I ran back to the cathedral. The drizzle had settled down. There were no more traces of rain. The streets were busy. In fact, they were even busier than before. Streets and houses were lit up too. Looking at it now, it didn't seem all that different from a city of earth. Very busy, very noisy. At least there was no pollution.
The cathedral was crowded as well. But there wasn't any noise. Everybody was too busy praying and crying in silence: even footsteps were silent. No matter where you go there are always people like this.
"Is something the matter sir? Why have you returned?" It was the same nun from before.
Last time she helped me out by directing me to Sister Ashlyne. She did give me a rude stare when I donated a measly sum to the church, but I guess that was expected.
"I actually need an ID. Do you know where I can get one? The woman at the inn told me to come here." I don't want to be here, trust me.
I got some stares from the priests around me when I ushered in the word, 'ID'. The nun's expression became a little down by that word as well. But I received a prompt reply. "Follow me." I got the feeling that somehow I tangled myself in some weird shit again.
We headed off to a different place within the church. Calling the place big would be an understatement. It was at least one hundred meters wide, long and tall. The key words being 'at least'. Just who the hell was funding this place? God?
I still had lingering questions about God and stuff. And since this place was a holy place, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. "So basically everybody believes in a different god depending on regions? Aren't there any God who's revered in all the places?"
Now that I've been following her along, I could finally look at her without getting stares from the priests. I could understand why priests of all people would glare at me. Only her face uncovered and just at first glance, it was evident that she was a beauty.
"There was one but not anymore." Something about her tone felt off. So I refrained from asking. The nun was pretty beautiful from what I could tell. However, her attitude was somewhat stale. She didn't show much emotion. In fact, she didn't show any emotion. "We've arrived." A massive door with various engraving awaited us. The door opened as soon as she touched its handle. I was spooked for a second. "Let us go inside."
All this time all I've been doing was nodding. I didn't have anything to add anyway.
I went inside. It was very dark. But I could still see. There were some things in there that looked important; however, the room itself was pretty small.
But when the nun came in, the door closed and now everything was covered in pitch-black darkness. My heart rate escalated pretty quickly. What is going on?
The nun lit a candle of some sorts and held it close to her face. She came closer and I took a step back. The back stepping continued until my back hit the wall.
"Umm…. What are you doing?" I could hear my own heartbeat. Please tell me she isn't like that sister? What sister you may ask? There was a certain horror movie I watched a year ago. Don't get me started on it.
She didn't answer me. She was at arm's length. The light from the candle was orange and it lit her eyes in a similar light. But they were still as blue as they were before. Her bright silver hair reverberated with the pale light but scared the hell out of me. I didn't know what she was doing. She looked so beautiful that anyone's heart would flutter. But mine fluttered for a different reason. I was sweating profusely for those reasons. She scared the big Zelon (Milai's God) out of me.
She took my hands and the candle went out. I closed my eyes. Please tell me she isn't going to sacrifice me in the name of god or anything. Obviously I expected some other form of sacrifice. I was ashamed that my imagination might have run a bit too wild.
It was a petty and stupid fear, irrational even. But honestly, I couldn't help it. Sister Ashlyne and that movie had scarred me.
But nothing happened. Her touch had the warmth of kindness. "You can open them now."
Her voice assured me and whispered "Don't be afraid" to me. I was relieved. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a white light radiating from our hands. She had my right hand clenched onto hers. The light illuminated the surrounding and it painted her divine.
"What is this?" The light was pale but it illuminated everything around us.
The nun's face softened a little. "Your mana. Haven't you done this before?"
The way she questioned was utterly cute. Now that I could see everything around me and that she wasn't going to sacrifice me or anything, I could finally relax. I sighed and for once found that the nun was indeed beautiful (I know I've said before but I'll say it again. She was beautiful!) It was also a shame that nothing actually happened. Just what the hell was I expecting?
She took my silence as a negative and continued to explain. "Although most humans can't produce magic we still have mana- the flow of magic in our body. Maybe god initially intended for us to use magic but then changed his mind. As a result most of us have so little mana that we can't do anything with it. The color represents the element of one's mana. Mine is holy. Yours is the same."
She gave me a lot of useful info. But me, a holy person? The same person who thought there was no god even just a month ago? This had to be a joke. "I see. So do you think I'd be able to cast spells?" But there was a different question on my mind.
"Your mana is weak. So maybe if you devoted about twenty years or so in this lifestyle-"
Twenty years for a frigging healing spell? No thank you! "I-I see. About the ID-"It was a little awkward, so I had to change the subject.
"This is the standard procedure of making an ID. First we needed to know your nature. And now we shall proceed to the next-"
You got to be kidding me. All this because of… I sighed.
She continued to explain and soon the room illuminated itself: this time it was artificial lighting, but oddly, no was electricity required. There were all sorts of other instruments too.
"Please give me these details…" She handed me a paper that had a lot of questions. Like, where I was born, how old I was, what's my name and stuff. I lied in most cases apart from my name.
It didn't take long for her to hand me a card. It was a metallic card pressed my magic. The instruments in this world worked very differently. As long as you had proper magical gear you could do a lot of things even if you didn't have any magic to begin with. It kind of worked like electricity. And all you needed was mana- which almost all races had. So, though most techs in this world were obsolete, and very scarce, it could still be used by common people. But since they were so rare, the thought of common people using these wasn't even funny.
"This is your personal card. Don't lose it. And renew it every time you visit another city. The church takes these things very seriously." She smiled. It was the first time she smiled and that was one of best smiles I'd seen. "I'm still amazed that you never had one. Was your village really that far and didn't have any facilities?"
I didn't answer her. I didn't know how to. She took the hint and didn't press on me too hard. Her attitude had become a lot softer. Maybe it was just my imagination.
The door opened and it was past evening. So I didn't really have much time left. "How much do I need to pay for this?" I suppose this'll cost me a hell amount of money. Anything related to religion was bound to be expensive and even I knew that.
"Actually I was thinking of giving it to you for free."
I was dumbfounded. "Why?"
The nun looked away. "You were the first person to not touch me anywhere in that room when it got all dark. It was the scariest part of this job for me. And yet…" I could swear she blushed.
Huh? What did you just say?
I could see some redness in her cheeks from behind. Although her speech indicated something entirely different, I thanked her and steeled my mind. I couldn't afford to think about it. In reality, I was probably more scared than her. Just what the hell is wrong with this church? I didn't say it out loud though.
"Ummm… really, thank you. And I've got to go now."
I blitzed my way out. But when I was almost outside, she shouted in a rather soft voice. As contradictory as that is, it was real. "Take care…. Daarc."
She knew my name as I told her before. However, I never asked her name. Maybe I should have.