"So? When is the Last Trial going to take place?" Asked Ezek as he released an arrow from a silver-gilded bow almost as tall as he was.
The air shrieked and whined as the arrow cut through it and reached its target, a haybale a few dozen metres away.
Having hit the nearest target, Ezek shifted his aim on the next one, more than a hundred meters away, and released his arrow.
Sitting on a haybale himself, Alex watched his friend train while chewing on a straw. He lay down on the rather spiky hay, enjoying the shade provided by a large walnut tree, protecting him from the sun's heat.
"Donno. It should start tomorrow or the day after that."
Ezek nodded and lowered his bow before turning to face his friend.
"Are you sure you don't want to learn magic from Vaesa? It could help you pass the Last Trial."
Alex shook his head and shifted his body to find a more comfortable position on the bale.
"What's gotten into you, Ezek? You didn't even look at another woman once since I've been with you. Is Vaesa reallyy that good? In bed I mean?"
Ezek sniffed loudly and turned around, making Alex burst out laughing.
"A woman approaches you once in your life, and you fall head over heels for her? Hahaha."
"Fuck you, jackass. You'll never be in my position. With a face like yours, it's no wonder women throw themselves at your feet."
Alex laughed harder.
"Of course, you'll never know how it feels to be handsome. Do you really think Vaesa would've approached you first if you weren't at least bit handsome?"
"Not as handsome as you are."
Alex snapped his fingers.
"That's where you're right, but that's beside the point. I only needed to help you get a girl because you're as dense as iron. Every hint a girl threw at you would go unnoticed."
Alex raised his hands to show how difficult Ezek was.
"No wonder the poor girls would feel awkward afterwards. Imagine telling someone you want to get into bed with them, and they stare at you with a blank look on their faces. Hahaha."
Ezek's head snapped around, looking at Alex wide-eyed. It suddenly dawned on him why Alex intervened after he talked with them for a while. Shaking his head, he tried clearing the embarrassing thoughts from his mind before addressing his friend once more.
"Either way, Vaesa has everything I'm looking for in a woman. I'd be a fool to mess around."
Alex nodded his head and then asked.
"So, are you a couple then? Like, does everyone knows about it?"
Ezek nodded, watching his arrow nail the target five hundred meters away.
"Wow. You're really going to settle down. I almost can't believe it."
Ezek suddenly smirked and threw Alex a meaningful look.
"It almost makes you feel like you were the lustful one, huh?"
Alex scratched his head in astonishment.
"Yea..." A sudden thought came to mind, causing Alex to whip his head to face Ezek. "Wait a min.. No way... Fuck you."
If Ezek was willing to settle down this easily, when Alex knew him to be lustful, it only meant his friend was only playing along. Or stringing Alex along.
'If what he said is really true, he got me. All these years, I was played.'
Alex almost wanted to apologize to the girls they slept with. Almost.
"Anyway. Can you tell me why you don't want to learn magic?"
Alex looked at his friend confusedly.
"Don't you remember? The Headmaster said it would mess with the Last Trial. The benefits the trial will bring you will be almost null."
"He did?" Ezek asked, trying to remember. But no matter how hard he focused, such a memory wasn't found.
"He did. The purpose of these trials is to enhance everything that a human has. Strength, speed, eyesight, mana perception and mana control. Everything would be improved."
Ezek nodded slowly. "I know that... But..." Shaking his head, he continued.
"So if you trained in magic before the trials, that will affect the outcome? How? And why?"
Alex raised his shoulders.
"I don't really know, but it's something along these lines. Upon first contact with mana, everything inside your body will consolidate. It's like a brick will only harden when placed into the kiln. Before that, the brick is still relatively malleable."
"That's weird."
Ezek answered and let the matter go.
"Where are you going to sleep?"
Alex didn't answer immediately, instead asking whether Ezek had finished his training.
Upon nodding, Alex and Ezek made their way to the city, not forgetting to collect the arrows from the targets.
"I don't know where I will sleep. Maybe I will go back to the fortress and sleep there."
"How about you visit the Temple? Isaley surely misses you." Ezek proposed, and Alex threw a glance at him.
"Shut up." Alex flipped Ezek off before an idea came to his mind.
"But I could visit the Temple after all. I could ask about the Empire from them."
"Want me to go with you?"
Alex shrugged.
"If you want to. It's going to be boring tho."
Ezek didn't seem repulsed by that and walked beside Alex.
"How would the Temple even know about the Empire, though? Can they even help you?"
Alex promptly nodded.
"The Sky Goddess has temples all around the land. The Empire is no different."
"Sky Goddess?" Asked Ezek curiously.
"Yea, supposedly she can bestow mind-boggling blessings to those that pray to her. That sure made humans build temples in her name." Alex bobbed his head to the side, acknowledging the power and influence such a being had over humans.
Ezek's ears perked upon hearing about blessings, so he asked.
"What kind of blessings are we talking about here?"
Alex took a moment and rummaged through his mind. Trying to shift through information you learned over a decade ago is as hard as shifting through a messy library. It's gonna take some time.
After remembering enough, Alex started, though his voice still held a dash of uncertainty.
"I forgot what they are called, but they ranged from receiving a god's constitution to becoming unparalleled in magic. From what I remember from my teachings, the Goddess gives one such blessing to the most faithful person once every five to ten years."
Ezed was intrigued.
"Does that person need to be affiliated with a Temple to receive the blessing?"
Alex looked at Ezek as though he was dumb.
"We're talking about a God here. Of course, that person doesn't need to be associated with any Temple. The only criterion is faith."
"So, do such strong people just appear in the lands? Like it's nothing? All because of a God?"
Alex nodded, turning a corner to face one of the most, if not the most pleasing building, he had ever laid his eyes upon. No matter how many times he sees the temple, he is always blown away by it. White stone, whiter than marble, makes up the foundation and pillars that hold the roof and High Chamber, while crimson, azure, and deep blue stones weave and mingle together to paint a dusk's sky.
"Yes. There are many such occurrences happening, to the point where noble families back home were paying big money to information agencies to keep a look out for such persons. Such families were hoping to bring these God-touched humans into their bloodline, to increase their power; military and politically."
Ezek shot a sideways glance at Alex and asked carefully. "You never really talked about your family... Yea... Sorry, this must be a difficult topic for you."
Alex stayed silent for a moment, sighing right after. "You're right, this is a topic I'd rather avoid. But, if I'm being real here, this might actually be the last time I'll ever see you."
Taking in a deep breath, he continued shifting his eyesight from the temple and up at the sky, tracing the slow-moving clouds. "As you've probably guessed already, I come from a noble family of the now Fallen Empire. My family is actually really ancient, having existed for over 900 years, and survived the Rift eight hundred years ago.
"Don't know all the details. I wasn't old enough at that time. As you can probably imagine, such an old family cannot stay in power for eternity while it continues to make more and more enemies. Alliances form to bring it down, and after innumerable attempts, they succeed.
"That's what happened to my Nozim Family. At some point, when I was around seven years old, my father rushed into my study, shocking me and my teacher both." Alex said with a look full of regret.
"'We need to leave, son!' He said, already dressed as though he would rush into a war the next moment. As any child, I was confused and didn't fully grasp the situation. Even though I was a noble child, judging by how my father shoved me into a carriage, you would think I was a crazed murderer and not his own son.
"When I looked back, the estate was on flames, attackers zipping on the ground and sky like ants and locusts, looking for another Nozim member to tear apart. My parents managed to escape, however, but I lost contact with them from that point onwards."
Seeing his friend fall silent, Ezek wore a hard to read expression. "I'm sorry."
Alex waved his apology aside. "There's nothing to apologize for. My parents should be alive while I live without worry. I lost my name and estate, but those things can always be regained. I'm only sad because I lost my childhood. Besides that, I've had it easy, unlike you."
Ezek wore a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, and a flash of some memory glowed in his eye for a moment. "You said your estate was suddenly attacked? Is the attacker known?"
Alex nodded, then shook his head. "Yes, the attack came as a complete surprise, and no, the attacker isn't yet known." He pointed with his nose at the temple standing before them some half a kilometre away. "That's what I'm trying to find out."
Ezek nodded faintly, the look of confusion not leaving his face yet. "I don't understand. How can a family such as yours, which must've been mind-bogglingly strong, not know of such an attack? Better yet, how could the attackers even succeed?"
Alex smiled.
"That's what I'm trying to find out."
Finally reaching the massive double gates of the gothic-style Temple, Alex and Ezek were welcomed by the same two guards they slipped by a few days ago.
They allowed the two young men entrance without so much as a side glance. Anyone could enter the Goddess' Temple, even ordinary people. Well, except non-believers and known troublemakers, obviously.
This time, however, the two friends didn't go to the sleeping area but instead walked into the Temple's main room, where a four-metre-tall granite statue depicting the Sky Goddess took everyone's breath away.
Below the statue, a small pool served as the offering area of this Temple. Several colorful fish gently swam in the water, exuding an exceptionally relaxing energy.
Alex could practically smell the mana coming from those fish, but there was something more to it. No, it was more like the energy those fish released was something above mana but closely resembled it.
"How may I help you two?" A warm voice came from the side of the room, making the two young men turn to face the woman that entered the room.
Alex and Ezek bowed their heads and greeted the woman.
"Hello, Head Priestess. We've come to ask for information." Alex said, taking half a step closer to the priestess.
The woman slightly tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.
"Information? This is the Sky Goddess' Temple. We usually don't deal with any sort of information."
Alex remained silent and threw a gold coin into the small pool.
Instantly, several fishes approached the coin and sent a ribbon of mana to 'purify' - a fancy way to say validate- the gold.
The Head Priestess nodded faintly and waited for Alex to continue.
Ezek also approached the pool and threw a silver coin as well.
"Head Priestess, the information I'm after also concerns the Sky Temple."
The woman simply watched Alex curiously. Not many things concerned a behemoth such as the Sky Temple. Hearing a youngster say such things caused many to ignore his words, but the priestess decided to humour Alex only because he donated such a large amount of money to their Temple.
Alex was well aware of this, which is why he first donated money and only then said such controversial words.
"Ten years ago, the Kumal Empire fell due to inner strife, but that is a lie, and we both know this."
Alex then fully faced the priestess and continued with a slight smile.
"Few know that the Empire was actually attacked by Psierys' followers. And everyone knows the hate between Psierys and the Sky Temple."
The Head Priestess expression hardened and motioned for the room where she entered.
"I'm listening."