Lucas played around with the magic vision, it allowed him to see many spectacular things. Some stores were like a small sun while the road and walls felt empty and cold.
'I do wonder, does every mage have this vision active at all times?'
'I don't think so, you could easily get blinded if someone uses a lot of magic.'
Perusing the city, he found a bard and a dancer telling the typical story of a hero and a monster that had to be defeated. The scenery was peaceful, children were playing around, and the parents were talking while sitting on a nearby bench.
'They don't seem to care all that much about what happened.'
'I think it makes sense, a noble and his slaves died, they don't know him and are probably glad he's gone.'
Looking at the mothers of the children, they all carried a little cross with them. Being the curious man he was, Lucas wanted to know why they were already converting to a religion that was against the principle that Frigus stood for.
"May I ask if you're followers of the Order of Light?"
"Of course, the Order of Light brought peace to our hometown and even protects us from monsters and evil nobles."
"Hmm? What do you mean evil nobles?"
"Haven't you heard? Micheal apparently went around to talk to all the nobles and apprehended one of them because he was keeping slaves and torturing them."
Another one of the mothers chimed in. "Let me tell you, if you ever need someone, go to Micheal. He helped me with my son, he couldn't do basic math and now he's the best in his class."
"Did that little Aron really grow so much, you didn't tell me?"
"Yeah, and that's not all, he even cured my mother's sickness. She had trouble sleeping and now she sleeps like a rose, truly a wonderful man."
"Is every priest so generous like this Micheal?"
"No no no, his so-called brothers and sisters aren't worthy of the title even. None of them can compare."
The other mothers nodded in unison. "All they do is reprimand and complain, they don't even look at us. When I asked them for help with my taxes, they all looked the other way. Micheal was the only one to help me figure everything out and show me what I had to do, even talking to the guards to be a bit more lenient due to my circumstances."
'There's that name again, Micheal.'
'What are you thinking?'
'It's time we visited the church and speak to this man. He was also the one that didn't mind giving the reports on that woman, he seems like an amicable guy.'
The church of the Order of Light was situated in the center of the main square. In the beginning, they used an older church, but they grew so much in believers that they were capable of using the biggest church in town. Other beliefs were also present but paled in comparison. The city governor didn't care all too much about it and merely looked at who was more popular. Even if it went against the wishes of the country, it wasn't against the wishes of the local population.
The church was majestic, decorated with its symbolic golden cross and golden outlines. Even the door felt like it would fetch quite the price on the black market. Adorned not with jewels or gems, purely gold or yellow-colored items. Compared to the other churches in the surroundings, this one outshone all.
Even with the decorations and the size of the door, it was very light to open up. Looking at it with magic vision would reveal that there were certain patterns of runes scribbled all over, but Lucas thought he was simply strong enough to open it so easily.
Entering the church he saw the typical benches for prayers, filled with people of the slums. They smelled, but Lucas only found it bearable due to the incense that was placed all around the room. A priest was talking to his believers. From afar, he could tell that this was the man he had heard so much about. This Micheal who was supposed to be a savior for the masses. He wore simple clothing compared to the church's decorations, striking a contrasting view.
Micheal approached him with a gentle smile. "Hello there young man. It's nice to see someone with a similar look.", he said while pointing to his hair. "I've heard that people further north have similar hair to us, do you come from there?"
Micheal spoke calmly with a somewhat light voice as if he was among the clouds.
"No, I come from somewhere else. My hair color was simply luck."
Lucas said, pretending to come from someplace he knew nothing about could expose his façade.
"I see, still it is refreshing. How are you, my son? For what reason have you decided to visit our humble abode?"
"I was just walking around and found this church. Since I wanted to learn more about the different religions I thought that visiting the biggest one would help me."
"Hahaha, you're right in that aspect, my son. We are the Order of Light, we offer help in form of a guiding light. Any problems or sickness we can cure for free, is there anything specific you want to know?"
Micheal was fluent in his speech, almost too fluent.
'I don't like him, he seems to be hiding something.'
'He could just be an upright man you know?'
'Who in the world would be a righteous person when they have power?'
'What do you want me to do then? Test him?'
While he was internally discussing how to proceed further, the time it took in the real world was but seconds.
"Hmm, yes actually. You say that you want to help people, but what if someone is so evil that he only wants to kill others? What will you do then?"
"If we can't guide them with our faith and conversation isn't possible, we simply have no choice but to restrain the person in question. Though I do have to wonder who would be so cruel as to want to kill others for no reason."
"So you wouldn't hesitate to put down people if they don't follow your principles?"
"Hohoho, no no, I think you misunderstood. Only when someone hurts and brings pain can we rightfully step in to help out. Otherwise, it would be wrong to discipline everyone to follow our faith. If you, young man, don't want to believe, what right do I have to force you?"
"I see, well thank you for that."
Lucas took another moment of reflection, talking to himself as usual. 'I really don't like him, look how fake he is.'
'I think you're misinterpreting him. I don't sense any malice or lies, it feels genuine.'
'Hah! Try telling him you killed someone, let's see how he responds then huh!'
All the while Lucas was talking to himself, Micheal was also musing about what Lucas was all about.
"Do you have other things you wish for? I can see that you're struggling with something, if you wish, we can talk about it. Perhaps I can shed some light on the way."
"I-"
"I do have something that I want to ask. If you want to use magic in order to apprehend someone, do you fight like any mage?"
Lucas felt like he could take advantage of the priest. He seemed to be genuine, although part of Lucas would disagree. He always wanted to know how other mages fought and this was the perfect time to gain some insight. What did surprise Lucas though was the fact that the priest seemed relieved at his question. Normally people would be on guard when someone asked them how they fought, but not this man. How odd.
"Not exactly like a normal mage. We priests borrow power from the Goddess, if we pray with intent the Goddess can feel what we ask for and grant us our wish."
"So if you wanted to create a rock of a certain weight, can you do that?"
"Huh?", the priest pulled his head back for a second before letting out a chuckle or two. All the while Lucas activated his Magic Vision through some whispers. He could see the priest and his core. No one else in the room had any magic, but the building was something else. The light was comparable to the works of the blacksmith.
'Is this entire church a weapon?' was an idea that popped into his head. Though he quickly brushed it aside for it being too crazy.
"Of course, the Goddess can do anything as long as we ask. See here."
Lucas paid close attention to the core of Micheal, since he never said any runes, his core was silent. The magicules didn't even bother moving, Lucas felt that his expectations were being betrayed, but right at the moment, his prayer was finished his core sprung into action. The magicules flowed naturally to his hands, they were not fully elementally charged, but definitely had an element stored within them.
Once they reached his hands, they made contact with the outside but stayed together. Bundling until it reached one big ball of magicules. Once Micheal opened his hands, there was a small rock inside them. He reached out to Lucas with his hands.
"Here you go, a rock that weighs exactly one pound. If you're interested in learning this power, I would gladly teach you our ways."
Lucas wasn't listening to whatever Micheal was saying, he was amazed by the magicules that Micheal was using. It would be more proper to say that it was actually the Goddess that was manipulating his magic, but part of Lucas still believed that everything was simply an act of Micheal.
The way that the magicules were formed was something he never saw before. their intricate design and the way they were coupled to each other made his mind have a eureka moment.
"Thank you, sir, truly!", Lucas said, closer to yelling really, before running back to Elam's cabin.