Chapter 48: Abandoned Church

I then headed toward Siege and Eleanor's direction

-I don't have hands, so I left it up to her to pick things up, I just push her away from the inedible plants, she kept the edible ones in her ring- Siege said

"Well, hope you're having a good time"

"Well if it wasn't for your wolf, I'd probably picked up several poisonous plants and kill us all" She shrugged

"Let's go find the other 2"

"So you can track them through your bond?" Eleanor asked

"Yeah"

"I so want one right about now"

"Well we can either wait for the next trip or you can just either ask your parents to buy you want, a lion maybe, I heard they're strong"

"I rather not be spoiled like my 2 other siblings" she replied

"You hate them or something?"

"Gods no, I love them, being a princess is hard, I can't always be alone, and I want to earn things myself, without using my family's money and status to my advantage"

-Lucky that I'm not born a princess-

-I'm glad you aren't too, you would just leech off the money till you die of old age- Dabria replied

-And we can't have that- Diana added

It wasn't long till we find Lucas and Ace and it looks like they were also eating some, because their face is a mess, I got a piece of cloth and wiped Ace's face

"Let's head back, we'll explore this forest more tomorrow, we'll take it easy today, I also gotta report the corrupted I just killed to Professor Emma"

"Was that why your cat was alert earlier?" Lucas asked wiping his mouth

We then head back and I reported it to Professor Emma

"Next time please inform us of it, even if it's weak, corrupted are a very rare find" She said

"Thank you Professor Emma"

"You're the only student who still call me that" she giggled

"Well, I don't want to confuse you and your brother"

After a few lectures from other teachers I went back to my tent. I was in charged of cooking, I roast a few pieces of pork, and made a salad from the vegetable and berries. I also made extra portions for Ace, Siege and Diana.

-Too bad, my brother is missing out- Diana commented and she ate

-I can still hear you guys since we're not THAT far away- Damon replied

"Man, I heard from Albert and Eleanor that you can cook, but this is great" Lucas complimented

"What bonds do you guys want anyway?"

"I wanted a snake at first, but then I learnt that snake is one of those beast that is incapable of forming a bond" Lucas replied

"I don't know yet, I'll just hope that I find one that is right for me" Eleanor answered

*****

3rd person view

"Have your sister said anything Professor Steel?" The headmaster asked

"He has singlehandedly handled a group of bandits and earlier he killed a corrupted boar that charged at him" Professor Steel answered

"He seems to have a talent for fighting, we should register him under the close combat competition and with his extraordinary physical activities, register him for the obstacle course"

*****

We were out in the forest again today, we are fishing right now, Eleanor and Lucas seem to not like to wait.

"Man I feel so much more grateful now, it's been half an hour and we still got no fish" Lucas complained

"It's all about patience" I replied

-I saw an abandoned church from the air- Diana said -Siege can confirm what I said is true-

-Really?-

-Yeah, I also smelled a man in there- Siege confirmed

-Alive?-

-Barely, from the way he's breathing- Siege replied

-Is there anything else?- Ace asked

-It was a church with a butterfly as its symbol- Diana answered

-A church that worships me, didn't think I'll see one in Artia, people don't usually worship me here, then again it's abandoned- Dabria joined in

-Let's go check it out then, but be prepared, the guy in there could be a lunatic-

"Guys, you want to go check out an abandon church, not too far from here?"

"Sounds way better than fishing" Lucas got up

"What about food?" Eleanor asked

"I got some meat leftover from yesterday"

We then headed towards the church's direction.

We saw it, it was barely standing, the tall wooden door got butterflies on it.

"This is a church for Dabria, the goddess of life and death" Eleanor said "The butterfly is a symbol of both Dabria and her counterpart, Nova, it represents changes in life and spiritual rebirth after death"

"Yeah, I heard about this from my parents, apparently, a long time ago, priests and followers of Nova heard his voice saying that he has retired from being the god of life, and to worship his sister, Dabria the goddess of death instead as the goddess of both life and death" Lucas added

"So here's where it gets weird guys, there's a man in that building, barely alive, does one of you want to go back and report this to the teachers?" I pointed out

"Let's see what we can do first" Eleanor answered and rushed to open the doors

We then headed after her, we saw an old guy with an armor laying down there.

-From the way he's dressing, he's a seasoned warrior, but this church is a rubble, and it's dirty both inside and out, it doesn't seem like anyone has been here-

-Well, let's hear his side of the story, the princess is already healing him- Diana said

"Sir, are you alright? Can you hear my voice?" Eleanor asked as she healed him

The old man coughed then answered

"I'm fine, young one" he coughed

"What are you doing here anyway?" Lucas asked

"I just wanted to visit my old home, I was raised here before I moved to Gloria in the south, it seems that due to my old age, I collapsed here" he replied as he got up "I am Jake Walker, a former holy knight of the church of life and death and a faithful believer of Dabria"

-Man, he'd freak out if he knew you were here-

-Please don't insult my followers, you of all people should be worshipping me right now- Dabria retorted

He then turned towards me, his eyes shook, he then rushed and tried to grab my shoulders, Ace, Siege and Diana got in his way.

"I sense it, I sense it" he repeated and point at me "You have an aura similar to a saint"

-Maybe I should've used 'Presence'-

-Yeah, we'll remind you the next time, you head inside a church- Ace replied

"Ummm...Lucas, can you report this to Professor Emma, this guys seems a bit...abnormal"

"Uhh...gotcha" He nodded as he rushed outside

"Sir, you must be tired, my friend here doesn't even worship any god, he wouldn't have an aura of a saint" Eleanor said trying to calm him down

"NONSENSE!" he shouted "I have worshipped the goddess all my life, and I have been around saints before, he has an aura that does not lose out to one"

-He seems to be a bit off, are all your followers like this? Cuz I don't see any followers this crazy in your memories-

-Well I don't even respond back to my followers unlike my brother, you wouldn't even see me making contacts with my followers- Dabria replied

"You have the same presence as the day I heard the goddess' voice" he rambled

-Great, he now think that I'm some sort of omnipotent being-

-Not gonna lie, this seems kinda funny- Ace chuckled

-Yeah it does- Diana giggled

-Let's see what he has to say next- Siege chimed in

"You have white hair, you must be the reincarnation of Nova, the god of life" he then shed a tear, kneeled and clasped his hands "Ah you finally heard my prayers"

-I can't believe he thinks you're my brother- Dabria sighs

-I can't believe it too, I mean if I had your brother's looks, no girls could resist my charm-

-And that's also where you're different- Dabria grumbled