The chapter is kind of short, so I'll make it up to you guys in the next few chapters. I don't really have time to post new chapters due to a school test and an upcoming exam.
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Sfragismena Queen Aneira was one of the most powerful spirits in the world thousands of years ago, but now unfortunately only a part of her soul remains.
Spirits have very strong souls, as evidenced by the fact that a part of a spirit queen's soul that died thousands of years ago continues to live even up to this day.
Long ago, spirits were a race that could control elements such as fire, ice, and many more as easily as breathing. It was as if they were born to control the elements.
Unfortunately, however, their race went extinct long ago after going to war with another powerful race. Though all of them died during and after that war parts of their queens and kings souls still remain scattered all over the world.
And if you are lucky enough to find one, you might even have the chance to obtain their blessing. Because unlike the temporary blessings given by the so called 'spirits' of today, which only last for a specific period of time.
Theirs last permanently. For instance, the blessing that Catherina is about to receive was one of those lifelong blessings.
"Are you the one who summoned me, little girl?" Spirit Queen Aneira's voice resounded in Catherina's ears as she stuttered to give a reply.
"Y-Yes!"
She was nervous, even though she had met face-to-face with many powerful beings in her life. But even the aura she could feel from the one in front of her was leagues above those she had met.
"But how did someone like---- Oh?! I now know why. It seems that you have the backing of a powerful being." The spirit said and looked at the ordinary looking man next to the girl.
"Umm... I have someone powerful backing me?" Catherina asked confusedly who she was talking about. ' Is she perhaps talking about my father?'
"Yes--- Aahhhk!" The spirit queen tried to answer Catherina when a terrifying gaze locked onto her. She slowly tilted her head to the source of the gaze, and she found the man next to the girl with his index finger on his lips as he whispered.
"Shhhhhh...."
The world around her turned black, and only she and the man remained in that black world. From there, she knew. She had made a very big mistake. Her instincts were telling her that if she spoke another word, she would die. Her previously calm and dignified eyes, hidden from the world, were overflowing with fear as sweat ran down her face.
If you thought about it, it was quite a comical scene as to how an ethereal being like her was sweating, but it wasn't really because those sweats were proof of how terrified she was right now that even an ethereal being like her was sweating.
"Haa. Haaa...." The world around her returned to normal, and she found herself roughly breathing. Seeing that Catherina asked in a somewhat worried voice.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes, I'm alright." She calmed herself to regain her composure and gave one last look at Sian. He was smirking, and he lightly nodded his head as if to say to her, 'You can now go on with the blessing." She looked away and faced Catherina.
"Are you perhaps talking about my father?" Catherina questioned having misunderstood something, though you can't blame her; after all, her father was someone very powerful.
"Ah, Yes! That's right, I was talking about your father when I said that." She replied in a hurry, her eyes darting around between Sian and Catherina. After the spirit queen confirmed her words, Catherina nodded her head in understanding.
"Okay! Let's move on to the main thing. Little girl, do you want my blessing?" She inquired, and Catherina agreed by nodding her head.
"Oh, before we go on with the blessing, please tell me your name first, little girl."
"My name? My name is Catherina Avier." As she said her name, a blinding light covered the whole house, which Sian once again made sure no one outside would notice.
Then there was silence. Catherina looked around for the spirit, but it was nowhere to be found, and that was until she felt a strong energy coming from her body.
"Wha--- What's going on?! I can feel a strong energy coming from within me. Is this part of the blessing?"
"Yes. Currently the spirit is residing within your heart, and that's why you could feel a strong energy within you, lad--- Catherina."
"It's inside me! Isn't that dangerous?"
"There's nothing to be worried about, Catherina; the spirit won't do anything to you. And if that ever happens, I'll do everything I can to protect you, Catherina."
His determined eyes locked with Catherina at the same time he said some somewhat cringeworthy words to her. He looked as if he would give up the world to save her. Then he looked at her brea--- heart with a playful smile. Cahterina didn't notice his smile as she was busy looking away from him, trying her best to hide her bashful face.
"Catherina, Catherina, Lady Catherina." Catherina snapped out of her thoughts and turned her head to Sian when he changed the way he addressed her. Then she finally remembered to check out the benefits of the blessing.
She went ahead and used Aeven to make a spike out of ice. The effects of the blessing were clear. The ice was now more refined, and you could even feel a chill just by being near it.
She was elated with the results, but that still wasn't all there was to the blessing. Though she didn't activate it, she could feel her innate ability, Frozen Palace, getting stronger by a small amount, and even that small growth in her ability made her very happy.
Innate abilities: what exactly are they?
They were the powers Sian saw some people using in the tournament, but what exactly are they?
To answer that question, let's first have a long discussion about when a person acquires them. During the 2nd Heaven Stage, one must awaken their innate ability to advance to the 3rd Heaven Stage.
But how does one really awaken their innate ability? It was a question that doesn't and at the same time has many answers.
One of the most common ways one actually awakens their innate ability is during a desperate fight, like how an anime protagonist suddenly gains power in the middle of a fight and wins.
When that happens, that person would suddenly gain insights on how to use it, surprising their opponents mid-fight.
For example, Catherina's innate ability is Frozen Palace, which is like a domain of its own, increasing the advantage of the owner of the domain. Though she didn't use it during the competition as she was only facing weak opponents.
Moving on from that long explanation Sian suddenly turned his head in a certain direction outside of the house.
'I'm sure that nothing leaked out of the house, yet someone was able to notice and probably even see what happened inside. It seems that I have to visit the temple sooner than I thought.'
The moment the blessing ended, he felt someone looking at them from afar. When he investigated where it came from, the gaze he felt immediately disappeared. However, that wasn't enough to escape his eyes.
His iris turned black, and he closed his eyes. Then, when he opened them again, he saw a temple located on top of the middle of the three mountains surrounding the academy.
After that, the environment shifted again, and the next thing he saw was a woman dressed as a nun, similar to what cosplayers wear. Her eyes were covered in a white cloth, and she looked holy except that her body was that of a sinner.
For example, if alcohol can kill 99.99% of germs, then she can attract 99.99% percent of men with her sinful body alone.
The woman became alarmed when she felt a gaze on her, but she relaxed when she saw that she was the only one in the temple.
Sian retracted his gaze as his eyes went back to their 'normal' color. Afterwards, he felt a tug on his shirt. It was Catherina; her face looked tired.
"Catherina I think you should get some rest; after all, receiving a blessing from such a powerful spirit would expend most of one's energy."
"O-okay... I'll be sleeping first then. Goodnight Sian." A yawn escaped her mouth as she headed to her room upstairs.
Sian waited for a while as he made sure that she was asleep before he disappeared from the house, teleporting to another place.
•--•--•--•
In the temple of the All Seeing God sat a woman who looked like she was praying in front of a statue. The statue was on top of an altar, surrounded by a seemingly unbreakable wall.
"Ta---Nan, Ke---Ta, DI---EUSA...!"
"Was that perhaps a prayer to your god?"
A sudden voice from behind her interrupted the woman's prayer. She was taken aback not just because there was another person in the temple, but also because she had completely failed to notice the appearance of the owner of the voice.
"Who are you?" she questioned calmly, despite her surprise. She didn't let her guard down, but she also stared at the man in front of her with extra caution.
"Me? Shouldn't you introduce yourself first before asking me that?"
The woman was dumbfounded by his response.The man had barged into her place, but he had asked her to identify herself first.
Of course, the man was Sian, and as for the woman, he was shamelessly asking her to introduce herself first as the Saint of the All Seeing God.