Chapter 27: Climax at the Church

I closed my eyes, sorted through my thoughts, tried to figure out what was happening, and started meditating. I could not explain why, but I somewhat knew that what came rumbling down from the heavens was the Bestowal of the Teacher, the world's way of acknowledging someone as a teacher. It is manifested in the same novel where I got my powers. The deal is it does not happen to most people. As a matter of fact, the protagonist of the said novel is only the second person to become the world's teacher. From what I understand, the awakening for most people strictly revolves in manipulating the absorption and release of mana by copying how they imagine their powers would work. Upon thinking deeper, I realized that my way of awakening and acquiring power do not exactly line up with that. Questions like "How can my library figure out what is right from wrong?" and "How is it getting its 'heavenly' knowledge?" started flooding my mind. Maybe I should ask my friends about this when Stephanie and I get back. For now, maybe I should try finding the answers myself. I decided to mentally navigate in the Library. There is a new bookshelf on the right side of the entrance with a sign on top saying “Personal Selection." With that, I decided to look through it and saw that the books inside were books I have read over the years when the world was still safe. I didn’t use to read as a child and only started reading when I couldn’t look at manga or watch things while at work.

There aren't a whole lot of books on the shelf, just some novels, manga, and Tabletop books that I used to own. I am curious if I could potentially use them as well. I went ahead and tried to assimilate the contents of the books so that I could use the skills and spells they depict. It would be such a waste not to try and use them since they were nice after all. Luckily, it worked! The downside is that the mana costs of these spells and skills are way too high. When I inspected the books further, it turned out that these spells and skills are riddled with flaws. Maybe Dianne and Jolly can guide me later for mage training and I can further perfect these magic spells. What caught my attention though is the one story that I could use to further help the growth of Stephanie. The story is about cultivation which is centered on the soul by showing its true form. The whole purpose of this type of cultivation is to fuse the soul into the body becoming one, so enhancing one also constitutes the growth of the other. Compiling its contents with my heavenly soul arts, which I have not started yet since the first rank is always the toughest, will produce a way to awaken the true form of one’s soul like in the novel, but with no flaws that could hinder growth.

When I opened my eyes, the sun was already rising. How much time has passed since I started meditating? After some time, I suddenly had a realization that Stephanie was gone! I quickly ran out of the room and took out the paper which can help me find Stephanie. There is no more need to be stealthy. If my niece gets sacrificed, I would have failed not just as her uncle but also as her teacher. The paper is directing me to go upwards to the rooftop of the church building. The entrance of the rooftop is being guarded by a group of five people. I began to rotate my mana throughout my body in accordance with the Heavenly Way. When the mana reached my eyes, something changed; I felt something strange. It felt like I could analyze anything and everything. Based on the novel, this is the same as the eyes of wisdom that was given to the protagonist when he received the first bestowment. While its power is inferior to the endless information that I can get in the Library, it is much more convenient to use especially when faced with multiple enemies for it requires less time and effort. The first bestowal allows me to analyze information like a condensed version of the book generated by the Library, given that it is about something or someone equal to or lower than my level.

After successfully receiving the first bestowment, I went on my way to barge into the rooftop but before I could even reach the door, I saw the five guards running towards me. I immediately activated my eyes of wisdom to see the future trajectory of their attacks which enabled me to easily dodge the punches of the first two guards. Following that is a slash from the third guard’s sword which I easily evaded by sliding down in between his legs. The fourth guard was about to step on me, but I blew a punch which was strong enough to break his shin. The fifth guard was casting fireballs at me and to block the flames, I used the third guard as my shield while pressing on his acupoints to paralyze him. With my speed, I had no problem with rushing up to the enemies and directly disabling them. I activated the transforming weapon in my hand and initiated my saber intent so that they would be hard-pressed to move. This caused them to lose composure which then enabled me to easily press on their acupoints and render them paralyzed. While killing them would be easier and more effective like what Stephanie has said earlier, unnecessary killing would be unbecoming of me as a teacher. A teacher’s duty isn’t just to teach but also to help the next generation grow up to live ethically.

At last, I reached the door and when I opened it, the first thing I saw was the will-o'-wisp sprawled on the ground on the ground who looked like he'd been in a fight. The rooftop, which turned out to be a room, has stone brick walls and floor and is being lit by shiny stones attached to the walls. Upon looking around, I only saw two other people: an unconscious Stephanie lying on the ground in front of the altar and a man wearing full plate armor. I rushed up onto the altar to rescue Stephanie, but as I was nearing the altar, something came out of her. By using my eyes of wisdom, I was able to determine that it was her soul. I jumped up and absorbed the mana that was pulling Stephanie's soul out which made me feel heavy and bloated. The man in full armor suddenly stood up and shouted, “HOW DARE YOU STOP THE RITUAL OF ASCENDANCE?! PREPARE TO DIE!” Using my Heavenly mana, I dragged out Stephanie’s soul and slapped it onto her body. And then, I threw her body to the wisp to act as sort of a cushion. With her body blessed by the heavens like mine, that amount of force won't be enough to hurt her. We either run out of here or stay to fight. With my movement art, I jumped back and pulled the wisp and Stephanie out of the room, but we were blocked by a huge wall of light energy. Looks like the only choice we have is to fight.