Contact 2

"I almost forgot. It would be rude to not introduce myself. I am Bishop Sanctius, and you are?"

"Bythos." replied Bythos, while shaking the hand which Bishop Sanctius extended to him.

"Stand there and we will begin." said Bishop Sanctius, pointing to the centre of the big room.

Once Bythos stood in the centre of the room, Bishop Sanctius began casting his spell, while the priests channelled their power to him, greatly increasing the duration of the spell by reducing the mana costs and fatigue inflicted by sustaining the spell.

After casting, large beams of light flowed from the priests to Bishop Sanctius, with him twitching constantly, until he finally became still. He raised his head and looked at Bythos with his glowing white eyes and began muttering.

"You are obviously not from this world, that much I am certain...But you weren't present during the summoning...Let's search a little more."

Bishop Sanctius appears to have entered into a trance, as he stared blankly forward, until finally, he said, "That's strange, I can't seem to find you anywhere."

What is he talking about? Bythos can't seem to make sense of what Bishop Sanctius is doing.

"Ah found it. So this is where your peculiarity lie. Let's probe deeper." Bishop Sanctius said while staring straight ahead at Bythos. After a while, he was repelled by an unseen force and flew backwards, crashing against the wall.

Immediately, the inquisitors drew their anti-mage crossbows and took aim at Bythos, while at the same time activating the trap they had set. Bishop Sanctius, who had recovered, tried his best to call out and stop them, but it was no use. The inquisitors are efficient.

The earth rose from the ground, encasing Bythos' limbs. The inquisitors then fired at the trapped Bythos.

The bolts travelled towards Bythos with a soft hiss, stopping just before hitting Bythos, suspended in mid-air. Bythos tore his limbs free from the restraints, leaving only the crumbling earth behind.

The inquisitors all drew their weapons in response, but Bythos seemed to pay them no mind. He grabbed the still floating bolts from the air and clenched his fists. When he opened them, the bolts were gone.

"Stay back!" one of the inquisitors yelled.

Paying them no heed, Bythos walked towards Bishop Sanctius and said, "You aren't done yet right? Would it matter if I got rid of the interruptions?"

Bishop Sanctius caught his meaning and replied, "I can't explain it to my superiors if they are gone."

With a nod, Bythos walked towards the inquisitors who took this as a sign of aggression and attacked him. Bythos skillfully dodged all their attacks and with a motion of his hand made them all unconscious. Turning back to Bishop Sanctius, he said, "So let's continue then."

Bishop Sanctius nodded, and called the stunned priests back to their senses to continue with his spell. While the spell is being casted, he took the opportunity to examine Bythos again.

He can't put it in words, but Bythos seem to have a different air about him. Not to mention the fact that he seems to have easily dealt with the inquisitors. His eyes have become red too, but there is not enough time to check everything. Bishop Santius' eyes became glowing white, and he is back to the search.

"That's strange, before I could still see somewhat. Now it's all obscured by some kind of screen."

Try as he might, Bishop Sanctius couldn't get any more information from his magic. Then, he began to spasm and collapsed onto the ground.

When he arose, his spell was no longer active, but he has not returned to his normal self. He approached Bythos, gave a bow and said, "Greetings, I am the god of divination and knowledge. I can't help but notice you're not in the records. Not many things in this world are beyond my knowledge."

"And what do you want?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to have a look that's all. People like you don't appear very often." he replied, as he walked around Bythos to get a closer look.

"Can you stand further back? You're making me uncomfortable."

Ignoring Bythos' remarks, he continued, " You should be a powerful being, why did you choose to inhabit such a weak chassis?"

Angered by his words, Bythos replied, "That's not your problem. If you have nothing else I can send you back."

Taking the hint, he said, "All right, I just need you to answer some questions of mine that's all. I have a list of questions that were bugging me for some time."

He took out a list of questions and asked them to Bythos, who answered all of them one by one, to his great surprise.

"The last question I gave as a joke, I didn't expect that you'll actually be able to answer it." he said, "Now you've made me more curious. Who are you really, to have access to all these information?"

"It's not that important."

"With these information, I will be able to make great strides back at my side. I assume you want something in exchange for it?"

After thinking for a short while, Bythos replied, "Nothing you have can interest me. However, there is something you can help me with. You can help to teach him the languages of this world."

"You mean with your abilities you can't do it?" he asked with disbelief.

"Yes, because technically speaking I don't actually know any language."

He nodded and placed his hands on Bythos' forehead, transferring what was needed, then continued, "It is done, I will be taking my leave." With that, Bishop Sanctius suddenly snapped back into consciousness, with a rather disoriented look.

"You heard everything right?" Bythos said to Bishop Sanctius and the others. "I will be returning soon. When I wake up again I want all of you to pretend all these didn't happen."

It's not a good idea to cross him, so they all nodded their heads in agreement.

Remembering something, Bishop Sanctius said, "Sorry to ask this suddenly, is it alright if you become an associate of ours?"

"Why should I?"

"It probably isn't a big hassle for you, and if you do become an associate of ours, we will give you our help."

"Whatever, just direct whatever help you have to him." after saying that, Bythos sat back down and fell asleep. He immediately woke up and started looking around in confusion.

Looking at him again, Bishop Sanctius noticed that his eyes have gone back to its original dark colour.

"I didn't even notice I fell asleep. I hope it didn't affect anything." Bythos said.

"Oh not at all. After using my magic, it is determined that you will be of great help to us in the future, so I've decided to make you an associate of ours." Bishop Sanctius said, as he handed Bythos a magic ring, which bears the seal of a split fire emerging from the central circle.

"Huh." replied Bythos with a raised eyebrow.

"This ring will grant you a certain degree of freedom should you decide to visit the domain of his holiness. In addition to that, any further healing services will be free for you."

Bythos took a brief glance at the vicar and said, "Great, this will come useful."

"I'm glad you think so. Show him the way back please." Bishop Sanctius said, as he gestured to the vicar to bring Bythos out.

Only when Bythos has left the vicinity did the inquisitors wake up. When they awoke, they acted as if nothing had happened, and started writing their report.

One of the inquisitors approached Bishop Sanctius and asked, "Do you have any intention of staying here any longer?"

"No, let's head back."

The inquisitor couldn't hide his annoyance, as he blurted out, "What a pointless journey. I was hoping to see some action today. Turns out it was just a false alarm."

"What can you do." Bishop Sanctius replied. It seems that they have a false memory inserted into them. After they had packed up and left, a voice rang in Bishop Sanctius' head.

"As a precaution, I have only left the memory of the two of you intact. I hope you will keep what happened to yourself."

Of course I will. Thinking so to himself, Bishop Sanctius and the rest accompanying him headed back to the cathedral in the capital.