. " Different from them, I don't have Sun Energy in my body usually."

-" But didn't you use it to fight Dillia that time?" Baltsar was exhausted, so he could barely follow Thorin's train of thought.

-" I can use Sun Energy, but, it isn't stored inside me, or better saying, it's not a part of my body." Thorin opened his shirt and showed a small tattoo of a Sun on his chest. " The Sun Energy that I use is stored in a crest engraved in my soul, that's why I can normally use the Sun Devouring Chains, which would cause pain in any Sun blessed."

Baltsar only grew confused as he tried to understand Thorin. " Didn't you use the Sun energy while holding the chains?"

-" My body is just a path for the Sun Energy, the real receptacle is the sword." Thorin smiled as he showed a set of runes in his sword. " The damage that the Sun devouring Chains causes on me is minimal thanks to this."

-" So? Where are you trying to get at?" Baltsar was too tired to try to solve Thorin's puzzles.

-" If you truly have Sun Energy, just like the two people from the Eastern Empire, you won't be able to hold this chain anymore." Thorin's smile grew as he threw the chains toward Baltsar.

Baltsar eyes widened in surprise as he saw the chain flying toward him, he was so shocked by it that he wasn't even able to dodge it. Baltsar panicked as he felt the chain hit his body, yet, to his relief, he felt no pain.

-" So this means that I'm not a Sun Blessed?" Baltsar had mixed feeling as he held the chain, he was disappointed as he discovered that he couldn't have the same power as Dillia and Vysard, but, at least he discovered that he wasn't that incompetent.

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-" We can't be sure for now." THorin still had much to study about this method, and he wanted to use Oppius's recovery time to learn everything he could. " We don't know much about this type of Aether infusion, so we can only find out more about it with more tests."

Baltsar sighed, he had resigned himself to his fate as a guinea pig, but to him, it was worth it as he could finally grow stronger.

-" So if I can't use this Sun Energy, the only improvement I got from drinking Vysard's Blood was the quality of my body?" Baltsar was a bit disappointed by what he got out of the deal.

-" Did you try using Aura or Mana again?" Thorin smirked confidently, he wanted Baltsar to be the one guarding the two captives while he and the rest of the group were out on the mission.

At first, Thorin didn't want to wait until Oppius had recovered and thought of using him as a guard for the captives, yet, he knew that he could never trust Oppius, as he would kill the captives the first chance he got.

-" Using Aura?" Baltsar face dropped even more as he remembered his days in the academy. " If not for his good grades in the scholarly subjects he would never graduate as he failed in manifesting Aura and Mana.

-" Your new body is quite something I bet." Thorin had this experience already, as his body completely changed during the Sun Baptism. " It won't be hard for you to master aura and even mana now."

-" Mastering aura and mana?" Baltsar was in disbelief as he heard what Thorin had said, he always dreamed of becoming a knight and fighting side by side with his companions. " It's really possible?"

-" Of course it is." Thorin smiled as he patted Baltsar's shoulder. " I can even help you."

Baltsar eyes wavered as he felt touched by Thorin's gesture, one of the things that made him hesitant about training aura was that he had already forgotten many of the most important parts of the process.

He didn't understand why Thorin treated him so well and decided to not waste his sympathy. -" Can we start now?"

Thorin smiled as he saw how excited Baltsar's was, but, he shook his head. -" It's better if you rest first, we have enough time, besides that, I need to prepare a few things today." THorin was extremely worried that Oppius would try to jeopardize the mission, so he wanted to have a good talk with him.

Before long, the entire group was awake, and Thorin called them for a meeting.

The mood of the meeting was tense, Oppius showed a clear hatred towards Thorin, however, he didn't show any signs of disobedience as it looked like he had learned his lesson.

-" So? Are you calmer now?" Thorin's gaze to Oppius wasn't amicable either.

Oppius had no answer to Thorin's question and just stared at his face.

Thorin chuckled as he saw how stubbornly Oppius was acting. " I won't accept any more insubordination, am clear?" Thorin hadn't an ounce of trust towards Oppius, after all, he already had declared his ill intention towards the Sun God Chruch previously.

-" That's more like the Arch Inquisitor Thorin that we all know." Oppius smirked as he lowered his face. " You don't have to worry about my actions in this mission, after all, the Eastern Empire is the biggest threat to every one of us." Oppius had also listened to Shiy's interrogation, so he too knew about the supposed godhood of the Eastern Emperor.

-" It's easy to speak those words." Thorin smirked, he was no fool to trust Oppius that easily. " You are injured, so I won't place you on the front lines of this mission... You will be the one responsible for dealing with the soldiers who escape our trap."

Oppius smirked as he tried to conceal his displeasure, it was clear that THorin was trying to sideline him.

-" Our trap?" Vysard was full of curiosity, he knew that Thorin had a hidden ace up his sleeve.

-" Just some items that the Pope sent to help us in this mission." Thorin didn't beat around the bush this time as he took two items from a small backpack. " These are some of the most important artifacts that the Chruch had."

Dillia, Vysard, and even Oppius all eyed the items with curiosity, the items were bound to be something incredible was they were of high importance for the Chruch.