Chapter 2 - Chapter 2

*DONG!!* *DONG!!*

The sound of the huge church bells rang throughout the premises, which woke Zick up from sleep, and although he was still half asleep, after that he had to pull himself out of bed, since today was important. Besides, he would have to adjust fast because after he gets admitted into the seminary, he would have to wake up this early every day.

"Great, I had such a wonderful dream, but all I can remember is how great it was, yet I can still remember that nightmare from then," he said with an emotionless expression.

After he readied himself, he stepped out for a bit to get breakfast and do a little touring himself. The person acting as the receptionist there informed him to ready himself as he and the others who had also arrived before then will meet with the head of academics (HOD) of the Seminary. Though it was meant to take a little longer before he addresses them but the head of academics will not be available later because of an important assignment, so it had to be rescheduled.

A little before noon, as instructed by the receptionist, all the candidates including Zick gathered inside a hall that could easily accommodate over a thousand people. The hall had the normal decorated glass windows and a sense of class in the arrangement of the benches which spread out from the slightly elevated stage in a semi-circular manner. The walls were engraved with strange writings & symbols and supposed the lights in the hall were to be switched off, the refraction of daylight entering through the stained glasses shone upon the ground as though to make a pattern or as if it was an incomplete pattern.

The candidates waited for no more than 4 minutes before the HOD arrived. Although he wore a suit, the HOD was actually a high Priest who held a high ranking in the church. He wasted no time in introducing himself, telling them about the Seminary and telling them what they had signed up for in case anybody was having second thoughts, even though at this point it was pointless since they were basically seminarians at this point.

He explained to the young ones about the capabilities and relevance of the hall they were in and why the church chose this hall in particular for addressing new students. Apparently, the symbols and writings on the wall were not just for show but were a collection of different spells and ritual formations, and the windows themselves could absorb and trap sunlight in-case the hall needed to be used at night. What this meant was that the light from the windows was really an incomplete formation. On hearing this, the young candidates were filled with different emotions and opinions, the most noticeable was disbelieve and excitement.

Though Zick could not fathom what the priest had just said, he also believed that there was no reason for the priest to lie. This caused a lot of questions to spawn, not only in his mind but also in the minds of all the candidates sited there. Even if the priest hadn't used the word magic yet, the only way they could visualize what they were hearing in their minds and thoughts was the magic they've seen in movies and other places.

The priest let out a soft smile while he stepped down from the stage, walked towards the middle of the hall, and continued his explanation. Amongst the many things he said, the hall was chosen to address the candidates so that any evil spirit that planned to enter the church could be expelled or exorcised here not just for the sake of protecting the church as not just any spirit could wander into such a holy place where even strong demons feared, but to show the students there firsthand about the spiritual.

The priest returned to the stage, reaching the centre he stopped, turned to face the candidates, raised his hands from his sides to shoulder level as though he was gesturing them to stand, then he brought his hands together in-front of his chest and joined them in an amen gesture before locking his fingers. At first, the young candidates didn't understand what or why he was doing this, but some had their suspicions.

They were not wrong to suspect as a few moments after he locked his fingers together, two boys within the candidates began acting strangely, which alarmed the surrounding others. The priest was still holding his stance as both boys levitated slightly, as though something was pulling them upwards. The priest released his hands and followed that with a slight and almost effortless thrust of his right hand forward then the boys landed on their feet, one being able to stand on his feet, he had a look of shock on his face as do the others while the second boy staggered a little before regaining his balance. They were all astonished at the sight they had just witnessed.

The Priest waited for them to settle down, as they had caused a bit of rowdiness. "This building is known as the Hall of cleansing. Here demons and foul spirits are cast out as soon as you step in, but today the automatic nature of the spells are deactivated so that a small scale exorcism may be possible. Although I said demons and foul spirits are cast out inside this hall that would be a waste of the hall, the real purpose is to exorcise powerful demons and depending on how powerful the demon is we might need to trap it inside here before completely dispelling it".

"More light will be shed on the topic later. For now, do act in an orderly and respective manner as you are now seminarians," he smiled as he finished his speech, then walked out while waving at them.

Zick returned to his room after completing the registration. Although he was given a room in the dormitory, he decided to move in the next day because it was already late; he was dumbfounded at what he had experienced earlier. He had a mix of emotions, and didn't know if he should be excited or scared about life now because his perspective on reality had just been turned upside down.

"I can't believe I was worried about remaining a virgin. I even wished for a harem of girls from each country in the world who would carry out evolutionary duties with me all day, all night. I even studied the almighty book of KAMASUTRA, and prayed for the power to handle 10 women at once non-stop for as long as months," he said while screaming in his mind (something I call screaming in a confidential voice) and gesturing with his hand as if he was holding an oversized globe over his chest.

"How am I supposed to know that sex is a spiritual door way to connect two people through blood covenant, which means based on connections only hookers share a lot of connections and curses with a lot of strangers… I might fry my brain thinking about this so I'll take a break for now." with a feeling of exhaustion he covered his blanket, "God thank you for not allowing me to have sex till now. Now every woman is a potential threat." At this point the expression on his his face looked like a combination of a grin, a bored face and an emoji with one drop of tear under one eye–comedian style.