"Elios! Acolyte Elios!"
A voice came from the other side of the door as the young white haired acolyte slowly shifted his head from the window and looked at the book in front of him. Slowly picking up the old wooden staff beside him, he began to stand up.
"Are you sleeping? Wake up! The expedition is just about to leave. Sister Zehra has asked all of us to be prepared within the next 10 minutes! Please hurry up!"
The voice continued for a few more seconds before silence followed. As for the boy, Elios, he stood up before checking himself up one last time in the mirror. And then forcing a smile, he prepared himself for another day, his eyes trying to be as positive as possible.
-Click! Thud!
The door opened up and closed as Elios walked out of the room, and began moving towards the assembly hall on the first floor. It has almost been a year since he came here to the capital city, in order to hona his [Light] powers that was supposed to be changing his destiny.
But…
"Is that him?"
"Yeah. The same guy I told you about."
"Talk about a waste of talent."
"If only I could use the talent of [Light!]. Why must Goddess Alepsia choose him over us?"
"Anyways… have you heard about that incident in the coast city?"
"The one with Adam Wesker, right?"
The conversation drifted to other topics as Elios simply chose to ignore them. The world of Zarraf was vast, and there were many beings that came and left their mark on it. Though, Elios couldn't bother to waste his time on those things… After all, his entire life was barely holding together.
Even though he was a person who could use [Light Magic!]His potential was extremely limited. In the last 12 months of his training, all he could do was use [Self-Heal], an [F-Ranked] spell that even potions could beat by a mile.
"Oh! You are here! I got worried, you know?" A blonde women in his late 20s, Sister Zehra, the nun in charge of training Elios and 11 more children, looked at Elios with a slightly worried expression. Though a relief was replacing that worry as she patted Elios's head.
"All right! Since everyone is here! Let's go. Today's training is in the outskirts of the city. We will be helping out people near the slum area in an old church branch of ours. There are instances of low-level wraiths so this would also be a good exercise for you all to prepare for future battles," she spoke with a dignified tone while looking at the excited faces of the children around her.
Elios didn't really mind her words. For him, his target has always been trying to improve his [Light Magic] by helping people, and then one day be strong enough to protect everyone he cares about. Even though it was a far fetched fantasy, he could only smile and hope for a bright future.
The group first booked a Gigarica Cart. It was a bus like cart driven with Light and Air Magic, and as such, two mages were required to function. Though on the other hand, since two people operated it, it was much faster than the single mage carts.
Levitating in the air, the Gigarica Cart flew through the city streets, travelling from the main temple to the city streets. From the market to the residential areas. Scenes changed, showing the beauty of the capital city that boasted it's unique beauty and Light magic in the entire Light Kingdom. And the children, including Elios, were mesmerized by the beauty that wasn't something one can see in other cities or towns.
Sister Zehra only smiled at them before observing the beauty as the wind brushed against her face. And before they all knew, the scene changed once again, from the busy streets, to slums in the distance. The rotten smell that could make one puke, entered the airways of the children making them all close their nose at once.
Sister Zehra simply chanted a bit of magic, purifying the air that was entering her nose, making it easily bearable for her to breathe in those slums.
While the path was still stone carved, the houses were good enough for the people to live. What really was distinct was the condition the people were in, and the way they treated this part of the city.
But that wasn't the concern for the children or the Sister. Today, they were going to help an old church somewhere in this part of the city.
Elios tried finding that church through the window, and about a few seconds later, his eyes locked onto a building that was… in the shape of the church?
"What's that?"
"Is that a church?!"
"It's creepy!"
The church was dark with a rather eerie and cold atmosphere around it. The people around the church seemed rather silent, each of them wearing an invisible aura of 'death' around them. A sudden chill was felt through all, and the children instinctively ran towards Sister Zehra.
"It's all right. The presence of Wraiths, even of low level, creates an unexplained cold atmosphere. Your sense of fear has been heightened a bit, but once the purification starts, you should be able to calm down," she spoke as she then closed her eyes for a few seconds and then mumbled something,
"[Fortify!]"
And then a ray of light escaped through sister Zehra, making all of them calm again. Most of them nodded at the Sister, while a few of them were still skeptical of the atmosphere.
But still, under the trustworthy words of Sister Zehra, they collectively walked out of the bus, and then into the temple.
-Creak!!
The door opened up as the group moved towards the statue of the Godd-…!!!!
"Huh?!"
"What is that?!!!"
And as the statue of a strange devil-like being stood at the edge of the hall, the children, horror stricken, panicked before turning to Sister Zehra.
"These are this year's products," Sister Zehra spoke as she was talking to the robed man, who turned towards the children, assessing them one by one. And then he nodded before he raised his hands and…
-Click!
All of them lost consciousness.
And after a time that felt neither too short, nor too long…
[Status: Connected!]
[Current Condition: The soul of the original user is beyond recovery!]
'What is… going on…'
[Condition Added: The will of the user still lives on!]
'What happened…'
[Processing the death of the user!]
'Death… did I die… '
[Soul replacement Procedure beginning!]
'What are you even talking about?'
[The one (Unbounded by Fate and Death) will be replacing the user's Body!]
'What about my wishes? What about my plan to save everyone? Is this the price of being Kind?'
[Condition Added: Be Kind!]
'My duties… were they worth anything?'
[Condition Added: Loyal to His duties!]
'What are you even talking about… I… am losing myself…'
[Preparing the Body for the Soul Exchange!]
[Welcome to Zarraf!]
'Hmmm? Who are you welcoming? And why am I so calm?'
[Selecting Race: Human!]
'WHAT are you welcoming?'
[Selecting Location: Nation of Light!]
[Selecting Main Job!]
[Main job (Acolyte) already present! Cannot be chosen!]
'Heh! Serves you right!'
[Selecting a side Job based on the user's Life experiences!]
[Side Job Selected!]
[Side Job: SSS- Class Necromancer!]
'Excuse me, what?'
[Erasing the Soul of the User!]
[Synchronising!]
'Umm… no…'
[Error!]
[Erasing the Soul of the User!]
[Synchronising!]
'…'
[Process Failed!]
[Synchronisation 50% Succeeded!]
[Calculating the Variables!]
[Adding Conditions!]
[Condition Added: The Guide!]
[Condition Added: The Observer!]
[Condition Added: The Path-Finder!]
'Well. This is messed up…'